She stood in front of me, the love of my life, my best friend, with a slightly strange look on her face.
"What is it?" I asked her, starting to worry. She hadn't been feeling well. Could she be sick?
"I'm pregnant."
My heart leapt into my throat a little bit. Wow. This is really happening.
I had no idea of what the next nine months were going to bring me, and no idea of how my life would change forever after that. But it certainly did. I never did tell you, did I?
Here are 10 things your Dad never told you:
1. He panicked when he found out you were coming. Even if you were the best planned and longed for pregnancy, there was a certain amount of time after your Dad found out that you were coming that he was absolutely terrified that everything his guys friends had ever told him about having a baby (or a pregnant wife) would turn out to be true. The truth is, they probably were, but he loves you anyway.
2. He had a moment of school boy pride in his manly abilities. Even in the least planned pregnancies most guys still have a sense of pride at their ability to impregnate your mom. He knew it wasn't logical, but he was proud of making you. You made him feel like a man.
3. He used to have much nicer car (or a motorbike, or a cool sound system) before you came along. Then you arrived and he traded that car in for family car, or his bike in for a car and pretty much had to get rid of the sound system when you put toast inside the CD Player.
4. You made him braver than he ever thought he could be. Thanks to you your dad's survival instinct got over-ridden by his protection instinct. Now when he hears things that go bump in the night he goes out to meet them with a baseball bat instead of going back to bed. Why? Because you and your safety are much more important to him than his own.
5. He really wanted pizza too. All those times that you tried to get your Mom to let you eat junk food, your dad really wanted to eat junk food too. But he backed your mom up because he wants you to be healthy, so he ate veggies right along with you (but he did sneak snacks late at night while you were sleeping )
6. You motivated him to be successful at work. You may remember your Dad working a lot, coming home tired and not always wanting to play. The truth is, he wanted you to have everything he never had. He worked day and night to try and give it to you. You are the real reason that he didn't have as much time to play as he wanted.
7. He actually built the play house (or furniture fort) for himself. Now you know he loves you, and you know that one of the happiest memories of your childhood is that crazy project that your Dad put together for you. But the truth is he really wanted to play too, and that's why he built it! Because you made him feel like a kid again. And, of course, because he loves you, and he wanted to be a kid again with you.
8. He gave up his guy friends for you. Once, long ago before you were born, your Dad had a whole gang of guy friends. Then when you came along the guy friends fell away and were replaced by sleepless nights, family outings and eventually friends with kids your age. And he would do it again in a heartbeat, because he loves you more than any drinking buddy.
9. You made him fall in love with your mom all over again. So she was hormonal and drove him slightly crazy while she was pregnant, and then she was hormonal and too busy being a mommy to notice that he existed for a while outside of being someone to watch you so she could sleep and eat. Regardless, you became the bond that held them together. He fell more in love with her than ever.
10. He would do it all over again. No matter what sacrifices he might have made for you, no matter how much you may have changed his life, he is more proud of you than any other thing in his life. He would give his life for you without blinking. Your dad loves you that much.