25. Drew
APRIL
“Are you asleep, Drew?” Pretty asked, nudging my head.
“No, baby,” I muttered with my mouth pressed against her belly.
She rubbed my head and played with the shell of my ear. I had been watching sports highlights in bed before I dozed off with my head resting against her belly. She was reading a book entitled Dove by an author named Egypt Cynaé. It was a perfect, cozy Sunday, and we had been resting in bed all day.
The week before had been busy with her first art gallery opening, and I had been hiring staff for the sports camps I wanted to conduct. It seemed that we had been constantly on the go, and we were thankful for this little bit of downtime.
“I’m hungry, and I don’t feel like cooking.”
“Baby, you don’t have to cook,” I replied, shifting and turning around to face her. My face was still resting on her belly. I had not only been watching TV when I dozed, but I had also been talking to my son in her belly.
“We can order in? I don’t feel like going out either.”
“I told you that you don’t have to go anywhere, babe. What do you want to eat?”
“You already know the answer to that,” she replied with a giggle.
“Let me order you something from the Fiesta Bowl,” I stated, sitting up and grabbing my phone off the nightstand.
I went to the DoorDash app and pulled up the Mexican restaurant that my wife loved.
“I want two chicken chimichangas, three enchiladas, a steak taco, and an order of churros.”
“Is that it?” I asked.
“You think I should order more? You’re probably right. I know that I’ll get hungry later.”
I chuckled. “Pretty, baby, I was just teasing you.”
“Oh.” She looked sad.
“But you can have whatever your heart desires.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, baby.”
She tapped her chin for a few seconds. “No, that should be enough.”
“A’ight,” I replied, chuckling as I placed her order and added a nacho supreme for myself. I set the phone down on the nightstand and reclined on her again. “It should be here in twenty-five minutes.”
No sooner than I rested on her belly that I felt something move. I remained extremely still and held my breath, waiting for it to happen again. Within seconds, it happened back-to-back. “Babe?”
“Yes, baby. That was your son kicking.”
“For real?”
She giggled. “Wait. He just moved to the other side.”
I popped up, and Pretty grabbed my hand and placed it on the other side of her belly. My heart swelled with love and joy as I felt my little guy moving in my wife’s body. He was a little lump, but he was moving quickly.
“Hey, little man. I can feel you moving around in there. You’re not giving your mom a hard time, are you?” I asked.
“No, he’s not.” She laughed.
She had finally moved past the morning sickness. At six months pregnant, she was not only getting bigger, but she was starting to feel some discomfort at times as the baby grew. I was thankful that she didn’t get sick much anymore.
“I can’t wait to meet you, little guy. We’re gonna have so much fun. I’m going to teach you how to ride a bike, tie your shoes, run a ball, swim, play basketball . . . I’m gonna teach you all the shit.”
“Drew,” she warned.
“My bad, li’l man. Your mommy says that we’re not supposed to curse in front of you, because we don’t want you picking up that bad language either.”
“No, we don’t,” Pretty confirmed.
“I’m gonna take you to your first game. I’ll get you some season tickets with your Papas Coach and Yanis, and your uncles Maxime, Enzo, and Mael. You’ll be in the stands with them whenever Daddy has to work at the games. You think you’ll like that?”
“Whoa!” Pretty declared and wiggled a little.
He had kicked her hard and strong. “I think we’ve got ourselves a little kicker in there. Is that the position you wanna play, big boy?”
I lifted Pretty’s nightshirt and placed a kiss on her swollen belly. I rested my head there again, and she cupped the back of my head.
“I love you so much, Drew. I’m thankful that you’re here in my life and that you gave me this little bigheaded boy.”
“How you know he’s gonna have a big head?”
“Did you miss the ultrasounds that we’ve had, sir? You were right there with me. I know that you had to see that big old head.”
“All right, ease up on my boy.”
She giggled. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to take the two of you together.”
“Yeah, we’re gonna be hell on wheels.”
“Language, daddy.”
“My bad, li’l Drew.”
“Is that what you want to name him?”
She had suggested naming our son after me from the start, but I wasn’t sure.
I didn’t want him to ever feel pressured to walk in my footsteps.
I was a popular athlete, and I had lived a wild life.
That wasn’t a reputation that I wanted to bestow on him, and I didn’t want him to feel the pressure of living up to my legacy.
I wanted our son to do whatever it was he wanted to do.
“Yeah.”
“What made you finally settle into that decision?”
“I thought about it for a while, and I realized that just because I don’t want him carrying my football legacy, it doesn’t mean that he cannot carry the name.
He can still build his own path and his own legacy.
All I have to do is make sure that he’s clear on his life’s path.
I’ll let him know that my legacy and my dreams aren’t his responsibility, but I do want him to be Andrew Jennings too. ”
“Is that the second or junior?”
I chuckled. “Oh, you’re letting me choose that? Wasn’t it you who said that junior was country?”
She giggled and rubbed her belly. “Yes, baby, that was me. I still think it is, but I also think you should be able to have a junior. You can have what it is that makes your heart happy. After all, our son will carry on your bloodline, and that is a very important legacy that we don’t take lightly. ”
“You’re right.” I pushed up and kissed her lips slowly. “Andrew Jennings Jr. it is then.”
“I’ll just call him DJ, though. I’m not calling him junior.”
I chuckled and rubbed small circles on her belly. “That’s fair, babe.”
I stared at her for several long seconds before she asked, “What?”
“I’m the luckiest gahdamn man in the world. I didn’t do anything to deserve you.”
“You always came through. No matter what was going on, you happened to show up at the right time. I believe it was divine timing, but I appreciate you always being there.”
“I appreciate you allowing me to be there.”
I scooted closer to her and wrapped her in my arms. These days of being at home with my wife and relaxing in bed were the best ones ever. I couldn’t have imagined back in my football days that life could ever be this great. Life couldn’t possibly get any better than this.