“Keep him off of you!” Fritz yelled as Coach Hope closed in on me again.
“Jab! Jab! … Throw your hook!” Fritz coached.
The hook staggered Coach Hope, but he shook it off. Frick! He lunged forward and pounded my ribs. I grabbed him and pulled him into me so he couldn’t swing. They’d set up a much smaller ring so I couldn’t really go side-to-side in it. If I’d had a full-sized ring, I could have used my reach and quickness to avoid Coach Hope.
“Break!” Fritz yelled and separated us.
Coach Hope stepped back but came at me again. I dug deep and put all my power into a left-right combination that surprised Coach Hope. He staggered back, and I jumped forward to deal out some of the pain he’d been handing me all afternoon.
“Break!” Fritz yelled.
“I had him,” I complained.
“The purpose of this is not to kill Coach Hope, it’s to learn how to punch your way out of a tight situation. I think you’ve earned an ass-kicking from Cassidy,” Fritz said.
She had a big grin on her face. Double frick!
I met Cassidy on the mat, and she had me go through my forms. She was super-picky about my technique. I didn’t complain, because she was right; I was being a little sloppy and needed to focus. Thankfully, we didn’t get around to sparring. My ribs and stomach were sore from boxing.
Cassidy and Coach Hope took Brook home. I stayed to start my Japanese classes. Caryn had called around, and Shiggy had agreed to teach me his native language. All I had to do was feed him and pay for his time. He took me to a little Italian restaurant, and he began his lessons while we ate.
He wanted me to start learning common words, to begin with. We would worry about putting together sentences once I had some basic knowledge. I actually had a nice time working with him. I figured that if nothing else, I’d be able to order food when I traveled to Japan.
◊◊◊ Tuesday April 12
My phone rang at 2:35 in the morning.
“David, it’s Lacy. Pam’s water has broken, and I’m taking her to the hospital.”
“Thanks, I’ll see you there,” I said and forced myself to get up.
I took a quick shower and took Duke to the house. I went to my parents’ room and knocked.
“Hey, I’m headed to the hospital. Pam’s having the baby,” I said as I stuck my head in the door.
“Send us a text when she has it,” Dad said.
After Angie had her two, I guess Pam having another grandbaby wasn’t that big a deal. I let Duke in their room, and he lay down next to their bed. It was too early even for him.
At the hospital, I found Pam in a room with Lacy.
“They say it’ll be a while,” Pam told me.
Boy, was that an understatement. Nine hours later, she had a healthy boy. Jacob Jeffrey Dawson was nine pounds, six ounces, with blond hair and blue eyes that matched his mother’s.
Whoever decided that the father should be in the birthing room when the baby was born should’ve been shot. First, it gives the mother a target for all the pain she’s going through. Pam was the one who wanted a natural childbirth. By the time she figured out that having a baby was painful, it was too late for the epidural. Second, watching the whole process made me queasy and light-headed. I could never be a doctor. I was of the firm opinion that nothing that big should ever come out of that spot. How Pam, and for that matter, any woman, survived that, I have no idea. Finally, their handing me a damp, squalling baby about put me into shock. What the heck was I supposed to do with him?
Looking down into my son’s face was a life-changing moment. This crying little bundle was reliant on me. My eyes misted up, and I instantly understood that I would do absolutely anything for this little guy. I had an enormous smile on my face when I introduced him to Pam.
“Coby, meet your mother,” I said, handing him to her.
“He has your nose and chin,” Pam said.
“He got your eyes and hair color. I think he got the best of both of us.”
“We did good,” Pam said.
We were both in awe of what we’d created. The nurses took him from us to do whatever they needed to do. The doctor had to do some minor repairs on Pam, so they kicked me out. I walked out to the waiting room to find my parents, grandma, Lacy, and Cal waiting. Cal was a surprise, but Mom had coached me not to make things more difficult. I told them all about Coby and what a perfect baby he was, ten fingers and ten toes.
Dad said they would take it from there. I needed to get to school because I’d missed too much as it was. Mom and Dad were designated guardians of Coby and had to do his birth certificate and some other paperwork.
◊◊◊
I made it back in time for lunch to be almost over. I’d taken some pictures so I could show my friends. Lily sent out a tweet with the news, and Adrienne called me as soon as she got it.
“Remember our deaclass="underline" no baby pictures released. I’ve got a bidding war going to see who gets them first.”
I wasn’t all that impressed until she told me how much money we were talking. Coby’s first picture would be enough to seriously help start his college fund. He was a bigger model than his father, if you calculated it on earnings per photo, and he was just hours old.
Oh. Dear. God! Did I just think that? I was seventeen and worried about college funds for my son.
Adrienne was getting on a plane with her favorite photographer, Jackie Chan, to take the first pictures. I bet that Tyler would be on the flight as well. I had told them we could put them up at the farm. My grandma had three extra bedrooms.
◊◊◊
After school, I skipped baseball practice, with Moose’s blessing. I found Cal in Pam’s hospital room, holding Coby, with Pam smiling. She got a worried look when I came in.
“Not thinking of absconding with our baby, are you?” I asked.
Cal gave me a tight smile.
“I deserved that,” he admitted.
“Daddy was just leaving,” Pam said as a not-so-subtle hint to her father.
I took a deep breath.
“Look, you’re Coby’s grandfather. While I don’t like how you handled Pam’s pregnancy, I expect you will be around now and again. I don’t plan to prevent you from seeing him unless there’s more unpleasantness. That includes you touching Pam again,” I said pointedly.
“I’m not here to cause trouble. I just wanted to see my grandson.”
Mom and Dad came into the room. Cal took one look at my mom and handed Coby to me.
“Thanks. I think I better get going,” Cal said.
Lacy, Grandma Dawson, Greg, and Angie all came in to see Pam and the baby. It didn’t take long for a nurse to come and tell us we had to do this in shifts.
“When do you get out?” Greg asked.
“Thursday,” Pam said.
“Adrienne called. She’s gotten offers for a buttload of money for the first picture, enough for a good start on his college fund. Don’t post any until we can sell the first ones,” I warned everyone.
Greg grabbed Angie’s phone and deleted the picture she’d taken, making me smile. It was a reminder that she wasn’t a Dawson. If Greg didn’t trust her, I wouldn’t, either.
“We have little ones who have to go to college too,” Angie complained.
“They have an uncle who’ll help them out if need be,” Greg reminded her.
Angie gave me a weak smile. She was lucky I loved my niece and nephews. I needed to talk to Caryn to make sure college funds were set up for them. Of course, I would do the same for Little David, Peggy’s son. I already considered him mine, anyway.
Coby got fussy. I checked his diaper. He hadn’t done that, so I handed him to Pam. We hadn’t talked about breastfeeding. Lacy stayed with her to show her what to do. We all left to give her privacy.
Greg and Angie went off, and I could tell they were having a heated discussion. I wondered if they would survive. After she’d told Tami to not get involved with me, and then outed my dad, they’d had a rough patch. It didn’t help that she admitted she’d gotten pregnant with Kyle to get Greg to marry her.