Oh, Brother... (Chapter 1)

"What are you doing?" Lizzie asked into her red cell phone.
"I'm letting the polish on my toenails dry," Madeline responded through the phone. "So while I'm doing that, I'm playing with Crystal."
"You should bring Crystal over sometime."
"Your parents wouldn't mind?"
"No, they like dogs. They thought about getting one."
"Why didn't they?"
"Because they want a rottweiler. I want a jujitsu like yours."
"It's called a shih tzu."
"Isn't that a bad word?"
Madeline paused. "No."
"Oh, okay."
"But you don't really need a dog. You're going to get a pet pretty soon."
"How do you know? Are my parents surprising me?"
"No, I'm talking about the brother you'll be having."
"Oh, yeah. Wait, he isn't a pet. Of course we have to feed him and bathe him and teach him some things... Oh, my goodness. Babies are basically pets!"
"Yeah, I was joking about the 'pet' part, Lizzie."
"But it's so true. Even when you joke, you're still right."
"I know, right?"
"But yeah, I can't wait until my brother comes."
"You can't?"
"Nope, I'm really excited." Lizzie laid on her bed flat on her stomach. "My whole life is going to change once he comes."
"Yes, it will."
"I've been an only child for so long, I couldn't even imagine having a brother or sister. And watching TV where brothers and sisters fought with each other kinda scared me a bit. But I'm totally cool with it now and once I see him, I'm going to instantly love him."
"That's good, Liz'. That's how you should feel."
"As he grows up, we'll do everything together. I'll dress him up, have tea parties with him, put makeup on him, watch rom-coms with him. Everything, really."
"Yeah, boys don't do that."
"Alright, we can skip the makeup part. Still, I'm pretty excited."
"Are you going to hold him?"
"Of course I'm going to hold him. I'm going to squeeze him so hard."
"You shouldn't really do that."
"I'm going to be really excited."
"Yeah but-- Just take some time to calm down before you hold him."
"Okay. Gotcha. Man, I'm going to be standing right there when my mother gives birth to him."
"Wait, you're going to be right there?"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure you want to do that?"
"Well, I've never seen a woman giving birth before."
"Doesn't mean you should start. Listen, just sit in a chair beside your mom and just wait until the baby is out."
"I think I can do that. Oh, man, I'm going to be a sister."
"I think you'll make a pretty decent sister."
"Thanks, Mads."