Kissing Baby Sunday
Went to meet Christian, proud new baby to beaming parents, Kevin and Gace. As I sat on the train to Tampines station, some passengers couldn't help but look at me intently.Now I wasn't outrageously dressed in some hot-pink shirt, loud green pants or bright yellow Crocs. No, I wasn't wearing my Crocs today. More importantly, I wouldn't be caught dead with that combination of outfit, unless of course I was on a one-way trip to my shotgun wedding or meeting the in-laws from hell.
So there I was watching them looking at me. And what a waste of time it was as I should have snoozed myself to oblivion throughout the entire journey. Eventually I got off and went out to catch a taxi. I was already late after making a detour to shout the happy parents gift vouchers and a bottle of wine. Kelvin's a lover of white wine. I brought him a fruity Long Flat White Shiraz to widen his pallet.
The taxi driver, to my astonishment, didn't know Tampines well. He was a relief driver making his rounds for the first time. Asking if he was a local to the area, he replied saying that he was from the western part of the island. Very well. Here be two 'westerners' bumbling along this sunny afternoon.
But no matter, since I already had the Street number, the areas marked in Avenues only formed a slight obstacle to me arriving at my destination. A flurry of calls to Ann and Grace confirmed that all I needed to do was find this Avenue, before coming to that Street. It only took my driver and I another fifteen minutes to find it.
Ann, who was there two hours earlier, had left. Maybe she was bored. I didn't ask. Expecting a quiet gathering, I was greeted by a full flush from Kelvin's extended family. Another flurry of greetings, congratulation and smiles passed before I got to meet Grace and kiss the baby.
Christian looked the cute little sleeper as all babies should but he had no trouble playing 'crying-baby' when he wanted food. Grace, now christened The Cow, was on duty and plied hungry Christian with milk twice that afternoon. Not to be outdone by the new born kid in town, I helped myself twice to the buffet spread. But that was only after much prodding from Grace to 'eat!' Not that I was talking much apart from the usual mingling but it was just that I had eaten before arriving, leaving Kelvin and Grace to play busy hosts until most of their guests had left.
The rest of the afternoon then passed leisurely with the three of us catching up on the month since Christian popped out during the Emporio Armani preview I was attending. From me sharing election insights, Kelvin didn't hide his disappointment with this year's SIHH and Basel releases while Grace made it clear that she was just relieved to have Christian out. Holding big baby Christian in my arms, fifty centimeters when he was born, I did not doubt Grace at all. Labor before birth isn't a walk in the park. For two weary adults fussing over a newborn, our family of three are doing just fine.
The train ride back was uneventful given what I had encountered on the way over. But not that I cared anyway as I slept through the entire journey. And I still have no idea why people were looking at me in the first place. Was it the bottle of pink-looking liquid I was lugging with me, I wondered?
One thing Grace asked before I left was this: "So when are you going to start your own family? You seem like a natural father."
I do?
posted by Teutoburg @ 9:40 PM
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