I’m An Aunt!

It’s Friday 3rd June, 11 am. My mum and I are sitting side by side, both our bodies slightly tensed, our minds racing.

Our phones vibrate at the same time. We both grab our phones and rush to slide down our notifications —

‘It’s a baby boy, alhamdulillah’.

We beam at eachother, grinning ear to ear. Alhamdulillah.

My sister had a baby on Friday and subhanallah it feels like so much has changed in the span of 1 to 2 days.

Just seeing a baby snoozing casually in our front room feels surreal. We have a real-life new born baby in our house and we actually get to keep him!

I think everyone at home feels this all to be as surreal as I do. I’ve found each of us sometime during these past 2 days, sitting by the baby and just gazing at it in wonder.

There’s this special aura of joy this bundle has brought with himself.

Babies In Our Life

I think this feels so special to us all because, honestly speaking, it’s been nearly 20 years since we’ve had a baby at home (the last baby being my 20 year old brother!). Our experiences with babies have been so limited. We don’t have exended family in England which means the only baby interaction we’ve ever had was at a friends or on our trips back to India.

The Toy Story 3 montage comes to mind when I think of our family. Once upon a time, there were 3 kids that filled the house with joy and colour. My dad would come home to find the place exploding with dolls, cars, books and paints. The house was loud, bustling and full of life.

Then years went by.

The toys and books slowly moved into boxes and bin bags that would line our front passage, all ready to find a new home. There were less dolls lying around and more clothes and bags. There were less cars and more watches and earphones. Our dinner table coversations moved from topics about the cool things we did in PE to what courses we wanted to apply for to investment ideas and tax problems.

By 2022, each of us had grown to that age that we were all beginning our own lives. My sister was no longer in the UK, living a married working woman life across the world in Kuwait. My brother had finished college and was at his own crossroads trying to figure out what type of life he wanted for himself. And myself, I had moved to a different city because of a job that I’d begun.

Even my parents had begun new chapters of their lives. Over the past few years, they realised they no longer had kids to look after and so began to spend their newfound free time doing things they were passionate about.

We were all beginning our diverging paths.

And then Friday 3rd June arrived.

—

‘Would the mother like to hold the baby?’

My mum nods and steps forward, her hands out ready to take the baby from the midwife. The midwife strides right past her and carries on to the bed where my sister lies.

Everyone freezes for a second. For a half a second our faces are masked with absolute confusion. And then it hits us. We can’t help but grin at eachother as it dawns upon us about how different life ahead is going to be.

My mum is no longer ‘mum’ first, now she’s grandma. I’m no longer ‘sister’ first, now I’m an aunt.

For a second time slows down and I take a moment to look around. My sister lies on the hospital bed, her face exhausted yet vibrant as always, holdibg the baby close to herself. My brother in law, mum and dad are all standing around her. They all have small smiles on their faces as they gaze down at the bundle she holds, absolutely mesmerized as he, in complete oblivion, carries on cooing contentedly away.

I look down too. I can’t help being mesmerized either.

What a bundle of blessings he is for all of us. What a gift Allah has given us.

If you reached till the end of this reflection, thank you my friend. I appreciate it!

I hope we get to meet each other in my next post too. Until then, if you have any thoughts about what you’ve just read let me know (in the comments or any other way). I’d love to start a conversation!

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Until next time,

Thasneema 🌻