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 benefit 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 Fritz had thrown. 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 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. Thankfully, we didn’t get around to sparring. My ribs and stomach were sore from boxing.
Cassidy and Coach Hope took Brook home. I stayed 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 begin with. We would worry about putting together sentences once I had some basic 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 traveled 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’s 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. Pam was the one who wanted a
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 an enormous 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 they kicked me out. I walked 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.
