Valentine's Surprise

Some weeks ago, T. told me that he had a big surprise planned for me for Valentine's Day. We have never been really into celebrating Valentine's Day, and T. has never managed to pull off a surprise without breaking down and telling me about it first. He always gets too excited about it, and just has to share it with me. Hence, I didn't get too fired up about his alleged Valentine's surprise.

Valentine's Day came and went, and no surprise. He told me that it had come, but it was the wrong one, and so he had to exchange it. I still didn't think much about it. I mentioned it to my mother, but she said she had no idea what the surprise was. Weeks went by.

On Wednesday night, T. mentioned to me that he was planning on cooking a nice dinner for me the next night, and asked if I could tidy up the table a bit (our dining table has become a catch-all for assorted baby gear, since sit-down meals have become something near non-existent in our house). Then Thursday morning just before he left for work, T. casually mentioned that two of his clients were going to stop by the house that night. He told me the clients had wanted to see the baby, and he'd invited them to stop by. I surmised that he'd invited them to dinner, but hadn't told me sooner because he'd forgotten our rule to never make plans without checking with the other first, and he knew I'd be annoyed. And let me tell you, I WAS in fact annoyed!

Now, it's one thing for family or close friends to stop by right now. I don't mind them seeing that I haven't vacuumed in a few days or that there are dishes in the sink. But it's another thing entirely for T's clients to stop by. I wouldn't be comfortable with them seeing things a bit messy, even with a newish baby in the house. I spent all day Friday trying to tend to the baby in between cleaning the house from top to bottom. I was afraid that they'd want a tour of the house due to our recent renovations, so no room was left untouched. I was completely furious that T. would invite them over without consulting with me first. Worse, he seemed to have avoided telling me until the last minute.

A half hour before they were set to arrive on Thursday night, my house was clean but I was not. I was sweaty and gross, my tank top partially soaked in milk. I buckled the baby into her vibrating seat and jumped into the shower. I was clean and dressed, finally, but still trying to get ready for company when the phone rang. It was T., telling me he had good news and bad news. The good news? The clients were no longer stopping by. The bad news? He was running late and wasn't planning on cooking me dinner, but was going to stop and pick something up. I was FURIOUS with him that he hadn't called sooner to let me know they weren't coming. I was short with him on the phone. I had really run myself ragged trying to tend to the baby while getting everything else done. I did call him back a few minutes later to tell him that I wasn't mad--just tired, after all that I'd done to get the house together. After all, he was still brining me dinner, and I wanted us to have a nice night. I didn't want him to think I was at home stewing!

An hour or so later when he got home, the baby and I were lounging in bed. I'd just fed her, and she was dozing. He came and greeted us, then told me to come down for dinner. I brought the baby down, and just after I handed him to her, he told me that my Valentine's surprise had arrived, and he gestured toward the darkened entryway to the house.

I took a step forward, expecting to see a package. Instead, a person stepped from the shadows! It scared the crap out of me, and I literally screamed. It was my mother. T. flew her up for the weekend to surprise me! I was so thrilled. I wasn't expecting that we'd be able to see her again for another month or so. As it turned out, he had planned to fly her up for Valentine's Day weekend and was going to take me out to dinner, but the giant snowstorm had ruined that plan.

It is the only surprise he's ever been able to keep, and by far the best Valentine's present he's ever given me. It was wonderful to be able to spend the weekend with M. and grandma. Have I mentioned how much I love good surprises?