This was my entry for Day 4 of Cherish the Peanut Week-Life with Siblings.
"She's loud," Roland remarked as he wandered into Henry's room one night when they heard Elaina crying again. "You're lucky your room's not next to hers," he continued as he climbed onto Henry's bed as had become their custom recently. When Robin and Roland had moved in right after getting back from New York, he had taken to reading Roland stories in his room before bed to let him feel more like this was his home. And it seemed to keep Roland from sneaking into his room at other times so it was really a win-win.
Henry laughed at his new little brother's remark.
"Trust me, she's not nearly as bad as my Uncle Neal."
Roland looked at him in disbelief.
"Nu-uh."
"I swear," Henry said. "See," he continued as Elaina's cries started to soften a little. "She calms down quickly when she gets what she wants. Neal takes forever to settle."
Roland shrugged, clearly still not sure about this whole 'new baby sister' thing, but dropped it so Henry started reading him a few more chapters in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and then it was time for bed.
As he walked Roland back to his room down the dark hallway, they heard Elaina start to fuss a bit from her nursery. Roland groaned lightly, but Henry turned to go into her room.
"Come on, let's see what's wrong."
"Papa or Gina will do it," Roland said, yawning.
"Let's let them go to bed," Henry said, walking in and approaching the baby girl who was squirming in her crib uncomfortably.
She had a wet diaper, which was an easy enough fix. He had done it a few times before, so he just lifted her up and quickly got a fresh one on her while Roland watched. He was just going to put her back in her crib, but she fussed again when he tried to put her down.
"What does she want now?" Roland asked, now more curious than anything else.
"I don't know," Henry said, although as Elaina seemed to snuggle up to him as he held her, he had an idea. "Mom does say she likes to be hugged."
He sat down in the chair next to the crib and let the baby cuddle. Not wanting to be left out, Roland came over and squeezed in next to him.
"See," Henry said. "She's not so bad."
"I guess not," Roland said. "She's nice when she's like this."
Elaina's breathing was evening out as her brothers held her. Eventually her eyes shut and didn't reopen.
"Okay, she's sleeping, I think we can go to bed now," Henry said.
"Do you like having a little sister?" Roland whispered as Henry moved to put Elaina back in her crib.
"Sure. You don't?"
Roland shrugged.
"I don't know yet. She's nice when she's like this. I just wasn't sure what a little sister would be like."
"Well, having a little brother has worked out pretty well for me," Henry said, leading him across the hall to his own room. "So I think having a little sister will work for both of us."
Roland grinned at being called Henry's brother, and hugged him before going to bed.
Henry smiled to himself as he went back to his own bedroom down the hall. He wasn't sure what to expect when Robin, Roland, and later Elaina, had moved in with him and his mom into the large house. But he couldn't deny it was nice to have a bigger family living in it.