A Child's Smile Makes It All Worthwhile

Coming off the heels of @meesterboom's BOOM-tastic news, I couldn't help but be swept up with Baby Fever. Since having one of my own isn't in the roadmap for the near future (unless @randomli decides to amend it ;) wink wink nudge nudge), I would have to stick with nostalgia for now.

Around these parts, I'm what has come to be known as a baby whisperer. We're a special breed of Homo sapiens that have, for whatever reason, an innate two-way magnetism to the youngins of our species. Now, that sounds like I'm a pedophile, but I assure you I am not.

_{Baby Source and Whisper Source}

One route of this two-way magnetism manifests in me devolving into a ball of cooing mess whenever I catch a glimpse of a cute baby. The other route manifests in the babies and toddlers responding favorably in my presence. This can be seen through random babies that I come across anywhere wanting to be picked up by me, a stranger, for some strange reason.

Now, babies are a sight to behold, so my reaction is not that uncommon. But, the babies' reactions are something that scientists and philosophers have been debating for a number of years now. @randomli posited that it's because I played with them vigorously and I looked like I was fun to be around, unlike other adults who were more subdued with their reactions. Perhaps being a baby whisperer is the thing that makes me forgettable to adults?

You see, I was the 5th eldest cousin (out of 15) on my mother's side, so I was lucky to have witnessed the growth of many baby cousins. They would gravitate to me, and I to them. It's as if I have this inviting aura that lures kids to come play. I remember not being able to talk with other adults because random kids flock me like I'm some sort of party clown. There was also this one time when my favorite baby cousin refused to go home because she didn't want to leave my side. Anyway, I have tons of other stories, but I'll reserve those for different posts. For now, I just wanted to establish some context.

During our first birthday as a couple (@randomli was born the very next day from my birthday), I gave my fiancée a giant Totoro plushie as a gift. It was a favorite of hers, and I had ordered it when we were still dating to woo her. Unfortunately, the shipment became so delayed that I received it well after we became a couple. If you've read my engagement post, you know how lucky I am when it comes to couriers. At the time, little did we know how huge of an impact that gift would have in our lives.

Fast forward to Halloween of that year, my fiancée's whole family had a gathering at their house. I wasn't able to make it, so I called to greet everyone instead. A little less than a month, I gave my fiancée a bluetooth speaker as a gift. You see, ever since we started dating, we talked to each other every night over the phone. Several months of that has taken a toll, so the duration of our calls decreased over time, mainly due to the physical strain of holding the phone for hours. To remedy that, I gave her a speaker that also acts as a microphone for calls.

Jeez, I never imagined there would be this much context-building for a very short story haha!

@randomli's then only niece became very close to me quickly (naturally). I asked if the little lady already met Totoro, to which my fiancée answered that she hasn't. Being a descendant of the trickster god Loki, I decided to play a prank with the combination of the two gifts. I asked @randomli to use the bluetooth speaker, then slide it behind Totoro so that I could provide a voice. Her niece was about 4 years old at the time, so I figured it would be easy to fool her.

I've been known to say that I want to give a voice to the voiceless, but I think I took things too literally here. It's a shame I'm not able to upload the video they took because I don't have the permission of the parents. My conversation with the little lady stretched on for quite some time. I successfully managed to navigate through disbelief and made it all the way through sheer amazement. What started out as a prank became so much more for me. In my mind, I was bringing that child magic.

I had always been able to bring joy to children, but this charade was on a league of it own. Sure, it made the adults there laugh, but what it gave the child was so much more. You see, her mother didn't want her to believe in fictional beings like Santa Claus and the like. Heck, @randomli and I are getting vibes that she's a bit pissed off with the whole Totoro thing haha! But, she has never said it outright.

This continued on for years, with me trying to up my game every time. We had video conversations, phone calls, etc with me voicing Totoro. I even made up excuses and events to justify his absence whenever we met up elsewhere. It got to a point where she considered Totoro her bestfriend, and we would cap off our conversations saying "I love you" to each other. As she grew older, she kept trying to make me confess that I was Totoro. Completely absurd, right? @randomli and I theorize that her mother had revealed it long ago and the little lady just wanted to hear me confess.

I never do. But, that's because Totoro, the magical toy, had become real to me. At the time, I was trying to rekindle my inner childhood because I was in the process of conceptualizing A Day in the Clouds, but as time went on, it became sort of an escape from the dullness of adulthood. Oh, what I would give to get my childhood back.

It's like I lived vicariously through her—through them. Whenever they smiled, it's like all of the world's problems suddenly vanish. They make it seem like every struggle is moot, and everything will be alright in the end. During hard times, we need to find the magic whenever we can, wherever we can. We can't trust others to supply us with that kind of magic, so we have to depend on ourselves to create our own. I can't believe these are the kinds of realizations I arrived in after playing a prank.

To this day, I still haven't fessed up, even though she's already scoring straight 90s in school. During Mother's Day this year her family had another get-together, and that time I was able to make it. When I was accompanying the little lady at the ice cream bar, she asked me when her aunt and I were going to get M-A-R-R-I-E-D. The question came out of the blue, especially since it was asked after another round of "Are you Totoro?" She asked it probably because, at the time, her parents were going to get married soon. I tried to dodge the question, but I figured there was no way around it.

"Soon," I reassured her. Two weeks later, I got down on one knee and asked her aunt to marry me.

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Of course, this post wouldn't be complete without its inspiration. Ladies and gentlemen, the Son of...

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