Author's note: I hope I didn't stuff up the timeline too badly.

This was another situation where I thought 'what could Jon see with his abilities that no one else would notice?' and the idea that he would see Natalie's pregnancy first sprang from there. Jon and Skylar have such a special uncle-niece bond, I wanted to give him this moment where he 'met' her for the first time.

Skylar is the best. This story is about Sky more than Natalie or Lauren (or Alani), but still it seemed appropriate for a Mother's Day story.

Jon's Surprise Sunny-Sky Celebration

Jon

Then

I rode my bike from the library over to Aaron's place.

I had to do most of my work in the library after school, because there was no way I could concentrate in class.

You may think I'm just another whiny eleven-year-old complaining that school is such a drag.

Wrong.

I'm not just any regular eleven-year-old. I'm a freak, otherwise known as a 'psychic'.

My psychic ability suddenly turned itself up full bore a year ago, meaning it is now at such a freakish level, it blows out anything electrical that I get near.

School isn't just a little challenging for me. It's a darned obstacle course.

Every day when I step through the doors, I have to remember where all the light switches are so I can avoid them. When the halls are crowded, I have to be extra careful I don't accidentally get shoved into one of the fire alarms - again. If someone brushes against me with an arm that has a watch on the wrist, I have to slink away quickly and hope they don't notice I broke it in time for them to break my nose in retaliation.

If what I can't touch wasn't enough to deal with, what I can see is a whole other can of worms.

I'm the kind of psychic who can see auras, so I know what someone is feeling just by looking at them.

Yeah, it's about as fun as it sounds.

It gives me headache, both literally and figuratively. Auras are really bright, especially when feelings are strong, so being around hordes of angsty kids and teens all day makes me feel like my eyeballs have been wrung out. I'd gladly wear sunglasses indoors, if it wouldn't make me look like a pretentious git.

Worse, I see things on a daily basis that I wish I could unsee.

It's no wonder I can't focus in class. Not when I can see Lillian Ford light up like a Christmas ornament every time her crush Dean Matthews glances remotely in her direction, which since she sits between him and the window is all the darned time. Or the cloud of grief still hovering over Samuel Fitzsimmons, who lost his grandfather to a long-term illness last week and is acting like nothing is wrong while he drags around a dark fog that is only visible to me. Or the resentment our English teacher Mr Jenkins feels every day when he faces a room of inattentive kids, wanting to quit his job but desperate to keep his head above his financial woes, barely paying attention to the lesson he's teaching and just holding out until he can have a smoke break at recess.

You'd think that being put in a special class for the psychically 'gifted' would help. But it does not.

I didn't realize that Jay, the class empath, wasn't out as non-binary. When I referred to them as 'they' in front of the other kids, they got bombarded with questions they didn't want to answer and subjected to exactly the kind of attention they were trying to avoid. They sit as far across the room from me as they can now, but I can still see their misery and resentment through the thick jacket they wear even on warm days, which does nothing to shield them from my stupid psychic sight.

When I saw that Kimberley, a psionic booster, had a crush on me, I debated long and hard with myself before deciding I should let her down gently before it progressed too far. Which of course resulted in her running out of the room in tears. She dealt with her embarrassment by telling everyone that I was the one crushing on her, laying out in detail all the reasons she had turned me down. I have to either out myself as gay to everyone - which will just make Kimberley hate me more for exposing her lie - or let everyone go on thinking I'm a loser and a creep.

My one and only interaction with Francis, our resident technopath, it definitely best left unmentioned.

And they say these days are supposed to be the best of our lives. If I ever look back on my 'good old school days' fondly, it'll only be because whatever the future has in store for me will somehow be even worse than this is.

Now, as I bike the few streets over to Aaron's house, my 'ability' has been messing with me yet again.

I can't wear a watch, and the only desks in the library that are far enough away from the computers for me to sit at safely are also out of sight of the clock on the wall. I had to keep springing out of my chair and rounding the corner to check the time. Then, I actually focused long enough to get some work done, only to realize I was in danger of being late.

I couldn't chain my bike to the light pole outside the library. I had to chain it to a fence down the street - which took me more time to walk to - hoping bike thieves wouldn't steal it before I got there, or that the owner of the house I parked in front of wouldn't come out to yell at me - again - to stay away from his property.

It clouded over like it's about to rain, but I couldn't call Mom to give me a lift because a) I can't hold a phone without killing it, and b) I'd rather drown in a biblical flood than get driven around in a claustrophobic Faraday bag any more than I already have to, listening to Rodger mutter about what a nuisance it is to have to lift me in and out of the back seat , as if being blind inside the bag also makes me deaf to him cussing under his breath.

Having psychic power is supposed to be a 'gift'. In the movies - which I can't watch myself because I can't operate a VCR - the heroes always have a rare psychic skill that makes them the only one who can solve the case. Or the romantic lead uses their ability to find the person who will complete them as their soul mate.

I call bullsh- BS on that.

Being psychic is a curse. It ruined my life, makes my head hurt, keeps me from making friends. And Natalie won't say it, but it's probably the real reason why our dad left.

Now it has also made me late for dinner.

If having this ability is a gift, I'd like to re-gift it, please. If only I could give it away to someone else on my next birthday.

Speaking of, it's not a birthday or something today, is it? Natalie and her boyfriend Aaron are getting pretty serious, but he still avoids inviting Rodger over to his place like the plague. For him to have us all over must mean it's some kind of big deal.

I like Aaron. He didn't stare at me like I'm some kind of poisonous insect when Natalie explained to him how my sight works, unlike most of her previous boyfriends (though I was likely looking at them the same way, some of their auras were seriously gross). He knows he can't hide how much he dislikes Rodger from me, so he's polite when Rodger is looking, then rolls his eyes and pulls grimacing faces at me as soon as his back is turned, making me struggle to keep from busting up laughing at the dinner table. He's a pretty cool guy, and I'd like having him around, if his aura wasn't so bright it nearly stabs me in the eyeballs. Especially when he and Natalie are thinking soppy stuff about each other and their auras both go extra bright.

They might be extra soppy tonight, since Aaron wouldn't ask Rodger, Mom, and me over to dinner unless it was an extra special occasion. Maybe Natalie is finally moving in with him? She was hesitant to leave her college dorm to live with him permanently, though she wanted to, and he definitely liked the idea of them living together. They had mentioned it before without them actually agreeing to anything, Aaron not wanting to push and Natalie not sure if he really wanted her in his space or was just asking to be polite. I could have told him that if he asked her again, she'd definitely say yes. Except I didn't tell him, because I didn't want to remind him that I could see everything they're thinking but not saying about their relationship when I'm around, like I'm some kind of creeper.

Seriously, my psychic 'gift' can flip right off.

I managed to get to Aaron's place before the heavens opened.

Phew, I'd only have to listen to Rodger lecture me on punctuality, not complain about me showing up looking like a drowned rat. As if it would've been my fault. And since I'll never be able to drive a car, there's never going to be anything I can do about it.

Just add it to the long, long list of things I'm going to miss out on, all because I'm 'gifted'.

I was unfortunately not going to miss out on a Rodger lecture completely, since Mom's car was already parked in Aaron's front drive.

I screamed into Aaron's yard, threw myself off my bike, and chained it to the side fence, tucking it behind the rhododendron bush where bike thieves hopefully wouldn't spot it. Aaron lived in a nice area, but bike thieves could strike anywhere, as I'd sadly found out from past experience.

I hurried up the porch stairs to the front door. The fact that it had a new brass knocker on it, replacing the electric doorbell that had been there before, just reminded me yet again that being psychic only gave me a hundred or so reasons to feel sorry for myself.

Pretty much as soon as I knocked, Aaron swung the door open.

"Jon, come on in."

Seriously, what was going on tonight? Aaron seemed… happy. About Rodger coming over for dinner. Did I somehow pedal my bike so hard, I set a new speed record and broke through the fabric of reality into an alternate dimension?

This other-Aaron opened the door enough for me to come in, but shuffled off to the side instead of moving back for me to pass.

Was he… hiding behind the door? That stung a bit. Aaron took some time to get used to how much I could see, but he had never tried to hide from me before. Though he didn't really look unhappy to see me. In fact, he was beaming at me with a mega-watt smile.

I craned around the edge of the door and caught a glimpse of his lines before he could fully duck out of sight. If I was interpreting it right, he was feeling mischievousness, anticipation, and a joy so bright, I'd practically needed a welder's mask in order to look at him directly.

What the...?

What had him so cheery? Did Natalie agree to move in with him? Had he quit his job to become a professional snooker player? Had Mom finally dumped Rodger?

Unfortunately not, since Rodger and Mom were standing together, to the side of the entryway. Rodger was practically radiating disapproval, gearing up for one of his lectures. Mom was relieved I had got here, mildly annoyed that I was late, and puzzled about what was going on.

I guess I looked puzzled too, not that anyone else could tell. I likely just looked sweaty and dishevelled from biking over as fast as I could.

Rodger had just taken a breath to start one of his rants, and I was about to apologize before he could get started, when Natalie's voice called to me from the kitchen at the end of the hall.

"Jon."

She came towards me, and I turned my gaze on her, hoping Rodger would keep his mouth shut, or at least save his bawling-out for later.

Something was definitely up, because Natalie's aura looked a lot like Aaron's. The same mischief, anticipation, brilliant joy.

Wait, she was even brighter somehow. Too bright. Her aura had extra lines around her midsection. A weird blob of energy level with her stomach, strobing at the centre like a… like a pulse.

Like she has an extra heart beating inside her.

I blinked rapidly several times, doubting what I was seeing.

Was she…?

I raised my eyes to Natalie's face, my unspoken question likely in my face. I couldn't speak, I had seriously lost my breath over what I suspected I was seeing.

"You see it?" she asked me.

Could I see it? I sure could see something, but I could scarcely believe…

It looked like she could be… like she was…

Meeting my gaze squarely, Natalie nodded, happy tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Aaron slipped past me and came to stand beside her, curling a protective arm round her waist, his own eyes looking damp.

She was! Natalie was…! She really was, holy sh-

"What is going on?!" Rodger barked, startling us. We had forgotten he was there. It had been nice.

"Jon?" Mom looked between Natalie and me, still puzzled, now slightly concerned. "Can you see something? What is…?"

"Tell her what you see," Natalie urged me.

I could scarcely peel my eyes off her, but I turned to Mom - not Rodger - and said in a breathless rush: "Natalie's pregnant!"

The whole block likely heard Mom's screech.

She darted over to Natalie and seized her in a tight hug. I couldn't hear what she was saying, since her voice was muffled by Natalie's sweater - under which she was growing a baby - but Natalie's and Aaron's auras were still bright, so I assumed her reaction was a good one.

My reaction was good. I guess. Probably. Honestly, I was still in shock and wasn't quite sure how I felt.

A baby. Natalie was pregnant with a baby.

I was still trying to process this fact when Mom and Natalie grabbed me by the arm on either side and drew me into their huddle. Aaron was also in on the group hug, grinning across at me like his face was stuck that way and he'd never be able to stop.

I understood that. Reality was dawning, and my smile was now stretched so wide, my face threatened to crack. I could feel it in me, a joy so fierce, I felt like I might float away and hover around the ceiling if Mom's and Natalie's grip didn't keep me tethered down. Perhaps we'd all rise up together, like a bunch of happy yellow balloons bobbing about.

I saw a lot of emotions - too many emotions - and sure, I'd seen happiness before. It was a nice colour, and a relief to see, instead of the nervousness or frustration people often wore when I was around.

But this was a whole other level. This was a shimmering, shiny happiness the likes I'd never seen before. Like the pure golden yellow of a field of sunflowers in full bloom, or a miniature sun lighting up the entire room. It surrounded me, matched in the three auras facing me; and when I glanced down, it was in my aura too.

For the first time ever, what I could see actually felt like something gifted to me.

As I looked to my right, at the new life glowing steadily in my sister's belly, I felt blessed to have witnessed this, to have an insight that no one else did. In fact, I longed to be able to share what I could see with everyone.

Actually, I could.

"Link up with me."

Mom worked as a professional psychic, Natalie had latent empath abilities that she barely used - and didn't blow any circuits, lucky her - so they could both link with me. They each took one of my hands, and I focus in on Natalie's double aura.

Mom gasped. "Oh my god, Jon - do you see…?"

"Yeah," I rasped. I did see, and right now they could too.

Natalie was leaning back and tilting her hips forward so she could look down at herself. Her facial expression must be the same one I wore when I first set eyes on her tonight: disbelief, wonder and awe.

Aaron wasn't psychic and couldn't link up with me, but he watched on without a hint of jealousy, basking in our reactions.

"Aaron, god, Aaron, they're right there," Natalie whispered, taking his hand and resting it on her belly, obscuring my view - our view - for a moment, before he shifted his touch to the small of her back, supporting her as she kept leaning back. "They're a bundle of light, with their own little aura, sitting right there."

"Really…?" Aaron sounded like he was trying not to cry. I understood the feeling.

Mom wasn't bothering to try. She hiccupped a sob, chuckled to herself, then said: "They're so beautiful. Thanks for letting us see this, Jon honey."

"Thank you, Jon," Natalie murmured, leaning over to kiss me on the forehead as she squeezed my hand in hers.

"Thanks, Uncle Jon," Aaron said, winking across at me.

Uncle…? That's right, this child would be my niece, nephew or nibling. I'd be their Uncle Jon. Wow.

Suddenly, I had so many questions.

How soon could we tell the baby's gender? Would an ultrasound even be able to pick them up yet, or was I the only one who could see them so far? Would Natalie still go to college? Did this mean she would move in with Aaron now? Would they get married? Would Dad come back to walk her down the aisle and meet the baby? Could I help pick out a name?

Even as all those thoughts whirled in my head, I knew they could wait until later. Right now, I basked in this moment with my family, all of us still lit up with that sunshiny golden glow of happiness.

Off to the side, Rodger harrumphed awkwardly, said something about this indeed being an occasion to celebrate, though it would have been better if I could have bothered to turn up in time. We all ignored him.

Best. Day. Ever.

Now

"So you were officially the first to see me, Uncle Jon?"

"Yup." I chucked my niece under the chin, making her half-dodge, then lean into it with a giggle. "Your mom invited us round to dinner here - back then it was your father's place, until they got married and she moved in officially - and she didn't bother to explain anything, just let me look at her and see you glowing away in her belly, a little bundle of light, already filling our world with sunshine. I was the one who got to tell your grandma that she would soon have a grandchild. I linked up psychically with them so they could see you too, the same way I did. When your mother described what we could see to your dad, he very nearly started to cry. Your grandma did cry. I was absolutely stunned, and so very, very happy. We were all so happy, we were as yellow as a bunch of ripe bananas."

Skylar laughed at that. She knew what the colors of my 'aura speak' signified, and she knew this story well, since I retold it to her on every single birthday she had. "And that's why my room is that interesting shade of yellow."

Donovan, who had never heard this story before and was hanging on every word, looked between us. "Wait, you didn't pick out the yellow?"

Skylar rolled her eyes the way only a teenager could. "No, I would never pick out a color that bright. I begged Mom to let me paint over it so many times. Then she'd remind me of the meaning behind it, and that would be the end of it." She shrugged. "I guess it's kind of grown on me."

I took up the story again. "Natalie made me walk around a dozen paint stores with her, scouring sample chips for the exact right shade of yellow, the same color as the happiness in our auras when we got the news. Her ankles were swollen from all the walking by the time we found it, and then her morning sickness meant she couldn't bear the smell of wet paint, so she sat the old house with me, eating whole packs of dry crackers and pints of rocky road ice cream, while your dad and grandma painted the room. We wanted to bring the same color into your life as you brought into ours."

Donovan's aura looked a delicate shade of primrose as he drank in the story. "That's beautiful," he said in a soft, awed voice.

The yellow walls were still there, though they had been mostly hidden: first by the massive doll house Aaron had bought Sky one Christmas, then the various band posters and pin boards of snapshots she had hung in an attempt to cover the 'baby' colour. Now her room was lined with shelves filled with her many technical manuals, reels of spare cable, repair kits, and countless gadgets that she constantly tinkered with. It meant I was now exiled from the room, but I was fine with that.

Skylar brought that sunshiny color into my life all the time, had done from the moment I had first laid eyes on her.

I used to babysit her when Natalie and Aaron both had to work, or wanted a date night, or just needed a break. I hadn't been able to go near a baby monitor, so I had just sat looking over the side of her crib at her for hours on end, marvelling at every minute change that went through her tiny aura.

When she got older, we would go for walks or bike rides together. I would take her to the park or show her some of Nashville's tourist spots. I would people-watch with her, telling her what color auras I could see in the crowd. I would buy her ice cream or frozen yoghurt (depending on how much sugar Natalie decided she was allowed to have).

Then I moved out of my mother's house and went to live with them while I went to college. Skylar and I would sit on the couch together, me doing my course assignments, her doing her homework. Since I couldn't work the DVD player, she would make me pick a movie - I'd choose one based on how her aura reacted to each option, so I knew it would be something she'd like - and she would solemnly put my 'choice' in the disk tray for me, making sure the remote stayed over her side.

She had known me for her whole life as her 'Uncle Jon the psychic'. She knew I was bad with technology and couldn't handle some of the things she did every day without even thinking. She offered to help me out with anything I couldn't touch. Though I inevitably broke some of her things by accident, and that had led to some tears, she had never held it against me, never wanted me to stay away from her. When I knew I had overstayed my welcome at Natalie's and moved into a single-person dorm room, she had cried as I walked out of the house, and I had shed a few tears as I biked over to campus.

As soon as I had my own place, she had encouraged me to let her install gadgets I never thought I would get to use. When voice-activated controls were invented, I owned my own TV and stereo for the first time in my life, all thanks to her knowing about the new technology and figuring out how to best set it up for me. When I got my investigator's license and started working as a psychic full time, she had been so excited for me, asking a million questions and wanting to know if she could work in law enforcement someday too, so she could be like me and Grandma.

Now she was grown, Skylar and I each had our own busy lives, but we still made time just to hang out together, with her parents or now sometimes with Donovan. We still got geared up and went to Donovan's self-defence classes every single Saturday morning. Every Saturday, I would watch Sky mimic some move Donovan had just shown her, or walk newcomers through how to correctly punch a bag. I would remember how I had stood in that room almost a year ago, eaten up with remorse over my crush on Donovan that I thought would never go anywhere; and I recalled how in that moment Skylar came to me, intuiting how upset I was, taking my hand and asking me if I was alright.

At times like that, I was amazed that it was possible to be so full of pride, it felt like my heart could well explode with it.

Skylar was the best kid, and had been raised by her folks to be a wonderful human being.

It was possible she had taken care of me more than I had cared for her. Sure, I was just old enough that I had always been 'one of the grown-ups' in her life. But she improved my life drastically all the time, to the point where I couldn't fathom my life without her in it.

That magic night, when Natalie and Aaron gave us the best news ever, had been a turning point for me. I used to think of my ability as nothing but a curse. But my psychic sight had allowed me to see her first, to share that beautiful vision of her with her family. For that alone, I would always be grateful to my eyes.

And yeah, the rest of my life hadn't turned out so bad after all.

If only I could go back in time and tell that whiny eleven-year-old that it would be alright. Sixteen years later, my life was transformed, every question that he had asked fully answered.

There was a knock at the door, and when Aaron opened it, a familiar voice called out: "Where's our pretty?"

Skylar carefully put the gift Donovan and I had given her - I had no clue what it was, just that Donovan had picked the perfect thing, which I had paid half for, and I was not allowed to touch it - safely on the shelf under the TV (which I would avoid even if a hurricane blew me directly towards it) and scattered scraps of bright wrapping paper as she hopped to her feet.

"Grandpa Caleb! Grandpa Neil!"

She ran to my father, who scooped her up in a strong hug. Neil transferred the large gift he held to one hand so he could wrap his free arm round them both.

"Happy birthday, kiddo," Dad said, as Neil passed the gift to her.

The pair came into the livingroom and greeted Donovan and I, taking a seat on the couch as we all watched Skylar tear into her latest present (I didn't know what this was either, but given the huge smile on her face and the way she jumped back up to tackle-hug them both onto the couch in thanks, she loved it).

The pile of gifts was rapidly growing. The ones from my mom alone still nearly outnumbered the ones from all the rest of us. I knew she had lost a lot of money in legal fees tying up her messy divorce with Rodger, but without him staring over her shoulder warning her not to be 'over-indulgent', I think she very much enjoyed spending as much as she wished on her granddaughter for her sweet sixteenth birthday.

Skylar was going to become so spoiled at this rate. She already was, most likely.

And she deserved every little bit of it.

There was another knock. I caught a glimpse of Alani, weighed down with enough loaded containers to feed the entire block; and Kanye, holding a present that looked on the small side, but was something extra special, given how Skylar's aura flared with excitement. I had no clue what it was, but since Donovan's dad loved gadgets almost as much as Sky did, he must have gotten her something spectacular.

"It was nice of your folks to get Skylar a gift," I said to Donovan as we waved hello to his parents, figuring I should give some thanks now in case it was forgotten later in the excitement of the day.

My boyfriend wrapped one strong arm around my waist, and I leaned against him gladly. "We're all more than happy to celebrate her birthday with her. She's a great kid, and part of our family now. We're lucky to have her in our lives."

I looked around the room full of festive decorations and family, every aura in sight that same brilliant shade of happy, sunshiny yellow.

Skylar and Kanye were both fussing excitedly over whatever she had just pulled out of the gift box he had handed her.

In the kitchen, Alani and Natalie were setting food onto serving plates, while Aaron searched the cabinet drawers for a box of matches, ready to light the candles on the birthday cake once the meal was done.

My dad and Neil were trying to tidy up the discarded wrapping paper, though they were mostly laughing at the cat who was trying to 'stalk' the scraps, throwing around bits of balled-up paper for him to chase.

My mom was standing by the mantelpiece, admiring the displayed cards emblazoned with 'Happy 16th Birthday' that had been sent to her granddaughter by friends and well-wishers. As I watched, she turned, surveyed the room filled with happy yellow-glowing people. She caught my eye and smiled, her own aura just as golden as the rest. As mine was too.

I leaned into Donovan a little more and sighed happily. "Yes. We're all incredibly blessed."