Hrm, the biggest shock…
In terms of being a Father, I’m assuming? Correct me if I’m wrong.
I’ve been thinking about this for a good amount of time, I deliberately didn’t answer it right away so I could make sure I answered this properly, but for the life of me I can’t think of what was the most “shocking" of all things.
I met K for the first time and literally ten minutes later he’d soiled his nappy (diaper?) – I volunteered immediately; I knew I’d better get the “firsts" over and done with ASAP because this child now depended on me, too, and I needed to give it my all. I wasn’t repulsed, I wasn’t grossed out – I had no clue what I was doing but my Wife talked me through it and everything went smoothly.
My Wife, then girlfriend, was shocked to say the very least. Any other man that had been in K’s life (as a byproduct of being in my Wife’s life) was vehemently opposed to doing anything remotely paternal in fear my Wife would seek thier commitment. Imbeciles.
Her ex boyfriend literally would not watch K while my Wife took ten minutes to have a shower – she would set K in up his high chair in the bathroom with her with a rusk and a few toys and watch him while she showered.
So; the biggest shock for me was how naturally I handled it all, and how easily it all came after the initial adjustment. More than anything, I was very shocked by how thankful and appreciative, incredulous almost, my Wife was of the things I was doing to try and learn and support them both.
To me, that’s just what a human should do if they love someone.