Tristan’s Sister

Tristan sat impatiently in the hard plastic chair. He tapped his toes, and counted the ceiling tiles, and got up to get a drink of water. He had been waiting with his grandma for hours!

Then the door opened and a nurse waved them back. The nurse was smiling really big, and his grandma was too. Tristan, though, wasn’t sure whether he was happy or nervous.

When they got into the room, Tristan saw his mom and dad- and his new baby sister. His mom looked so tired! The baby hadn’t even been here a day, and his mom was already too worn out from the baby to give him a hug. She just kept staring at the little girl.

Tristan let his dad pick him up and set him on the bed by his mom. His dad took pictures of the three of them together, then the nurse took pictures of everyone. They were all so excited about the baby!

And then Tristan’s nerves got worse. Without looking away from the baby, his mom told him he needed to go home with Grandma. Grandma was nice, but he was really sad his mom didn’t want to spend more time with him. They always spent lots of time together.

A few days later, his grandma took him home to his parents’ house. There on the couch was his mom and the new baby. Tristan felt like crying. She had been with the baby all this time and he had had to stay somewhere else!

And then the tears came. Tristan ran into his room. His dad followed him in.

“Tristan,” his dad said. “Let’s go get some ice cream.”

Tristan nodded. “Is mom going to come?”

His dad shook his head. “This is you and me time. Just us! We’re going to have a lot of fun. Maybe we can go to the playground, too!”

Tristan was sad it wouldn’t be like always, with his mom and dad and him, but he went with his dad. They had a really good time eating ice cream and going down the slides.

On the way home, his dad looked in the mirror at him in the back seat.

“When we get home, you will have to help with the new baby. I bet you can make your sister smile really big!”

Tristan shrugged. “Do I have to play with the baby?”

His dad nodded. “You don’t have to a lot yet. But she is your little sister. You will have to look out for her the way we look out for you.”

He didn’t like it, but Tristan said OK. When they got home, he went into the living room and went over to where his mom was holding the baby. She was so tiny!

His mom helped him get on the couch, carefully, so they didn’t wake up his new sister.

“Will you cuddle with me and your sister while we watch a show?” his mom asked.

Tristan nodded. There might be a new person around, but this wasn’t so bad. His dad still took him out to the playground, and his mom still wanted to hold him on the couch. They still would watch train shows, even. Maybe a new sister wouldn’t be so bad.