Chapter 3
Roman
“Holy shit.”
I gave the punching bag a right hook. “What?”
“Molly is headed here.”
“Uh, is that a bad thing?” I asked. The chick was his girlfriend, so it didn’t seem too odd or warrant a holy shit to me.
“Never. It’s just who’s with her is a shock.”
I dropped my arms to my side and turned to look at him. “Spit it out, fucker.” I hoped he was going to say Sage, but I was also terrified he was going to say her name. I wasn’t ready to get my balls ripped off yet.
After Kellan had left, I dragged my sorry self into the shower, got dressed, and headed to the studio. I was surprised Kellan’s car was parked out front. I had been hoping to get some mindless practice in and try not to think about Sage and the baby.
Thankfully Kellan had taken pity on me and hadn’t brought it up either.
“She’s got Sam with her.”
“Sam?” Still had no clue what the hell he was talking about.
A shit-eating grin spread across his lips. “You are so fucking clueless, man. Sam is Sage’s kid.”
It felt like the floor dropped out from under my feet, and the blood rushed from my face. “Holy shit.”
Kellan chuckled and tucked his phone into his pocket. “Told ya.”
“Uh, well, you think her kid knows about me?” I quaked.
Kellan collapsed into the mat. “Pretty sure he doesn’t. Hell, we just found out yesterday. I doubt she’s laid that on her kid yet.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right…” I trailed off. “So what do I say to him?” I was absolutely clueless when it came to kids. I taught classes at Powerhouse, but ninety percent of the time, I took my cues from either Tate or Kellan in class and didn’t have to try too hard.
Sam was a whole different story. He wasn’t just some kid off the street looking to learn karate. He was Sage’s son.
“Try starting out with hi,” Kellan chuckled. “He’s a kid, Roman. It’s not going to take much to impress him.”
“But he’s Sage’s kid. What if he hates me like she does?” I didn’t stand a chance with Sage if Sam hated me. The hatred might run in the family. If that were true, my own kid might end up hating me.
“Just don’t tell him you knocked his mom up, and you’ll be golden.”
“Pretty sure those will be the last words that ever come out of my mouth. It hasn’t even sunk in for me yet I’m about to be a dad. I don’t think I want to discuss it with a four-year-old.”
Kellan leaned back on his elbows. “Well, you got about five minutes until he gets here. Try not to act like a complete ass.”
“Those are your wise words for me? Don’t you have something better to say? Maybe I’ll just go.” That would be the best. I wasn’t ready to do this. I didn’t think I would ever be able to do this.
He shook his head. “You’re not bailing, fucker. It’s time to grow the fuck up. Step one is you meeting Sage’s son. The only way you can walk out that door right now is if you tell me you don’t want anything to do with Sage and the baby.”
Leaving sounded great, but I couldn’t say I didn’t want Sage and the baby. I wasn’t used to it yet, but I knew it wasn’t something I wanted to throw away. “Fine, I’m not leaving, but do you think maybe you could help me out here?” I got his eagerness to bask in my fucked up situation. I would have done the same thing, but the guy needs to cut me some slack and maybe toss me a life vest before I drown.
“Not much fun in that for me, is there? Oh, how the roles are reversed now, Roman. Before, it was you giving me shit about Molly, and now, you’re trying to figure out your own shit and I get to sit back and watch.” He slugged me on the shoulder. “I have to admit, this is pretty fun.”
I sighed and hung my head. “Do we know why Molly has Sam? Is something wrong with Sage?”
He shook his head. “No. Molly just said Sage needed a break for the day.”
“Is that normal?” Wasn’t she used to doing the mom gig every day? Was something else going on?
“Dude, I don’t know. I’m dating Molly, not Sage. I have no clue what her normal is except for yelling at Dante for eating all of the cookies.”
That was the damn truth. Dante came in at least three times a week grumbling about Sage and her Nazi ways when it came to cookies. “So what are we going to do?”
“I’m assuming we’re going to try and wear the guy out, then probably do lunch.”
“Uh, lunch? You want me to come?”
“Roman, are you really afraid of a kid?”
He wasn’t just a kid. “I just want to make a good impression, asshole.”
A knock sounded on the door, and we both whirled around to look out of it. “They’re here,” Kellan pointed out.
“No shit.”
“Crap,” he corrected me. “I can tell you right now, Sage doesn’t swear in front of the kid because he picks up anything you say. Trying spelling if you need to cuss.”
“Spelling?” I mumbled. What in the hell good was that?
Kellan bowed off the mat and jogged over to the front door. “I think you can curb the swearing for a couple of hours, bro. Just think of it as practice for when your own little guy comes.”
Yeah, not gonna think about that. I didn’t want to puke in front of the kid.
“What happened to your key?” Kellan asked Molly as he opened the door.
“Not a clue. I thought it was on my keychain, but it’s not there. I hardly use the thing, so who knows when I lost it.” Molly stepped through the door with a little boy clinging to her hand.
“Hi, Mr. Kellan.” Damn, the kid had good manners. Half the kids who walked through the doors for lessons didn’t know to address their elders as Mr. or Miss.
Kellen crouched down. “Hey, Sam. How are you doing, bud?”
He let go of Molly’s hand and shrugged. “I guess okay. I got stuck in my hula hoop today. Molly saved me.”
Kellan smothered a laugh and nodded. “I guess it was a good thing Molly was there then, huh?”
“Yeah, although I know my momma would have helped me. I know she would have laughed. She tells me I’m goofy all of the time.”
“Goofy can be a good thing, bud. Means you know how to have fun, right?”
“Sam has the market on funny cornered,” Molly chimed in.
“Can you teach me how to be a ninja?”
Kellan smiled down at Sam. “I can teach you, but we’re gonna have to talk to your mom to get you in for classes. It takes more than an hour to become a ninja.”
“Uncle Kellan has been a ninja for over twenty years,” Molly bragged.
“Holy cow. You’re really old,” he gasped.
Now it was my turn to smother a laugh. Glad I wasn’t the only one to give Kellan shit, but if the kid thought Kellan was old, he was going to think the Dante was ancient when he met him.
Sam peeked around Kellan and waved at me.
I gave a small wave back. “‘Sup, little dude.”
Kellan moved over to Molly, and she patted him on the shoulder. “You’re not that old,” she comforted him.
“I just got roasted by a four-year-old.”
Molly shrugged. “You have to admit, saying you’ve been a ninja for twenty years is a long time, especially for a little kid.”
“You’re really not helping,” he complained.
“I’m Sam.”
“And I am Roman.”
He put his hands on his hips. “Are you a ninja too?”
“Uh, I guess so. Although, I never really considered myself that until your mom and Molly started calling us that.”
“Who is us?”
I looked at Kellan, and he shrugged. This kid had some damn good questions. “Well, Kellan, Tate, Dante, and me.”
“Are you all as old as Kellan?”
I scoffed and shook my head. “Heck no.”
“You’re only a year younger than I am,” Kellan grumbled.
I put my hand up to my mouth and leaned down to Sam. “Don’t listen to him. He’s lying.”
Kellan growled. “Did you two come here to make me feel old, or did you actually have a purpose?”
“Well,” Molly drawled. “Sam and I were talking on the way over here, and I told him about the class I took.”
“You mean the one where the mat kicked your as—” I looked down at Sam and cleared my throat. “Butt? Totally was going to say butt.”
Kellan snickered and put his arm around Molly. “Sure you were.”
“Anyway, Sam said he wanted to be a ninja too, so I thought it would be cool for him to come down here, and you guys could give him a glimpse into the life.”
“Let’s kick some butt!” Sam called. He thrust his fist in the air and jumped up.
“How about we start with the basics?” I asked.
“Do we get to kick some butt after the basics?” he asked.
“Um, maybe I’ll let you at one of the punching bags if you listen real good.”
Sam looked at Molly. “Momma says I’m the best listener. Except when it’s bath time.”
“Then you got this in the bag then, bud. I need to talk to Kellan in the office for a second. Are you okay with Roman showing you how to kick butt?”
“Yup. All good.”
Molly drug Kellan into the office and shut the door behind them.
Kellan had said he would stick by me, but the word hadn’t spread to Molly I needed a co-pilot.
Sam looked up at me expectantly. Shit. What the hell was I going to do?
Kellan’s words came back to me. Just treat him like one of the kids in class.
“So, let’s get out on the mat and see how well you listen. Kick off your shoes over by the coat hooks, and meet me on the edge of the mats.”
Sam hurried over to kick off his shoes, and I walked to the edge of the mat. I heard his hurried footsteps behind me and grabbed his arm before he blew past me onto the mats. “Whoa there, little dude.”
“I thought you said to meet on the mats?”
I looked down at him and shook my head. “I said to meet me on the edge of the mat.”
“Oh, shoot.”
I crouched down in front of him and rested my arms on my knees. “Anytime you want to go on the mat, you need to bow and show respect.”
“To who?”
“The mats, and to everyone who has been on the mats before you.”
He tilted his head to the side and squinted. “Huh?”
This was always part of the spiel that confused the younger kids. “The first thing you need to learn about martial arts, is you need to respect everything. What you learn out on the mats isn’t about kicking butt or being a ninja, but it’s about respecting yourself and everything around you.”
Sam nodded. “I think I can do that.”
“All right. That was your first karate lesson.”
“Now can we go on the mats?”
I nodded my head. “We can. But first, we bow to show respect, okay?”
“Like on stage?”
“Exactly like that.” Sam was one smart kid. “So, just put your arms flat to your side, and bend at the waist.”
“Like that?” he asked. He bent over and turned his head toward me.
“Right on, little dude. Now, run out on the mat.”
“It’s squishy,” he called as he ran around in circles.
I bowed onto the mat and stood in the center while Sam did circles around me. “That’s so if you fall, it won’t hurt.”
Sam skidded to a stop. “We’re going to fall?” he asked, scared.
“Today, we’re not. But if you decide to keep learning karate, you will learn how to fall, so you don’t hurt yourself.”
“I think I’ll just be so good I won’t ever fall.”
Wasn’t that everyone's wish? “Well, I think that’s a good goal.”
“Cool. I’ll be Sam, the ninja who never falls.” He pumped his fist in the air and continued running around.
I gave him a couple more seconds to be silly, then called his name.
“Yeah?” he replied.
“Stand in front of the mirror, and let’s talk for a second.”
He ran to the mirror and looked over his shoulder at me. “Is it gonna be a ninja talk?”
I strode over to the mirror and stood in front of him. “It definitely is. First, I am Sir or Mr. Roman when we are out on these mats, okay? So when I called your name, you should have said ‘yes, Sir.’ Does that make sense?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Yes, Sir,” I corrected him.
“You don’t need to call me sir.” He beamed a wonky smile up at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“No, I mean you should have replied ‘yes, Sir’ when I asked if you understood.”
“Oh. Gotcha. Can we try that again?”
“Do you understand?” I repeated.
“Yes, Sir!”
“Perfect, and I love the enthusiasm. Are you ready to start your ninja training, Sam?”
“Yes, Sir!”
The kid really picked things up fast. If he did decide to take up karate, he was going to be one step ahead of the other kids just starting out. “Do you know how to do jumping jacks?”
He nodded. “Perfect. Let me see you do ten jumping jacks. I’ll count out loud for you, okay?”
He jumped up and down, clapping his hands over his head, and called out the numbers right along with me. “That was some good counting, Sam.”
“Thanks. My Nana Mary goes over my numbers with me when I go over there. I can count all the way to twenty.”
Now that was impressive. I wasn’t sure exactly where a four-year-old should be counting, but I figured twenty was damn good. “Now, sit on your butt.” He plopped down on the mat and looked up at me. “Now spread them apart and try to reach your toes.”
Sam grunted as he touched his toes and smiled. “This ninja stuff is easy.”
“You may just be a natural, little dude. Although, we’re about to get into the tough stuff.”
Sam jumped up, and we played a game of Sensei Says. Basically, Simon Says, except you had to make sure I said “Sensei Says.” He made it five moves before he messed up. “Oh man.”
“It’s okay, bud. Try again, and this time, make sure you only do what I say if I say ‘Sensei Says,’ okay?”
He nodded. “Let’s do this!”
This time, he made it all the way to the time where I start saying the directions real fast and touched his nose when I didn’t say “Sensei Says.”
“Good job, bud! That was pretty good for only your second time!” I high-fived him, and he jumped up to slap his hand against mine.
“Now can I kick something?”
I laughed and pointed to the punching bag on the other side of the room. “I think maybe we can work on a little bit of a combo if you are up to it.”
“Yes!”
I maneuvered the punching bag to the middle of the room and told Sam to stand in front of it. “Now, this combo is called Yankee.”
“Why is it called that?”
This was the part with little kids that drove me crazy because they asked questions I didn’t know how to answer without giving a long, drawn out answer they weren’t going understand. “Because that is just the name that was given to this combo.” Thankfully, that answer pacified him enough, and he didn’t ask again. “Now, I want you to punch with this hand.” I pointed to the right hand.
He punched wildly at the bag and barely touched it.
“Good try, bud. Now, I want you to take your time, and take one step closer to the bag. Right now, we aren’t worried about being fast.”
He stepped forward, balled up his fist, and swung at the bag.
“I did it!” he exclaimed after his fist firmly connected with the bag.
I high-fived him. “You sure did. Now let’s have you do it again, and this time, keep your other hand in front of your face. This way your face is protected.”
He nodded and put both of his fists in front of his face. He swung his right arm and kept his left in front of his face.
“That was perfect, Sam. Now, when you are done punching with this hand, then do the same with your other hand.” I stood next to him and mimicked his stance. “Like this.” I squared up with the bag, put my fists up, and did a quick left, right combo, rocking the punching bag back with the force of my hits.
“Holy cow, sir! You moved the bag,” he said in awe.
“I sure did. Now, let me see you try again. Remember, take your time.”
Sam shuffled closer to the bag and took a deep breath. “Here goes,” he whispered. He smacked the bag with his right hand, then quickly put his fist back up to his face, and then punched with his left hand. “Whoa!” The bag didn’t rock backward, but he hit the bag hard.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about, little dude. You took your time, and you hit the bag perfectly.”
“This is awesome! I can’t wait to show my friends.”
“Whoa, there little dude. I knew I forgot a little something during out ninja talk.”
Sam dropped his arms to his sides and sighed. “Oh man, does that mean we are done punching?”
“For a second. Sit down for a second.” He dropped to his butt, and I sat down next to him. “So, everything you learn here, you can’t do with your friends.”
“Why?”
“Because the things we teach you, you only use when you have no other choice. You can’t kick and punch your friends because you’ll hurt them and then you won’t have any friends anymore.”
“But what’s the fun of being a ninja then?”
“Being a ninja is more than kicking and punching. While those are things you learn, you can also learn how to use weapons, discipline, and control.”
“Go back to the weapons part,” he exclaimed.
I laughed and shook my head. “The weapons come in time, little dude. First, you need to learn the basics.”
“Then let’s do the basics.”
I shook my head. “I can’t teach you everything in one day, Sam. It took me three years to earn my black belt.”
“What’s a black belt?”
I spied my bag on the side of the mat and grabbed it. “This is a black belt,” I said as I pulled the belt out of the bag. “When you start karate, everyone starts as a white belt and then has to work through all of the belt colors before they get a black belt.”
He fingered the belt. “Hey, I can see white parts on this.”
I grabbed the belt and held it up. “That’s because all a black belt is a white belt that never gave up.” I stood up and tied the belt around my waist. The white parts he had pointed out before were where I tied the belt, rubbing the black off.
“So if I do karate for three years, I can be like you?”
I nodded my head. “You sure can, bud. We’ll start you in the kinder kickers for a year, then you’ll go to the little ninjas, and then you can start training for your black belt.”
“I thought you said it takes three years?”
“You can’t start training for your black belt until you are six. But, you can take classes to help you get ready.”
“But I’m still a ninja in training, right?” he asked.
“Most definitely!”
“Cool. Sign me up.”
“Heck yeah!”
Sam and I both looked up and saw Kellan and Molly walk out of the office.
“Oh crap. I guess I didn’t think this through,” Molly mumbled.
“This is awesome,” Kellan said. “I knew Sam was going to love karate once he tried.”
“I can’t wait to tell momma!”
“Oh crap. I have no idea what Sage is going to say about this,” Molly worried.
“Momma is going to love it! This way, I can protect her anytime she needs it.” Sam swung at the bag, hitting it squarely.
“Wow, Dante is going to be impressed.” Kellan bowed onto the mat and walked over to Sam and me. “Let me see you do that with a left, right, left.” Kellan stood behind the bag and nodded at Sam.
Sam swung, connecting with the first two punches, but missed on the third.
“Roman,” Molly hissed. I looked up, and she was motioning me over. “Come here.”
“You hang out with Mr. Kellan, okay, little dude?”
Sam smiled up at me and nodded. “I’ll show him everything you taught me.”
I bowed off of the mat and walked over to Molly. “What is it?” I was actually having a good time with Sam.
“Sage is going to kill me.”
“What, why? Did you get her pregnant, too?”
Molly’s eyes bugged out. “Shh,” she seethed. “Sam has no idea about the b-a-b-y.”
“I know, Molly. I was just joking.”
She rolled her eyes and continued on. “Sage is going to kill me because I don’t think she has the money to put Sam in karate.”
I waved my hand. “That’s not an issue.”
“It is an issue, Roman. That is a lot of money.”
I shook my head. “Sage won’t have to pay.”
“She’s not going to accept that, Roman. She wasn’t born yesterday. She knows karate isn’t free.”
“It’s not free. I’ll cover Sam’s tuition.”
“You do know Sage isn’t going to like that, right? She’s too proud to take a handout.”
“It’s not a handout,” I growled.
Molly huffed. “I can’t wait to see you tell Sage this.”
“There isn’t anything to tell.”
“You really underestimate Sage, don’t you?”
“Not at all. I just know Sam is a natural at karate, and I want to make sure he is able to do lessons.”
“You’re adding a huge wrench into Sage’s world with this, Roman.”
I shrugged and crossed my arms over my chest. “Pretty sure I threw in a wrench a month ago, so what’s another one?”
“Well then, you can drop Sam off to her later.”
“Wait, what? I didn’t say I would watch him all day. You volunteered for that.” Did I just get roped into babysitting Sam all day?
“You can hang out with us all day. After all, I’m pretty sure Sam is going to be a fixture in your life from now on.” Molly strutted over to the mat and awkwardly bowed. “Is it time to kick some butt?” she called.
Sam jumped up from the mat and ran over to Molly. “Mr. Roman said I can do karate!”
Molly high-fived him and looked over her shoulder at me. “He sure did. I can’t wait for him to tell your momma.” A smirk spread across her lips, and she threw a wink at me. “She’s going to be so happy.”
Molly and Kellan rolled around on the mats with Sam while I hung back and sat down behind the desk.
At the time, it seemed like an awesome idea to get Sam in karate, and I still believed it was a good idea, but I thought I should have gone about it a different way.
The way of including Sage in the decision.
I was an idiot.
*