Ch. 3, Part 1: Boom, Baby

When we first got married, I had thought Shark and I would just be one of those married couples who wouldn't have to worry about other familial obligations.

You know, it would just be us? The whole idea of kids never really occurred to me. I suppose it was an honor I never really dreamed of. Or...however that one chick from that Shakespeare put it.

How'd that line go again? I know she was talking about marriage, but...

Anyway, for a while there, it was just the two of us, living in that little house of ours. It was that oddly idyllic thing going on between newlyweds.

Then it struck. Somewhere along the line...Hoo, boy.

Shark got a huge case of baby fever. After a while, all he talked about was having a baby. At first, I pointed out the obvious: We're two guys, we can't do that naturally.

Yeah, that didn't stop him. He said no problem, we can adopt. Then I tried telling him, we just got married, we should wait.

He waited, but not very patiently. A couple of months later, he started up again. He told me, all his high school classmates were growing up and living their lives. Two of them had already gotten married and had a kid.

I'll be honest, the thought of having an ankle-biter around the house was actually starting to appeal to me. You know, a little boy or girl I could hold and take care of, and do...whatever you were supposed to do with a baby.

So...one afternoon, I told Shark how I was feeling about the whole thing. I then asked him if he was still up for the idea.

I'm going to assume the look he gave me meant 'yes'. Since we were finally both for getting another roommate, all we had to do was call Social Services, and see what else we had to do.

Before we knew it, our little girl was home. Our little Echo.

I don't know what came over me, but when I saw that little baby, all wrapped up in her pink blanket, I just felt so proud.

This was our baby. Echo was our daughter, regardless of who her birth parents were.

I didn't even mind when she woke up at night crying. If she wanted a bottle, or if she needed changed, I gladly did what I had to.

All I wish at that time was...I didn't want her to grow up so fast. But soon enough, she was getting bigger. I wanted to tell her, 'stop growing! I want you to be a baby just a little longer.'

Of course, she didn't know how to talk yet, so how could I tell her?

Eventually, Shark and I knew that we had to move. The house we were living in wasn't big enough. Echo needed room to crawl and play, you know? And...less of a risk of falling down the stairs.

So...We moved into Amy's old house. Apparently, she moved in with Goodwin after they got married. She wasn't living there anymore, so why couldn't we?

Echo's birthday came too fast for me. I didn't want her to grow up, but I knew she had to.

But no matter how old she got, she was still my kid. It didn't matter if she lived to be ninety, and I was long dead, she was still my little girl.

And for a while, that was enough. I learned how to cook more, Shark rose the ranks at work. So for a while, Echo didn't really have anyone to play with.

Enter Shark's old classmate Jade Greenwood. I was a little wary, since I didn't know about her nanny skills, but Shark said she was fine.

He told me she took care of her little sister, so she knew what to do.

(Good time to kiss, boys)

She did her job well. Echo loved her, we made sure she had her own bed, the works.

Jade's child-caring skills came in handy, especially when she eventually had her own kids a few years later.

Anyway, after a while, even Amy's old house wasn't big enough for everyone. So we had to move again.

This next house was...well, it was weird. It was like someone just threw a bunch of random rooms together and called it good. 

But it filled its purpose. We raised our kids there, and it did its job until the day we moved here.

We had our own room, Echo had her own little place to play and sleep, and we made sure there was another bed in there for Jade.

Boy, did Echo love it. I swear, I felt like there were times we spoiled that kid rotten. She got...pretty much whatever her little heart desired.

Whether she wanted new toys, new clothes, or just Daddy-Daughter time with either of us, well...

She definitely got it. But hey, she was our first kid. We just wanted to be good parents. Neither of us wanted to hurt her feelings by denying her anything.

We made sure to get any important moments on video camera, as well.

(That's the same camera Sinbad's using to record right now)

I'm surprised this camera even lasted this long. This thing's recorded our kids' birthdays, when they learned to walk and talk, all the important stuff.

I remember standing there, watching Echo play with her creepy doll that got sent to her by some weird relative of mine, wondering how her life was going to play out.

We were afraid she was going to have the burden of an only child. That her doll would be the only playmate she'd keep throughout her childhood. Shark and I had to work, and Jade had to move out someday.

Thankfully, certain future developments assured us that she was going to be just fine.

(A/N: End of Chapter 3, Part 1.)