Finding Alex

I was bombarded with two little girls as soon as I walked in my front door. “Alex! Alex!” they were screaming. “Let’s play Barbies!” I smiled as Karla grabbed my hand and pulled me towards our room. When she had successfully pulled me in there--okay, so I went with it--she let go of my hand. “You can be the dad,” she said, hurriedly taking out the green bin full of Barbies and accessories such as clothes, food, and beds. Samantha ran over and helped Karla get out everything (and I mean everything). Out came the Barbie Dream House, the five dogs, the hot dogs with buns, even the monkey came out.

I laughed as they searched through the box, looking for specific items at first, and then grabbing everything. I walked over and flipped the bin over. “Thanks, Alex! You’re so smart!” Samantha said.

I smiled at her and pointed to one of the Ken dolls. Samantha shook her head, looked over the other dolls for a minute, and then grabbed a different Ken doll. This Ken was wearing a plain white t-shirt and surfer shorts. Samantha handed the Ken doll to me, saying, “Your name is Brian and you’re the daddy.” I nodded my head. She turned back to Karla and said, “Do you want the blonde Barbie or the black-haired one?”

“The blonde one, duh!” Karla said, and they both laughed.

“Alright, then I’ll take the black-haired one,” Samantha said.

“You can have the other blonde one,” Karla suggested.

“Nah,” Samantha shook her head, “I’m fine. What are you going to name yours?”

“Alexandria,” Karla said without a second thought.

“Hmm,” Samantha said. “I’ll be…Denise.”

“That’s such an old lady’s name, Sam!”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

“Is not!”

“Is--”

I tapped them both on the shoulder. “Alright,” Karla said. “It isn’t.”

“It’s okay, Karla,” Samantha replied, hugging her. “Okay, now let’s play with the Barbies!” She made her Barbie--ahem, Denise--walk over to the Barbie Dream House. “Hello, Malibu! Daddy, come here!” I walked Brian over to the Dream House. “Daddy, what’s for dinner?” I smiled. Samantha, as well as Karla, knew to ask me questions that I could show them the answer to. For example, the question Samantha had just asked: What’s for dinner? I could easily pick up a piece of food and show it to her; there was no talking involved. I scanned over the various pieces of Barbie food and finally picked up a pizza, showing it to Samantha. “Yum!” she said, moving Denise’s hand over her belly to signal that the food sounded good. I laughed. “He laughed, Karla!” Samantha exclaimed. “He really laughed!”

Karla grinned largely. “He really did, Samantha! I missed your laugh, Alex!” she hugged me really tightly, Samantha following suit. “I love you, Alex. You’re the best brother ever…even if you don’t talk,” Karla said.

Samantha nodded her head rapidly in agreement. “Really, Alex, you’re the best ever ever ever!”

I felt a tear slip down my cheek as I hugged my sisters even tighter.