Goldie

"Yeah, it made it real easy to name her Goldie."

We sat quietly watching Goldie eat her seeds. She chirped at us before planting herself on the curtain rod.

+ + + +

The park across from the apartment complex has a beautiful pavilion. Laura and I decided to save some money and have our wedding there.

Laura's father led her down the aisle. As he handed her off to me, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of an incoming bird. Goldie landed softly on the top of one of the empty chairs.

There were snickers and giggling from the crowd. Laura instinctively turned to see who or what was intruding her ceremony.

When Laura looked at me inquisitively, I whispered "It's Goldie."

Laura smiled as her eyes moistened.

Goldie never moved until I finished 'kissing the bride', at which point she flew off.

At the reception, several people showed us pictures and videos of the yellow bird that 'photo bombed' our wedding.

+ + + +

Laura immediately stopped taking her birth control pills, but still had her period a few weeks after our honeymoon. We tried harder, without me making a fuss about it.

Goldie and Laura were BFF and I was Mister Outsider. I snapped lots of cute pictures.

After Laura's fertile cycle started again, we were going at it nightly. Every morning Goldie was there to greet us, until the day she wasn't. It was after one night that felt really special. Goldie wasn't there to greet us in the morning.

Deep down I knew this day would come. I didn't say anything the first day Goldie was a no-show. Neither did Laura. When it turned into a week, I went out into the woods and I cried. For the second time in two years, I'd have to say 'Good-bye', without getting to say 'Good-bye'.

Laura mourned in her own way. We didn't talk much about it, but we were both hurting. We'd sit and cuddle silently.

There are two words a teenage boy dreads hearing. Not so this time. A few weeks later Laura warned "I'm late."

My dour attitude quickly changed "Really? You think you could be pregnant?"

"I'm going to buy a pregnancy test kit tomorrow."

The following morning, at ten thirty, I got a text 'CALL ME! NOW!'

My stomach clenched. Please be something positive.

"Stefano! You're going to be a daddy!"

We were going to be parents, and boy did we celebrate.

It really bothered me when Laura had morning sickness. I love her too much, and deep down I knew it would kill me if something were to happen to her. But, nothing went wrong. I attended every doctor's appointment and viewed all of the scans of the growing baby.

Tests showed that we were expecting a girl. We chose names, and wrote them down. Laura wanted her choices to remain a secret until after a successful childbirth.

It's hard to explain how slow time traveled. I was a nervous wreck. Having endured enough heartbreak to last a lifetime, I wasn't certain I could handle any more. When Laura's water broke I was a basket case. However, I held it together and successfully transported Laura to the hospital.

Natural child birth was taxing on me. Laura was experiencing excruciating pain, and there was little I could do about it. Then, our baby girl emerged. It took a minute or so for the staff to confirm we had a healthy little girl.

The delivery room nurse said it best 'Oh golly gee, would you look at her hair! It's already blond.'

Trying to reassure us, the attending physician said 'We can easily remove that X birthmark from her neck.'

Laura, nursing our baby, beamed at me, and then spoke.

"Do you realize that it's been exactly forty weeks since the last time we saw Goldie? I want our little girl's name to be Goldie Lynn."

Without any objection from me, our bundle of joy was christened Goldie Lynn.

+ + + +

Epilogue:

Goldie Lynn still has her birthmark, and her favorite stuffed animal is the American Goldfinch. Laura used a black marker to place a birthmark, on the stuffed animal, to match that of Goldie the bird.

We still live in my fourth floor apartment, and I still leave that window open. Every now and then, when I'm out running, I'll hear that familiar chirp. I know the odds are slim, but I still look up. I have to.

We have lots of pictures on our wall. There are several pictures of our bundle of joy. Many have Goldie Lynn with Laura, but there's a few of me holding the women in my life. Then there's our mantel. There's Lynn's picture. Right next to that one is Goldie Lynn taking a banana slice from Laura's lips. Then there's a picture of Goldie on her curtain rod, and finally one of Goldie taking a seed from Laura's lips. I've left a scoop full of seeds there too.

You'd have to be crazy to think that any of these things are related. So call me crazy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a little girl who wants me to play vampire again. When she gets to giggling, it's very contagious.