8.132 Family Vignettes

Similarly to his father when he was in the womb, Julian took care to watch Jeannette’s every move and followed her around quite often. She loved it.

Sasha’s violin skills had been improving rapidly just like her fairy godmother promised they would, and her parents loved to sit and listen to her practice. However, Sasha often got frustrated with herself when she couldn’t get a part just right. Although she wasn’t a perfectionist, her deep appreciation of music made her very critical of herself.

“Arrrg! I always mess up at that part!”

Viviana got up to comfort her. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, honey. That’s what practice is for!”

“I know, but…I just want to play beautiful music!”

Viviana smiled and said, “But sweetheart…your music is beautiful!”

Sasha’s forehead wrinkled at the sharp notes she was playing. “You’re my mom. You have to say that.”

Brady was walking by and dropped in to listen. “Where is this beautiful music coming from,” he asked with his eyes closed pretending to be blind. “Oh! It’s coming from in here!”

“See,” Viviana said. “I told you your music was beautiful. Keep practicing, dear. You’ll be a famous violinist in no time!”

“Ahhh,” Brady sighed. “You play so well, Sasha. I could listen to you all day!”

His words put a smile on her face and gave her the confidence she needed to press on.

“Viv said it’s a girl,” Jeannette said.

“Ohhh! How wonderful! I’m so excited,” Ciera said.

“Oh, mommy! She’s kicking now. Feel right here!”

“Oh yes,” Ciera said. “She is kicking up a storm! You’re excited to meet all of us, aren’t you, baby? Are you naming her Janessa like you always wanted?”

“Not this one. She’s going to be Juliette!”

“But you always wanted a daughter named Janessa.”

“I know. If we have another girl, we’ll name her Janessa, but we want the first one to be Juliette.” Jeannette’s back started to ache. “Can we sit down?”

“Of course. So, what’s up with Juliette?”

“Well, at first Juliette was just the name Julian wanted to name his daughter. But, I kept thinking about it, and I realized that Juliette was also a really cool mash-up of Julian and Jeannette! And, you know…as our first little ‘collaboration,’ I thought it would be fitting to name her Juliette.”

“Now that is too precious,” Ciera gushed. “This is so wonderful, Jenny. Look at you. And to think you were worried about all of this!”

“Well, actually…you were right, mommy. I didn’t get pregnant the first time,” Jeannette said with her head down.

“Oh no! I am so sorry, Jenn! Now you see? You can’t worry about these things! They’ll happen when it’s time. I really am sorry you had to go through that though. How did you pull through to try again?”

“Julian is a wonderful encourager. As you could imagine, I was devastated when I saw the results. All I wanted to do was lay on the floor and cry. But Julian came to my rescue.” A smile slipped on her face as she recalled his words to her. “He said that it was our wedding night, and I shouldn’t be sad. Then he said that he would be more than glad to try for a baby as many times as it took. Heh, he’s such a romantic. So, we tried again, and it worked.”

“I’m glad Julian was able to bring you out. Some women aren’t so lucky to get over it so quickly and are in anguish for a long time,” Ciera said.

Jeannette smiled. “That’s the man I married. He’s like his father in that way.”

“You two are going to be excellent parents. I just know it.”

“So,” Ciera continued. “How many do you guys want? How far apart will they be?”

“Oh mommy, I am so glad he and I are on the same page about the children. We’re going to have three, and, if I don’t chicken out and change my mind after going through labor tomorrow, we’ll try again right away so they can be close in age…and I don’t get too old.”

Ciera rolled her eyes. “You and this age thing!”

Jeannette was overcome by a bought of nausea. Ever since she began the third trimester it seemed to come more regularly. “Mommy? Can you get me some sparkling juice please?”

Generation 9