Bettin' on Baby

My good friend Sarah is about to have a baby. It should be a good one, since Sarah and Charlie are fabulous.

Because we have bets on the due date, I hope she waits until the 22nd of January (down to the hour would be nice, but I'll take what I can get). There's a trophy involved.

The fact that Charlie suggested that we bet on Sarah's due date doesn't really surprise me since a wager has already been made on this baby... way back in 2001.

You see, Charlie and Nate were throwing rocks at a stump. Nate made the wager that if he hit the stump, he'd get: naming rights to Charlie's first born child and the right to have said child after his or her 8th birthday. (Nate didn't want the hassle of those first few years.)

Charlie lost the bet and Nate declared the child's name to be Sponge.

Sarah and Charlie were dating at the time, and they got married a couple of years later.

So about 9 months ago, Nate was visiting me in Asheville. It was a beautiful Saturday, so we went out to breakfast at the West End Bakery with all of the children under the age of 4 in West Asheville (and their parents, clearly). The bakery was brimming with board books and baby bjorns. As we were sitting outside, I asked Nate, "Do you think Sarah and Charlie will have a baby soon?"

Nate replied, "Ooooooh, I'm not ready."

I said, "Nate, you have 8 years to get ready..."

Later that day, Sarah called to tell us that she was pregnant.

Jump forward to last night. Sarah and I were talking about the birthdate bet, and I told her that one of two options would be ideal:

1. She holds off until January 22nd (I'd like that trophy...) or

2. She has the baby today (January 16th). It's Nate's birthday; he'd have an easier time remembering Sponge's birthday if Sarah have her baby today.

Sarah has always been the most grounded, wholesome, and logical of our friends. She could give us advice, cut our hair, and fix a car all within the same day. She's the beautiful mediator who smoothed me over when Nate spit in my face back in college. (Granted, I did tell him I had whooping cough and coughed on him... ) Sarah also understands the importance of bets in our lives.

This is all to say that I'm sure Sarah would help us all out.

She'd help Nate by having the baby today.

Or help me out by holding out until the 22nd.

And of course she'd help her husband out by helping him uphold his end of the bet.

Sure, she'll miss baby Sponge after his or her 8th birthday, but Sarah's that type of wonderful.