“Can’t you take her back?”

According to the family stories, that’s the first thing I said when I met Red, my baby sister, after she was born.  I was 2 and a half and it was all down here from there for a long, long time.

I remember fighting with my sister over everything. Toys, dolls, friends, food- everything.

“She’s breathing too loud!”

“She’s looking at me!”

“She’s touching me!”

Doors slamming. Yelling. Even slapping each other. Why my parents didn’t sell us both to the circus when we we’re younger, I’ll never know.  I had one friend tell me that one day, we’d be best friends and I still remember rolling my eyes so far back at the thought that it’s a wonder they didn’t get stuck.

But she was right. I don’t know when it happened, but gradually Red went from being someone I just barely tolerated to my best friend.  Now we talk daily, if not more.  It makes the Hubs nuts sometimes because he knows nine times out of ten when the phone rings, it’s going to be Red (or my mom).

Red and her husband, TBO, went through hell and back to get pregnant. I had my own problems having Scorch and Bean, so my heart hurt for them each cycle they were unsuccessful. Getting the picture of the positive pregnancy test from Red at 4 am one morning a few months back was one of the happiest times ever.

Fast forward 28 short weeks. Red is 350 miles away hospitalized for the rest of her pregnancy.  A pregnancy that could last another day longer or another 12 weeks, it’s something that will be decided daily.  It’s killing me to be this far away from my best friends, my sister, at such a scary time.

Red & TBO- we love you and the baby and know that you all will be fine. Stay strong and call me as many times a day as you need, Hubs can deal with it. 😉