baby time

2007 - Martin Miller, Miranda Kim, James Smith, and Anne Smith are 27; John Smith and Tom Smith are 1.

Martin, Miranda, James and Anne have been friends since their freshman year of college. They lived in the same dorm all four years; they've shared beers and soccer games and late-night gossip. They are and always will be best friends, but now when they get together it's a little different.

Martin and Miranda haven't seen a lot of James and Anne since the birth of their twins. One night when the twins are a little over a year old, they are invited over for dinner.

"Nothing fancy," Anne warns them. "Just chicken noodle soup. But we'd love to see you again, and we'd love for you to see the boys."

James and Anne are both American history buffs; they named their twins John Adams Smith and Thomas Jefferson Smith. John is the older twin, and he's already a serious little boy. Tom is sillier, always quick to laugh. Miranda has never thought of herself as a baby person, but she spends hours playing with blocks with John and watching Tom color.

James asks the obvious question over soup: "So when are you two going to have your own kid?"

Miranda and Martin exchange glances. "We haven't really talked about it," she admits. "We've been --" She pauses, uncertain how to finish the sentence. She and Martin have been focused on their careers ever since graduation.

"Are you two going to have any more?" Martin asks, changing the subject.

"We're planning to," Anne replies. "We've always wanted a big family. But the twins are a handful. I think we're going to have to wait a few years before we have more kids." She smiles so they know she's only teasing. "Just don't wait too long. Don't you want our kids to grow up together?"

Miranda brings up the subject in bed that night. "We could have a baby," she suggests.

"Do you want a baby?" Martin asks.

"Do you?"

He's quiet for a moment. Martin is a thoughtful guy, he never says anything without thinking it over. "Yeah," he says. "We've talked about having kids before, but it's always been in the future. But I think we're ready now. We both have good jobs. We're happy at work, and we could take some time off." He smiles. "Yeah. Let's make a baby."

Martin's never been an overly emotional guy. He doesn't get down on one knee and make wild romantic gestures. He reasons things through. But Miranda can see what underlies his lists. He loves her, and she loves him, and they're going to have a family together.

"Okay then," she smiles. "We'd better get to work."

I didn't take any pictures of their newborn baby, but they had a girl, Madison Miller-Kim. These updates have been pretty sporatic, but once there are more family members to play with, hopefully I'll have something to say for each family every year.