This is the story I referenced last Wednesday, authored by my oldest son. Hamilton Smith was three years old, almost exactly, when our second child Emerson was born. This is the short story he wrote about a year ago on the subject. -gps
February 22nd, 2000
He was such a cute little baby. His tiny feet, tiny hands, tiny head, and huge ears. He was so funny looking. As I held him in my arms, he slowly moved, blinking like the slowest tortoise and mouthing like he was savoring the sweetest candy he’d ever tasted, slowly rolling his little tongue around his mouth, never stopping but having no clear direction. His hand moved just as randomly, opening and closing, fingers shifting independently, like he was trying to regain feeling after lying on them. I smiled as he was fascinated by his own hand, as if it was recently given to him as a gift. He stuck his little finger in his mouth, gently licking it as he looked up at me. He looked surprised, as if without his tiny sausages to distract him, he finally noticed the world around him. I had to laugh. He was half my size and I could barely hold him. He is only five days old and I was three years old. The hospital chair that I sat in was soft and poofy. It was nice to finally see him. I had been waiting for him for what felt a year. I didn’t even know he was a he until a few months ago. I’d felt him in mommy’s tummy as often as I could. He was so active. He loved music, especially mommy’s cowboy music. He loved the guitar sounds the most. He’d dance inside mommy and make her have to go potty. It was funny to see her make funny faces when he danced. I always hoped that he made mommy be silly like that to make me happy. It was our first connection. Now, I could finally hold him and see how silly he is. Mommy is still stuck the hospital. Daddy says that she is very tired from delivering the baby. But, I think mommy’s just being lazy because she had to carry him for so long. I mean, all she had to do to deliver the baby was lay there. The doctor did all the work. But, I’ll let mommy be tired. I know that she is a nice mommy and she deserves a break from being a good mommy. I’ll take the baby home and take care of him until mommy is ready. I don’t mind. I can feed him some cereal and juice. I’m good at making that, but I can find some of mommy’s cookbooks and learn more, like mommy. Then, I’ll play with him. I have lots of toys. We can play with stuffed animals or build Legos or even drive my little cars. After that, I can put him to bed. He can have mine and I’ll sleep next to the bed in the floor. I’ll protect him and make him happy. He will be safe from the bad of the world. I am so lucky to have him.
March 12, 2003
He is such an awesome little brother. He is so fun to play with. He loves playing with the little cars. We make them drive all over the house. We go up the stair rail and across the floor. We slide them around and make little engine sounds. Mom doesn’t like it when we play so much, but it’s too much fun to stop. We play quietly, so mom doesn’t yell at us. Sometimes, if mom gets too angry at us, we have to go outside to play. We like to kick the soccer ball around. Even though he’s only three, he still kicks really hard. We take turns with the ball, kicking it back and forth and around and around. We have so much fun. We can play together all day. Mom and dad say we’re like two peas in a pod. I think that means we play good together. And I know that’s true. I love my brother very much.
November 4th, 2005
School is kinda hard. Me and my brother have to be in separate classrooms. It’s hard. I miss playing with him. But, the part about my day that is the most fun is coming home and trading stories about our days in different classrooms. We learn different things every day. When he is learning how to add 2 plus 2, I’m learning how to multiply 2 by 2, which is funny because both are equal to 4. Math is so weird some times. We read different things too. I read stories about monsters in school while he reads books with big letters about snakes. He says he likes his teacher and I tell him that I like mine too. We like to walk to school together, if mom will let us. I think she’s a little too protective of us. But, I know she just cares about us. She’s a good mother. And my brother agrees with me. I don’t know what I’d do without him.
September 23, 2011
Middle school is much different than elementary. Each class has a different group of kids. It’s hard to keep track at time. But, it’s cool to work with such advanced material. Algebra, high school literacy, even world history. It’s all super cool. Little bro seems to enjoy it too. He gets atom science and American history, he loves that. We get better lunch options too. We get actual choices for lunch now instead of having to eat the one thing they make for us. After school, we have basketball practice. When we get the ball, no one can stop us. We read each other’s minds and react before anyone can figure out what happened. After practice, we always walk home together, recounting how awesome we are. Mom tries to pick us up, but we like to make her worry. Yes, we’re evil little children, but we know that all we need is each other.
January 4th, 2014
Holy, we were so naive in middle school. High school sucks. No one seems to care. Classes are hard and fast. And we have to run between periods to make it on time. We still do basketball and even do a little acting. We are so tired by the end of the day, we basically sleep all evening. Mom thinks that we’re lazy, but we both argue that we just do too many thinks in a week. Plus, our jobs don’t exactly allow us to sleep all weekend. We both work at a burger joint, I work as a cashier while he works as a cook. It is awesome. Plus, we made a deal with our manager so that we always work the same shifts together. We are lightning fast. From when the guest orders to when they get the food is never more than a minute and a half. We’re awesome as always.
September 2nd, 2018
This is hell on earth. Why would anyone agree to go to college? It’s impossible. We’re so tired, always hungry, and never completely sure what is going on. The one good news is, we’ve roommates! We can always be together. Also, mom worries less and now only bugs us every couple…hours. Yeah, we need to find her a hobby. We’re think woodworking… But anyway, here we are at the state’s best college. I’m studying engineering and he’s studying psychology. It so fun to continue this journey with him. He is so awesome. I’m glad that I have him.
July 23rd, 2023
Finally finished with the hell known as school and we can finally be real adults. We got apartments right next to each other. So we can be separate but still together. He and I both have decided to maybe look into actually dating now. I chose to try online dating while he is trying café dating. I think he’s crazy and that he’ll never find anyone decent his way and he feels the same about my method. But, we think we’ll trade methods soon, just to try another way. He’s too funny sometimes. Glad he’s been by my side.
February 19th , 2024
Great news. We both found our soul mates. He found his online, while I found mine at a local diner. His is blonde and tall, mine is brunette and short. We both love our matches to death. We do double dates and other annoying brotherly stuff that the girls both seem to enjoy. I have to hand it to him, we both found winners.
June 4th, 2029
Man, do we look sharp. Double monkey suits, fixing each other’s bows. We adjust our boutonniere. An hour away, both of our feet are cold and shaking. We both proposed at the falls, sun shining, water glistening. They said yes. We hugged our girls, hugged each other, then giant group hug. It was such a happy day. Now, as we stand on a grassy field, white arc in front of us and balloons forming the aisle. Out come our brides, their white lace flowing in the gentle breeze, the sun reflecting off their faces, tear lines running down them, smiles plastered on. We both have to hold each other up just to keep from fainting from both of their gorgeous beauties. We take each of our brides’ respective hands, the baby soft skin resting nicely in our rougher hands. We both lean now and whisper to our goddess in white, “You are way prettier than she is” to which they smirked, glanced at each other and whispered back, “I know”, hidden giggles followed. The ceremony went perfectly, both of us dipping our bride into the kiss. The reception was lively and long. Our mother cried and cried and cried. We both told her to suck it up, to which she punch us, leaving us “groaning” in pain. We went back home, opened a wine bottle and shared a lovely at home honeymoon, the four of us were inseparable, me and little bro especially.
December 28th, 2031
The circle of life, I guess. The girls announced their pregnancies together, my girl being a week ahead of his girl. We cared for them religiously. We would take care of them as our mother took care of us, with a constant sense of panic and neverending worrying for their safety and wellbeing. They sometimes grew tired of us and sent us away on a fishing trip while they watch soap operas and talked gossip to each other. We’d come back if even one of our phones rang or beep, regardless of what the issue was or if there was even an issue at all. We rushed home a few times because one of them butt dialed us. We didn’t care. We wanted them happy and safe, to which they always replied, in between reassuring kisses that they were fine and we were too paranoid. But, we both cared about our girls more than our own lives. But in the end, we stuck together, little bro and I.
September 13th, 2032
They came. Our babies finally came. I had a girl, he a boy. We named them after water. Mine is Crystal and his is Bayou. We kept our babies warm and safe while our hard workers rested. We never left their sides, cradling the babies in one arm and holding the soft hands in with the other. We knew our lives would be better with our little miracles in our world, brightening ever single dark corner. We looked at each other and silently went, “You did good, bro.”
September 23rd, 2050
We love our world. Never did we want so badly to make the world perfect. Perfect to protect our babies from the world. All we wanted was our angel soul mates to be happy and our miracles of life to grow up healthy. We watched as they first walked, talked, and started school. Saw them struggle with life, with friends, and with school. Saw them hide from us to walk home alone and unprotected. Even saw them find the girl of their dreams. In their young eyes, we saw us. We saw our rebellion and joy with each other’s company. As they left for college, we saw their spark and saw our own. Brothers forever.
I lay there on my bed. My chest feels heavy, breathes barely making it into my lungs. I start to have a big headache. I can hear my sweetheart in the joining room, whistling as she careful cleans. I call with what breath I have left for her. As she comes in, rushing to my bed, I pull her close, gently kiss her, and say for a final time “I love you.” My eyes slowly drift closed as silence begins to consume me.
February 17, 2000
He was such a cute little baby. His tiny feet, tiny hands, tiny head, and huge ears. He didn’t move. I had to watch from behind a plastic barrier. I was only three and I saw them baby that my mommy had had in her for months, lying there in the little bed. He didn’t look like me. He was blue and purple and he didn’t move very much. Grandma brought me to see the new baby. She heard mommy was going to have him and so she rushed over here. I was so excited that I fell asleep in the car. She woke me up at the hospital. I wanted so badly to see the new baby. But, they wouldn’t let me hold him, like mommy promised. He looked sad and asleep. The little light on the blanket wasn’t on like the other babies’ blankets. He was quiet and still. Mommy said that baby was sick and had to stay here. So, Grandma took me home. Before I got back on the elevator, I ran back to mommy and told her to get better soon and bring baby home so I could keep him warm and happy. She teared up, and whispered, “OK, honey. I promise.”
February 21, 2001
I never saw baby again, just a silver can with a name written on it. I told mommy the name on the can was a good name for baby.
I miss baby.
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