Random Prompt Wednesday

PROMPT:

What happens when a man bumps into his former girlfriend while he shops for baby toys with his pregnant wife? The man once told the ex-girlfriend "I'm not the marrying kind".
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I just about thought I was going to be a bachelor for life until I met Annie. I mean, I'd played the field and was having a great time. A different girl every few weeks was great. I was a good looking, successful man and I felt that I had the right to play the field and please the entire female population.

Something changed in me when I met Annie. I wanted to protect her. I didn't want to throw her aside, and oddly enough I didn't get tired of her like I had my previous girlfriends. I actually found myself asking her to marry me one night at Alejandro's, one of our favourite supper spots, now here we were after a wonderful wedding and honeymoon expecting our first child.

Me, a dad. I never would have thought I'd be the type, but I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the little tyke and I just keep praying it's a son, because I don't think I could handle seeing men like my young self going out with my daughter. If it was a girl, I'd have to invest in shares of Louisville Sluggers.

"Mike? Are you even listening to me?" Annie is poking my arm.

"Oh uh yeah. Sorry about that, just went off in my own little world."

"The turn off for Babies R Us is coming up. Right here."

I turned into the parking lot and cruised around looking for a spot. I couldn't believe how busy this baby emporium was. Was everyone having babies? I got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side to help Annie out. She was having trouble getting in and out of my two door prelude, she was eight months along now.

"Oof. I think this kid's going to be a sumo wrestler Mike," Annie put a hand on her lower back.

"As long as he's healthy, I don't care."

"What makes you think he is going to be a he? It might be a she! I hope it's a she. I can dress her up in little dresses and..."

At about this point I am politely nodding, but tuning my wife out. After eight months of the same discussion I'm getting tired. It's a boy. End of story.

The big sliding doors open into Babies R Us and I am awed by the amount of cribs, stuffed animals, high chairs and other baby paraphernalia. I've never seen Annie waddle so fast. All I saw was a mass of red curls flying in her wake. There are tons of other pregnant women and women with babies, so I know we'll be here a while. You know how pregnant women like to talk to eachother about how it's all going. All I knew was my plastic was going to hurt at the end of this expedition looking for toys.

I sauntered around the corner and saw a pleasing looking woman with her back to me. There was something familiar about her. Then she turned around. Holy shit. It was Sinead, my ex.

You see, Sinead and I were pretty hot and heavy. She was the longest relationship I had prior to Annie. We were together 2 years and that is VERY long term for me. She caught the marriage bug. I ended up breaking it off because she was putting too much pressure on me. I told her I was not the marrying kind. I was a playboy, a rebel, and I just couldn't be tied down. What could I do? Duck!

Just as I ducked behind one of the displays of strollers Annie came up behind me.

"Mike, what the hell are you doing?"

"Checking out the wheels on these strollers," I turned the wheel side to side, looked up and smiled. "They look like they'd roll pretty smoothly".

"We have a stroller already. We're here for final touches on the nursery, remember?"

"Uh, yeah. Right. The floor sure is clean."

"I don't know what has gotten into you. I'll be over in the toy section, should you decide to come back to Earth" she sighs, rolls her eyes and walks away giggling.

I decide that I'm going to duck walk to the other side of the strollers. Maybe I can make a break for the other side of the store. I'm looking around like a rabid wolverine making sure that Sinead is nowhere in sight when I duck walk into a pair of legs.

"Well, well. Mike. Fancy seeing you in a baby store! How are you? It's been a long time!"

"Yeah, nice to see you again Sinead, what brings you to this place?"

"Oh my sister is having a baby. I have to get a gift for the shower. I'm stumped. Are you here with anyone?"

"Yeah, see the red head over there in the maternity top? She's my.."

"I thought you weren't the marrying kind, a rebel.. all that nonsense." Sinead crossed her arms with a big grin on her face.

"Yeah, well, you might say she convinced me. We're having a baby in July. Got married in Mexico last year." I leaned on a nearby baby swing set, and crossed one ankle over the other. Annie turned around waving and pointing at a giant stuffed panda. I smiled and waved back.

"Well," Sinead was looking at her feet now. "I guess I shouldn't keep you from your wife. Congratulations, and good luck with fatherhood. I never would have guessed."

"Neither would I. Nice to see you." I gave her a little pat on the arm and she headed straight for the doors. That went a lot better than I thought it would. I headed back over to Annie to get the shopping expedition over with.