an intuition

Lily still wasn't sure what was going on with Brick. There had been a change. Perhaps like the weather. She wasn't sure she could endure it. She definitely couldn't explain it.

"Are you sure, everything is OK with you and Brick?" At least, her mother accepted the fact that Lily did have a boyfriend at the ripe age of eleven. Even so, her mom didn't want her growing up too fast. And it wasn't until now, she realized, maybe she was.

"Oh, yeah, we are fine." Lily went on to say. Although, she wanted to do things with Brick, like roller skating and other adventures. He was her partner in after school activities. Only she could see now, his days of being a boy were numbered. She'd noticed a change in his voice and his face wasn't as boyish as in her dreams.

Lily wanted to love these new changes about Brick, but she couldn't. She was sad he was growing up. That meant, she was too.

"If you say so." Although, there was doubt in her mother's voice while she watched her mother's growing stomach. The baby was coming. As of yet, she hadn't gone to a doctor's appointment with her mother.

"Would you like, too?" Her mother finally asked after all of Lily's hints.

"Of course." Lily said she wanted to be there for the baby's delivery. The science of it fascinated her.

 A friend from class mentioned her little brother's birth. It had been a family gathering at the hospital birthing suite. The girl's grandparents were there, too. "Do you think a lot of people will be there when the baby is born?"

"I hope not." Her mom didn't like that kind of stress, but then again, her mother went into labor with Lily, while on a busy bus in Florida a little over a decade ago.

Lily smiled at the thought of revisiting the city she was born in, but she'd hate to bring it up, to her mom.

"I'm getting lots of practice you know, helping out with Macy's baby." Lily reminded her that she knew how to change a poopy pamper now.

"And I'm grateful for that." Her mom smiled as she went on with her daily chores in the kitchen, wiping down the counter.

Lily watched her mom, hoping to be just like her, gentle and kind. She was happy her parents still got along, even if they weren't together. Macy was still a close friend to her mom, even if she was with Lily's dad.

"How did you get so cool?" Lily asked, still feeling timid to the idea that Brick wasn't really a boy, anymore. She couldn't quite believe he was a man, especially when he smelled like a monster these days.