I sit in the dark waiting for the recital to start. I'm tired of sitting here. I wish the recital would start.
"Stephen? When's Christie gonna come out?"
"Soon, Beth."
"How soon?"
"Very soon."
What's taking them so long? I don't see why it would take this long to get a bunch of kids on stage to play some music. Is it hot in here, or is it me? What time is it? 8:00. Why did we have to come so early? The recital isn't going to start until 8:15. I wonder how Christie is doing.
I stare at the walls of the auditorium. I can't stop myself from thinking what Christie had to go through to get here. I can see him when he came home from the hospital.

"Look, Stephen. It's you little brother," Mom said.
I looked at the blue bundle and saw a small, wrinkled red face and fist that was my brother.
"He looks small."
"You were this size when you were born."
"Really?"
"Mm-hmm."
"What's his name?"
"Christopher Daniel," Dean replied from the corner.
"Long name for such a little thing."
"He'll grow into it."
"I wanna see!" Jane cried jumping up and down. Mom lowered the bundle so that she could see the baby. "Oooo. Is it a girl?"
"No, it's a boy," Mom replied.
"A boy! I don' wan' a brudder. I wan' a sisser."
"Hush, or you'll wake him."
"I WAN' A SISSER!" A shrill cry came from inside the blanket.
I looked at Jane sadly. She was crying. I know what it felt loke when I had asked for a brother and instead got a sister. I picked her up.
"Let's talk."
I took her to my room and sat her on the bed. Jane wiped her nose with the back of her hand. I grabbed a tissue from the box on my desk and wiped her nose and hand before she had a chance to touch anything of mine.
"I know how you're feeling."
"No, you don't."
"Yes, I do. I didn't like it when you came 'cause I wanted a brother."
"But, you like me, don't you?" Jane looked at me tearfully.
"Of course I like you. . .now."
"But I don't like it."
"You'll get to like him. Just think, you're a big sister now."
"But I wan' a sisser."
"Maybe you'll get one later, okay?"
"NO."
I sighed wearily. "You'll get a little sister eventually, but for now, you'll have to put up with him."
Jane sniffed. Not too long after young Christopher came home, Jane tried to get rid of him. After Jane realized she couldn't sell him or get people to kidnap him, she dressed him in some of her dresses and started calling him "Christie." Unfortunately for him, the name stuck. Poor Christie.

"Stephen?"
"What, Beth?"
"Is Christie gonna come out now?"
"No, not yet."
"Why not?"
"It isn't time."
"Stephen?"
"What!"
Some of the audience turns and looks in my direction. I smile at them. Turn around, please turn around. I don't think I can take much of this.
"Everything all right?"
I smile at Dean. "What took you so long?"
"Sorry."
"Could you sort of take away maybe two of these guys?"
"Jane's supposed to be helping you."
"I think she's too busy ignoring them to help."
"Jane?"
"Yeah, Dad?"
"Help your brother out, please."
"He's doing okay."
"Help him anyway." Jane scowls at Dean. He grins at her. Mom calls to me.
"Stephen?"
"Yeah, Mom?"
"What's going on?"
"Nothing much. Just a five-year old, a four-year old and two two-year olds driving me crazy."
"It could be worse."
"How?"
"Look over there." Mom nods to my right. There is a mother fighting with one kid who wants to run around the auditorium. I watch as the lady starts to spank her daugher. Dean and Mom never try to spank us. It helps that we really don't do anything terribly wrong. They prefer talking to us. I guess it never happened because both of them are pretty even tempered. Dean's also one of those happy people you would rather not be around you when you are in a bad mood. Even when we found out something was the matter with Christie, he took it all in stride.

"Hey, Dean. Whatcha doing?" I flopped onto the couch in his office at home.
"Looking something up."
"What?"
"Nothing really. Just reminding myself of some childhood diseases."
"You're a pediatrician! You know them all."
Dean leaned back in his chair and took off his glasses. He began to massage his temples. "Not all, just most. And right now, I'm just hoping that I made a mistake."
I looked at him curiously. "Do you know which ever one you're looking up?"
"Yeah." I didn't want to ask him what he just looked up since he seemed so sad. I did have a sinking feeling it was about Christie since we had been having problems. We either had to try to cram the nipple of the bottle into his mouth, or hold his bottom jaw, because he couldn't close his mouth. Christie also was stiff most of the time except when he was flailing around strangely. He also had had a few seizures by then. "Will he be all right?"
Dean looked at me startled. Then he smiled. "He'll be okay. Just want to get a second opinion."
A few days later, Dean sat me down in his office.
"Hi."
"Hi. What's wrong?"
"Christie has cerebral palsy."
"What's that?" I asked.
"Well, it means that he has problems with some parts of his body."
"Is he paralyzed?"
"No. You know how he's stiff or floppy most of the time and occasionally jerks around uncontrollably?"
"Yeah."
"Well that's because the messages from his brain aren't getting to his muscles right."
"Wires got crossed and the message got all messed up?"
"Basically. Maybe you should read the medical book instead. Better explanation. Or if you want, some places on the Internet have good explanations."
"Did he get it from you or Mom?"
"No. In some cases, cerebral palsy happens when you get sick or if there's brain damage. In his case, he got cerebral palsy by brain damage."
"Is he mentally retarded?"
"Not that I know of, but we have to be on the lookout for signs that he might be."
"I don't think I like that."
"None of us do."
"When did the brain damage occur?"
"Well, we don't know exactly when it occurred. We think it happened before he was born."
"Anything I can do?"
"Nothing you haven't already been doing. I mean you already help feed him, dress him, bathe him, play with him, and put him to bed. What else do you think you can do?"
"I don't know. Will be all right?"
"I think he'll be okay. We'll keep a close eye on him."
Christie ended up getting a new doctor that was a specialist, as well as just an everyday pediatrician, in the condition. He also had person experience, because he had it. He was officially diagnosed with athetoid cerebral palsy. Christie was later found to be hard of hearing. It was related to cerebral palsy. It wasn't enough from him not to hear completely, but he unable to hear most ordinary things that we hear easily. He was fitted with hearing aids at the earliest possible time. Speech therapy started at that time. He had a hard time talking even though he tried really hard. But that didn't keep him from talking to us! I helped in teaching him sign language so he uses that too. He eventually learned how to walk after much physical therapy, learning how to use a walker and as he got older crutches, and medication. The seizures were kept at bay by medication. His IQ was well above average, which made me happy, and we discovered he wasn't through surprising us. . . .