51

Lauren Hart

"A sibling?"

This startling statement came from Ryan. Apparently, Sean and I decided to disclose the news to Ryan first thing in the morning when he came back from Daniel's place. We wanted him to know it first before others.

"Yep, a sibling!" Sean confirmed. "You want someone to play with you all time, right? A baby will do?"

Confused Ryan blinked as he darted his eyes at me. "A baby? I will get to play with a baby?"

I smiled. "Yep, buddy. A cute little boy like you or a cute little girl like… umm, Amara." I said to explain further, but I didn't know that he would become aggressive and would stomp his feet.

"No!" He shouted. "I don't want to play with anyone like Amara! I don't want a sibling."

Sean and I glanced at each other in utter shock thinking what caused Ryan to act that way. We were concerned yet we were a bit revealed, it's not always Ryan open up to us.

"Why Ryan? Don't you want a baby sister?" I asked politely.

"What issue do you have with Amara?" Sean asked. Ryan lowered his head and began to fidget his fingers. I wondered what exactly was eating him inside?

"Ryan, haven't we told you not to hide anything from us?" I said. He timidly nodded his head while still looking at his feet. I signaled Sean to encourage him to speak but before Sean could do anything, Ryan looked up.

"Because she diverts your attention from me. Whenever she is around she tries to come closer to you. Why can't she understand that you are my parents? I do not want to share you with anyone! That's why I don't want a sibling, you will forget me." He almost shouted at the end and I gasped.

He had been thinking all that all this while? He thought we would sideline him when the baby comes? How could he? I shouldn't be but I was mad, not at him but myself and Sean. We failed to assure him that he could never be replaced, he was someone who brought Sean and me closer.

I immediately crouched down before him and held his shoulders firmly, my gaze a bit sharp yet loving. "Listen to me, Ryan. You are a special and irreplaceable part of our lives. We both love Amara but it doesn't mean we love you any less. No one's entry will ever lessen our love for you, get that?"

Sean too joined me by kneeling beside me. "Ryan, flush the thought out of your mind that we will ever forget you. We can never! You are our son, a blessing to us. Yes, a baby's entry will shift our focus but it doesn't mean you will become less valuable, your value will always remain the same no matter what. You will be loved equally."

"Now, do you have any more objections? Do you still have anything hidden inside your heart?" I asked him as I softly grabbed his chin and made him look into my eyes.

"No." He whispered while shaking his head.

"Are you sure?" Sean asked. "Because if you still have doubts you can clear it right now, we don't want you struggling inside."

"No, dad, I have no doubts," Ryan replied with sincerity.

"Then give your dad a hug." Sean spread his arms wide and Ryan jumped on him. I hugged my boys as well.

"Now what about the baby? You'll love to have a sibling, right?" I asked him.

"Uh, I still don't like Amara because she is annoying, but I would love to have a baby sister. Um, a baby brother would do too. I am not picky."

We both laughed at his cute comment and squeezed him in a bone-crushing hug.

Months later

"She's so tiny."

Ryan gasped when he saw his little sister in my arms who just came into the world. He sat beside me on the hospital bed as he observed her in awe. He hesitantly lifted his hand and tried to touch her but pulled his hand back immediately.

"What happened, buddy?" I asked hoarsely. My throat still hurt due to screaming to death, even though it had been an hour of giving birth.

"Uh, she's delicate. What if I hurt her?" He asked innocently.

I chuckled. "No, you won't. You had been waiting eagerly for her to arrive, right? Now she's here, come on, show her how much you love her."

He again lifted his hand and delicately rubbed his index finger on her forehead which made her twitch a little. Ryan giggled, his eyes gleaming in amusement. "She's responding to me. She is so cute, see her eyes are still closed."

I laughed and ruffled his hair. "So, what are you gonna name her?" I asked. Three of us had been making lists of the names but we never stuck to one.

"Tiny! I am gonna call her Tiny." Ryan beamed.

"Tiny it is!" Sean, who had been sitting patiently on the bed near my legs spoke. He stood up and sat to my right since Ryan was at my left.

"Her name will be Tiana Peterson, but we are gonna call her Tiny." He mumbled while caressing Tiana's face with his finger, his eyes never leaving his daughter. I could still see tears in his eyes which had been lingering there since he held Tiana for the first time a while ago.

"Daddy loves you, baby." He mumbled, still focused on Tiana while my gaze fixed at his face. He chuckled all of a sudden. "I have completely braced myself for you, I had to since it's you, mini Lauren. And considering how crazy your mama can be, I know you will give me troubles as she does, but I am prepared." He leaned and kissed her head. He then finally looked at me and found me staring at him.

"What are you looking at that way?" He chuckled.

I slightly narrowed my eyes at him. "You clearly told our daughter that I give you troubles."

He raised his eyebrows mockingly. "Well, don't you?" His gaze unexpectedly softened, he leaned forward to peck my chapped lips. "I know how much I have suffered seeing you in pain. When you felt the pain I felt it too, maybe not as much as you, but I did. I too stayed awake during your sleepless nights to make sure you were alright. I gave in for your every single demand, no matter how weird your demands were."

"Well, you were supposed to. I wasn't alone in this." I again playfully narrowed my eyes at him.

"You will never be alone." He added.

Sean then put Tiana in the crib which was placed beside the bed and left Ryan to play with her while he attended to me, making sure I felt relaxed.

After a while, the gang minus the kids arrived to see me and began to play with Tiana.

"Your favorite uncle is here, baby." Daniel cooed to her.

Sean groaned. "Not this again! Glad I am not in the race this time."

Xavier smacked Daniel's arm. "Not gonna happen. You'll have to compete with me for the position." Xavier grumbled to which Daniel scowled.

"Hey, you already have a daughter, which makes me the favorite uncle of Tiana."

Xavier gave him a have-you-lost-it-look. Yep, I read his face. "Have you forgotten your brain at home? Because you are not making sense."

Sean stood up from beside me and approached his brothers. "Xavier, how could he forget his brain at home when he doesn't have it?" Daniel narrowed his eyes at my husband but didn't say a word.

Sean then faced Eloise. "Remind me again what you saw in this joker?"

"The same that your wife saw in you." Daniel retorted. We all laughed and their banter would not have ended if Eloise hadn't interfered.

She came between them, distancing them so they won't eat each other alive. "Stop it! Stop arguing, this is a hospital for god sake. And you two…" She pointed between Xavier and Daniel. "You both are her uncles, stop being so childish."

Daniel scowled at his wife. "Childish, really? I'll see what you and Ariana will do since you both are her aunts too."

"We won't compete like you two because we don't need to," Ariana added as she moved near the crib to look at my daughter. "Unlike you two, I and Eloise will give her equal love." She smiled while looking at Tiana. "She's going to be our Princess and Amara's best friend."

"Aww, she's too cute." Eloise gushed. "Looking at her makes me have a baby girl too."

"We always can." This comment came from Daniel, her husband which made her face become beet red.

They all stayed for a while then decided to leave. Ariana approached me and said, "I am just one call away if you need anything."

"Same goes with me," Eloise added. I thanked them for being at my back and call when I needed them during the pregnancy period. Apart from Sean, they had been my mental support.

After a while, Sean's parents, now my parents as well, and Grandma arrived. Talking about Sean's parents, they had been doing…better. Although their social life was something they couldn't put aside, they made sure to check up on us once a month. They had started giving time to Ryan, their grandson. Mr. Peterson, now my dad, would appear at our home to take Ryan for an evening walk, meanwhile, Mrs. Peterson, now my mom too, would stay back with me to spend some quality time with me. Sean had learned to behave in their presence, it wasn't easy for him to fully accept his parents but it had been going pretty well.

Coming to my parents, my dad had always been better than my mom but he turned extra sweet when he got to know he was going to be a grandfather. And my mom, well, old habits die hard; she, for sure had left me to be myself yet sometimes she would impose her ways on me. And me being me, I never listened to her; old habits die hard, right?

And Laura, my sister. Well, she and her boyfriend had been doing great with their relationship but hadn't decided to marry yet. Hopefully, soon. I was happy for her though.

I didn't realize that I had been staring at them playing with Tiana until Sean nudged my side. "What are you looking at?"

Without taking my eyes off them, I smiled. "There is this saying, which is that everyone is there to hug the baby but who is there to hug the mom."

I wasn't complaining, nope, it's a mere fact.

"What you mean who's there to hug the mom?" Sean frowned, his jaw clenched. "Don't you see I am here for you? Before taking our daughter in my arms first I made sure you were okay. I hugged you first then only I embraced our daughter."

"Sean, that's not what I meant," I whined. He took the statement otherwise, he wasn't supposed to.

To my surprise, he pulled me in a strong hug, pressing my head against his shoulder. "You are never alone." He whispered. I could feel his speeding heartbeat through my body.

This isn't what I mean. I knew I would never be alone, I was just talking about the postpartum void I had read in some book. I sighed, he wouldn't understand moreover, I didn't want him to understand because he would get more worried about me.

I nuzzled my face in the crook of his neck and sighed. "Forget whatever I said. I love you."

"I know you do." I smiled at his firm yet cute tone. I knew I had upset him, nothing that I can't fix.

"Parenting is hard, you sure my patience won't wear off?" I muttered. I had uncertain and anxious about running out of patience because I heard from my friends who had already given birth that one needs the patience to raise a child.

"There's no doubt that being a parent takes an unbelievable amount of patience, but nothing we can't handle. We have been doing pretty well with Ryan, haven't we?" He had always been like this; encouraging.

But how do I tell him that raising an infant is a lot different from raising an already grown-up child who had been nothing but understanding?

Huh, he would know soon.