Double Take

A week ago Friday Ben had a gig at a little coffee shop in a neighboring town. We hadn't planned for me to go but during the day I decided to see if I could covertly find a babysitter and show up to surprise him. I tried calling the friend down the street who sometimes babysits for Dexter a few times during the afternoon when Ben was working on his guitar in the basement and taking a shower but I kept getting her voicemail. I didn't want her to call back and ruin the surprise so I kept leaving messages like, "Hi, it's me again. I'm not trying to stalk you but Ben's in the shower so I thought I'd try you again. Don't call back. I'll try you again." I finally connected with her while Ben was teaching a lesson. When Ben was leaving for the gig right after dinner, he told Dexter he had a gig and that Mommy would be home with him tonight. The ruse totally worked! I showed up at the gig, found a seat right in Ben's line of vision about ten feet in front of him and waited for him to look up. I didn't want to take my eyes off of him for a second for fear of missing the moment when he noticed I was there. I had to wait through three songs before Ben looked up but the wait was worth it - when he looked up and noticed I was there, it was the best double take I have ever seen in my life!