CHAPTER 3: A New Family Life

The next couple of months were pretty exciting. Uncle Aaron and Aunt Amy's house in Manhattan was really something. I guess that when you work for the UN (Aunt Amy) or Bloomingdale's (Uncle Aaron), life can be pretty wonderful, especially if you're going to have a baby. In fact, about a month after our arrival, that's exactly what happened...

It was 6:45 on a Thursday morning. The first thing I heard was Uncle Aaron's voice saying, "Jason? Hey, Jason, wake up, little buddy. I've got to talk to you."

I woke up, yawning and trying to open my eyes. "Wh...what is it?" I asked.

"Aunt Amy's going to the hospital now," my uncle answered.

"What? Why?"

"She's having the baby," my uncle told me. "You're going to have a new cousin."

When I heard this, I woke right up. "I am?!" I asked. He nodded, and I threw my arms around him. I was the happiest little boy in the world when I heard this.

"Well, we should be going now," Uncle Aaron said happily. "We'll call as soon as we can, okay?"

I nodded as Uncle Aaron gave me a kiss and walked out of the room.

I lay in bed for several more minutes, but I couldn't get back to sleep. I mean, if you were just told that your aunt was about to bring your new cousin into the world, you'd have trouble falling asleep, too, right? I jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen, where I found Mum fixing breakfast.

"Good morning, love," she said. "Did you sleep well?"

I nodded as I sat down at the kitchen table, then I started firing questions at Mum: "Is Aunt Amy going to be all right? When will the baby be here?"

"She's going to be just fine," Mum answered as she set a bowl of oatmeal in front of me. "The baby will be here soon."

Well, that was good news. "You know something, Mummy?" I asked. "I'm glad we moved here. I think I'm starting to like it in America already."

"Me, too," Mum smiled, dropping a couple of sugar cubes into her coffee. "And don't worry. We'll find a place of our own someday."

I was glad to hear this, but at the same time, I couldn't wait to meet my new cousin.

Several hours later, we were watching Sesame Street on the telly when the phone rang. Mum scooted across the couch to answer it

"Hello?" I heard her say. "Oh, hi, Aaron...She did?...Oh, that's just wonderful!...Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can, but what about Jason?...Okay, I'll tell him. And don't worry, I'll keep an eye on things whilst you're away...Okay, thanks again, and a thousand blessings upon you both. 'Bye."

Mum hung up the phone and faced me. "That was your Uncle Aaron. Your Aunt Amy had a baby girl, Alexandra Jane Lennon. She weighs 7 pounds. 2 ½ ounces, was born at 11:18 a.m., and is perfectly healthy."

I couldn't believe it. This was my cousin! I have a new cousin!

"That's great, Mummy!" I cried. "When are we going to get to see her?"

"You'll get to see her soon, love," Mum said, putting her hand on mine. "I'm going to the hospital to see them this evening. Uncle Aaron told me I have to leave you with Mrs. Sullivan for a little while."

"Okay," I grinned. Mrs. Sullivan is Uncle Aaron and Aunt Amy's neighbor. She has a son named Luke, amd he's a lot of fun to be with, even though he's blind and almost a year younger than me. But he was, and still is, my best friend.

Well, the day that I got to meet Alex—which is what I call her—finally arrived. The first thing I remember Mum saying to me is, "Now remember, Jason, she's still very little, and she may be scared of being around so many people at once. So be nice to her, and keep your voice down around her."

"I will," I promised. "I'm just glad I'm finally going to get to meet her."

At that moment, I heard the car pull into the driveway. They were home! I ran to the front door and opened it. Even though I was really excited, I still remembered what Mum told me.

"Hi, Jason," Aunt Amy smiled. "Let's all go inside so we can see your new cousin."

After Mum and Uncle Aaron carried Aunt Amy's things into the house, the three of them sat on the couch, and I sat on Mum's lap, where I got a good look at my new cousin. She had dark curly hair, like Uncle Aaron, and really dark skin. When she opened her eyes, I noticed that they were a very dark greenish-brown.

"Can I touch her?" I whispered to Aunt Amy. She nodded, and I ran my fingertips across Alex's arm. Her nightie felt as soft as a kitten, and she smelled of baby lotion. That's one smell I've always loved, and from that day on, whenever I smelled it, I thought of the day I first met Alex.

"Isn't she beautiful, Jason?" Mum asked.

I nodded, and a tear slid down my face. From the first time I met Alex, I was truly thankful to be here, and to have her for a cousin.

Don't get me wrong—I was glad she was here, but I absolutely hated it at night. You see, when Mum and I first arrived in America, I was given the room that was to be the nursery, but when she came, she cried all night. At first, I was more than happy to comfort her, but it soon got to the point where I had to sleep on the couch. Fortunately, I didn't have to put up with it for very long, because a month later, Mum had some good news.

"Guess what, Jason?" Mum said one Saturday night while she was giving me my bath. "Aunt Amy helped me find a flat this afternoon."

"Oh, really?" I asked. I was glad to hear this, because that meant that I wouldn't have to put up with Alex crying at night anymore. (By the way, Alex, if you ever read this, you know I still love you to death, right?) "Where is it?"

"It's on the Upper West Side of Manhattan," Mum answered as she finished rinsing the shampoo out of my hair. "There's probably a lot of kids there for you to play with."

"Do you think so?"

"Sure I do. Remember how nice you were to Luke when you first met him?"

"Aye," I answered. "Well, time to get out now?"

"Mm-hm. Would you like to...?"

I pulled the plug out of the drain before Mum could finish her sentence. While the water drained, Mum wrapped me in a towel, lifted me out of the tub, and dried me off.

"I've also noticed you've been sleeping on the couch," Mum commented as she finished blow-drying my hair. "How would you like to sleep in my room tonight?"

"Sure," I said. Anything was better than that couch.

"Good. I'll pull out the duvet for you," Mum smiled as she put the hair dryer away, then left me alone to put on my Spider-Man Underoos and brush my teeth.

We're getting a flat, I thought over and over again.

Before I went to bed that night, I knelt beside the duvet to say my prayers: "Dear God, thank You for the new flat, for bringing Alex into the world, and for watching over Mummy and me on our way to America. Please watch over Granny, and take care of Daddy for us. Amen."

I climbed into bed. Mum kissed me good night, turned off the light, and left the room, leaving the door ajar. As I fell asleep, I thanked God again for all that He'd done for us. I also wondered what our new home was like, and how soon we'd be moving.

A week or so later, Mrs. Sullivan drove us to our new home, which only took about half an hour. She and Mum were talking in the front seat, but I wasn't listening, because Luke and I were having our own conversation. Oh, I should probably tell you what Luke looks like, too.

It's been a few months since I've seen him, but at the time, he was a couple of inches shorter than me. He also had—and still does, unless he's changed it—light brown, almost blond hair and pale blue eyes. Like I said before, he's blind, and has been since birth, I'm told. But he's still a good friend.

"I'm glad you've got a place to live now, Jason," he said.

"Thanks," I said. "You know, you can come visit me any time you want."

"Sounds great. I'll talk to Mommy about it," Luke grinned, and we pinky-swore.

That's when I happened to look out my window to see the World Trade Center. I never imagined it was even possible for any building to be anywhere near that tall. I also wondered what went on inside those two towers, and what it would be like to go all the way to the top.

None of us could've suspected what would eventually happen to them.

We arrived at our new home a few minutes later. The inside was really pretty: fully-furnished, wall-to-wall carpeting, TV, dishwasher, garbage disposal, and Jacuzzi. My room was pretty cool, too. The walls were light blue with white clouds painted on them, and the door had a picture of the Statue of Liberty hanging on it. (In case you're wondering, I was asleep when we flew over the real thing.)

When I looked out the window, I saw that I had a great view of Central Park, even though I couldn't see the whole thing. I was about to turn away from the window when something down below caught my eye. It was a man wearing a tan business suit crossing the street, carrying his little girl on his shoulders. This girl was adorable. She looked like she was around my age, and had golden-blond hair in two braids, blue eyes, and was wearing a yellow long-sleeved polo shirt, bright red overalls, and white sneakers with red trim, as well as a gray sweatshirt jacket. I couldn't help smiling when I saw her. She was that cute.

Right in the middle of the crosswalk, she looked up to where I was, and smiled back. And what a beautiful smile she had, too.

I didn't know it at the time, but that girl was Stacey McGill.