Your Dad
My Precious Child,
I mean this with every bit of sincerity and truth: you are getting the best dad. I have made plenty of mistakes in this life but choosing to marry Robby Trefethren was not one of them.
I met him at the most unexpected time in the most unexpected of places. It was a chance meeting at a house that I never even wanted to go to when I first saw his smile. He was so genuine and so kind, with honest eyes that I didn't want to stop looking into. Within a half hour, he made me feel more respected and more comfortable than I had ever been. Meeting him felt like the moment I truly became myself - my walls down, heart open, raw, authentic self. And I never want to lose that.
I married him without a second thought, bought a house, adopted two puppies, started grad school, and tried to plan the life I thought we'd have. Three kids in our late twenties and early thirties. House on 8th Street. Careers. La Dee Da. But God laughs at our plans. In June, just two weeks into my grad school program, I became pregnant with you.
I was truly in shock when I took those at-home pregnancy tests. I went into autopilot, making a prenatal appointment and packaging up a little onesie, the tests, and a note for your daddy within about an hour. I wasn't really taking time for feelings, I just needed to stay busy. Your dad had told me before leaving for work that morning (both of us completely unaware that I was pregnant) that he was going to be crazy busy and wouldn't be able to text or call that day. He would be home at 5. Waiting from around 9 in the morning, when I took the tests, until 5 was like torture. And then I was finally feeling it: the emotions. I would go from absolute ecstasy to fear to joy to anxiety. I had no idea what he would say. We both wanted to be parents someday, I knew that, but right now?
FINALLY, he walked through the door. I couldn't wait a second longer. I told him I had something for him and asked him to sit on the couch. I handed him the present. He opened it up and read the card. It said: "4 years ago I fell in love with you, 3 years ago I promised to love you forever, 1 year ago I became your wife, 9 months from now I will hold our baby for the first time. Robby, you're going to be a daddy. Love, Lauren and Baby."
I mean this with every bit of sincerity and truth: you are getting the best dad. I have made plenty of mistakes in this life but choosing to marry Robby Trefethren was not one of them.
I met him at the most unexpected time in the most unexpected of places. It was a chance meeting at a house that I never even wanted to go to when I first saw his smile. He was so genuine and so kind, with honest eyes that I didn't want to stop looking into. Within a half hour, he made me feel more respected and more comfortable than I had ever been. Meeting him felt like the moment I truly became myself - my walls down, heart open, raw, authentic self. And I never want to lose that.
I married him without a second thought, bought a house, adopted two puppies, started grad school, and tried to plan the life I thought we'd have. Three kids in our late twenties and early thirties. House on 8th Street. Careers. La Dee Da. But God laughs at our plans. In June, just two weeks into my grad school program, I became pregnant with you.
I was truly in shock when I took those at-home pregnancy tests. I went into autopilot, making a prenatal appointment and packaging up a little onesie, the tests, and a note for your daddy within about an hour. I wasn't really taking time for feelings, I just needed to stay busy. Your dad had told me before leaving for work that morning (both of us completely unaware that I was pregnant) that he was going to be crazy busy and wouldn't be able to text or call that day. He would be home at 5. Waiting from around 9 in the morning, when I took the tests, until 5 was like torture. And then I was finally feeling it: the emotions. I would go from absolute ecstasy to fear to joy to anxiety. I had no idea what he would say. We both wanted to be parents someday, I knew that, but right now?
FINALLY, he walked through the door. I couldn't wait a second longer. I told him I had something for him and asked him to sit on the couch. I handed him the present. He opened it up and read the card. It said: "4 years ago I fell in love with you, 3 years ago I promised to love you forever, 1 year ago I became your wife, 9 months from now I will hold our baby for the first time. Robby, you're going to be a daddy. Love, Lauren and Baby."
I will never forget his face. "Are you serious?!" he asked with the biggest smile. I nodded yes and, suddenly, I was in tears. Not the cute tears that some women have mastered. I'm talking the ugly cry, the sobs that are reserved for those moments when you feel an overwhelming range of emotions that don't quite have a word to summarize them. I couldn't even think of anything to say - a truly rare moment for this chatterbox.
"I'm scared," I remember telling him. He hugged me for what had to have been 2 or 3 minutes. He took my face in his hands, looking at me with the same honest eyes I fell in love with, and told me how much he loved me. I've heard that the most important thing a man can do for a child is to love their mother. Without a doubt in my mind, he tells the truth every single time he tells me he loves me. And he already adores you, baby girl. While I was sorting through all of my emotions, he was as solid as he always is. So unshakably steady.
And that's what he will be for you. Steady. You are blessed to have this man as your father. He will listen to you when you feel like nobody could ever understand you. He will love you when you feel unworthy or inadequate. He will teach you to be brave, to trust yourself, and to stand up for yourself. He will teach you to stand up for others. He will never, ever leave you. You will never have to doubt that for a second. He isn't going anywhere. Not every child has that sort of assurance. Not every child is fortunate enough to have a daddy that would choose them over anything. But you do. I can't wait for you to meet him.
I got a text from him this morning with three simple words: "I love her." I don't think I could have asked for anything more. You're going to love him.
Love Always and Forever,
Mom
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