Free Tattoo by Katlin Stack, Russell Barber Page A

paint after the appointment." I smiled so wide I probably looked like a clown. I was so anxious to find out what we were having. I was crossing my fingers for a boy. A little boy I could teach to pitch, to swing a bat, to run the bases. I couldn't wait to buy him his first jersey.
     
    During the ultra sound Lauren told Dr. Charlie we were ready to know the sex of the baby. After Lauren's stint in the hospital, Dr. Charlie had been watching Lauren carefully. But Lauren was doing so much better. She was eating right, and seemed to be handling her end of the pressure better. She kept up with her advanced classes but didn't get valedictorian because of a slight dip in her grades after the pregnancy. I didn't blame her but was so proud she finished the way she did. She had proven she was smart, ready to take on the challenge. She often seemed much more ready than me, but I did my best.
     
    "Yea, we're sure this time." 
     
    "Ok, well then take a look here." Dr. Charlie turned the screen towards us. She froze the screen on a picture. I still tended to think the baby looked like a blob, even though it was looking more like a person every time. But I didn't think I would be able to find his boy parts in the fuzzy greyness. Dr. Charlie looked at us both, deciding if we'd figured it out or not. When she realized we hadn't, she pointed at the screen.
     
    "You're having a girl. Congratulations!"
     
    Just like that, my heart exploded. A girl, a little baby girl. Every image I'd had of a little boy vanished like it had never been there to begin with. All of a sudden I saw pink everywhere. I looked at Lauren and saw tears spilling out of her eyes. I didn't realize that I was crying too, until Dr. Charlie handed us a box of tissues.
     
    "I'll give you a minute." She slipped out of the room.
     
    I could barely speak. "Can I buy her a pink mitt?"
     
    Lauren laughed. "You can buy her anything you want."
     
    I leaned down and kissed her. But I couldn't keep my eyes off the screen. A baby girl. Wow. 
     
    All the way through the paint store we tossed baby names like a volleyball back and forth. 
     
    "Maxine."
     
    "Um no. Tessa"
     
    "Meh, no. Jessica"
     
    "Nope"
     
    On and on we went, playfully arguing all the way to the paint aisle. I never knew there were so many shades of pink. I thought pink was pink. So, not only could we not pick a name, but now we had a new argument happening. 
     
    "Rose Pink."
     
    "No. Watermelon"
     
    "Really? No chance. Oh, neon pink."
     
    "You are such a guy. Strawberry."
     
    "What are you making, a fruit salad in her room?"
     
    We laughed and I tickled her. A shopper was passing by us and stopped.
     
    "You will be wonderful parents," she told us, and kept pushing her cart. 
     
    "Thank you!" we called after her.
     
    "Ballerina Pink?" Lauren asked.
     
    I looked at the color, really considering what it would look like in her room. Ya know, that one I like," I told her. Our first big decision. Check one for us.
     
     

FOURTEEN
     
    The next big decision I made on my own. It was two weeks before Lauren was supposed to move in. I was walking down Main St. and had planned on picking up some things for the baby's nursery after work, when I passed this little antique shop. Any other day I would have kept walking, but that day something caught my eye. It shined from inside the glass case, a diamond ring. I decided to temporarily abandon my baby shopping and instead headed into the shop. 
     
    A kind looking woman greeted me from behind the counter. "Can I help you young man?"
     
    I had no idea what I was doing, but something inside of me apparently did, because all of a sudden my mouth was moving independently from my brain.
     
    "Yea, I was looking for an engagement ring for my girlfriend." I was? I hadn't even thought about it before stepping foot in the shop. But before I backed away from my statement, I thought about it. I loved Lauren more than I could even imagine. With her I had accidentally