Baby Brother

Last night while I was sitting in the girls dark bedroom waiting for them to fall asleep, they, of course, started the stalling. Last night's conversation went something like this ...

Grace: Mommy, I want a baby brother. No! I want TWO baby brothers.
Maggie: Me too! I want a baby brother.

Me: (feeling double-teamed) Well, girls, I don't think that's gonna happen. When I had you two in my belly, the baby doctor noticed some problems and said it probably wasn't a good idea to have any more babies in my belly (which is a stretch, by the way. He just said I'd need to start shots ASAP, not that I COULDN'T. Still ... I was double-teamed, I went to the extreme).

Grace and Maggie: (completely ignoring me) But we WANT a baby brother. Or two.

Me: (feeling the upper hand) Well, girls. We could do that. But, that means I won't be sitting here anymore waiting for you to fall asleep. There will be other babies to attend to. And, you won't be coming down to mommy's and daddy's bed in the middle of the night any more. The new baby will need to be with us at night.

Maggie: (on the verge of tears) I DON'T WANT A BABY BROTHER. I don't WANT ANY babies!
Grace: I do! I still want a baby brother! Or two!

Silence

Maggie: (struggling to keep her tears at bay) Mommy, I really don't want a baby brother. No babies. Grace doesn't either. No babies.
Grace: YES, I DO WANT A BABY!
Maggie: GRACE! Stop talking after me!

Me: Girls, girls ... It's time to go to bed. Let's not worry with any of this right now. Maggie calm down. Grace stop talking. Go to SLEEP!

Silence

Grace: Hey Mommy .... I have a great idea ...
Me: What's that Grace?
Grace: Me and Maggie can take care of the new babies -- and you can still take care of us.

Me: (thinking she's quite the negotiator) Go to sleep, Grace.