It’s just like my mom to be a really good friend. She’s a very considerate person. I mean, when I have a sore throat, she’ll actually make chicken noodle soup from scratch, using a real chicken and stuff. Or if someone calls Emily a nerd, which I completely support, my mom will be right there to tell her they’re just jealous of how much she knows about everything. But in this case, I really thought she was going overboard. I mean, why was our family having a special dinner with party hats and everything to celebrate the fact that Frankie’s mom was having a baby?
“Everybody take a hat and put it on,” my mom said, handing each of us one of the party hats. “We have something big to celebrate.”
“Mom, isn’t this going a little far?” I said. “I mean, Frankie’s family is celebrating the same thing six floors down.”
“Hank, what are you talking about?” my dad asked.
“Well, you know, Dad.”
“Maybe I don’t know.”
“Enough of that, you two. I have an announcement to make. Everyone hold hands.”
“Hey, Mom. I draw the line right here. I’m not holding hands with the lizard.”
“Katherine doesn’t have hands. She has claws.”
“My point exactly.”
I could tell that Papa Pete was laughing on the inside. His body was bouncing up and down in his chair, even though no sound was coming out of his mouth.
“Would you just take your sister’s hand, Hank?” my dad said. “Your mother is waiting with something important to say.”
I took Emily’s hand on one side and grabbed Papa Pete’s on the other.
“The Zipzer family circle is about to get bigger,” my mom began. Her voice cracked when she hit the word bigger and I thought I saw the beginning of tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m sorry, guys. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry.”
“That’s okay, Randi,” my dad said. “They’re tears of happiness.”
Wow. She was really moved by Frankie’s mom’s baby.
“Hank and Emily, your father and I are so excited to tell you that you’re going to be a big brother and a big sister.”
“I can take the party hat off now,” I said. “I’m already a big brother to her…and I can tell you, it’s no party.”
“What I’m trying to say, darlings, is that a brand new baby is joining the Zipzer family.”
“What did you do? Send away for one?” I asked.
“Hank, I’m pregnant.”
“You and Lani Townsend are both pregnant? That’s really weird.”
“Lani isn’t pregnant, honey. I am.”
I just sat there at the table, holding Emily’s sweaty hand, trying to get my brain around the words that had just come out of her mouth. It didn’t work.
“That can’t be, Mom. I read it on the calendar. With my own eyes. Baby Doctor for Lani.”
“It’s with Lani, honey. You just read it wrong. Lani is going with me tomorrow.”
I continued to sit there, trying to let that sentence open the door and enter my brain. But Papa Pete shot out of his chair like a rocket and raced around the table to my mom. He threw his arms around her, hugged her really hard, and lifted her off the ground.
“That’s so fantastic, my darling daughter!” Then he reached over with his other hand and started to shake my dad’s hand. “Congratulations, Stan. I’m so excited for the both of you.”
He turned to me and Emily.
“How about this, kids? How lucky is this baby going to be to have you two as a brother and a sister?”
“I’m going to be the best big sister,” Emily said. “I’ll paint the baby’s toenails ten different colors. And Katherine and I will read the baby books about all the 91,000 species of insects that live in America.”
“That will be very stimulating, Emily,” my dad said. “I’ll bet that will help the baby to get all A’s in school.”
I’m pretty sure everybody started to talk all at once, but my brain turned to cream cheese and it sounded like I was hearing all of them through a long tunnel. Their words swirled around in my head. New baby. Smart baby. Share a room. Crib shopping. Diaper pail. No sleep. Bundle of joy.
Bundle of joy? If this baby is going to be a bundle of joy, then who am I?
Slowly, the truth was starting to sink in. Frankie’s life wasn’t about to change entirely.
Mine was.