Baby de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo. Usually you will find people in a drugstore buying last minute bottles of tequlia, Corona, or tortilla chips. Me, I was on a mission...to find a pregnancy test. I knew they were somewhere between the haircare products and near the tampons. I made my way down aisle 7 and was suddenly hit with an overwhelming question: "What if it's true?" What if Mary really was pregnant and not just late? What if, in 8 months from now, I was a father? As the questions swirled about in my head, I began to shift my attention on the pregnancy test boxes. Do I need a two pack? Do I need one that can detect pregnancy four days before a missed period? I felt like I was buying a car or something, so many options. Normally I'm a guy who's looking for the best deal, the cheapest buy, but this probably wasn't a situation where I wanted to cut on quality to save a buck or two. So, I checked out with my EPT, crossword puzzle, and bucket of ice cream (requested by Mary, of course). We made our way home and I could swear there was a large pink elephant stuffed in the grocery bag in our backseat. "Here I am! The little stick that will change your lives forever!" We got home and unwrapped the package, carefully read every instruction, and began to remove the cap. "Are you gonna just stand here while I pee?," Mary asked. "It's going to make me too nervous." "Right, I'll stand outside the door. Tell me AS SOON as you are done!" "Ok, I think I'm done." Staring at that little stick sitting on the kitchen counter felt like an eternity. Mary had turned her head for a moment, pretending that this was just some make-believe game we were playing, and that it would say "Not Pregnant" and we could move on with our lives. You see, for as long as I have known Mary, short of being a wife she has wanted nothing more than to be a mother. She has been asking me for the longest time when we would start having children, and each time I would make up some excuse as to why we were not emotionally, financially, or physically ready. I finally agreed to lay off the birth control and let God roll the dice on this one. I think I just realized that everything I was holding onto in my non-parenting life, the freedom, the sleeping in on the weekends, the finacial ability to eat out every once and awhile, was worth giving up in order to bring another member of our family into this world. I looked at Mary with her head turned, looked down at the little magic stick, and the words "Pregnant" were on the digital display. Gasp! It's real! "Nuh-uh!" Mary retorted in disbelief, almost as if she were yelling at the test for playing a practical joke on her. We stood there, started at each other, embraced in an awkward hug and at that moment I knew everything would be ok.