Tom Kecskemethy was at sea on his first major Navy deployment—a 24-year-old newlywed—when his wife, Heidi,  told him all sing-songy over the phone, “I’ve got new-ews.” You see where this is going, yes? Tom didn’t. His mind was so far from children, he thought Heidi was going to tell him she’d bought a car. Today, 20 years later, Tom is an empty-nester with two daughters. In this piece we’ll hear what it was like for Tom to be away for most of his wife’s first pregnancy, to feel useless (and then empowered) during childbirth, and to eventually become an at-home dad.