Annie kept all of her toys from when she was little — call it a family tendency to hang on to things. Matty, being little, hadn't known the difference between girl toys and boy toys, and happily played with her dolls and tea sets alongside the cars and soldiers that were bought for him.
Holding his nephew George reminded him of his erstwhile baby-doll children who were taped up in a moving box somewhere on their way to Boston.
He had changed so much in the short while since he'd been born and Matty was going to miss so much of what was to come. His dad was trying to put a brave face on Annie and Bryan's move now, but Matty was worried that he'd been right about what would happen. How soon until they were just "those relatives out in California?"
He wasn't the type to make his feelings everyone else's problem though, so he kissed his nephew, hugged his sister, shook his brother-in-law's hand and waved goodbye.
When George Sr. and Megan came back in the house, looking a little misty eyed and gassy respectively, Matty excused himself to his room.
*
A short year later, Megan had grown a shock of blonde curls and waddled around confidently. She had taken her first steps holding onto Matty's finger, the same as he had taken his first steps holding on to Annie's.
It was strange, being a big brother after so many years of being a little brother. He was the middle child, but effectively he was the honorary eldest with Annie grown up and halfway across the country.
He remembered being a little kid; Annie was his favourite person in the world and he'd long for her to condescend to play with him between doing her homework and playing basketball with their dad. Having a little sister now he didn't see it as an imposition to play with her though. He'd play long games of peek-a-boo and turn the thick cardboard pages of her picture books over and over pointing out A-for-apple and B-for-banana while she would shriek with pleasure and say "Nanana!"
"You'll make a great father one day," his mother said, kissing his forehead as she walked past them.
"You already have one grandchild," he replied with a smile and then turned as Megan pulled at his shirt to get his attention.
*
Annie and Bryan moved back to California just before Megan and George turned four. The Bankses and the Banks-Mackenzies organised a joint birthday party for the kids as part of their homecoming. Aunt and nephew both were a little dubious of sharing their special day with some all but unknown relative, but Franck (a fixture now at all Banks family events) managed to throw a party grand enough to appease any jealousy. Key to this was hiring two birthday ponies, not least so he could stage a "fahbulus" photo of the two side by side on horseback being led by Annie and Matty on a long rein.
"George is so tall!" Matty said to his sister while they were both eating cake later.
"I know!" she replied. "He's going to be a Viking. I don't know where he got it from. Every time I turn around I need to buy him a new set of pants."
He'd seen pictures of George, sent with every letter, and the child himself at every Christmas since the move, but it was still a surprise every time he saw the Banks-MacKenzies.
"Megan is such a little princess," Annie said fondly, looking over at her sister whose dress was six inches deep in mud and whose face was covered in frosting. "I love Georgie, but I would love to have a girl."
"You got the little brother and the son," Matty said, scooping up the last forkful of cake on his plate. "Lots of boys."
"Boys are nice too," Annie said, reaching over to tickle his side.
*
Megan and George, despite their initial mutual dubiousness of each other, soon were fast friends. Megan called George her "birthday twin" and wanted to call him up every night to say goodnight. It was strange, to Matty, that Annie was always this grown up woman to their younger sister. Her surrogate twin's mother and kind of an aunt figure more than a sister. He supposed that as a child he had always thought she was pretty grown up too — there was 11 years between them and that seemed like a lot when you were a little kid. A teenager seemed much like an adult to a seven year old. But she was a real grown up now, with a job and a mortgage and a family of her own.
Matty didn't not like the way things were now, but sometimes he missed being the little brother and knowing that he could go to Annie's bedroom door for a hug before he went to bed.
Annie looked at him as she was loading George and Megan into the car for a sleepover one day and reached over to tweak his nose.
"I love you, buddy," she said and he reached over to wrap his arms around her quickly before letting her go to get over to the driver's side of the car.
"Safe home!" he called over to her. He turned to peer through the back window. "Be a good girl for Annie, Megan."
Megan bounced up and down in her seat and nodded, before turning back to continue talking to George.
"She'll be fine," Annie said from the driver's seat. "I promised dad that I'd get her back in one piece."
Matty stepped back and waved them off as they drove out of the drive.
*
Megan threw her arms around him and cried the night before he left for college.
"I'll be all alone without you!" she said.
"I'll be home for Thanksgiving before you know it," he replied, hugging her back. "And don't worry, you have George and Annie to keep you company."
"But I'll miss you," she said into his chest.
He hugged her tighter. "I'll miss you too, munchkin."
When he straightened up, Annie was there to wrap her arms around him.
"When did you get so grown up?" she asked, smoothing a hand over the back of his head.
"Couldn't be the baby brother forever."
She pulled back and tweaked his nose.
"You'll always be my baby brother."
Megan started hugging his waist again and Annie put her arms back around his shoulders. He put an arm around each of his sisters and hugged them tight.