Chapter One

Chapter One

Once there was a happy, outgoing little girl of the name Mikayla with big dreams and a golden heart. It was nearing the end of April when she walked home from the school she went to right across the street, over to a little beige house on the corner. The patio was filled with pots of flowers and spider plants, and the ground was littered with brown rocks in an area in which weeds grow. She skipped up the sidewalk to her front screen door, pulling it with all her might before it finally sprung open. As she entered her house, warmth hit her whole body, making her feel a lot better about her cold, exhausting day at the place she called prison- for the time being.

She closed the door behind her as she set down her backpack by the bookcase resting against the wall, looking around for any sign of her parents. They usually welcomed her with smiles and “How was your day”, so she found it odd that nobody was to be seen. She walked into the kitchen just down the hall and to the left, her room and the bathroom being at the right. As she was about to open the fridge for an after- school snack, she heard voices coming from outside. She ran to the sink and jumped super high to look out the window above it, spotting her parents, only they were talking to the next- door neighbors and exchanging hugs. She wondered what the occasion was since they never really talked with their neighbors. She sprints out the backdoor, cheery as ever as she embraces her mother in a tight hug, nearly knocking her over.

“Careful monkey,” she laughed as she hugged her daughter back. “You have to be gentle with mommy.” She looked at Mikayla with a big smile and a mind full of whirring thoughts. “Hey monkey… can I ask you something?”

“Yeah!” Mikayla said with extraordinary enthusiasm.

“If you were to have a sister or a brother, which one would you want?” She carefully questioned. Mikayla crinkled her nose and smiled.

“I want a dog!” She heard stories about having siblings from the kids at school, and she didn't want to go through that. But her mom just smiled and her dad laughed a deep laugh. It got quiet and her dad got on his knees to be Mikayla’s height, and held her hand.

“Sweetie, we can’t get another dog after Foxie went away… So would you like a brother or a sister?” He said with a side smile, looking long into his daughter’s eyes, hoping for a wish they can make come true.

“I guess I want.. a brother!” She jumped around excitedly, and then she stops. Why would they ask her such a silly question like that? Could the stork have a mission to drop off a baby at our doorstep? She didn’t want to ask her parents, she figured that she could just wait.

And sure enough, she did. It was toward the end of December when her mom was driven to the hospital and Mikayla was sent to a family friend’s house to spend the night. She was in the car with her mom’s friend Robin and her son Tucker, when many thoughts crossed her mind and she wanted to ask questions.

“Robin,” she started, hesitant to ask. She took a deep breath and continued before Robin could say anything. “Why is my mom at the hospital? Is she going to be okay?” So many questions filled her mind but she couldn’t ask them all. She sat quietly in her car seat awaiting a response. Robin sighed and started tapping the steering wheel.

“Well if you must know, your mom is having a baby soon.”