Page 13 of For Her
“Let’s see, what else?” He continues to spew random expectant father tips during the commercial break. “Cravings are a real thing,”
“I figured that out already,” I comment. “Mayzie already likes to put hot sauce on everything.”
“If she has any back pain, she needs to take it easy, and sex is perfectly okay, right up until she delivers. Found that one out from your sister.”
Great. I guess I’d rather find that out from Sarah by way of Tyler than directly from her.
“Are you going to find out and do a whole gender reveal thing?” he asks.
“We’re going to find out, but no on the big reveal. We want to keep at least something to ourselves and loved ones for a while,” I explain, and he nods in understanding.
“Good point. So what are you hoping for?” He gives me a smart look like he knows something I don’t.
“A healthy baby,” I say firmly, knowing what he’s really asking.
“No shit,” he quips back. “But do you want a healthy boy or girl?”
I let out a breath before answering.
“Fine… I kind of hope it’s a boy,” I answer with reluctance, not wanting to sound like that jerk that wants a boy and have people think I’ll get all bent out of shape if it turns out to be a girl.
“Ha! Knew it!” He claps his hands and does a fist pump which makes me wonder if he had money on my response.
“I grew up with two sisters! Give me a break,” I argue indignantly. “Besides, I’ll be happy even if it’s a girl.”
Tyler hones in with a serious look.
“Dude, of course you will be. You know how I know?”
I tip my chin as I take a pull on my beer, signaling him to continue.
“I wanted a boy so bad I practically wouldn’t even entertain the idea of the baby being a girl.”
I chuckle at his revelation because even a blind man can see he’s completely nuts over his daughter.
“Obviously parenthood wasn’t something I planned on, and I was hoping it would at least be a boy so that I could relate to it, and then Zoe was born, and you know the rest,” he laughs with an eye roll at himself, reaffirming my thoughts.
“Yeah, I can see wanting to relate to the baby, and growing up, my dad would have me do home improvement projects with him and I fucking loved going to work with him at his construction company, and having him teach me about his motorcycle. I guess I like the idea of,” I pause as I envision it going a different direction. “Then again, having another Mayzie around…” I trail off and smile as I think of a little girl that looks like my wife following her around, trying to learn dance steps.
“I’m telling you, you’ll be happy either way, but it’s okay for right now to lean towards wanting one or the other, as long as you know that. Oh, and definitely get a lot of pictures taken of her while she’s big. It’s memorable, beautiful, and seriously hot.”
“What’s hot?” Annie asks as the ladies walk into the room.
“You when you were pregnant, honey,” Tyler answers as she places Zoe in his lap. His cute little daughter immediately puts her toy giraffe back in her mouth and starts going to town.
“Ha!” she scoffs as Mayzie sits next to me on the couch, and Annie sits on her other side. “Didn’tfeelso hot. Sorry, Maze,” she gives my wife an affectionate pat on her knee before snatching up a potato chip from the coffee table.
“It’s okay. Hopefully it gets better soon,” Mayzie replies and shrugs.
“You’ve just entered the second trimester, so you should both be feeling better soon,” Annie assures us.
Wait.
“What do you meanboth?” Tyler asks.
Shit. Well, the band knows, he might as well know too. I brace myself for the inevitable ribbing.
“Jack is experiencing a sympathetic pregnancy,” Annie states matter-of-factly as my fingertips find Mayzie’s shoulder and start absently caressing it. “It’s when a man has an exceptional connection with his wife and goes through the pregnancy with her, having the symptoms and everything.”