Just Like Her
Chapter 1
It was an ordinary neighborhood, one of white houses and green grass adorned by picket fences framing each and every yard. The air lingered with the feeling of winter as fresh snow gathered in heaps on the grass. The cold was almost unbearable but from one house, the sound of warm laughter was enough to cut through the icy cold of winter. The house itself was decorated with colored Christmas lights draped from the eaves like garland and icicles while a beautiful Christmas tree stood visible from the bay window it was placed in front of. At the center of this boisterous laughter, were two small children tearing away at layers of beautiful paper that encased their presents. Sitting on the couch watching with silent smiles, were too very exhausted parents and weary eyed parents. Everything seemed perfect at that moment.
"Mommy! Jillie is opening my presents!" the little boy cried out to his mom.
"Oh Heero, she's just a baby, she doesn't know any better," his mother replied. She was too tired to get into this at the moment.
Little Heero frowned and then snatched his present from his little sister's hands. She immediately erupted in to uncontrollable hysterics. "Heero! Now why did you do that?" his father told him as he reached for the baby.
"I'm sorry Jillie, here, you can open this one," Heero said as he gave his crying sister another present.
Baby Jillian cooed with glee on her father's lap and slowly tore away bit by bit the ribbon and paper. "Thank you Heero," his mother said as she placed a kiss on his cheek. "You're a good big brother."
Jillian Noelle Yuy was born in the latter days of winter of this past year, March 17th to be exact. It was a lucky day for the Yuy family. Not only was she Heero's baby sister, she was born on the luckiest day of the year, St. Patrick's Day. Her honey colored hair and sapphire eyes were her mother's contribution, as Heero possessed just the opposite with chocolate brown hair and deep blue eyes, almost an exact replica of his father.
Heero was only two when his sister was born and was jealous because of the sudden lack of attention he received from his parents. He always looked on with curious eyes as his parents constantly took care of baby Jillian and tended to all of her needs. Heero tried to help his mom but his mom always told him, "You're too young sweetheart. I just need you to be her big brother right now and watch after her."
As months past, Mrs. Yuy started to let Heero help her with the baby, she always called him, 'Her little helper.' Heero quickly grew attached to his little sister and now he adores her, except for when she takes away his Christmas presents. On that morning, within less than thirty minutes, a room once full of beautifully garnished boxes, was now full of paper shreds and strands of ribbon. Buried under it all were Jillian and Heero's new toys. And lastly, all curled up next to each other in a pile of wrapping paper, Heero and Jillian laid fast asleep, completely worn out from all of the excitement of that morning. Heero's parents took a picture of this moment, it was one they couldn't pass up.
Two years have gone by since that day and Heero and Jillian have become almost inseparable. As much as Heero didn't want to admit it, he adored his little sister and would do almost anything for her. Jillian looked up to her older brother from the day she was born practically, following him wherever he went and wanting to do whatever he did. Of course, she couldn't do everything that he did, but when she could, she was right there to do so. Heero enjoyed the fact that his sister looked up to him, he was proud to be her big brother, it gave him a little ego boost, dangerous in the mind of a four year old. One day while they were playing in the living room, little Jillian looked up and said, "I want to be just like you big brother."
"But Jillie, you're a girl and girls can't be like boys," Heero said matter of factly.
"Why not?" she whined.
"You just can't Jillie," Heero told her.
Jillian's lip began to quiver as she got up and scampered off to her mom as fast as her chubby little legs could carry her. Mrs. Yuy heard the crying and went down the hall to intercept her. She bent down and little Jillian ran into her mother's arms. "What's wrong sweety?" her mother asked her softly.
"Big brother said girls can't be boys," she told her between sniffs.
"What?" her mother replied with a little shock in her voice.
"I want to be just like big brother but he told me I couldn't because girls can't be like boys," she cried.
At that moment, Mr. Yuy came down the stairs and saw a teary eyed Jillian in her mother's arms. "What's wrong angel?" he asked as he stroked her soft hair.
"When she told Heero that she wanted to be just like him, Heero told her she couldn't because girls can't be like boys," Mrs. Yuy informed her husband.
"I'll go have a talk with him," he replied as he gave both his girls kisses on the cheeks.
"Come on sugar, mommy just baked some chocolate chip cookies," Mrs. Yuy told her daughter as they walked down the hall back towards the kitchen.
When Mr.Yuy came into the room, Heero was surrounded by a pile of legos and race cars. "Heero?" his father said as he took a seat on the couch. "Come here and sit on my lap."
"Is it about Jillie?" he asked innocently.
"Just come here," his father replied as he patted his lap.
Heero walked over and hopped on to his father's lap. Mr. Yuy took off Heero's hat as his son stared right back up at him with wide blue eyes. "Now Heero, there is no reason why your sister can't be like you."
"But daddy, she's a girl!" Heero pointed out.
"Yes I know that but she doesn't have to be a boy to be like you," his father said reassuringly.
"What?"
"Heero, Jillian looks up to you, your her big brother you know. She watches everything you do with a close eye. All she wants to do is be like you, not be you."
The look of confusion slowly dissipated from Heero's face as he started to understand what his father meant, well kind of. "So Jillie doesn't want to be a boy?"
"No she doesn't, she just wants to be like her big brother," Mr. Yuy replied in a gentle voice.
"I'm sorry I made Jillie cry daddy."
Mr. Yuy just looked down at his son and smiled. "Well let's go tell her that and then we can have some chocolate chips cookies that your mother just made."
Heero's face lit up, he liked the sound of that idea. Mr. Yuy sat up and scooped Heero up into his arms. He put his hat back on his son's head and they walked in the direction of the kitchen. Sitting at the kitchen table were Mrs. Yuy and little Jillian sitting up in her high chair, her mouth covered in chocolate. Heero's dad put him down and Heero walked over to where his little sister was. "I'm sorry Jillie, I didn't mean to make you cry," Heero said coyly.
Their parents looked on in silence as Heero took off his hat and placed it on his little sister's head. "Here, you can have my hat Jillie."
Jillian giggled with delight as the hat slipped down over her eyes. "Would my little man like some cookies?" Mrs. Yuy asked.
"Yeah!" little Heero cried out. "Can I have some milk with that too?"
"You sure can."
After that little incident, not a day has gone by that Jillian hasn't been up in Heero's room going into his stuff and putting on his clothes. Heero didn't mind all that much, he thought it was rather amusing. He even dressed her up in his clothes that were just a little too big for her tiny body. Jillian loved it though, Heero and her were practically attached at the hip no matter where they went. They were very close as far as siblings were concerned and their parents couldn't be happier. But no matter what, Jillian always wore that same old hat that Heero had given her, it was her favorite piece of clothing.
On Heero's 5th birthday, the Yuy's had their whole family over to celebrate the occasion. When it came to opening his presents, he was overwhelmed with joy at the quantity of them all. After ripping and tearing through all of the boxes and paper, Heero had managed to open all of his presents. Needless to say, he was happy with the gifts he got. His aunt had even given him a Golden Retriever puppy as a gift. As the family was about to go get some cake, little Jillian walked into the room with a piece of paper in her hand. "Here Heewo, I have a present for you," she said proudly.
She handed Heero the piece of paper as all eyes were on the two kids. As she handed Heero the paper, she told him, "I drew this just for you."
Everyone looked on with smiles on their faces just waiting for Heero's reaction. With little blue eyes staring right up at him waiting for an answer, he looked down at her and smiled. "Thank you Jillie, this is the best present anyone has ever given me."
"Really, not even the puppy?!" she said happily.
"Uhuh. Now, let's go get some cake!" he said grabbing her by the hand and running off to the kitchen.
The kids named the puppy Honey after the color of his fur. He was a sweet little puppy that neither one could get enough of and was a perfect addition to the family. Things were looking up for the Yuy family, everything seemed just so perfect at that moment in time, they were one big happy family. Who would have thought that it all could have changed within minutes.
On a beautiful spring day, not too shortly after Heero's birthday, the Yuy's were out in the front yard doing some yard work. The kids were playing with Honey as Mrs. Yuy did the gardening and Mr. Yuy mowed the lawn. Heero and Jillian were running around the yard playing tag with their hyper active puppy, running around in every direction. Honey was running in circles after the two kids and in a fit of excitement, ran out into the street. Still thinking they were playing, Jillian ran out into the street after the dog. "No Jillie! Come back here!" Heero cried out.
Mr. Yuy turned of the lawnmower and turned his head to see what all of the commotion was about. He then saw Jillian run out in the middle of the street in front of an oncoming car. "Jillian, no!" her dad cried out but it was too late.
The driver didn't have time to react and collided with the little girl, sending her flying into the air. "Oh my God!" Heero's mom cried as she ran out into the middle of the street to where her daughter laid.
A neighbor, who witnessed everything, called an ambulance immediately. Help arrived in no time but by the time they got there, it was too late. Jillian's frail body couldn't withstand the blow by the car, she had severe internal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Mrs. Yuy, still in a state of shock and disbelief, held her daughter's limp body in her arms and began to cry uncontrollably. Mr. Yuy held his scared 5 year old son in his arms as both of them cried as the coroner took Jillian's body away from her mother. Mr. Yuy, with Heero still in his arms, walked over to his wife and the three embraced, all three in a fit of tears.
Jillian had died on May 5th, less than two months after her third birthday and only weeks after Heero's fifth. That was the day that Heero went silent, hardly speaking a word to anyone. He had lost his beloved little sister, the one who he adored the most. At the funeral, he watched with stoic eyes as they lowered the tiny white casket into the ground. He wanted to cry out to her but the words stuck in his throat, as they would for years to come.