This idea came to me a while ago and I couldn't wait to start it. In this story Caine is adopted when he's three months old. Please R & R to let me know what you think. Enjoy!
William Soren opened his front door. "Liz! I'm home!" He called out, with no reply from his wife.
"Oh, Mr Soren," the maid Carla said as she came from the living room, "Mrs Soren is out."
Mr Soren frowned, his wife hadn't told him she was going out. In fact, he was only home early because she had asked him to. She had said they needed some family time. "Did she say where she was going?"
Carla shook her head. Both of them then turned around when they heard a high-pitched squeal.
Mr Soren smiled to himself, "I guess she didn't take Caine with her."
"No," Carla replied, "Mrs Soren asked me to look after him."
"Well, I will happily relieve you of your post," Mr Soren said as he walked to the living room.
Carla stood there for a minute, puzzled. She had worked for the Sorens for a few months yet she doubted that she would ever get Mr Soren's jokes.
Caine was in the living room, sitting in his playpen. He was bashing his building blocks about and had a smile so big that it made Mr Soren smile too. He lifted his son out of the playpen and sat down on the floor with Caine. Mr Soren knew that Caine would grow up being spoilt. He knew it from the day the Sorens made Caine theirs. But after eight years of hardship of not being able to have their own child, finally having a child made them feel complete. Caine had been their son for six months now and Mr Soren could easily say that it was the happiest time of his life, despite sleep-deprivation and being thrown up on.
Mr Soren set Caine in his lap and grabbed a book to read to him. Caine struggled; he was nine months and had just mastered crawling. There had been an incident where Caine had gotten halfway up the stairs and Mrs Soren had almost had a nervous breakdown at the prospect of her dear son being harmed. Worst of all was that it had happened on Mr Soren's watch and he had gotten an ultrasonic earful from his wife. Since then the house had been made completely baby-safe, and also William-Soren-safe. It had taken a full week for him just to figure out how to open the fridge door.
The sound of the front door closing turned Mr Soren's attention away from the book. Mrs Soren walked in, a little shaky. She smiled when she saw her husband and son. "There are my two favourite men!" She crouched down beside Mr Soren and gazed into Caine's deep brown eyes.
"Are you okay?" Mr Soren inquired.
"Um…well, I'm not sure."
Mr Soren looked at her. She had been acting strange for the past few weeks, but he had guessed it was some woman thing, so hadn't dared to ask, in case he got the details. "Where were you?" He asked as he let Caine crawl over to his mother.
"The doctor's." Mrs Soren said far too nonchalant for a hypochondriac.
"What's wrong?" Mr Soren was worried and looked at his wife.
She put a reassuring hand to his face. "Nothing's wrong. I'm pregnant!"
Mr Soren's eyes widened, he was speechless. "But," he stammered, "The doctor said… he said you couldn't."
"I know," Mrs Soren said slowly as he she wiped away a tear of joy. "But he was wrong; I'm pregnant. We're having a baby." They both stood up to hug each other, standing like that for a long time. When they let go they looked down at Caine. "But remember, Caine will be our child just as much as this new baby. We will love them each no more or less than the other, agreed?"
"Of course," Mr Soren said as he lifted up Caine. "You're going to be a big brother, how do you like that?" Caine made no response other than to suck his thumb. His parents hugged each other again, including Caine in their hug.
6 Months later
Carla pushed Caine in his pushchair towards the information desk. The sound of crying babies filled the ward. She asked the nurse on duty where Mrs Soren was and followed her directions. Outside Mrs Soren's room was Mr Soren, looking exhausted. He smiled when he saw Caine and bent down to pick him up. "Alright, son. Time to meet your little sister." He turned towards Carla. "Mine and Liz's parents will be coming soon, so could you go and sit near the desk to tell them where Liz is?"
Carla nodded and walked back, because apparently she had nothing better to do than to sit about waiting to act like a tour guide.
Mr Soren looked around and made sure there was no one in earshot. He gently turned Caine's head so that he could look him in the eye. "Okay, buddy," he whispered. "I know we were rooting for a boy. Someone for you to play catch with and wrestle with. I was the same when your Auntie Jill was born. I really wanted a brother but I got a sister. Don't worry though, sisters aren't too bad." He smiled and rubbed Caine's cheek. "In fact Auntie Jill was pretty good at tossing a ball about. And even though she was three years younger, a few times she did do some serious damage when we wrestled. The trouble is that girls don't get the 'Never Below The Belt' rule." Mr Soren chuckled. He may as well have been talking to wall for all the response Caine gave him.
"Come on then, let's go in," Mr Soren said as he opened the door. His wife was in bed gazing down at their daughter, who was the strikingly like her, with tuffs of blonde hair and big blue eyes that were heavy. She looked up and smiled at Caine and Mr Soren. "How do you feel, honey?" Mr Soren asked.
"Dreadful, but it was worth it. Here, set Caine down beside me so we can introduce them to each other."
Mr Soren obeyed and then sat down on the chair beside the bed. Caine looked between his mum, dad and a few times at the strange new person who was also being held by her mother.
"So, Caine," Mrs Soren's voice was full of exhaustion as she held her daughter towards Caine. "Meet Emmeline Rebecca Soren. But we'll just call her Emmy. She's your little sister and you're a big brother now. Can you say Emmy?"
Mrs Soren repeated saying it until Caine finally squealed "M-ee!" Caine then began gently prodding Emmy's hand and stared at her as she yawned.
He kept poking at her blanket and arms, each time with slightly more force. Mrs Soren smiled over at her husband.
"See, I told you that they would be the best of friends," Mr Soren said as he held out his hand to his wife. She took it and gazed into his eyes, only turning away when Emmy started to cry. Caine's pokes had turned into a slap at Emmy's head.
"It's okay, sweetheart," Mrs Soren tried to soothe Emmy by rocking her back and forth.
Mr Soren lifted Caine off the bed and onto his knee. "You have to be gentle with her. She's only little."
Caine reached towards his mother and wanted to get back beside her. "Mummy!" Caine whined.
"Don't worry," Mrs Soren looked over at him when Emmy settled. "We love you both the same because you are both ours."
