The Champion (Racing on the Edge) (5 page)

“You don’t have to lie.”

“Yes I do.” She smiled and patted my shoulder. “After
almost thirty years of being married to a Riley
...
you’d
learn to lie as well.”

Charlie was the last to come in and didn’t stay very long
once the contractions started to pick up and I began to sound like a drowning
feral cat. He did wish us a Merry Christmas and sent me into another round of
emotional frenzy when he gave me a heart shape locket he’d given my mother when
I was born.

It took me a good hour to recover.

When the narcotics kicked in, I started to calm my inner
demons and the need to junk punch my husband. That was a good thing if I wanted
more kids in the future.

Suddenly I was relieved to have this wonderful man by my
side. I knew it was the drugs talking but I was grateful regardless.

He held me and ran his fingers through my hair as they
put the needle in my back, whispering that he loved me. He added the line,
“Even if you did throw my muffin away,” with a hint of resentment.

Once the contractions increased and I started to feel
like I was having the baby any minute—Jameson freaked out and left the room,
which brought me to another round of hysterics.

Alley stepped in to take his place and said that Aiden
was comforting Emma but just told Jameson if he didn’t get his ass back in here
he was going to junk punch him for me.

There was a lot of threatening punches going on today.

I thought poor Emma was freaking out because she saw how
much pain I was in and that Jameson said they weren’t close but come to find
out she was freaking out at the gowns they make you wear.

Some days I can’t believe I married into this madness.

Alley sat there comforting me. The more I watched her
though, the more I realized something was incredibly different, besides the
fact that her hair was back to one color.

“What is up with you? You are all perky and cheerful.”

“Nothing,” She smiled. “This is exciting. You’re having a
baby
...
like
really
having a
baby.”

“So everyone keeps saying that.” I rolled my eyes. “Why
are you excited?”

“I’m uh
...
” she
smiled widely.

“You just found out, didn’t you?” Yesterday she had the
sneaking suspicion she might be pregnant again.

Alley only nodded with a smile. “But let’s not focus on
that right now. Today is about you guys and this little guy coming out of you.”

I didn’t like the phrase,
coming out
. It reminded
me of some kind of alien movie or some shit.

Jameson came back in a few minutes later, looking smug,
and a little frightened that Aiden also threatened to junk punch him.

“What
happened
to you?” I seethed.

“I’m sorry.” His head hung. “I got scared.”

“You got scared? The Jameson I married is a force of
nature
...
passionate, determined and
focused, and never second guesses himself.” I had no idea where the words were
even coming from just that they kept flowing. I was possessed. “What happened
to you? You’ve gone soft on me.”

He leaned over, kissing my forehead as he whispered he
was sorry once again, ignoring my silly rant.

I, of course, pumped full of so many narcotics, forgave
him.

I was too scared not to forgive him. I honestly thought I
was going to die. All I kept thinking about was on top of how bad this all hurt
like hell, was that from now on everything would be different. The world no
longer revolved around Jameson and me but it would also include another human
being that had needs. This wasn’t a hamster or Mr. Jangles. I couldn’t forget
to feed him or bath him, he would have real life needs and I was pretty sure I
was not qualified for it and neither was Jameson.

Jameson moved closer and sat behind me in the bed so he
could wrap his arms around me.

“I don’t think you guys gave me enough crack.” I was referring
to the epidural as crack. “I think I may need more of the crack.”

“Just breathe, honey.” Jameson whispered to me when I
started pushing.

“No! I will not breathe until I get more crack!”

“We can’t give you any more.” Dr. Sears told me with his
head between my legs. I felt like asking him how the view was, but didn’t.
“Sway, the baby is crowning. You need to push and breathe.”

I slammed my legs shut, the slap of my thighs echoed
throughout the room.

“What the fuck is crowning?” I asked frantically. “That
does not sound good. It’s not normal, is it?”

“Yes it is normal.” He told us, and I say us because when
Dr. Sears said the word crowning I felt every muscle in Jameson’s body clench
in horror. “The baby is ready to come out, just push!”

“No
...
I don’t want
to do this anymore!” I wailed clawing at Jameson.

“It’s a little late for that. Sway, you need to push. If
you don’t push, the baby will go into distress. Please push.” He urged.

In a simple gesture to calm me, he rubbed my thigh but
Jameson didn’t take it as a simple gesture.

“Do you mind not touching my wife’s leg like that?” he
growled.

“I’m only trying to get her to push so your child can be
born.” Dr. Sears answered.

“Do that without touching her.” Jameson suggested.

“Physically impossible Jameson,” Dr. Sears shot back.
“Now both of you concentrate, the baby is crowning.”

“Stop saying that word!” both Jameson and I yelled
together.

The word was just disgusting to me and made me think of
...
never mind
...
I
won’t even repeat what I’m thinking but use your imagination.

Dr. Sears laughed.

“Do you want to see?” He asked Jameson.

“Uh
...
no
...
that’s all right.” Jameson replied
timorously.

“I don’t blame you.” I said to him.

People say childbirth is a beautiful thing
...
another crock of shit in my book. It’s
sweaty, painful, bloody, gooey
...
need I
say more? It’s not beautiful to me. It’s disgusting.

I tried to practice my breathing and actually calm myself
but I only resembled something out of The Exorcist. At one point, Jameson
actually looked afraid of me. If I could just calm down, I could act like a
normal version of myself and everything would be okay but I was freaking the
fuck out.

Jameson was perspiring like a professional soccer player
behind me.

“What are you on?” I asked him in between pushes. “You’re
dripping.”

“Sorry
...
this is
intense.” He was panting almost as much as I was as he wiped sweat from his
forehead.

I turned a little to look at him. “Hey asshole,” I
whispered harshly. “Just imagine what I’m going through.”

He let out a nervous chuckle and ran his hand through his
hair.

When I actually started pushing, we had to kick Spencer
out for trying to see if he could help since he did in fact have the skills
needed to catch a baby with his experience on the pit crew,
fucking jackass
.

I was absolutely horrified that Spencer might have gotten
a view of my crankcase that I threw the closest thing I could find at him. He
was now in the ER getting stitches above his eye because the closest thing I
could find happened to be a camera. I threw it pretty hard, but could you blame
me?

I felt like I’d been pushing for hours when I felt an
insane amount of pressure. Dr. Sears pushed on my stomach to turn the baby
slightly. Jameson had his head down next to my ear, whispering words of love and
adoration, which just annoyed me. His head didn’t shoot up until we heard a cry
shriek through the room.

“Here he is!” Dr. Sears announced holding him in the air.
“It’s a boy!”

And there, flailing around like our tiny adorable
flailing spaz was our son, covered in the most disgusting gooey mess I’d ever
seen. This just confirmed my thoughts in the beginning of the pregnancy of him
being a parasite. He actually looked like one.

I burst into tears as I turned to see the shock on
Jameson’s face as he looked at him. I couldn’t get a good view at the baby yet.
All I saw were arms and legs flailing. I thought he’d be crying but after the
first couple cries, he stopped.

My heart sank thinking something was wrong with him.

“Is he okay?”

Jameson’s nervous eyes followed our little boy until they
brought him to rest in his arms. Jameson turned to show him to me as he pulled
the blanket down off his head. “He’s fine, honey.”

It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in my
life. Even with the goo still coating him in spots, I could see the shock of
silky rusty hair lying on his head in an unruly mess of waves. He wasn’t a
parasite after all.

“Sway, look at him, he’s beautiful. He blinks and
everything,”

The tears in Jameson’s eyes said it all as he placed our
infant son in my arms.

Despite this beautiful image, I kept focusing on the fact
that he didn’t understand that babies blinked.

What did he think they did?

I wonder what he will do when he finds out they poop too.

Those concerns disappeared when Jameson brought his free
palm to my face.

“I love you.” We both whispered together feeling the
moment.

We stared in awe at this tiny creature that was now ours
and the nerves, fear, exhaustion and medication set in and I vomited all over
the place.

Bell Housing – Jameson

Relief swept over me the moment I was positive everything
was okay. When I looked down at him, I could see so much of Sway in him but
there was no denying that color of hair, my hair, my mother’s hair.

Sway shooed me away to take pictures of him before he was
whisked away to the NICU for some tests. I got pictures of him being weighed
and measured. Then a nurse took a picture of me holding his hands and kissing
his tiny feet and forehead. As I snapped photos, I noticed that he also hand my
long fingers and my exact lips. It was like looking into a mirror.

When they took him away, Sway begged me to go tell our
family the good news. I went out to the waiting room to find them all waiting
anxiously.

“Well?” Emma ran over to me. She looked happier.

At least she calmed down after her little emotional
breakdown. I still kept my distance from her just in case she felt the need to
hit me again.

“He is fine. He’s in the NICU for now, but if he does
well he’ll only be there for a couple of days.”

“We want details!” Alley shoved my chest.

“Okay, Jesus.” I got them to all sit down as I began to
recount the delivery including the parts where Sway freaked out.

I looked to see my mom and Andrea wiping a few tears from
their cheeks.

My dad, while rolling his eyes, passed a nearby tissue
box to her, and then she passed it on to Alley and Emma who were apparently
having issues as well.

“He is little at five pounds two ounces and seventeen
inches long. They do have him on a little bit of oxygen, but the doctors say
it’s probably just temporary.”

I handed the camera off to mother who sat in between
Emma, Andrea and Alley. They cried over each picture, and I noticed Charlie
sitting quietly off to the side.

I went sit next to him and nudged his leg. “You happy
dad?”

He smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, I’m just so
...
relieved,”
he shrugged and looked down at his feet. “I’m relieved I was here and they are
both doing good.”

“I know what you mean.” I was about to say more until
Emma spoke up.

“Hey Jameson, what’s his name?” Emma asked looking up
from the pictures.

I smiled. “We haven’t decided yet.”

Everyone had been asking for weeks what we’d name him but
we had yet to agree on one. I knew what I wanted but I wasn’t so sure Sway
would be okay with it.

Lane snuck on my lap.

“He cute?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah he’s pretty cute.” I smiled at him. “Are you
excited to have a cousin?”

“Sure am!” he announced. “I’m gonna get him a gift.”

He then grabbed Spencer’s hand and walked toward the gift
shop.

Spencer glanced down at him as they waited for the
elevator. “You can get him anything you want just no cougars. His dad will go
apeshit.”

“Noted,” Lane said nodding.

A few hours later, I sat there quietly watching my
beautiful wife sleep as I rocked our newborn baby. He was handsome, no surprise
there and perfect. His features reminded me of myself but I could see Sway in
there as well. He was a perfect mix of the two of us, blended together.

He seemed to have my exact hair color and texture with
loops that flung out at the ends. You couldn’t tell what his eye color would be
but I assumed he’d have green since both of us had green. One thing he did have
that I found particularly adorable was Sway’s nose. Sway had an adorable button
nose, which our son now had.
Our son.

It felt almost anomalous to think I was now a father.

He looked up at me and in that moment, I knew just like
his mother I could never deny him of anything. Sway was everything to me and I
never knew that I could love anything as much as I loved her until our son was
placed in my arms.

He instantly had me wrapped around his finger; my reason
for existence had just doubled. In that moment, nothing else matters more than
these two. Not racing, not the championship, nothing.

I gently rocked him, humming softly. Soon he wormed his
way closer to me, just as Sway always did, and fell asleep.

My eyes focused on Sway again. Her lips were pushed out
into that adorable pout she had when sleeping, her cheeks flushed from the
exertion she put forth today. She was beautiful and she had just given me the
best Christmas gift anyone could have possibly given me.