Putting the "Sir" in Surprise...

There are a lot of monumental things that can happen in a man's life. His first car (mine was a 1982 Mazda Rx-7), the first time he touches a boob; these are life-altering events.

I just had one.

Last week Tuesday July 8th, I was at work, biding my time writing away about some random shoe that I don't really find amazing, but if you were to read my copy you would be dumbfounded at how cool I make them sound. I digress...

I was sitting there when I get a text message from Carrie. Here's the basics of the conversation:

Carrie: "I need you to pick up a test on the way home."

Darren: "What; a spelling test?"

Carrie: "No, smartass."

Darren: "Are you late?"

Carrie: "About a week and a half. Plus, Aiesha [her homegirl at work] said that I'm glowing like her sister did when she was pregnant."

Darren: "Black people glow?"

Carrie: "Smartass."

Darren: "Okay, I'll take care of it. Love you."

So, on the way home from work, I stopped by CVS (because Walgreen's is the devil) and picked up a test. I got a good deal, too; two tests for the price of one! AWESOME!

That night, after Carrie got home from work, she took test number one. She went into the downstairs bathroom, which is feet from the couch. "Did you do it," I asked.

"Yeah." Okay; just a yeah? "Did you look at it yet? It says it only takes 30 seconds..." I was getting impatient at this point, so I got up and looked for myself, since she had not.

Pregnant. I shook it to make sure the "Not" wasn't just hiding behind the LCD, laughing at me. That "Not" was gonna take me seriously.

"Hmm. Okay, we'll do test #2 after the thing resets, okay?" We both suddenly found ourselves locked in the most awkward hour of our lives todate. TV lost interest, and a beer was the furthest thing from my mind. We passed the time rather quickly, but there wasn't much discussion, other than "Aww... hurry up!"

An hour and one forced pee later, we were staring at another instant winner.

I can say right now that at that moment, Carrie was the most beautiful, most fragile thing i had ever seen in my life. She was glowing. Sure, the glow came from shock and a slight sense of foreboding, but she was warm and... how to put it? I can't; I don't have the words.

We laughed, we cried, we kissed and we talked. A torrential downpour of thoughts flooded my mind. First, of course, was "Ahh dammit why haven't I married this girl yet?," followed by about 1,000 thoughts about what I should do as a father.

We will get married, but after the child is born. If you don't like that, well... suck an egg. Honestly, we both agreed on that decision, because I don't want us to have a shotgun wedding, that seems like it's a marriage for the sake of the child. The welfare of my kid is in no danger; I'm not going to run off or anything like that. I want our wedding to be a celebration of our love in the eyes of God and our families, not a "Well, she's knocked up so at least he's doing the right thing." We aren't trash, we just don't use condoms. There; I said it.

Moving on...

We had our first doctor's appointment Tuesday of this week, which we were very nervous for. Mainly we wanted a physician to tell her that she is, in fact, pregnant, and give us an idea of how far along she is. We met with the nurse, who ran us through the myriad questions about our family histories.

That is the one thing that I think troubles Carrie the most. She is adopted, and doesn't have any family history per se. No idea what genetic issues there might be, basically. After addressing our concerns about this by telling us about the testing they do, we were very relieved and have a ton more confidence than we initially did.

We were given an estimated due date of March 4, which puts her at about 7 weeks. We go back Tuesday again for our first sonogram, and should be able to hear the heartbeat. I can't wait; I honestly can't wait.

We're both excited. Our friends are excited. Our families are excited. Sure; we were all thrown for a bit of a loop when the news came, but there are no regrets, and we will move forward as a family.

Your prayers, thoughts, burnt offerings and the like are appreciated as we move forward. Stay tuned for more on BUMP WATCH '09 right here on my blog. First picture exclusives!!!

ONE LOVE,
D