Tears for his Tooth

Being in fourth grade and the "older" of two children, he knew he had to be brave about going to the dentist. His tooth was loose and he knew that the toothfairy would exchange it for some money once it was out of his mouth. He came into the office wearing his best smile and matter-of-factly told me, "it's time to get this tooth out." (The young one has always communicated well with me and the doctor, so today was nothing out of the ordinary.) We used the sleepy juice and then chatted while we waited for his mouth to get numb. When he was ready, we allowed him to help lift the tooth out. He kind of chuckled when he saw the tooth pinched in the forceps. I let him choose a treasure box to keep the tooth safe for the toothfairy and then placed it in the palm of his little hand. He immediately clasped his hand tight around the box and looked up at me with tears welling up in his big eyes. I squatted down to look him face to face to ask, "what's wrong?" He sniffled and told me......"that was my favorite tooth."