"Hi, ma." Jack held the phone to his ear, peering into the backyard where Elizabeth was watching Harrison run around with Simba. "I know I promised to call you as soon as we got home, but we had to deal with a Harrison meltdown."
"So it's a girl?" Charlotte asked.
He chuckled. "Yes. Your first granddaughter."
"Congratulations, son. It's been a while since there's been a Thornton girl born."
"Oh, that's right."
"Everything is still looking good?"
"Mhmm." Jack smiled at Harrison laughing while Simba licked his face. "Baby girl is healthy and growing like she should be. Elizabeth is doing great, too."
"Good. But Harrison's pretty upset about it?"
Jack sighed. "Yes. And we don't really know what to do about it. I told him it's okay to be upset, but we don't get to choose what the baby is."
"Maybe just try to involve him as much as you can. Let him pick some things out for her, maybe even let him give some input on her name."
"Good idea. We'll try that."
"And if you want my input on her name, Charlie is a good one."
He laughed. "I'll put it on our list, but no promises, ma."
"That's all I ask." She chuckled. "I'll let you go now, son. Thank you for giving me the news about my granddaughter."
"We'll see you soon, ma. Love you."
"I love you, son."
He stuck his phone in his pocket before heading outside to join his family. Elizabeth smiled, holding her hand out to him.
He slipped his fingers into hers "I told my mom."
"Is she excited?" She placed her free hand on her stomach.
"Yes. She said we need to put Charlie on our list of potential names."
"Oh, she did?" She raised her eyebrows. "It's pretty cute, but I don't know if it's our daughter's name."
"Our daughter." He grinned, shaking his head. "I still can't believe we're having a little girl." He put his hands on her belly. "Our baby girl."
"Harrison seems to be doing a little better about the news now."
"I think it'll still take a while before he's okay with it. Mom says we should try to involve him as much as we can, let him give his input on her name, let him pick out toys and clothes for her."
"That's a good idea."
He glanced back out at Harrison, who was lying in the grass beside Simba, petting the dog's back. "Yeah, so maybe when I take him back-to-school shopping, I'll see if he wants to get anything for the baby."
"I don't want to think about back-to-school shopping." She shook her head. "There's no way he's old enough for kindergarten already."
"Just wait until baby girl is getting ready for her first day of school."
"No, she's never going to grow up. I've been telling her that every day, and I know she's a good girl who's going to do what her mommy says."
Jack smiled. "I love you so much."
...
"Daddy? Can I get this one?" Harrison carried the backpack over to Jack. "It has Legos on it!"
"If that's the one you want, we can get it."
"Okay!" He put the backpack into the cart. "Can we get some Legos, too?"
"Maybe. We need to get the rest of your school supplies first, though. Let's go look at lunchboxes."
"I want a Lion King lunchbox," he stated as he helped his dad push the cart. "Or dinosaurs."
"Maybe they'll have a Lion King lunch box and a dinosaur water bottle."
"Yeah! I want that!"
"Let's go see. Then we need to look for a few new outfits for you."
A little while later, the cart was half full of Harrison's new school supplies, a handful of T-shirts, a few pairs of pants, and a new pair of tennis shoes.
Jack pushed the cart across the aisle, pausing in front of the baby section. "Should we get something for your baby sister before we go?"
"No." Harrison shook his head.
"Babies need a lot of things, bud. I think it would be nice if she had something from her big brother. You could pick out an outfit, or a blanket, or even a stuffed animal."
"No, daddy. I don't wanna get her anything."
"Are you sure? I'll let you pick out anything you want."
He crossed his arms. "I only wanna get things for a brother."
"Well, okay. You don't need to pick anything out for her, but I'm going to get a few things that mommy asked for."
He started down one of the aisles, keeping an eye on Harrison as he stayed by the cart. He picked out packs of swaddles, towels, and washcloths before meandering through the clothing section.
"Look at this one, Sonny boy." He held up a little dress. "It has Baby Yoda on it. Should we get it for the baby?"
He shrugged. "I don't care."
"I think your baby sister will love it." He dropped it into the cart with the rest of their purchases. "There are lots of cute little stuffed animals over here. Even some dinosaurs. Are you absolutely sure you don't want to get her anything?"
He stomped his foot. "I don't want a sister!"
"Hey." Jack crouched down in front of him. "I know you're upset. Why don't we take a few deep breaths?" He put his hands on Harrison's shoulders, leading him in a couple of deep breaths. "You can be angry that you aren't getting a brother, but your sister is still going to arrive no matter how you feel."
His eyes began to fill with tears. "I just want a brother."
"I know, bud." Jack pulled him into his arms, rubbing his back gently. "We don't always get the things we want, though."
"Daddy?" He took a shaky breath. "Can we go home now?"
"Yeah, Harrison. We just need to pay for everything." He kissed his cheek. "I love you, bud."
...
"Mm." Elizabeth inhaled as she walked in the door. "It smells so good in here."
Harrison came running out of the kitchen. "Hi, mommy! We made brownies!"
"Oh, so that's what smells so good." She set down her bag. "Did you get everything you needed for school?"
"Uh huh! Come see!" He took her hand, pulling her toward his room. "I got a backpack with Legos on it, and a Simba lunchbox, and a dinosaur water bottle! And new blue shoes that make me run really fast!"
"Wow. Sounds like you're all set for kindergarten."
"Yeah!" He sat on his bed, showing her everything he had picked out that day. "Daddy let me pick everything myself."
"Well, you picked some really great things, bud." She ruffled his hair. "Did you help pick out anything for your sister?"
He furrowed his brow. "No. I don't wanna pick stuff for a sister."
"Oh." She put her hand on her stomach. "Harrison, is there a reason why you want a brother but not a sister?"
He shrugged. "Sisters are no fun."
"How do you know that? You've never had a sister before."
"I don't like playing with girls."
"You play with Zoey at school," she pointed out.
"But Zoey plays the same games as me."
"Maybe your sister will like playing the same games as you. But if she doesn't, then that just means you won't have to share your toys with her."
He huffed. "I still don't want a sister."
"Well you know what? You'll probably be your sister's favorite person. You'll get to help teach her things, like how to take care of Simba, and how to fish and build Legos, or even about the animals at the zoo. She's going to love you so much."
"Really?"
"Really. She already loves you." She smoothed down his hair. "She starts moving around when she hears you."
"She does?" His eyes lit up.
"She does. Pretty soon, you'll be able to feel her moving around in here." She touched her stomach. "I'm so glad she has such a great big brother to look up to."
"Is she going to cry a lot?"
Elizabeth chuckled. "When she's little, yes. She won't know how to talk yet, so crying is how she'll let us know if she's hungry or needs her diaper changed, or if she wants her big brother to hold her." She smiled, giving him a little poke in the side. "But don't worry. Daddy and I are going to make sure you have time away from the crying. Maybe we can have a special dinner every once in a while, just the three of us."
"Where will the baby go?"
"She can stay with Nana for a bit, or with Grandma Grace and Grandpa William."
He was quiet as he thought for a moment. "Okay." He nodded. "I guess I can have a sister."
"Good." She kissed the top of his head, giving him a little squeeze.
"But can you give me a brother next time?"
"We'll see." She laughed. "I love you, Harrison."
...
Jack started pulling the baby things he had purchased out of the bag. "I just got a few things. Harrison got upset when I asked him if he wanted to pick anything out for her, so I didn't want to spend too much time in the baby section."
"These are cute." She held up the little dress, chuckling. "Of course, you got her something Star Wars themed."
"Come on, you love Baby Yoda, too."
"I do." She set the dress down, then picked up the pack of swaddles. "You really went girly with these, huh?"
He shrugged. "What can I say? I'm excited to have a daughter."
She took a seat on his lap, wrapping her arms around him. "I love you, Jack."
"I love you." He kissed her softly, resting a hand on her stomach. "So how is little Charlie doing today?"
She laughed. "She's great, but I'm still pretty sure we aren't going to name her Charlie."
"So what are we going to name her?"
"I don't know. Maybe we can use Charlotte for her middle name, but I want her to have her own name." She smiled when she felt a little kick. "I guess baby girl agrees. Maybe Harrison will have some name ideas."
"If he even wants anything to do with her."
"I think we may have gotten past that, actually." She moved her hand to his knee. "I realized we hadn't asked him why he wants a brother but not a sister. He said sisters aren't fun, so we talked about the things he can do with a sister."
"I tried telling him that his sister might like some of the same things he likes. I guess he just needed to hear it from someone else."
"He told me he still wants a brother next time, but he seems to be feeling better about having a sister now. He got really excited when I told him the baby moves around more when she hears him."
"You aren't far enough along for her to be hearing voices yet."
"I know, but Harrison doesn't need to know that. It's only stretching the truth a little bit, because she does move around when he's talking sometimes."
He shook his head and smiled, settling his hands on her back. "I can't believe we're over halfway to meeting her now."
"I know, and we still have so much to get done before she arrives. We need to paint the nursery, and get a crib and a bassinet and a rocking chair and—"
"Hey." He put a finger to her lips. "We have plenty of time. Everything will be ready for her."
"Promise?"
He nodded. "I promise."
...
"Boys," Jack poked his head into the bedroom, finding Harrison and James giggling as they flipped through one of his books. "It's time for bed."
"Aw man! Five more minutes, daddy?"
"Nope. I already gave you ten extra minutes. It's lights out."
Reluctantly, Harrison closed the book and put it back on his shelf before climbing into his bed. James settled on the pallet of blankets they had set out for him earlier.
"Is my baby brother here yet? James asked.
"Not yet, James. I bet we'll have some news in the morning, though."
"Okay." He pulled the covers up to his neck.
"Good night, boys."
"Night, Mr. Jack."
"Night, daddy."
He flicked off the lights, closing the door behind him.
"You finally convinced them to go to sleep?" Elizabeth asked quietly when Jack returned to the living room.
"Mhmm." He nodded, taking a seat beside her. "My phone didn't ring while I was in there, did it?"
"No." She snuggled into him. "This waiting is hard. I can't even imagine what it'll be like when we're the ones waiting for our baby to come."
He put his hand on her stomach. "No matter how long it takes, the wait will be worth it once she's in our arms."
She smiled, putting her hand on his. "Sometimes it's still so surreal to me that I'm having your baby. Fourteen-year-old me probably wouldn't believe it if I could tell her."
"Well, I'm happy to help make your dreams come true." He leaned down to kiss her. "I love you, Elizabeth. And if there weren't two little boys down the hall from our room who just went to sleep, I would be showing you how much."
She scooted closer to him, kissing him back. "You show me in plenty of ways."
He started to kiss her again, but was interrupted when his phone began to buzz.
"Is it Lee?" Elizabeth pulled back.
"Yeah." He put the phone to his ear. "Hey, Lee."
Elizabeth watched as he spoke to his friend, trying to decipher what was being said on the other end of the conversation. When his face fell, she cradled her stomach, wondering what news had caused Jack's reaction.
"Okay, well keep us updated, please. We'll say a prayer for you guys."
He set down the phone, then immediately pulled Elizabeth into his arms, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.
"What's wrong? Is the baby okay? And Rosemary?"
"Rosie is doing great. Michael is here, and he's fine now, but he had some trouble breathing at first, so he's in the NICU on oxygen."
"Oh." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Then why this reaction?"
"It just reminded me that things can go wrong."
"But even if things go wrong, that doesn't mean our daughter won't be okay." She put her hands on his arms, looking him in the eye. "Right now, she's healthy, I'm healthy. The chances of complications are low." She took his hand, placing it on her stomach. "I know you can't feel it yet, but she's moving like crazy right now."
"Wait." A smile played on his lips, his eyes lighting up. "I felt that."
"You did?"
He nodded. "I think it was her foot. It was just the tiniest bit of pressure against my hand."
Elizabeth grinned. "See? Everything is going to be okay."