By Venus Bratsveen
10 May 2023
Chip and Kaitlynn were expecting their second child any day now. Nick, child number one, was born on Christmas day three years prior. It was a brutally cold day, icy streets made worse by the continuous blast of cold wind blowing snow over the roads. Not a day for travel, not even for St. Nick. Naturally, as Murphy’s Law would have it, their little bundle of joy decided that this was the perfect time to make his grand appearance. Chip drove carefully over ice covered streets to the hospital several miles away. They arrived safely and from that point forward the birth went along like clockwork. Little Nick was born just before midnight on Christmas day. Jokingly, Chip proclaimed their beautiful newborn son should be named Nick after St. Nicholas who never misses a Christmas delivery. Kaitlynn’s humor, which was noticeably absent during delivery, returned and she agreed. So named, little Nick never failed to live up to his moniker. He was sweet tempered and generous, smiling broadly for everyone he saw. He loved the idea of a baby brother to play with.
Today is Mother’s Day. Kaitlynn, feeling every bit of her nine months of pregnancy was restless. Her back hurt. Her feet hurt. Her teeth even hurt. She was anxious and needed a distraction. “Let’s go to Manito Park,” she announced.
“Yea!” shouts Nick.
“Uh, are you sure?” Chip asks cautiously. He read the What to Expect when You’re Expecting books and knew that the second child often arrives more quickly than the first. His beautiful, albeit cranky, bride was due and could go into labor at any time.
“Yes, please. I’ll be stuck at home soon enough. I need fresh air, sunshine and flowers. Besides, the park is so close to the hospital, we couldn’t pick a better place to go into labor. If my water breaks, it’ll just feed the grass or flowers or trees.”
“Oh my God woman, you are so gross,” Chip laughed as he grabbed her L & D (labor & delivery) bag. They packed a picnic lunch; put Nicky in the car and off they went.
Manito Park was busy today as it is every Mother’s Day. The sun shone brightly, warming the spring air. Small insects buzzed and birds chirped their happy springtime songs. It was a perfect day. Chip and Kaitlynn walked along the path while Nicky toddled through the grass, stopping to inspect bugs, dandelions and small pebbles. Kaitlynn gave a contented sigh. This was the life. Number two agreed and gave his own little kick of joy. She smiled to herself. Chip asked, “What’s that beautiful grin for?”
“Oh, number two like the park. Feel here.” Kaitlynn placed Chip’s hand on her lovely belly. Two kicked again.
“Wow, we may have to name this one Lionel.” Chip loved soccer and Argentina’s Lionel (Leo) Messi was his favorite player.
“Oh no you don’t. You named Nick, it’s my turn,” Kaitlynn announced with authority. The Mom voice never failed her, even with her husband! Chip just smiled. He loved the Mom voice and thought she was cute. Intimidating, but cute. How did he get so lucky? She sometimes scared the hell out of him, but he adored her.
They soon found a place to set up their picnic lunch. Chip spread the blanket while Kaitlynn rounded up Nick, coaxing him with his favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The sticky, sweet smell of jelly, a tempting offering, brought small flying insects to their impromptu diner. Suddenly, a Daddy Long Leg spider scrambled across the blanket, startling Kaitlynn. She jumped back with a shout, knocking over her water cup and splashing Nicky with the icy surprise. Nick screamed and jumped up and down, accidentally throwing his PBJ in Dad’s direction. Chip, who was unaware of the cause of this violent chain reaction, ducked the sandwich, landing on the blanket, face-to-face with the spider. Yelping loudly, Chip jumped up and back pedaled with a hard landing square against the tree. By now Kaitlynn recovered and laughing hard, watched the show/ disaster movie before her. Nick, still dancing around to entertain his mom, tripped over the backpack holding their picnic supplies. He fell onto the blanket with a thud. He blinked several times, the wind temporarily knocked out of him, then screamed. The little spider, frantic to flee the scene, scrambled onto Nicky’s arm. Nick, seeing the spider, began flailing his arms, running in circles and screaming. This sent the spider flying across the blanket onto Kaitlynn’s blouse. In a sheer panic, the little spider tried to make its way to the safety of the nearby tree. Chip deftly grabbed the spider and threw it at the tree where it scrambled up to safety, far from the mad scene below. As things began to calm down, baby number two decided it was high time he got out of this madhouse. Meanwhile, Chip got Nick’s hysterics under control. He explained to Nick that it was a Daddy Long Legs and was an important part of the ecosystem. That is why he put him on the tree. Kaitlynn clutched her stomach as the first labor pain hit. “Uh, Honey. I think this was all too much for number two,” she said.
“What? Now? I knew it!” Chip bellowed. Nick, fearing his parent’s sudden change in mood, tried to lighten things up.
“Where’s Leggy Lenny?” he asked. Both parents looked at him in confusion.
“Who is Leggy Lenny?” Chip asked.
“The spider. You said he was a Leggy Lenny. Where did he go?”
“Oh,” Chip said. Smiling at Nick’s name for the spider, he explained, “Leggy Lenny crawled up the tree to hide. He’s fine, son. We have to leave now because your brother is about to arrive and we should be at the hospital for that.” They quickly gathered what was left of the disaster scene of a picnic and headed to the car. Chip chuckled and said, “You know, Babe, Lenny’s kind of a cool name.”
“Leo it is,” she replied with a sideward’s glance that told him to stop joking around.
Four hours later, the family was joined by a lovely, pink faced, little girl. That’s right, a girl! “Well, it looks like your Mother’s Day is as full of surprises as Christmas was three years before,” Chip softly said to Kaitlynn as they looked on with awe at their precious little bundle.
“Mama, can we name her Lenny, after the spider? Because she was a boy but that spider made her a girl,” Nick said with all the confidence of a three year old.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Kaitlynn gently replied. “How about Leena? That’s sort of a girl version of Lenny.” Nick thought about it and nodded in agreement. Kaitlynn looked to Chip, who smiled and nodded yes, as well. With that, Leena stretched and yawned. She slept sweetly. After all, she had quite a day.
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