The Houstons are a family of four. The parents have two sons. Heather is the mom who works as a lawyer, and her golden blonde hair was a mess as she just woke up around 6:00 am. She needed to wake her sons and make them ready for school. First, she walked to her youngest’s room, 10-year-old Ryan Allen Houston.

While she had no favorites among her children, Ryan was her baby. He was the baby of the family. Not only was Ryan the youngest, but his 15-year-old brother George and his dad treated him as a baby. Ryan knew he was the family’s baby and learned to accept it even though he didn’t like it.

Walking to Ryan’s room, Heather opened the door and stepped in. Heather shook her head, thinking how cute her baby looked while sleeping. She chuckled at Ryan sleeping with his thumb in his mouth.

After walking over to the bed, Heather kissed his cheek before gently shaking him awake.
“Ryan, wake up, time to get up,” Heather said in a sing-song tone.

Heather looked at her child’s messy hair. She ran her fingers through it, pushing the shoulder-length locks out of his eyes.
At first, she was surprised that Ryan wanted to keep his hair long. However, she was glad because he looked so cute with long hair. She was happy that Ryan had decided to let his hair grow.

Stirring in his sleep, Ryan opened his eyes for a moment before burying his head in the pillow.
“Ten more minutes, please,” Ryan pleaded, his voice muffled by the pillow.

“Oh, but we can’t have that now,” Heather said as she smirked.

Immediately, Heather sat on the bed, flipped Ryan on his back, and tickled him. She knew the best way to wake Ryan was by tickling him. She knew that Ryan was extremely sensitive to tickling and would do anything to stop the torture.
She earned a loud squeal and giggles from Ryan as he struggled to escape. It didn’t take more than a couple of seconds for him to tap out.

“I’m up, I’m up,” he pleaded. “No more tickling, please.” He was out of breath.

“I can see that,” Heather replied with a smile. She couldn’t blame Ryan for not wanting to wake up, though.

Last week, Heather received an urgent call from Ryan’s school. The school nurse asked her to come and pick him up. She said he had a high fever and was sick.
Of course, Heather immediately left her office and headed to the school. The rest of that day, Ryan lay in the bed with his momma by his side.

He was still a bit sleepy, but he had to go to school today. All students around the country between the ages of 8 and 14 were taking a blood test. It was a test for some new kind of genetic disorder. His school will perform the test today. Heather would have kept Ryan home today if it weren’t for the blood test.

“Go take a quick shower and get dressed,” Heather told Ryan.

Ryan nodded and slipped out of bed before walking to his bathroom. It was good that everyone had their bathroom, which saved a lot of time—especially with her children, seeing that both George and Ryan loved to take their time showering.

Unlike many boys, her boys were relatively clean and neat. After all, it was something she and Jeff drilled into the children’s minds. Cleanliness was not the only thing the children took from their parents.

George is the star of the first-year football team and the captain. He was a great defender, fast, flexible, lightning-quick, and stood at 5’10” with broad shoulders and solid muscle mass. His teammates nicknamed him ‘Rock Solid’ because of how hard it was for anyone to slip past him. He was taking after Jeff with the potential to be even taller than his dad.

A fact known very well to Heather since she was a swimmer was that Ryan was a great swimmer. In the water, there was no match for him. Kids his age could barely keep up with him. It seemed unfair in a competition where he always earned first place.

Walking out of Ryan’s room, Heather headed to George’s room. Opening the door after knocking, she saw that George was already up and in the shower. Nothing seemed messy in George’s room, not even a pair of socks on the floor.

While George was very popular in school, he didn’t have a girlfriend. It was something that confused Heather. She knew her son was a much better catch than most other boys in that school. He was obviously into girls, which made Heather more confused. She did discuss the matter with his dad, who just chuckled and assured her that there was no problem with George.

Heather decided to head downstairs to enjoy a cup of coffee with Jeff because she didn’t need to wake George up. In the kitchen, Jeff was enjoying a cup of coffee and reading the news on his phone. Pouring herself a cup, Heather sat down beside Jeff.

“How was the case yesterday?” Jeff asked, looking at Heather.

Heather had been working on a case where a father had abused his son several times, beating him till he almost died. The boy’s uncle hired her to ensure the boy’s dad would not get away with it. She ended up opposing an excellent lawyer in court. Still, the man was charged with child abuse and sent to jail.

At the beginning of her career, Heather slowly immersed herself in the world of law, but as she grew in confidence, her persuasive arguments in the courtroom were enough to make it hard for anyone to win against her. She loved seeing the doomed face of criminals when they were confident they would get away with their crimes, only to receive the harshest punishments from the Judge.

She also knew the right people everywhere to get cases in the right hands. Being very successful, Heather earned her own office in her firm.
“How do you think it went?” Heather asked with a playful smirk plastered over her face.

“How many years?” Jeff asked. He knew that no criminal could get out of the clutches of his wife. Criminals were scared of her more than she was scared of them. Heather had an iron will, and she was never an easy lady to defeat in court. Her iron will and her robust and imposing look made it clear she was not someone to be messed with in court.

“Life with no chance of parole,” Heather said proudly. She was happy about putting these guys behind bars. “They had charged the defendant with child abuse, six counts of attempted murder, and infringement of private ownership,” Heather bragged, making Jeff chuckle.

Jeff was rather happy about it since getting rid of someone like that made the world better. In his eyes, the people his wife put behind bars were the scum of the earth. Getting rid of them made the world a much safer place.

“Jeff,” Heather called, looking a bit sad. Jeff just hummed, knowing exactly where this conversation was going. “I know we talked about this, but can’t we try to have a daughter?” It was a dream for Heather always to want a daughter. Heather felt blessed with two wonderful sons she loved with all her heart. Still, Heather wanted a daughter.

She always felt jealous whenever she dropped Ryan off at school and saw other mothers arriving with their daughters. She would feel jealous when she saw mothers shopping for clothes with their daughters.

“Babe, we talked about this,” Jeff said, holding her hand. “Even if we try, we may not get a girl. Let’s assume we had a girl. What would happen if you or she died while giving birth? You know how hard it was on you when Ryan was born, not to mention we almost lost him,” Jeff said, stating the facts.

The idea that Ryan may not be with them now made him shudder.
The first couple of months of Ryan’s life were terrifying times. They almost lost Ryan; most doctors were sure that Ryan would die. Heather was first to ignore what the doctors said; she couldn’t accept the fact that Ryan would die. She was right to ignore them, Ryan lived, and he’s now a healthy, happy 10-year-old boy.

“How about adopting a girl? We don’t lack money. We can afford to adopt a girl,” Jeff suggested trying to find a middle solution for the problem. It’s not like Heather is the only one who wants to have a daughter. Jeff also wanted to have a daughter, a little princess, to spoil and protect.
Shaking her head, Heather replied, “No, I want to have a daughter I have given birth to.”

With a sigh, Jeff started rubbing the back of his head with frustration. That’s when Jeff had a suspicion. It was a mere possibility, but it could happen. And if it happens, then they would have their daughter, a biological daughter just like Heather wanted. “Let’s wait and see what happens,” Jeff announced, making Heather look at him with curiosity.
•••••••••
In his bathrobe, Ryan walked to his closet to get dressed. After emerging from the shower, Ryan dried and walked back into his room. There’s one mirror in his bedroom hanging on his closet door.

Stopping in front of his mirror, Ryan looked at his reflection, becoming confused.
His shoulder-length honey blonde hair made him look like a girl more than a boy. He didn’t even know why he insisted on keeping his hair long, but he liked it. Of course, he didn’t enjoy being mistaken for a girl at a restaurant while having dinner with his family.

Ignoring his thoughts, Ryan opened his closet and retrieved his uniform, a pair of boxer briefs, and a cotton undershirt tank top. Putting on his boxers and undershirt, Ryan started to get dressed in his school uniform. It consisted of a white button-down shirt, black slacks for the winter or shorts for the summer, a black necktie, and a blazer jacket.

While Heather says he looks cute in his uniform, Ryan doesn’t like it much. The school he attends is relatively new in their area. The school is known for its program that only takes brilliant, gifted students. With their uniforms, students from Ryan’s school stand out since other private schools in their area don’t have that uniform. Some of them don’t even have a uniform.

Heather and Jeff wanted to enroll George at the same school. However, since Ryan’s school doesn’t have a football team, George stayed in his private school after finishing middle school. They saw that the school had offered Ryan a personal coach. While Ryan was grateful, he still didn’t like to stand out. They only cared about the future of their children.

Getting dressed in his uniform, Ryan grabbed his black easy-fasten boots. He then grabbed an orange wrist rubber band. Walking downstairs into the kitchen, Ryan took his seat.

For a moment, Heather looked at Ryan when a thought came to her, and she immediately shook her head, dismissing the idea as fast as it crossed her mind. She didn’t even want to think about it or the possibility of it happening. But Ryan looked so cute in his uniform.

“Morning, mom,” Ryan said, kissing his mom as she put a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him.
“Enjoy,” Heather said, kissing Ryan’s cheek. She loved seeing him wearing his uniform even though he didn’t like it.

“Coach Damien called yesterday,” Jeff said, catching Ryan’s attention. Coach Damien was the name of Ryan’s private coach the school hired. Ryan can tell the coach was displeased since Ryan didn’t attend school most of last week, thus missing more than one training day. However, the coach was a good person who only called to check on Ryan’s health, and not once did he mention the training. “He’s wondering if you’re ready for the upcoming tournament or not.”
Coach Damien checked on Ryan’s health daily since they all knew Ryan would take first place if he competed. Those poor kids never stood a chance against him if he swam.

“Come on. Dad, is that even a question? Of course, he’s ready,” George said, coming into the kitchen. Ruffling Ryan’s hair, George took a seat beside him. “He’s always ready, right bud?” George said, making Ryan grin and nod. Even with five years between them, George and Ryan were always close. George was always the protective big brother; he would never allow anyone to mess with his little brother.
When Heather was pregnant with Ryan, they asked George if he wanted to have a sister or a brother; his answer was both.
A
s a child, George was obedient and well-behaved; he, however, was very energetic. Very energetic that he couldn’t stay in one place for an hour.

When Ryan was born, things became a bit different. He was so obsessed with Ryan that he would remain beside his crib, not moving from his place for hours. As they grew up, Ryan started to look up to George and admire him, and George always wanted to impress his little brother.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Jeff said, smiling widely. “We should go to dinner tonight to celebrate George winning his football game today.”

It was a habit for the family to go out to dinner after every football game George won. It was after every game since his team hadn’t lost one in a long time.

“Of course, it’s a good idea. For now, why don’t you boys finish your breakfast? You don’t want to be late for school,” Heather said as both George and Ryan started to eat her heavenly-tasting food.