In a Heartbeat

I set the box down on the kitchen island in front of my mother.
"What's this?" she asked, setting down the fork she was using to pull apart pork.
"A Christmas present that you have to open now. It's a gift for the whole family, but it's really important that you guys see it before everyone else," I answered, pushing it closer to her, careful not to cover the holes I poked in the side of the box.
The rest of my immediate family crowded around the island.
"Is it a puppy?" Ella asked.
"Why would we share a puppy with our extended family? Poor thing wouldn't know where its supposed to be," Heather said, shoving Ella.
"Girls!" my mother said loudly, throwing them a stern look. "If you don't shape up, we're not opening this until everybody else is done opening all their presents!"
"NO!" Natalie shouted. Then a little quieter, added, "You really have to open it now. It's not a puppy, but it can't stay in that box for more than a few minutes, and we've already wasted enough time."
She almost had this wild look in her eyes, she was so concerned about Melanie being in the box for so long.
"Gosh, you have that crazy mom look going on there, Nat," Mom said, pulling the thick envelope off the top of the box and tearing it open.
"More envelopes? Really Mel?" Heather said.
"It was Nat's idea!" I said defensively.
"Just hurry up and pass them out!" Natalie said, sounding panicked.
Mom passed out the cards to their respective owners, then tore hers open. Everyone else followed suit.
A confused look passed over my mom's face, then everyone else's.
"Melody, what is this?" my dad asked.
"'Hi, Grandma'?" my mom read. She looked at the box. "I think you have the wrong person."
"Mine says Auntie Ella," my sister put in.
"Just open the box already!" Natalie hollered, her hands shaking.
"Okay, okay," my mom said, lifting the lid off the box. "Calm down, Natalie."
"It's just a present. You don't need to get all worked up about it," Heather said annoyedly.
My mom peered in the box and gasped.
"What's in it?!" Ella shouted.
"A llama!" I shouted back, sick of her curiosity.
Mom lifted baby Melanie out of the box and cradled her in her arm. "Melody, what is this?"
"It's a baby, Mom. Your granddaughter," I said. "My niece. Natalie's baby."
"But I don't understand. Will--"
"Died when I was two weeks pregnant," Natalie said, all the crazy mom in her voice gone. "He was coming home to tell you when the truck hit his car."
"Ohmygosh I'm an aunt!" Ella shouted, jumping up and down and clapping.
Heather smiled.
"But why didn't you tell us earlier?"
Yup. Go, Dad. Ruin the beautiful family moment.
"I was going to, but I couldn't face you guys after he died. It was my fault he was killed. I kept him from leaving when he wanted to, and if I hadn't he'd still be alive," Natalie said, wiping away the tears slowly making their way down her face.
"No, Natalie. It's not your fault. It's not any of our faults," Mom said, hugging her. "Thank you for giving me my grandbaby."

Notes

Okay, so I know it's supershort and I haven't updated in 16 days and I'm a horrible person, blah blah blah.
My cousins from Texas just got here today and I've had a really busy month. The people I work for cut off their wifi on June 6th, so it wrecked my plans for writing chapters during naptime.
Good news is that now that they've moved to their new house, their wifi will be up again soon and I can probably update more often.
So my original plan for ending the story isn't going to happen. It's going to in five chapters or less. I'm going to force myself to have that limit set there, so we'll see what happens.