"Sweetie, hold still," Jim pleaded, trying to fasten the buttons on his bouncing daughter's coat. "This is going to take a lot longer if you don't stand still..."

"Daddy, I'm excited," she replied. "I can't stand still!"

And she definitely was excited - she had been since he'd come home at about five o'clock and told her that her new baby brother was at the hospital with Mommy. His mother had just finished microwaving a pizza for dinner, so the three of them had wolfed down a few pieces before gathering up the things they needed to go back to the hospital. Jim had mostly grabbed things that Pam had requested: her robe, a pair of warmer socks, and the pillow from his side of the bed ("I like it better than mine, I can't help it").

Annie, however, had grabbed every tiny stuffed animal she could fit in her backpack. "Matthew is going to need them," she explained seriously.

"It's okay, honey, the baby will have toys of his own. You don't have to give yours to him," his mother had protested, but Annie stood firm.

"I want to, Grandma," she replied. "He needs at least a few."

Jim quickly fastened the last button and gathered her up in his arms, ferrying her out to the car. His mother slid into the passenger seat and reached over to squeeze his hand. He grinned at her in response.

At the hospital, Pam was sitting up in bed with the new baby cradled in her arms. Annie hesitated at the doorway, peering out warily from behind Jim's leg. "It's okay, sweetie," Pam urged. "You can come here."

When Annie still didn't move, Jim knelt down, helped her take off her backpack, and picked her up. She held tight to his shirt as he sat down in the chair closest to the bed. "Do you want to come here?" Pam asked. She gave Jim a concerned look when Annie shook her head.

"It's okay," Jim assured her softly. "It's okay to be scared, but there's nothing to be afraid of."

She clung to Jim for a few more moments before tentatively reaching out for her mother. "Here, let Daddy help you," Pam said, nodding as Jim boosted her up onto the bed. "Do you want to help me hold him?"

Annie nodded. "I'm his big sister," she proclaimed as she reached out and touched the top of the baby's head.

"That's right," Jim said, smiling.

"Mommy, I brought him some of my stuffed animals. He probably needs some."

Pam smiled; Annie, afraid of the dark just as she had been as a child, had long depended on her toys as protection against the dark. "I think maybe he could keep one here, just in case."

Jim moved to perch on the edge of the bed. "He's lucky that you're looking out for him, baby."

"That's what big sisters do, Daddy," she replied, totally unaware of the grin her parents exchanged over her head.