Today's paradox: I become a grandpa before I'm even a dad

So the pet store sold me a pregnant guinea pig. Victoria, that is, not Muriel- I've had her too long for her to have gotten pregnant on my watch. But you'd best believe that once I discovered that Victoria had given birth I took Muriel out and inspected her in order to prove that she was most definitely female.

In recent weeks I noticed that Victoria had been getting bigger, but I chalked this up to her increased appetite- I observed once she started relaxing around me, she began eating more, both pellet food and veggies (she's partial to kale). Now I see that there were other reasons behind her change in diet, and she wasn't gaining weight because of the eating, but vice versa. I wonder if Muriel's odd behavior around Victoria might have been triggered by Victoria's hormonal changes as well.

Anyway, right now mother is doing well and caring for her new litter of three. They're tiny and adorable, no bigger than mice, all of them with brown, red and white coats. It was a nice surprise, but a little worrisome too- the whole reason I bought another female was so she wouldn't get pregnant. So tomorrow I'm going back to the pet store to see if they have any ideas. I'm thinking about complaining in order to maybe get free shots for the newborns, since had I known Victoria was pregnant I would've thought twice about adopting her. After that, I'm going to wait for them to get older and more self-sufficient, then I'll send out an e-Mail to my co-workers offering them for free. Maybe they'd make good prizes for the Muriel Awards...

Mother and children are doing well, thank goodness. So everyone out there, fire up a stogie to celebrate the miracle of life, right here in my shoebox-sized apartment, where at least someone who lives here has gotten some action recently.