New family.

In the beginning, I really wasn't sure I could do this. I know that's a normal thing for a first time mother to think, but that doesn't change the fear in the thought.

The idea of telling my parents, and Jason's parents, felt like the worst part. I don't know why. I know I'm not 16 and that Jason and I live as adults already. Still, part of the scared 16-year-old clings to your psyche for a long time. I thought I had let them all down.

As soon as we told them (in one fell swoop--we drove straight to Jason's parents' house after telling mine), the Adelyn adventure stopped seeming like a terrifying burden and more like a blessing.

That has a lot to do with my own realization that I'm capable of being mother. That I'm 23, not 16. That Jason and I are ready. But I owe a lot of it to two families that never fail to go above and beyond what I hoped and expected of them.

I've read and heard some horror stories about in-laws, pushy mother-in-laws and nosy sister-in-laws. I just happen to have fallen in love with my fiance's family before I even fell in love with him. His sister is one of my best, best friends, and was for years before Jason and I went on our first date. I already loved her parents. I just thought her big brother was, like, totally cute.

And now that family really will be my family. I couldn't be more thankful they're the ones that I get.

Last week, my mom and I went with Jason, his mom and sister to pick out our wedding cake. We went out to eat afterward, and as soon as the first bite of food made its way into my stomach I felt Adelyn start her familiar dance. I scooted my chair over to Jason's mom, grabbing her hand and placing it on my stomach without a warning.

My mom told me later how incredibly touched she'd been to witness my bond with another mother. Because the look on her eyes when she felt Adelyn for the first time was undeniably filled with disbelief and joy and actual, honest adoration--not because of a bond forced together by logistics, but because we actually like each other. Love each other.

And the following week, Jason and I drove to their house to meet them for lunch. When I walked in the door, his usual rough-and-tumble, "let's clean the four-wheelers" dad was waiting with a glass of ice water (because he'd heard it was Adelyn's favorite), ready to feel the movement himself. And when she didn't move for him after I gulped it, he couldn't hide his disappointment. So Jason and I drove all the way back to their house that evening, because she'd started kicking again and we wanted him to feel it, too.