One weekend morning, Isis was in that half-awake and half-asleep state when she heard her parents’ muffled voices drifting down the hallway. They were speaking in that hushed, urgent tone people use when discussing something important that they don’t want anybody else to overhear. She lay still for a moment, now alert and curious. She heard one pair of footsteps go downstairs and another come towards her door.
Before she could sit up, a soft knock sounded at her door and her mom whispered “Isis? You awake?”
“Yeah mom, barely.”
The door opened just enough for her mom to peek her face in and she said “Wake up, honey. Can you come to the living room for a minute?”
Her stomach flipped. This was weird.
“Yeah, give me a sec, I’ll be down.” Isis said with suspicion.
Before she could ask why, her mom had closed her door.
She pulled on a sweatshirt and padded down the hall to the bathroom. After brushing her teeth and splashing water on her face, she went downstairs. The living room was bright with morning sun and her parents were sitting together on the couch, shoulders touching, wearing identically awkward smiles that didn’t match the tension in the air.
Her mom patted the empty cushion on the couch at the same time her dad cleared his throat to say “Hey sweetheart, come sit.”
Isis stopped halfway into the room. “Okay… what’s going on? Did I do something?”
“No no!” Trella said quickly. She stood up, then sat back down.
Her dad couldn’t seem to decide what to do with his hands as he said, “You’re not in trouble.”
Isis sat down next to them and her mom reached out to take her hand. Her mom’s palm was warm and slightly shaky as she said, “We just… we’ve been waiting for the right time to talk to you about something and I can’t wait any longer.”
Isis didn’t like the sound of that. A “talk” meant something big. Something serious. Her mind sprinted through possibilities. She wasn’t in trouble, and her relationship with her parents had been slowly getting better. So, was it money problems? A health issue? Did somebody die? Her chest tightened.
Her mom inhaled deeply, her cheeks turning pink. “Okay,” she said, voice trembling with a laugh she couldn’t quite contain. “I’m just going to say it before I chicken out.”
Her dad leaned forward, elbows on his knees, watching his wife like he was bracing for impact.
Isis held her breath.
“I’m pregnant.” Her mom blurted.
The room went silent except for the ticking of the wall clock.
Isis blinked. Once. Twice. She waited for the punchline, the “just kidding,” the explanation that this was some weird joke. But her mom’s eyes were filling with tears, and her dad’s face beamed like someone had just handed him the best news of his life.
“Oh gosh,” Her mom laughed, wiping her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to cry, sorry… this is just…”
Isis looked from her mom’s face to her dad’s face. “Wait. You’re serious? You’re actually serious?”
Her dad nodded and the smile on his face was growing impossibly huge. He said “Yes. Very serious.”
Her mom let go of her hand and reached into her pocket to pull out a little black-and-white photo. “We wanted you to see this.”
Isis took it slowly. The grainy image was hard to decipher at first. Just shadows and shapes, but then her eyes caught the outline. And then another outline.
Her breath hitched. “There… there’s… two.”
Trella nodded, her smile trembling. “Twins.”
Something warm and overwhelming surged in Isis’s chest, and before she knew it, a smile broke out across her face and tears were about to spill from her eyes.
Her dad’s eyes were watery now too, as he chimed in, “This was not planned at all. Your mom’s birth control must’ve failed.”
“Okay, ewe, I don’t need to know details!”
They all laughed and sat there for a moment, letting reality settle in.
Her mom’s face turned serious as she asked Isis “Are you okay? What are you thinking honey?”
Isis looked down at the ultrasound again. Two tiny shapes curled together, barely formed, but already changing everything.
“I’ve been an only child my whole life,” she said quietly. “This is… huge.”
Mom squeezed her hand. “We know. Like your dad said, it wasn’t planned. I mean, I’m in my forties, getting a little old for this.” She let out a disbelieving laugh and continued, “In just a few months I’ll be able to leave the bank with a twenty-year retirement plan. Everything has lined up perfectly.”
Her dad nodded and added “It was meant to be. But we want you to know you’re the most important thing in our lives. We want to make sure you’re happy.”
Her dad stood up and her mom followed his lead. They opened their arms towards Isis, and she happily leapt up into their embrace. The three of them stood in a tight, messy hug for a moment.
“My baby’s going to be a big sister.” Her mom whispered into her hair.
Isis swallowed, her throat tight. “I’m… happy. Really happy. Just a little speechless.”
Isis smiled, looking back and forth between her parents. This was really happening! Holy shit, she was going to have TWO little siblings.
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