I had been excited to tell my brother too. His shrieked reaction to our engagement was by far the best and most excited, and I knew he’d be excited about this news as well.
When we were decorating for the anniversary party, I kept waiting for an opening. It didn’t come quickly, but I didn’t want to force anything so I just went about the business of helping to smooth out the plastic ruby tablecloths and setting up the albums and photos on the memory table.
My brother walked across the room, “Did I tell you what food I got from the caterer?”
This was my opening.
“Your wife did,” I said, and my heart started pounding again. “I was glad to see it was barbecue, because I thought you might get lunchmeat.”
I rolled up some garbage and started walking across the room to the garbage can.
“And I couldn’t eat it since I’m pregnant,” I finished, nonchalantly.
His head shook as he processed and looked at me. I smiled at him and watched it sink in.
“You’re **** me,” he said as he and his wife ran at me to hug me.
_____________
We had to wait to tell Nate’s family, because the first night we were in town his mom had to work and then both his parents headed out to a party.
Nate's mom had come in from work to ask everyone what’s new, and Nate waited until she asked him, but all she said was, “Hi.”
We figured it wasn’t the right time as people were sprinting out the door.
That meant that my family knew while Nate’s didn’t, and it made for some comical circumstances at the anniversary party. Nate’s sister’s husband called Nate some names and laughed at him for not having kids yet while talking to my dad, and my dad just laughed along with him. Then Nate’s mom kept telling my dad how great it was to have a grandchild born on her birthday that year, and all the while my dad was thinking that his third grandchild was due only a day after his birthday. Maybe he would get to share a birthday with a grandbaby as well.
But he kept a stone face.
So Nate and I spent the evening with his family, waiting for an opening. We waited for someone to offer me a beer, so that he could say, “She can’t. She’s pregnant.”
No one offered.
Unusual.
We waited for someone to ask us what was new in our lives.
No one asked.
It was hours later, and Nate’s and my eyes met across the room.
There hasn’t been an opening, his eyes said.
I know, mine responded.
“What was that?” His sister asked about our eye conversation.
“Nothing,” I said, smiling and shrugging my shoulders.
It was another hour or so, and Nate’s sister, Erin, finally went upstairs to put her children to bed. Her husband went to grab something from the refrigerator in the basement, so Nate just went for it.
“We’ve been waiting for an opening,” he said to his parents, “but there hasn’t been one, so Kiley’s 10 weeks pregnant.”
Nate’s mom flew to me and hugged me with tears flowing.
I heard our brother-in-law come upstairs and see Nadine hugging me, “Is she pregnant?” he asked.
Nate's sister and our nieces appeared back by the table to hear the news.
It was quite the whirlwind of a weekend telling our immediate families. It made it just a bit more real.
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