The Cruiserweight (38 page)

“Brett wants to do it over the Christmas
holidays while his family’s visiting. By the way, while I have you
on the phone, what are you and Eddie doing for the
holidays?”

“Probably dinner at his father’s and the yearly
party at the paper. Why?”

“I was hoping you’d stand for me at my
wedding.”

Phoebe was elated.
“Me?”

“Unless you can think of someone
better.”

“I’d be honored! Thank you. Just stay in touch
when you get a date.”

“Sure I will.”

“How’s Autumn doing?” Phoebe asked.

“Growing like a weed. Hard to believe she’s
almost nine weeks old. I’m taking her Monday for her well baby
checkup.”

“Sounds like things are going great down
there.”

“I can’t complain.”

“Eddie said Brett got hurt at Monday’s taping.
He okay?”

“It’s just a sprained wrist. He won’t miss any
work time.”

“Thank God. It seems not long ago since he won
the TV Title.”

“The night Autumn was born,” Karen reminded
her.

“That’s going to be quite a story to tell your
daughter when she gets older,” Phoebe said.

“I know, and I don’t know who’s dying to tell
her first, though I think Brett has me beat.”

Noises from the baby monitor distracted Karen.
“Much as I hate to end this call, Autumn’s awake, and Brett’s due
home in a few hours. We need to chat more often. Do you still have
your Instant Messenger?”

“Yeah, and maybe I can zip you an email now and
then too.”

“Great idea. Talk to you soon!”

Karen hung up and retrieved the baby, noting it
was Autumn’s feeding time.
Quite a way to spend one of our
mother-daughter moments. Well, I may as well cherish these days
while I can. Before we know it, Brett and I will be planning
Autumn’s
wedding.

CHAPTER 74

On Sunday, Karen left early to shop and check
out the town’s sights. Between caring for Autumn, organizing
Brett‘s schedule, and developing her book, there hadn’t been much
time for Karen to explore her new surroundings since moving to
Orlando.

Brett was happy to offer her a little freedom
outside their home. He knew Autumn required attention, and he made
the effort to help when he could, which was why he offered Karen a
day to herself. Plus, Brett adored his baby daughter and doted on
her as often as he could.

He plopped a confused-looking Autumn in
Patrick’s lap. “Say hi to Papi Pat, Little Bit.”

Patrick raised an eyebrow. “You enjoy torturing
me, don’t you?”

“You’re
the one who said you wanted to
know your goddaughter better, so there’s your chance.” Brett handed
him a bottle and burp cloth. “Time to feed her. Karen left
instructions.”

“You want me to give your kid a
bottle?”

“It’s not difficult, dude. You saw me do it
dozens of times. Just read the note on the table. I’ll get us a
couple of beers.”

“I’m going to need more than a couple after
this.”

“Come on, man, you’ll do great. Besides, the
other beer is for me.”

“Should we even be drinking in front of the
baby? Won’t Karen bitch your ass out for that?”

“Karen isn’t here, and one beer won’t hurt
either of us.” Brett returned from the kitchen and sat beside
Patrick. “Hold up Little Bit’s bottle, remember?”

“Right. Don’t want to give her gas. How do you
manage this every day?”

“More Karen’s department than mine, but I read
the baby books she gave me.”

"My God, Kerrigan," Patrick said with a goofy
grin, "I’d swear your ovaries were tingling for another one of
these if I didn‘t know any better.”

“Oh, you’re hilarious, Sanchez-Garcia.” Brett
rolled his eyes and pulled the bottle from Autumn’s mouth. He
checked to make sure Patrick hadn’t given her more than Karen
indicated in her note. “It’s burping time.”

Patrick was ready to hand over the baby. “Your
turn.”

“No, no, you’re seeing this all the way,
holmes.” Brett put the burp cloth on Patrick’s shoulder. “Remember,
quality time with the goddaughter.”

“Fine, I’ll burp her.”

It was Brett‘s turn to grin. “That’s the
spirit.”

The room went quiet as Patrick patted Autumn’s
back for several minutes.

“See? Is that hard?” Brett asked.

Autumn let out a loud belch.

Patrick jumped and made a face. “Jesus Christ,
Kerrigan, your kid almost shattered my eardrum!”

“Told you she was Daddy’s girl.”

Patrick gave Autumn the bottle’s remaining
contents before he burped her a second time. “Man, this girl can
eat. She really does take after you.” He held up the empty bottle
for Brett to look. “She sucked it dry!”

“Yep, that’s about all babies do around that
age. Eat, sleep, and shit. Want another beer for a job well
done?”

“Thanks, I think I will.”

While Brett was in the kitchen retrieving the
beers and some snacks for the two of them, he heard Patrick cry
out.

He rushed back into the living room. “What’s
wrong? Is Little Bit okay?”

“Your daughter just smiled at me!”

“Dude, you’d smile too if you farted. It’s gas.
Don’t get excited.”

“I’m telling you, this baby
smiled.”

“Maybe I should cut off your beer.”

“We only had
one
can. Look! Get your
camera phone, man; she’s doing it again!”

Brett’s eyes widened and he grabbed his phone.
“Holy shit, Karen should be here for this!”

“Hurry up, get some video.”

“Got it. Come on, Little Bit. Give Daddy
another smile.”

“This is so cool, man,” Patrick said. “We got
to see your kid smile.”

“Yeah, but Karen’s going to be disappointed
that she missed it.”

“You got the video for her, right?”

“Sure, but it won’t be the same as her seeing
it in person. Damn, of all days I offered her some alone
time.”

“Well, you didn’t know little cutie here was
going to reach a milestone.”

“Little cutie? Does this mean you’re finally
warming up to her?”

Patrick nodded and grinned. “You know what? If
we visit enough back and forth, I could get used to
this.”

*****

“Her
first
smile? The baby smiled, and I
missed it?” Karen went over to pick up the baby. As if she knew
what was happening, Autumn gave her mother a toothless
grin.

“Look at my pretty girl. Oh, sweetie, Mommy’s
sorry she wasn’t here.”

“Don’t worry, we got it all on video,” Brett
replied. “She was probably laughing at Pat’s funny
face.”

“He’s just jealous because his own kid smiled
at
me
first,” Patrick said.

“Then you can entertain her for a while longer
while I start dinner,” Karen said when she placed Autumn on his
lap.

“Cool.”

“Sounds like someone’s warming up to his
goddaughter.”

“Oh, yeah,” Brett replied. “We spent all
afternoon with her. So did you enjoy your shopping trip? I see you
hid something in your locked closet. Already starting on
Christmas?”

“No. I found a dress for the wedding. While I
was out, I also chose one for Autumn. Of course, she’ll grow
between now and then, so it’ll be altered in the
process.”

Brett pouted. “I can’t have a peek?”

“It’s bad luck to see a bride’s dress before
the wedding.” She pulled a pan of lasagna she’d baked earlier in
the week from the freezer. “Lasagna good?”

“You made lasagna this week? I think I died and
went to heaven.”

Karen turned on the oven and slid in the pan.
“Glad you approve.”

"What the hell was that noise, and what
stinks?" Brett asked. “Doesn’t smell like lasagna. Dude, did you
let one rip?"

“No," Patrick replied. "It’s the baby. I think
she loaded her diaper.”

"That’s nice," Karen said. "Blame the baby.
Next you’ll blame your flatulence on the cat.”

“He’s tried that trick too. Pat, I know when
you’ve farted, man. I can identify your bombs when I smell them,”
Brett said.

"It’s
Autumn,"
Patrick replied. He lay
the baby on a changing pad and opened her diaper.
“Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesus!
What the fuck are you two feeding
her?"

“Patrick Michael Sanchez-Garcia,” Karen said in
a sharp tone. “Language.”

“Sorry. Seriously, what crawled in this kid and
died?”

“Baby formula,” Brett said, and took over
changing his daughter. “You make a federal case out of
everything.”

He was just about to place the fresh diaper
under Autumn’s bottom when she began to pee on the changing table.
“Aw, now, come on, Little Bit. Why didn’t you finish when you had
on the dirty diaper?”

Patrick started laughing.

Brett glared at him. “Say one word, and I’ll
slit your throat tonight while you’re sleeping.”

Autumn let out a little giggle. "You think
that’s funny, huh?" He smiled. You’re lucky Daddy loves his Little
Bit so much.”

“What happened?" Karen asked, standing in the
doorway. She’d heard them from the kitchen and decided to check on
the commotion.

"She pissed everywhere," Patrick replied,
howling.

“Well, you can stop being a butt and help him
clean up the mess,” Karen said, handing him cleaning supplies.
“Dinner’s almost ready.”

CHAPTER 75

Brett was off the following week since there
weren’t any house shows or a TV taping scheduled, and if he wasn’t
already occupied with Patrick the previous weekend and then his
mother coming to town, he’d been annoyed that he wasn’t included on
the next pay-per-view’s card.

“Why are we here?” he asked while watching
Pilar searched through a rack of suits during their visit to a
men’s store. “I don’t see you dragging Nick to do this kind of
bullshit.”

“You do remember you wedding’s in six weeks and
you don’t have a suit, correct?”

“Yeah, Ma, but everything’s either too big or
too long for me in this store.”

“That’s why they made tailors, and Nick had a
few errands to run for me.”

A salesperson who appeared to be in her early
seventies spotted the pair. “Are you looking for something
special?”

“Yes,” Pilar answered. “This is my son. We were
trying to find an appropriate suit for him to wear for a
wedding.”

The salesperson studied Brett. “Oh, aren’t you
a cute little man. Aren’t you a bit young to be thinking about
weddings?”

Brett glared at his mother and gave a low growl
under his breath.

“Don’t be a grouch, Brett Donald,” Pilar said.
“Let the lady help us find something.”

“Ma, I’m telling you, there’s nothing
here.”

“You’re not in a position to decide
that.”

Rule number one. Never try to
reason with Ma, even though I know I’m right.

They went through several more racks. Brett
rolled his eyes, groaned, and sighed the entire time, which only
received responding glares from Pilar. After what seems to be the
hundredth trip to a fitting room, Brett came out in yet another
suit.

"I think we found one, honey!” she said,
excited.

“Please say you’re kidding,” Brett replied.
“The sleeves on this jacket are like a mile too long and I can swim
in the fucking pants legs.”

“Watch your mouth. Celia says there’s a tailor
service in the store for no additional charge.”

“Black? Ma, I’m getting
married,
not
buried.”

"A wonderful tie and the perfect white shirt
will make you such a handsome groom. Really, though, what do you
think?" Pilar asked, turning him around in front of a
mirror.

“I look like a kid dressed in his dad’s
clothes.”

"Karen won‘t be able to keep her eyes off of
you once it‘s altered. That settles it; we have your perfect
wedding suit.” Pilar pulled out her credit card.

“What are you doing? I can pay for my own
suit.”

“Of course, but this is my treat.”

“Ma, I’m not twelve.”

Pilar kissed his cheek. “I know. You, your
sister, and your brother grew up so fast.”

Brett sighed. “Fine, but at least let me pay
for lunch.”

“I think that’s the best thing I’ve heard you
say all afternoon.”

*****

“How was shopping with your mother?” Karen
asked when Brett returned later in the day.