My seven-year-old son had begged for a sibling for years, so when his baby sister Brenda was born, I thought his sudden obsession with sleeping under her crib was sweet. Then one night, I heard him whisper something through the baby monitor that made me stop in the hallway.

So when my husband, Daniel, and I finally told him I was pregnant, Ben screamed so loudly our neighbor knocked to check whether someone was hurt.

When Brenda was born, things became more complicated than we expected.

The doctors explained that Brenda had Down syndrome and started walking us through tests, specialists, therapies, and things we might need to prepare for.

Daniel and I were overwhelmed.

That first week, every appointment seemed to introduce a new question, and I barely knew which one to ask first.

Ben wasn’t.

The first time he held Brenda, he stared at her tiny face for about ten seconds.Then he looked at me.

After that, Brenda became “his baby.”