Big Siblings Sarah and Joseph
Joseph O'Brian had a big problem. His Mommy was getting fat! Joseph started to notice this change when they were on vacation and he walked into his parents cuddling on the couch of their French house, with Carrie's belly exposed and looking slightly bigger than usual.
While Joseph didn't think much of it at the time, when he returned he observed that his Aunt Cat had developed a big round belly, like she ate a basketball. His cousin Bruce said he didn't like how Aunt Cat was too tired or was too big to play lots of games with him anymore, and that set Joseph into a panic when he remembered his mother. When Daddy was gone, Mommy was the one who played catch and sports, and Joseph wanted his playtime!
To test and see if she was truly getting big, Joseph after waking up from a nap walked into the living room where Mommy was laying on the couch and scratching Natalie next to her while Mary and Sarah watched Flintstones on the Kermit Box. Joseph walked up to his mother and held his arms out. "Mommy up!"
Carrie smiled at her son's request and lifted Joseph onto the couch. She thought her son wanted to snuggle with her but was surprised when he scooched down and focused his hands on her stomach, rubbing at patting it which made her tickle.
"Joseph, you silly goose." Carrie said with a laugh, while her son continued to perform the tests with concentration. After determining that he was right, Joseph yelled for Bruce. "Daddy!"
Carrie was slightly disappointed that Joseph was being a Daddy's boy again while Bruce walked in from the restroom, "Yes Joe?"
Joseph then pointed an accusatory finger at Carrie. "Mommy Fat!"
Bruce started laughing hard at history repeating itself, though he silenced at a deathly stare from Carrie. Sarah looked back to her brother in confusion, while Mary with her excellent memory recalled when she made a similar statement, gasping and then squealing with glee.
"Mommy, you pregnant?!" Mary yelled in happiness.
"What preg-nat?" Sarah asked Mary.
"It means Mommy having a baby!" Mary informed, the twins getting real excited about this announcement.
Carrie sighed and sat up. She and Bruce had known for weeks but didn't say anything so as not to raise a fuss on vacation. She had planned to tell the kids tommorrow, but it appears that Joseph and Mary had spoiled a surprise. "Come here girls." She requested.
Mary and Sarah climbed on top of Fort Couch while Bruce settled himself in a chair to the right of them to face his kids.
"Yes, I am having a baby. So in six months, you'll have a little brother or sister." Carrie informed.
"Like Ginger kittens?" Sarah asked, with Tigger coincidentally walking across the top of the couch.
"Yes, like Ginger kittens." Carrie explained, and then got puzzled when Sarah started to pout and tear.
"No watch, wanna play with baby!" Sarah complained.
With memories of many days Sarah spent in dutiful and longing watch, Carrie quickly got the meaning. "Babies are different then kittens Sarah, you can touch and spend time with your sibling when they're born." Carrie said, with Sarah nodding weakly.
"But you can't hold or play much Sarah. Babies lots of work and need time to grow." Mary emphasized.
"WHAT?!" Sarah yelled in concern, while Joseph looked very confused at the explanations.
"Sarah, you can interact with your sibling and Mommy isn't gonna keep them away from you like Ginger did with the Kittens." Bruce said.
"Yeah, Mommy's smart and knows who her babies will be." Mary affirmed.
"Babies just need time to grow and learn before you can play with them lots. You two were the same with Mary."
"I had to wait FOREVER!" Mary said dramatically, making Bruce and Carrie smile.
"At least now the three of you have each other and you got the kittens. It won't be bad Sarah, it'll be a good time." Carrie promised.
"Okay." Sarah said. At that moment, Lamington jumped in front of Sarah who grabbed her cat and hugged firmly. Those weeks where she could only watch Lamington were the worst of her young life. Sarah loved Lamington and it was so tough not being able to be with her, she didn't want to repeat such messiness with her sibling.
"Mommy, is baby brother?" Joseph asked.
"No, sister!" Sarah responded.
"Brother!"
"Sister!"
"We don't know yet, but whether it's a boy or girl, we'll love them just the same and they'll love you so much." Carrie promised.
"Mommy, where baby?" Joseph asked.
"In my belly. That's why it's big Joseph, not because I'm fat." Carrie stressed.
Joseph crawled to Carrie and put his hands on her belly once more. "How?" He asked simply.
Sarah gasped, "You eat Baby?!"
Bruce and Carrie gave each other a knowing look, here they went again.
The next day, Mary called out to Joseph and Sarah in the morning. "Littles!"
Joseph came first into her room, somewhat close to a run as he usually liked to when excited with Tigger racing him. Sarah was slower with Lamington prancing and going to her brothers.
"I no little Mary, I big!" Sarah protested. Indeed, her and Joseph were growing quickly and she was only six inches shorter than Mary.
"I'm older and taller, so I am the big girl and you two are the littles." Mary confirmed, with Sarah pouting in response.
"Why call Mary?" Joseph asked.
"Because as the Big Girl, I shall teach you two how to be good big littles to the baby, like how I learned, all on my own." Mary said proudly. She then retrieved her two baby dolls and gave them to the twins. "This is Katie, that's George." Mary said to Sarah and Joseph respectively. "I teach you how to help, so Mommy and Daddy have easy hard work."
"I help Lamington, I good carer." Sarah said.
"Me too!" Joseph added.
While the twins weren't exactly fully capable of tending to all their cat's needs, they did genuinely try their best like guiding them to the bathroom when they needed, helping with exercise and play, helping to wash when needed and being good companions.
"Babies are different from kittens, they are lots of hard work and need support." Mary said, remembering her aid in helping the twins when Bruce had his rough moments after the break-in. "You gotta learn the basics so Mommy and Daddy don't have stress. You love Mommy, Daddy right?"
"Yes." Both the twins said.
"Then learn and be good big littles. Especially you Joseph, don't ignore me this time!" Mary said with a pointed finger and hard stare at Joseph.
"What?" Joseph asked in confusion, not remembering his defiance of Mary's speech lessons.
For the next hour until breakfast, Mary did her best to instruct the twins in child rearing. They didn't get it perfect, with Sarah having trouble doing the correct holding position and Joseph being a bit rough in play by rocking his doll too fast and using him like an action figure, but both twins showed an earnestness and wanted to improve, finding the house game to be a little fun and growing more eager for a sibling.
Later in November, the O'Brians were eating a spaghetti dinner when Bruce and Carrie shared some happy news.
"So, great news everyone. Mommy and I found out whether your going to have a brother or sister, and we named them." Bruce said.
There were lots of happy cries at the table. "Which is it?" Debbie asked.
"Wait, Grandma, this is a special announcement. We gotta drum roll." Mary said, with her drumming her hands on the table. Sarah joined cutely with her best pats on her high chair, though things got out of hand when Joseph was smacking his plate hard with sauce flying and the plate threatening to crack.
"Alright, alright, that's enough!" Bruce warned. Mary groaned and frowned at Joseph who was laughing as Bruce quickly cleaned his hands. "You do the honors Carebear."
"Well my little Goslings, you are going to have a baby brother named...George Michael O'Brian." Carrie announced happily. While it wouldn't have been her first idea for a name, she grew to like it since Bruce had picked it and was happy when imagining George playing with the kids.
"Yay, Brother!" Joseph said happily, clapping at the news.
Mary was also gushing at the news, thinking that her parents had named George after her doll, and completely forgetting about her uncle George.
As for Sarah, the middle Gosling frowned and slouched, whispering "Bother" though no one picked up on her emotions at the moment for the celebration.
Fortunately, Carrie noticed her daughter's forlorn expression a half a minute after delivering the news, "What's wrong Sarah?"
"Wanna be big sister." Sarah protested.
"But you are a big sister Sarah. You're Joseph's big sister and will be George's big sister." Carrie corrected.
"No!" Sarah shouted, surprising the family as Sarah was usually mild-mannered. "Be big sister with little sister, like Mary!" Sarah protested, a distraught look displayed on her face.
"Want George!" Joseph countered, fearful that somehow his parents would give into her demands and not have George.
"Joe, be nice." Bruce warned, then turned his attention to Sarah. "Sarah, we would love for you to have a little sister, but right now we're having George. You'll still be a big sister, you are one now, and George is gonna love you so much." Bruce said kindly.
"Bother." Sarah said glumly, then smacked her plate of spaghetti weakly.
For the rest of the night, the family tried to make Sarah happy with Mary willing to let her have Kermit O'Brian for the night, drawing sessions, and watching her favorite show on the Kermit Box. While these and the constant companionship helped to keep Sarah calm, she was still upset about not getting a sister and in somewhat of a dour state most of the next day.
In the next afternoon, Sarah sought to distract herself by drawing pictures of whatever she wanted. It was an okay time, especially with Lamington distracting Sarah with cuddles, but her mind wandered to having a sister with her drawing the situation on a few pages.
The door opened and Sarah turned in curiosity, with a coal black Scottish fold darting in. Lamington arose excited and the two played with each other happily in a tussle.
Sarah was alert as that cat's entrance could only mean one thing.
"Hi Sarah." Sarah's cousin Sarah greeted, (Mary liked to say their parents were a bit lazy with names) and walked into her room.
"Hi cousin Sarah." Sarah said, waving with Sarah Powell walking over and hugging Sarah which she returned.
"Why here? Is not Sunday." Said Sarah, as a lot of times their families would meet for lunch after Church.
"Aunt Carrie wanted us over to say hi to George." Cousin Sarah said, producing a frown on little Sarah's face. "She also said you're a little sad about not having a little sister."
"Want little sister, why Mommy mean?" Sarah protested.
"Aunt Carrie didn't choose to have a boy, God chose so." Cousin Sarah answered.
"Why Jesus?!" Sarah shouted to the small crucifix above her door.
Sarah Powell sighed. She was so used to dealing with Mary who was super intelligent and either at a similar level or smarter than her, that Sarah and Joseph being normal threw her for a loop. What she didn't share was that part of the reason Carrie invited her in-laws was she wanted some help for Sarah, as Sarah Powell herself was in a similar situation.
Cousin Sarah sat down and got on a similar level to Sarah. The cats quit playing with both approaching either side of Sarah. "Sarah, why are you sad that you won't have a little sister?"
"Be big sister like Mary. Little Sister, have fun, be cool." Sarah tried to explain.
What Sarah was feeling but her mind couldn't exactly frame as a two year old was a classic case of middle child syndrome. Mary was the coolest and the big sister that Sarah looked up to, so Sarah tried to be like her, especially cause Mary got lots of praise and attention for being herself. However, while she was a big sister, Joseph didn't treat her like one, a situation made all the more difficult by Joseph being taller than her.
It was not as if Sarah didn't want another brother as she loved Joseph, but she specifically wanted a sister so she could replicate the relationship that Mary had with her, this time Sarah being the big girl who did the cool things and was looked up to. Sarah was also not consciously aware at this time, but deep down she felt it hard to grab attention to the family when her sister was a genius and her brother was a sports prodigy. But with a little sister, she could look up to Sarah.
"Joseph can do that." Sarah Powell said.
"I not Joseph big. I big for little sister." Sarah countered.
"And you can be with baby George." Sarah Powell said, with Sarah looking doubtful at her statement. The elder Sarah sighed, "At least you have a sister Sarah, I'm just gonna have brothers."
"Huh?" Sarah said in confusion. "Why not?"
"Because Mom is gonna give birth to Ryan next month and Dad said she's a bit old to try for more babies and it might hurt if they try again. So I'm just gonna have Bruce and Ryan as brothers."
Sarah gasped. She didn't understand many concepts of biology and hearing her parents talk of a big Gosling flock, she just assumed parents could have as many babies as they could. At least no matter what, Sarah had a sister with Mary.
Sarah hugged her older cousin, with Sarah Powell reciprocating in thanks. "It's okay Sarah. I was sad for a bit, but I like having Bruce and Ryan will probably be fun. I'm still a big sister."
"Bruce see Big Sarah, not little?" Sarah tried to ask.
"He does what I say and he asks for help a lot, and I like teaching him things and showing him new stuff." Sarah Powell tried her best to answer. "It's not a bad thing to only have brothers. Everyone else in your family does Sarah."
Sarah thought hard and she realized her cousin was right. Mommy only had Uncle Todd, Grandma Uncle Bill, Cat Daddy and Uncle Gavin, and Aunt Susan and Grandpa Grandma had no one. But they were still pretty happy. It looked like Sarah was really lucky.
"Besides, I have you and Mary, so I guess you're kind of like my little sisters." Sarah Powell said.
This also made Sarah think. She didn't have any other female cousins besides Sarah, but she did have Amanda Lucas. Amanda was younger than Sarah and looked up to her and followed her around when their families played. Then Sarah remembered.
"Amanda, Godsister." Sarah shouted, so she did have a sister of sorts after all.
"There you go Sarah, everything's fine and baby George will be good."
Sarah hugged her cousin, "Tanks Sarah for happy talk." This made Sarah Powell smile, feeling like she really did have a little sister.
A few minutes later, Sarah walked out her room and waddled to the living room, where the two families where conversing. Both Bruce and Carrie greeted their middle child and were curious on how she was feeling.
Sarah raised her arms with Bruce lifting her onto Fort Couch, with Sarah then crawling over to hug Carrie's belly. "Hi George, I Sarah."
"Mommy!" Joseph called from the living room. It was his turn to have the living room Kermit Box, and he would make good use of it by putting on the Lakers, his Mommy's team.
Carrie walked in slowly, feeling some of the classic back aches from pregnancy return recently. At least she only had one Gosling this time and not two. "Yes Joe?" Carrie asked sweetly.
"Watch Basketball." Joseph requested.
Carrie had been intending on spending the evening reading a book, but she didn't mind watching her Lakers dominate the court. She was curious that Joseph was asking her. "Do you want to wait for Daddy?" Carrie asked, as Bruce was currently washing Natalie.
While Carrie knew that Joseph loved her, and he was a very affectionate child daily, he was also a Daddy's boy and wore it on his sleeve with Bruce being his first choice for games, sports, food and fun; nevermind that Bruce was the person that Joseph chose his first steps and words for.
Thus, Carrie was surprised when Joseph shook his head. "Not Daddy, want you."
Carrie smiled brightly at the statement, gushing in joy that Joseph asked for her first. "Okay Joseph, let's watch the game together." Joseph was happy as he got onto the couch with assistance from his mother and settled in, snuggling under a blanket with Carrie to watch the Lakers play the Bulls.
To Joseph, there were two reasons why he wanted to watch the game with Carrie instead of Bruce. Firstly, while Bruce was fun with sports, Carrie knew best about Basketball and she was the owner of the Lakers team. As such, it was fun for Joseph to watch with his mother considering Carrie could share lots of fun stories about the players and was smart about the game, so Joseph learned a lot of stuff with his mother and when the Lakers won, Mommy won, so it was a good time.
Secondly, Joseph had just learned that apparently babies when in the belly like to listen and watch what their mommy liked. Mary had shared with him and Sarah earlier that babies grew up smart from listening music in the belly. It didn't make too much sense admittedly since Carrie didn't listen to much music when she had Mary, but Mary wanted to help guide George by playing not only classical music, but Muppets music so George would like the muppets. Sarah also did her best to help by doing drawings so George would like them by proxy.
As for Joseph, he hoped that if he watched lots of sports games with Carrie, that George would be as passionate as he was about sports. Mary and Sarah liked sports, especially the Lakers, but they didn't LOVE sports like Joseph. Though admittedly Mary loved martial arts, but Joseph was confused on if it was a sport because no one wore jerseys.
So Joseph hugged Carrie and cheered for him and George when the Lakers did well, being very eager and excited to meet his baby brother.
Shortly after New years, Bruce woke up one morning to the sweet sound of Carrie giggling. He opened his eyes, expecting to see his beautiful and beloved wife, and was surprised by red-coated rear in his face, tale smacking him lightly. Blinking and slowly rising, Bruce found that Ginger was sitting between him and Carrie, watching the source of Carrie's giggles, the kittens licking at Carrie's pregnant belly like a scoop of ice cream.
"Should I be concerned that my wife is being treated as an all you can eat buffet for the kittens?" Bruce asked.
Carrie laughed at the statement, "I don't know what's gotten into them. About ten minutes ago, Alfred jumped on and woke me up with some kisses, and then Lamington and Tigger joined in."
"And Ginger?"
"Oh she's just watching for now, but last night she kept on nuzzling my belly while you were in the shower."
"Are you rubbing catnip on your stomach?" Bruce asked. Though it was a semi-serious question with how concentrated the kittens were on Carrie.
"No, they just really can't wait to meet George. It's weird, Ginger wasn't like this with Mary or the twins."
"Woof."
Bruce turned to his right and saw a jealous Natalie standing at attention, ears drooping and puppy eyes on display in jealousy of the kittens hogging Carrie's attention.
"Up Natty." Bruce requested with Natalie jumping on top of the bed and laying on top of Bruce with Bruce scratching her ears and giving her a kiss on the forehead.
"Why you always act like we never love ya?" Bruce said sweetly, receiving some licks in return.
"Mommy! Why you stealing Fred?"
On a rainy day in February, Sarah was passing the time inside by coloring in a Disney princess book. She absolutely loved the Disney books that her Aunt Cat brought her. They had beautiful drawings and it was great practice with Sarah on how to do colors. The phone rang, but Sarah didn't pay it much mind as Carrie who was laying on the sopha answered.
"Hello? Oh hi Susan." Carrie answered. Sarah perked her head up, thinking it was her Aunt Susan, though she continued her coloring with one open ear.
"It's gonna be a girl, oh that's wonderful. What's her name?" Carrie asked. That really grabbed Sarah's attention, as she remembered over Christmas her Uncle and Aunt saying they were gonna have a baby.
Sarah dragged a pillow and used it to climb on top of Fort Couch, then crawled over to Carrie. "Cousin?" Sarah asked.
Carrie smiled at her middle child, "Yes Sarah, Aunt Susan and Uncle Gavin are having a baby girl. Hannah O'Brian." Carrie announced.
At that, Sarah was really excited and extended her hands out, "Mommy, phone!" Sarah requested.
"Hold on Susan, Sarah wants to say hi."
"Hi Sarah, how's my favorite two year old niece?" Susan asked kindly.
"Aunt Susan, have baby girl?!" Sarah asked in excitement, practically yelling into receiver.
"Yep, Hannah. She won't be due until the Summer, but I can feel her kicking with excitement to see her cousins."
"Can I be Hannah big sister? Please Aunt Susan." Sarah pleaded.
"Sure, I think Hannah would love to have you as a big sister." Susan said warmly.
Sarah smiled widely, whenever Amanda came over, she did her best to be a big girl for Amanda to look up to, and true enough her godsister did with Amanda following Sarah and looking to her for inspiration on how to play games and have fun. Now Sarah would have two little sisters of sorts, even if she just had Joseph and George as littles for now.
All was fine in the world.
On March 14th, 1983, George Michael O'Brian would be born, another Gosling added to the world.
At the hospital, Joseph and Sarah waited patiently in the waiting room with their grandmother, Sarah doing her best to read a sesame street book on her own while Joseph was fascinated with a bead table and was guiding the different colored beads along the various paths.
Both the twins were a bit nervous when Carrie shared that she was having George right now, but their young age meant that they were also unaware of any potential danger, so the experience was more boring than anything with them really wanting to see their parents again. With Joseph in particular, his primary concern was George getting born before night time so he could watch the Geese play Monday Night football.
The twins' leisure was broken by the entrance of Mary, who was running and panting with excitement. "Did I miss it?" She asked Debbie, with Todd following her as he picked up Mary from pre-school.
"You're right on time Mary, any minute your Daddy is gonna take you all to see George." Debbie answered.
Mary then went to her siblings in concern, "Are you okay littles? Was it scary?" Remembering vividly when she watched Carrie go into labor.
"What scary?" Sarah asked in curiosity.
"It's okay Mary. Your Mommy had an easier time with George and she wasn't in a lot of pain." Debbie comforted. Although even if Carrie was in high pain, the twins probably wouldn't have noticed as Joseph was deep into a nap while Sarah was watching Scooby-Doo at a high volume.
"So she safe?" Mary asked, to which Debbie nodded and the eldest Gosling breathed a great sigh of relief.
"Safe?" Asked Sarah in confusion, worry starting to pop up.
Fortunately Bruce popped in at that moment, the Goslings swarming their Dad with joy. "Your brother George is born and is very healthy, and so is Mommy." Bruce informed, making Mary very relieved.
Bruce escorted his kids to the restroom so they could wash their hands, with the Goslings then heading to a room where they found Carrie sitting, tired and sweaty but happy and well, holding a blue blanket in her arms, though a shift revealed it wasn't just a blanket, but a bundle carrying a very pink baby.
"Come say hi to George kids." Carrie requested softly. Bruce plopped the twins low on the bed on either side of Carrie while Mary dragged a chair so she could sit up and see George while giving Carrie some space.
The kids said hi, happy at the sight of their baby brother. Mary gave a quiet lecture on how to be good big siblings with a newborn, though Sarah and Joseph paid little attention as they were both fascinated with the bundle, each requesting Carrie to hold George.
With George done feeding, Carrie positioned him to face his siblings with George squirming and eyes opening, revealing beautiful blue eyes that were as blue as the ocean.
"Lamington Eyes!" Sarah squealed, this moment reminder her of the very special time she saw Lami be born into the world, and this time she didn't have to stay away because Mommy was smart and wouldn't forget her baby like Ginger could.
This moment seemed just as perfect. However, instead of mewling and nuzzling Sarah like Lami did, George took a confused look at all of the new people in the room, and yelled and cried as loud as he could, his little lungs dominating the room with his screams.
"Why George cry?" Joseph asked. Meanwhile, Mary adopted a look of dread as the twins had been calm when she first met them and while they cried, they were nowhere near as loud.
"Are we bad?" Sarah asked in concern.
Carrie shook her head, "No Sarah, he's just getting used to the world and that's his way of saying hi. He'll calm down, just has to get settled."
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Mary said, quoting her parents from Star Wars.
Bruce chuckled and kissed the top of Mary's head, "Don't be silly Mary, George isn't going to cry all the time. I'm sure he'll be just as calm as you three."
Many crying days and nights later would prove him to be wrong.
