Chapter 29: Babies

Monday May 11

Finals week! Just the whisper of that phrase caused the brightest of students to tremble. I sat at our lunch table and watched everyone lose their minds. I had never seen such stage fright since I was twelve, and had to piss off the back of my uncle's fishing boat, while everyone watched. This was ridiculous. We had all survived finals before. I didn't understand why everyone was suddenly freaked out. Being a man of action, I needed to solve this.

"You're all a bunch of wimps," I politely suggested.

Throwing hard garlic bread was not a helpful response to my offer of help. I had to give it to the lunch ladies. They somehow had turned garlic bread into inedible chunks of stinky rocks.

"Shut up, freak," Mike said.

"David can't help it he will get straight A's," Gina said. "He's the star quarterback."

My former friends all seemed to agree with her messed up logic. I tried to be helpful again.

"As Bill Shakespeare said, 'I must be cruel, only to be kind.' I think he meant you bunch of dumb asses are much ado about nothing. So if I have to kick your asses to get your heads on straight than that is what I will do. They are only tests of your knowledge. I watched most of you show up and at least pay partial attention to the droning of our teachers."

Where did they find these garlic missiles? Fuck that hurt. I decided a little tough love was needed. I had about thirty garlic rocks scattered around me. It was time this bunch found out what a varsity pitcher could do. I clocked Wolf in the back of the head and in rapid succession Jim, Jeff, Alan, Tim and Cassidy all got a little payback. Rewind! Did I say Cassidy? Fuuuuck!

Everyone froze as Cassidy realized she now had garlic butter in her hair. She slowly turned to see me jump out of my chair. Everything went like the Matrix in super slow motion. Cassidy screamed to get me, and everyone seemed to have a roll in their hand. Not just my table either. I mentally made a list of freshmen who would die later today. I did my best to dodge them. I actually did pretty well until I decided to chuck one at Mike. That was when Coach Hope entered the lunch room.

"Dawson!"

You have never seen a room full of little Angels innocently smiling at my predicament. I glared at them all and turned to Coach Hope.

"Sir, why is it always the guy who retaliates, who is the one who gets punished?" I complained.

Everyone started laughing, as Coach led me out into the hall. You could feel the mood change. Everyone seemed to have shifted their focus to having a little fun, which caused them to relax. I saw actual smiles as I was marched out. Coach looked me up and down. He could see garlic butter all over me. He just gave me a dirty look.

"Go take a shower and change clothes, you stink," he said as he walked away.

Today the only final I had was in PE. It was Ballroom Dancing. Our PE teacher wanted to see each of us show her thirty seconds of each dance we learned this year. She allowed us to pick our partner to do the dances with. I was a little irritated when all the girls wanted me to be their partner. The guys thought it was funny.

Then the guys went, with me dancing last of course. I didn't think it was fair the other guys all did theirs at the same time. I don't think we were being graded very hard. Our PE teacher seemed to be happy that there were guys in the class.

When it was my turn, I smiled when Dana joined me. She had been my partner for the talent show last year. She was one of the best dancers at Lincoln High. Our PE teacher decided to have some fun. She had a tape of music which flowed from one type of music to another. She started the music and called out what dance she wanted to see. We went through all the ballroom dances and then there was a pause. The music changed to stuff from this century and Dana and I just went for it.

I was twerking Dana when everyone joined us, even our PE teacher. We spent the last fifteen minutes just having fun. She announced that everyone received an 'A'. I hoped all my finals went that easily.

As I walked to my next class I received a text from Angie.

'Need your help now!'

'In school' I sent back.

'Baby!'

I tried to call Mom, Dad and Greg. Every attempt went to voicemail. Alan was in my next class.

"I think Angie is having her baby. Let my teachers know where I went," I said as I ran for the parking lot.

I made it to Greg and Angie's apartment in record time. I didn't care when I got there and just pulled in behind a couple of cars. I sprinted to their apartment and found the door locked. I pounded on the door and there was no answer. I had a key, so I used it. I found Angie slumped over holding her stomach as she had a contraction in the bathroom. There was a puddle of something. I was guessing her water broke.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Help me up. I'm having this baby."

She had trouble standing as another contraction hit her. Something was wrong. The contractions were coming too close together. I picked her up and rushed her to the Jeep.

"No, I'll mess up your seat," she whined.

"You want to have your baby at home?" I asked her.

She still could throw a punch to my arm. I took that punch as a no to my question. The hospital was only six blocks away. I pulled up at the emergency room entrance, and ran in.

"I need help!" A nurse looked over the reception desk.

"What's wrong?"

"Angie, she is having her baby and I think something is wrong. I need help," I repeated.

She rushed out with me and checked her as Angie had another contraction. I got really scared when she waved over some paramedics who were coming out the automatic doors. She said something which had them scurrying to get her out of the Jeep and onto a gurney. I was even more scared when they sprinted into the ER with her. I tried to run in with her, but they blocked me from going into the back.

I went to move my Jeep when I found blood in Angie's seat. I tried everyone again and Mom answered.

"Mom, something is wrong with Angie and the baby," I blurted out.

"What happened?" she asked me.

So I told her about the text messages, and trying to get a hold of everyone. I then told her about finding the blood in the Jeep. While I talked to Mom a doctor came out.

"We've stabilized your wife. She lost some blood, which caused her blood pressure to drop. We want to take her to surgery and do a Caesarian," he informed me.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Mom.

"Tell them to go ahead."

I just nodded. They needed me to sign a form. I didn't even think about being too young, so I signed the release form.

Greg, Mom and Dad all showed up about the same time. Luckily Mom had filled them in as to what was going on. Greg had been taking a final and had turned off his phone. Dad forgot his at home. I hadn't even thought about just calling the country club. Mom had sold a farm and had been in a bad cell area.

I became an uncle thirty minutes later. Nathan Edward Dawson was born at 4:35 p.m. He and Angie were doing fine. I missed the birth because I was put in charge of picking up Mac and Kyle at daycare. Greg had called ahead, so there weren't any problems with me picking up my niece and nephew.

They were bouncing off the wall when they saw Uncle David was there to pick them up. When we got to their apartment, Mac informed me they wanted a snack. I saw Angie had tangerines so I peeled them each one and removed the seeds.

While I had them occupied with their snacks, I went to the bathroom and cleaned up the mess.

I will admit that I might not be the best uncle. I fed them toaster waffles and pudding for dinner. They didn't seem to like any of my other suggestions. After dinner, we played for a while and then I got some blankets and we snuggled up in front of the couch and watched Finding Nemo.

Greg found us all asleep. I woke up when he picked up Mac and took her to bed. I picked up Kyle and joined him. We put them in their beds and then he joined me in the living room. When the door was closed he pulled me into a tight hug. I could tell he was emotional.

"Angie told me what you did. She said she felt dizzy and knew something wasn't right when the contractions started to come quickly. Thank you for coming and getting her. The doctor told me the placenta tore from the wall of her uterus causing some bleeding. I guess it is normal to have some, but this was more serious. I hate to think what might have happened."

"Do you have pictures?" I asked, trying to get his mind on what was important - his wife and new baby.

He wiped his eyes and got his phone out. I fell in love with the little guy at first sight. I could see the pride Greg had for his second son.

I stopped at a drug store and got boxes of fake bubble gum cigars with blue wrappers that announced that it was A Boy. I planned to hand them out at school tomorrow. I walked into the kitchen and gave a box to Dad and one to Mom. They could take them to work.

I then grabbed a bucket and rag to go clean my Jeep. Duke came out and helped me. I think his job was to make sure no squirrels invaded his territory. When I was done, I forwarded little Nathan's picture to everyone and posted it on my social media pages.

Tuesday May 12

I had one of my worst days in a long time. I had obviously left my brain at home today. It'd been a little over a week since I pissed off Coach Hope by knocking his son out. He was our substitute teacher for Coach Stevens. The lesson plan was to review for our Algebra II final. He had put an equation on the board and told us to find 'X'.

Me, in my infinite wisdom, I had decided I would rather study for my English Lit exam, which was next period. Everyone furiously worked out the answer. I think all teachers have a sixth sense as to who was paying attention and who wasn't. Normally I would be one of them who did listen. I think I may have counted on Coach Hope ignoring me. Wrong.

"David, you seem to be done. Come up to the board and show us how you found 'X'." Coach Hope challenged.

If he planned to embarrass me in front of the class, I would at least try and take a stab at the answer. I glanced over at Pam's sheet and she had 24 circled. Pam was a C student, so I wasn't confident she was right. Then I was inspired.

"Sir, could you repeat the question?" I asked.

"Please find X."

I looked at the equation. 37Y = 1/3x + 7

I knew 24 was not the right answer. I would have to get Pam into her study group before our test on Thursday. I felt my classmates' eyes drill into my back. I decided to go with my inspired idea. I walked up the board and circled X and stepped back.

Coach looked at me, at the board, then at me again. He then looked back at board and blinked.

"And," he prodded.

"You said to find X. It's right there," I answered.

I guess he no longer had a sense of humor, since he sent me to the office. I had to explain to the vice-principal why I was there. She at least found the humor in what I'd said. She agreed that technically I was right, and sent me to my English Lit final.

After school, I took Cassidy's spot, and ran sixty-minutes-of-hell, so she could study for finals. We had a small turnout, because it was finals week, but we decided to go ahead and hold the workout. I know I always was more focused after a good workout.

When I went home, I found my trusted hound was full of energy. Since I still had my workout clothes on, I took Duke for a run. He had started to get big. Dad told me he was about 80% grown. He was currently being a teenager and acted like a total goof half the time. I had gotten him a retractable leash so he could have some freedom while we ran. His stamina had also gotten much better. We did a quick mile run to bleed off some of his built up energy.

I took him up to my apartment and showered. Dad told me over the intercom that dinner was almost ready. Duke and I went to the kitchen to find Peggy Pratt helping my Dad cook. It reminded me of when we dated. I wondered what was going on.

It was amazing how we fell right back into our old patterns. Mom arrived just as we sat down to eat. She gave me a curious look and I just shrugged. I had no idea why Peggy was here. Ever since she started dating Mitch we had been friendly, but I had taken a step back to give them their space. She seemed happy, so I left it alone, even though I couldn't really stand the guy. It wasn't anything specific, just something about him rubbed me the wrong way. I had never delved into it very much, because it felt a lot like jealousy. To be honest, that was part of it; but, just because you think people are out to get you, doesn't mean it isn't so.

After dinner Peggy, Duke and I went to my apartment. I planned to study. Peggy had other plans. She sat down on the couch next to me and then pulled me into a kiss. I was so shocked I let her kiss me. I was ashamed to admit I was an active participant. Peggy had always been one of my favorite people to kiss. The thought of Mitch kept flashing in the back of my mind. I was about to stop her when she started to cry.

A guy's first reaction was to always try and fix something. Tami had pounded into me it might be better to let my first reaction pass. She explained I was a 'stupid boy' and I should let women decide what to do. Tami had said something about girls being smarter than boys when it came to things like this. I fell back on what any Dawson would do in this situation. I shut up and just comforted her. Peggy would tell me her story when she was ready.

"David, are you my friend?"

"Of course I am."

"No, I want you to really think about your answer before you say you are."

I really didn't know what she was getting at, but it was something big. My first thought was her parents were getting a divorce. Peggy had moved in with us for a week when things had gotten bad last fall. I wasn't sure what we would do if she needed to move in again. Greg and Angie planned to come home for the summer, and the extra bedrooms would be taken. I didn't see her living with me as a good option, especially if she was dating Mitch. I didn't think he would appreciate her sharing my bed, even if nothing happened. The bottom line was if she needed help, I would be there for her.

"There is nothing to think about. You and I were friends before we dated. Once we did I knew we would be friends for life. I'm here for you," I assured her.

"I want to believe you, because I need a friend right now."

I waited her out as she stared at me. I was not sure what she looked for, or what I should have done. Peggy buried her face into my chest and began to sob. I started to think this had nothing to do with her parents. I started to plan the demise of Mitch.

Peggy pulled her face away from my chest, and the look on her face made my heart break.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered.

My first instinct was to jump up and go track down Mitch. The only problem with my plan was that Peggy needed me. We didn't say anything for a long time. I just held her and let her cry it out.

Of course the whole time, I seethed about him not respecting her wishes. Peggy wanted to be a virgin on her wedding night. I admit I had a short-lived pang about being a gentleman and respecting her wishes, but thankfully it was momentary. I couldn't see Mitch forcing her to do anything. Peggy was stronger than that. If I found out he had forced her, he wouldn't survive the week without grievous bodily harm.

Peggy must have been exhausted, because she fell asleep in my arms. I was able to get her to let go of me so I could study. I still had finals. History was tomorrow and Suzanne had given me passages to reread. She had taken the class and remembered the types of things I would be tested on. I wanted them fresh in my mind for tomorrow.

After two hours her eyes fluttered open and she looked confused until she saw me.

"How long was I asleep?" she asked with a husky rasp you sometimes get when you just wake up.

I went to the refrigerator and found a bottle of water. She took a big swig and sat up.

"A couple of hours. You needed it."

"I really do need a good night's sleep. You mind if I stay here?" she asked.

"I don't mind, but you better tell your mom where you are. I don't need her hunting me down."

"You would be fine with my mom. For some reason she likes you. Now my dad," she left unsaid that he wasn't my biggest fan.

She called her mom and I could tell the conversation was tense. When she was done, she gave me a weak smile.

"Mitch has been looking for me. I blocked his calls," she said. "I'm going to go take a bath. Can I use one of your t-shirts?"

"You've never asked before. Why would tonight be any different?" I said as I reminded her of all the t-shirts she had taken in the past.

"It was different, then," she said obviously flustered.

"I know, but you are my friend. All my friends seem to take t-shirts. Why should you be any different?"

"Okay. I was just checking," she told me as she headed to the bedroom.

I grabbed Duke's leash. I didn't need him taking off. I let him do his thing and then went to find Mom and Dad. I told them what I knew, and asked for any advice they could give me.

"The only thing you can do is be there for her, right now. She needs someone she can count on," Dad began, and then he asked the big question. "If she asks, what advice are you going to give her?"

Surprisingly, our family had never talked about the pros and cons of abortion.

"I'm not sure I could advise her. If it was a perfect world I would side with having the baby. I'm not one of those who try to split hairs. I think it is obvious a baby is alive at conception. I also believe one size does not fit all. Peggy is of an age where having a baby could really affect her life."

"You didn't seem too worried about Angie," Mom said to play devil's advocate.

"Angie had a support system, Greg, who would stand up and give her baby a father, you and Dad, and me. I knew if it came down to it, we would raise the baby as our own. Peggy doesn't have the same assurances."

"Would you be willing to help?" Dad asked.

I laughed.

"As much as a friend can. I won't be there for the important things, though. Peggy will need to decide how she handles it with her family and Mitch. It's not my place to take over."

Mom got up and gave me a hug.

"I think my little boy is growing up. You can help, but you can't live her life. Ultimately, Peggy must decide what is right for her. She is lucky to have you as a friend."

Wednesday May 13

Peggy kissed me awake.

"Morning," I said.

"Can we talk?" she asked.

I looked at my clock, and it read: six o'clock. I really didn't have an excuse not to, so I nodded.

"First of all, I wanted to thank you for never pressuring me to go all the way. I can't really blame Mitch, because I allowed him to take my virginity. I knew after it happened it was a mistake. There is no greater evidence than what is growing in my belly."

"Have you told him?" I asked.

"You're the only person who knows."

"Are you two going out?"

"I plan on breaking it off. I've come to realize Mitch is not Mr. Forever – at least for me. I will not let myself be trapped into marrying him," Peggy confessed and then got a playful look as she nudged my ribs. "If you were older, I might try and trap you."

"Try a lot older," I suggested.

"I hear you. Having a baby right now was not in the plans," she said, and then looked off into space.

"Do you know what you are going to do?"

"I may have to get an abortion. My scholarship is for running cross country. If I can't do it because I am pregnant, I won't have the money to go to school."

"Can your parents help?"

"Not if I am in Arizona, and they are here."

"No, I meant financially?"

"Maybe, but I don't want to count on it. Dad has been a little flaky over the past year. Turning up pregnant might send him over the edge."

"If you decide to have the baby, you know I can help you with money for school, housing, and daycare, through Angie's charity. Mitch would also have responsibilities in helping financially. I know his family could afford to help."

"Thanks. Knowing you are there to help takes a lot of pressure off of me," she said as she hugged me. "I need to get home before my mom and dad kill me. I have a couple of finals, today that I might want to study for."

She got dressed and left. I had planned on going back to sleep, but some furry butt was awake and demanded to be let out of his crate.

As I walked up to the school I saw Mitch come marching towards me. He had bad news radiating from him. He must have figured out Peggy was with me last night, so I put my hands up to slow him down.

"We just talked," I told him.

Mitch took a swing at me. He had terrible technique and I easily ducked his punch. I sidestepped him and backed up towards the school. He made another run at me.

"Mitch, you're just going to get hurt," I tried one more time to reason with him.

I easily dodged him again. We were now drawing a crowd. I kept my hands up to fend him off. I also knew there were cameras recording everything. I didn't want to get suspended for fighting because of the school's zero tolerance rules. I wanted it to show I kept backing off.

Peggy came running out and stood in front of me.

"Mitch, stop this right now!" she yelled at him.

"I know what you did! I drove by his house last night and again early this morning!" he yelled at us.

This got everyone's attention. He looked like he planned to hit her, but he finally got control of himself and walked away. Peggy went with him to try and talk to him. He got in his car and drove away leaving her crying in the parking lot. I saw Pam go get her. I figured it was better if we weren't seen together after Mitch's declaration.

At lunch, Pam found me in the lunch line, as I tried to decide why I wasn't bringing my own lunch. They had some foul smelling greens which had been boiled to within an inch of their life. In the next trough was Spam loaf. Their meat loaf was bad enough, but to make it with Spam? The third trough was empty. It must have been better than the first two because it was gone. I guessed it was peanut butter and apples, again.

I shuddered when I saw Pam get the loaf option. The girl must have a death wish. She guided me to a table where we could have some privacy.

"Are you really going to eat that?" I asked.

"Why, do you want to trade?" she asked as she took a bite.

She made a face and then stole one of my apple slices. There was no use fighting her over it. I just chopped up another apple and gave it to her.

"How is Tracy doing?" I asked feeling guilty because I hadn't been to visit her.

"Much better, now that they have her medication fixed. You should go to her house for dinner some evening. She misses you."

"Maybe once finals are over. I miss her mom's cooking, and Tracy."

The conversation slowed down and we ate our apples. Pam finally decided to tell me why we were eating lunch together.

"Are you dating Peggy, again?"

"No, we are just friends."

"Why did she spend the night with you last night?"

"She has some problems in her personal life, and needed someone to talk to."

"Okay, I guess. What is going on with you and Harper?"

I had a feeling this was going somewhere I wasn't going to like.

"She is no longer my girlfriend, but we are still friends."

"What about the girl you took to Prom?"

"Sarah and I are friends. Did you want to ask about Mona?"

She blushed and looked at me for an answer.

"Friends. Is there a point to all this?" I asked.

"Tracy wanted to make it absolutely clear you were not in a relationship with anyone," Pam explained.

"I'm almost scared to ask this, but why?"

"Because Mike is dating Gina, Jeff is with Cassidy, Wolf is seeing April, Jim is going out with Emma. That leaves just you and Tim who are currently acceptable to all the girls and are not dating anyone."

"Does Tim need to be part of this conversation?" I asked, being a smartass.

"Please," Pam said.

I sent him a text. He came over and sat down.

"What's up, slut? I hear you are poaching girls who have boyfriends now," Tim teased me.

"Tell Gina I am coming after her next."

"I think Jeff is more worried you will be after Cassidy."

"Do I look like I have a death wish?" I asked Tim.

Pam cleared her throat.

"I think we are in trouble again," I informed Tim.

We both looked at Pam.

"You are both invited to Tracy's lake house this weekend."

"This sounds like fun. Tracy has a boat. We could go water skiing," I told Tim.

"You could bring your new toy," Tim said.

"Good call. My brother can't come and hog all the fun since he has the new baby."

"So you guys will come?" Pam asked.

We both nodded.

"Oh, and you can't tell anyone about it," Pam added.

We had visions of water sports all weekend. We even planned to bring our fishing poles. Tim agreed we should keep our trip quiet, because it meant more time on the Jet Water Board for each of us.

After school, Cassidy and I had rolled out a wrestling mat so we could spar. We had just gotten ready to have a little fun when Mitch came storming in.

"What did you do to Peggy?" he huffed.

"I listened to her."

"That couldn't have been all. She broke up with me."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said.

I must not have sounded sincere, because he wanted to punch me again.

"Before you get your ass kicked, why don't you watch Cassidy and me spar for a minute and then decide if you are man enough," I warned him.

Cassidy was intent on what Mitch and I had said, because she about shit when I tossed her on her ass. My little ninja recovered and we went at it furiously for a minute. I then turned to see Mitch try and sucker punch me. I ducked and Cassidy snatched his fist out of the air and used his momentum to toss him with serious intent. I jumped on him with as my knees pinned his shoulders to the ground. Mitch's eye went wide when he figured out I could hold him in place and turn his face into a punching bag.

"Please," he begged.

"Are you going to do right by her?" I asked.

"You know?"

"I know," I confirmed.

His face scrunched up, and he began to cry. My desire to kick his ass left me. I let Mitch up and he ran from the gym. Cassidy gave me a funny look.

"I can never get them to cry, just by talking to them."

I smiled at her.

"So the student becomes the teacher," I teased her.

I admit it. I had tears in my eyes two seconds later. She concluded her method was easier.

Friday May 15

Today was a half day. We would get our test scores and then be free for the summer. I was happy to report I had gotten straight A's again. The class rankings showed Jeff had edged Alan out of the top spot. Gina was fourth and I was fifth. Mike was now in the seventh spot. If I didn't take AP (Advanced Placement) classes, I would slip in the class rankings next year.

Coach Hope had sent me a message to meet him about this summer in his office, right after school. When I arrived, I was directed to the conference room. I found the coaching and training staff along with Tim, Jim and Alan.

"I'm sure we are all on the same page as far as wanting to win our second State Championship," Coach said to our nodding heads.

"I want to avoid a repeat of last year's fiasco, where we had in essence two separate teams. I think in a large part it was due to not working out as a team. I've made arrangements to have the facilities here open all summer. The school is going to pay us to be here to supervise your activities. I asked the training staff to join us to talk to you about strength and conditioning," with that, coach turned to meeting over to Jill.

"I was asked by Coach Hope to come up with strength and conditioning programs for everyone. Coach Stevens and the Strength Coach at State have helped design a program for each position's needs. I've also talked to Bo Harrington, David's Quarterback Coach, and he has helped me quite a bit.

"My plan is to use Monday and Tuesday to get the varsity started. The rest of the week will be for the JV and the freshmen coming in," Jill said and then sat down.

Coach Diamond stood up and went to the front.

"We are going to change the offense. David talked to the coaching staff at Kentucky and they had some interesting ideas. What it boils down to is the triple option run from the shotgun."

"How are we supposed to defend against that?" Tim asked.

"Exactly! This offense will take time to learn, but with these new tools, I think we can pick it up quickly. Speaking of which, Alan, show them what we have."