⇾ 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐄 𝐈'𝐌 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐃 | 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐈𝐈

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙮 ➪ 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙁𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘼𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙪, 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙋𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙤𝙧 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚?

Welcome, now it's time for a surprise!! ☝︎︎☝︎︎

(Publishing this early today because I start my new ✨job✨ and don't know if I'll be able to update at my normal time :,) )

ꕥ August 28, 1969 ꕥ
20 weeks

Since the summer was coming to a rather-abrupt end, we had decided to have a day out as a family—a beach day, to be specific. We traveled down to Brighton for the day, leaving bright and early so that we could get there at a reasonable time.

Mary looked like she was about to burst in excitement as she enjoyed some chicken nuggets for lunch before we went down to the beach. She hadn't even wanted to eat lunch. She wanted to go straight down to the water, but I felt like I would die if I didn't eat, so we had to stop. We were sitting right on the beach so Mary kept her eyes loyally on the water.

"Guess what, Mary?" Paul said, trying to keep Mary entertained while we finished eating.

"What?" Mary replied, her mouth full of food.

"Tomorrow, we get to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl," he said with a wide grin. "What do you think it is?"

Her expression changed into a thoughtful one. She seemed to forget all about the beach and all that was on her mind was the baby. "A girl," she said finally, looking delighted at the idea. "I want a sister!"

"You do?" I asked delightedly.

She nodded. "I want a sister so she can play dolls with me! Holly also wants a sister." Mary reached for her stuffed horse sitting on the table and waved her in front of our faces. Then, she reached for her stuffed fish that she had named Gil. "But, Gil wants a brudder," she informed us and we both laughed at her pronunciation of "brother." "Because he feels lonely around so many girls." She grinned.

"You know," Paul said quietly, leaning forward. "I get lonely around all you girls sometimes too."

I leaned over and shoved him in the shoulder, resting my hands on my belly as I felt the baby kick again. The kicks had become much more frequent ever since I'd felt them for the first time last month. "You love us," I said.

"I love you so much!" he said. "So much, in fact," he added, leaning forward so that he could whisper to Mary. "I know a good candy store around here and we can go there after we finish at the beach. How does that sound?"

Mary's face lit up. "Candy!"

"Come on, finish eating so we can get to the beach!" he told her and she immediately began to devour her food.

ꕥ August 29, 1969 ꕥ

We had a good time in Brighton. Mary had passed out as soon as we made it home. Now, I was in the middle of cooking breakfast. Paul sat at the dining table, his hair tousled from sleep, his right hand clutching a cup of coffee, and the newspaper in his left hand. Mary was still asleep upstairs.

I flipped the bacon in the pan on the stove and then heard Paul stand up behind me. "Mary's bed should be in today," he said, coming up behind me and sneaking his arms around my waist from behind. "She'll be so happy, won't she?"

I nodded, a smile forming on my lips. The words made me so incredibly happy. I loved hearing his voice. It made everything so much better. I loved him so much. "She will be so happy," I agreed.

Paul's head came to rest on my shoulder and I felt his breath tickle my neck. "I can't wait to find out the gender of our baby," he said. "I'm so excited. So, so excited. You know that, love?"