Alice walked out of volleyball practice, feeling happy. She had just finished a great practice, where she had actually made a few good saves. She looked for her brother, Edward, who she knew would be outside waiting for her after his football practice.
She knew this would be their last year walking home together after school. At 14, he was nearing the end of grade 8, while she was only 10, and in grade five. Next year he would move to the high school, and she would have to walk home alone.
She spotted him near the front of the school, and bounced over, excited to tell him about her practice. They walked home slowly and she told him every detail of her practice, as she often did. He listened patiently, and then told her about an idea that he had come up with.
"You know," he said, "we should talk Mom and Dad into going on a trip this summer. Maybe camping or a road trip. My friend Jack went camping with his parents and he said it was great!"
"Yeah!" Alice exclaimed, bouncing around. "That would be so cool! Maybe we can see some bears! And some chipmunks, they're cute!"
They talked about a camping trip for the rest of the way home. Forks was small, so it only took them about ten minutes.
As they walked into their house, they both ran into the kitchen yelling about their practices. Their mother, Esme, was cutting potatoes on the counter in the island in the kitchen. She looked up at her kids and smiled.
"One a time," she said. "I can't hear both of you at once!"
So while she cooked, they each took turns telling her about their practices. She listened patiently, and told them both she was proud of them. Then she told them to go watch TV with their dad while she finished dinner.
So off they went to the living room to take over the TV from their dad. He let them change the channel, and they watched cartoons until their mom called them to eat a little while later.
They all sat down for dinner, Alice and Edward facing each other, and their parents on each end of the table. It was a nice table, and it fit them all perfectly.
"Wow, Mom, this looks yummy!" said Alice, as she looked down at her dinner of pork roast, potatoes with brown sugar, green beans, and diet coke. It was her absolute favourite dinner.
"Yeah, Mom, what's the occasion?" asked Edward as he ate. "It's a more food than you normally make, and you put out pop, so what's up?"
"Well, kids, me and your father have something we need to tell you," Esme told them, "and you guys might not like it too much."
Their dad, Carlisle, decided to chime in, saying, "We hope that you guys will be happy about it, like we are. It's a good thing."
The kids were not happy to hear this, fearing horrible news. They could not think of anything that would get their parents anxious enough about telling them that they had even cooked their favourite dinner.
"Well, kids, there's no other way to tell you this, but me and your dad are having another baby." Esme told them, hoping they would take it well. "We don't know yet if it's a girl or a boy."
Silence greeted this announcement. A baby? It wasn't what the kids had been expecting, and they weren't sure if they liked it. They sat there in silence, thinking about it for a few minutes.
Finally, it was Alice who broke the silence.
"Okay," she said slowly, "but if it's a girl she can't touch my dolls. She'll be small, and she'll break them. So she can't play with them. And she has to let me dress her up and do her hair."
Her mom smiled. "Don't worry, darling, she won't touch your dolls unless you let her play with you. Maybe when she's older. And Edward, what do you think?"
"Well," Edward said, obviously still thinking it through, "I don't really want to have to share my room with anyone. And I don't want anyone banging on my piano. But it'd be cool to have a little brother to play with. I could teach him football!"
"So you guys are ok with it?" asked Carlisle. "You don't hate that there's going to be another little brother or sister?"
Edward thought about it. "No," he said, "I think we're ok. We can deal with it."
"I was really worried about how you guys would react," said their mom, "but I'm glad that you guys are ok with it."
Happy that the kids weren't going to throw a fit about having a new sibling, the parents could rest easily. They had been expecting it to be a big argument. They were pleased that their children could take this as maturely as they did.
"So," said their mom, "why don't you guys do your homework as soon as we're done dinner, and then we can all play a game or maybe watch a movie?"
"Okay!" yelled the kids, and ran off to do their homework.
"Well, that went well," said Esme. "I expected worse or at the least some embarrassing questions. I'm really surprised."
Just then, Alice came back into the kitchen. She looked as though she was trying to think of what to say.
"I have three questions." she told them. "Can we name her Cinderella? Because she was pretty and maybe that way she'll marry a prince."
Her mom laughed and told her that she'd think about it.
"If it's a boy, can we name him Prince Charming? Because maybe he'll fight dragons and marry a princess."
Once again her mom told her she'd think about it once the baby was born.
"And what's the third question?" her mom asked her.
"Well, I know you said you're having a baby, but where does the baby come from? How does it get here? And what do you have to do to sign up for the baby delivery list?"
She finished talking and waited for them to tell her where babies come from.
Her parents sighed, and both sat down to have a talk with her.