Many believe that younger or older siblings can be nuisances.  I had always wanted siblings.  To be straightforward, I anticipated that I would have two little sisters.  Well, I have one sister and one brother.  When I found out I was going to be a big sister, I was four years old. Since I didn’t reside with her, I reasoned it would give my mom someone to care for. I jumped up and down for joy for the birth of my brother or sister.  I knew that my family loved me, and there remained enough love to go around.  I deduced my mom had a baby shower.  Until I was older, I believed they gave babies showers in their bassinets.  Finally, my sister came forth.  On October 12, 2003, I remembered waking up at the crack of dawn just as the yellow and orange sun was coming up.  I asked my Aunt Cinda, “Why are we up so early?”

“You’re bustling to be a big sister today,” my Aunt Cinda replied. 

“Yay,” I exclaimed, “my little brother/sister is here!”

My aunt and I drove up to the hospital.  Because they had some difficulty moving around, we had to leave my great-grandparents behind.  When we arrived at the hospital, my other aunt, Lori, who was as strict as a schoolmaster, was already there.  She led us through the maternity ward in the hospital to my mom’s room.  When we came through the door, I saw my mom in a room whiter than a wedding dress holding the baby.  When she saw me, I felt as though my nerves received the best of me, and then she responded to me, “Madison, meet your little sister Teresa.”

I sat near the drawing window, and my Aunt Lori handed me my little sister.  My sister Teresa looked tiny and felt silky.  I speculated she would be a considerable size.  She was pretty with reddish brownish hair that felt like a velvet cloud, snowy skin, \ and greener than emerald hazel eyes; she had that new baby smell.  When she was born, I was bouncing off the walls of cheerfulness.  However, the life of frozen peaches and cream couldn’t last for long. 
 

As months went by, my sister started to grow bigger.  She began to grow in her baby teeth that felt like little bumps before they came in, and she started to talk.  For some reason, she was over at night multiple times. Sometimes, I would lie in bed and watch my Aunt Lori sing her a lullaby.  I have to admit that I attempted to pretend she was an illusion. Believing that they loved her more than me, I would wonder day to day if they loved us the same way.  “I feel as though my heart is being torn from my mother’s love.  I can’t say anything about it because it will hurt mom’s feelings,” I declared to myself. In the spotlight of attention, my sister was everything for my mom and her boyfriend who became my stepfather.  I didn’t mind it at all, but I felt so left out. Most of the time, I used to consider that my mom didn’t want me around.  I would ask myself, “What have I done that mommy doesn’t notice me? Am I really her daughter? How come Teresa has a father, and I don’t?”

Teresa wasn’t even two yet, and mom stated she conceived another baby.  Since I had already had a little sister, I mused that I was gaining another one.  My mom seemed so ecstatic, yet I was confused as how to feel towards her news.  When she had another baby, my sister and I had to stay with a neighbor since it was summer.  Sometime in the early afternoon, my Aunt Lori called us and stated, “Do you hear something crying in the background?”
“Yes,” my sister and I answered. 

“That,” my Aunt Lori replied, “is your new baby brother.”

“Baby brother? Baby brother! I have a baby brother?” I was enticed as to how I could have a baby brother and a bit curious as to why my mom had a boy instead of a girl. 

As a child, I theorized that women could only have girls and men had the boys.  I had no clue that women could have one or the other.  My aunt came to take us to the hospital.  When we arrived to my mom’s room, we were allowed to see our new baby brother.  His skin felt a little bit rougher than my sister’s did.  When I held him, he seemed atrociously elephantine, and his hair was smooth against my fingertips.  It was then I realized that mom might direct most of her attention to our little baby brother, D.J. It was then I realized that I had not been courteous to my sister. “ What have I done?” I told myself. “ I should have been there for her. I should not have been pushing her around and hurting her feelings.” There and then, I promised myself that I would never do anything to hurt her.  Years have passed, and my promise is still kept.  My brother and sister are grown up.  I know that our mom loves us equally.  I guess that I should have asked them a long time ago if my family loved my sister more than me, but now I know that our families have enough love to go around.