Chapter 23: Jacob Jeffrey Dawson

Monday April 11

I was given a picnic table to paint. Wolf showed it to me before school. They’d painted the top and seats orange and the supports blue like I’d asked. My idea was to paint our bulldog logo in the center of the table. Stacy said she would pencil it in for me; I just had to paint it. When we were done, Wolf would have the shop class seal it to protect the design.

I found Pam leaning against the wall in the hall, holding her back. She looked like she was ready to pop. The doctor had said she would have our baby either this week or the next.

“You need me to rub your back?” I asked.

She looked up and nodded. She made happy moaning noises as I massaged her lower back.

“This baby better come soon. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

“How’s our boy doing?”

“I think he’s trying to kick his way out,” she said. She grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand to her side so I could feel him kicking.

“Whoa, he’ll probably be a soccer player.”

“Or a swimmer,” Pam said.

One of the reasons Pam and Lacy had moved into their condo was because it had a pool. She planned to have our child in the water at an early age. She loved to swim, and I was sure our son would share that love.

We’d also hashed out what we were going to name him. She had a friend who had died named Jacob, Jake for short. His nickname had been ‘Otter’ because of his love of water. I added Jeffrey as a middle name to honor my best friend who had also died while swimming. We were torn as to whether we would call him J.J. or Jake. Pam also suggested we call him Ott, short for Otter. She said otters were fast, clever, lovable and sneaky. Her explanation put a smile on my face. Another suggestion was Coby or Jeb as a nickname for Jacob. I liked Jake, but Pam pointed out that Greg’s youngest was Nate. She was afraid they would get confused. I finally made the call: Coby.

Something we’d decided for sure was his last name would be Dawson and not hyphenated with Pam’s last name. I was willing to do it, but Pam was the one that decided he didn’t need two last names.

She and Peggy had finished preparing a bedroom for Little David and our son. We’d set up another bed in the kid’s playroom for when Pam spent the night. I’d also put together another crib in my apartment. I doubted they would let the boys spend the night with me, but was prepared if they did. Dad just shook his head at me. I don’t think he was telling me everything.

Today was my day to host another lunch-buddy table. I’d agreed to do it once a week. My other hosts were Johan, Jan, Zoe and Brit. I was happy to see that my table was a mix of people who I didn’t know very well and who didn’t hang out together. It was working out like we intended, in that people met each other and possibly found new friends.

Ms. Jaroslav, our guidance consoler, had given us techniques to facilitate as hosts. The goal was to get people talking to each other. The hard part was drawing out some of the more shy ones. Ms. Jaroslav planned to follow up with the participants and get feedback.

After baseball practice, I was at the dojo getting the crap beat out of me by Coach Hope. I think he liked teaching me to box. Actually, it was me learning to fight in tight confines where I couldn’t move. It forced me to stand toe-to-toe with Coach and punch. Cassidy had taught me to use my superior athletic skills to move so as to avoid most punches. When I’d been forced to face off with the boxer in the tight confines of the airplane, it had highlighted my need to be able to deal with tight quarters. I wouldn’t always be able to dance out of danger, as Coach Hope called it.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Coach Hope couldn’t run from me, either. He was a bull of a man and outweighed me by at least twenty pounds. One of the benefits of using a weighted Bo staff was it had strengthened my wrists and forearms. Combined with quickness, that translated into punching power. I’d watched Coach Hope walk right through punches thrown by Fritz. He’d learned quickly that I had more pop in my punches. The problem was that once he was in range, he could pound my body with devastating effect. It was the classic case of speed and jabbing ability against brute strength.

“Keep him off of you!” Fritz yelled as Coach Hope closed in on me again.

“Jab! Jab! ... Throw your hook!” Fritz coached.

The hook staggered Coach Hope, but he shook it off. Frick! He lunged forward and pounded my ribs. I grabbed him and pulled him into me so he couldn’t swing. They’d set up a much smaller ring so that I couldn’t really go side-to-side in it. If I’d had a full-sized ring, I could have used my reach and quickness to avoid Coach Hope.

“Break!” Fritz yelled and separated us.

Coach Hope stepped back but came at me again. I dug deep and put all my power into a left-right combination that surprised Coach Hope. He staggered back, and I jumped forward to deal out some of the pain he’d been handing me all afternoon.

“Break!” Fritz yelled.

“I had him,” I complained.

“The purpose of this is not to kill Coach Hope. It’s to learn how to punch your way out of a tight situation. I think you’ve earned an ass-kicking from Cassidy,” Fritz said.

She had a big grin on her face. Double Frick!

I met Cassidy on the mat, and she had me go through my forms. She was super-picky about my technique. I didn’t complain, because she was right. I was being a little sloppy and needed to focus. I was thankful we didn’t get around to sparring. My ribs and stomach were sore from boxing.

Cassidy and Coach Hope took Brook home. I was staying to start my Japanese classes. Caryn had called around, and Shiggy had agreed to teach me his native language. All I had to do was feed him and pay for his time. He took me to a little Italian restaurant, and he began his lessons while we ate.

He wanted me to start learning common words to start with. We would worry about putting together sentences once I had some basis of knowledge. I actually had a nice time working with him. I figured that if nothing else, I’d be able to order food when I went to Japan.

Tuesday April 12

My phone rang at 2:35 in the morning.

“David, it’s Lacy. Pam’s water has broken and I’m taking her to the hospital.”

“Thanks, I’ll see you there,” I said, and forced myself to get up.

I took a quick shower and took Duke to the house. I went to my parents’ room and knocked.

“Hey, I’m headed to the hospital. Pam is having the baby,” I said as I stuck my head in the door.

“Send us a text when she has it,” Dad said.

After Angie had her two, I guess Pam having another grandbaby wasn’t that big a deal. I let Duke in their room and he lay down next to their bed. It was too early even for him.

At the hospital, I found Pam in a room with Lacy.

“They say it’ll be a while,” Pam told me.

Boy, was that an understatement. Nine hours later, she had a healthy boy. Jacob Jeffrey Dawson was nine pounds six ounces, with blond hair and blue eyes that matched his mother’s.

Whoever decided that the father should be in the birthing room when the baby was born should’ve been shot. First, it gives the mother a target for all the pain she’s going through. She was the one that wanted a natural childbirth. By the time she figured out that having a baby was painful, it was too late for the epidural. Second, watching the whole process made me queasy and light-headed. I could never be a doctor. I was of the firm opinion that nothing that big should ever come out of that spot. How Pam, and for that matter any woman, survived that, I have no idea. Finally, their handing me a damp baby that was squalling about put me into shock. What the heck was I supposed to do?

Looking down into my son’s face was a life-changing moment. This crying little bundle was reliant on me. My eyes misted up, and I instantly understood that I would do absolutely anything for this little guy. I had a huge smile on my face when I introduced him to Pam.

“Coby, meet your mother,” I said, handing him to her.

“He has your nose and chin,” Pam said.

“He got your eyes and hair color. I think he got the best of both of us.”

“We did good,” Pam said.

We were both in awe of what we’d created. The nurses took him from us to do whatever they needed to do. The doctor had to do some minor repairs on Pam, so I was kicked out. I went out to the waiting room to find my parents, grandma, Lacy and Cal waiting. Cal was a surprise, but Mom had coached me not to make things more difficult. I told them all about Coby and what a perfect baby he was, ten fingers and ten toes.

Dad said they would take it from there. I needed to get to school, because I’d missed too much as it was. Mom and Dad were designated guardians of Coby and needed to do his birth certificate and some other paperwork.

I made it back in time for lunch to be almost over. I’d taken a couple of pictures so I could show my friends. Lily sent out a tweet with the news. Adrienne called me as soon as she got it.

“Remember our deal: no baby pictures released. I’ve got a bidding war going to see who gets them first.”

I wasn’t all that impressed until she told me how much money we were talking. Coby’s first picture would be enough to seriously help start his college fund. He was a bigger model than I was, if you calculated it on earnings per picture, and he was just hours old.

Oh ... Dear ... God! Did I just think that? I was seventeen and worried about college funds for my son.

Adrienne was getting on a plane with her favorite photographer, Jackie Chan, to take the first pictures. I bet that Tyler would be on the flight also. I told them we could put them up at the farm. My grandma had three extra bedrooms.

After school, I skipped baseball practice, with Moose’s blessing. I found Cal in the room, holding Coby, with Pam smiling. She got a worried look when I came in.

“Not thinking of absconding with our baby, are you?” I asked.

Cal got a tight smile on his face.

“I deserved that,” he admitted.

“Daddy was just leaving,” Pam said as a not-so-subtle hint to her father.

I took a deep breath.

“Look, you’re Coby’s grandfather. While I don’t like how you handled Pam’s pregnancy, I expect you will be around now and again. I don’t plan to prevent you seeing him unless there’s more unpleasantness. That includes you touching Pam again,” I said pointedly.

“I’m not here to cause trouble. I just wanted to see my grandson.”

Mom and Dad came in the room. Cal took one look at my mom and handed Coby to me.

“Thanks. I think I better get going,” Cal said.

Lacy, Grandma Dawson, Greg and Angie all came in to see Pam and the baby. It didn’t take long for a nurse to come and tell us we had to do this in shifts.

“When do you get out?” Greg asked.

“Thursday,” Pam said.

“Adrienne called. She’s gotten offers for a butt-load of money for the first picture. Enough for a good start on his college fund. Don’t post any until we can sell the first ones,” I warned everyone.

I smiled when Greg took Angie’s phone and deleted the picture she’d taken. It was a reminder that she wasn’t a Dawson. If Greg didn’t trust her, I wouldn’t either.

“We have little ones that have to go to college too,” Angie complained.

“They have an uncle who’ll help them out if need be,” Greg reminded her.

She gave me a weak smile. She was lucky I loved my niece and nephews. I needed to talk to Caryn to make sure college funds were set up for them. I would do the same for Little David, Peggy’s son. I already considered him mine anyway.

Coby got fussy. I checked his diaper. He hadn’t done that, so I handed him to Pam. We hadn’t talked about breastfeeding. Lacy stayed with her to show her what to do. We all left to give her privacy.

Greg and Angie went off and I could tell they were having a heated discussion. I wondered if they would survive. After she’d told Tami to not get involved with me, and then outed my dad, they’d had a rough patch. It didn’t help that she admitted she’d gotten pregnant with Kyle to get Greg to marry her.

I looked up and saw Devin and Cora Range. I’d forgotten Coby had an aunt and an uncle on Pam’s side of the family.

“There he is! I can’t wait to start spoiling my nephew,” Devin said.

“Careful, he’ll give him a gun or a motorbike,” Cora said.

“Over my dead body,” Mom said with a big smile. “It’s bad enough you try to kill this one. You’re not killing my grandbaby.”

Devin blushed. I wish I’d had an Uncle Devin when I was growing up. Then again, I’d probably have killed myself on a dirt bike.

Mom and Dad pulled me into an empty room. Neither of them seemed happy.

“How did Cal get into the room? Did you invite him?” Dad asked.

“He was there when I came in. Why, what’s the problem?”

“Remember that settlement we worked out in the fall? In it there was a ‘no contact’ provision between Cal and both Pam and Coby,” Dad said.

“What should we do about it?” I asked.

“Your dad is going to call Ms. Dixon and let her know he has violated the agreement. We’re not sure exactly what we should do, but at the very least we can’t allow him to have contact with no supervision,” Mom said.

“Until we get legal advice, just keep an eye out. The man made some threats that we certainly took seriously,” Dad said.

Putting my son up for adoption without Pam or my consent jumped to my mind. I knew that he was Pam’s father and Coby’s grandfather. I was sure that at some point Cal would see the light, or I hoped so. Then again, I would rather err on the side of caution, as far as the safety of my son was concerned.

Over the next few hours, the waiting room became packed. Beth and Suzanne both took time off from college to see my son. Of course, most of the cheer squad and football team made an appearance. Tracy had a little football jersey with ‘Dawson’ and the number eleven on it.

I was right. Adrienne and Tyler showed up with bags of upscale baby clothes. Bo Harrington even made an appearance, which meant a lot to me. He’d been on a recruiting trip and was close by. He and I’d become more than just coach and player over the past few years. He had an Alabama jersey and a football scholarship offer for Coby. I would have to frame them. He wasn’t even one day old, and he already had his first football offer from a top program.

I received congratulatory wishes from all over the country and even the UK, where Joyce Heart sent me a text.

Caryn and Adrienne put their heads together because everyone wanted to see pictures. Vanity Fair and People magazines had made the highest offers. Adrienne wanted to give it to People because it had a higher circulation. The plan was for Pam, Coby and I to have our pictures taken when everyone got out of the hospital. Pam and I talked to my parents, and we all agreed that the money would go to Coby in a trust that could be used for college or given to him once he turned 25. I would leave it to Ms. Dixon and my parents to figure out the details. Dad would control it until Coby became my responsibility.

Wednesday April 13

After the dojo practice, Shiggy surprised me and invited me to dinner at his house. I’d met his brother one other time, and he was there with his daughter. Akio was older than Shiggy and had come to America first. He’d set up a dojo in San Francisco originally. He and his daughter Hana had moved to Washington when she’d been accepted at State. Akio had opened a dojo in the neighboring town.

“Konnichiwa, David,” Akio said with a smile.

“‘Hello’ to you too, and I assume this is your daughter Hana,” I said.

“Yes. Shiggy told me that he’s teaching you Japanese. I understand that you plan a trip there this summer.”

“That’s what they tell me. My agent says I’m popular over there. I did an ad for sunglasses that went over very well.”

“You’re a major star,” Hana said, and then blushed and looked away.

“Well, I guess so. My agent says that Japanese companies are eager for me to do commercials. Shiggy is helping me learn Japanese so I can at least get around when I’m there.”

My stomach growled, which was amusing to Hana. She put her hand over her mouth and giggled.

“Why don’t we talk over dinner?” Shiggy suggested.

Hana hurried to the kitchen as we all sat down. Akio told me that Hana had made the meal. I was fascinated when she brought out small dishes of each item and placed them in front of each seat. There was a bowl of rice, a cup of miso soup, grilled red snapper, and pickled vegetables.

Shiggy explained that everything comes out at once during a normal Japanese meal. There were no appetizers, salads or soups before the main course. The hardest part was eating rice with chopsticks, but it was sticky enough that I finally figured it out. After we’d eaten, Hana served us hot tea.

“Shiggy tells me that you are respected and a man of honor,” Akio said.

I was confused as to where this was going. Shiggy bailed me out.

“What Akio is trying to get at is that I told him that I was teaching you Japanese. Hana asked if she could help, but normally that is not allowed. Hana reminded us that she’s more American than Japanese, which has her father worried.”

I nodded my understanding.

“Hana would also like to travel with you to Japan and serve as your interpreter. It would be an honor for her to help someone like you with our language,” Akio conceded.

Hana had sat nervously as her uncle and father offered me the proposal.

“Would it be a problem if she traveled to Japan with me alone?” I asked.

Both men looked at each other. This must be the hang-up. I could tell that Akio was having a hard time accommodating his daughter’s request. I would guess she was 18 or 19, but I got the impression that Japanese fathers were very protective of their daughters. I wondered what her mom would think of this.

“I understood that you normally have a chaperone travel with you,” Shiggy said.

“I’ll turn 18 that week. I’d planned to make the trip alone, but my manager might think otherwise,” I said.

“I would have to insist that there be someone else with you,” Akio said.

I could tell she didn’t like that. I looked at Hana, and she wasn’t hard on the eyes. I would probably need someone around to help me. I would rather hang out with a cute girl close to my age than with Shiggy. I’d thought about asking him to go with me.

“Okay. If Hana wants to go, I’ll make sure there’s a chaperone with us,” I said.

I was impressed she only had a little smile. Japanese girls were not like American girls.

I think I shocked her dad when I told her she had to contact Caryn and have a background check done. I knew Shiggy had to go through one when he volunteered to coach baseball. What I didn’t know was if Hana was here legally. If I ever went into politics, I didn’t need someone pointing a finger at me for hiring an illegal. I wasn’t really worried because if Akio was anything like Shiggy, every detail would have been taken care of.

Once she was hired, it was planned that she would be my tutor. Shiggy would work with me when I went to the dojo. Her teaching sessions would be done at Shiggy’s house. The bonus would be that she would introduce me to Japanese cuisine. Shiggy thought that was a great idea. I think he wanted home-cooked meals.

Uncle John had met with my ‘entourage’ as well as Halle, Zoe, Pam and Peggy while I’d been on vacation. He and Aunt Bonnie were at my house when I made it home. They’d been by the hospital to see Coby. I planned to go after dropping my books off.

“Just the man I wanted to see,” Uncle John said.

“I’m going to go see Pam and Coby. Why don’t you come with me?” I suggested.

He grabbed his jacket and drove me to the hospital.

“I wanted to talk to you about your friends. I sat down with each of them and helped them set their goals. They told me that you wanted to talk to them about achieving them.”

“I think I want to add a new goal: ‘Helping those close to me realize their dreams,’” I said.

“That sounds like a great goal as long as your help isn’t just financial,” Uncle John cautioned.

“Did you get a feel for what they want to be when they grow up?” I asked, trying to be smart.

“Some. I was a little surprised at the loyalty some of them have towards you.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“I used to do this for a living if you remember. Most people your age are busy finding themselves and their focus is on them. Now and then you’ll see someone become focused on another person, but that normally is part of their ‘winning strategy,’” Uncle John explained.

When I stayed with him the summer before high school to get my head on straight, he’d taught me much about life. One of them was the concept of strategies people used in life to win others over. If you paid attention, you could see what those strategies were. An example was the funny person who used humor to get people to like them. Another was the one that made themselves indispensable. They would solve all your problems for you in a quest to tie you to them. Others were bullies. They knew if they were a big enough jerk, they could get their way. Still others were teacher’s pets, and the list went on.

What Uncle John was talking about was the guy or girl who got their first girlfriend or boyfriend and then focused on them. They obsessed about what the other person was doing and how they could get them to like them more. While it sounds great to be on the receiving end at first, you quickly realize that they become clingy.

“So what are my friends focused on?” I asked.

“They’re still thinking in terms of ‘what’s in it for me?’ That attitude doesn’t really change for some people. Others begin to grow up when they have a life event and they realize they’re not the focus of the universe. A good example is you having Coby. I bet when you held him for the first time, he became a big part of your life’s focus. You might want to add a life goal: I would suggest ‘Being a good father.’”

I could see that.

“So what point did you want to make?” I asked to get him back on track.

We’d done this more than once, and he just smiled at me.

“Almost all your friends want to go to college with you. Tim and Wolf want to play ball with you. They both want to have you in their life even after football. That could also be said for Cassidy, Tracy, and Tami.”

“What about Alan, Halle, Pam, Peggy and Zoe?” I asked.

“I don’t want to give the plot away,” he teased. “I want to be with you when you sit down with them.”

“You worried I’ll mess this up?”

“No, I’m sure you’ll do fine. This is what I love to do, though. I think I can help you construct a plan for each of them, now that they’ve identified their goals. Why don’t I sit in on the first few and we help them figure out how to take those goals and turn them into reality. If you feel you can handle it from there, I’ll step back and let you take it,” Uncle John suggested.

We went in to see Pam and Coby and found Tracy was holding him when we walked in. It looked like Pam had just fed him, and Tracy was patting his back. I saw her problem before she even knew she had one.