I remember very well the first time that I saw the woman who has been my wife for the past ten years. I hated her instantly.
Of course, I was five at the time and she was two days old, so that might explain a lot. I didn't want her around, I didn't want siblings. Prior to her arrival, I was a spoiled rotten little boy who was doted on by his parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles. I liked being an only child and I did not want a baby sister.
Okay, I'm sure you're all confused, but I'll explain as I go along.
My parents brought Jenna home a week later and my mother explained to me that I was now a big brother and it was up to me to protect my little sister. "You can be your big sister's superhero," she told me. "You can make sure no one hurts her and you can help me with her."
Mom had me with that one and she knew it. I could be like Batman and save my sister from all kinds of trouble. I was a serious kid even at that age and I promised her that I would do my best.
It wasn't at all hard to look out for Jenna. She really was a sweet child and whenever I would enter the room, she would stop fussing and coo and smile at me. "Your sister loves you," Mom would always say. I would smile and even though boys didn't say mushy things like that, of course, I loved Jenna too.
As Jenna got older, she would follow me around as little kids tend to do with bigger kids. Whenever my friends were around, I would want her to get lost. However, if any one of my friends ever put Jenna down or picked on her, those were fighting words. I don't ever recall a cross word between Jenna and myself. Most brothers and sisters fight like cats and dogs. Jenna and I never did, not even once. Big brother was always right, no matter what. I could have told her the moon was made of green cheese and Jenna would have believed me, Neil Armstrong's evidence to the contrary.
I went through high school as a very popular student. I inherited both my mother's brains and my dad's athletic prowess. So I was student body president and I was captain of the football team. Jenna came to every game. By the end of my final year, a few of the guys noticed the pretty brunette cheering from the sidelines. Even at 13, she was already even more stunning than pretty. I had no idea myself, a guy isn't supposed to notice his sister that way. She was though; she was slim and tall, with wavy brown hair and brown eyes. There is a sweet smile that is perpetually on her lips and Jenna's voice is soft and gentle. She genuinely likes people and they like her.
I went to university on a football scholarship and Jenna entered high school. She also got our mom's brains and her artistic talents as well. Jenna could sing, act, dance, paint and write. Who am I kidding? Jenna could -- and can -- do anything she sets her mind to. My beautiful baby sister was going to eclipse my popularity at school, not that I minded. I was enjoying life in university. I was dating a different girl a week and not slowing down to catch my breath. Every so often, I would stop and wonder why it was that none of these girls caught my fancy for very long. A lot of them were as beautiful as models and it didn't make much sense that I couldn't sustain a relationship with them. Moreover, I didn't want to sustain a relationship. I was a major player and I got a lot of tail in those days.
I still commanded my sister's full attention whenever I came home to visit. She would fuss over me like I'd been gone a year, not just a few weeks. Jenna would tell me that I was too thin, that I needed to dress better and she didn't like the newest girlfriend. She followed my football career religiously and I would spend most of the weekend with my baby sister, talking about her art and her friends. One weekend, my mother took me to one side.
"Don't repeat any of this to her," mom said to me, concern in her voice. "I'm a bit worried about Jenna."
"Now Claire, we agreed that you weren't going to say a thing to the boy ..."
"No, you agreed, Stanley Hayes, I never agreed to any such foolishness. Tanner loves his sister more than anyone and I think he has a right to know all of this," my mother said to him. "Tanner, I'm concerned because your sister isn't dating -- not anyone!" Now I was concerned, hell, I was STUNNED! My 5'8" tall, leggy beautiful sister didn't have any boyfriends?
"She has offers Tanner, lots of them," mom told me. "She turns them all down. I'm starting to think your sister might be a lesbian. The only time she goes out is with a group of her girlfriends to go dancing."
I was floored by this information. Not that any of us would have loved Jenna any less if she had turned out to be a lesbian, but because she hadn't told any of us. Not even me, her brother-confessor. Jenna would come to me with all of her problems because I was her confidante and her protector. Even all these years later, I still took that role very seriously.
"Do you want me to talk with her?" I asked mom. Both of my parents shook their heads.
"No, just let her come to you like she's always done," Mom said to me. "I'm sure that she will, eventually. Maybe she's just a late bloomer, but at 17, I hope she finds someone special fast. I'd hate for her to miss out on life."
I agreed but now I was the one who was concerned. I was sure that I was just being an over-protective big brother, but I wanted her to have a full and rewarding social life. I tried to push those thoughts out of my head, but I couldn't. I wanted every happiness for Jenna and that included love in her life, whatever form that might take. On my next visit home, I did just what mom had asked me not to do. I took Jenna out for lunch and we talked. I was sure that my parents would be angry, so I didn't tell them and Jenna didn't tell them that she skipped an afternoon of school either.
"I suppose Mom and Dad asked you to have some kind of discussion with me," Jenna sighed as she sipped her milkshake. I had taken her to her favorite 50's style diner; we had been going there for years. "What has been bugging them lately? They've been acting really weird."
"They're both worried about you," I answered with complete candor. "Quite frankly, so am I."