Alright, I know you all are probably sick of hearing that I believe my husband and I were meant to have Nicholas.  I may have said it once or twice before, but I am going to say it again, and you’re just going to have to deal with it.  I need to introduce you all to Nicholas’ dad, and there’s no other way to put it.

Before Nicholas was even a thought, I always told people that I was so lucky, because men like Nick do not exist.  He is thoughtful, kind, and most importantly, dependable.  If he says he is going to do something, you can count on it.  To top it all off, he loves to cook, and is amazing at it.

I used to wonder why on Earth he would ever be with me.  I’m pretty messy, and a real pain in the ass, to be honest.  He seems to like me anyway, and now I get it. We had to get together so that Nicholas could exist.

As you all know, it is still hard for me to talk about those nights in the hospital.  There were many times that we were alone, and dealing with the shock of the news together.  The only witnesses to those moments were he and I.  I want to tell those stories, but not yet.  This is a Father’s Day post, after all, and I want to talk about the father that Nicholas is so lucky to have.

I knew that he was going to protect us through this difficult time from the second we pulled into our driveway as a new family of three.

“Nick, I’m nervous about the dogs,” I said from the back seat, trying not to cry.  My dogs aren’t vicious, but everything scared me when it came to our newborn baby.

He turned around from the drivers seat and looked right at me.  “I already had them put outside.  You don’t worry about anything anymore.  Ok?”

I believed him.  He made me feel safe.  He had my back.  We were home, and he was going to take care of us.

I was not left to struggle with the stress of a newborn alone.  He was up with me every three hours for feedings.  He helped me adjust Nicholas’s tiny body so that he could breastfeed comfortably.  He soothed me as I sobbed in defeat because breastfeeding was way harder than it looked in the movies.  Some nights, he even got a syringe and took some of the late-night feedings for me so that I could get some extra sleep.

That, right there, is teamwork.

Although Nick and I talk about how we felt in those first days, I will never know what internal struggles Nick went through.  He protected me from having any more stress by being the strong and dependable man that I have always known him to be.

The truth is, I didn’t truly know Nick until Nicholas was born.  Even after six years, I now see him more clearly than ever.

He is this guy, the guy who holds Nicholas even while making breakfast for himself because he can’t get enough of him.

He is this guy, the man who will be the best dad that he can be through exhaustion, stress, and a lot of bed head.

He is also this guy, they guy who will wear his baby and proudly display his #luckyfewtattoo.

Also, he is this guy: The guy who wants to bring his son anywhere that he goes and let him experience everything that we do.

 

Nicholas, if you read this later in life, I just want you to know that your dad has loved you unconditionally from the moment you were born.  Nothing the nurse could have said to us would have changed that.  You were, and are, his everything.

Thank you, Nick, for being the guy I can depend on through the roller-coaster of a life we have.  Thank you for working hard for us.  Thank you for being you.

#happyfathersday