Loving You, For a Lifetime

Jet Tanaka

Jet was barely halfway through his third year being the only child of the Tanaka couple, when one night, he was playing with his robot set as usual after dinner.

His mother sat beside him on the carpeted floor, and pulled him into a hug. He scrunched his little face, annoyed at her interruption. He almost finished transforming his car into an awesome robot after all - the transformer set was his latest birthday present from his parents.

But as it was his mother who disturbed him, he obediently relaxed in her embrace.

"Jet, my lovely baby," his mother cooed. Jet disliked being called a baby, after all he was almost three-and-a-half. Even in his pre-kindy, his caretakers always praised him for being the most mature - the big brother of the bunch.

"You will have a little brother... or sister," his mother softly grabbed his little hand and put it on top of her still flat abdomen, her silk pajamas soft to the touch.

Jet's eyes widened as he spun his head around to look at her mother's stomach, then at her face.

"... I will have a little sister?"

"Or a little brother," his mother corrected. After all, it was still much too early to know the gender of the baby.

Jet caressed his mother's stomach, his fingers trembling a little, his face broke into a wide smile as he whispered to himself,

"A little princess... ."

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When his parents asked him what he wanted for his fourth birthday, Jet confidently answered,

"Just my little princess will be enough, mom."

As her mother's stomach swelled month after month until she could barely walk, Jet kept his habit talking to his unborn little princess every day after pre-kindy was over.

"My baby sister, my princess, you will be prettier than Sophia in my class. She is the prettiest girl there, but I bet my little princess will be much, much, much prettier than her."

"Sophia is annoying. She thinks she's so cute, buzzing around me like flies all the time. When you are born, my little princess, I'll show her."

His mother was highly amused as she chuckled to her husband, sitting by her side on the sofa. She was laying sideways, her head on the sofa's arm, her legs on her husband's lap. Mr. Tanaka was massaging her aching feet.

Jet was still busy chattering to her swollen stomach.

"Is this how four-year-olds speak nowadays?" she rolled her eyes.

Jet's speech was eloquent and structured, even for children his age. But his array of chosen words was flabbergasting and highly amusing to the couple.

"Shouldn't we tell him that his little princess is actually a little prince?", Mr. Tanaka glanced at his wife.

Mrs. Tanaka giggled,

"Nah! let's keep it a surprise for him. I'm sure he'll love the little prince all the same."

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Jet accompanied his father to the hospital when his mother was due for cesarean. She could not give birth normally as the baby inside was upside down, the head was not in the correct position for normal delivery.

Jet was not sure what was happening, but all the doctors and nurses were suddenly frantically running around, bringing all sort of devices inside the room his mother was in.

He faintly heard something about the baby not breathing.

Then one of the doctors started to yell orders around, holding an ironing-looking device in his hands(1). His father carried Jet in his arms from outside the delivery room, to bring him away from the horror-like scene. However, before he was carried away, Jet could see - through the glass overlooking the room - a tiny body jerked a few times every time the metal device touched the skin.