Last weekend my stepdaughter invited me to a gender reveal party. The idea behind this was to relieve undo stress on her friends on what to get her for her baby shower. I guess now that the ultrasound they have nowadays are so advanced the gender of the unborn is guaranteed.
At any rate I went to the party after getting home from work. As many of you my loyal readers know my stepdaughter, her husband and children live on the same five-acre parcel of land with a double wide mobile home as I do. I live in a fifth wheel trailer about two feet to the left of the said mobile home.
I actually looked forward to this because I was hopeful for a little girl so she could have an additional girl making it slightly more even, considering there are three boys and one girl already. I don’t know how many Emily, my stepdaughter invited but the house filled up after about two hours. It appeared we had more people than places for them to park. The property has a long and narrow one lane path that reaches the barn and the garage/shop for Nick, her husband buying, refurbishing, and reselling used cars. uses for his business. It’s not tree lined but rather a barb wire fence in need of restringing and tightening runs along the straight and narrow drive. There are a number of stumps that hide themselves nicely in the still abundant snow pack that has laid on the ground these past three months now.
You can imagine what occurred next, since I pretty much set up the scene. The driveway had filled up nicely, along with the opened area where we maneuver our vehicles to go underneath a carport where they’re already parked. Naturally, the last person who showed up in her Toyota Highlander got herself high centered over a stump as she tried valiantly to park her SUV.
All the virile, young, and able-bodied men showed their daring-do by going outside and chivalrously dislodge her car and set it gently down next to the stump. Ironically enough, she told the stepdaughter she only came to drop off something because she had another engagement to go to.
The food was brought out. It was a pot-luck affair where everyone, cognizant of possible food allergies prepared an assortment of dishes using a variety of recipes, without peanuts, gluten free, or vegan, using almonds and cashews for protein.
I was pleasantly surprised by the creativity these dishes were inspired. They all tasted good, and I didn’t feel I missed anything with these alternative meals. After everyone ate we were treated with desserts of pies and blue and pink cupcakes Emily created using gluten free flour, I don’t rightly recall its name. I had a slice of the peach crème pie that I bought for this occasion. The other one I bought was an apple. I thought for sure the apple would be gone in no time. No that wasn’t touched. Instead, the peach crème pie was the first casualty.
The moment of truth arrived as Nic was instructed to sit in the center of the room and await a gift that he was to open, that would reveal the baby’s gender in the form of its sleepwear.
We all waited. I stood near the living room next to the dining area where all the food was displayed. He tore at the wrapping and revealed, after tumultuous drum roll, hands on padded seat or sofa cushion. The sleepwear was revealed in the form of jammies with feet and in the color of blue in case there was no doubt with little toy aero planes flying about the sky. I supposed the blue was the sky, though it seemed more a darker Navy than robin’s egg blue.
There was a split second of silence followed by a communal “Aww!” Then a combination of whoopin, hollering and cheering. Nic sat there gathering it all in. A sense of deep emotion affected him as he buried his face into the PJs and wept. His stepson Isaac came over and hugged on him. The stepdaughter Makayla videoed this on Facebook, for all the friends who didn’t make it an opportunity to witness this moment too appeared joyful. Emily smiled broadly, and the other two boys appeared taken with the emotion of the moment with their festive whooping and giving some high fives.
After about three or four minutes the place settled down and Nic announce, “My Spirit gave me a name, but all of the girl names I suggested, were not cutting it. I then knew I was blessed with a boy and now here is the proof.” He pulled the latest ultra-sound photo of the fetus and sure enough there was a boy’s little penis there between his little thighs. “I’m naming him Ethan James.”
“That’s a great name,” Many in the room announced in agreement. Everyone slowly threw on their shoes and coats and maneuvered themselves so others would leave. I ate another slice of pie while I watched the goings on of people leaving and others saying their goodbyes to the hosts. I finished my last bite and told Emily I’d see them in the morning before going to work.
She smiled at me. “Maybe Nic, I’ll be in bed sleeping. Thanks for showing up.”
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” I replied as I pulled on my boots and winter jacket. I went outside and descended the steps with the help of someone’s hand on my left elbow as I grasped the fast filling up garbage container with my right hand. I maneuvered around him and walked slowly to my fifth wheel trailer, the hopeful pink rubber band still wrapped around my black coffee mug. I was so hoping for another girl for Emily and Makayla to play dress up and teach her to become a lady.
Jerry Schellhammer 