Father's Day = Love

If you ask me, dads should be honored with more than just one day a year. I was lucky enough to grow up with a dad that loves me and each of my siblings, and took an active role in our lives from day one. He is the best dad a girl could ask for, and I turned out [mostly] okay because of him and his influence. With all of the problems caused by "daddy issues" that I see out there, I'm nothing if not grateful to the man who dedicated his life to making sure I understand what loves really means.

But as much as he did for me, I didn't truly understand what love is supposed to mean until I'd figured out everything that it does not mean. What can I say? I'm a stubborn one. Regardless, my daddy was successful in teaching me to take responsibility for my actions, to own up to the consequences of said actions, and to learn from my mistakes. And learn I did, from the huge mistake that was my first marriage, that love is not supposed to be hard, scary or plagued constantly with doubt. No, it should come easily and there aught to be no doubt about it.

Enter my darling C.

I took this picture in Playa del Carmen in April 2010. At that point C and I had been dating for about three months (if that), and even then I knew that what we had existed on a level of emotion that I had never known. As tough as he appears on the outside, C has, from day one, treated me as no less than a queen. He has supported me 100% in everything I do, but he's not afraid to give me the straight truth when it is warranted. Over the year and half that we have been together now he has not once made me feel anything less than safe and protected. We don't fight with each other, which may sound strange, but I figure it is because neither of us have any reservations about communicating openly. I feel completely myself around him, and I know without any doubt that he loves me for it.

When I found out that I was pregnant in January, the idea that C would disappear crossed my frantic mind at the time (even though we had already talked numerous times about how much he wanted to have kids), but he was there when I got home from the doctor's office and he's been here ever since. He is ecstatic about being a father, and he has taken such good care of hormonal me from the beginning. He is truly all that I could ask for in a partner. I am at home in his arms, and I can already see that he's going to be the world's best daddy to my little boy. They say you have to go through a lot of frogs before you find your prince. Well, after countless frogs I've found mine, and I am forever grateful that he is the strong-willed, outspoken, headstrong man that C is. I love him with everything that I am, and I am extremely excited to be embarking on the journey of parenthood with him.

Happy Father's Day to my baby's daddy, and to all the awesome daddies out there.