The next few days were touch and go with Silver. I hated leaving him on Monday morning, but I had the blood test scheduled and I needed to buy groceries. I was scared that I would return to a dead dog as I loaded Timmy into the van. I drove to the doctor's office.
This time, I had blood.
When I returned home with a carload of groceries, Silver was lethargic, but greeted us as the door to the garage opened. I breathed a sigh of relief that he was on his feet.
A few hours later, Tom came home from work and the doctor with his diagnosis of bronchitis. I told him that the blood draw was a success. We'd have our results in about ten days.
"I really don't want to know the gender, though," I said. "I'd like for it to be a surprise."
He gave me that look, the one that says, "What the hell are you thinking? Of course we're going to find out the gender of this baby."
"You know I don't like surprises," he said instead. "I think I deserve to know."
He was going to play that card.
"I want to be surprised. I think it's a boy because I have moments where I feel halfway decent like I did with Timmy. But just once, I'd like to be surprised."
"We really should find out so we know what to buy. You're going to find out."
End of discussion.
The next week came quickly. Silver's 500-pound bark returned, as well as his whipping tail. He had recovered. Tom was also feeling better.
I dialed the number to the doctor's office to find out my results.
"Do you want to know the gender?" the nurse asked before she told me any of the results.
I didn't want to know, but Tom would be really upset with me if I didn't find out. He'd made that very clear.
"Yes, I'd like to know," I lied.
"Your baby tested negative for the chromosomal diseases but also for this chromosome," she said.
It took a second to soak in.
"My baby's healthy?" I asked.
"Yes, by the looks of it, very healthy, none of the markers that Materna-T 21 tests for were present."
A smile spread across my face, and then I remembered what she'd said about the chromosome. "And I'm having a ...?"
"Yes," she answered. "We're 100% certain on that."
I hung up the phone and did a major happy dance. I would have done a happy dance with whichever gender the baby ended up being, but this truly made me beam. I immediately called Tom.
"Well, I have the results. The baby is healthy," I said.
An audible sigh of relief. "And what's the gender?"
"I'm not telling you." I laughed.
"Yes, you are. Don't do this to me. Tell me what we're having."
After I had a few more laughs, I told him, and when we hung up, I drove to the grocery store to buy cake mix and icing. I was going to make a gender reveal cake for the girls. I had just enough time to make it before they would get home from school.
A couple of hours later, the cake was baked, iced, and hidden in the microwave.
Their homework finished, I told the girls that I knew the baby's gender.
"What is it?" they asked.
"I'll let you know when we have dessert tonight. I made a cake and the answer is inside it. Pink means a girl. Blue means a boy. What do you think the baby will be?"
Lesa said, "I think it's a girl. I want to do her hair."
Lyn said, "I think it's a boy."
They promptly rose from the couch and practically turned the kitchen over in search of the cake. Eventually, the click of the microwave door let me know they'd found it.
"Don't you touch that cake," I warned. "I want this to be a surprise. We'll know in a couple of hours."
The microwave clicked shut and I went upstairs to collect a load of laundry. In a hurry, Lyn brushed past me, a smile on her face as she pulled a finger from her mouth.
I dropped the towels into the washer, started it, and went into the kitchen. Lyn's grin was a tad too mischievous. I opened the microwave, and looked at the cake. A hole the size of a finger glared back at me, colored icing seeping out of it.
"Lyn! Come here now," I screamed, tears streaming down my face.
She bounded down the stairs.
"Why did you do this?" I shrieked.
"I wanted to know what the baby is going to be."
My anger increased with every word she said. Why couldn't she wait two more hours at most? Why did she have to ruin the surprise? My surprise had been taken from me and I thought this would be a fun way to give them one at least. And it was ruined. Completely, utterly ruined.
I picked up the cake and dumped it into the trash.
"Go to your room. I can't even look at you right now," I screamed.
A few minutes later, Lesa asked, "Mommy, what's the baby going to be?"
"It's a girl."
And then I cried the rest of the night.
