Being a big sister.

The air was freezing as I played in the snow, but that never stopped me when I was younger. Nowadays, you wouldn't even see me touch the snow, besides the occasional snowball or when I absolutely had to. When I was a kid, though, I'd spend every day outside if there was snow on the ground. I remember my mother called me in, although it wasn't dark yet. At first, I protested, but soon gave up the fight because some hot cocoa and a movie sounded pretty alright with my mom and dad. When I came inside, I stripped off my wet snow gear and ran to my room for some warm socks and pajamas. On my way up the stairs, my mom called for me from her bedroom. As I turned the corner to her room, I noticed she was smiling, and had this sort of glow to her. She was dressing up in a pair of slacks and a button up blouse. 'Put on some nice clothes, Krissy.' she told me, 'Tonight is a special night. We're going out to dinner, I have some exciting news.'
My mind drew a blank as to what could be so special, so I wandered into my room and started pulling clothes out from my closet and bureau. I had just been granted the privilege to dress myself recently, so I wanted to find the best thing I could to impress my parents. I wanted to be as special as this special news. I soon found an emerald velvet dress with black trim and a gem stone at the yolk collar. It was the dress my parents must have preferred me in most, for it was what they bought and dressed me in for the Christmas pictures they had taken of me the year before. The pictures were sent out to all my parent's friends as a personalized Christmas card. There I was, smack in the middle of the laminated card, with a swirly font above my head. 'Merry Christmas,' it said and at the bottom had my family's last name. For weeks after the card was sent out, my parents got a number of calls from their friends, saying how 'adorable' I was, and how I had 'grown up so much' since they had last seen me. I was positive it was the dress that made me look so much older, it was the only somewhat sophisticated piece of clothing I had. As I slipped the dress over my head, I thought about how excited and surprised I was going to make my parents. They had no idea what was coming for them, how pretty I was going to make myself look all on my own, like a big girl. I was their big girl, and I loved that. I came down the stairs with a little hop in my step. I already had on my socks with the frilly lace at the top neatly folded over, and my shiniest shoes I could find in my room. They were buckled, and I was ready. I turned the corner into the kitchen, my hands behind my back, being as cute as I could be. They were slipping on their jackets, when my mother turned around and looked at me. As she did, I smiled big, making sure to show off every little tooth imperfectly spaced in my mouth. Her facial expression changed to anger, and as soon as that happened, my smile was gone as well.
'Why are you wearing that?! Its not Christmas anymore, take that off. Go put on a pair of stretchy pants or something, with one of those glittery shirts you like so much and made me buy. You know what? Never mind, I'll just have to dress you today. Urg,I should have known. You're still too young to dress yourself.'
As she said every one of those words, I felt my face getting hotter and hotter. I had to hold it together though, crying wouldn't get me anywhere. I turned around as she walked past me, and followed her back to my room with my head hung low. When we got to my room, she yelled at me again for the mess of clothes on the ground, all of which were clean. I silently picked them all up while she found a shirt and pants for me. Once I was re-dressed, we left the house and went to this really fancy restaurant. We were seated in what must have been dead center of the restaurant, and were served our drinks and pop-overs. Instead of getting her usual glass of wine, my mother ordered lemon water. As she ordered that, my father looked at her and squeezed her hand tight, and she smiled happily back at him. Then, they turned and looked at me.
'Squirt, we have some big news for you,' my father started. 'For a while, your mother and I have been thinking about our family, about our dreams and what we want for ourselves and you.'
I stared back blankly. What were they talking about?
'We thought it would be best if we had another child, someone for you to play with and grow up with.' My mother continued.
My heart began racing.
'We found out last night that your mother is pregnant.' My Dad delivered the words as happily as possible, but I felt like I had just been smacked.
I just looked at them, both so happy for themselves. What about me? What about what I was giving up? Words and emotions traveled through my brain. I didn't want to be their other child, I didn't want to give up my room, my parents, my pride of being their only one.
Before I could even think, I was up and out of my chair, running for the door. By the time I reached the outside, I could feel my soaked face turning to ice, but the salty tears just kept going. I didn't want to share, I didn't want things to change. How could they do this without even asking me what I wanted? Like I expected, my parents followed me out, upset and confused as to why I responded the way I did. Did they really think I was going to be happy about that? When my Mom got close enough to me, I ran towards her stomach and made a fist with my little hands. I started hitting her stomach as hard as I could, screaming directly to my little sister to get out. Get out, get out, get out.