The night I almost became a stepmom

Around here we are getting pretty excited for Auntie Amy to have her sweet baby boy! We have a few months left to wait while baby Ryder "cooks" a wee bit longer. In the mean time I am reminded of a funny story from when Travis and I were newly dating. When we met, 8 years ago... ahem, Travis was still a US Marine and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, near Oceanside CA. Raised a country boy in rural, Northern Florida, Travis was different from any boy I'd ever met before. He spoke with a thick country accent using words like "Ma'am" and "Ya'll." I was still living in my childhood home with my parents, in the small mountain community where I was raised. The beach where Travis was stationed was almost 2 hours from my parents' house (1.5 hours if I left after "rush hour," and drove 80 the whole way...but that's a whole other post, for a whole other day) I couldn't get enough of my new country boy the beach, and drove the 2 hour drive almost every day so we could spend time together. We spent more than a few evenings sitting in his pickup truck along the beach, talking, making out and watching the waves crash onto the sand. It was during one of these evenings, during a deep conversation that Travis' sense of humor really presented itself. I was talking about a friend who had recently entered into a relationship with a guy who had a son from a previous relationship. She was like an "instant mom" and I was telling him how excited she was about the new boy in her life.

Travis waited a few seconds and said "I have a kid back in Florida."

Me: "You DO??"

Travis: "Yep" (country boys are men of few words)

Me: "From like your last relationship, or something?"

Travis : "Yep"

Me: "Do you see him a lot, or no?"

Travis: "I see him and we talk on the phone."

Me: "That's cool. What's his name?"

Travis:"........................Junior."

Me: "Junior? That's your son's name?"

Travis: "Yep."

Me:"Huh"

It became painfully obvious at this time that Travis was pulling my leg. He started laughing uncontrollably, and before I knew it I had tears running down my face from also laughing.

That story he told became a huge joke in our relationship. I still tell him to this day that he really had me going...until he said "Junior." He could have said Brian, John, Matthew...anything, but he said Junior. A true country boy my man is was.

The country accent has long disappeared and it didn't take long for Travis to start saying "Dude" and "Hey Guys." California will suck the country out of anybody. I will never forget the night when Travis told me he had a boy named Junior.

Our relationship is full of deep conversations like this one. And if you're lucky I just may post a few more...