"Kendall!" Sutton said frustrated with her daughter, she'd spent almost an hour trying on uniform sizes for Kendall's first year of school. It was amazing how fast time seemed to fly away. Her first born was starting school in a month but she felt like it was only yesterday when she brought that tiny baby home, wrapped in a pink blanket. Her features were so small and now she was almost 3 and a half feet tall. Now she had been struggling to get her daughter to let her dress her in the dressing room of the small store exclusively for school uniforms. It was like being stuck in a store of plaid and polo's. It reminded her of her elementary school days before she pitched a fit to Ted to let her go to public school even though he swore she'd get a better education at the Academy she already attended. Though he reluctantly caved in her sophomore year when she threatened to get herself kicked out so she was forced to go to public school. So why she thought it was a good idea to put her own kid through that kind of private school torture was beyond her, but when she looked at Kendall in the familiar plaid jumper and polo, she couldn't believe how utterly cute she was. Plus, being forced to wear the same 3 outfits everyday would make it easier to get Kendall to school especially when the new baby arrive. Which reminded her, she had an appointment in a hour and she really needed to get this done so she could meet with Thayer to get lunch and find out the gender of their child. "I need you to please cooperate with me, we need to get going, daddy's going to meet us for lunch and then we are going to find out if you're having a brother or a sister. Aren't you excited for that?"
Kendall looked at the small bump protruding from Sutton's middle and then looked up and smiled, "I hope it's a sister!" She said. She put her arms up so Sutton could slip the white polo with the school's logo stitched in the upper left-hand corner and pulled the jumper over Kendall's shoulder's. She checked the fit of the jumper and when it looked like it fit she slipped it off her daughter and put the little girl's regular clothes back on. She grabbed two jumpers of the same size and a matching plaid skirt, blue skirt and khaki skirt that was on the mandatory uniform list for Kindergarten students. She made sure to grab a few polo's in the three allowed color's; black, white and navy blue. Just for fun she grabbed a few school approved hair bows and headbands to accessorize the strict uniform code. By the time they checked out, she'd spent over $300 and she felt like she could faint and that was on top of the $20,000 she was spending annually in tuition to send Kendall to the school. Now she had Kendall in the booster seat in the car, staring out the window. She played a few of her Kendall approved mommy tunes playing and for a moment, she caught her daughter singing along. It was funny how she knew every word to every song and even some times she'd hold up a fist pretending it was a microphone. It was times like this she wished she had the camera to capture these silly moments. But she smiled as she pulled into the McDonald's just a mile from Dr. Janowski's office and found Thayer sitting at an empty table. She pulled open the door and Kendall ran flying into Thayer's arms, "daddy!" She exclaimed.
Thayer lifted up his little girl and held her, "Hi sweetheart, how was school shopping?" He asked.
"Boring." SHe stated looking down in sadness.
"Boring? How could shopping be boring?" He said then he smiled at Sutton and leaned in for a kiss.
"I'm not sure munchkin is ready for all the changes happening." Sutton said rubbing her belly.
Thayer nodded in understanding and looked at Kendall, "You are going to like school honey." He said kissing her forehead.
Kendall looked up at him, "I don't like the clothes." She said.
Thayer laughed knowing that over the short four and a half years Sutton had raised her she'd turned Kendall into a little fashionista only buying her the most expensive outfits. Half of her wardrobe had been purchased from either J. Crew Kids or Juicy Couture. Though she had a lot of cheaper clothes, those were saved mostly for lazy days at home. Sutton almost always made a statement when it came to dressing her daughter and now that Kendall was old enough to pick out her own outfits, she was very particular about the clothes she wanted to wear. Today she'd chased her bling skinny dark wash jeans, a white shirt that said choose Juicy, with a black vest like jacket over top and a black knitted beret on her head. Her hair was pulled back in a low bun and her ears dangled little Eiffel Towers from their lobes. She kicked black and gold sandals against her small feet that had been freshly manicured in a sparkly pink nail polish she picked from Sutton's collection. "Well honey, everyone in your class will all have the same clothes on."
"Why?" She asked crinkling her face, "That's stupid."
Thayer smiled as he stepped up to the counter to place their order. When he was done he paid the cashier and took a step out of the way to allow the next person to order. He looked at her, "Because baby, in private school all the kids wear the same outfits so no one looks different." He said honestly, unsure of how to explain school uniforms to his daughter.
She looked at him, "That's silly daddy. People are a 'posed to look different!" she grinned. Thayer was saved by the food trays being shoved his way and he put Kendall down.
"Go find mama and I'll be right behind you with lunch." He instructed. Kendall nodded and turned around scouring the entire dining room for her mom and when she saw Sutton, she ran towards her, climbing into the booth beside her.
After they ate, they headed over to Dr. Janowski's office. Sutton's nerves seemed to sky rocket every time she thought about the gender of her baby. She wasn't sure what she wanted herself. She'd asked everyone but herself if she wanted a boy or a girl. She had debated back and forth. The guilt of the loss of Harper still weighed heavily on her heart but wanting another little girl would be sweet too. She looked up at the sound of her name being called from the door. She stood up and walked past the door and down the hall. Thayer followed with Kendall in his arm. She reached for his hand and squeezed it when he slid his hand between hers. Having that connection seemed to calm her down. Having her family behind her made her feel like it didn't matter what she was having. Her family was her everything and no matter what she was having, she knew this would only make her family better.
In the small examining room, Sutton sat on the examination table and looked at Thayer, "Are you ready for this?" She asked. Her heart pounded.
Thayer smiled at her. Kendall sat in his lap, her thumb in her mouth and she looked down at the ground, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Just take a deep breath and relax. It doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl as long as it's healthy. That's what matters."
Kendall looked up at her father and popped her thumb out of her mouth, "But I want a sister." She whined.
Thayer looked at her, "I know but don't you think it would be nice to have a brother?"
Kendall looked at her mother. Sutton's hands rubbed her small baby bump and she looked down at her daughter. Kendall's eyebrows furrowed and she pouted, "I want a sister though!" She protested.
Sutton shook her head knowing that the opinion of a four year old was only that- the opinion of a four year old. Sure, her opinion mattered, Sutton reminded herself. But the little girl didn't fully understand these things and quite frankly Sutton didn't mind keeping those details a secret for a long, long time. "Well either way you're going to have a sibling, that's fun right?" She asked hoping to make her daughter smile.
Kendall looked up at her mom, a worried look on her face, "Will you still love me when the baby comes?" She asked. Her voice pinched with sadness.
Sutton opened her arms, "Come here, baby," She said. Kendall slid from Thayer's lap and ran over to Sutton. Sutton lifted the little girl and put her on her lap. She brushed Kendall's long locks of hair behind her ear and wrapped her arms around the little girls tiny body, "Listen to me, ok?" She said Kendall nodded looking at her mom, Sutton looked at her little girl. A sudden memory of her first night with her daughter flashed in her memory and she kissed Kendall's forehead, "You are always going to be mommy and daddy's baby girl. No matter what you do, we will love you more than you will ever be able to know. A baby brother or sister will need a lot of mommy and daddy's attention, just like you did when you were a baby, but a baby won't take away how much we love you, Kendall."
Kendall looked up at her mom, "I love you too, mommy." Then she wrapped her arms around Sutton's neck and hugged her mother.
Just then the door opened and Dr. Janowski entered the room, "Hello everyone. I see you have the whole family with you for this special day." She said. "If you wanna assume the position, Sutton we can get this thing going." She said. Sutton laid back on the table. Kendall went back to Thayer's lap and Sutton put her feet in the stirrup's. She lifted her shirt and Dr. Janowski applied some of the goo to her skin. It was exceptionally colder today than it had been in the past and it made Sutton suck in her stomach. When she relaxed, Dr. Janowski began looking for the position the baby was in. As she did the time before, she invited Kendall and Thayer to join at Sutton's side to watch the action firsthand. When she found the tiny baby growing in her womb she stopped and smiled, "alright let's see what's growing in there. Is it a boy or a girl?" She looked at Kendall, "What do you think?"
Kendall looked at the screen and then at Dr. Janowski, "A girl!" She said proudly.
Dr. Janowski nodded and then looked at Thayer, "And you dad, what do you think it is?"
Thayer looked at Sutton and smiled, she squeezed his hand and he looked at the doctor, "I think as long as it a healthy baby, I will love it no matter what."
Dr. Janowski smiled at Thayer's answer. "Well Kendall, I think you got your wish. It looks like we got a baby girl growing in there."
Kendall threw her hands in the air, "a baby sister?" She asked proudly.
Sutton nodded, "Yeah, a baby sister. Now are you happy?"
Kendall nodded, "Very happy mama!" She said.
Sutton looked at Thayer. How reaction wasn't quite as full of joy as his daughter's but he still smiled, "A healthy baby girl." He said softly. He squeezed Sutton's hand, "Another daughter." He said kissing her on the lips.
Sutton already started thinking about names as she sat in the air on the way home, "What about Ella? Ella Jayne?" She said smiling. She put her hands on her belly to try and gauge a name suitable for her daughter, but there were so many names flowing through her head.
Thayer looked at her, "We have 4 more month's to come up with the perfect name, baby. Just relax and enjoy the pregnancy." He said as he drove down the highway. Kendall slept silently in the back seat. A long day of school uniform shopping and finding out that she was having a sister really wore the child out.
