Chapter 75

“Molly, don’t you dare lift anything. It’s why I hired movers, my love.” Xander scooped the box of breakables Molly had in her arms.

“I hate being treated like I’m fragile. I can’t wait until I give birth and can go back to being seen as a normal person.”

Picking up a stack of magazines, she asked, “Is this okay?”

Xander shook his head.

“No way. You’re seven and a half months pregnant, Mol. Just relax and let us do the work. You have a baby tend to.”

Molly placed the magazines on top of the box Xander was carrying.

“You’re right, I know. I’m just getting impatient. A few more hours and we’ll be living in the same house, decorating our baby’s room with flowers… and Tonka trunks.”

Both Molly and Xander wanted the sex of the baby to be a surprise. Much to Elodie’s irritation, Molly decided not to have a baby shower, nonetheless she was still inundated with toys and clothes for both baby boys and girls.

Xander kissed Molly’s forehead and toted the box out to the moving van. Molly took the last of her possessions—the family photo album she held so dear, and a stuffed teddy bear with a badge that said, “You did it!”

Her parents had given it to her as a present when she graduated, just as their parents had done for them.

Xander appeared in her room.

“Molly? We’re all packed and ready to go. Did you leave your key for the new tenant?”

Molly was still holding tightly onto her bear, rubbing the badge and thinking of what it would be like to be back in school.

“Do you ever miss it?”

Xander wrapped his arms around her and swept the hair from her eyes.

“Miss being a kid and hangin’ out with my stuffies? Sure do,” Xander said sarcastically.

“No, you goof. I mean, do you miss fighting? I remember being back in school and stressing out all of the time about getting good grades, but now that I’m done, I kind of miss it.”

Xander poked a finger in to the bear’s squishy body and for a moment, Molly wasn’t sure if he would respond. They hadn’t breeched the subject much lately, and that was mainly because he said he wasn’t interested in thinking about fighting now that he had a baby on the way.

“I don’t want to fight anymore. None of that has changed. But, I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss the community, and the culture around fighting. I just don’t want to be the fighter.”

Molly tucked her bear into Xander’s arms.

“Unexpected things come from unexpected places. I didn’t foresee myself becoming a mother, and when I first found out, I thought long and hard about whether or not it was the path I wanted to take in life. But now, I can’t imagine it any other way. I’m not saying you have to go back to fighting, but it pains me to watch you sneak around looking at old videos of your competitions when you think I’m not looking. I talked to Johnny, and we came up with an idea.”

Last time Johnny had an idea, it involved Tommy. I’m not exactly keen to go down that rabbit hole again.

“What if instead of fighting, you become a manager? Like Tommy? But not like him, never like him. As a manager, you could help out other fighters and really shape the way the fighting community functions around here. It’s corrupt, from what Johnny tells me. You could be the one to make it better.”

It had crossed his mind once or twice. When Xander would be laying on the couch at Molly’s apartment long after she had fallen asleep, he would contemplate all the ways in which he would be an improved version of Tommy—a manager who listened to the wants and needs of the fighters under his roof.

“But what about finding a space? Real estate in the city is crazy expensive. There’s no way we could afford it, even with a loan. Besides, it would require an insane amount of work just to get it off the ground. I do know a lot of fighters who would rather train somewhere other than Tommy’s though. I bet they would jump at the opportunity to come over to my side.”

Molly walked across her room and opened a filing cabinet, pulling out a small stack of papers.

“Johnny and I went for a drive yesterday while you were out running errands. Outside of town just a little ways, there’s a huge plot of land with a run-down farm house that could be converted into a gym. Johnny said a couple boys he trains with are construction workers on the side and would love to renovate the place for you. The only thing they ask is for a free life-time membership and a spot on your team once they’ve put in enough hours training. These papers are for closing the deal with the guy selling the property. He’s been trying to find a buyer for almost a decade and up until we came along, he hadn’t had much luck. We could get it for next to nothing, Xander. I really think this is meant to be.”

Xander flipped through the papers. The property would be big enough for both the gym and a sizable parking lot. Pictures of the farm house showed that it was definitely run-down, but a lot of it could be salvaged.

He was silent for a moment, unable to speak due to the sizable lump in this throat.

“I don’t know what to say, Molly. This is by far the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.”

Molly held her cellphone in front of Xander, showing a number on the screen that he didn’t recognize.

“Just say yes, babe. You can run the business portion out of our house until the gym is up and running. It will allow you to work from home so you can be around for me and the baby when we need you. This is the number for the seller. Call him and tell him you’re going to take it. I know you want this.”

Xander hovered his thumb over the talk button for a moment, before finally pressing it. As he put the phone to his ear, Molly rubbed his shoulders and smiled.

“I’m proud of you, Xander. I’ll meet you in the van when you’re done.”

Molly kissed him on the cheek and carried her bear out of the apartment.

You did it. You really did it.