"That'll Give Them Something To Talk About"

There are hundreds of questions that people will ask a pregnant person but one of the ones that I really don't like is:

"Was it planned?"

 Personally I don't think it matters if a pregnancy was planned or unplanned as long as the end result is a healthy baby who is entering a loving family and will receive the love, care and nurturing that a baby needs.

When Kate and I were asked if our pregnancy was planned I generally just shrugged my shoulders and said "I guess so" or "Kind of" as that is exactly what it was. We weren't a couple who were desperate for a baby and were monitoring ovulation dates and going at it like bunnies in the hopes that we would reproduce but more of a couple who decided that we would just stop using protection and see what happened - although I am not exactly sure what else could happen! We were pretty lucky and it didn't take long and only a few months later we found out that Kate was pregnant with our first child. We were over the moon and on the day we found out we told our parents and our brothers and they were all very excited at the news which made us even more delighted than we initially had been. This was in July 2010 and at that stage of our relationship we had been a couple for just 18 months and only living together for 6 of those. To many people it would seem that we moved very quickly with our relationship so I think this may be a good opportunity to tell you about how we got together and about our relationship. So here it is - the love story of the decade...

Kate and I first met when we were just 17/18 years old through mutual friends. We instantly became friends and whenever there was a party or an event (of which there were many) we would always have a good laugh together and we always enjoyed each others company. Was there an attraction there? I would say "probably not" but we definitely liked each other as friends. We were both at college doing our thing, enjoying the life you enjoy when you are young and Kate was in a serious relationship with a guy she had been seeing for years.

We love a selfie - especially when we look this good!

Years went by and Kate broke up with her boyfriend after 9 years of being with him. I was single and so was our mutual friend so Kate started coming out with us more on a weekend and our friendship continued to grow. Then Kate's best friend, Sarah, who is also one of my closest friends, announced she was getting married and she asked Kate to be bridesmaid and I was asked to do a reading at the ceremony. This was in 2008 so we were both 27 at this point and had known each other for a good ten years. As we were both involved with the wedding we saw more of each other and before we knew it we became a "rumour". Everybody was talking about us behind our backs and saying stuff like:

"Kate and Graeme are so gonna hook up at the wedding" and

"Bet you those two end up in bed together at the wedding" and

"Let's try and make Kate and Graeme get it on"

And so on. The weekend of the wedding arrived and, as it was a full weekend affair, I rocked up at the venue on the Friday afternoon with two of my friends. Kate was already there and she was outside having a cigarette so I joined her before I checked in (back in the day when smoking was still acceptable - we have both given up now) and we had this conversation:

Me: Have you been here long?
Kate: About twenty minutes. The rooms are nice.
Me: Cool. Are you nervous about tomorrow?
Kate: Nah, are you?
Me: No, I'm fine with public speaking. Doesn't bother me
Kate: Apparently me and you are going to shag
Me: Yeah, so I hear
Both: Hahahahahahahahaha
Me: Fancy a pint once I'm checked in?
Kate: Yeah, I'll meet you in the bar

We pretty much spent the whole weekend together but, I can assure you, nothing happened. We didn't end up in bed together! We didn't even have a drunken kiss or an awkward fumble behind the marquee! We just enjoyed each others company and we had a good time. But there was definitely something there which I decided to act upon once the wedding was over. Which brings me to one of our favourite stories which Kate likes to call:

"Our First Date That I Didn't Know Was Our First Date"

So, as you might guess, Kate didn't know that our first date was our first date! I simply invited her out for a night our in Tynemouth for some food and some drinks. She said "Yes" and we went to a place called "Luis" where we had some amazing tapas and we then went on a pub crawl around all of the pubs in the village and basically got smashed! We did joke about what people would be saying about us and that we would be the talk of all our friends who would be making assumptions about what we were doing and what was happening. But nothing actually did. We had a great night and we were suitably drunk and we then got a taxi home. As I lived closer to Tynemouth I got out first and when we pulled up at my house I made my move. I leaned in, I kissed her and she returned the kiss. It was only for a few seconds but I remember it well. I then said, "Well, that'll give them something to talk about" and jumped out the taxi and ran inside as fast as I could. My favourite part of the story is that the taxi driver then said to Kate "Well that shut you up, didn't it".

So, yeah, our first date was a date that Kate didn't know was a date but which I knew was a date and I basically fed her, plied her with alcohol, assaulted her in the back of a taxi, gave her a cheesy one liner from a bad rom-com and then ran away. But clearly something worked as we sort of dated on and off for a few months (mainly because I was scared of moving from the friend zone) until January 2009 when we went on our first, proper date that we both knew was a date and that we were both ready and for and since that day we have been together.

On this day the coffee shack at the park was closed - sad times!

Our relationship moved very quickly and we did quite a lot in a short period of time. We had our first holiday after 7 months, after 10 months we decided we would move in together so we looked for a place to live, we moved in together just after our one year anniversary, we were expecting our first baby after 18 months (which then turned out to be 2 babies), we moved again into a bigger house in December 2010, the twins were born in March 2011, we got engaged in September 2011 then we were married in April 2012. So in just over 3 years we did a lot! But a lot of that was down to the fact that we knew each other before we got together, and had done for 10 years, so we kind of skipped that whole "getting to know each other" phase as we had already done it.
 

Our wedding day - this is a typical shot of us!

And here we are now 8 years later. Our twins are now 6 and we are on the cusp of our 5th wedding anniversary and, like all couples, we have had a few challenges along the way but nothing we couldn't cope with. I like to think that we are stronger now than we ever have been. We get each other, we enjoy each other and, most importantly, we make each other laugh every day. Kate makes me laugh as she is genuinely funny and I make her laugh as I am a moron and I say and do stupid things. We also make each other laugh as we love a "selfie"...to the point that we once went to our friends and took over 200 pictures of which there was one of the bride and groom and the rest were just us pulling faces. As clichéd as it is we really are best friends and I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone other than Kate. And that is about as smooshy as I will ever get so - Kate - feel free to take a screen grab of this and treasure it forever.

As you can see Kate is trying not to laugh

So there you go. The love story of the decade! Two friends who transitioned to something much bigger and I am so grateful that we have each other and that we have our twins and our family and our life. My wife is awesome and I tell her that on a regular basis - she mainly tells me that I am a "doofus" or a "dumbass" but I know she means it in an affectionate way. At least I think she does... 

And on that note I will sign off.

Until next time

The Twiglet's Dad