Coming of age (draft)- "There it is"

“Bubbles! Bek Bubbles!” my nephew yells at me.

It’s another typical summer night with my nephew and niece. I tell him no. I didn’t feel like getting up and looking for the container filled with liquid that makes bubbles but it seems I like didn’t have a choice. He grabs one hand and my niece takes my other hand. They both tug on my arm, urging me to get up. “UGH, you two” I say to them as I get up.

I look around for what I remember to be a little green container, with a blue cap, and blue label. I search in the bathroom, in their toy stash, and in our room, no luck. I hear them saying bubbles in the living room, asking someone else to find it.

Then I hear my sister “Bek, hurry up!”

“Yea, yea” I reply as I go down the stairs.

I take a quick glance around the room, still nothing. I go inside the garage, opening and closing the cabinets, looking as fast as I could. I couldn’t disappoint them, I just couldn’t. Finally I open the cabinet above the sink and saw it. The little green bottle that will soon bring happiness to two little one year olds.

I was out of breath, too much blowing.

“Wait” I tell them.

My nephew then gives me a big smile and I couldn’t resist. I just had to keep going. Just to keep that smile there. I blow a small one. It flies away and he chases it. He tries to reach for it and misses. He turns around and smiles, asking for more. I blow another; they both reach for it and pop it. They both look over to me and their faces light up. It was the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. Whenever I remember it, it just takes away all the problems I have.

I decided to experiment, blow a bigger bubble and see what happens. My sister holds another cup and blows bubbles small bubbles that keep them occupied while I try to create a big one. I start blowing, it gets bigger and bigger. It finally reached its limit and goes off flying.

“Cian, look!” I tell my nephew

“THERE IT IS!” he yells while pointing at it.

The whole family burst out laughing as he runs over to get it. I keep blowing and making more and more big bubbles. For each one, even as I’m blowing it, my nephew would point and yell the same thing, there it is. I couldn’t stop, I just had to continue letting them have their fun, and I had to keep that smile going.

After about twenty minutes of blowing bubbles and getting good laughs, the floor was wet and sticky with the liquid that comes from when the bubble gets popped. My brother-in-law tells me to keep going since the food isn’t done yet. They would get bored while waiting for the food.

“Be careful walking Cy and Sophie” I warn them both.

My nephew looks down; he knew what I was talking about. I blow a small one, and he runs for it, he reaches for it but it was far from his reach and he slips. He lands on his arm and starts crying.

“I told you,” I say to him as I pick him up and rub his arm.

It’s amazing how much one night can bring so much meaning to a person’s life. This one night brought me laughter and a deeper value into what was happening with me. Remembering that night, I remember the feeling, the feeling of making them happy and keeping them like that. I wasn’t the youngest anymore, I’m not the one that everyone has to take care of now, it was them and now it’s my turn to take care of them. I came to the realization that I had more responsibilities, whether it was school or home, I had to step up.