Although Timmy was like most kids his age in many ways - he couldn't read or write, had trouble pronouncing difficult words and at the moment the highest number he could reliably count to was eleven - he had kept some knowledge from his former teenage self. For example he knew how babies got into and out of their mothers, so when his parents tried to explain to him that when a man and a woman really loved each other very much, the woman sometimes got pregnant he felt tempted to giggle or fill in the details. However he did nothing of the sort, since he knew he wasn't supposed to know and figured it would be the best not to confuse his parents. He also knew that Santa Claus didn't exist, but for his parents' sake he pretended to believe the stories they told him as Christmas approached.
It was December now and Timmy knew that Kathy was to be born in January. He watched his mommy waddle around the house with her huge belly which made it hard for her to bend down, so Timmy sometimes tried to help her by picking things up. He also made her and daddy laugh by pushing his own belly out and imitating her walk. One evening when Mommy pulled up her shirt so he could say goodnight to the baby, he saw her belly button had popped out. "Why is your belly button like dat?" he asked. "It popped out because the baby is growing. It's a sign that she's quite big now and she'll be born soon." "I wish she will be born on christmas. I want my sister Kathy as a gift!" Anna laughed. "I may be fat, but I'm not Santa! No, Timmy, she will probaby be born two or three weeks after Christmas." "But I wanna see her!" Timmy demanded. "I know you're looking forward to get to know your little sister. But see it that way: First there's Christmas and gifts from Santa to look forward to. And then after that your sister will be born and we'll have her here with us and you'll be a big brother. Isn't that great?" "Yeah, but I must wait sooooooo long!" "Look, Christmas is only 15 days away. Can you count to 15?" Timmy loved counting, so he immediately tried. "One, two, thwee, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, thir'een..." "Twelve" "Twelve, thir'een, uh... fourteen?" "Yeah, that's right. And?" "Fifteen!" Timmy crowed, proud of his counting skill. "Wow, well done darling! You see, it's not that many days. And when you wake up tomorrow, it will only be fourteen." Mommy really made it sound like not much, so Timmy was happy with anticipation till he fell asleep halfway through daddy's bedtime story. From that day on, counting the days until Christmas became a part of his evening routine.
When Christmas eve was finally there, Timmy helped daddy decorate the Christmas tree and the whole family watched a Santa cartoon on TV. Afterwards, Timmy was put into bed and Anna said "Maybe you'll hear Santa tonight." Indeed, he woke up on Christmas Day when someone shouted "Ho ho ho!" at the door to his room. He immediately noticed two things: one, that "Santa's" voice sounded just like his daddy's, and two, that his bladder was full to the point of giving way. He jumped up from his bed and ran for the bathroom, shouting "SANTA I GOTTA PEE BAD!" Fortunately, daddy was there and helped him to take his diaper off just in time so he could pee in the toilet. That the diaper stayed dry overnight made Timmy feel grown-up and very proud - a great Christmas gift, and a family anecdote that would be quoted for years to come. His other gifts, among them several plastic dinosaurs, books and more stuffed animals for his collection, were no less exciting.
However, the day after brought a much bigger excitement.
Again, Timmy was woken up early by his parents. "The baby is coming, so Daddy and I will go to the hospital. Granny and Granddad are coming to pick you up and you'll stay with them until we're back here, okay?" Anna explained. "Yay, Kathy is coming! Kathy is coming!" Timmy yelled, literally jumping with joy.
Soon, Anna's parents came to pick him up while Fred drove her to the hospital. At his grandparents' house, Timmy asked many questions many times. "What will she look like? How big will she be? When can I see her? Is she out already?" "She'll be beautiful. She'll be small, about like this. Maybe this evening, maybe tomorrow. No." granddad and granny replied, until granny had an idea to distract him.
"Let's make a mobile as a gift for the baby, Timmy" "What's a mobile?" "It's a set of cardboard figures on strings. You hang it over the baby's crib, and the baby can look at it when she's awake." granny explained. That sounded pretty boring to Timmy. "Do babies like that?" "Yes, they like it very much. Do you want to make one as a gift from you to your sister?" Timmy obviously wanted to do everything he could for Kathy, so he replied with an enthusiastic "Yes!".
He spent the next two hours colouring cardboard animals with a crayon after granny had cut them out. Among others, he created a lion with blue and green dots, a yellow dog, a striped elephant and a greenish-brown T-Rex Granny had made at his request. "Wow, you're a great artist Timmy. Now let's eat lunch." Granddad suggested. "I don't want lunch, I want my baby sister!" Timmy whined. "Oh, Timmy, you remind me of your mother the day your uncle Mike was born. She was four then and really looking forward to become a big sister. But Mike was a big baby and took long to come out, so Anna had to wait to see him till the next day." "But i don't WANT to wait till tomorrow!" Timmy was almost crying now. "Maybe you won't. Your sister's being born a bit early, so she'll be smaller and probably come out faster." Granny comforted him, convincing him for the moment.
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Meanwhile, Kathy was pushed out of the only place she'd ever known by increasingly strong contractions. It was getting very tight and uncomfortable around her. Now the top of her head felt very strange and cold. Suddenly her entire head was pushed into the strange, cold place and she discovered it was also very bright, so she shut her eyes tight and hoped everything would go back to normal soon. But it didn't. Instead, a final mighty contraction forced her whole body out of the warm and comfortable womb-world. She felt she was being moved around, many things happened at once and she was forced to use her lungs to breathe for the first time.
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After lunch, just when Timmy was getting restless again, the phone rang and Granny picked it up. "It's Fred!" She announced. "Wow, that was fast. How is Anna? ... Good. And the baby?... Great... We're so happy for you..." When the call was finally finished, she announced:
"The baby's been born half an hour ago, Timmy. Everything's fine. Her name's Catherine Noelle. She has black hair and brown eyes just like your Mommy. She's nineteen and a half inches long and weighs six pounds." "Will we go to the hospital today" Timmy asked. "Yes, we'll go visit her this afternoon." Timmy couldn't remember ever having been so happy before.