EJ
“So,” I ask Jericho as the two of us stand outside his food truck talking to one another. It’s time for us to get our ducks in a row so that we know who all will be going with us. “Did you ask the wife if she was down for the ski trip?”
“Yeah, I mean we’re all good to go for it. Are y’all excited?”
“Bri’s got it all planned out. It’s gonna be nice to get out of town and figure out what we can do without thinking everyone’s on our backs. Wondering when the injunction will lift. The fans are getting pissed. Which, who can blame them? They can’t buy the album; they can’t do anything. More than anything, they want us to make a statement, but we can’t because of the injunction. It’s like we’re getting hit from all sides with this.”
“I have to say, I’m looking extremely forward to not worrying about a damn thing for two to three days. Although we don’t have a lot going on right now, we’re still on high alert when it comes to our phones. Every single time there’s a text or an email, both of us are grabbing them and seeing if it’s something about the injunction. It’s like we’re connected in a way we haven’t been connected before. It’s way more stressful than anything else has been. This is totally out of our control and we’re having a hard time with that.”
Jericho nods, probably understanding more than anyone else could. Owning his own business comes with a whole slew of issues no one else seems to get. “Same here. I have somebody coming to handle the food truck. Believe it or not, it’s the first time I’m leaving the business since I started it. We’ve found babysitters for the kids and I am excited to be nothing but a husband and a horny man for three days.”
I laugh as I listen to him, amused by the way he’s sounding like a teenager leaving with his girlfriend for the weekend. “You make it sound awful that you have kids.”
“It’s not awful. I love my kids, but they make it very hard to be intimate with their mother. You’ll see.” He shakes his head. “They’re needy and they have to be fed and looked after.” He laughs.
“Oh, so Bri’s spoken to Janica?” If he knows we’re thinking about kids, then he had to have heard it from her because I haven’t mentioned it yet.
“Yeah.” They were having a very open conversation at the house the other day. “Bri was asking a lot of questions. I didn’t have anything better to do so I eavesdropped. She was asking about pregnancy, how we got pregnant, how it was for Janica, obviously. Kids are on her mind hardcore right now.”
“Yeah.” I inhale deeply before exhaling. Putting this into words makes it real. “We’d decided to wait until the end of the month to see if we still want it or not, but now we’re in the injunction so Bri got her IUD taken out yesterday. I guess we’re gonna let go and let God so to speak.”
Jericho laughs. “I’ve never heard you say anything about God before.”
“Well, we don’t have the best relationship but, if it happens, it’ll be because it was meant to.”
Jericho smiles. “Yes, kids will change your life, but they’ll do other things too. They’ll make you love your wife in a way that you never thought you could love her. You’ll see her in a way you never thought you’d see her. She’ll see you differently too. The kids will drive you crazy, but you’ll love so much harder and so much deeper. As with everything that big, they’ll be a game-changer, no doubt. But you and your wife, you’ll be a team. That’s the coolest thing. One of you will have a cute little mini-me, but the two of you? Your love will mean that much more because it’ll be you against the world in a different way than it is right now. For what it’s worth, I think you and Bri will be amazing parents.”
What he’s just said hits me in a way I wasn’t prepared for. One of my peers telling me they think I’ll make a good dad? It means more than I thought it would. “Thanks, man. I really needed to hear that.”
“Well, if she was that nervous, I can only imagine how scared you are.”
“I admit; two things frighten me. That I’ll fuck a kid up and that RJ won’t be around for it.”
“He still doing stupid shit?” Jericho asks.
“You know he’s never going to stop.”
“We don’t know that,” Jericho points out. “Maybe one day he will and he’ll grow up. He’ll see there’s a lot of life to live.”
I can’t agree because my fear is that he won’t.
*****
“Babe, I’m home,” I yell as I come through the garage into the kitchen. “Where are you?”
“In here,” she yells back at me.
Judging from the nearness of her voice, she’s in the living room. “What’re you doing?” I take my shoes off in the mud room and then head on in.
“Welcome home.” She reaches up with her arms before wrapping them around my neck. “I have something for you.” She smiles brightly.
“Something for me?”
“It occurs to me.” She sits up, patting the couch next to her. “That you’ve done a lot for me. Everett, you always make it okay for me when I’m doubting myself or trying to figure out the next move to take. You might never say it, but I think there’s something you want that you won’t get yourself.”
“Oh yeah?” I scoot in, putting my arm around her neck. “What’s that?”
“I’m going to send you something, but you can’t look at it yet.”
“You know I’m not good with surprises,” I whine.
“You’re going to like this one, trust me.”
“Is it pictures of you naked?” I laugh, wagging my eyebrows at her.
“You wish.” She laughs right back. “But no, can you imagine if those got into the wrong hands? Don’t think I’ll ever surprise you with that, sorry to say.”
“A man can dream, right?”
“Those are big dreams, babe. But anyway, here ya go.” She picks her cell up, putting it super close to her face.
There’s a ding on my own phone telling me I have a text message.
“Before you look at this, I want you to know it’s small compared to what you’ve done for me and the happiness you provide me with every day, but it’s the one thing I could think of when I think of how happy you make me. Take a look at it.”
Quickly, I open up the text message and nearly melt as I see a puppy staring back at me. “Babe…”
“He’s yours. He’ll be ready to come home in four weeks. He’s going to go through some training before he gets to us too so it’ll be easier for us to be able to work with him. Depending on how long this injunction lasts, we might have had time to train him but, then again, we might not. I wanted to make sure he was taken care of. I know he won’t replace Havock for you, but I feel like whatever kid we’re blessed with should grow up with a dog like you did. It seems like a great way to be a kid.”
“I’m so excited.” I wrap my arms around her. “And you’re right, I never woulda bought this for myself.”
“As long as it makes you happy.”
“It does.” I grin back down at my phone. “He’ll be our first born.”
“And we’ll love him forever…”