Family: Out of Business

Figured

Four weeks later

Claire's pov

This past month hasn't been great. It hasn't been horrible either but it hasn't been great. A lot of things have been on my mind regarding my family. I've been both confused and frustrated a good portion of the time and my ability to sit has suffered for it. My weekly sessions with Dr. Biasi to talk about my feelings towards my mom, have helped quite a bit. I felt guilty being mad at her since she's dead but Dr. Biasi told me my feelings are valid, regardless. I just need to find a healthy, constructive way to express them.

I've actually been feeling much more optimistic this past week. In fact, today I woke up really excited for the first time in a long time. One reason is cuz it's Saturday, so no school. Yay! Another more important reason though is I'm almost positive today is the day we find out if my baby cousin is gonna be a boy or a girl. I didn't even bother to get dressed, I just ran downstairs in my pajamas to find my aunt. Thankfully, I found her alone in the living room, eating as usual. Tee hee, she's almost always eating now. She's already got such a cute baby belly. Uncle EJ never misses an opportunity to refer to her as some sort of blubbery sea creature, though.

Bounding up to her full of energy as she stood looking out the window, I asked, "Aunt Lexie, is today the day I get to come with you to your appointment so we can learn the baby's sex?"

"Buongiorno, caro (Good morning, dear)," my aunt replied, turning to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Morning, Aunt Lexie," I replied hurriedly, to get the formalities out of the way. "So is it?" I repeated.

"Well," my aunt hesitated, as she bit her bottom lip and turned slightly away from me. "Yes and no, Claire."

"What do you mean?" I asked, starting to feel the disappointment set in already.

"Well, tesoro (sweetheart), you can come with us to the appointment but Luciano figured it would be better if we didn't learn the baby's gender. He wants it to be a surprise for everyone when the baby's born." My aunt looked at me apprehensively. "Understand?"

"But I thought you wanted to find out ahead of time so we could decorate the nursery and shop for cute little baby clothes and stuff," I whined, feeling super bummed out right now.

"So did I," my aunt muttered under her breath, not loud enough so I could make out what she said, though.

"What?" I asked.

Putting her teacup down as she rubbed my upper arm, my aunt gave me a forced smile responding, "Nothing, luv."

"So why can't we find out if it's a boy or a girl then?" I know I sound really whiny now, but I'm super bummed. My whole day is ruined and I had such high hopes too.

Looking at me sadly she replied, "Because Luciano doesn't want to find out, Claire." She gave my arm a reassuring little squeeze. "This is his baby too, so he should have a say," she said, rubbing her belly. "Plus, he thinks it'll be a fun surprise this way for everyone."

"But I don't want to wait, Aunt Lexie. How can we go shopping for baby clothes if we don't know? We can't buy a cute little dress with ruffles if it's gonna be a dumb boy," I pouted.

"If it's a boy it won't be dumb, Claire, and besides there are lots of super cute gender neutral baby clothes out there. You'll see when we go shopping," my aunt tried to reassure me.

"Can't I just find out, if I promise not to tell anyone? Please," I begged. I turned, hearing my uncle scoff from the doorway.

"Not tell anyone? Please, you couldn't keep a secret if the fate of humankind depended on it, brat, " he said, insulting me as he chuckled to himself.