Sunrise/Sunset

Sunny Blues

When she was born, her parents wept. They wanted a boy.

For a long time, Sunny was sad about this. But her parents tried to make light of the story, and soon it became a lively joke in the family.

"Your Ma was so upset about having a girl, and so emotional from her unstable hormones, that she cried. Ugly, wretched sobs... Oh my, it was a scene! And soon, I couldn't help but cry with her. We cried so hard that the Doctor thought we were absolutely lunatic! We were overwhelmed and scared, we didn't know how to raise a child!" Pa loved to tell this story whenever he got the chance, in between hysterical laughs. Ma would chuckle along to his laughter, as Pa bounced little Sunny on his knee.

Then Ma would pinch her daughter's little cheeks and say, "We were newly married and young and oh my, it was hard! The only thought that kept us sane during my pregnancy was the hope we so desperately clung to that you could be a boy. We foolishly thought, 'Boys are easier than girls! They need less attention, and don't cry as much.' What an ignorant assumption... But, we got a girl. A perfect, precious little ray of sunshine." And that was how, two years late, Sunny adopted her middle name. "My Sunny Rae Blues." And then the guests would smile happily at the sweet story and the love that was so apparent in the parent's eyes as they stared at their little girl.

Sunny had heard this story so many times, for her parents recited it almost every time guests visited, and she was used to the attention.

So it was quite a surprise when one day, when Sunny was three years old, two babies seemingly stole all of that attention away from her. The attention that had been all hers was suddenly given to the twins, Suvanna (who was always called Suvy) and Lila.

Stories soon shifted from Sunny's heart-warming birth story, to the story of the very much planned twins.

For a while after they were born, Sunny struggled with feeling unloved, and rather abandoned. She was utterly confused, and even quite desolate.

Her parents though, despite their own personal struggles, tried very hard to give Sunny as much love as they had for her. But as much as they tried to be strong, they still got down sometimes. They longed for the life that they missed. A life full of travels, sightseeing, and adventure. When Sunny was born, the unplanned baby who remained nameless for three days, they were forced to abandon all of their ambitious dreams.

Ma and Pa still made lots of effort with Sunny, and smiled as they buttoned her raincoat for her first day of school.

"We love you so much, Sunny." Her parents said, kissing their daughter on her freckled cheeks. They then looked with a sense of reminiscence at the image on the mantle of Sunny as a baby.

The infant lay still, her eyes delicately closed. Her bottom lip stuck out, her cheeks brushed pink. Her perfect face was so innocent, and Ma sighed as she stared at it.

"I miss when she was so little... of course I wouldn't go back to that time in a million years, but I wouldn't trade our baby for the world." Ma murmured longingly, still looking at the picture, as Sunny walked to the front door.

"Bye Ma! Bye Pa!" Sunny waved, clutching her umbrella with a buzzing excitement.

"Bye dear." Pa nodded, sighing with annoyance as two screeching girls came running down the hall.

"Sunny!" Suvy screamed, throwing herself onto her sister.

"Oof" Lila muttered when she tripped, then stood back up and toddled clumsily to her sister.

"Get off." Sunny grumbled breathlessly as she managed to wriggle away from Suvy's suffocating arms around her waist.

"Bye-bye!" The twins waved farewell sheepishly, as Sunny slipped out the front door.