One Of Those Sappy, Heartwarming Mother's Day Stories

Once upon a time, there were two sisters who played with dollies and dreamt of having real babies to care for someday.

The big sister grew up, got married and had two babies without much trouble. The little sister sang at her wedding, brought balloons to the hospital, and dreamt of the day she would find a husband and start a family of her own.

The little sister sometimes thought that might not happen.

She was a heavy girl, and she thought herself unattractive. But she tried not to lose hope. She tried to believe that some day, she would find a man who would love her for the woman she was on the inside; smart, funny, capable and kind.

And she did.

The little sister had a beautiful wedding in a historical church in a quiet little town. The big sister carried her train and cried when the younger sister said I do, and dreamt of the day their children would play together.

But the babies never came, and the little sister began to realize that there was something wrong.

The big sister told her "Relaxe! Don't try so hard! It will happen when the time is right."

But it didn't.

And the big sister's heart broke for the little sister, who so longed to be a Mother. She worried that her own children underscored the heartache. She tried not to talk about how wonderful they were or how much she loved being a mother.

But, in typical fashion, the little sister refused to give up. She did research, she consulted professionals, she sought an explanation and then, a solution.

And she found one.

But it wasn't easy.

The little sister had to face the knowledge that her body was broken and would never work the way it was supposed to. She had to take drugs that made her terribly sick. She had to endure one humiliating procedure after another. She had to spend a ridiculous amount of money out of her own pocket to pay for that privilege.

And just when they were about to give up; bankrupt, disheartened and defeated....

The little sister became pregnant.

The big sister cried when the little sister showed her the stick with the plus sign on it.

The little sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, with fat cheeks and a turned up nose. He was healthy and perfect and she thought that even if she could never get pregnant again, she would be happy.

But she did get pregnant again. Though again, she had to rely on drugs and treatments and planning and plotting.

Next the little sister had a set of boy/girl twins who looked just like her handsome dark eyed husband. They flourished and grew into petite, gamine faced children with devilish grins and sweet, funny dispositions.

The little sister knew there would be no more babies. But that was okay because she knew she had been very, very lucky.

She settled down to the business of raising her family. Caring for twins and a four year old was very challenging and sometimes the little sister felt overwhelmed. Then she would get angry with herself, because she knew she should be feeling grateful.

After a while, it was decided the little family should move back to the sisters' home, which made the big sister very sad. She would miss them so much, but she knew, because of the deep, aching homesickness that was her own constant companion, that it was a good thing for the little sister and her children.

The big sister and the little sister talked on the phone whenever they could, and saw each other once a year at Thanksgiving or Christmas. The big sister was sad every time she saw them, because the children had grown so big, and she had missed so much. And every time, it was harder and harder for the big sister to leave them. Everytime, it was harder and harder for the little sister to watch her go.

But they had to make the best of it, and so they did.

And then, one day, the little sister called the big sister for one of their marathon telephone conversations. And she told the big sister shyly; her voice quivering with excitement and emotion....that she was expecting a baby.

There had been no drugs. There had been no humiliating procedures. There had been no plotting and planning. Her body had simply done what it was supposed to do. It had worked.

The little sister's baby is due on Christmas Day.

And the big sister thinks that sometimes, she can almost believe in God and miracles.

Happy Mother's Day, Mothers of the blogosphere.