Auntie Autumn and Baby Felicity

Auntie Autumn met baby Felicity in the wee hours of the morning. She wore her “meeting Felicity outfit,” a short skirt, tights, and a relaxed top. Felicity, age less than an hour, wore a swaddle.

“Auntie Autumn. Felicity, this is your Auntie Autumn.”

Felicity’s little body was tiny, wrapped in the large blanket. Autumn cradled her, bouncing gently as I watched from the hospital bed. A new mom sometimes gets a surge of energy after birth and I was rolling on the high of meeting Felicity and introducing her to my family.

“Auntie Autumn,” I liked it immediately. My sister’s new title rolled off the tongue as naturally as Autumn holding her little niece. I remembered when Autumn was little how much she liked babies. She held them and cuddled them.

Watching my sister, hold my baby was another strand in the tapestry of Autumm/Lei moments. She loved Felicity too! Not just because Felicity is adorable (which she is), but because Felicity is my baby.

When we were small, Autumn and I played with our dolls. We took them on adventures and took care of them—putting them in tailored clothes, tucking them in doll beds, and serving them tea on little tables. We were rehearing a story we’re enacting now.

Tonight we are visiting Auntie Autumn, and she bounces Felicity whose large eyes are doing the slow droop. Felicity does love her Auntie Autumn—so much—and both of us can’t wait for a cousin!

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