Rishad Anwar

2023

When I got the news that my aunt was pregnant, I was torn whether to be happy or sad. I was happy because this would be my first cousin from my dad’s side, but I was sad because I wouldn’t be the most loved any more (I was wrong about that).

I wasn’t too worried about the baby coming anytime soon. We had already had the baby shower, and I was just carrying about my daily life. But I would never be the same, because according to my mom, when the baby was born we couldn’t go outside.

On top of that, my grandparents were coming in September so our house would be stretched to full capacity. I was also expected to give up my room to the baby, but the stink (if there was to be one), would be unbearable. Plus my room was the biggest, so why should I give it up?

I wanted to make my room unfindable, and I begged my dad to make me a entryway that was impossible to see. But my dad is my dad, and he said no. So there I was, in the middle of eight people, going about not my daily life.

When my grandfather left, the house felt empty, but not more peaceful. With my aunt sleeping most of the time, I went about my life again. That was until November, when my cousin was finally born.

The first few days, he was in the hospital. But on the 3rd of December, he came home, and made the house a little more livelier. I didn’t hold him much, but I did stroke his hair a lot. There was a time that I held him and regretted it, and that was the time that he just had to poo, and with my luck and pamper’s design, his diaper was leaking.

My family bothered him a lot, and when I say it I mean it. My mom used his clothes to shake him, and he was not happy. Everyone else shook him, and again he wasn’t happy. I think I was the only one that let him sleep.

After a week, he started laughing. Remember how I told you how he pooed in my arms? Well, after he did, he smirked at me. I was pretty mad at him, but hey, he’s a baby. Still.

Every day after he came, my alarm clock had only a crying sound option. I may have said this, but I’ll say it again. Rishad was my alarm clock.

When he left, my house felt more empty than ever. So my thoughts on the whole experience? Fun, but tiring. I wished that they could stay but that was wishful thinking.