Adding Spoiler – This is a term used to describe the changing of the direction of a spoiler or wing on a race car. Usually adjusting the angle of the spoiler creates down force and gives the car more grip on the track.
It wasn’t long after the birth of Emma and Aiden’s boys that we found ourselves heading to New York for the championship banquet.
Watching my husband give his second championship speech was probably right up there with the day our son was born. I was so proud of him. He worked so hard for everything. He deserved this.
I sat there in my cream stupidest-idea-ever-with-a-baby-in-your-lap evening gown with Axel, elated. He was wearing a tiny tuxedo that resembled Jameson’s, and I didn’t think I had stopped smiling since I put it on him.
He was adorable.
My smile widened when they announced my husband. My eyes locked with Jameson standing in the shadows of the stage, his head bent forward displaying the nervous energy he fought so hard to disguise.
“What this young man has done in the last two years most spend their entire careers trying to accomplish, and this twenty-four-year-old kid has done it with poise and reverence. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your Nextel Cup Series Champion, Driver of the Ford number nine Simplex Shocks and Springs, Jameson Riley!”
When Axel heard his daddy’s name, his head shot toward the stage.
Jameson made his way to the podium and stopped. His head remained bent forward staring at his hands before he smiled and slowly met the gaze of the audience as they cheered.
He then laughed and shook his head as the cheering continued longer than it had last year. In the background, they played a video montage of his season highlighting each win and then a few of the disappointing finishes he’d had. I watched closely as Jameson turned and watched the video until the screen stayed on the image of him holding the championship trophy beside his dad in Homestead.
With a smirk, he faced the podium again. He nodded again and took a deep breath, a nervous energy radiated from him.
“There are so many people I need to thank this year, and I know I can’t think of all of them, so if I forget you, I’m truly sorry.” He smiled and looked over at Axel and me sitting on the side of the stage and winked.
He went on to thank his crew, sponsors, family, and a handful of drivers. I knew I was crying when he started thanking his family and naming each one and the strength they brought to the team. I could feel the tears tickling my cheeks as they ran down my face. Axel, who was still seated on my lap, looked up at me when he sensed my hysteria. I thought maybe I should control myself, but all I could do was sit and watch my best friend, my husband, and the father of my son, thanking everyone he thought deserved this title more than him.
Kyle looked at me with wide eyes at one point. I waved him off and continued my girly-emotional-breakdown.
As I couldn’t stop crying, Axel had wiggled loose and all but ran over to Jameson. My dress wasn’t exactly the dress to wear if you needed to chase a kid around, but before I could make a fool of myself, Jameson waved me off.
When Axel reached him, the crowd aww-ed in response.
Jameson bent down and picked him up. “This is my son, Axel.”
Everyone, including me, aww-ed again at the look they exchanged with each other, and Axel gave him that big cheesy grin he was so good at.
“This little man and that absolutely beautiful woman sitting right there …” he pointed at me, keeping his eyes locked with mine. “They are my inspiration. They never let me down, and late at night when everything else fades away, they are there for me... no matter what.” He winked at me again. “I never thought I’d win another championship this soon. Hell, I never thought I’d win the first one, but everyone I thanked... they deserve this just as much as I do, if not more.”
The proud Mama Wizard I was lost it completely and cried against Jimi’s shoulder.
After the championship banquet we planned a birthday celebration for our little spaz. It seemed, like it did every year, no matter what I did to slow the off-season, time flew by.
Emma really did outdo herself on it once again. It looked like a winter wonderland, complete with an ice-skating rink, which I found dumb seeing as he was one and could barely walk, let alone skate.
What really annoyed me was the fake snow everywhere. Somehow, the shit kept ending up in my mouth.
How did someone put up with all those flakes?
It got everywhere and it was impossible to get rid of. It was so grainy and obtrusive and no matter how much I tried to brush the shit off, it stuck to my skin and clothes like tar. How was I supposed to enjoy myself when miniature microbes were attacking me?
Van approached me as I tried to put together Axel’s go-kart Justin and I built for him.
“It looks like a goddamn snow globe exploded in here,” Van huffed, brushing the white flakes from his JAR Racing sweatshirt.
“It’s annoying,” I agreed, brushing more away.
“Have you seen Lucas?” he asked, handing me a wrench I needed but couldn’t reach.
“No... why?”
“He ate a quarter.”
“Kids eat quarters all the time,” Spencer said when he walked up. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Now... if he shits two dimes and a nickel, then you should worry.”
The guys stood joking around with me as I finished putting together the kart.
Over the last year, Van became part of the family. He still served as our bodyguard, but most of the time he was hanging out with us like he was our brother and it suited all of us just fine.
Sway was busy with the kids since we had a shit load here. Just a year ago, it was only Lane and the Lucifer twins around. Now, we had Axel who turned one a week ago, Alexis, who was just shy of five months, and then Aiden and Emma’s twins, Noah and Charlie, who were a little over four weeks old.
I repeat—we had a shit load of kids.
Lane jumped on my back before I could make it over to Sway who was chasing Axel across the yard.
“Uncle Jameson!”
“Hey, buddy!” I reached around and pulled him into a headlock, his legs dangled around me as he fought to get loose. Alley approached us carrying Lexi in her arms.
“You guys all packed?” she asked, looking between Aiden and me.
“Where are we going?”
“Tulsa. I’ve been telling you this for three goddamn weeks,” Alley said, handing Lexi to Spencer. “The Chili Bowl, remember?”
“I wasn’t listening,” I told her while Sway again chased after Axel who was heading toward the cars.
“Neither was I,” Aiden added when he found out he was supposed to come with me.
“When do we leave?” we both asked.
“Tomorrow morning at eight.”
Damn it.
Justin, Tyler, Tate, Bobby, and me all planned to go to the Chili Bowl this year, but I hated leaving so soon after I just arrived home. Mostly because I knew that after the Chili Bowl, I started testing in Rockingham and then Daytona.
Being a champion was great, but it was wearing on my sanity.
Later in the day, the boys and I challenged each other to a game of hockey on the ice-skating rink Emma had put in our backyard. Sway felt the need to remind me of my contract with Simplex.
“Don’t do anything stupid!” her eyes did that judging once over. She was getting really good at that look.
“I wasn’t planning on it!” I yelled over my shoulder and pointed toward my makeshift pads made of toilet paper rolls and maxi pads.
Sway looked down at Axel.
“He never plans on it,” she told him and he nodded.
We stood there as Gentry, Kyle’s brother, explained the rules to us since he used to play in high school. None of us paid a goddamn bit of attention to him. We just intended on fucking each other up anyway.
The game, which wasn’t a game at all, was on delay soon after it started so Van could help Ethan and his broken arm off the ice.
“I’m freezing here!” Spencer grumbled, rubbing his hands together.
“Here’s some matches,” I told him and tossed the matches in his direction. “Set yourself on fire.”
Eventually the ass beating continued until Tyler knocked Spencer’s front tooth out with a slap shot. Alley was not pleased, but Lane thought it was pretty awesome.
In the end, Dad broke up the game mumbling something about this being a horrible idea, and if I got hurt, Simplex would have a shit fit.
“Is that all you do is bitch?” I glared at him, tearing away the remaining toilet paper rolls from my shins.
“I bitch because look who my children are,” he countered with the same glare.
He had me there.
Sway managed to get everyone gathered up to sing happy birthday to Axel. I’d never paid much attention at a kid’s birthday party, but watching my son sitting in his go-kart the way I did when I was his age was something I would never forget. His toothless smile said it all as he jerked the steering wheel back and forth.
Sway sighed softly, leaning her head against my chest.
“Thank you,” she whispered, looking up at me with her adoring green eyes.
“No, honey, thank you.” I dipped my head down to kiss her forehead.
It was hard to imagine life getting much better than this, but I also knew my time here with my family was about to end. But for now, for tonight, we were a family once again.
Watching Axel blow out his birthday candles, I realized that this wasn’t what I would have dreamed about a few years ago, but it was so much more than I ever expected.
After Axel was sound asleep in his bed and our home was free from our family, I made my way into our room where Jameson was packing for the Chili Bowl. One look and he was no longer packing but tending to his Mama Wizard.
Two hours later, I was standing in our bedroom getting ready for bed after our shower when I glanced down at the picture on my dresser. It was one of Jameson and Axel right after his birth, the look on Axel’s face was contentment, as though he knew his daddy’s hands would never falter.
Distracted, I dropped my pill, yes, the pill.
Oh, shit!
I reached down on the floor to grab it, but unfortunately, it wasn’t there.
“Oh, goddamn you, Mr. Jangles!” I pushed him away. “You suck!”