We were lying in bed snuggling later that night. Toby had finally gone to sleep after being completely overwhelmed with the exciting news he’d just received. And now it was just the two of us in bed making plans for the future, a future that now seemed very different. It could have been scary, if I’d chosen to look at it the right way. But it was wonderful. I loved being a father and now a child that was equal parts me and equal parts Libby was coming into the world. It would have its own personality, its own specific hopes and dreams, and it would test those limits the best way it could and I was going to help the child grow to its full potential.
Just as I was doing with Toby. I was overjoyed at the idea.
“You don’t think it is going to be different?”
“Well, eventually, but not at first. At first, I think that all babies are very much the same. They eat, sleep, and they go to the bathroom. That is really the extent of the first few months.”
Libby rolled her eyes. “Of course. I know all that. But do you think that in a few years when she starts to forge her own path and her own personality, that it will be different.”
“Yeah, it will be different, but I’ve never prescribed to either theory that raising boys versus girls is radically different.”
Libby laughed. “Well, I spend all day with little boys and girls. Trust me when I tell you that you will be changing your tune on that one mighty quick.”
I laughed and held my wife close to me. I could feel her warmth, her love, and the blossoming motherhood within her. She was right of course (she usually was), but I was ready for whatever new adventure this life was going to throw at me.
And I would love every minute of it.