My 5-Year-Old Son Looked at Our Newborn and Said, ‘That’s Not My Sister’ – I Thought He Was Jealous Until He Told Me What He Saw

“You okay, sweetheart?”

He stared out the window.

“I’m tired.”

I assumed the hospital had overwhelmed him.

When we reached the house, Keaton carried the car seat upstairs. I followed slowly with one hand pressed against my stomach. Elio came behind me until we reached the nursery.

Then he stopped.

Keaton placed the baby in the crib and began loosening the straps.

“Elio,” I said. “Come see your sister in her room.”

He did not move.

His fingers tightened around the doorframe. The color drained from his face.

“That’s not her.”

Keaton glanced over his shoulder.

“What?”

Elio took one step backward.

“That’s not my sister.”

I almost smiled because I thought he was making a strange joke.

“Of course she is.”

“No.”

His voice was barely audible.

“You brought home the wrong baby.”

Keaton laughed, but the sound was impatient.

“Buddy, babies look different after they leave the hospital.”

Elio shook his head.

“I want to go to my room.”

He ran before either of us could stop him.

Keaton and I exchanged a look.

“He’s jealous,” Keaton said.

Elio had been our only child for five years. Every parenting article I had read warned that older children could behave strangely after a new baby arrived.

So I accepted the easiest answer.

That evening, Elio refused to sit beside me while I fed the baby. When she cried, he covered his ears and left the room.

At dinner, he knocked over his milk after the baby made a sudden sound from upstairs.

Keaton snapped, “Pay attention.”

Elio burst into tears so quickly that all three of us froze.

I took him upstairs and found him sitting outside the nursery twenty minutes later, hugging his knees.

I lowered myself beside him.

“You can tell me if you’re upset that the baby is taking my time.”

He looked offended.

“I wanted Liora.”

“She is Liora.”