"Ready?"
Carrie pulled the small envelope out of her purse and placed it flat on the table.
"I've been ready for four months." Mike smiled.
His smile reflected onto Carrie's face. Her cherry red lips pressed together into a large grin.
"Come sit beside me." Carrie patted the space beside her in the tall booth.
Mike slid beside her, placing his hand on her thigh and squeezing it. "Let's do this."
"On 3?" Carrie twirled the envelope in her hand nervously.
"1" Mike said.
"2" Carrie took a deep breath.
"3" They said at the same time, both glancing at each other nervously. Carrie opened the envelope and pulled the small folded up piece of paper out. Mike wrapped his arm around his wife. He placed his other hand on her small stomach and smiled.
Opening the paper fully, the neatly written black handwriting beamed up at them against the white paper.
Together, they both read the word aloud, smiles spreading across their faces.
"Boy"
"I want Chicken fingers!"
"What a shock." Carrie giggled. "Fries?"
"Yes!" The three year old said happily.
"We've created a monster." Mike looked at Carrie and laughed.
The waitress returned with their drinks and took their orders. Once she left, Carrie and Mike turned to each other and smiled.
"So Isaiah, tonight is a very special night. Did you know that?"
Isaiah looked up from the coloring sheet he was scribbling on and shook his head.
"Well about four years ago, when I was pregnant with you, your dad and I sat at this same restaurant and we opened a little white envelope that told us you were going to be a boy." Carrie's heart fluttered as she thought back to that special day. She pulled out a white envelope and placed it in the middle of the table. "And tonight, we have another little envelope to open that's going to tell us whether you're going to have a little brother or a little sister."
Isaiah's eyes widened as he looked intently at the envelope in front of him. He was sitting on one side of the booth facing Carrie and Mike. Carrie held her husband's hand under the table and squeezed it.
"So, as the big brother, tonight we want you to open the envelope for us and get to be apart of this special day." Mike explained.
"Really?" Isaiah smiled widely, bouncing up and down in his chair.
"Yes! The little piece of paper inside this is going to either be pink or blue. If it's pink, that means it's a girl, and if it's blue, it's a boy."
"Okay." Isaiah nodded, trying to remember the colors his mom had told him. He picked up the envelope in his hand. "Now?"
"Now." Mike grinned, squeezing Carrie's hand again.
Carrie watched her son carefully open the envelope and pull out the piece of white paper. She felt Mike place his hand on her stomach and butterflies filled her stomach.
Isaiah unfolded the paper and his eyes lit up in excitement.
"It's blue!" He exclaimed, turning the paper to show his parents. Across the middle, a blue line had been drawn in highlighter with the word boy at the top. "I'm going to have a little brother!"
Carrie couldn't contain her happiness. Knowing the gender of the baby inside her finally made it feel real. After three miscarriages, she hadn't let herself get excited about this pregnancy. But now, knowing that she was almost 5 months along and the little baby was real and defined, she finally let herself be happy.
"You're going to make such a great big brother baby." Carrie cooed, feeling tears well up in her eyes at her son's excitement.
She leaned her head against Mike's, her smile spreading wider. She squeezed his hand tightly under the table.
All was well again.
Finally, they were going to have what they'd tried so hard for for so long. Finally, their family felt complete.
