Born for This

Time seemed to slow down as punches were thrown in the ring. Emma sat anxiously in the front row with Keane on her lap as Brendan stood beside Paddy as a trainer. Tommy looked good, there was no doubt about it, but age wasn’t on his side anymore. His feet moved swiftly, dancing around his opponent but after his shoulder was broken, those arms didn’t move as fast.

Emma took a deep breath and shut her eyes for a moment. All the people surrounding her began screaming in joy as the floor began to shake. Time caught up as the brunette opened her eyes and saw her husband standing center ring, victorious. As he made way for his usual exit, not waiting around for any of the officials to greet him, Tommy felt his knees go weak.

Paddy and Brendan pushed their way through the media cloud around Tommy as they saw him sway slightly. A man beneath each arm, the three Riordan men made their way to the privacy of the locker room. Emma went unnoticed to the back entrance of the locker rooms. For the third time that night, time changed its pace. It was stuck on hyper speed as a man donning a white first-aid shirt flew past.

Tommy shut his eyes, the concerned look of his father being the last thing he saw. His breathing was even as the room suddenly felt cold. Beneath his closed eyes, a movie began rolling.

He was an angst-y teenager again.

The bells sounded, echoing in the empty hallway. Tommy threw his worn back pack over his shoulder and made his way to the changing rooms to get ready for the only good part of his day- physical education. From one end of the building to the other, most people stayed out of his way. There was the occasional head nod or girlish smile, but nothing more than that.

Tommy dropped his bag by the locker closest to the door and began pulling off his shirt. The door to the locker room swung open as he began digging for his gym shirt.

“Oh my gosh...”

A soft feminine voice caused Tommy to look up from his bag. Before him was a petite girl, most likely a freshman. Her eyes were shielded behind thick black frames. As Tommy raised an eyebrow, giving her the once over, he noticed a deep blush spread throughout her cheeks. It seemed like her body was frozen in fear.

“You uh, got the wrong locker room.” He grunted picking up his dropped shirt from the floor.

By the time he stood back up, all he saw was her mane of brown hair flowing behind her.

The scene changed as Tommy felt a pair of strong hands touching his face.

Tommy stared at the monkey suit hanging on the back of his door as he snuck out of his bedroom window. The five minute jog to his girlfriend’s house seemed to take a lot longer than usual. He sprinted as the tip of their room came into view.

Her mother answered the door with a camera in hand, “Thomas? Were is that suit your mother and I picked out?”

Tommy shook his head and stepped through the threshold. “Home.” He grunted, “Where’s Emma?”

Nancy pointed upstairs, “She’s in her bedroom getting ready.”

Skipping every few steps, Tommy flew up the stairs and took a long deep breath before opening the door to a room he so frequently snuck into at night. Emma stood before her mirror staring at her reflection in the floor length mirror beside her bed. Her long brown hair was all pulled over to one side and her thick rimmed glasses sat on her bedside table. Tommy held in a groan as his eyes took in how well her pale pink dress hugged her body like a glove.

Emma turned and gasped in shock, “Tommy? I didn’t even hear you come in. I guess I’m used to just having you throw yourself through my window.”

Tommy laughed half-heartedly and moved to her bed, sitting on the edge holding his hands out. The brunette felt her smile falter as she took Tommy’s hands in hers. He was in her room wearing gym clothes. “Tonight’s the night, isn’t it?” Her voice was soft, much like the first time they had met, “You can’t wait until tomorrow?”

He simply shook his head sadly.

A new voice entered the room. Tommy felt the presence of someone else standing over his body.

“How long does the box say it has to sit in this?” Emma asked walking into the kitchen with a small cup of yellow fluid in her hands.

Tommy looked up from his cereal with a look of disgust on his face, “Get that shit outta here, would you? We fucking eat in here.”

Emma sighed, “Just tell me how long, Tommy.” She put the cup on the table and watched it nearly tip over from the weight of five pregnancy tests sitting in it.

“Not until you move it. I don’t want your fucking piss in my food.” Tommy moved his bowl closer to the edge of the table and grabbed the box from the counter.

The brunette picked up the cup and held it over his bowl, laughing as her husband yelled out in frustration, “It’ s the most sterile thing you can drink. Don’t be such a baby and just tell me how long!”

Tommy squinted slightly and stared at the box, “Five minutes, now get the hell out of here.”

Emma smiled triumphantly and took her cup of pee back into the bathroom. The loft was relatively silent with the exception of whatever noise made its way through their open windows. Five minute became a lifetime.

“Babe?” Emma called out as she made her way back into the kitchen.

The fighter didn’t even look up from his newspaper. He grunted shoveling another spoonful of cereal in his mouth. Emma still had the cup in her hand as she stepped into the kitchen. Tommy swallowed his food and rolled his eyes, “I told you to keep that shit out of the kitchen.”

“Two lines.” She whispered, the corners of her lips pulling into a smile.

Tommy’s eyes dropped down to the box by his arm and saw the two line symbol. Beside it in all capital letters read PREGNANT

As his eyes fluttered open, a familiar face was staring straight over him. It was the woman that had eluded him during his wedding, just catching a glimpse of her before her body disappeared like a wisp of smoke.

“Mom?”