act five: nothing left to fear
It was August 7th, 2008. I remember that date well because... well, I mean, for God's sake, that was my son's birth date. Do I really need to explain why I remember that date well?
Earlier in the year, Champion and I had appeared together for the Plexies at NLCW. That was the first time Suki had appeared on television in a long time, too... and that was the first time the public was actually made aware of her pregnancy. I remember getting so much mail from fans and old friends, some upset that we'd not said anything but nevertheless excited for us, others practically demanding that we pay them a visit (note: very few fans demanded this, though there was one crudely written letter I suspect was just from Champion trying to mess with me) so they could see how Suki was coming along. In-general, everyone was incredibly excited for us, and we were being showered with support everywhere we went.
It was a good feeling, and I'd like to think it helped us through the nervousness that seems to come hand-in-hand with first-time parents. Of course, more than all that support, there was Chris and Georgina, two people who have grown so close to us in our lives that I honestly can't look to the future without seeing them there with us. Georgina and Suki had bonded greatly over the years and, well, Champ and I kept that same dynamic between the two of us that we always had.
I suddenly found myself spending more time with Chris throughout the pregnancy, more from his insistance to do so that my child wouldn't "inherit my massive forehead", which... you know, I'm still not entirely sure where he was going with that one. I always assumed-- you know what? Let me just stop before I confuse myself.
So, as I was saying, I found myself spending more time with Chris than usual because of the pregnancy. Chris claimed the whole forehead thing, but the real reason was likely because Georgina kept stealing Cesar and Suki away and the two of them were having days out preparing for the baby. Champ didn't like being bored and home alone so he decided to pester me, and since we were both retired and living things easy for the time, he felt like we needed to go on retired adventures.
"You're not staying retired forever, Percolator, I'm going to abuse this time while I can."
We traveled for awhile, going to different sports games and doing what the girls called "dad stuff" at the time. It was surreal to hear those words... the thought was weighing in on my mind really heavily, after-all. I was going to be a father in under a year's time, it was incredibly hard to process without getting light-headed at the notion. It got to the point that Champ started carrying smelling salts with him just to mess with me, though to be honest that act alone also helped keep me from letting myself get too dizzy with thoughts. I hated smelling salts, and Chris with smelling salts wasn't the most thrilling of circumstances to have to endure.
Champion gave me plenty of advice about parenthood, though... Cesar had given him enough experience to do so, after-all. It was crazy listening to him talk about it like it was nothing too stressful... everyone knew that parenthood was a struggle, and Champion had even admitted to me in the past that he had a hard time handling things with Cesar from time to time. Why he was talking about it so lightly made no sense to me at the time, but it makes a whole lot of sense now.
You see, to him, the struggles had been incredibly hard at the time, but with Georgina by his side they'd managed to make it through and, as time continued to pass on, they could look back at those stressful days and actually find happiness from them, because they knew that Cesar was worth it all to them.
Anything truly good in life has to be worked for to gain, after-all... and all their hard work with Cesar had made them both incredibly happy in the end.
He'd call me gay for saying this, but... honestly, what Champion did meant a lot to me. I was at a point in my life where I wasn't sure what to expect from my future, what to expect from this child, what to expect with parenthood in general... and he came in and helped guide me through it. He and Georgina both had an incredible impact on Suki and I throughout all those months, and as the nights passed with me and Suki lying in bed together, we'd talk about what those two were doing for us and how grateful we were to have them as our friends.
Their efforts made things a whole lot easier for the both of us when the day finally came for our son to enter the world, that's for certain. The month of August started off with uncertainty... Suki's due date was towards the end of July and when the baby hadn't came yet, we had to be ready for anything to happen. Champion and Georgina started looking for a sitter for Cesar to be on-notice during those days, so they could come with us when it was time to go.
August 6th came and the day passed fairly uneventfully, Suki and I spent most of it together either watching television, talking with each other, talking to Champ and Georgina, or talking with our family who just days before had arrived in-town and booked hotels so they, too, could be on-hand when the time came. As the night came the both of us felt like another day had passed and we'd have to wait and see how things would go tomorrow, wondering what the hell our kid was waiting for.
Apparently, he was waiting for us to let our guard down.
As we were getting dressed for bed I heard Suki give a startled yell and I immediately turned to see her standing in shock, just staring at me with her wide brown eyes. I opened my mouth to say something but she almost immediately cut me off with her shaky voice, a look of urgency mixed with excitement on her face.
"Dominic... my water just broke, we have to go now."
"... wait, wh--"
"NOW, DOMINIC!"
"Oh Jesus Christ."
I don't think I've ever moved so fast as I did at that moment. Keys, wallet and cell were on the nightstand and I scooped them into my pockets as quickly as possible. Suitcase was at the foot of the bed and I was immediately on it, throwing it on my shoulder and going over to Suki so she could lean on me for support. She grabbed at my pocket and managed to fumble the phone out from it, the two of us making our way through the house and towards the front as she dialed the hospital to let them know we were on our way.
As I helped her into the car and got our stuff in the back, Suki handed me the phone to get in-touch with Champion and Georgina next. Driving down the road that night, I felt the strangest mix of excitement, dread, nervousness and clarity flowing through my veins... like an adrenaline rush that made you go cold and and flash hot all at once. My fingers fumbled on the numbers of the phone, but I'd managed to find the speed-dial for Champion and from there it was just pressing "send" to get through.
It took us roughly twenty minutes to reach the hospital, with Champion and Georgina about ten minutes behind us. They were slowed down waiting on their sitter but once they hit the road, Champion apparently decided his car was something out of Star Wars and hit warp speed on the accelerator, tearing down the road to play catch-up.
I got in-touch with mine and Suki's families in the area as well, and they wound up arriving about ten to twenty minutes after Champ and Georgina got in. The room was all set up for Suki's arrival, the staff was professional and worked as fast as possible to get us in and help us through the process. I of course wasn't going to leave her side during the process, even if it was at the risk of the safety of my hands.
The hours of the night were passing incredibly slowly in the meantime, and as the doctor's continued to assure us that Suki's condition was just fine and that everything was going as well as it possibly could, the both of us were getting more and more anxious for the moment of truth to arrive. Midnight eventually passed and our baby was still getting ready to make his grande entrance into the world, taking his sweet time in the meanwhile. The doctors were predicting that the process would probably begin in a few more hours which, well... let's just say Suki wasn't exactly happy with them for that prediction.
They turned out to be right, which I'd guess is to be expected, as at around 3:30AM I finally heard the doctor's telling her that the baby was coming. It was finally time... the end of our first great challenge as parents was about to be over and the start of our next great challenge was about to begin.
As for the birth itself... I'll just say that there weren't any complications in the end. We were incredibly blessed that night, as with so much that can go wrong with the birth of a child... everything seemed to go incredibly well with ours. It wasn't a bloodless Hollywood birth by any means, mind you... no actual birth ever is. Still, for all the generally unpleasent moments of a child's birth, the aftermath of it was one of the most peaceful, serene, and surreal moments I've ever experienced.
With our son cleaned up and taken care of, the tired child laid in his mother's arms and I was right at her side, one hand gently stroking her face and the other hand at my side, wrapped up and still pulsing in pain from earlier.
Took awhile for that pain to fade, actually... but at least I was used to uncomfortable pain from my career alone at that point to be able to handle the pain of a freshly squeezed hand.
Stil, I was able to look past that pain to the point of actually ignoring it the moment that I saw my son's face. The world seemed to stand still for me, and as I stared at him I felt as if everything in my life, up to that point... it had all been for him all along. Suki was crying in her happiness and, I'll be honest, I wasn't all that far behind her. The little boy slept peacefully in her arms and at that moment, as I thought back over everything that had to be done just to have him here in front of us...
"You were worth it, little guy..." I heard Suki whisper, staring down at him as she said exactly what I was thinking at the time. It seemed to be more powerful coming from her, as i those words carried meaning that they could never carry had I been the one to say it. After-all, it was Suki who had to go through the pain and the struggle to see the reward of her work... and now that she had, she was able to forget that pain and focus only on the child she held in her arms.
"You were amazing, Suki."
"So were you sweety," she'd responded in a tired voice, turning her head towards me and kissing me gently before looking down at my wrapped up hand, chuckling softly, "How's your hand?
I smiled at her.
"Hurts, but it was worth it to be here. It was more than worth it to be here."
"Do you want to hold him?"
"Of course."
On that day... through all of the pain, the screaming, the tears and the hell that she had to go through, Suki did something that I doubt I'd ever have been able to handle. In those moments, I'd never felt so in love and so very proud of her... and the both of us knew that the child she was handing over for me to hold was going to be at the center of our collective world until the day we died.
What was more, on that day... I knew my days of retirement would soon come to an end.
I was going to be there right alongside Suki as we raised this child, and I was still going to get back with the NLCW to have more money come in for our family... but at that point, I suddenly knew what I'd had to do. I wasn't going to neglect my family, I wasn't going to throw myself back into the fray with the NLCW... I was going to take my time. I was going to become a free agent for them, and I was going to make sure that before anything else in the whole of the world, my family would come first for me no matter what.
On that day, when I held my newborn son in my arms... the entirety of the world had finally fallen within perfect perception for me.
For the longest time, I feared nothing in the ring but feared things going wrong in the world outside of it. I stayed vigilant and ready for whatever came my way. I never realized that fear wasn't something I had to put up with, I could believe that things would go fine and just stay ready for anything that came my way... after-all, I was a planner, right? I could do without the fear of the future, and instead anticipate it with open arms.
It wasn't until that day, however, that all of that had become clear to me: with them by my side... I had nothing left to fear.
Suki Minamoto, the angel who loves and encourages me, who believes in me and supports me through all of our hardships.
Ehno Pericolo, my child and my protector from the insanities of this world that surrounds me.
It's because of them that I fight forward, it's because of them that I believe in this future of mine now... and so long as I have that to fuel this fire inside of my heart, I know I won't be stopped in my dreaming. I know my story will not stray from the path that I've set it on.
More than anything, I know I'm ready for the challenges that wait for me along the way.