My Little Sister (per her request)

My little sister's name is Velvet. She is twelve. She smiles all the time. She is allergic to bees and she's vegetarian. She's a pretty good little sister.

I was four when I found out I was going to have a little sister. I decided that her name should be "Brittle" if she was a boy (I think I was thinking of Hansel and Grettle) and "Poptart" if she was a girl. My second choice if she was a girl was "Holly" because I thought it would be so cool to be Heidi and Holly.

On December 20, I woke up at six in the morning (I've always remembered it as six, but all I know for sure is that it was dark) to find Grandaddy standing in our kitchen cooking breakfast.

"Your mom and dad went to the hospital. Your little sister will be here soon," he said.

I yawned. "Okay" and went back to sleep.

My sister Jerilyn and I left to spend the night at Grammom and Grandaddy's house. I don't remember anything from that day except dinner. We had just sat down to eat when the phone rang. It was my mom. "Her name is Velvet," she said.

"Like the fabric?" Jerilyn asked.

"Yes."

I bounced a little on my toes. Thoughts of Heidi and Holly dissipated. "That's the best name ever."