DIAPER MONEY: The Bruckners got their ticket at a Long Island King Kullen.
‘CLEANUP’ ON AISLE 2!Daniel Bruckner and his pregnant wife, Christine, celebrate their win yesterday at the Long Island supermarket where he bought their winning ticket. The Bruckners got their ticket (inset) at a Long Island King Kullen. (Victor Alcorn)
Now that’s a college fund!
A pregnant Long Island native and her Californian husband are having the luckiest baby ever — after winning a $208 million lottery jackpot.
Financial analyst Daniel Bruckner, 35, and his wife, Christine, 36, were visiting her family for the holidays in Middle Island when they bought the Mega Millions ticket on Dec. 27.
The couple will return home to San Jose, Calif., with an after-tax windfall of $101,440,236.
“They are happy for themselves, but I think it’s really hitting them that the baby’s future is going to be so affected,” a family friend said.
But don’t expect any Beyoncé-style preparations for the youngster. The father-to-be said he would take pains not to “end up one of those stories where you blow it all.”
The goal, he said, is “just trying to be true to who you are, and hopefully you can stay the people who you were before.”
Daniel Bruckner had been picking up groceries for dinner at a King Kullen market when he noticed the Mega Millions jackpot.
He plunked down $26 for computer-generated Quick Pick tickets and headed home.
Daniel’s father-in-law alerted his daughter the next morning that the winning ticket had been bought at the same store.
“To humor him, I went upstairs and woke Dan up and said jokingly, ‘My dad thinks you won. Go check your numbers,’ ” she said.
Daniel sifted through a few losing tickets before discovering the winning stub. The ticket had the Mega numbers 23, 32, 33, 39, 43 and a Mega Ball of 8.
“The numbers just lined up,” he said. “It didn’t seem real.”
He stashed the ticket in a safe-deposit box before heading back to California for work.
With all of Long Island buzzing about the mystery winners for three weeks, the couple managed to keep their secret until yesterday’s announcement.
“It’s been very hard for me because I’m around my friends and family, and they’re all talking about it because it’s the big buzz, and I couldn’t say anything,” Christine recalled.
The couple was hesitant to answer personal questions, but Christine, who works in the mortgage business, said they had gone through stressful financial times in recent years.
The pair said the money obligations that had been looming over them — like student loans, a mortgage and other debts — will be wiped out instantaneously.
“This will help,” Christine said with a smile.
Her husband said he will return to work in California — at least for now.
“There are a lot of people who are depending on me there,” he said. “There are a lot of projects going on. And I think it’s important . . . keeping things normal right now.”
Friends and family streamed into the Bruckners’ modest home to congratulate them yesterday. A portion of the winnings was dedicated to party supplies — two 12-packs of Corona, one of Dos Equis and one of Heineken Light.