The Youngest of the Family
She couldn't remember ever being more excited.
She was practically vibrating in her seat in the car, barely able to wait until they finally got there, until she could see-
Perhaps some exposition is in order.
This particular girl was named Toothiana, and she looked to be in her mid-teens. In actuality, she was about twenty, but she'd always been small. The reason she was so excited is that her world was about to grow and change in ways she'd never have expected. By the time she came home, she wouldn't be the youngest in her family anymore-she would have a little boy of her own to look after, to cherish and adore and scold and share life with like her brother had for her. She had been dreaming of what he might be like for a long, long time. She was sure he'd have the brightest blue eyes, just like his family! And he'd be beautiful. She knew she was going to adore him already.
Finally, the moment of truth. The first time she ever would see her little light. She was shaking. She held out her arms, closed her eyes...
He was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. He looked at her for the briefest moment, looking mildly confused. He was old enough that he could recognize that he hadn't seen her before, she knew, just a toddler and already as cute as a button, with his shock of brown hair and big, big eyes. Her parents were doing whatever parents do when child adoption was going on, but she didn't care. All she could do was look at this precious thing-a child! Her child! Her little brother!-and know that she was responsible for him now. She would raise him and love him and she would never let anyone hurt him. That's what sisters are for, after all.
During the ride home, he cried. He made little wailing sounds that broke her heart every time she heard them, and the fierce joy and love she had felt gave way to panic and oh my god how do I fix this? No miracle answer came to her as she fluttered uselessly, but she did her best. She reached over to his booster seat and put a hand on his shoulder, careful because he's so tiny, and cooed at him wordlessly. Gradually the crooning became a soft, wordless lullaby, and she would talk for months about how he relaxed and stopped crying when she comforted him.
From that point onwards, she thought he was the cutest thing in the world. He turned out to be a troublemaker, and she couldn't have been prouder. He was the cleverest person in her world, and while they were far from inseperable-she was busy, and some days they didn't see each other more than five minutes each day-she adored him.
When he fell asleep on the couch years after, she crooned another half-lullaby, calling him pet names and babbling nonsense at him. "You know, there was a time when I swore I would never do this," she said quietly, humming at the child as she picked him up gently-and with great strain, he was growing!
Her older brother Aster looked up from the chair next to her. He smiled.
"You know, there was a time when I believed you."