My husband stood outside in the sun, still flush with the excitement from the delivery of his beautiful new baby. The look in his eyes said it all. Love. Pure and simple.
He had waited for so long for this day and now she was here in the flesh, or um, in the chrome and steel. Yes, cigars all around, we are now the proud owners of a Jeep Wrangler.
“Hey boys!” He called out excitedly to our children, “Come look at the new car. Isn’t it so cool?”
But our boys are too cool for cool. My oldest barely raised his brow, my middle one shrugged unimpressed and said, “Eh. It’s alright.”
But my little guy eagerly ran over to his daddy who scooped him up and looked at him expectantly. “I know how to spell Gum!” He exclaimed.
But stars in the eyes cannot so easily be put out. “We’re going for a drive!” My husband yelled, refusing to hear the chorus of boos from the mini peanut gallery.
We all piled in and started to drive as my husband pointed out what button did what and all the beloved features of his new baby. He took a deep satisfying breath. “Smell that?” He asked, his eyes a glimmer, “Nothing like new car smell.”
“This is so boring,” My middle guy droned.
“Where are we going?” My oldest wanted to know.
“Mommy, I had three brownies at the party,” My youngest confessed.
We drove through the wealthy part of our town where Richie Rich Mansions overlook the sound; so close yet quite untouchable with its own police department. It is beautiful and mouth dragging, except to the chorus in the back.
“Why can’t we live here?” Middle demanded accusingly.
“Why are we here?” Oldest whined annoyingly.
“Can we go play at that one?” Youngest wanted to know, pointing to a massive home with a Bentley and a Rolls parked on the drive and surrounded by its own ponds with a rowboat sitting idle.
We in the front do our best to enjoy riding in a cool car without a roof, the wind in our hair and visions of our twenties spread out before us like an open road.
But it is hard to ignore those in the back driving us crazy.
With nowhere to off road or the possibility of leaving our kids by the side of one, we head home. The boys climbed out, grateful to be released from what was apparently ‘the most boring ride ever’ and ran in the house to engage in more stimulating activities like sitting on the couch and playing with iPhones.
“Are you coming in?” I asked when my husband lingered in the driveway.
“In a minute,” he said, his eyes fixed on the perfect form, beautiful coloring and shiny exterior.
I nodded and left the two of them alone. I had a feeling he would be spending a lot of quality time with this new baby, the one who didn’t talk but purred.
Right now I think it’s his favorite.
Proud papa
Icescreammama 