I knew my husband was the one the night I found out I was pregnant. I'm sure this sounds weird to many of you but bare with me. My pregnancy was a surprise for both of us and in a scandalous fashion, we weren't in a relationship when I got pregnant with our first child. To be quite honest, I was a bit of a wreck after discovering I was unexpectedly pregnant. I was young and I had plans. I was nowhere near ready to have a baby.
I was also extremely unsure of what my current husband would think and do. He certainly wasn't a stranger and was a man I had known for the previous five years, but we certainly hadn't been planning on spending our lives together. I had a pretty good idea of how he would react, but I wasn't totally sure. I didn't think he would be mad, and I didn't think he would be as freaked out as I was. I knew he would want to keep the baby.
At that moment, I had a million thoughts running through my head and the choices I could make were among them. It was a sticky summer night when I was supposed to head out for a night at a club with my best friends. It was my then-best friend's 23rd birthday and for us, that meant a lot of drinking. I had been nervous all day because my period was late.
Two weeks late to be exact, and I was never late.
My friends knew what was going on and suggested that maybe it was time to take a test. My other friend bought me one because my bank account had less than $20 in it at the time. We returned to our rented college house full of Twilight posters and wine glasses to see what was going on. My test was positive immediately. I was in denial before but here it was in front of me.
I had the feeling that my life was forever changed and just over 10 years after that day, I had no idea what that meant, but I was so right.
I still went out with my friends. I dutifully put makeup on and wore the hot trend of jeans and a dress-up shirt. I was nauseous and weepy at the club and told my friends I had to leave. I did with the promise of picking them up afterward when they were nice and drunk.
I drove home to find my whole block dark due to a power outage. The thought of sitting in my 100-year-old farmhouse in the dark made me cry when and I thought I should call him. He needed to know. And his house was enough away that I knew he must have electricity. He knew my period was late and was waiting for my call. I left him waiting because I hadn't thought of thinking of anyone but myself.
He picked up immediately, and I didn't have any words, just tears. He asked me to come over, and I did. His lights were on, and he was standing at the sink doing dishes. It's the same sink I've stood at for ten years and washed both of our baby's bottles and last night's dinner pans. He embraced me as soon as I walked in, and I sobbed on his shoulder for the first of many times.
Sitting on the couch where we still sit tonight watching our sitcoms, he embraced me and said, "I will support anything you want to do. And if you have this baby, we got this. I'm not going anywhere. But whatever happens it's up to you."
I felt comforted and warm. I knew he meant it. I knew him well enough to know how good of a man he was. I knew at that moment I was having his baby. I wouldn't have if I didn't think he could possibly love me.
I wasn't wrong. After I cried some more, and he stayed calm, he suggested we watch Knocked Up. It was newly released at the time and the plot was similar to what we were going through. I agreed because I thought it could be funny. When Seth Rogen's character learned he is going to be a dad, he didn't handle it well. My husband looked at me and said, "Wow, good thing that wasn't my reaction." He made me laugh when all I wanted to do was cry. It was the first of many times.
The tricky thing was that he didn't want to be with me just because I was pregnant. It broke my heart and I totally began to rethink my decision, but I still feel drawn to see it through. I was totally unprepared for a baby, but my husband was there. He was solid, and he was steady when a feather could have crumbled me. He saw me at my worst and wasn't fazed.
He built me up after I had fallen. I didn't know a person could be so solid.
On our son's first Halloween, he was 8 months old. My husband wanted a picture of the three of us at the pumpkin patch. As we posed, for an employee to take our photo. Our hands reached out for one another, and we intertwined hands as we smiled. We had parented together for eight months and shared together the love we had for our son. I felt a jolt of energy and I knew that this was it.
He was the one. It's been ten years now, and we've added a second child. We're a happy family of four, and I wouldn't have it any other way.