"Would you get away from me?" I bat at Geni's hands, but she bats right back. She's driving me crazy, wanting to rub all over my belly today. "It's fucking annoying when you do that.""But I want to feel him move," she whines and moves in for the kill again. This time, I don't bother fighting her off. Whatever. If she wants to give me a belly massage, I'll let her. But if she even gets close enough when some pregnancy gas moves in, I'm not warning her in advance, nor am I holding it in. That'll teach her.Besides, waiting for my opportunity to crop dust her gives me the distraction I need. I love coming to games, but at thirty-weeks pregnant, it's not as fun anymore, even in the box, which I hate. But it's a better choice than in the stands these days. The chairs are uncomfortable; the noise is unbearable; and I've already thrown up once. We've only gotten through the first half so far. This is going to be a long game."Leave her alone, Geni." Quincy pushes her friend back into her se

My wife is such a good sport. But I always knew that. She's supportive and funny and takes no shit. She recognizes when people are hurting and lets their angry words roll off her back. She doesn't offend easily and can whip out one-liners with the best of them. But the one thing she absolutely hates is being the center of attention. Most people can't tell because of her love of makeup and short shorts and how she walks with an air of confidence. But I see it. I know she'd rather be behind the scenes than front and center. That's how she ended up with the job she has.It's also how we ended up having a "couples" baby shower. Tiffany thought if all the husbands came, it would take some of the heat off her and we could share the limelight. Instead, my dad has commandeered the back porch and turned it into the men's area. Needless to say, my teammates have all gravitated toward him and his stories of "playing football the real way - when ye used to fall down for an actual injury and not

"Holy shit!" Caleb exclaims, jumping out of his seat as he watches in disbelief. "Did you see that?"I should be excited. I should be jumping out of my office chair and cheering. Or at least wobbling out of my chair. A major league grand slam doesn't happen that often, and it came just when it looked like our beloved Astros were going to lose. That makes it even more exciting. For Caleb."I saw. That was cool.""Cool?" He furrows his brow. "Tiffany, they just tied up the game in the ninth.""I know, Caleb. I saw," I say grumpily and get back to my typing. I'm paying attention to the game; it's just easier for me to put in the major highlights of a story as they're happening, instead of hand writing it or trying to remember as I scroll through the video later.Caleb drops back into his chair, visibly frustrated by my bad mood. "Geez, you used to love this stuff. What's the matter with you?"My eyes snap up to his. "Besides being forty-plus weeks pregnant?"He looks at me like I've lost

When my mam stopped by my place at dinnertime, I thought she was dropping off more food for my wife. I took the opportunity to show her the nursery that was finally complete. Tiffany eventually decided the elephant theme was kind of cute, which made it easier to pick out paint colors and furniture for our former office space. I think it turned out great.Light gray walls with a white crib and matching dresser, a few stuffed animals and cardboard books ready for when he's old enough to play with them, and a white wooden rocking chair with grey and white striped cushions. It's calm and soothing and ready for my son to grow up in.My mam agreed it turned out nicely. Then she told me to grab Tiffany's hospital bag because it was time to bring that son into the world.Needless to say, my first instinct was to race out the front door for my car. It wasn't until I actually got to said car that I realized I didn't have the hospital bag. Or the car keys. Or even shoes. At that point, it made se

Another eight hours. Another one centimeter dilated. Almost. I may be rounding up out of my own feeling of desperation. This entire experience is not at all like I expected. Not that I knew what was supposed to happen. Sure, we'd taken a birthing class one Saturday, but that was months ago when our schedules allowed us both to be there. And it never told us what would happen if Tiffany's body refused to do what it should. At least Tiffany's sleeping now. About four hours after the Pitocin began, she started crying, saying she couldn't do it anymore. She'd been awake for almost twenty-four hours and had been in some form of labor for over half of it. Plus, once the drugs kicked in, her contractions went from being painful to downright excruciating. It didn't take much convincing for her to finally decide to have the epidural. But it did take my Mam physically moving me out of the way to help her through all her fears - fear of a needle in her spine, fear of the drugs hurting the baby,