We love surprises that end like this...

I am terrible at surprises, but I managed to keep this one a secret for a whole month! Finally I convinced Fred it was time to spill the news.
My mom called earlier in the day and I was convinced she knew- but of course she was just calling because we hadn’t seen her for over a week. We had an appointment that afternoon and on the way home she called again. I told her we were going to grab some games and be over to play. My mom and I always play scrabble together so we picked it up from our house and headed to hers. I had pulled out 6 letters and put them in my pocket for later. :}
When we got there, of course no one wanted to play but my mom. We started our game and I waited for the perfect place to put my word. Then I called to Fred in the other room “Come check out my good word!” (His cue to bring the camera.) When it was my turn I reached in my pocket & called to Fred in the other room “Come check out my good word!” (His cue to bring the camera.) I started putting the letters on the board …. E….X….P…. “you’re cheating” my mom said. I told her to wait. …E….C…T… “You can’t do that, you’re cheating!” I was surprised that she didn’t catch on right away or ask why I had letters in my pocket because I was definitely not secretive pulling them out. “Expect” she read, then said it again “Expect”…. “That’s a good word, but you’re still cheating!” Then she stopped, looked at Fred, looked at me and said “Are you telling me something?” We smiled and said “Yes”. Fred did an awesome job as cameraman!

The next day I couldn’t wait to tell his family. We stopped by Friday night and casually chatted. Then Fred went out to the car to grab a sweater for me and the camera. I told his mom that I needed a picture of the two of them for a scrapbook page I was working on. “What kind of page?” she asked. “Just a family page” I casually said. She didn’t ask anymore questions and went to sit by Dad for their picture. Fred held the camera up and said “Say ‘Baby Drysdale’”. They just sat there smiling (I guess I’ve harassed them long enough that it was going to be awhile before that ever happened.) Fred said it again…. “Baby Drysdale”. Mom kept smiling for the picture, but you could see on dad’s face that he’d caught on and he just sat there smiling. They finally said “Cheese”. Fred tried again…. “Baby Drysdale…” They both said “Baby Drysdale” through their smiles. Finally, Fred lowered the camera and said “Can you think of a baby that would have the last name Drysdale?” Click! Perfect shot of mom!