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"Please dad." Jaime begged. "It IS my birthday tomorrow."
Jaime loved the story of her and her twins brother's birth even now, as old as she was. It was the eve of their 21st birthday and tomorrow they were leaving with their friends for a 6 month backpacking trip around the world. It was the longest she was ever going to be away from home and she was craving the comfort.
Her dad, John, sighed, feigning exasperation, "All right," he said. But she knew he loved telling the story as much she loved hearing it.
"It was an usually warm night for March, the air was thick with humidity and your poor mother wasn't coping very well with it. We had chose to sit outside, hoping to catch the breeze and not having much luck. The night was quiet and it wasn't long before the heat made her drift off. I was g;ad she was sleeping, she needed the rest, it didn't last for long though..."
Jaime was listening with a fervored reverence, picturing the scene in her mind, the slight rustle of the almost non-existent breeze in the trees, the constant chirping of the grasshoppers. She could even feel the clammy heat on her skin, all this was lulling Jaime into sleep, she felt her eyelids begin to droop, but she was determined to hear the rest of the story.
"It was 12 o clock, midnight exactly, when you both decided it was time to greet us. I was so excited and nervous i was running around grabbing everything i could fit into an overnight bag. Your mother, though, was calm, there was a serenity in her impossibly blue eyes that i'd never seen before..." He paused then, maybe to see if she was still awake, maybe re-living the moment himself, she couldn't tell because she had closed her eyes. When he didn't go on she opened one eye, glanced at him and was surprised to see sadness in his weathered face.
"Dad?" She asked quietly.
He looked at her then, all trace of sadness gone. "It's late, perhaps you should go to sleep you have a long day tomorrow.
"No, please, i'm not tired." she lied.
"Yeah, and i'm the King of England" He joked. But still he continued, only skipping to the end. Normally she'd have complained but she WAS tired and she DID have a long day tomorrow.
"Your brother came first, screaming and kicking his way into the world. The nurses cleaned him and handed him to me. He has your mothers eyes..." Here he paused again. That sadness creeping back into his face. She waited for him to continue. He did.
"And then you came along half an hour later. You were quiet, unnaturally so. The nurse gently slapped your back, trying to make you cry. Obstinate as your are you refused. The nurses were worried, and so was your mum, but when they passed you to me i could tell you were fine. You were just taking your time, taking in your surroundings, i was sure you were working things out, even then you were intelligent. I could see it in your eyes. You grabbed my finger and melted my heart. I love you Jaime, please be careful." But Jaime hadn't heard him, she had fallen to sleep. John looked at his daughter asleep on the battered arm chair they'd had for almost 20 years, her long raven black hair falling over her face. He was so proud of her, and of his son, James. He would miss them greatly while they were gone, but he couldn't stop them from going, they were adults now and so independent. Sighing, he grabbed the throw from the sofa and placed it gently over her, sweeping the hair out her face. He knew that the time had come to let them go, they needed to make their own way in world, make their own choices and discover themselves, and it was this that scared him the most. They both had no idea how difficult their lives would be from tomorrow