I Just Called to Say I Love You

"William George!" Miranda called to her son.

"Yes!" Tuck shouted back.

"Come here please."

"Okay! I'm coming."

Miranda turned to her husband. "Ready?" Miranda asked. Ben shook his head. "Well, get ready because… here's my baby." Miranda smiled at her son who bounced into the room.

"Yes?" Tuck looked from Miranda to Ben.

"Have a seat," Miranda said patting the seat next to her. She hugged him as he sat down, his feet dangling above the floor. Ben sat on the other side of him.

"So, we, uh, have something to tell you," Ben said turning to Tuck.

"Are we going to have a baby?" Tuck asked. Miranda's eyes popped open and she looked over Tuck's head at Ben.

"Wh-why… why would you say that?" Ben asked.

Tuck shrugged. "I don't know. I just think that you are. And this is what happens in the movies and on TV."

"What's that?" Miranda asked.

"The parents sit the kid down and then a baby comes."

"Well…," she said with a smile. "Well…"

Ben chuckled silently and Tuck looked at him. "I'm right, right?"

Ben nodded. "Yeah, bud, you are."

"Yes!"

"Yes?" Ben repeated.

"Yes, I want a little sister or brother. Is it a boy or a girl?" He asked looking from Ben to Miranda.

"We don't know yet," Miranda told him. "Would you like a brother or a sister?"

"Don't know," he answered shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, I want a little brother, but I want a little sister, too. I can't decide!" He grabbed his head. This was going just as she'd hoped, smoothly. Tuck at almost ten years old, was excited to be getting a sibling. "What are you going to name them?"

"We don't know yet," Miranda answered. Her eyes landed on Ben. "We haven't talked about it."

"How long until the baby gets here?" He asked spitting out another question. Miranda had been ready for this. Math was Tuck's best subject. She'd gotten him a calendar so that he could cross off the weeks until the baby arrived and each week had a picture of what the baby size was at the time. She got one for her and Ben as well. She pulled the book from behind her back and gave it to him. "Wow! This book is so cool!"

"So," she said pointing at the calendar. "A really healthy baby takes about 36 to 40 weeks to fully develop, so about 28 to 32 weeks."

He did the math in his head. "That's not long! Almost… seven months left?"

Miranda bobbed her head as she did the math, too. "Yeah, I guess, something like that. But basic math doesn't really apply to babies." Ben hugged Tuck's head and asked if he had any more questions. Tuck asked how big the baby was now because he knew they started off small and got bigger. "Kinda small, about the size of a, uh… um, a—"

Ben interjected and put his finger on the answer. "The baby is about the size of a blueberry now, bud."

"Right! I knew that," Miranda said. "How'd you know that?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Because it's on the calendar and because I read." Miranda shook her head. "I gave you a baby book to read, too, Miranda," Ben said over Tuck's head.

"This is not my first baby, so I don't need a daggone book," she told him.

"Well, this is my first child, Miranda Bailey, so I need to read up on some things." They didn't notice that Tuck had hopped off of the bed and was walking towards the door.

"You're right, baby. Okay," Miranda conceded.

"Thank—Hey, Tuck, is everything alright?" Ben asked looking at the slow-moving Tuck. Tuck turned around and nodded.

"William George," Miranda said walking towards her son. "What's the problem? Aren't you happy to have a little sister or brother?" Tuck nodded a tear fell from his face. "Tuck, why are you crying?" She looked at Ben whose head was hanging. She was so confused. Tuck continued out of the door. She turned to her husband. What had she missed? "What is going on?"

"I messed up, baby."

"I don't understand," Miranda said touching the doorknob.

"I said that the baby would be my first child." Miranda shook her head, still not understanding. "My first child, Miranda."

She finally got it. "Oh, Ben. I'll go and talk to him. He knows you didn't mean it."

Ben closed his eyes and licked his lips. "I know, but, uh… no, I'll do it. I effed up, I'll fix it." She watched him leave the master bedroom. When she was sure that he was in Tuck's room, she went and stood by Tuck's bedroom door and listened.

"Hey, Tuck," Ben said.

"Hi," Tuck said nonchalantly. She could hear in his voice that he'd stopped crying.

"I hope you know that I didn't mean what I said before, Tuck. The baby… well, he or she will be my first baby, but, hey, look at me, you'll always be my first child. You are my son. I mean, yeah, you are your mom's son and your dad's son but, you're my son, too and I love you." Miranda did her very best to hold back the tears. Her heart was bursting. "And I don't want you to ever think that our relationship will diminish, er, that it will get damaged by anyone or a new addition to the family. Our family. We'll always be family, okay?" Tuck didn't speak. "Okay?" Silence. "Okay?" Then she heard giggling.

"Okay! Okay! Okay! Yes, Ben!" Tuck screamed with laughter making Miranda smile. They would be alright and Miranda was thankful. She heard Ben moving across Tuck's room and she rushed back into the master bedroom. She hopped on the bed and pulled out her phone and pretended to be busy.

"Ah, cut it out," Ben said coming into the room. "I know you were by the door the entire time."

Miranda tried not to smile. "What are you talking about?"

"We heard you by the door, me and Tuck."

"How?"

"Because we know you. You're nosy and you have a need to know everything." They laughed.

"I know, but you love that about me," she said.

"I do," he responded.

He got on the bed and lie on his stomach, putting an arm around Miranda's waist. "Thank you for talking to Tuck."

"Sure, dear," he answered taking a deep breath, caressing her side.

"He was really upset."

"He was, dear."

Miranda started to tear up. "And I'm… so happy with everything you said." Ben sat up, putting his back against their headboard. "That you see him as your son means so much to me—to us."

"Of course, dear," he said kissing her on the head and then on the lips.

The two of them watched TV and Miranda fell asleep as a black and white movie came on.