The Newborn

"It's so nice to see you two getting along."

Ben tugged on Sabra's slightly mussed curls. "Well, she wasn't the puppy I wanted but I guess she has her perks."

Sabra turned, narrowing her eyes at her brother. "Yeah, and he doesn't seem as obnoxious now that he doesn't live here."

"Oh just feel the love in this room," Kimber Kozilinski quipped. "Your Dad just pulled into the driveway."

Ben hesitated a bare moment to glance at Sabra and then he hustled out of the room.

"He didn't tell you what his big news was, did he?" Kimber asked.

"Big news? What big new?" Sabra reached out and took her mother's hand, shocked to feel how cold it was.

"I don't know, sweetheart. When he called to say he was coming home for a weekend, he said he had big news. I thought for sure that he'd have told you. You two have gotten so close in the past year or so." She reached out and straightened one of the plates before going to the cupboard to grab a pitcher to fill for the table. "I guess we'll both have to wait until he's ready to tell us."

Sabra nodded and then sank down in one of the chairs as her mother left the dining room. A shiver passed through her and she suddenly felt like crying. Suddenly, she wasn't so anxious about hearing Ben's news.

She rose only as her mother came in with a pitcher of ice water. "I'm going to change clothes, Mom. I'll be down before dinner."

Kimber nodded, dropping a kiss on her daughter's cheek. Then she finished setting the table.