As the morning light slowly illuminated the small room, two children lying peacefully in their beds began to stir. The little sister, Yui, buried her head under her pillow, and pulled up her blanket for added protection. Wei, the big brother, sat up readily enough, stretching and yawning in his bed. He sat on the edge of his bed with his feet almost touching the floor. Still waking up, his glazed brown eyes scanned the room with his tousled black hair sticking
almost straight up.
As the big brother left the room to freshen up in preparation for the day, the little sister gave up on sleep. She too, sat up with a yawn and a stretch, which caused her long russet red hair to tumble down her shoulders and back. Her sleepy eyes finally opened to reveal golden-brown treasures that disinterestedly looked about.
Wei returned to the room as Yui left and got dressed quickly before heading to the kitchen. By the time Yui was also dressed and entering the kitchen, the aroma of breakfast was already filling the house. It was Yui’s job to set up the table for she was not yet tall enough to use the kitchen.
Finished with the table, Yui faced the doorway opposite their room and found that it was already open. Her mother, with her autumn-colored hair of browns and ambers, was sitting propped up in bed, face pale with fatigue, brandy-colored eyes strained. Her hands rested almost protectively over her hugely swollen belly. A cup of water sat on the table next to her, and seeing the question in Yui’s sleepy eyes, Mother said, “Ah, I asked Wei for some water when he checked on me a bit ago. It’s nice to see you two working together, though I notice it’s only quiet during the morning.” A faint smile stretched tiredly across her face.
Yui, still sleepy, absently returned the smile, and asked, “Are you hungry?”
“Hmmm,” Mother hummed, and then said, “Not today, I think. I will try getting some more sleep instead.”
“Alright,” said Yui, moving up and gently brushing her mother’s hand for comfort before leaving the room.
“Yui, the food is done,” Wei called.
“Do you think Papa will return today?” Yui asked her big brother as they put the freshly cooked food on the table.
“Maybe,” said Wei solemnly, secretly as hopeful as she. Father had been forced to leave for supplies, despite having postponed in anticipation of the baby’s arrival. Now they all hoped that the baby would wait even longer so that Father would be present.
The two of them settled down at the table and ate breakfast together.
~
“How could you?” demanded Yui. Wei rolled his eyes as he continued washing the dishes in the soapy water. “I told you that I was going to wash, and you were going to dry!”
“It doesn’t matter,” he replied curtly, his tone sharp. “So long as the work gets done, it is done, so… start drying.” The last two words launched his annoyance out at her.
Tears flooded Yui’s eyes, but Wei only turned away from her in dismissal. In his mind were the thoughts, You always cry.
“I won’t do it,” she yelled, and then sprinted outside.
Wei gripped the dishes in his hands tightly, annoyed that he would have to do all of the work—again. Unable to bottle it in, he shouted after her, “You never do any thing anyway!”
Yui ran to the wooden swing that hung from the tree at the back of their house. She always sat here when she sulked. Tears streamed down her face as she ranted to herself.
“Stupid Wei! I just wanted to wash the dishes since you cooked breakfast! You never listen to me, Never, Ever, EVER!” her voice had begun as a murmur but increased to a shout by the end. She buried her face into her hands and absently rubbed away her tears, which had stopped flowing after she shouted out her frustration.
Yui moped as she reflected on her actions. She knew that fighting with Wei and not helping out was bad, and that she needed to do better. She knew this, of course she did, but… it was hard. What she wanted and what she said did not often match, and… she had a secret she was not sharing with anyone.
Though she had probably been the most excited when everyone learned Mother would have another child, up until now, she had been the youngest. Since she did not know how to be a big sister to anyone, she feared she could not do it. Yui and Wei had been born very close together, so Wei said he did not remember a time before Yui. But, because they were so close in age, there was not much difference in how they were treated. Yui suspected that Wei would be much nicer to the younger sibling but was not confident she could be as solid a big sister as he is a big brother. She was afraid of being left out—or worse, hated.
“Yui,” called her brother, as he walked towards her from the house. His face was downward, and his tone grumpy. Yui glared at him, crossed her arms, and turned away.
Wei glanced at her, saw her posture, and sighed. “I finished the dishes already,” he said to her, which made her flinch. He bit his lip in uncertainty. “Yuuuii…,” he said, dragging out her name, in a way of complaint that only brothers can achieve. “You know we have chores to do, right?” After he spoke, he winced and braced himself for her usual tirade at such a reminder.
When Yui was silent instead, he looked at her in alarm. Yui was not turned as far away now, and he could see that she was frowning, and seemed sad or worried.
“What’s wrong Yui? Are you that worried about Ma?” Wei said, clearly uncomfortable asking the question.
After a moment, Yui paused, and then let out a sigh. “Of course, I am worried,” she informed him, in a familiar haughty tone that she knew Wei despised. “About all sorts of things… that I refuse to tell you about,” she added pointedly. “So, I guess we should just get on with the chores.”
While her tone succeeded in irking him, he was still surprised by this reaction. Wei decided to not question it and hurried to get her started on chores. Although he took on a bossy tone and Yui did not withhold her retorts, the chores did get completed somehow.
~
Just as they were relaxing together after their last meal of the day, sounds outside could be heard.
“Papa!” exclaimed Yui, jumping up and rushing to open the door. The cool autumn wind slipped in right before the bulky figure covered in warm furs stomped inside.
“Da!” even Wei greeted their father with great enthusiasm. Lost in their excitement, the two children rushed to wrap their arms around their missing parent.
“Whoa there,” came deep and gentle voice, still tinged with weariness and exasperation. The dim firelight revealed a handsomely masculine face with short black hair and sharp bronze eyes. Though caught off guard by their abrupt embraces, his gaze took in the neat and orderly house, and his expression softened with understanding.
His big hands rubbed the back or shoulder of his children, and he murmured, “You’ve done well.”
Back in the bedroom lay the quietly listening Mother, smiling proudly at her family. Before anything more could be said, she felt a familiar snapping pain right before fluid flooded the bed.
“The baby is coming!” she called out.
~
It was as if the child had wanted to celebrate Father’s return with the whole family.
Yui had watched, breathless with worry, but determined to do her part in supporting this moment. When her little brother was finally out and declared his first cry to the world, her heart fluttered in her chest.
Now Mother was cradling the baby, and she smiled warmly at Yui. She offered her the baby, saying, “Come Yui, come hold your little brother.”
As Yui gazed down into the warm little bundle of life in her arms—ignoring her big brother’s complaint at not holding him first—she felt her heart stumble and fall, and she wanted to defend this baby brother from any harm and provide him all the love of a big sister.
“Welcome to the family, baby Odi,” she whispered into the sleepy baby’s ear. The warm scene of the two youngest family members brought smiles to everyone, and the rest of the family also gently greeted their newest family member. The tired baby was sent off to a gentle dream, surrounded by loving warmth.
