When Mr. and Mrs. Hughes had their first baby, they were the proudest parents in the village. They put him in his pram and walked down the street. “Everyone, come and see our baby boy. His name is Hamilton Hayden Horatio Hughes and he's beautiful.”

Neighbors came to see the baby. “His eyes are brown, like coffee grounds.”

“His nose is round and perfect.”

“His lips are happy and plump.”

“His hair looks like golden strands of sunlight.”

Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were as proud as could be.

Every morning Mr. Hughes went to work. Mrs. Hughes stayed home and played with Hamilton Hayden Horatio. They played with blocks, they played peek-a-boo and made sandcastles in the sand box. When Mr. Hughes came home, he played with the baby. He'd take him outside and show him the birds and flowers and squirrels that ran up and down the willow tree. They loved their little boy and he loved being the center of their life.

One day Mrs. Hughes told her husband they were going to have another baby. She was excited and so was he. They told Hamilton Hayden Horatio all about the new baby sister he was going to have soon.

When the baby girl was born, they named her Amelia Anastasia Annabelle Hughes. When they went for walks, everyone came up to the pram. “Oh, what a beautiful little girl.”

“Her eyes are bluer than the sky.”

“Her hair is shiny and sparkles in the sunlight.”

“Her skin is soft and her chin is dimpled.”

Nobody said anything to Hamilton Hayden Horatio. Nobody told him he was beautiful. They ignored him and paid attention to his sister. He wanted people to fuss over him, not her.

One day while Mrs. Hughes was washing dishes and Mr. Hughes was in the yard pulling weeds, Hamilton Hayden Horatio went into Amelia Anastasia Annabelle's nursery.

She lay in her crib smiling and trying to hit the mobile dangling in front of her.

“I don't like you,” he said.

She smiled at him and went, “Goo goo ga ga.”

Whenever he said anything, she repeated those noises. Hamilton Hayden Horatio didn't know what that meant so he asked his mother. “Mama, what does goo goo ga ga mean?”

“That's Amelia Anastasia Annabelle's way of saying she loves you. When you speak to her she loves you so much and wants to tell you, but she can't speak yet,” Mrs. Hughes said.

Hamilton Hayden Horatio felt his heart swell with love for his little sister. She loved him. At that moment he stopped being jealous and realized he loved her. From then on he asked if he could push her in the pram. Mr. And Mrs. Hughes let him. When people stopped to say things like, “She's beautiful, isn't she cute, or how adorable,” Hamilton Hayden Horatio smiled back.

“Yes, she is,” he said and tickled his baby sister's feet.