Chapter 1-2
457 Words
The phone rang at seven the next morning. Mark and I were still in bed, so I took the call on the bedroom extension. It was Paul. I went downstairs, and got Sam to the phone. Mark and I quickly washed and dressed, and went back downstairs. Sam announced he had a baby sister. She was small and in an incubator, but the doctors said she would be fine.
“I hope you got a good night’s sleep,” Mark said to Sam, “because when she comes home, you might not get many more.”
Sam groaned. “Can I come and sleep on your couch if that happens?”
I ruffled his hair and said, “We’ll see.” Somehow I didn’t think Paul and Helen would agree to such an arrangement.
I got on with making our breakfast. Sam offered to help, and he insisted on feeding Mark. Yes, I thought, I’ll have to watch those two.
During breakfast, I said, “Sorry, Sam, but in all the excitement I forgot to ask what your new sister’s name will be.”
“Charlotte Elizabeth.”
“Aw. That’s sweet,” Mark said.
Sam frowned.
“I’m sure she’ll be lovely once you get to know her.”
“I’ve told Mum, there is no way I’m going to change a smelly nappy.”
Mark and I laughed.
“You’ll come around. You’ll want to help your parents as much as possible I’m sure. A baby takes an awful lot of looking after. Your mum and dad will need all the help they can get,” I said.
“We’ll see,” Sam said before taking another bite of toast.
Once we’d finished eating, Sam helped me clear away the breakfast things.
“Come on,” I said, “We’re going into town to get baby Charlotte a present to welcome her when she gets home.”
Sam didn’t seem overly enthusiastic at the prospect, but tagged along anyway.
We went into a few shops, but we couldn’t agree on what to buy. Eventually we settled on a musical mobile to hang over the cot.
As we turned into our street, Sam spotted his dad’s car outside their house. He went home to see what the latest news was.
Mark and I continued to our place. As both of us had been only children, we couldn’t really identify with Sam’s predicament. But we decided it would have been quite nice to have a younger sister. Mark said he wasn’t sure if he’d have preferred a younger brother though. I had to agree. Females were such strange creatures.
* * * *
The rest of the weekend passed uneventfully. Paul popped round to thank us for looking after Sam, and for the nursery mobile. He reported that Helen had had a painful labour. So much so, at one point she’d said rather loudly in front of the doctor and midwife, “You’re having a vasectomy, you bastard.”
Both Mark and I instinctively reached for our crotches. Paul laughed.
It seemed that Helen would spend a day or two in hospital. Hopefully they would be able to bring Charlotte home in about a week’s time.
- Writer
