Uncle, Uncle

The following is a couple of weeks old. I couldn't post it until the news extended beyond immediate family.


Just a few minutes before the news broke; mom and I had been chiding dad for speaking so loudly into the phone. He called Megan to wish her a happy birthday. We had called earlier, but we didn’t get through to her so we had to sing happy birthday into the voicemail.

I could hear Megan talking on the phone to dad. The volume was really loud on the phone. She told dad to have us gather around the phone because she has to say something. In one second I did a lot of thinking. What is going on here? Why would she have us gather around? What could she say? Easy. She is pregnant.

I anticipated my parents’ reaction more than Megan’s words because they didn’t come as a surprise. My mom brought her hands up to her mouth and screamed and then jumped up and down and screamed some more. Dad yelled a little too and said over and over, “Congratulations.”

Mom was doing a little jig in the kitchen and hooting and hollering. She was, and is, very happy. Dad handed the phone to mom so she could get in a word. He then paced off into the living room with a contemplative face on, all the while rubbing the goatee he doesn’t have. I thought of going to him, but realized he wanted to be alone, if just for one minute. This was a moment he needed, to realize his baby girl is pregnant. It was a moment I knew I could have only subtracted from with my presence. It felt right to leave him alone.

I had to leave for lunch soon so mom handed me the phone so I could say congratulations to Megan myself. I did. It was a bit surreal. Megan went from a married woman to mother-to-be in a matter of minutes. Even then, two weeks pregnant, I heard the slightest change in her voice, perhaps the new scope of responsibilities realized, because her wish had been granted.