The Miracle of Life . . . Again

I remember distinctly about a year after my youngest son Justin was born. I remember feeling, "OK, we did it . . . We have three now . . . . We have fulfilled our quota . . . Our litter of three has both genders represented . . . . We have successfully obeyed the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth . . . . We are done . . . . We can rest now." I honestly remember thinking that I would have no more children and I was content and at peace with it.

I think the reason that I felt like that was in part because I was, and am still, so very pleased and proud of my three children. Aesthetically speaking, they all take after their mother and are generally pretty easy on the eyes.

I am also very grateful that for the most part, they all three are very well-behaved and obedient children. Tyler is the most easy-going, mild-mannered 9 year-old that I have ever seen. He rarely needs to be scolded and is always trying to help out whenever and wherever he can. Julia, although slightly more animated (and when I say slightly, I mean extremely), is still more obedient than most 5 year-old cartoon characters. Justin can be a loose cannon sometimes and occasionally throws an all out temper in the most public of places, but never when Daddy is around. (Mommy hates that) But generally speaking, he is a very well-behaved 3 year-old.

There are two things about my kids that I love most: First, they absolutely, unequivocally worship the ground that Mommy walks on. (Michelle is having girls night out right now at the movies and I have been reminded several times in the 20 minutes that she has been gone that I run a distant second behind Mommy) And secondly, there is no place that any of them would rather be right now at their current ages than at home with Mommy and Daddy or playing with each other. They get along so well together. Now, I am not so naive to think that this will continue for much longer; each will eventually find out that Michelle and I are not as cool as we tell them we are. They will inevitably discover flaws in their siblings and not want to play Star Wars or Pokemon with each other, but I will enjoy it while it lasts.

In any case, I honestly thought Michelle and I were done having children, until a certain day last spring. I don't remember at all what we had done that day. All I remember is that we didn't feel like cooking dinner, so we went to Subway to eat. We were eating at Subway and I remember being very tired and somewhat cranky. Justin, who is the entertainer of the family, was doing something that had everyone except me in stitches. I was sitting in a booth with Michelle and all three kids were crammed in the booth across from us, laughing and eating. At one moment, I remember looking at my children and having the distinct impression that somebody was missing. There was somebody, and at the time I wasn't sure who, who was supposed to be with us, but wasn't. I can't explain it, I just felt like somebody was absent.

I remember stopping what I was eating and turning to Michelle and telling her, "I just had this feeling that there is someone missing from our family and I think we need to have another child." Michelle of course, is much more in tune with spiritual matters than I am, and she smiled at me and said something like, "I know. I have known that for a long time."

I share this story partially because of my deteriorating memory; I want to be able to read about this someday. But, mostly I share it because Michelle is now six months pregnant with our fourth child, a girl, and I couldn't be more excited. We have no idea what we will name her; I like Kate. Michelle likes Alexis. Julia likes Lucy or Kaitlyn. Tyler doesn't really care as long as it's not Lucy or Kaitlyn, and Justin is completely clueless; I am not sure he has even grasped the concept of another child living in our house and sleeping in his crib that he still asks if he can sleep in. He will be affected most by the birth of this new Cherrington as he will no longer be able to use the excuse, "But, I'm the baby." My hope is that she looks like her mother, although Michelle would like a girl with what she calls, "beautiful, thick Cherrington hair", like any one of my sisters. I would welcome that too.

Whatever we end up naming her or however her hair turns out, I am anxious to meet this missing child.