B&B's Darin Brooks Opens up About Becoming a First-Time Father

This winter, THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL’s Darin Brooks (Wyatt) suspected that something was a little bit different about his missus, Kelly Kruger (ex-Eva; ex-Mac, THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS). “Her hormones were raging in January/February, right before we found out,” he recalled to Soaps In Depth. “We got into a little argument about nothing. I was eating French fries at the time, and she threw them at my face.” Laughing at her reaction, Brooks had a passing thought in that moment. “I said, ‘I’ve never seen you act this way. I think you’re pregnant!’” Kruger dismissed his theory, but the following night, she had her heart set on a whole smorgasbord of foods that Brooks had never before known her to want, much less eat. “I was like, ‘Really? You’ve never liked this stuff. I think you’re pregnant, babe!’”

Sure enough, a pregnancy test soon confirmed what the couple had been hoping for ever since they’d started trying to conceive almost two years earlier. Now, sometime in the next month, they’ll welcome their first child, a girl, into the world. “I’m excited,” said Brooks. “We’re coming down to the wire, and I’m learning a lot about the whole process. It’s going to be a fun, new adventure, and I’m super happy!”

Brooks acknowledged that he and his wife had moments of discouragement while trying to conceive. “Oh yeah, that was the hard part, because we’re very healthy people in general, so when it didn’t happen right away, Kelly got [upset],” he said. “You start to feel paranoid, but I finally just said, ‘Babe, there’s nothing wrong with you. You just have to let go and trust. This is God’s gift, and it’s going to happen to you when it’s right.’ And eventually, it did.”

“She’s going to be a badass,” Brooks predicted of his baby girl. (Photo Credit: Ben Jorgensen)

Growing up with a brother, Brooks says he’s looking forward to having a little girl, and he’s ready for the pink, frilly unicorns-and-rainbows world that this may entail. “I will love the tea parties and the dance recitals. I’ll probably be up on stage trying to participate, because that’s the kind of crazy dad I’m going to be. They’ll probably kick me out!” he laughed. “I’m just a big kid myself!”

In addition to teaching his daughter how to surf (“before she can even walk,” he teased), the native of Hawaii says he envisions her having the feisty spirit of a cool surfer/skater chick. “I already plan on buying her 100 different pairs of Vans [skate shoes] as soon as she’s born,” he joked.

While it remains to be seen if this little one will actually share her dad’s passion for surfing, it seems clear that she shares his tastes in other regards. “I’m the one who loves Mexican food and chocolate, and Kelly has never really been into either, but right now, she’s craving both,” he said. “She told me, ‘This is definitely your baby,’ and I can’t argue with that. Great minds think alike!”

Having consolidated two of their home offices into one, Brooks and Kruger have been readying the nursery and are honing their baby-care skills. “We’ve got the car-seat thing figured out, but I still have to get my ‘swaddle’ on,” he says. Luckily, he knows that having his wife of three years by his side for the journey means they’ll figure it all out. “She’s a nurturer at heart, and anybody who knows her knows how sweet and caring and giving she is, which shows me the kind of mom she’s going to be. I’ve seen her strength through this whole pregnancy.”

“I call the baby Little Miss Cleo to mess with Kelly,” said Brooks. “She’s like, ‘Our child is not the psychic [hotline] woman, okay?” (Photo Credit: Ben Jorgensen)

As for his role in the delivery room, the actor joked that he plans on documenting everything. “I like to mess with Kelly and tell her I’m going to have a GoPro on a selfie stick, and I’ll just put that thing down there. She’s like, ‘No, you’re not!’” Just as Kruger already knows, this baby will quickly learn that her daddy likes to tease. “I’m going to make fun of her and embarrass her — that’s just the way it is,” he said. “I’m definitely going to pick on her… and her future boyfriends!”

The parents-to-be do have a few name options already picked out for their child, but they’re keeping mum for now. “We kind of want her to be the first one to hear the name out loud,” he explained. “Also, it could all change when we finally take a look at her. Who knows?”

In any case, we can’t wait to hear all about her when she finally arrives!

For more on your favorite B&B and Y&R stars, keep reading the CBS edition of Soaps In Depth magazine.

This story originally appeared in our print magazine