“But first, we want to tell you all something.” Marty puts his hand over Jenna’s, keeping the photos folded up under her palm.
“What? What is it? Oh, God, something’s wrong, isn’t it?” Ma has one hand on her chest and another stretched out flat on the table.
“Cynthia,” Da soothes as I roll my eyes.
“No, honestly, no, nothing is wrong.” Jenna leans towards her and I like how I hear a bit more confidence in her voice now.
“We know the gender,” Marty adds.
“You do!?” Mum shouts.
“You don’t have to tell us,” Dad says.
“Yes, they do!” Ma swipes at him with the back of her hand.
“No, they don’t,” I point out, although it will pain me more than I will ever admit not to know.
“We want to tell you,” Jenna says, and she looks at Marty. “We’re having…”
“A girl,” Marty says with a cheek-moving grin on his face, his dimples visible through his thin beard. “Well, a human with female sex parts, at least.”
“A girl!” Ma claps her hands together.
“Ah, that’s great,” Dad says and I see moisture land in his eyes.
It takes me a moment longer to fully appreciate what this means. A niece. I will have a little baby niece. A little girl to hang out with. A little girl to talk to. A little girl to play with and help navigate the world. A little girl. The warmth returns to my eyes as I turn and see a single tear slide down Jenna’s freckled cheek.
“Congratulations, Jenna,” I say, and I put my hand on her forearm. “Congratulations,” I say to my brother.
“That’s not all,” he says before Ma and Da get up to give them both hugs. “We also found out some other news about our baby girl.”
Baby girl.I feel my heart swell with all the love I have to give that baby girl.
“Well, go on, don’t keep up us in suspenders, son,” Dad says sounding almost as agitated as Ma a moment ago. I knew he was just as invested.
“She is… she is very special. She has an extra chromosome,” Marty says slowly, carefully, and again turns to look at Jenna. “Our baby girl has Down syndrome.”
“Down syndrome?” Da says, confusion written all over his face.
“Oh,” Ma says and her face is frozen. Not in shock. Not in sadness. Just frozen.
Again, it seems my reaction only comes after I’ve seen them react and it all hits me in a rush. Yes, there’s shock. Yes, there’s an element of sadness, of grief for what I thought was true and now isn’t. But more than that, there’s more swelling, more love, more fierce, fierce love expanding my heart.
Taking my hand off Jenna’s arm, I stand up and turn to her. Jenna looks up at me and she seems utterly puzzled by what I’m doing.
“What happy, happy news,” I say to Jenna. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
Jenna stands just as I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight to my body. The warm hard swell of her stomach presses against me and I think about the baby in there, the one I can’t wait to hold and play with and talk to and introduce to the world.
“Yes,” Mum says behind me and I hear her chair scrape across the tiled floor. “This is very happy news.”
I open my eyes and see her in Marty’s arms, her hand stroking his back like she always does when she gives us hugs.
Just as I’m disentangling myself from Jenna, I see my Dad step into my place, giving her a big hug.
“You’re going to be such a wonderful mother, Jenna. Never ever doubt that,” he says into her hair. “This little girl is so lucky to have you. Both of you.”
“We’relucky to haveher,” I say as I move around them and join my mother and Marty in an embrace.
