We didn’t know it, but this morning our phone was ringing off the hook. At 6:05am. At 6:08am. At 6:10am. At 6:18am. Then again at 8:09am. We missed all the calls, but the last one woke us up. I leaped from bed, hurdled the pillows on the floor, and dashed to the office like a mad woman. I was too late to get the call, but that didn’t stop me from sprinting back into the bedroom, phone in hand, and attacking it like a junkie in need of a fix. There were, in fact, five — 5! — missed calls. In that split second, I was simultaneously thrilled and terrified. What if…it was THE call??? The baby call? Where we too late? Would they call someone else? I looked at Dan with hopeful eyes.

I displayed the call history. They were all local. And my heart fell into my stomach. But then I wondered who on earth would call so early. I didn’t recognize the number. There was a voiceamail, so I dialed in and listened to a garbled message from some barely-old-enough-to-be-an-adult kid (maybe 20) telling me to f***ing answer my phone. I wasn’t amused. But clearly this was a wrong number. And I was thankful it hadn’t woken us up earlier. Regardless, the flood of emotions that I had felt in that split second still left me reeling.

The phone continued to ring off the hook from Realtors needing paperwork (we’re submitting a counter offer for our house) and family wanting the latest updates. So I didn’t look at the number when I answered the phone at 9:15am. It was “Donny,” the same kid who had been calling all morning. No matter what I said, I couldn’t convince him that that he had dialed a wrong number (over and over again). I wanted to give him a good tongue-lashing and tell him about the emotional bungee jump I had just taken thanks to his stupid phone calls, but I refrained. Instead, exasperated, I handed the phone to Dan, who had the following conversation:

Dan: Hello?
Donny: Dude, who’s this?
Dan: I’m the guy married to the woman you were just talking to.
Donny: Uh, maybe I DO have the wrong number.
Dan: You know what, Sparky, I think you might be right.
Donny: Oh dude, uh, sorry bye. [click]
Dan (with a smirk): Shannon, is there something you’re not telling me…?