26 weeks

What I thought was going to be a casual lunch between me and Cal this afternoon turned out to be a surprise baby shower!

We were on our way down the hall to the break room when Beck stepped from the conference room and asked to see me for a second. When she opened the door, the entire newsroom (with the exception of one or two people out covering breaking news or attending a meeting they just couldn't reschedule) yelled “Surprise!”

Tito, camera ready, recorded much of the event. He got a funny shot of my gaping mouth as I walked through the door.

They’d really outdone themselves. There were pink and white streamers, Mylar and latex balloons, a sheet cake, and enough food to feed a third-world nation. I later learned Cal had organized the whole thing and surreptitiously sent out e-mails to everybody except me. (If the roles had been reversed and I needed to plan a surprise party for Cal, Preggy Brains would surely have sent her an invite.)

Some of the guys looked uncomfortable at first, but when they realized a baby shower is pretty much just a party minus the beer, they got over it and started making wisecracks.

“Hey, if I ever get a woman pregnant—” began Max, one of the sports writers.

Toby, his editor, clapped him on the shoulder. “Not a chance, Max. You gotta have sex before that can happen.”

Pretty much the entire newsroom, including Jesse, roared at that one.

Bolstered by the reaction, Toby continued, “And let’s face it... no woman is THAT desperate.”

Max turned an interesting shade of scarlet during the laughter. Aside from stuffing his mouth with cake, he didn’t open it again for several minutes.

But Toby didn’t get away unscathed. He was sitting next to me and was always the first one I passed any newly opened gifts to in order to give everyone at the shower a closer look at the presents. To Toby’s detriment, he was involved in deep conversation with the reporter seated on the other side of him and didn’t realize I had just opened a package of breastfeeding paraphernalia. Everyone watched as I passed him the packet.

“Here, Toby, you might want a closer look at this,” I said sweetly.

“Oh, thanks,” he said, pulling himself away from his conversation. Feigning interest, he began to inspect a packet of nursing pads and breast cream before realizing too late what he was doing.

I think Max laughed the loudest and hardest as his boss turned a deeper shade of scarlet than he had.

In addition to watching the sports guys rag on each other, the shower also paved a way for me to clean up on gifts for the baby. Chip and I got so much loot! I was blest by the generosity of my co-workers. We got the aforementioned breastfeeding materials, adorable baby outfits, baby booties, Onesies, a car seat from several reporters who had chipped in together, and perhaps one of the most touching presents of all, a plush lamb from Max.

As Toby had already alluded, Max didn’t exactly have a girlfriend and had made a special trip to the store to purchase the toy himself. I was touched by the thoughtfulness of the gesture.