Page 41 of Somewhere Between Falling

“Hi.” I returned her greeting.

Henry was wrapped—swaddled, I guess—in a white blanket with pink and blue footprints all over it. Blair had to hate the cheesiness of it, and I regretted not getting the Aztec blanket when I saw it.

She pulled back the blanket a little to reveal his cute, cherub face and the wisps of red hair Dad was so thrilled about. It was redder than mine, but mine used to be a lot lighter when I was a baby, so maybe his would darken as he got older too.

“He’s perfect,” I said, feeling a strange warmth spread across my chest.

“Would you like to hold him?” she asked.

I nodded, and she gingerly handed him to me. I took a seat beside her and stared at my baby brother. “Hi, Henry,” I whispered to him. “I’m your big sister.

Chapter Twenty-Four

I lost track of the time, sitting there holding my new brother. After a while, the nurse came to take Henry back to the nursery, and as I watched my dad say goodbye to his new baby, I realized just how happy he was. At the same time, I knew that his happiness came at the expense of my mom’s, which made it hard to be completely happy for him. Perhaps that was unfair, but I supposed there was nothing in life that was truly fair.

“I should go,” I said softly. “Thank you for letting me meet him.”

“Thank you for being here.” Dad hugged me tightly. “It really meant a lot. To both of us.” He gestured to Blair, and she smiled in agreement. “I’ll walk you out.”

“Okay.”

“So how’s everything going? Finals go okay?”

“Yeah, they were good. I passed everything. No complaints…” I trailed off, thinking back on the semester.

“But?” he asked knowingly.

I bit my lip, and after a moment of contemplation decided to fill him in on the study abroad program.

“It sounds like a great opportunity. You’ve always wanted to visit Europe,” he said supportively.

“Mom won’t like it.”

“How do you know?” he asked. I just looked at him pointedly in response, which caused him to chuckle. “Okay, but just because she doesn’t like it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it if you want to do it.”

“I just don’t want to disappoint her. She went to all the trouble of arranging an internship for me, and I just know how she is whenever I want to do something that isn’t a part of her plan.”

He gave me a knowing look. “Well, now, I may understand that a bit more than you think. But, honey, I know that my choices hurt you, and believe me, I never meant for them to. It’s just that one day I woke up and realized that life is too short to not do what makes you happy. You only get one go around. Might as well make it the best life. And Blair makes me happier than I have ever been.”

“Sorry for not being supportive before. I am happy for you, you know?”

“Thank you, sweetie,” he said with a beaming smile.

I hugged him for the first time in a long time, and he must have realized that too because he held on tighter than I remembered as if to compensate for the last few months.

“Bye, Dad,” I said, squeezing him one last time. “I’ll come visit soon.”

“I’d like that,” he said, kissing the top of my forehead before returning to Blair and his new baby.

My baby brother.

Now that I had met Henry, I knew that I wanted to be part of his life. I was sure my mom would be hurt, but I hoped she would eventually understand.

I made my way back down to the waiting room, where Tobias was still reading quite contentedly. There was a styrofoam cup of coffee beside him as well as an empty granola bar wrapper.

“Hey,” I said to get his attention.

“Are you ready?” he asked as he put his bookmark into place and closed the heavy hardback.

---