Pax was in high spirits when he arrived home for the holidays; not even the travel sickness that had accumulated from two train trips and a car ride back from the station could dampen his mood. It really hadn't helped that his father had made the mistake of informing him that there was a surprise waiting for him at home. So as soon as his father had unlocked the back door and let Vesper in, Pax, momentarily leaving his trunk and dwarf fruit tree out on the patio, skipped in, choosing to make his presence known by singing loudly.

'And as for the dancin', well you can do more
You can reach great height, in fact you can soar!
You just get a leg up, and slap it on down
And you find you're UP in what's called a--'

'Pax!' A cherubic-faced four-year-old in pawprint pajamas was rushing through the doorway into the kitchen where Pax was, curly pigtails flying out behind her. Beaming at the sight of his little sister, Pax grabbed her by the hands and started twirling around with her.

'Bound, bound, bound and rebound
And you're up, right next to the sky
And I think you can do it if you give it a try.'[1]

At the last part, he lifted Poppy up and whirled her around, well, as best he could given how big she was getting these days. 'How's my favourite sister?' he gushed, setting her down again and enveloping her in a hug. Poppy laughed happily and hugged her brother back.

'Now Pax, you know you shouldn't play favourites,' came the amused voice of his mother.

'Yeah, but it's okay for Poppy to be my favourite sister,' Pax reasoned, 'because she's my only sister.'

Vivian smiled enigmatically. 'Well, for now she is.'

This served only to utterly perplex Pax. 'Huh?'

'Come on, you two, sit down,' Perceval gestured them over to the kitchen table, where he had already taken his own seat. Pax and Vivian shooed one of the cats out of the way and helped Poppy into her chair before sitting down themselves. Pax was vaguely worried for a second, although the pleased looks on his parents' faces gave away that whatever they were about to tell him, it couldn't really be anything bad.

'We wanted to wait until you were home, Pax, so we could tell you and Poppy together,' Vivian explained.

Pax could tell she was trying to hide just how excited she was, and only became more curious. 'Tell us what?'

'Well, Pax, remember how we mentioned a while back that your mum and I were going to try and see if we could have another baby--'

Pax leapt to his feet in an instant, and to his own conclusion even quicker. 'You had a baby while I was gone? Where?!' He looked around as though expecting to see a cot he hadn't noticed before.

Vivian couldn't keep from laughing. 'Not yet, no. But it's on the way.' Now she was smiling all over; it seemed to go from the top of the head to the tips of her toes, somehow. Perceval was wearing a goofy sort of proud grin. Thinking back, this was a lot like how they were when they told him his mum was expecting Poppy. He hadn't really been able to get a good deal of sense out of them, they had been so deliriously happy about it. The Wintergreens were, really, practical, down-to-earth people. But they adored their children, and with both Poppy and now the new addition, it had taken a good while for Vivian to actually become pregnant.

'Is it in the post?' Poppy asked, being too young to have any idea about how babies usually arrived.

'No, sweetheart,' said Perceval, ruffling her curly locks fondly. 'Babies don't come in the post.'

Vivian patted her abdomen. Now that Pax looked properly, she was actually starting to show a bit. 'It's growing in here, Poppy. Like when Smoky had her kittens, remember? And it'll grow bigger and bigger and then, in December, it'll be big enough to come out and meet you, and then you and Pax will have a new brother or sister.'

Poppy stared in wonder at where her mother had told her the baby was growing, evidently wondering how it got in, and just how it was supposed to get out. Pax, who knew about that already, and wasn't keen for Poppy to find out just yet, piped up, 'It'll be here in December? That would make an amazing Christmas present!'

'It certainly would, as long as I've actually had the baby by then. I don't think I much fancy being nine-months pregnant on Christmas Day.'

'As opposed to having to look after a screaming newborn on Christmas Day?' Perceval teased her.

'Screaming?' Poppy repeated, looking worried.

'All babies cry a lot, Poppy,' Pax told her. 'It's nothing to worry about. You did it all the time. I think it's like practicing for talking.'

'That's one way of thinking of it,' chuckled Perceval. 'Now, I think we've kept Poppy up late enough. Come on, young lady. Let's pick out a bedtime story.' He knelt down and let Poppy clamber onto his back, then ambled out of the kitchen with her while she started asking questions like, 'Will Mummy have three babies like Smoky did?'

After watching them go, Pax and his mum turned back to each other, both smiling. 'I think Poppy will make a good big sister, once she gets used to it,' Pax said.

'Of course she will, Pax, she'll have you to keep her straight, after all,' Vivian replied with a wink. 'Right then. We'd better bring your things up to your room. You can unpack tomorrow though, you must be ready for bed too after all that travelling.'

Pax wasn't sure about that. Even once he was in his pajamas and all tucked in, he didn't feel remotely close to drifting off. He was going to be a big brother again. There was going to be a new baby in the family! He'd known his parents had wanted another one, but it had been so long since they'd started trying, he had just assumed it wasn't going to happen. When his dad had mentioned a surprise, he had never imagined anything as exciting as this. With this news buzzing in his head, he'd be lucky to get a wink of sleep tonight.

1.	From the Pixar short Boundin', in case you couldn't tell.