1.5.99

Fingernails tapped impatiently on the bathroom door. I opened it a crack and peeked out to see Alex looking at me with a slight smile on her face.

"Can you be out of there in five minutes? I want to show mum and dad a video, and I want you to watch it too."

My older sister and brother-in-law are in the habit of making little home movies, so I wasn't surprised that she had something to show us. Her insistance, however, that we all be together, harked back to an incident late last year. "Okay," I replied, shutting the door and finishing off my post-shower business.

When we were all assembled in the livingroom, Alex put a videotape in the vcr, grinning to herself as she announced, "I want to show you a video of some birds in our backyard." She pressed play and the screen was filled with scratchy grey and white images, something familiar but new to our family.

A sonogram.

Inside, I was doing backflips. Somehow, I'd known - I'd known that she'd keep this pregancy to herself for a little while, to counter the hastiness of telling us so soon the last time - I'd known what she was going to show us - I'd known I was going to see my little niece/nephew's heart beating, its little life there on our tv.

It makes me want to giggle and dance and sing. I'm going to be an aunt!