Lost

Three

For the next few weeks, my life was starting to return back to normal— or as normal as it can get. I still missed Avia everyday, but I knew that I had to be strong for the family.

______

Today was the day of my birthday party— August 19, 2017. I decided on the laser tag place that I had gone to for the past few years, but this year was different. This was the first year I would be without Avia. And, in honor of my sister, instead of presents this year, I decided to tell people to donate for childhood cancer awareness. I didn't want anybody else to experience what I did with Avia.

We were in the car on the way to my party when mom brought up the new baby.
"So," mom said, "we have decided on the names that you kids have given us."
Mom was about seven months pregnant and we had each chosen two names we wanted for the baby a while ago. I had completely forgotten all about it.
"What are they??" I asked, anxious to find out.
"Well," dad said, "our baby is going to be named Willow Eve Butler."

Flashback
Our whole family was piled into the car on the way to church when mom and dad told us that we should each pick two names for our new sister. They would mix and match the names we chose to come up with a middle name and a first name.

On the car ride home, after we had plenty of time to think, they asked us for our names. Gavin started.

"Well, I though of  Eliza and Savannah," he said.
I liked them, but I doubted that they would be chosen. They didn't seem like names mom and dad would choose.
"Nice Gav!" Dad said, vlogging the whole thing, "Avia, how about yours?"
"My names are Willow and Ellie," she said with a huge smile on her face. I could tell that she was proud of the names she had chosen."
"Good gob Flavia," dad said.
"Emmi?" Mom said, signaling that it was my turn to go.
"Mine are Eve and Gabrielle," I said shyly. I wasn't too sure about them, but I liked them enough.
"I love them Em," mom exclaimed.
Brock, overflowing with excitement said, "Sophia and Lily!" Not even managing to form a whole sentence. I couldn't blame him though, it must be exciting for a five year old.
"Nice picks Brocko," dad said, "how about you Dax?"
"Name baby Spider-Man!!" He blurted out.
Everybody burst out laughing at Daxton's name choice. Daxton was sitting in his car seat laughing with us, not exactly sure what everyone thought was so funny.

My heart leaped. They had chosen one of my names! I was ecstatic! But the first name. Willow. That was the name Avia had chosen. And she wasn't here to find out. Every time I see my new sister, I already know that she would remind me of Avia and I didn't know if I could take it.

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Author's Note:
Thank you guys so much for all of the positive feedback! It really means a lot to me. Going into this book, I didn't know what people would think about it, but I'm glad you like it! It's sort of slow at the moment, but I am going to try to speed it up a bit. Also, credits to dearavia for giving me inspiration about the kids picking baby names! If you haven't read any of her books, you should! She's an incredible writer! Thank you all again for reading! Love you guys! -L