Make a Wish (Spark House #3)(105)
And today I get the birthday present I’ve secretly been wishing for all my life. The other wish will come true in a few months, when I finally get the baby sister I always wanted.
I press my fingertips to my lips and then touch the corner of the frame before I turn away and cross my room. “Coming,” I shout on my way down the hall.
When I reach the front foyer, my dad and Harley are waiting for me. Harley’s round belly has the phrase SISTER IN THE MAKING written across it. My granny and nana and I went shopping as soon as we found out Harley was pregnant and bought her all kinds of fun clothes. I picked this one out. I already took the babysitters’ course so I can watch my little sister when Harley and my dad have their date nights. I know twelve years is a big gap, but I love babies the same way Harley does, and being a much older sister is a special relationship.
I’ve already started babysitting for our neighbors down the street a couple of afternoons a week. They have four-year-old twins, and their mom calls them “holy terrors,” but she’s always smiling when she says it. I think they’re hilarious and so much fun. I can’t wait to teach my little sister all kinds of things. Like how to make rainbow glitter flowers and bunny pizzas.
Harley smiles softly at me, and I feel her love like an invisible hug. Last year Dad asked me how I would feel if he asked Harley to move in with us.
I asked him if that meant they were going to get married and if I would have a brother or a sister one day. He laughed and said one thing at a time. But he didn’t get sad, or mad, or say no, and I took that as a good sign.
A great sign, actually.
Because a few months after Harley moved in with us, Dad took me out with him on a special trip to a jewelry store, and I got to help him pick out an engagement ring for Harley. We took it with us on our family vacation, and I got to be there with him when he proposed and she said yes. Six months ago they got married. I was a junior bridesmaid and Ella was a flower girl. Even though Aunt Avery’s baby, William, was too small to be the official ring bearer, we made him part of the ceremony. Five minutes after it was all over, he exploded the back end of his diaper and needed a full change of clothes. Uncle Declan had fun with that one.
And a month after that, Harley announced I was getting a baby brother or sister. Dad is what Harley calls a nervous mother bird when it comes to her and the baby, but she doesn’t mind. He goes to all the doctor appointments and is constantly making sure she’s okay. But he’s happy and excited, and so am I, and so is Harley.
We went shopping as a family and picked out all the decorations for the nursery as soon as we knew I was getting a baby sister.
And today is another big day for us.
Harley steps forward and takes my chin between her thumb and finger, turning my head from one side and then the other, inspecting me with a stern look on her face. “Yes. You definitely look like a twelve-year-old today.”
I grin. “I look the same as I did yesterday.”
“Hmm. One day older. But I must tell you, turning twelve does not mean that we’re going to stop watching Disney movies or making glitter crafts.”
I blow out a dramatic breath. “Phew. I was really worried about that.”
Dad rolls his eyes and laughs. “You’re only saying that because you’re in love with glitter crafts.”
“This is absolutely true,” Harley agrees with a nod, and then her expression turns serious and her voice soft. “You ready for this?”
I nod and swallow past the nervous lump in my throat.
“Good. Me too.” She looks up at Dad.
“Me three.” He winks, and then we’re out the door and in the car.
My palms are sweaty by the time we get to the big official-looking building. And when we step into the elevator, I take both of their hands and squeeze. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. But I keep hold of them both because I don’t want them to disappear.
When we reach the fourteenth floor, the elevator opens and we walk down another hall, Dad holding the doors open for me and Harley. I’m surprised all over again when Aunt Avery and Aunt London are sitting in the waiting room, along with Uncle Declan and Uncle Jax. Ella and William are on a blanket on the floor, playing together.
My aunts push out of their chairs. London is pregnant again too. So my little sister and her baby will be close to the same age. It means I’ll have lot of babysitting practice.
“I didn’t know you guys were going to be here too.” I step into their open arms.
“Well, it’s kind of a big day.” Aunt London gives me a squeeze before she releases me.
“We’re meeting up with all the grandparents for lunch after this too. It’s going to be an all-day kind of celebration.” Harley winks and Dad squeezes my shoulder.
I accept more hugs from my uncles, and then we’re being led into a big office with a conference table. It’s all a bit overwhelming. An older man named Mr. Rolph with a bald spot on the top of his head and big bushy eyebrows that remind me of caterpillars joins us. He and Uncle Jax must be friends, because they do that thing that guys do where they shake hands and pat each other on the back, like a sort-of-hug. I wipe my hand on my dress before I shake his hand too, because my palms are damp.
“I hear it’s your birthday, Peyton. It’s a big day today, isn’t it?”
“It is. We’re going for lunch at my favorite restaurant after this, and then tomorrow we’re going to Disney World for a vacation, and I haven’t been there before but you’re never too old for Disney and princesses,” I tell him.