a fairy tale

Six summers ago, and boy and a girl met and fell in love. So in love, in fact, that it scared them. So they ran.
Five summers ago, the boy and the girl finally came to terms with the fact that they couldn't live without each other. When they each realized that the other person felt the same way, they were very happy. So four summers (and three days) ago, they promised each other that they would be together forever.
Three summers ago, they took a romantic vacation and pitied all the frazzled parents around them, who didn't have a chance to relax and enjoy the Florida Keys. No kids for this boy and girl for nine more years or so. (Operative phrase: "or so".)
Two summers ago, the boy said to the girl, "I want to be a dad." The girl pretty much said, "Too bad for you."
But then, one summer ago, the girl said, "I guess that might be okay." And so they started talking in earnest about the possibility. They thought it sounded like fun. They thought maybe they were ready.
But then the boy and the girl went to a wedding together, a nice, fun, fancy wedding. At the wedding were many beautiful, young, carefree couples just beginning their lives together. And the girl thought, Maybe it's too soon. Maybe we still want to live this way for a while.
But none of that mattered, because, as it turned out, the boy and the girl were already five days into their journey to parenthood.
And so three days ago, they celebrated their life these last four years with a brand new first: A Babysitter! They went out alone for grown-up drinks and dinner and conversation like they hadn't had in many months. It was a wonderful thing, and one of the best dates the girl could remember since one amazing first date six summers ago.
It was so wonderful that the girl didn't care that she had to get up at 5:00 Friday morning and would be exhausted for the rest of the weekend.
It was so wonderful that she didn't care when her Little Ghoulie picked Saturday morning to wake up at 5:30 -- and stay awake. (But the boy helped a lot with that problem.)
It was so wonderful that she didn't care when she didn't get to go to bed until midnight that Saturday night.
It was so wonderful that the girl had to stay up late and blog about it even though she has the perfect opportunity to sleep right now.
Because time spent with that boy is, after six years, still that wonderful.