The Little Blue Bottle

Willow stared at the tiny blue bottle on the pharmacy counter. Her four-year-old daughter Emma tugged at her colorful dress.

"Mommy, what's that?" Emma pointed at the bottle with curious brown eyes.

"Something special, sweetheart." Willow picked up the fertility pill bottle, reading the label twice. The pharmacist had explained it would help her give Emma a little sister.

Her phone buzzed. A text from her husband David: "Flying to Chicago tonight. Big presentation tomorrow. Love you both!"

Willow sighed. Another business trip. She slipped the bottle into her purse and lifted Emma onto her hip.

"Ice cream?" Emma asked hopefully.

"After we get home." Willow walked toward the pharmacy exit, the bottle rattling softly in her bag.

That evening, she swallowed one small blue pill with a glass of water. Emma was already asleep upstairs. Outside their apartment window, New York's lights twinkled like stars, and somewhere high above, David's plane carried him away once again.

Three Little Surprises

Three weeks later, Willow sat in Dr. Martinez's waiting room, flipping through a magazine. Her stomach felt different lately, but she couldn't quite place how.

"Willow Thompson?" A nurse with short brown hair called her name.

Emma looked up from her coloring book. "Are you sick, Mommy?"

"Just a checkup, sweetheart." Willow squeezed her daughter's hand.

Dr. Martinez smiled as they entered the examination room. "How are you feeling?"

"A little tired. Maybe a bit queasy in the mornings." Willow settled onto the examination table while Emma sat in the corner chair, swinging her legs.

The doctor listened to Willow's symptoms and suggested an ultrasound. The cold gel made Willow shiver as Dr. Martinez moved the wand across her belly.

"Well, this is interesting." Dr. Martinez pointed to the screen. "Congratulations, you're definitely pregnant."

Willow's heart jumped with excitement. Emma would get her little sister!

"But there's more." The doctor's eyebrows rose. "I'm seeing three heartbeats. You're having triplets."

Willow's mouth dropped open. Emma gasped from her chair.

"Three babies?" Willow whispered, staring at the grainy screen images.