Family Snippets - 23. The New Baby

It was, as normal with these things, a long time in the planning.

“Is it going to be a boy or a girl?” Andrew asked.

“A boy,” I replied.

“What’s his name?”

“Tom.”

“Where’s he going to sleep?”

Colin jumped in before I could answer. “He can live in the playroom.”

“That’s really generous, Colin,” I said, ignoring the fact that the playroom was a complete mess with Lego pieces scattered everywhere, “but Mummy and I have already prepared somewhere for him.”

That had been the job on the preceding weekend – setting things up so the new baby would have somewhere to stay. We would still need some new outfits, but we had bought some, and there were a few hand-me-down items.

The happy event was occurring close to Janine’s birthday, so the boys and I had been shopping for both birthday presents and items for the impending new arrival.

“Is he going to be warm enough?” Colin asked.

I smiled. It was very encouraging that he was so concerned. “He’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“When is he going to get here?” Andrew asked.

I glanced at the clock. Janine had told me the baby would be home just after seven that night. “Very soon. Would you like to go outside and wait?”

“Yes!”

Both boys rushed to get ready. I had to make them put on jackets because it was a cold night, but otherwise I let them do whatever they wanted. I didn’t want to interfere too much with their enthusiasm.

“I’m going to wait in the driveway,” Colin said.

“Wait for me.”

He looked at me. “Why?”

“Because it’s dark outside. You don’t want to get run down because they can’t see you.” I grabbed a torch. Living out in the countryside means the nights can get very dark, especially in winter.

It wasn’t long before the new baby arrived home.

The boys jumped around as they watched the new member of the family. They were very excited.

“Don’t get too close,” Janine said, concerned that someone would get hurt.

“He’s nice,” Colin said. Andrew quickly agreed.

Janine and I settled the new baby into his quarters and then watched him for a while.

“He’s big,” Andrew said.

“And he’ll get bigger,” Janine said, clearly in love with her new baby.

“Okay, boys, it’s time to go inside and go to bed,” I said.

“Is he going to be okay outside?” Colin asked.

“He’ll be fine. Horses are used to staying outside.”

Tom’s only a yearling, so he’s got a lot of growing to do before Janine can start riding him, but she finally has a new horse to replace the one who passed away last year.