I groaned when I knew it was time to get up, I was under the warm blanket in a curled up ball. I sat up and stretched, then I swung my legs over the side of the bed. I got up off of the bed and turned to shut off the roaring fan. As I walked down the dirty stairs I heard my mom talking to her boyfriend Josh. The sound of them talking quietly wanted to make me listen closer, and I did. I heard them say something about Becki, who is Josh’s brother's girlfriend. I ran down the stairs, stomped on the cold floor and walked up to my mom. I asked what was going on with Becki.

“We have exciting news Sophia, you are going to have a baby cousin.”
I stared in awe at my mom, “I don’t know what you mean?”
“Sophia, Becki is… PREGNANT!”
“OH WOW, do we know the gender of the baby?”
“It’s too early to tell.”
“Ok, this is a lot of information to take in, can I go eat breakfast?”
“Yes, I’ll meet you in there.”

I walked into the freezing cold kitchen, I opened the fridge. I saw left overs from the night before, I decided I was going to eat that. I put the cheesy pizza on a plate and stuck it into the microwave. As I waited for the minute to be over I rested my head on the chilly counter. I slowly started drifting off to sleep. Out of nowhere the timer goes off, of course it scared me. I knew though that the pizza was going to be so great. I got it out of the microwave and walked to the table. My mom was already there waiting for me and sipping her coffee. I bit into the gooey pizza, it was more than great it was amazing or was this my hunger talking? The pizza was gone from my plate in less than three minutes.

“Wow Sophia, you would think I don’t feed you!”
“I don’t know what has gotten into me, I am just so hungry.”
“It's ok.”
“Sophia, Mema is planning a party for Becki.”
“Cool, who is going to be there?”
“I think just Mema, Papa, Steve, Becki, Missy, Josh, you, and myself.”
“Ok.”
“When is it?”
“Next weekend!”
“Ok.”

    THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND

Mema and I were setting up for the party, there was tons of food. What I most enjoyed about it is I got to spend time with my Mema. Everyone started arriving, I greeted them at the door. We all went to the living room and talked while watching sports. As soon as everyone agreed we should eat we all got up and went into the kitchen. Roxy my dog even followed us. We all had pierogies, except my mom because she got hypnotised and eats a certain way so she had leftover chicken and vegetables. After we had the yummy, warm, soft meal we opened presents. Becki got a lot of baby stuff which I accepted because she was going to have a baby. Roxy always sits on someone's lap or in a chair because she has her own birthday parties. When we open presents Roxy always thinks they're hers because she thinks it’s her birthday you could say she’s greedy. I gave Becki cash for anything she might need for the baby. I was so excited for the baby to come! After presents we had cake of course! This time we had strawberry shortcake and chocolate mousse. I loved the strawberry shortcake, it was so sweet and yummy.

Next, we went and watched a 4D ultrasound of the baby. We could see the baby’s arms, legs, and face it was a little scary he looked like a alien. That’s when Becki said it was a... BOY!!! Everybody was jumping up with joy, I thought an earthquake had happened because the ground shook. I hugged her and touched her stomach and felt the baby kick, I was so happy. I went upstairs and grabbed my loud speaker and brought it back downstairs. I started playing Bruno Mars and singing and before you knew it everybody was singing and everyone was on pitch. I got Becki this really good book. I asked her if I could read it to her and the baby. She nodded her head. I read the book aloud and held my hand on her stomach. The baby was kicking a lot now! After I read the book, Becki clapped and said it really is a great book.

I talked to the baby. I said “I can’t wait to meet you!”
Becki was getting tired so we called it a night. I went to bed thinking and dreaming about the baby.

THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND

I was checking my Instagram when I saw something very exciting. Steve had posted pictures of Becki and him in Vermont. I noticed in one of them Steve was kneeling down on one knee and had a ring out. I knew what this was, Becki was getting ENGAGED!!! I was so happy I got up my mom and Josh and showed them and they were happy too. I called up my Mema and told her and she said she already knew but she was still excited. I commented on the photo “congratulations!” and put a balloon emoji. So many things have happened to Becki in this last year that are exciting.

JANUARY 9, 2017

I had just woken up and was going downstairs, when I noticed my mom was waiting for me at the bottom.
“Sophia, I have great news!”
“What is it then?”
“The baby was born last night and they named him Van!”
“Wow cool, when can we go see him?”
“Let's wait till he is out of the hospital and comes over.”
“Ok mom, I am going to go eat breakfast and wake up.”
“Ok, love you baby girl!”
“Love you too!”
I just noticed that whenever I wake up I always get good news and have to process it because I just woke up. I wonder why I don’t get bad news in the morning, I guess I am lucky!

THREE WEEKENDS LATER
Van came over and I was ecstatic! He was so fragile and boney. He had lots of brown luscious hair already. He is a shining star I thought to myself.  I washed my hands and put on hand sanitizer immediately so I could hold him for the first time. I asked to hold him and my aunt said yes. When she gave him to me I went into serious mode and I made sure to hold him correctly. I looked at him while he was sleeping. He was so peaceful. When my Mema wanted to hold him I didn’t want to give him up but I knew I could hold him again later. I gave my aunt a really long hug because I really appreciated her letting me hold him. I was so tired but I knew dinner was getting cooked and it was my favorite: perogies with sauteed onions. I heard the ding of the oven. I got up as quick as I could and got my plate ready. The minute I got the perogies and sauteed onions I ate them as quick as I could and went up for seconds. After my second helping I felt full so I stopped eating. Of course I had room for ice cream though. After the ice cream I was really stuffed. Then I washed my hands and hand sanitized them to get ready to hold him again. I held Van for an hour and cuddled him. I was starting to get tired so I gave him to my aunt. I smelled something gross and I thought it was poop but it was a fart. When that happened I covered my nose and my aunt thought I was hilarious. That's when I learned how to change a diaper. You have to get the baby out of their clothes, then take the old diaper off, clean the baby with a wipe, but a new diaper under the baby's butt, hoop that up, and put the babies clothes back on. It is a lot harder than it sounds. Shortly after my aunt wanted to get the baby home to put him to bed. I gave her a hug and a kiss and gave Van a kiss and Steve a hug then her, Steve, and Van left. I was so tired I went to bed and fell right asleep.

THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND

I woke up in in excitement, today was the day my mom and Josh were going to a concert so Mema is taking care of me. Mema came and picked me up early and made sure I had everything. We went over to Steve’s and took care of the baby so him and Becki could go out. It was an hour in and Van would not stop crying. Van had a cold and wasn’t feeling well and he looked pale like a doll. Mema put him in the carrier and plopped him in the car. I climbed into the back and got my seatbelt on. We drove around for twenty minutes and he eventually fell asleep. I was so happy he was asleep when we got home but then he woke up and started crying again. We gave him his bottle and then it was time to go to bed. I don’t remember what happened after that because I fell asleep on the couch sandwiched between two dogs. Baby Van is so important to me because he is my first boy cousin and I see him almost every weekend. I hope over the years Van and I become like sister and brother.