Saving Grace Extras

The Second Addition

Grace is sitting on the couch, Bluey playing on the TV, and Peter ratting around in the kitchen for an after breakfast snack. Tasha is sitting next to her, juice in hand. Her pink Paw Patrol shirt is starting to get too small, though her shorts were newly purchased by Peter on the way home from a patrol.

Suddenly, Tasha turns to Grace, laying her head on Grace's stomach. "When is Benny coming?" she asks, referring to her almost-here baby brother.

Grace sighs a bit. "Whenever he feels like it, I suppose."

"I wish he would come now."

"Really?" Grace asks.

Peter comes in from the kitchen with some peanut butter toast. "You do realize, Tasha, that you're gonna have to share your toys and things with him, right?"

"Yes," Tasha says, sitting up. "Sharing is caring, just like Mommy says. Do you listen?"

Peter fights a laugh, making a serious expression. "I always listen. Do you?"

"Well..." Tasha thinks "... a lot of the time."

"A lot of the time, huh?" Grace laughs, reaching over to tickle her daughter, who listens... some of the time. Tasha squirms, shrieking with laughter, her darkening chestnut hair tangling and covering her face. She drops her juice, the sippy cup stopper saving the Parkers' carpet.

Peter puts down his toast and runs over to the couch, lifting Tasha out of her mother's grasp. "I'll save you, Tasha!" He shouts, though he quickly turns on her and starts tickling her instead.

"Betrayal!" Tasha shouts, mimicking her father when he plays Uno. "Betrayal!" Grace and Peter laugh, then Peter sets Tasha back down. Tasha runs back to the couch, picking up her juice in the process. "Daddy, you're gonna make me miss Bluey!"

"Mom tickled you first!" Peter protests.

Tasha lays her head on Grace's stomach again. "Mommy's the best."

Grace kisses her daughter's forehead as she rewinds the show. "I think you're the best, Tasha."

Peter picks up his toast and sits next to Grace. "I think you're both the best." He leans down to Grace's stomach. "You too, Benny."

~~~~

Tasha is bouncing up and down, barely able to hold onto her grandma's hand. May chuckles at her enthusiasm as they walk down the hallway to Grace's hospital room. "Are you excited to meet your baby brother?"

"So excited!" Tasha exclaims. "I'm gonna play dolls with him, and we're gonna watch Bluey together, and Daddy's gonna make us spaghetti for dinner tonight, and he can play games with me and Mommy and Daddy all the time!" All Tasha has been able to talk about leading up to Benny's arrival is what they're gonna do together.

May once again reminds her, "Well, he'll be too small for all that at first, remember? For a while he'll probably just want to sleep."

"Like for an hour?"

"A lot of hours. Every day."

They've made it to the hospital room by now, so Tasha doesn't process this reply, running inside. "Mommy!" Grace smiles, arms open wide for her daughter to climb into. Pepper reaches down and picks her up for a hug. She smiles. "Grandma!"

"Hi, Tasha girl. Are you ready to meet Benny?"

"Yes!"

Pepper puts Tasha on Grace's lap. "Be gentle with Mommy, okay?"

"Okay!"

Peter leans down and kisses Tasha's forehead, while Aunt Morgan walks over with Benny and lowers him into Tasha's arms. "Meet your brother, Tasha: Benjamin Anthony Parker-Stark." Tasha cradles him with the help of Grace, smiling wide.

"He is small," she says, almost whispering. Benny shifts, squinting his eyes, which are still closed. "When will he wake up?"

"Probably soon," Grace replies. "He'll be hungry in a little bit."

"But it's not lunch time?"

"Oh, Benny will eat every few hours. He's about to do a lot of growing, so he needs a lot of food."

Tasha looks up at Peter. "Daddy, you need to make a lot of spaghetti."

Peter laughs, ruffling her hair. "Benny won't be able to eat that until he gets teeth, silly. You'll have the spaghetti all to yourself for a while."

"That's good." She looks back at Benny, then leans down to give him a kiss on his forehead. "He's so cute."

"He looks like Mommy," Peter says.

"No, he looks like Benny, silly."

Grace laughs, holding her babies. She looks into her son's face and sees a resemblance to her father.