A Heavenly Sent Birth.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

A HEAVENLY SENT BIRTH

Prologue- it’s Just an intro

Some times, God does work in mysterious ways. He can make certain incidents that seem so much insignificant, so important, that it is responsible in the shaping of your life. Just one such incident took place with me. Well not exactly an incident. The birth of a younger sister is not just an incident that has happened today, and is forgotten tomorrow. Instead it was an important episode in my life, which aided in changing and influencing me. Life can play such bad games with you, but in the end we see that it was God playing the game, and that it was for the better.

Let me introduce myself, first. I am any normal eight year old kid, that you would find in a well brought up family, who being the only child has got most of the attention. I have never gone any where without my mum, and I can get quite stubborn at times.

Chapter 1- From Where Did It Begin?

It started with this one afternoon, where . . . . . . . I had just come back from school, from the lion’s pulpit, where the dangers of being attacked was never low, from the construction yard, whose noise was ever deafening, into the peace and serenity of my home, my natural habitat. But immediately I knew something was amiss. What could it be? The living room seemed as good as it could be, except that the tattered bed that I had left lying on the floor in the morning, was cleared, probably by mom. MOM? Where was she? That was what was missing. She was scheduled to be home an hour or so ago. Where was the tigress, the one that protected me while my ‘lion of a dad’ was at work? For a seven-year-old kid, this was quite odd not to find his mother at home, when she is supposed to be there, to greet him and give him his lunch. In all my life, at least almost all that I could remember, “mama” had never left me without the care of another person, and, around ninety percent of the time, that other person mainly consisted of her being it.

I relaxed my mind, with the thought that maybe she had gone to do a bit of shopping in ‘Spinneys’, which was in close proximity. Deciding to change, and have a bath, I headed for my bedroom, hoping, that by then she would have made it home. Ten minutes later, I was just about finished, with my bath, when I heard the phone ring. “Now”, I thought, “who would be ringing at this odd hour?” I was relieved when the caller id system of my phone showed dad’s number. I picked the phone and before I could even mutter the words “hi dad,” he told me “Great news, mom’s in the hospital.” I nearly threw the phone down in shock. What could have possibly happened to mom? And how could dad be so happy about it? “Huh” was the only thing that came out of my mouth. I was literally stunned, since mom had never before fallen sick, nor did she have a family record of any hereditary sicknesses, as dad’s family did, e.g.: diabetes, and so on. “Your mom’s pregnant! She’s going to have a baby”

Chapter 2 - TIME PASSES BY FAST

The next few days were a total mess. I just could not understand what was happening. Dad and mom were all pretty hipped up. They were running in frenzy all around the town. It all seemed to me, that they were preparing for the baby’s coming, which according to the speed they were going at, was going to be due any time next week. Even the preparations for the coming of an ambassador or president, did not create such pandemonium. Co-incidentally, it was just about this time that we ...

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Chapter 2 - TIME PASSES BY FAST

I never thought much of the fact of having baby in the family, or any baby for that matter. What was a baby in the first place? How was it made, or bought, or whatever? Could it be a good play object? Was it that important as my parents thought so? I never could get over these thoughts, and questions that came in to my mind continuously; and every passing day, I was battered with increasingly. Moreover, in my desperation, I began asking my friends.

All around, boys and girls had brothers and sisters, but I being a lone child was not accustomed to this. When I asked them, how it was to have a brother or sister, they had all kinds of stories, about what an “I told mommy on you,” their siblings had been, and how they, the elder ones had been punished for no reason. Somehow this gave me an uncomfortable feeling, and I felt threatened. Being a person, who thought highly of freedom, and rule, no way was I going to give my place as the sole child, or maybe not for now al least.

Till now, I was always talked to, in that ’you-do-what-you-have-to-do-and-no-questions-asked-manner.’ All of a sudden, I was starting to be constantly being buttered, for what reason, I knew not. If it continued like this, then I would not mind having a sister, since it was fun to always have your own way.

I continued to notice the change in my parents, and I began in a way to not like the new transformations in their attitudes. In some way I could sense that if this continued, it would not stay for long. They were just giving me my good share now, and later on, I would be bombarded with the later half.

Often, I wondered, standing alone by the fridge, in a corner, where did my parents go to get their child and how would it come?? Was it through stork delivery, as said in books and fairy tales? Or, was it that God just made it appear suddenly out of nowhere? Well whatever it was, it sure kept me thinking. Somehow slowly, I began to get used to them talking about the baby. As far as I could see, there was no baby brought home, for the last one month. But this did not lower my guard, about keeping a look out for the baby. Nor did it cause me to think that we would not have one. However, for the time being I relaxed. What else could I do?

Chapter 3 - With Six Months Over . . . . .

I waited, and waited for the baby to come. First for one month, then for two, then for three. However, there were no signs of any grand pompous arrival. During this time, I began to notice a change in my mum. A change that left me confused. She had somehow, begun to grow fat, and by fat, I mean really FAT. This should not have been possible, as my dad had somehow suddenly, begun a training fitness center at home, where we exercised, and in the evenings, we would go for long walks. So how could Mum have become so fat?

By now the baby was way past six months late, and I had begun to get worried if he was delivered in the wrong house. All the same, mum kept telling me that the baby was in her stomach, in what she called the “WOMB”. But, any kid as smart as me, knew that was not possible. How could a baby come out of a human being? I could never see, how such a thing was possible, so I kept it that way. However, maybe she was correct; since whenever I kept my head on her stomach, at times, always something kept rumbling, and hitting me. It could not be mum’s stomach, as I t happened, on many occasions, right after she had had her lunch. Things got very abnormal, compared to the normal way of life, since now, most of the time I saw my dad, rather than my mum. It soon turned out that almost all the work, that mum used to do; now, my “dada” was doing it, and he was not at all experienced too. For instance, he once made the rice, so salty, that we had to eat our food, with ‘khaboos’, that had to be bought from the local supermarket. At another instance, he burnt the potatoes, and meat such a lot, that when I came back from school, I refused to believe that it was meat at all. By the way I am crazy about meat, and this was the only time, that I never touched the meat, for once.

As much as dad was getting to do more and more jobs for mum, even I was getting pushed, a bit, into doing all sorts of small and big chores, for them. For the first time in my life, I went to church , in a big taxi, all by my self, with absolutely, no adult with me. I was suddenly venturing out into the world, without anyone, holding my hand, or having to actually be there by my side. For the first time, I was actually allowed to GROW. Moreover, the best part was that I enjoyed it. Nowadays, it was becoming routine, for mum and dad, to send me to the shop, to buy lots of stuff, and the normal everyday groceries. In return, I even got to buy a candy for myself, every time I went to the shop.

Now time seemed to almost fly, as I waited for the baby. Almost eight months were over, and I was nearly going mad. I just could not wait for him. ( I preferred a boy, since then, I could play with my toys, with him.) The anticipation for his arrival, was too much to help me last any longer. Somehow, some force kept me managing to carry on life as though it was normal.

Chapter 4 – It Is A Girl.

I had never even dreamt, forget about expecting, this. It was like a dream shattered, a great expectation changed, and I was not ready to take it. The news had been revealed to me, when one day, just as I had returned from school, I once again found mum missing, again, and so I became frantic and tense once again. However, this time, she never returned for two whole days, and this was totally not acceptable. Mum’s absence, had caused me so much insecurity, and anxiety, that I fell sick, and had high fever, for two whole days, after which, my dad was forced to take me to see mum, otherwise, as the doctor had predicted, my condition, could worsen. It was only when we reached near mum’s ward room did I feel some ease. But the state, in which I saw mum that day, would never leave my memory. She was had all these many needled, connected to her, and they were connected to so many tubes. She also had this big mask like thing, covering her nose and mouth, that I thought she had had a bad, and I mean a really bad accident.

I began to cry. This was more than I had thought of. I guess coming here, made me feel worse than I was at home, but something kept me comforted that my mum was still safe and alive. When I asked dad about why mum was here like this, he picked me up with a smile on her face, and said “ son you are lucky today. Your sister was just born an hour ago.” Whatever he just said, just did not strike me at that moment, but a few seconds later, all my worries about a sister, and the benefits of a boy came flooding back into my head. “ Why does it have to be a sister dada?” I questioned my dad. “Are you sure it’s a girl? Maybe there is a mistake. Maybe it is a boy.”