Missing Pieces

My (newest) sweetheart sent me a strange Valentine this year. My little family has never been one for strictly following ceremony or tradition, but this message was really odd. She revealed (through super serious science and lab results and scary looking chromosome pictures) that she does indeed have DiGeorge syndrome. I believe she meant it lovingly, in the spirit of the holiday, but perhaps next year we can stick to chocolate.
We got a call from Brent, he's our geneticist and we understand that we'll probably become dear friends with him over the next few years. And I'm glad he's named Brent, because there are few names more comforting to me than Brent, except maybe Mom, which would be a weird name for a geneticist. He reviewed the results with me and confirmed that Clara's chromosomes formed with a piece missing: 22q11.2, to be exact. I quickly ended the call and when Todd joined me in the car, I told him the news. We were driving to Nate and CC's to free a mouse that was stuck in Coke syrup in their garage. A strange activity, but one that I will forever associate with that time. We both cried the whole drive over, and my heart breaks just remembering the sound of Todd's voice saying "my little girl..." The fear and anger and all the unknowns were overwhelming.
We talked to mom briefly and she volunteered to call family for us. It was such a strange night of being sad and still so excited about our baby and not really knowing what to feel. Jenn arrived, and while she was warned not to visit when my house was a mess, we let her in anyway :) We talked about her boy and some of the struggles Tate had that we think are coming our way.
I went to work the next morning, despite my desire to crawl under my blanket or sit and watch reruns of the Real Housewives of Orange County. I'm so glad I did, because my co-workers had planned a surprise baby shower for us. It was such a nice afternoon, and was so kind of them, it almost had me in tears. I was very careful not to look CC or Nate in the eyes during the entire event, I knew that I would fall apart. But it was so much fun to celebrate with friends the joy of this little one coming in to our lives. Stay tuned in for pics.
I also spent the evening with Mom. And just like every proverb and cliche about the comfort of moms, it was HEALING. We looked for a car for Todd and I, we ate soup, we did some crying and laughing and planning and so much of my anxiety was gone. And some day, when Clara faces challenges  and hard days, I know that I will get to be HER mom and help her feel better. And what more could I even want???

PS-Nate and CC, I stole a box of tissues from your garage. Deal with it ;)