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Laura came bursting through the front door, Peter hot on her heels with Derek riding on his uncle’s shoulders.
“Uncle Peter said you have a surprise for us!” she shrieked, tossing her backpack on the ground and running to her mother’s side. She was bigger than ever, round stomach sticking out of her clothes and Laura wondered how much bigger she was going to get. Peter said a lot bigger but only to her; Derek was worried about their mom turning into a big balloon and popping open, no matter how many times Laura insisted that would never happen.
Talia laughed and leaned forward as much as her stomach would allow, reeling Laura in so she could kiss her forehead and brush her bangs away from her eyes. “I do have a surprise for you. It’s about this little one right here.” She patted her stomach and winked at Laura. “But first I need to have my other little one down here with me. Petey, put him down.”
“Petey,” Derek giggled, hugging Peter tightly around the neck when he swung him around and placed him on the floor. He skipped over to Talia and climbed onto the couch beside her, hugging her and nuzzling into her throat. “Hi mommy. Wha’s the surprise?”
Talia smiled a soft smile and ran her hands over her belly. “I know if there’s a little girl or a little boy inside of me.” Laura squealed, jumping up and down excitedly, her eyes never leaving Talia’s stomach.
“What is it, momma? Oh, I hope it’s a little girl! We can play dress up and I can braid her hair like daddy does for me!”
“No, I want a boy!” Derek argued. “We can play cars since Laura never wants to play cars with me.”
“Cars are boring, Der, mud pies are better.” Laura grinned when Derek huffed but didn’t argue. “So what is it, momma?”
Talia exchanged an amused smile with her little brother and placed her hands on either of her babies’ cheeks. “It’s going to be a little girl.”
Laura screamed with excitement and dropped down to her knees to snug her arms around her mom’s waist and rub her cheek against the growing baby there. Talia watched Derek carefully and smiled when he sighed a little and sat down with his hand on her stomach. “I guess that’s okay. A baby sister is pretty cool, mom, right?”
“That’s right, sweetheart. And you’ll be in charge of looking after her, you know that? Just like Laura looks out for you and mommy and daddy and uncle Peter look out for both of you. All three of you, soon enough.”
Derek brightened and swirled his pudgy fingers over Talia’s stomach, grinning down at the little life growing inside of her. “Yep. I’m gonna make sure you’re safe, little sister. That’s me and Laura’s job.” He gave Laura a bright, crooked smile and jumped off the couch, shifting restlessly from foot to foot. “Can we play outside, mom?”
“Sure, baby. Peter and I are going to make dinner before dad gets home from work.” Derek grinned and grabbed Laura’s hand, running out the front door with her.
“Why’d you wanna play outside, Derek?” Laura asked, confusion in her voice as she followed Derek to the tree line at the front of the house.
“Because I wanna make the baby a present! Today I learned what a collage is and there’s a lot of leaves and stuff out here. We can make a forest collage!” Derek’s voice was excited and words flew rapid-fire from his mouth as he let go of Laura’s hand and started picking up leaves, studying them carefully before deeming them suitable to use.
Laura laughed and pulled some bark off of a nearby tree, holding it in one hand while she gathered a few wildflowers and some clovers in the other. “So, Der, you aren’t upset that there’s gonna be another girl in the family?” She watched her brother think about it for a minute, mouth twisted to the side, before he shrugged.
“Nah. I love you so I’ll love this sister too.” Laura’s heart thudded hard in her chest and she jumped on Derek, tackling him to the forest floor. “Ah! Laura!”
Giggling, she kissed both of Derek’s cheeks and rubbed their noses affectionately together. “You’re the best brother in the whole entire world, Derek.” His cheeks heated and he smiled up at her, nose wrinkled.
“You’re silly, Laura.”
“But you love me anyway!”
Derek giggled, hands coming up to squish Laura’s cheeks together and smear dirt over her face. “Yep!”