The Greatest Gift

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 1 × 𝘑𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯

"Boys, come here! Dad and I need to talk to you."

I got up from my desk, where I had been watching a football game on my computer.

"Where are you?" I heard my brother Shayne yell. He was 2 years younger than me, and I was 14.

"The living room!" Mom called back.

That wasn't a good sign.

I walked through our charming, average middle-class house to the living room, where I found Mom and Dad sitting on the love seat next to each other. Their expressions were an unintelligible mix of joy and nervousness, and they were holding each other's hands.

The living room. 

Another bad sign.

When they saw me and Shayne come in, they replaced their expressions with a casual smile. "Sit down, boys," said Mom. "Where's Bennet?"

Bad sign number 3. You know it's not going to be good when they tell you to sit down.

"I'm coming!" My 11-year-old brother hollered. He bounded into the living room and jumped onto the couch next to me and Shayne, making the whole thing lean. My youngest brother has endless energy.

Bennet, Shayne, and I all looked like our Dad, who has a long face, high cheekbones, and dark hair, but Bennet is the only one who has our Mom's blond hair.

"What's going on?" I said. "And don't try to sugarcoat it. I know something happened."

Mom sighed and smiled. She looked at Dad. "Well... where do you want to start, honey?"

Dad cleared his throat. He looked at me and my brothers. "Well... for a few days Mom has been sick, as you know," he said. "While you were at school yesterday, she went to the doctor, and they did some tests to see if anything was wrong."

My heart sunk like a rock.

"So what are you saying?" Shayne said slowly. "Is Mom okay?"

Mom smiled. "I'm perfectly fine," she said. "In fact I couldn't be better."

"One of the tests they did at the hospital was a pregnancy test," Dad said.

"And it was positive!" Mom exclaimed, throwing up her hands. "I'm pregnant!"

"No, seriously, what's going on?" Bennet said, speaking for Shayne and I. None of us were falling for this.

"Exactly what Dad said," Mom said. Her smile grew and her eyes got shiny. "You're going to have another sibling, boys."

There was no way that expression was fake.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn't know what to say. Neither did my brothers, apparently. The living room was in total silence.

Mom got up for a few seconds, then came back into the room and handed us a sheet of paper. I skimmed it, realizing it was a doctor's report.

Diagnosis: Pregnancy.

Schedule a follow-up appointment as soon as possible.

"WHAT?"

"What, Jaison?" Bennet whined. "I can't see!"

I handed the paper to him and he and Shayne skimmed it together.

For once in his life, Bennet was silent. His expression was unreadable.

My head snapped up. "You're pregnant?" I said.

Mom laughed and Dad smiled. "Yes," Mom said. "You're going to have a new baby sibling!"

"Is this real?" Shayne whispered. "You're actually pregnant?"

Mom nodded.

I felt my jaw drop. In my shock I covered my mouth with my hands.

"Shut up," I mumbled.

Mom and Dad laughed.

"It's true!" Dad said.

All of a sudden Shayne started crying. "Are you serious?" he croaked.

Mom smiled and waved him over to her side. She hugged him and kissed his hair. "I'm as serious as a heart attack," she said.

Shayne smiled through the tears streaming down his cheeks.

I stood up and hugged Shayne.

"Shay, we're going to have another brother!" I exclaimed. "Or even a sister! Imagine how much fun this is going to be!"

"I can't believe this is happening!" Shayne said. His smile got bigger.

After hugging for a few seconds, I broke away and pumped my fists.

"YES!" I yelled. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!"

"Oh my gosh," Shayne laughed quietly. He hugged mom again, then took the liberty of kissing her belly.

"Bennet?" I said. "You okay?"

Bennet was still sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the doctor's report. I sat down next to him.

"Bennet, you're going to be a big brother," I said excitedly. "Isn't that awesome?! You're not going to be the youngest anymore!"

I hugged him. Bennet still didn't say anything.

"Ben, are you okay?" Dad asked.

"It's alright if you're nervous," Mom said. "This is going to be new for all of us."

Bennet rubbed his eyes and silently went upstairs to his room, taking the doctor's report with him.