A little sister is born

A year has passed, and I am two years old now. I learned how to walk a long time ago and have since been sneaking away from my mother’s and her servants’ watchful eyes to wander around the palace I am living in. It is big. No, not big. Enormous. The whole palace is located inside a keep, which in turn is located in the middle and overlooking the city, which is huge in its own right. I was able to climb up to a window and one of the towers I snuck to and see the city that lies beyond the walls of the keep. There are houses, markets and squares as far as the eyes can see. Looking at the premises of the palace, I realized how gigantic it is. The palace has the main building that serves as the reception hall, banquet hall and throne room. It looks extremely extravagant with the elements of columns, walls and ceilings made of real gold and silver. There is an administrative building where all the officials work. There are residential quarters for guests and influential subjects. The wing where my mother, brother and I live is built specifically for the royal family and its guests. It is especially luxurious. There is a big park with a forest and a lake on the premises of the palace. There is pretty much anything a healthy growing boy like me could desire.

I haven’t seen my father, the king, a lot. Only a couple of times in passing. He almost never visits us, which I find strange. I have a lot of fun with my mother and my brother, but it is clear that our father is not interested in helping our mother bring us up. I asked Mother once why ‘Dada’ didn’t visit us as much. She smiled sadly at me and told me that our father was a very busy man. He is a king who needs to spend all his time making sure that our kingdom is protected and flourishes. Though I could see through her excuses. If he wanted to, he would make time to visit us.

I continued spending time with my mother and Artias, occasionally sneaking away to explore the palace further. Mother’s scolding when I was eventually brought back to her did nothing to dissuade my explorer’s spirit.

Today is my brother’s and my third birthday. It is an interesting one, compared to earlier ones. During the past year, our father made a decision to have another child. He succeeded and mother became pregnant. The result of this pregnancy has decided to come out today, on my and Artias’ birthday. Can’t argue that it is not a bad present for us. I love Artias to ****, but another sibling sounds nice. A little sister would be great. Mother told me about her little sister, our aunt. It seems fun having a little sister.

Mother has been in labor since this morning. It is currently midday, and I am standing outside our mother’s chambers with Artias, holding his hand and patting his head. My poor big brother became upset from hearing our mother screaming while delivering our sibling, so I am trying to console him.

“Mother is going to be alright, Arti,” I tell him. “You know how strong she is.”

“But she is in pain,” he says sniffling. “I don’t want Mama to be in pain.”

“I don’t want that either,” I pat his hair. “But it is something she has to go through to bring us our little sister.”

“Why do you think it is going to be a sister and not a brother?” he gets distracted enough by the conversation to stop crying.

“I just have a feeling,” I smiled at him. “Wouldn’t it be nice having a little sister?”

He smiled back. “Yes, it would.”

Soon, our mother stopped screaming and we heard another kind of sound. It was a baby crying. One of the servants opens the door of the chambers and addresses my brother and me.

“Your Highness, the Queen has delivered a healthy girl. Would you like to see her?” she says.

Arti and I nod eagerly and step into the chambers. Our mother is lying in bed propped up by pillows behind her back with a little baby in her arms. She smiles at us and beckons us closer. We walked up to her side.

“Artias, Zenovia, I would like you to meet your little sister. Her name is Tiana.” Mother smiles warmly at us.

Tiana is the cutest baby I have ever seen. Not that I have seen many, but I imagine it is still true. Her cheeks are full and pink, eyes half closed. She seems to be falling asleep fast. I reach out to her little hand. She takes hold of one of my fingers and squeezes it with her cute little hand. She falls asleep holding my finger. I promised right there that I would always love her.