She Got Us!

Ha, ha! One can only laugh at the subtlety of the ruse.
I am not talking about the joke Haylee played on me when she looked me earnestly in the eye and said, "We need to talk." In our house, those words tend to preface a conversation I wish I could fast-forward through. I sighed, and asked, "What is it?"
"Maybe we should have a drink first," she suggested. Oh, Lord.
..."Are you pregnant?!" She smiled and nodded very slightly.
I respond with wide eyes and a gaping maw, mostly because I had a procedure recently, which is intended to prevent these types of conversations. While many scattered visions raced through my head, and I tried to come up with something to say (in English) that might be appropriate, she quashed my panic with two beautiful, yet infuriating words: "April Fool's!" (I yammered something and had to sit down until my legs stopped shaking.)
No- the ruse to which I am referring is of a different mother, our Mother. I figured yesterday may have been the proverbial yanking of our collective chain, and it was. The bone-cutting knife that is the wind is back. The sun is exposing itself with a wry little grin, but only enough to tempt us to shed one layer too many of our clothes and bring back our snifflings and hackings for another week. We want, so badly, for spring to hit that we eagerly reach for what is not really there. Oh, man, She is good!
So now Haylee will ride her horse wrapped in what appears to be a Michelin Man suit. My cycling kids and I will force ourselves into a headwind for as long as we can before finally surfing the tailwind home toward heated, indoor spaces. At least my nose might get some sun. Bryhn and Boden will layer-up and roll around outside like a couple of tumbleweeds heeding the wind's command.
Nothing like springtime in New England. Ain't no joke!