Big Sister Mary
"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!"
Carrie let loose a tired sigh as she rose up from her lounging position on the couch and greeted her running daughter with a smile. After another day of Lakers management, Carrie had wanted to simply rest until dinnertime but duty called and as tired as she was she never wanted to miss time with Mary.
"Yes Mary?" Carrie asked, as she lifted Mary up to sit on the couch next to her.
"Daddy told me why you're fat!" Mary said happily.
Carrie gave a wheezing huff of laughter at Mary's rather absurd sentence. She looked out the window to seem Bruce cleaning the pool with Natalie at his heel. Carrie understood what Mary was trying to say and she knew Bruce would never call her fat, but it would surely make for some fun ammunition for a teasing interrogation once he returned inside.
"Oh, and why am I 'fat'?" Carrie asked with a sweet voice.
"Because I'm having a brother and sister!" Mary answered with excitement.
Carrie nodded her head, "That's right my little dragon, I'm having twins and you're gonna be a big sister." Carrie responded, kissing Mary on the head with a hug that made her giggle.
Mary then moved to give Carrie a hug on her belly, "Hi babies, I'm Mary your sister."
Happy tears welled up in Carrie's eyes at the action. She had been too young when Todd was born to comprehend what was happening, but Mary being the little genius that she was, was taking to it very well and happily, something that warmed Carrie's heart that she had the family she always wanted growing up.
Mary's face then morphed into a serious one with her looking at Carrie's enlarged stomach with concern, "Mommy, you didn't eat the babies right?" Mary asked for clarification.
Carrie shook her head in amusement, "No Mary, they're just growing in my belly until they're ready to come out at the hospital. Two years ago you were in my belly just about to come out." Carrie said, pointing to her stomach.
"Really?" Mary asked in amazement.
Carrie nodded, "I'll show you some of the pictures after dinner. Although Mary, when a mom has a baby in her belly, that means she's pregnant, not fat." Carrie informed so that Mary wouldn't have a gaffe in public.
Mary nodded then looked to be pondering, "Mommy, if you have two babies in belly, where's my brother or sister?"
Carrie stared at Mary for a couple of seconds before catching her meaning, "When I was pregnant with you it was just you. Most moms are only pregnant with one baby at a time, I just got blessed to have two this time instead of one."
"Ah." Mary said simply, "Mommy, why you want more babies?"
"Because your daddy and I love having you soo much that we want to raise lots of wonderful babies like you." Carrie said truthfully, which made Mary happy.
"How can I help Mommy? Daddy said I already help, but how?" Mary asked.
Carrie hugged her daughter tightly, "You help by just being Mary and that's all I need." Carrie said soothingly.
Mary crossed her arms, "But I wanna help, be good big sister."
Carrie giggled, "You'll know how to help when the time comes Mary."
"Where do babies come from?"
"Ask your Daddy."
As the weeks went by, Mary went into a baby craze, excited and eager to meet her siblings, although frustratingly her parents refused to explain to her how babies were made and when she tried to read Brandon books about it he scooped it up and put it on a high shelf where even Natalie's aid wouldn't help her.
To prepare for her siblings and help, Mary played with two baby dolls, a boy one she had gotten last Christmas and a girl she asked after learning of Carrie's pregnancy. Mary would read the parent books that Bruce and Carrie had, and then tried to replicate the actions with her baby dolls. Her parents had gotten her a baby boy for Christmas which she named George, but when Mary learned that she was having twins she wanted a girl doll to simulate her future experience and thus she got little Katie O'Brian.
Many times would Bruce and Carrie walk in on Mary and see her in her own little world playing house. One day Bruce arrived home and was surprised to find his daughter not rushing to greet him with a hug and kiss. Heading to Mary's room, Bruce observed an adorable sight of Mary walking back and forward trying to rock her George doll.
"Hush George, don't cry, go to sleep. Sleeptime is good, sleeptime has nice dreams. You sleep you be happy." Mary said soothingly.
Bruce walked in with a smile, crouching down and wrapping Mary in a great warm hug, "Daddy, I'm trying to make George take naps." Mary complained.
Bruce laughed and let Mary go, "Alright, I'll let you get to it. Does Katie need any help."
"She hungry, feed her milk." Mary said with a point to a nearby plastic bottle, with Bruce picking it up and placing it on the baby girl's Mouth.
"You know Mary, your mother and I are gonna be just fine with the twins. We raised you after all." Bruce assured.
Mary shook her head, "You got two babies and two is tough, I gotta be a good big sister helper." She protested. Bruce doubted that Mary would be so adamant when confronted with crying twins, but it was nice to see her put in the thought and effort.
Thus, "Grandpa" Bruce was roped into the game, feeding and then burping quiet Katie while Mary was handling the silently rambunctious mess of George and then putting her dolls to bed with a wipe of real sweat on her brow.
"Daddy, can Wally come over soon?"
"Sure thing. You want to play Dragon with him or make a movie?" Bruce asked to which Mary shook her head.
"I want to play house with Wally so I have a full family. I am the mommy, and Wally is my baby daddy." Mary said simply, a statement which nearly knocked the wind out of Bruce in another powerful example of a Mary-ism.
While Mary was getting great at playing the house game, especially with her parents or Wally playing as well, Mary knew she needed to get some real experience and thus strove to observe a big sister in action. Fortunately, Mary would get plenty of opportunities with the family trips to the Powell house and Mary seeing her cousins Sarah and Bruce.
Unfortunately, Mary couldn't always have sibling safaris on demand, "No Sarah, we gotta play with Bruce. I need to watch you be big sister so I can practice with my littles." Mary protested. The three Irish kids were in Sarah's room with little Bruce happily in his own world playing with a stuffed elephant and dog.
Sarah shook her head, trying to shove her barbies onto Mary, "Mary, I wanna play Barbies with you. Bruce isn't smart like you so he can't play Barbies because he won't listen and do it right."
"Just teach Bruce, he learn like how I learn pretty dancing and hand talk." Mary suggested, not fully comprehending how advanced she was and her pace wasn't as simple and easy for others. Even Wally who was faster than others his age was leaps behind Mary.
"I play with Bruce all the time, I want to play with you." Sarah argued.
"But I need to learn to be good sister like you." Mary countered.
"Just have Uncle Bruce and Aunt Carrie teach you."
Mary was about to call for her parents to force Sarah to play when she spied beneath the bed a math book which piqued her interest, "You learn the maths?"
Sarah groaned and nodded as Mary pulled the book out, "Yeah, I have to learn it at school but it's super hard and annoying."
Mary smiled wickedly, her little mind coming up with the same tactics that she used for Brandon to get some nice steak and potatoes. "Sarah, I do your maths we play games with Bruce and you teach me how to be good big sister?" Mary offered.
Sarah stared at Mary in disbelief, "You know how to do big addition, multiplication and division?"
Mary nodded, "I can do cal-q-less, numbers easy."
Sarah pushed her book in front of Mary along with a blank paper and some crayons. Five minutes later, Mary did a single chapter on her own. With the work legible and Sarah recognizing some of the numbers as right, she decided to trust her cousin.
"Alright we can play with Bruce."
"Yay!" Mary cheered, bribing was the best and super fun.
The two then went over to little Bruce who looked at his sister and cousin with a happy face, "Hi!" He simply said.
"Bruce likes to play with animals a lot. He likes to take things slow and move the game, but he also likes some fast stuff and really loves wagon rides." Sarah explained, with Mary scribbling down with crayon on a different paper.
Everything was going really swell for Mary with her grandfather having gone to visit to help film a scary wolf movie, her mommy's basketball team winning lots of games thanks to the Magic man, and she was starting to make lots of new friends. All that was left was for the babies to come with Mary really happy for some new friends. Her parents told her that they would come around Easter time, but little did Mary know was that she was gonna get a late Valentine's gift instead.
In the early morning of February 21st, Mary was sleeping in her new room (having moved in around Christmastime so the babies could have the nursery). She was sprawled out over her bed, clutching onto her Kermit doll and in deep sleep thanks to having spent the previous day celebrating Wally's birthday. It was a very fun time with lots of games and cool presents and yummy cake, and Mary was really happy for her best friend that he had a fun party where they could play Jedi and Dragon and watch Star Wars, with Mary now liking the movie thanks to dealing with her fear, even though it never fully went away.
Mary was in the middle of rather sweet dreams of playing with the Muppets when she heard her mommy scream in great pain. It woke Mary up with heavy fear and alarm as she never heard her parents in such pain, not even on the Kermit Box when they were characters. Mary crawled out of her bed, clutching onto Kermit as she took slow and uneasy steps towards her parents room. She pushed the door open slightly with Natalie moving in front of Mary to try and block her from viewing, but Mary being stubborn pushed Natalie slightly to the side and stepped in.
What Mary saw was a terrifying sight as Carrie was curled up on her bed, yelling in pain and breathing heavily while Bruce held her hand and whispered sweet words of encouragement.
"Mommy! What wrong?!" Mary asked in concern, shaking in fear over what she was witnessing.
The pair noticed and Bruce quickly rushed over and kneeled down before Mary, "It's okay Mary, go back to bed. Mommy's getting ready to have the babies and they're trying to get out. It can hurt, but she's going to be just right once we go to the hospital."
"THE BABIES HURTING MOMMY?!" Mary shouted in horror. Having been banned from reading baby health books, Mary was clueless on the process of labor and as such was unprepared for what she was seeing.
"It's okay Mary, Mommy's gonna be okay. Daddy's gonna take me to the hospital and I'll be healthy." Carrie tried to reassure with labored breath, though with heavy strain in her voice, the sight only serving to make Mary cry.
Fortunately, Debbie was a lifesaver, arriving a minute later to supervise Mary and allow Bruce to take Carrie to the hospital without any concerns. Unfortunately Mary was very difficult to console, crying until her tears dried up and face turning red no matter how tight she pulled on Kermit or all the cuddles and kisses Natalie and Ginger gave her.
"I don't want babies no more! They hurt Mommy, they bad!" Mary said in a tantrum.
Debbie sighed as she held onto Mary and kissed her reassuringly on top of the head. In hindsight they probably should have planned something for this but twins were difficult to prep for and Mary took great leaps in intelligence throughout the pregnancy that she would be very aware of what was going on.
"Mary, they don't want to hurt your Mommy, Joseph and Sarah just are really excited to see you and the world. They just want to be born and be part of the family." Debbie spoke comfortingly.
"Why do they have to hurt Mommy? Can't they just be born with no pain?" Mary questioned.
Debbie bit her lip, wondering if they should have taken Todd's suggestion and explain the biology to Mary who having mastered calculus could likely grasp things. Still, there were some steps that had to be taken later and Debbie didn't want to rush Mary too far after having played her part with the Bible and Shakespeare.
"It's an unfortunate part of the process Mary. Every mama hurts when they have a baby, it happened to me when I had your mama and Uncle Todd and she was the same with you." Debbie answered, only perhaps making the situation worse with Mary adopting a look of pure horror with the implications.
"I hurt Mommy?" Mary asked in guilt, to which she received a tight bear hug from her grandmother.
"Only for a bit sweetheart, but when you were born, your mom was the happiest woman in the world cause she was your mom and you were hers. Sometimes the best things in life take a lot of hurt to get them, but when we experience it it makes everything worth it. Today is a happy day Mary, there's nothing to be sad about." Debbie said, to which Mary nodded but she still sniffled.
"Why don't we pray Mary for your mommy and the babies Mary, would that make you feel better?" Debbie asked, to which Mary nodded and clasped her hands together.
"Dear Jesus, make mommy pain go away and have Joe and Sarah birth safe and happy." She requested.
After prayer Mary attempted to ease her mind off of the labor with Kermit Box time, watching Sesame Street and lots of Muppets Show recordings on the VHS. The shows helped to keep her mind off but every now and then her brain would go to the image of her mommy in pain and Mary curled up in fear.
Fortunately, the unease would soon come to an end as after lunch time when Mary was on the verge of passing out and wanting to take a nap, the phone rang and her grandmother told her that the babies were born and they would travel to the hospital. Mary usually loved riding in cars as she could watch the world go really fast and explore new places. However this time she stared blankly ahead, holding onto Kermit and praying for the best.
When they arrived at a garage, they journeyed to the hospital and at the entrance were greeted by Bruce who held onto Mary and quickly ushered them inside before some wise reporters would try to swoop in and get a picture.
"Mommy okay?" Mary asked in concern.
Bruce nodded with a smile, "Yes, Mommy is very tired but she's resting and happy. I'm sorry you had to see that Mary. Having babies is hard work, but they're the greatest gift you can ever receive, and today is one of my two most happiest days."
"What's first?" Mary asked.
Bruce smiled, "When I had you."
Bruce and Debbie escorted Mary inside the hospital room, where Mary saw her Mommy laying on a bed being real sweaty and with a red face, but very happy as she held a blanket bundle to her chest while another blanket bundle was in a glass case next to her.
"Mommy?" Mary asked with uncertainty.
Carrie smiled brightly at Mary, "Hi Mary, you ready to say hi to your brother and sister?" To which Mary nodded slowly.
Firstly, Bruce held Mary over the hospital sink to wash her hands and then sat Mary gently on the hospital bed, joined at Carrie's waist. Carrie lowered the blue bundle held to her chest showing a pinkish sleeping face with a tiny head of hair hidden beneath a cap, "This is your little Brother Joseph. He was a little slow in arriving so he's your youngest sibling" Carrie introduced.
Bruce then grabbed a pink bundle and sat gently on the other side of Carrie, "And this is your little sister Sarah." Bruce showed, greeting Mary with another pink-faced baby who was very similar in appearance though with a lot more black hair and slightly smaller.
"Hi babies." Mary meekly waved, staring at her twin siblings in awe as the reality of the situation was weighing down upon her.
"Joseph, Sarah?" Mary asked in realization. "But those Grandpa-Grandma real names."
"That's right, they're named after your grandparents just like how you're named after me." Debbie softly informed, joining the family and eyes swelling with happy tears over having more grandbabies.
Mary looked to Debbie in confusion, "I'm not a Debbie. I'm Mary." She answered firmly.
A soft giggle was shared by the adults, "My real name is Mary Frances Reynolds." Debbie answered.
Mary's mouth opened in a gasp of shock, "Why you lie Grandma?"
Debbie shook her head, "It's not a lie, Debbie's my nickname that Hollywood gave to me when I started working, I'll tell you the whole story later."
Mary nodded then turned to face the twins, and gasped slightly when she noticed something super important, "Mommy, Daddy; the babies too small! I can't play with them!" She said in alarm.
"Mary, use your quiet voice or else they'll cry." Carrie warned with Joseph fidgeting.
"Sorry." Mary whispered meekly.
Bruce chuckled as he rocked Sarah gently who was cooing at his touch, "Twins are born small Mary, and your brother and sister came out early so they'll be smaller than other babies. They'll grow pretty quick soon though, you just gotta be patient and show them lots of love, it helps them grow." Bruce advised.
Mary nodded, really disappointed that she couldn't play Princess and the Dragon with them soon, but at least she had her cousins and friends to do it with until them. Unfortunately for Mary, she was too little to hold them in spite of how much of a big girl she was, so she could do nothing but watch and give them gentle love pats.
As time went on, Mary started to enjoy this new company, happy that her mommy and daddy could be good parents to more babies and happy that she would always have sibling friends like her mommy and Uncle Todd or her Daddy and Aunt Cat and Uncle Gavin.
Soon Joseph would wake up, and both babies turned to Mary, happy smiles accompanying by gurgles and coos at the sight.
"Hi Joseph, hi Sarah. Imma be best big sister ever, I promise."
