The Surprise

Blake came home from work at the office that day feeling frustrated and exhausted. They’d had a long meeting with the director, and Blake had shared several of what he thought were great ideas they were planning. But it seemed like no one even heard him, let alone listened. He propped his brief case on the floor by the front door and hung his jacket up, but it slid off onto the carpet. He decided he didn’t care.

“Molly!” He called out. “I’m home!”

He was loosening his tie when his wife came up the back hallway.

“Hi, how was your day?” she asked.

Blake sighed. “You don’t want to know.”

“That bad, huh?”

Blake simply nodded. “You’re lucky you had the day off. Did you do anything special?”

She smiled. “I made you a surprise. Today is our six month anniversary, after all.”

“Six months?” Blake asked as Molly wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “I didn’t know people celebrated their six months wedding anniversaries.”

“Well, we can,” Molly told him.

Blake smiled. “So, what’s the surprise?”

“I’m not going to tell you. You have to guess.”

“Guess?” Blake asked, heading down the hallway to the bedroom he shared with Molly. “Can I change out of my work clothes while I’m guessing?”

“Of course,” Molly replied.

Blake shed his black polyester pants and undid the buttons on his white shirt. He felt relief from feeling so confined. He opened the dresser drawers and pulled out a pair of old jeans and his favorite sweatshirt, with the Denver Broncos logo on front.

“You made me a card,” he guessed as he put his jeans on.

“Nope.”

“No card?”

Molly shook her head.

“Something out of origami?” Blake knew that was one of her favorite pastimes.

“No, no origami.”

“Is it something to eat?” Blake asked, pulling his sweatshirt on over his head.

“Maybe.”

Blake smiled. “Okay, so that means it is. Ummm… My favorite dinner? Spaghetti with parmesan cheese on top?”

“No,” Molly replied. “I haven’t made dinner yet.”

“Cookies? Chocolate chip or peanut butter?”

She shook her head. “You’re getting closer.”

“A pie?”

“Close.”

“A cake?”

Molly laughed. “Yes, it’s a chocolate cake, and we can have some before dinner.”

“Before dinner?” Blake asked.

“Yes. I have another surprise for you.”

“Oh boy,” Blake replied. “Let’s start with the cake. My mouth is watering already.”

Molly took him by the hand as they walked down the hallway into the kitchen.

There, in the middle of the dining room table, was a swirly-frosted chocolate cake.

“Wow. You sure did a great job on the frosting,” Blake commented. “Is the inside chocolate too?”

“Of course it is.”

Molly pulled a cake knife out of a kitchen drawer, then got down one plate and two forks.

“Only one plate?” Blake asked as they moved into the dining room.

Molly simply nodded, cutting one fairly large slice and carefully placing it on the plate. “We’ll share it,” she told him, handing him a fork.

Blake laughed as they seated themselves side by side at the table, the piece of cake between them.

“You take the first bite,” Blake told Molly. You made it.”

“No,” Molly replied. “The surprise was for you.”

Blake shrugged. “Okay.”

He cut the triangular end off the piece of cake and slid it into his mouth.

“Wow, it’s so smooth and moist.”

“Better than other cakes I’ve made?”

“I’d say so, yes. Why?”

Molly smiled, taking a bite of cake. “That’s my secret.” She smiled slyly.

Blake loved her smile. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her passionately, but he remembered she’d said she had two surprises for him.

“So,” he began, taking another bite of chocolate cake, “What’s the other surprise? Are you going to make me guess this one too?”

“No,” Molly replied, setting down her fork and resting her hands on her lap. “I went to the store to buy some groceries and the ingredients I needed for the cake, and I also bought…”

“What? What did you buy?”

“A home pregnancy test.”

Blake’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth.

“Really? He asked. “Why…” he started to ask, then realized it was a stupid question.

“What did it say?”

Molly sighed, then smiled. “It says I’m pregnant.”

Brace felt his heart lurch. “Pregnant? We’re going to have a baby?”

Molly nodded, smiling broadly.

Blake got up from his chair and pulled Molly up by her hands, giving her a big hug that nearly made her feet leave the floor.

They were both laughing when he set her down.

“A baby!” Blake exclaimed. “So soon!”

“That does happen,” Molly pointed out.

“That’s so exciting! Do you want to find out if it’s a boy or a girl, or wait until it’s born? Do you have any names picked out yet? I’m so excited, I feel like I could eat this entire cake today.”

Molly laughed. “If you do that, I’m afraid you’ll leave a surprise for me.”