One Husband, Two Kids... And I'm Only Nineteen! + My Life, My Love, My Kids

9. Telling The Kids

Chapter Nine... Telling The Kids

 

After we'd learnt that we were expecting another child, we took a trip to the doctors' a few days later. They told us that I was six weeks' along, which surprised us both. Didn't think I'd be that far along... And now both of us had been thinking about names, and how we were going to handle six kids.

"We have to tell them all soon," I smiled one morning, a week after we found out. "I bet they will all be excited."

"I'm sure they will," Cameron smiled.

"I still... six kids..." I said thoughtfully. "That's a lot. More diapers to change."

"What if it's like, twins or something?" Cameron asked.

"I uh... I don't know," I said slowly. "That would mean we'd almost have a sporting team!"

"With six, we're close to having a sporting team," Cameron chuckled.

"True," I grinned.

"So... do we tell them today? Or do we wait a few weeks?"

"No, we can tell them this morning. I'm too excited to keep this from them!"

"Did you tell your mom already?"

"Yeah, and I can still hear her squeals of excitement through the phone. And I told Jen, Nath and Adam. They're all pretty happy for us. What about you? Do your family know?"

"Yeah, told them all. They're all happy... think we have too many kids, I think, but they don't judge. Not to our faces, anyway."

"Gee, sounds like my mom..."

"Yeah, our moms I'm sure have coffee and judge us together," Cameron chuckled. I laughed along with him.

"Let's get the kids ready for the day, then we can tell them," I grinned.

An hour later we had all five kids bathed, dressed and sitting on the lounge. Our kids were growing so quickly... Becca was eight, Addy was five and the triplets were three and a half, closer to four years old.

Cameron and I both sat opposite the five kids, and smiled.

"Mom, what's this about?" Becca asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's the weekend, mommy," Lily whined. "We wanna play!"

"Yeah!" the boys both said together.

"We're all going in to go shopping soon, so playing will have to wait," I frowned. "Okay. How do all of you like the sound of having a little brother or sister?"

"Yes!" Lily grinned. "I hate being the baby of the family..."

"Mom, are you having another baby?" Becca asked, frowning.

"Yes, we are," I smiled.

"That's cool," Addy smiled.

"If it's a sister," Lily said thoughtfully. "I don't want another brother."

"But we're awesome!" Ethan scowled.

"Lily's just cranky," Becca frowned. "She's had to share everything with the boys, and she'd worry that she'd have to share things with this baby. Birthdays... you name it."

"Bec, what's with the attitude?" Cameron asked.

"I don't want another brother or sister!" she shouted, storming from the room.

Cameron and I looked at each other, confused. Becca's reaction was far from what we'd expected.

"I'll go talk to her," I whispered, standing up and walking upstairs.

Becca was in her room, curled up with a book, arms crossed.

"Hey, Bec," I smiled weakly. "What's up?"

"You," she muttered bitterly.

"Why's that?" I asked, confused.

"How many more brothers and sisters am I gonna have to hate me?" she spat. "I want one that actually wants me to be their sister!"

"I thought you wanted me to have another baby, so that you could bond with them like that."

"Well, I do. But... oh, what if they hate me, too? Mom, it's hard having four siblings and they treat you like you're not even there!"

"I guess it would be. But you know they love you. They just... they stick to each other in two's, and because you're older you're left out."

"Mom, I'm always left out. At school. At home. I'm afraid of becoming a teenager. I don't want to be left out. I don't wanna hide in the bathrooms because nobody will talk to me. That's cruel!"

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I wish I could help you. But I can't. But I can give you another brother or sister. And I can help the others to spend more time with you."

"I'm sick of being a loner," she sighed.

"I know sweetie," I picked her up and pulled her onto my lap.

"Thanks, mom," she smiled weakly.

"For what?" I asked.

"For not leaving me alone," she hugged me tightly.

"No worries," I hugged her back.

I could understand why my little girl hated being alone. I knew what it felt like. I could only hope that she would find someone like Cameron, who cared for her no matter what.

>>>>

That night, after we'd put the five kids to bed, Cameron and I sat in the living room, just talking. Anything that came to mind.

Becca's lonliness came up.

"I'm worried about her getting depressed," I admitted. "I'm actually kind of freaking out about it. She's always sad. I never see her happy anymore."

"I know." Cameron sighed.

"I think... I don't want to, but I think we should take her to a child psychiatrist," I suggested. "She might talk to them. And they might help her."

"The last thing we need is a depressed eight year old," he frowned.

"Cam, I don't like the thought of our daughter being, well... sad in any way," I sighed. "It's hard to watch her... she's miserable, and I don't know how to make her happy."

"I know," he hugged me. "I know..."

I wondered what we could do to help her. The only thing that seemed logical was paying for a shrink to talk to her, as much as I hated it.

But I couldn't stand the thought of Becca being lonely anymore.