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Yevgeny Milkovich liked many things. He liked watching TV, he liked sneaking into his parent’s bed at night when he’d had a bad dream and he liked when all his cousins and aunts and uncles came over to his home because that meant he got to play with his cousin Liam.
But above all he liked being an only child. It meant he got all the attention and he never had to share his daddies with anyone – until last month. Ian and Papa had been acting weird all summer long, asking Yev all these question about siblings and babies while they took him to kindergarten and by then he knew something was up.
His fears came true when fall came around and one day out of the blue, he got shipped off to his Aunt Fiona’s house while his dads wandered off somewhere, promising Yevgeny the best present ever when they got back. Little did Yevgeny know that present would be a little squirming thing that screamed all day and still made Ian tear up and his dad become all mushy and cuddly, although that mood was usually reserved solely for Yevgeny.
The little plague’s name was Milicent, which, in Yev’s opinion was a truly horrific name, but she was called “Milly” for short.
“Isn’t she precious, Yev? Our little M&M!” Ian would always say and Yev would think that if she was an M&M, then why didn’t Daddy Ian just eat her already so they could move on from this tiring thing and live a happy life again. Then he would cry or knock his glass off the table so he had no other choice than to focus his attention on him for a change.
Then there was the screaming. All day long and especially all night when he tried to get some sleep, she would cry and her face looked really ugly when she did. All red and puffy and sometimes her snot blew up into a bubble and it was just gross and horrifying to look at.
Another thing that bothered Yev, was that because of Milly, or Maleficent, as he liked to call her, they never did lazy Sundays anymore. Lazy Sundays was Yevgeny’s most favorite thing. It happened every week and they spent the whole day lying on the couch, cuddling and watching movies that Yev liked.
Now, everytime they tried to do so, Milly started crying or she was sick or Yev’s dads fell asleep because she had been crying all through the previous night.
It was all very nerve wrecking, so Yev decided it was time to do something.
On Halloween the whole family came over to take advantage of the big TV that Mickey had brought with him one day to watch horror movies and they were all still asleep the next morning when Yev got up, put on his shoes and tiptoed to Milly’s crib. She was awake, but for once she wasn’t crying so Yevgeny reached inside the crib and picked up the baby.
The most difficult part was getting to the front door without being seen, but somehow he managed to sneak past the passed out people everywhere. The stroller was standing in the garden down the stairs and he placed the little girl inside and started pushing. It was a little more difficult than imagined to actually push the stroller, problem being that Yevgeny could hardly reach the handles, but slow and steadily he went his way.
“Morning!”
Yev jerked. So he hadn’t been as quiet as he had thought while leaving the apartment. Lip’s eyes were still puffy from sleeping, there was a bottle of beer in his hand and a cigarette was dangling from the side of his mouth.
Yevgeny didn’t answer. He just stood in front of the stroller, trying to cover the stroller with his tiny body.
“What are you two up to?”
“We’re just taking a walk?” It sounded more like question than a statement and Yev wasn’t sure if Lip was buying what he was selling.
“Oh, really? Come on you can tell me the truth. I’m the cool uncle!” Yev tilted his head, thinking about that for a moment.
“If you’re the cool one, which one is Uncle Carl?”
Lip sighed and leaned over the stroller to make sure Milly was warm enough. It was only October but it was already freezingly cold.
“Your uncle Carl is the uncle that you will one day visit in prison.”
Yevgeny didn’t really understand that, because his uncle didn’t seem like a bad guy to him and only bad guys had to go to prison, at least that was what Daddy Ian had told him. His dad’s opinion had been a little different, though.
There was a short period of silence where the pair just stood there staring at each other, until Yevgeny caved and spilled his secret plan.
“I’m taking Maleficent back to the hospital. Dad said that’s where they got her from, so I’m taking her back.”
Lip almost lost his cigarette when his mouth fell open in surprise.
“You what?”
Yevgeny sighed and put a hand on his uncle’s arm.
“I’m gonna take her back. All she does is cry. Daddy and Papa should try and get another one that doesn’t cry so much and maybe is a boy.”
Lip nodded understandingly. “Well, let’s go then. You wanna be back before your dads wake up, right?”
Yev nodded. Finally somebody who understood him. He let Lip push the stroller, while he climbed onto his shoulders. The view from up here was pretty great. Even Maleficent didn’t look so bad from this angle.
“So, you don’t like being a big brother?”, Lip asked, pulling faces at Milly who was in the process of waking up. Yevgeny shrugged.
“No, I don’t like it. Milly doesn’t like me, she never wants to play and because of her my dads are always tired.”
Lip nodded.
“It’s natural, Yev. Babies don’t sleep well at first and their parents get tired because if the baby is awake, they have to be awake. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Mickey and Ian are also really happy since they got Milly, right?”
Well, yeah, but Yevgeny wanted them to be okay with it just being the three of them.
“So they got tired of me and they bought Milly?”
Lip stopped in his steps and gently pulled Yevgeny in front of himself. The little boy giggled laughing while he was hanging there with his legs in the air and his uncle’s hands safely around his waist.
“Yevgeny Philipp Milkovich, what are you talking about?”
Yev furrowed his brows and looked at his uncle cluelessly.
“My middle name isn’t Phillip, Uncle Lip!”
The blonde man shrugged and put his nephew onto the ground, crouching down in front of him so their heads were at level.
“I know, but it should have been.” He rolled his eyes and pulled a face to get a smile out of the worried boy.
“Your daddies love you very much. They loved you so much, that they decided to have another kid, hoping that it would be just as wonderful as you are, you know?”
“But I don’t wanna have a sister.”
Lip took off his scarf and wrapped it around Yevgeny’s neck. He hadn’t dressed appropriately for this cold weather and he was starting to shiver. At least he had thought off throwing a blanket over his sister.
Lip leaned in close and waved Yevgeny to come even closer so he could whisper into his ear.
“I’m gonna tell you a secret, okay? I’m a big brother, too, just like you are now and it’s really fun most of the time.”
Yevgeny didn’t look convinced.
“Once your sister’s a little older, you’re always going to have someone to play with. Just like I had with your daddy Ian when we were young. Also-,” he paused for effect and chuckled when Yevgeny gasped in anticipation.
“What?”
“Because you’re the oldest sibling, you get to boss your siblings around when your parents aren’t home. How does that sound?”
A spark appeared in Yev’s eyes and for once he looked just like his dad when he was up to no good. His lower lip between his teeth, his lips curled into a big grin. Unfortunately he seemed to have gotten his sense of right and wrong from Mickey.
“But don’t tell your dads I said that, okay?”
The little boy nodded and Lip continued pushing the stroller. After a few steps he stopped and turned around.
“Are you coming, Yev? We gotta get to the hospital.”
Yevgeny took a moment to think his decision through but in the end he was sure.
“No, Uncle Lip, I changed my mind. Let’s take Milly home.”