It’s been a while since I wrote fiction; when this offered itself, I couldn’t say no. This might start a series… the characters feel strong… so nice to make stuff up again!
This qualifies as a fairy tale, or perhaps magic realism.
The New Person
“Sweetheart, Mommy is going to have a baby.”
Joey looked up. “A baby? Like Rachelle’s?” She didn’t like Rachelle’s baby. It was loud and messy, but everybody cooed and oohed and ahed over it.
“Yes, like Tiffany, except he’ll be a little boy. You’re going to have a baby brother.”
Joey pointed her eyes at the window and pretended to look. Her face felt frozen. Her mom was curled on the couch beside Daddy, book set aside for the moment. Mommy’s face looked soft and open. It made Joey feel a little better to see. She felt oddly mad at Mommy, though, so she looked at Daddy instead of returning Mommy’s smile.
“Is a baby a good thing, Daddy?”
“Sure it is,” her father smiled, scooping her into his arms and squeezing tight. “Mommy and me are WOW excited and so is everybody else, just like when you came into the world. You wouldn’t believe how excited we were! It was crazy! ” She held her hand over her mouth but giggled anyway. “Really? You knew I was coming?”
“Of course! Babies give lots of notice, you’ll see. Mommy’s belly is going to start to swell and get big, and that means your little brother is slowly moving into the world. It takes a long time to build a new body, even one as little as a baby’s. He won’t be here until next summer. You know, that’s a long time away.”
“Wow.” Her black-fringed, pale grey eyes widened anxiously. “It’s coming into the world inside Mommy?” Her voice quavered. “But how will it come out? Won’t that hurt you, Mommy?”
“Well, I won’t lie to you, darling. It will be hard, hard work when I’m in labour; in fact, that word, ‘labour’ means hard work. I’ll probably scream my head off when he comes in, I did when you were born. And the pregnancy will become pretty uncomfortable when he gets bigger, in a few months.
“You know, it’s a big deal to bring a new person into the world. It’s hard. It always hurts to bring a new person into life. Nobody should ever do it unless they really want to. But when you really want a child, the work is so worth it! Even the parts that hurt are okay, because it’s a hurt moms are willing to feel. It’s hurt for love.
“And Joey, I wanted you so bad. I knew just what you would be like, and here you are! I feel the same way about Jacy. I know him, I know he belongs with us, and he’s already a part of the family. I want him just like I want you.”
Daddy squeezed Joey’s hand and gazed into his little girl’s eyes. “Never doubt for a second that we wanted you, and we’ll always, always want you. This baby is your little brother, and he’s a part of the family. As his family, we have to give him what he needs, and he’s going to need a lot in the beginning. All babies do. He’ll take up a lot of time when he’s a baby, just like you did. That’s how babies are. It’s lots and lots of work to become a person, and the baby has to work hard just to grow, and eat and pee and poop and cry. That’s hard work for a tiny new baby, but look how easy it is for you?”
Joey giggled. “Oh Daddy! Is that all the baby is going to do?”
“At first. We might all not get enough sleep for a while. We’ll have to work together and support each other. You might as well sleep with us while the baby is little because that’s the best time for us all to get to know each other. You can move back to your own room whenever you feel ready.
“I have to tell you, Joey, little brothers can be really annoying sometimes. But I promise, Jacy will be so cute and funny that you’ll like him lots. You’re going to be friends, though not right away when he’s just a baby. It will feel like forever!” Daddy made a funny face to make her know he was kidding.
“But before you know it, you’ll be wanting to share your toys with him just because it’s so much fun to have somebody to play with.”
“Do I have to share my toys? Do I have to love him?”
“Nope. You’ll decide for yourself when you’re ready to share. We’ll make sure he has plenty of cool toys of his own. Keep in mind, if you want him to share his toys with you, it’s only fair to share yours!”
He tickled her until she giggled. “And no, baby girl, you don’t have to love him. Love never comes with a ‘have to’ in front of it. No way. You don’t even have to like him. But you do have to accept him, because he’s a part of your family, and he is going to get his share of your mommy’s and daddy’s love.
“That doesn’t mean you get less, though! You get just as much, and more, partly because we’ll be working so hard to make sure you don’t get left out! And also, you might not believe it but you’ll get more love because more love will come into your own heart, right here!“– he poked her in the chest–”That’s the magic of families!”
Joey sighed and leaned on her daddy’s arm, feeling her legs sprawled over both their laps. It felt so good to be a part of her family. Sometimes she sobbed and sobbed because of how good it felt to be held in their arms when she cried, so safe and so loved.
She hadn’t asked for a little brother, or a sister either. She had liked things fine the way they were. But what her parents were telling her meant that, whether she wanted it or not, a baby was coming, and it was going to be her brother.
Her brother.
She curled around and pressed the side of her face against Mommy’s soft, round belly. She listened hard and heard something.
“Hello, baby Jacy,” she whispered. “You don’t know me yet, but I’m going to be your big sister. I think I’m glad you’re here. I’m not sure yet, but I’ll keep you posted.”