The man behind the belly (Part One) -- February 1993

Charlie was going to be arriving soon and Annette was about three months along now and her stomach was just starting to show a little bit.  I had contacted Charlie and he was definitely going to be coming here to visit us for a couple of days and then all of us were going to the Burrow.  He just did nto know why the change in plans, but he was okay with it.  He had not been home in a littel while, either.  Naturally we still wanted just our time togther, which was nothing bad.  I just could not wait for him to get to my place so I could tell him the news.  Annette had moved in because we both thought it the best way for me to be close during the pregnancy, so she was in the kitchen making some lunch while I paced in the living room.  Telling charlie would be easy... it was the rest of the gang that I was worried about.

I heard Bill in the living room and I just chuckled quietly to myself.  I peeked my head out from the kitchen.  "bill, stop it.  You know he's going to be super excited and there's no reason to be this nervous," I said, shaking my head as I returned to tossing the greens in some dressing for the salad.  I could not believe how frantic Bill seemed.  I don't htink I was this bad when I told my parents.

I rolled my eyes at Annette.  "Oh be quiet in there," I teased when I heard the familiar sound of Egypt's version of the Knight Bus.  I looked out the window and saw Charlie stepping off of it and walking up the lawn towards the door.  I opened it for him and took his bag.  "Here... let me," I said, getting it out of his way.  When I returned from the guest room I gave my brother a big hug.  "How was the trip?"

Now I was really concerned something was up. I had wondered why Bill wanted to go to The burrow, which did not bother me, but it raised some flags. With the way he was acting, those flags turned the color of bright red. And now small talk? Yeah something was definitely going on and I was going to get to the bottom of it. "Everythign went fine" I said, breaking the hug and smiling at Annette as she walked in. I walked over and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. I pulled back and looked between the two of them. "You have to tell me what's going on,t hough... I know something's up."

I laughed and pushed Bill's shoulder playfully.  "I told you he'd catch on," I said, shaking my head.  "I'm going to finish up lunch... Bill, why don't you go ahead and tell him everything."  I figured they would want brotherly moments after sharing the fantastic mood.  I was actually surprised that he could not tell that I was pregnant... it seemed like even strangers could tell.  It was slightly creepy.

I grabbed Annette's hand.  "Nah, it's about both of us.  You're staying," I said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.  I turned back to CHarlie and before he exploded with anticipation and frustration, I figured it was time to tell him.  "Charlie, you're going to be an uncle."  I was grinning at him when I said it... how could I not?  I was sharing the news of me being a dad!  And the bigger Annettet's belly got, the more real it became.

I was getting really impatient waiting for them to stop witht heir cuteness. When Bill finally told me, I was so surprised. "You guys!" I said, pulling them back into a hug... though it was more like a group hug since I had each of them in one of my arms. I could not believe this. I was so happy for them! I pulled back from them. "When did you find out?" I questioned.

I was actually relieved that Charlie was taking this so well.  "We found out in January... I'm about three months along now," I explained, grinning.  If this was how the entire familiy was going to take it, we would be just fine.  I could not believe that it was this easy to tell him.  I was sure that someone would endup saying something about us not being married and whatnot, but so far no one has.  Not even papa.

"Well, this explains the slight change of plans," I said, going into the kitchen to help finish up lunch. I was starved and I could smell the food and it was only making it worse. We all dished out our own plates of the Egyptian cuisine and sat down at the table to talk. "Man, they haven't even met Annette yet... that's why you wanted me there. So I can help buffer the situation." I knew how Bill's mind worked.

I nodded, taking a drink of water before replying back to my brother.  "Exactly my thoughts.  Mum can't be focusing on all of us entirely if we band together.  We have a sonogram picture of the baby to show her and whatnot.  She can keep it -- we have our own copy of course.  But I thought that would be a nice little gift for its grammy," I said with a slight shrug.  I just hoped that it would suffice in easing the blow.  Once they saw the little guy -- and I mean little, sometimes I cannot even find him on the earliest sonograms compared to now -- I knew that they would feel the same way I did and have no doubt in their minds that this was an amazing and exciting development.

I was not sure if I should be impressed by the way Charlie knew exactly what Bill had had in mind or feel like it was predictable.  I did not think we needed these games, but they knew their mother best.  "Aside from discussing strategy," I interrupted, thinking that all this game-plan talk was nonsense, "Charlie, what do you think about finding out the sex of the baby before birth?" I questioned.  Bill and I kept going back and forth on the matter.  Surprisingly, it was I who wanted to find out and Bill who wanted to wait.  I wondered if that was teh way that his mum did it or if they found out.

I shrugged. "I think that a surprise is always fun, but I would prefer to know. That way if I needed to set the nursery up with princesses or something of the sort or if I should do lions or something... I like to be prepared in certain aspects of life. And I think child bearing and rearing would definitely be one I would like to be as prepared as possible for," I said, laughing a little bit. I do not think I coud handle not knowing what we were going to have unless it was what my wife wanted... then I would wait. I would just drive her nuts about it.

I nodded and gave Bill a pointed look.  "I was thinking the same thing... but this one ehre wants it to be a surprise," I said, shaking my head at him even though I was smiling.  How could I ven be slightly upset that Bill wanted it to be a surprise?  He was just as excited as I was with the news... I just wish he would be on the same page as me like he normally is with finding out the gender.

I knew exactly what Annette was doing... and sadly it was working.  She was trying to get Charlie to convince me to find out the gender.  "But don't you think it would take away from the excitement of that day?" I inquired, trying to defend my position on the matter.

I could not help but chuckle at the two of them. Shaking my head, I went back to eating lunch. May as well let them bicker it out. I definitely did not want to get caught in the middle of any arguments with them. Especially when it came down to their baby.