Surrounded by Strangers

On weekends, C. wears a cap around that his dad got free with the purchase of a chainsaw. Nice hat, I say. He is a changed man. You have to understand: I married a smoker who thought that a weekly indulgence in fettuccine alfredo was a God-given right. Today, less than a year later, he smells of soap and grilled chicken.

Fade to three nights ago: the middle eastern restaurant threw in some baklava with our hummus. Ooh, yum, honey, I said, and it dripped off my finger.

Him: Do you realize how fattening that is?

Me: Do you realize I'm seven months pregnant?

All in all, it's pretty amazing, but occasionally, I'm like, uhm, can we order Domino's and dip it in ranch dressing, and he's like, uhm, no.

Then, there's my dad who's lost 27 pounds in the past three months! Lots of Fiber One and running, he says. Last week, he ran his first 5K (and won his age division! placed 11th in the whole race!); today, he's entering a five miler. The man now has a compost pile and an electric car! This from a guy who ate Wendy's chili on his first day as a vegetarian.
They claim they're getting healthy for the baby; they wanna live forever, see her get married, see her kids kids have kids. Meanwhile I sit on the sidelines chomping on baklava and marveling at the kindness of these handsome strangers.