“You do know the baby could be a girl,” said Gabe absently. He recalled childhood vacations to his cousins’ house which was on the beach. Playing in the sand and waves. The beach was too far from here but maybe a spot with sand in it? Kids liked sand and sandcastles. At least, he had when he was younger, as Gabe remembered.
“Highly unlikely,” Britney interrupted his reverie. “Ramesly men have Ramesly sons over ninety percent of the time, Michael being the exception with his group of girls.”
“Dillon had a girl,” protested Gabe, more out of habit than by wanting a girl or a boy. Whatever they had would be fine with him. “Shannon was his oldest before she passed.”
“Still, we’re likely to have a boy so I’m having the nursery painted blue,” a confident Britney told him. “Blue with blue plaid accents. It will be wonderful for our boy.”
“Congratulations about the baby,” inserted Candi. “I’m so happy for both of you.”
“We aren’t having a baby,” Gabe quickly assured her. “Not yet.”
“I’m not pregnant,” added Britney. “We’re planning on starting a family right after the wedding.”
Candi blinked then stretched a smile across her lips. “Then maybe you’d like to see the bedrooms upstairs? There are four of them plus there is lots of space in the attic for storage.”
“Shall we?” Gabe drawled, wondering how long the tours were going to last this evening. He had budget reports which needed his attention.
“Isn’t this fun?” whispered Britney as they followed Candi.
Gabe thought about giving her a sarcastic response but realized he didn’t want to. Britney was enjoying this, he realized. Touring houses and imagining a possible future there was making her happy. Most of the time, Gabe hadn’t seen Britney very happy. They had been too busy arguing, avoiding each other, or just driving one another crazy.
He kind of liked that he was making her happy.
Gabe frowned over the thought. It was unexpected and he wasn’t sure it was welcome.
“This is the guest room,” Candi pointed out. “Another bedroom is right here. The nursery is right across the hall from the master bedroom. Go on and explore! I’ll be waiting in the living room.”
Britney continued to babble about how she could make her home office out of the third bedroom and made a beeline for the nursery, dragging Gabe along. The room was a cheery yellow with odd looking characters painted on the walls. While Gabe didn’t mind the yellow, the cartoonish creatures were creepy.
“Definitely needs to be repainted,” remarked Britney as she eyed the walls. “Oh! Look at these tiny clothes. Aren’t they just adorable?”
Britney held up a small sweater she had found on the top of a dresser. It suddenly hit Gabe this was real. What they were planning to do was very real and couldn’t be undone. Children couldn’t be returned to a store. They were living beings who needed parents. He felt a spasm of panic in his chest. He hadn’t planned on this future that was being shoved on him. Work hours were long and having a family meant investing time with them. At least, it should. His mother had always lamented how many hours their father had spent working, maintaining and growing the family business. As a kid, he had only seen his father during scheduled weekly appointments. When he had grown older, James had spent more time with him, grooming him for the position he was about to take over.
Gabe worked sixty hours minimum per week. It was what he logged in at the hospitals and at his desk in his work office. He also brought work home, putting in time after hours. It was his duty. Where was he going to get the time to have a wife and kid? Britney didn’t strike him as the type of woman who would just let him keep working as he already was.
This was going to change his entire life. He would have to give more work to Parker. Did Britney expect him to change diapers? He had no idea how to hold a baby, feed one, or what a baby actually needs. Did they need all those clothes, the accessories, the equipment? Was it just a marketing gimmick to make new moms need all the stuff? What if he or she wasn’t okay? What would he do with a baby who was sick? What if he dropped the kid, would it be messed up for life? The questions swirled around in his mind and the room began to feel way too small.
“Gabe?” a concerned Britney appeared before him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he gruffly said, trying to cover up his unease.
“You are not fine,” murmured Britney. “You look like you did before you went on the slingshot at Seven Rollercoaster Heaven.”
It was probably a fair enough comparison, reflected Gabe ruefully. He felt like he was about to go on the scariest ride of his life.
“I just need a moment,” managed Gabe before he abruptly exited the room.
“Don’t you want to see the master bedroom?” she called out after him.
Gabe didn’t answer as he headed down the stairs. Exiting out the front door, he walked quickly to his car, taking deep breaths to try to ease the anxiety clawing at him. Taking out his key fob, Gabe unlocked the Tesla and sank into the driver’s seat. He closed his eyes, trying to soak in the familiar smell and feel of the car when a new thought struck him.
Where would he charge the Tesla? It was an electric car. The condo had a charging station. Gabe had never even thought about worrying where to charge his car before. This whole situation was turning his life upside down!
Yet what could he do about it? If he didn’t try to adapt, then he would lose his position and his inheritance. Gabe dragged in another breath, concentrating on his breathing. Maybe he should take a leaf out of Britney’s book and make a life plan. Gabe constantly planned things out at work in meticulous detail when it came to his working life. He had never bothered planning his personal life because he preferred it exactly as it was. However, now things were going to have to change.
He was getting married. There should be a checklist of things he needed to do to get ready for the wedding. And a checklist for being a father and husband.
Obviously, he didn’t know enough about the risks involved in childrearing. It was time to become educated so he could mitigate as many of the risks as possible. Next time Britney quoted some study at him, he would be prepared and know the answers, Gabe resolved.
