We Are Having a Baby!
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes, 35 seconds
Home With Jan
Exiting the Prospect Park subway station, I thought about calling Jan, but the first payphone I passed was in use. Crossing Flatbush Avenue, my pace intensified despite my backpack and a shopping bag of printed materials I was bringing home. I had only been gone for three days, but it felt as if it had been forever. Turning left from Washington Avenue onto Sterling Street, I saw Jan walking towards me. Unable to run, I took giant strides to reach her as soon as possible.
“I missed you,” Jan yelled as we met.”
“I love you!”
“Me too!”
Hugging and kissing, we moved as one slowly down our block.
“Can I carry anything?”
Despite being exhausted, I said no.
“As Jan opened the entrance door, I did my best but inaccurate rendition of Paul McCartney, “Will you still need me? Will you still feed me? Will you still love me? When I’m sixty-four?”
“Yes,” she responded. “I will still love you!”
As we went up the stairs, I bellowed,””I will still love you even if I do not live to be sixty-four.
“Don’tt say that.”
“But I will always love you!”
I know, but I do not like to hear you say you might not live that long.
“Love never dies….”
Jan turned around and kissed me as we stepped into our living room.
“You are such a romantic.”
I dropped my bags and unzipped my coat.
I am a little late,” Jan said, holding up a small box.
I nodded so quickly that my neck hurt.
Jan went to the bathroom to fill the test kit.
“Now we have to wait to see if the test is positive.”
I held my arms around her waist as we waited impatiently for the results.
Oh my….” we screamed in unison.
Dancing around the dining room into the living room, we celebrated.
“We are having a baby!”
We halted in the middle of the living room and kissed passionately.
Looking over Jan’s shoulder, I could see Shira hissing. I could almost hear Shira saying, “I was here before you and will be here after you. I am the alpha male cat in this house!“
Avis sat quietly on the floor, wondering what all the fuss was about.
Jan grabbed a notepad and suggested we review the steps she had jotted down.
Yes, my love, we are having a baby,” I screamed as we sat down to discuss the next steps.
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After almost 48 years, I recently lost my wife, Jan Lilien. Like The Little Prince, Jan and I believed that “The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.” This blog is a collection of my random thoughts on love, grief, life, and all things considered.
The book Never Forget Our People Were Always Free is told through parables. It features intimate glimpses of political and 
