Meet The Parents

After we saw the heartbeat and the lima-bean, we decided the share the good news with our folks. We were hesitant at first, and wanted to figure out the best way to do it that would be a joy to them, and easy on us.

A little history: Mrs. Abu-Who and I have been married for twelve years. In that time, we were asked many times when we were going to "give our parents grand-kids". I guess that's "what you do" when you're married...not travel, not work, not enjoy each other in your youth. Give the grandparents grand-kids.

We told them to lump it. Lovingly, of course.

Eventually, they stopped asking, for the most part. Though they'd hint at it relentlessly, fawning over our friend's kids, and asking THEM to ask. It's pretty funny, actually.

Once after being asked at a dinner, I said, "It's very possible we HAVE been trying, and maybe we just can't have them." No one went back for seconds. I did, with a huge, evil grin on my face.

Ima jerk, I guess. We knew we would have kids, God willing, when we were ready. And not as gifts to our parents, or even to us, but as additions to our family. Plus, we knew we were selfish, but more on that another time.

Despite all that, we were pretty excited to finally give the folks some good news on the baby front. However, I still had to make it fun.

We picked up some onesies for baby-head and wrapped them in Japanese paper, with cranes on top. Our last trip overseas had been to Japan, and we couldn't stop raving about it, so I figured this would be an appropriate ruse. Mwa-ha-ha!

We had the folks over for dinner, but also invited our good friends and my sister-in-law, to keep suspicion down. At some point after eating bratwurst and sauerkraut, I made an announcement. Since I work for Sony, I began thusly:
"You know how much we love Japan, and Sony is a Japanese company..."
Here's how it went.



A resounding success. I captured it for my brother, who lives far across the land, so he, his wife, and their two lovely daughters could enjoy the evening as well. My dad, in blue, was stoic, but later confided in me he was very emotional.

I knew, Dad. I knew.