A Lasting Storm: Chapter 2

Jim graduated high school just a few months after learning about his impending fatherhood. Some saw him as a changed man. Others saw him as what he was, just a scared boy that was in over his head. Jayla saw him, more than anything, as her savior.

They were the lost ones in the world, suddenly trying to swim with the sharks and survive in the vast ocean of life compared to the small pond they knew so well. There was going to be no transition phase. Rights of passage like college parties, late nights, and youthful shenanigans no longer were in the plan.

Jim was alright with giving up the freedoms that young men so valued. A slower life, something more peaceful, fit him just fine. Jim had enjoyed more of life than most people. He'd enjoyed enough of life to satisfy ten people his age. Now, as scared as he was, he had a purpose.

That was what he was missing as a youth, a purpose. Life never made much sense to him. From an early age, he was a man torn between two different worlds, never knowing who he was or where he fits. Now that he had direction in his life, a reason for doing the things he must do each day, Jim was happier and more content than ever.

Jayla was the exact opposite of Jim. Yes, she'd lived some. Not as thoroughly as Jim had and lacked his patience. She missed being wild and free.

She was at 36 weeks and couldn't do much. Like most at that point, she was so much bigger than she used to be and didn't feel at all sexy or desirable. Jim was still doing well with showing affection, even in public. Her insecurities were getting the best of her.

She would go with Jim to the gym to walk the treadmill and get out of the house. While they saved up for a place of their own, they'd moved into his parent's house. It was temporary, but Jayla didn't want to be there any more than Jim.

Watching Jim in the weight room didn't help her self-confidence. She looked down at her bulbous belly and remembered how physical she and Jim once were. Being in shape helped her to snare Jim, or so she wanted to think. She missed looking like that.

Jim was changing, just not fast enough for Jayla. She wanted more from him than he had figured out how to give her. Jim hadn't realized his potential. Jim was still finding out who he was, albeit on an expedited timetable compared to the rest of his cohorts.

They'd been living with Jim's parents for a while. While they had everything they needed to stay safe, Jayla feared it would always be this hard. Worse yet, Jayla felt underappreciated. Since the news of the baby, Jim treated her differently.

It wasn't that long ago, just over a year, that Jim was the target of her youthful affections. She had seen Jim in a new light. They'd been friends for so long, but she was hearing more and more that Jim was the guy to go to when a problem needed solving.

Rumors about Jim left her curiously fascinated. Like other teenage girls, she was full of hormones and needs. As the two parted ways, Jim became popular with the ladies. Whether he knew it or not, they blabbed more about their conquests than the guys in the locker rooms.

She found herself not only plotting to convince Jim to help her with a problem, but Jayla also plotted to find out if what the other girls were saying was true. It was where the mess the two youngsters were in started, with a walk across the street to interrupt whatever Jim and his best friend were talking about.

Jayla strolled across, wearing a tight teeshirt and extremely short cut-off jeans. She had a smile on her face as she approached the boys. Fidgeting around a bit, pretending to be nervous, she waited until the boys stopped talking before she presented her question.

"What's up, guys?"

Kevin, Jim's friend, and Jim both said hi to Jayla. Kevin was the more annoying of Jim's friends, seldomly being something other than a jerk.

"So, princess, what's the score?" asked Kevin.

"How's the Navy? You gone full pier queer yet, or are you blowing your checks on Bangkok whores?"

She knew how to put Kevin in his place. Among the smartasses that were teenage guys, Jayla could swing with the best of them. She was quick-witted, funny, and brave. There were a lot of adjectives used to describe Jayla, used to describe the 80s and 90s tomboys.

"So, what's up?" asked Jim.

Jayla asked him, "What are you up to tonight?"

Jim worked at a club downtown. He was getting into security work, and as a tall, athletic, good-looking kid, the role of floor security suited him well. Jim had to work that night until midnight. Then he'd be home.

"How about you leave your bedroom window open? You can leave it unlocked, right?" she asked.

"Why?" Jim wondered as he looked confusingly at his oldest friend.

Jayla took his hand, stared at him with the blue-green eyes that made his heart race, and said, "I keep hearing a rumor about you. I want to find out for myself."

She gave him a peck on the cheek and skipped across the road toward home, leaving the two guys with their jaws agape. Almost two years later, she remembered the night well. What she learned she kept to herself, other than to share with friends that it had made her happy.

As she watched Jim working out, his tense muscles straining as he armed curled a bar with two giant plates, she looked down at her belly and wondered if he'd ever want her the way she wanted him that night. Shaking it off, she told herself to stop being so insecure. Jim was doing what he needed to do to stay in shape, to be able to push himself further, to be able to run longer than he'd been able to in the past.

They finished at the gym, and for the first time in seventeen days, he didn't have to work that night. She wanted to go to the mall and hang out. It felt silly sometimes because she was going to be a mom. But Jayla needed to have a little fun and be reminded that she was still a young woman.

Jim decided to take her to dinner and a movie. They wouldn't stay out as late as they once would, but that was alright. He started to see the wisdom in something his grandfather told him.

"Nothing good happens in the dark."

In retrospect, the old man's sage words of wisdom were the truth. Nothing that happened in the dark was a good thing.

Jayla didn't understand why Jim no longer enjoyed the long nights, parties, and youthful adventures to his liking.

Jim thought they had a great evening, ending with the two where he preferred to be. They were together, and that was all that mattered to Jim. He wanted to keep his unborn son and the mother of his child safe. He sought to make them happy and to be the man his father never was.

Jayla lay there, his arms around her, silently resenting him for his attitude and the changes she had seen come from Jim. She was full of resentment, but mostly at herself. A tear slowly trickled from her eye and landed on her pillow.

It was just after ten when Jayla felt something strange between her legs. Being what she thought was 36 weeks into her pregnancy, Jayla was alarmed. She nudged Jim's arm and woke him up.

"I think my water broke," she told him.

Jim took little time getting out of bed and into his clothes. The two headed to the hospital, Jim's father coming to wait in the waiting room. The kids appreciated the moral support. They didn't say it, but they were both scared.

When they arrived at the hospital, Jim and Jayla were escorted directly to the obstetrics wing. There was a brief wait until Jim could come into the room. When he did, he learned it was very early, and her water hadn't fully broken.

"What's that mean?" he asked.

"It means you're in for a long night," explained the nurse.

Jim wanted to sit with Jayla, but when she fell asleep, he went to sit with his father. The nurse knew he wasn't leaving. They promised if she woke up and asked for him to let him know.

By three in the morning Jim nodded off in the waiting room. It wasn't until seven that the nurses came to look for him. It was time. The nine month odesey was about to come to an end. No longer would he be a pending father. He was about to become a dad.

"I'll be right here, son." Jim's father told him.

Moving with urgency, Jim went where he could scrub up and put on a gown. When he finished, the nurse escorted him into the delivery room.

"Are you alright?" he asked Jayla, putting his hand out to hold hers.

"Honestly," she told him, I was asleep until about twenty minutes ago.

"You're doing fine," said one of the nurses as the doctor entered the room.

"Well, kids, let's see what you've made here."

Jim expected this to be the longest day of his life. There had been books, lamaze class, videos, and trips to the doctor's office with Jayla. Now, here they were at the beginning of labor. It all felt like a dream. None of their fears came to pass, as it was over in less time than it took to get themselves into the situation.

Jim remembered walking into the room at ten minutes after seven. At seven-thirty-three they handed him a healthy baby boy. As Jim looked down into the face of the little human he was holding, telling the newborn he was his father, the nurses in the room stood around smiling. Jayla lay there, slightly exhausted but relieved that it was over quickly.

"That didn't take anywhere near as long as we were afraid it would," she sighed, putting her hand on Jim's leg.

"The good part is, I won't need to put a stitch in," said the doctor.

The kids were parents now, and it slowly dawned on Jayla as she stared at Jim holding their son. She knew that everything was different now. Jayla was uncertain of her feelings.

When Jim handed her the baby, she didn't feel the expecte joy of motherhood. She looked at the baby and loved him but immediately feared something was missing. As she cuddled the little one in her arms, small tears running down her cheeks, she heard Jim talking.

"Are you alright," he asked.

She lied. "I'm just happy."

A nurse assured him that the hormones in a woman right after giving birth were the equivalent of being on a roller coaster ride. She cracked jokes about her husband bringing an exorcist into the room. Not during the delivery but in the recovery room that night.

"He swore I started speaking in a gutteral tone, like a man who'd smoked far too much and who's voice was full of deep bass sounds."

Jim hugged his new family, asking one of the nurses for a favor. He had brought in a small camera. He wanted the nurse to take a picture of them. Jim told Jayla, so our son will know that we were both here, together, and loved him from the moment we saw him.

"Girl, you better keep this one," the nurse told Jayla as she positioned herself to take the photo.

"I love you so much," he told Jayla. "I promise, no matter what, I'm going to always be here for our boy."

Jayla looked at him and for the first time, sensed the level of commitment Jim was capable of. Something about it scared her. She'd never known someone that comitted. Looking in his eyes, she knew he'd always take care of the child, that he'd always love him. But did she love Jim the way he loved them?