After hearing his wife was pregnant, Blake took his ’69 Cougar down to Frontier Ford “Home of the Straight Shootin’ Deal” and traded it in on a new Pinto wagon.  He was a family man now, he needed a family car.  A wagon.  Something respectable and responsible.  Economical.  Days of flash and glory were over.  Blake was a responsible grown up with car payments to prove it.

His wife, Katie, was in shock when she walked out to the driveway to see what all the honking was about and saw the little Pinto.  “What is that?” she asked like it was a lump in her armpit rather than a brand new car.

“It’s a wagon!  A family car!”  Blake said, not understanding the lack of  excitement in her voice.  

“Where’s the Cougar?” she asked.

“I traded it in.  Didn’t want to take a chance on my wife and soon to be son getting stranded,” he explained.  “They gave me $800 for it on trade, top dollar for a convertible.  Got our payments down to under $100 a month!”

“Isn’t there at least supposed to be wood down the sides or something?” she asked.

“That’s the top end model.  The Pinto Squire.  That would have put us at a buck and a quarter a month, way over our budget.  You know what diapers cost?  Besides, wood grained sides would have taken away from bright badging and window moldings!”  He pointed at each of those like he was Vanna White spinning letters on Wheel of Fortune.  Katie, not excited about the prospect of motherhood, felt like her wheel of fortune had gone flat.  Bright window moldings and badging did nothing to bring about the motherly glow she’d heard about.

”I loved the Cougar.  That’s the car we dated in,” she told Blake, the melancholy getting stuck in her throat.

“Yeah, but this is the one we’ll raise a family in,” he said as he went over and hugged her.  He’d heard women get emotional when they’re pregnant.

“You think we’ll really keep it that long?” she asked, a tear rolling down one cheek.

“Well, for 60 months, anyway.  Might have two or three little ones by then,” he said.

She visibly sobbed.

“Did they have any other colors?  It’s just so white,” she asked.

“They had a bronze one, but it had an automatic.  That would’ve cost us 2 miles a gallon.  Wouldn’t have been practical,” he said, proud of the thought that had gone into the selection.  “Look at those rear windows!  They pop out to help cool down the cabin.  Won’t even be able to tell it’s not air conditioned.  That would’ve added to the payments and decreased the gas mileage.”

“Do you know how hot it gets in Fort Stockton in August? she said between sobs.  “At least with the Cougar we could put the top down!”

Katie felt her youth slipping through her fingers.  The times she and Blake had shared, just the two of them.  And the Cougar.  Doing whatever they wanted, whenever they’d wanted.  Enjoying the freedom.  Laughing at their married friends who had babies, then their lives becoming unrecognizable.

Blake was disappointed at her disappointment.  They hadn’t really talked much about having kids, it just happened.  Maybe he should have asked her before going to Frontier Ford on his own.  He just thought it would help her ease into motherhood.  He tried to salvage the situation.  “Did you notice the polished exhaust tips and the rubber overriders?”

“If you’d a put a rubber overrider on your exhaust tip, this thing wouldn’t be in our driveway.”

Think this is the end of the story? Not even. Tune in tomorrow for the continuing saga of Blake and Katie and the Ford in their future.