Baby
"Hi, Honey!" Ash glanced at the clock: 8:30 am. It was way too early for anyone to be this upbeat and chipper, but that never stopped his mom, especially when he was the one to call. "I'm so glad you called! I need to talk to you about a few things. I was talking with the ladies in my gardening club, and they were just so over the moon for me! They kept going on and on about how they couldn't believe my little Ashy was going to be a dad!"
"Mom," Ash called.
"I know it's a little early to start thinking about, but the girls were telling me that I should decide what I want to be called. I was thinking I could go with the traditional, "Grandma", but then I was thinking it just felt so…plain. This is my first grandchild! It needs to be something special. I never thoug-"
"Mooom," Ash called once more, drawing out her name.
"What do you think about "Grammie" or "Mem-"
"Mom!" Ash finally yelled.
Delia scowled. "Don't take that tone with me, young man! An "excuse me" is more appropriate."
Although he was annoyed at her blatant disregard for the fact that she'd been the one ignoring him, Ash could live with his mother's fury. "Mom, who else knows?"
His mother's face instantly lit up. "Oh! Well, Samuel, of course, Gary, Tracey, the women in my gardening group, Susan from the general store, Robert from the hardware store…oh! I think I mentioned it to Kathy when she was walking by the other day. She stopped by to chat, and I just had to tell her!"
Ash groaned as he slid his hand down his face. "Great. Thanks, Mom."
Before hanging up, Ash talked with his mom for a few more minutes, giving her an update on how he was doing and, of course, a much more detailed update on how Misty and the baby were doing. Once he was finally able to get his mom off the phone, Ash collapsed into a nearby chair and sighed.
"Was that your mom?" Misty asked as she walked into the room. Ash turned to see her leaning against the doorway, her head tilted.
"Yeah."
Misty nodded. "So, how many people did she tell?"
"Basically everyone."