Dax
"Hey! Hey, I just wanted to check in, man. I just wanted to make sure everything's good. That the two of you are safe and everything or I guess I should say the three of you now, right? I don't really know the answer to that, do you?"
“No, can’t say that I do.”
“Doesn’t matter, right? So long as everything’s okay. Haven’t seen you around the clubhouse in a little while. Started to worry that something might be going on.”
“No, man, things are good. I promise you, everything is good.”
"Are you sure about that?" Micah's now perpetually worried voice drifted across the phone lines, his worry so obvious I was glad it was me hearing him instead of Fawn. It had been almost seven months since I had moved in with Fawn and things had settled into a kind of amazing rhythm for her and me. It was the kind of normal day to day life normal couples had, nothing out of the ordinary by the world's standards. It was the kind of thing I had grown up sure I wouldn't ever want and wouldn't ever get. Now that I had it, though, I understood that it was what life was really about. Even little things like watching my now nine months pregnant girlfriend waddling around the kitchen to try and make breakfast made me happy. Listening to her singing while she made her attempt at dusting, something I offered to do a million times and got shot down each one, made me happy. It wasn't like we had stopped being people or anything like that. We still had our little arguments, mostly centering around what we were going to name our little girl, but we always made up. That was the important thing, as far as I saw it. No matter what kind of fights we had, at the end of the day we always made up, told each other we loved each other and let things rest. It was just an ordinary life, and it was the happiest I had ever been.
“Dax? You still there, buddy?”
“Yeah, man,” I laughed, forcing my attention back to the conversation I was in, “I’m still here. What were we talking about?”
“You were trying to convince me that everything over there is kosher.”
“Right. Micah, can I ask you something?”
“Anything,” he said eagerly, like me wanting to ask him a question meant that he was finally getting somewhere, “You know that, Dax. Anything you need.”
"It's not something I need, really. I was just wondering if you could give me any updates on the Wild Kids. Nobody has really mentioned them to me in a while. I get the impression that the boys are trying to keep me in the dark about them or something, maybe one of those ‘for my own good' kinds of things. Problem with that is it doesn't keep them off my mind. If I'm being honest, it only makes me obsess over them. I need to know that my kid is going ot be safe, Micah. She's going to be born any day now, and I can't stand the idea of her being born into an open threat."
“Shit, man! Nobody told you? Really, Dan didn’t say anything?”
“No,” I answered cautiously, afraid to hear what kind of an answer I was about to get to a question I had only asked to make Micah feel like he was being useful, “nobody said anything. Why, what’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on, that’s the thing! It’s fucking fantastic news, man!”
"What news! You better just tell me what it is, okay? A man about to have a kid is a man on edge, and this man is definitely on edge."
“Everything’s good now. It’s all taken care of. Dan negotiated a peace treaty with the guy that heads them up. It’s still tentative, I guess, so we’ll all have to watch our asses. Dan would be good and pissed if he got wind of one of us doing something to endanger the peace. But the real thing is that we’ve got peace at all.”
“Are you kidding? That’s insane. I can’t believe nobody said anything.”
“Want to hear my theory?”
“Sure, man, shoot.”
“My guess is that Dan didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to stress you out. Maybe also because he didn’t want to piss you off.”
“Piss me off?” I asked, genuinely surprised to hear this, “What are you talking about? Why would I be pissed off about a truce?”
"Because, man, you know. What they did to Lilian. It's not like Dan didn't cover that stuff, because he did. Wild Kids' leader claimed they didn't have shit to do with her death. I don't know if Dan believed the guy or if he just thought making peace was the most important thing, but that's what happened. Was I wrong to tell you? Are you pissed? Because if you're pissed, don't go running off half-cocked and getting in Dan's face about it.That'll only get me into trouble, and I can't have no trouble. You know I'm not good with that kind of thing."
Micah was sounding more and more freaked out as he talked and I busted out laughing. What he was telling me, it was something that might have had me pissed off enough to start a war a year ago, back when I was a different kind of man. Now I couldn't see anything about it that wasn't good. Whether the Kids had been the ones to kill Lilian or not, it was years ago. I wouldn't ever pretend that it didn't hurt, wouldn't say I didn't think about it and wonder what I could have done differently to keep her safe, but I was done letting that death define me. I could hold onto the grudge against the Kids, could do it pretty fucking easily if I had wanted to, but I couldn't see the point anymore. It would only keep everyone involved with the Carolina Devils and everyone associated with a member right in the path of danger, and I was done with that. I wanted everyone I cared about to be safe. I wanted my family close and accounted for.
“Micah, you don’t need to worry, man. I’m not going to do anything.”
“You’re not?”
“Nope. Not a damn thing. I get why you’re worried about it, but I’m a changed man. I don’t want to fight anymore. I’m actually glad you told me. Notonly that, I’m glad it happened. It’s time, right? It’s time for us to put that shit to rest.”
“Shit yeah, brother. Can’t say I disagree with you there. And everything’s good with Fawn? Everything’s good with the baby?”
"Sure, they're both great. I'm pretty sure Fawn is about as uncomfortable as a person can get, and she says just about every day that she's ready for the baby to get out and join the real world, but other than that everything is really good."
“We’re going to spoil the shit out of that baby. You know that, right?”
"Oh, I know. Look, man, I have to go. I promised Fawn I'd help her hand some shit up in the nursery."
“Well then what are you talking to me for? Go do it! Can’t leave the old lady waiting, right? That’s not how you keep a chick happy!”
I hung up the phone, shaking my head and laughing at how strange Micah could be. He was right, though. I needed to get to work if I was going to meet my goal. It was a goal I had set for myself and hadn't told anyone else, but that didn't mean it wasn't important. Its secrecy was part of what made it so important to me. This secret promise that I was never going to let Fawn want for anything, never let her feel like she was taken for granted. I was never going to forget the things Fawn had told me about her asshole ex and the way he had left her. I was going to spend the rest of my life making sure she never felt anything close to that way again.
“Hey, Dax?”
"Yeah, babe!" I called up the stairs, already headed towards the room designated as the nursery, "I'm coming. Don't worry; I didn't forget. Handyman, decorator extraordinaire, at your service."
“Yeah, thanks, babe, but that’s not really going to work right now.”
“Not going to work? What do you mean it’s not going to work? I thought the nursery was what you wanted me to tackle today. Is this some kind of a test or something? Because I’ve never been great with tests. You know this about me.”
“No, not a test. What do they say? This is not a drill?”
“Who’s they? I mean yes, people say that, but who are we talking about?”
“I don’t know. How about this, then? My water just broke.”
“What? Holy shit! Are you sure?!”
"Um, pretty sure," she answered with wide eyes as she appeared at the top of the stairs, "first of all, there's kind of a mess upstairs that proves it. Secondly, I'm a nurse, remember? I know what it looks like when somebody is going into labor. And this is it."
“Jesus! Okay. Okay, okay, okay, we’ve got this. Get the keys and get into the car. Will you do that? I’m going to get the stuff.”
“Okay, Dax, but you need to hurry. Like, no phone calls or anything like that. Now is not the time. You can call my dad when we get to the hospital but not now. Promise.”
“I promise, Fawn, just go! I’m gonna get your hospital bag out of the bedroom. Get in the ar, for Christ’s sake, so we can get the hell out of here as soon as I’ve got your stuff!”
“Okay,” she laughed shakily, making her way carefully down the stairs and meeting me on my way up, “I’m going. But babe?”
“What? What’s wrong? Is everything okay? Is everything going to be okay?”
“Yes, Dax,” she answered with a calmness that was astonishing coming from a woman about to have a baby, “that’s what I want to make sure you understand. Everything is going to be fine. Everything is going to be great, actually. This is going to be the start of our very own family. You just have to promise me that you won’t get us killed on the drive over.”
“Deal. Now go.”
I kissed her, fast and deep, and slapped her ass to send her on her way. I took the stairs two at a time, working hard to get everything in order by the time Fawn was in the car. I grabbed her bag and looked around the room, desperate to make sure I didn't forget anything. The last place I checked was my pocket, and that was a place I checked three or four times, just to be sure. There was no need, though. The little velvet box I'd been carrying around with me for days was exactly where it was supposed to be. The plan had been to propose before she actually had the baby, but now it was looking like that wasn't going to be possible. Not that it really mattered. In the timeline of our relationship, nothing had ever gone in a way a person could describe as normal. Why should this be any different? The proposal would come. The baby would come and then the proposal and then we'd build our life together. For the first time in my life, I wasn't afraid at all.
THE END
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