The Greatest Gift

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 4 × 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘺𝘯𝘦

I tossed and turned restlessly on the hard, lumpy guest bed at my grandparent's house. Jaison was laying next to me, and Bennet was on an air mattress on the floor.

I rolled over and gently tapped Jaison on the shoulder.

"Are you awake?" I whispered.

Jaison rolled over to face me and nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I can't sleep. I'm too nervous."

"Me too," I sighed.

Bennet sat up. "I'm awake, too," he whispered loudly.

I held out my hand and helped him climb onto the bed with Jaison and I. He sat cross-legged between us and sighed.

"Are you nervous, too?" I asked.

Bennet nodded. "Not just about Mom," he said. "The twins, too. Remember, I've never been through this before."

"Well, me neither," said Jaison. "This is with twins. It's different."

"Me neither," I added. "When you were born, Bennet, I was still a baby, so this is new to all of us."

"I guess Mom was right when she said that," Bennet mumbled.

There was a few moments of silence.

"What do you think it'll be like to have baby siblings?" Bennet said softly.

Bennet and I looked at Jaison.

Jaison shrugged.
"I don't know," he said. "When you guys were born I was 2 and 3. This is new to me, too."

"Guess we'll just have to find out," I mumbled.

Suddenly there was the sound of our Grandpa's phone receiving a notification. All three of us jumped. We looked at each other.

"Think it's Mom or Dad?" I whispered.

Jaison shrugged.

A few seconds passed.

Bennet started to get antsy. "Go check it, Jaison," he said. "What if it's Mom or Dad and grandpa or grandma don't wake up?"

Jaison sighed. "Okay."

He slid out of bed and silently slipped out of the guest bedroom. Bennet and I stared at each other, wiggly from nervousness.

A minute later Jaison came back and jumped back into bed.

"Well?!" Bennet said.

Jaison shook his head. "It was just Facebook," he sighed.

Bennet groaned and flopped onto his back.

I sighed and fidgeted with a loose thread on my pajama pants.

Jaison took our hands. "Hey," he said, "Mom's going to be okay. So are the twins. Everything's going to be alright."

"Are you sure?" Bennet whispered.

"I'm sure," Jaison said. He glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's late. We should get to sleep—"

"So that we can see the twins in the morning," I said. The three of us smiled.

Jaison and I crawled under the covers, and Bennet crawled under too and slept between us.

Falling asleep wasn't any easier.