Trip to the Beach

[JACK MANUEL ROCKWELL]

Rocky spit the sand from his mouth after he fell from his bungalow. Stryker had rolled him off, and had been bugging him all day to play fetch, but he'd been ignoring the dog's wishes, instead just scratching his ear and telling him "not now." This time, it looked like Stryker meant business.

"Christ," he muttered, wiping his mouth as he got up and sighed. "Fine boy," he told the mutt, scratching his ear again and this time taking the frisbee it had in its mouth. He threw the thing as hard as he could along the coastline, and the boxer gave chase. "Fetch!"

He watched a few seconds as the dog caught up to the frisbee, bit it in mid-air, and ran straight back to him. Rocky sighed again. Stryker had gotten so good at fetch, it wasn't fun to watch him anymore. It was like a wrestler bugging a teenage kid to arm wrestle -- in other words, overkill.

"You really should try another hobby," he said, kneeling down to get the frisbee and rub the dog's head. It licked his face in response. "Alright, try this one."

He threw it at a slightly wider angle and against the wind, causing the frisbee to boomerang and land much farther behind where the mutt expected it to be. That should confuse it for a full minute or so.

Rocky stretched, sitting down on the bungalow again, watching the sea. With Lizzie's birthday coming up soon, he knew he needed to plan something special. It was her first birthday, and something they all thought he wasn't every going to see, being dead and all for 11 months.

At any rate, he watched as Lia re-introduced Lizzie into the water, grinning slightly as the baby reacted as if it was her first time in the ocean. Of course this wasn't her first time; he had dipped her into the cold water when she was still just a few months old. He waved at them as Lia waved Lizzie's tiny little arms at him.

With a smile, he stood up, approaching the shore to join them, when a huge force hit him in the side and knocked him to the ground.

Stryker put the frisbee on his chest and licked his face.

[AMALIA ELIZABETH ROCKWELL]

Time had passed so quickly since she’d discovered the pregnancy, it was as though one moment she was freaking out the next she was about ready to deliver. If this baby came on time, he and Lizzie would be less than a year apart in age, if he came late, they might just make it exactly a year. It was getting more and more difficult to lift Lizzie but now that she could stand and sit on her own it certain made things a little easier. The standing was easy, it was getting her to try to take a step that was hard. She knew it was still early to get her to walking, and everyone told her she was crazy to want it because once she could walk there was going to be nothing to do but chase her around and make sure she wasn’t getting into everything.

For Lia It just meant she could get places on her own, which was a very appealing idea currently with a beach ball baby bell in the way of everything. The first couple times she had dipped Lizzie into the water she squealed as though she’d never felt it before and she couldn’t help but laugh before she eventually sat her down so her little legs were covered by incoming water each time. She carefully knelt down and handed little a shovel for the wet sand, but she wasn’t much of an architect, she really just liked to dig the shovel in and throw the sand around a lot, but hey whatever kept her occupied.

She turned her eyes from her daughter for a moment to look at Rocky and laughed as Stryker knocked him to the ground happily. Stryker knew better than to do that with her, maybe it was because he was so gentle with Lizzie, or he sensed the baby but he was always careful even when he wanted to cuddle on the couch he always carefully placed his head resting on her stomach. As much as she had been angry with Miguel for getting her a puppy, now, she was sort of glad for it. He was a lot of work but Lizzie loved him and for a long time Stryker had given her a reason to get up and actually start getting back to a normal life. Someone had been relying on her.

She watched as Lizzie put her sandy hands on her stomach and leaned to listen. She knew there was a baby in there, somewhat, if she understood that there was something going on in there and she liked to listen. “Can you hear him Liz?” she asked curiously knowing full well she couldn’t but she always seemed to be intently listening like he was speaking a special language to her. She watched Lizzie’s head bounce back a little as the baby’s foot caught her and she blinked before she hit gently with her hand. “Oi! No fighting” Lia said with a laugh and lifted Lizzie back to her place in the water. “Stryker!” she called and whistled for him to come over it took only a look before he hopped up and trotted his way over. It was funny, he was so big now that he was starting to look like more a deer than a dog. “Good boy” She said and made him lay down beside her. In a few weeks she was going to have three of them to run around after, and she couldn't help but wonder if she was completely insane.

[JACK MANUEL ROCKWELL]

He couldn't get Stryker off, and the dog just wouldn't leave him alone despite his protest that he had to laugh. But when Lia called him over, he just carefully left and lay down beside her and Lizzie. While it was totally unfair, Rocky guessed it was better than Stryker mauling Lia around like he was doing with him.

Also making his way over the the three of them -- four, really -- he wrapped his arms around Lia and kissed her on the neck. "Hey babe," he said, nuzzling her.

It was weird, being a dad. He felt so different from how he was 5 years ago. Five years ago, if someone told him he was going to have a beautiful wife, two kids, a dog, and a boxing career, Rocky would have thought them insane. Now, he only thinks he's insane for not wanting it sooner.

They were coasting off of Lia's savings from her modeling, and he was the man of the house and needed to be the breadwinner. On top of trying to regain his career (which, while not easy, wasn't proving to be that hard either -- turns out PR about a dead boxer coming to life is pretty strong) and keeping his team paid, he also needed to remember to be a father and husband. It used to be he could be intimate whenever he wanted, but now it sort of needed to be planned. Life was crazy.

"What do you want to do for her birthday?" he asked her. "I'm thinking something like just a small gathering. We could invite a few neighbors and friends. But it should be special." He released his arms around her and sat beside her instead.

"In a few years, she's going to grow up," he said. "Let's make a bet. When she's a teen, she'll be a treasure hunter." He watched Lizzie as she dug holes in the ground and splashed at the incoming water with Stryker, grinning. "Or a dog trainer. Either one of those two."

[AMALIA ELIZABETH ROCKWELL]

She really wanted Lizzie’s birthday to be special especially considering the fact that the baby was going to be coming so close she didn’t want to be one of those mom’s that checked out because she was too tired or too busy. Lizzie was still young enough that she didn’t really know the different, but Lia would know and that was all that mattered.

“What friends?” she asked with a laugh. She had her coworkers but she hadn’t really seen any of them much since she’d gotten pregnant…again. They thought they were going to catch it or something. Rocky had the guys from the Gym, and Kendell but she was in college up North. Lia normally would have suggested family…but she really didn’t want to get into that fight with him about his parents and Miguel again and she had no idea where her brothers were at the moment.

There were a couple Moms she knew from her fitness class that had babies’ Lizzie’s age but again they weren’t particularly close. It was times like these she realised how much her social skills sucked. She was really great at getting people to like her but forming long term connections had never been her strongest attribute. It probably came from never staying in one place too long, she’d never really had to make the effort before with anyone but now there were people she saw every day and she couldn’t just go around burning bridges.

“This is all also assuming I won’t be in the hospital” she pointed out. Lizzie had come really early, but maybe this baby would be really late. “We probably shouldn’t be planning anything too definite. “ she admitted. “But it is on a Saturday and the first day of Hanukkah” she joked. They weren’t Jewish so that was sort of irrelevant, hell she wasn’t even Christian….she wasn’t sure what she was. She had been baptized Catholic she knew that much, but after her life had gone to hell she wasn’t even sure she’d stepped into a church again before her wedding, and probably not since.

She believed there was a God out there. Somewhere and she was sure that he didn’t give a fuck about humans anymore. Why should he? They had spent so much time fucking everything up; she couldn’t blame him for checking out. “I think…she’s going to be spectacular no matter what she does” she said as she watched her daughter play. She honestly didn’t care what Lizzie decided to do, as long as she knew she was loved and supported. “This little guy on the other hand” she said referring to the baby yet to be born. “Is gonna be one wicked soccer player” she joked as he kicked again.

[JACK MANUEL ROCKWELL]

"You know, friends." Rocky laughed. "Other people. It's not too late to start making them. What, do you need me to set you up a blind date?" He grinned.

He realized Lia had been living a guarded life for so long, she was having a lot of difficulty shrugging it off now that her lifestyle had changed. Even having a year for adjusting to normalcy, she still couldn't seem to let anyone close enough to consider a friend.

"Tell you what, I'll invite neighbors to dinner tomorrow night. Maybe that new couple that just took the one three houses down from us."

He kissed her. He didn't want to restrict her or cage her, and he knew she needed his help to get away from that. How could she actually be happy with her life when the action-packed days of hunting she left behind were replaced with staying at home and looking after a baby (and modeling when she wasn't pregnant)? He knew love was an important part of a relationship, but to be her whole universe seemed to him like a path leading to a bad ending.

"I'll cook my best dish. They'll love it, I guarantee you, and then they'll be coming back for more," he said, grinning. He meant it too. It's never too late to make a new friend.

"And in case you're giving birth on Lizzie's birthday, I'll invite a midwife. I'll find one somewhere," he said, joking. He actually didn't consider if Blaze came out early. Didn't all pregnancies last 9 months, except in rare cases of trauma? He didn't actually know much about pregnancies. As a former closeted science geek (and drop out), he'd always been more involved with the muscular system, bone system, cardiovascular system -- the things that make humans tick. The things that he relies on when he boxes, actually.

He reached out and felt Lia's belly, feeling a kick. Blaze had been kicking a lot lately, maybe feeling a bit too cramped inside the womb. He wondered how Blaze was going to be when he came out, and how big he was going to become in 16 to 20 years. Taller than him? Maybe. One thing's for sure. If he became a soccer player, he'd be the first fetus to achieve athletic status.

"I promise I won't knock you up again," he said. Then after a while, he added: "Not right away, at least," and grinned.

He turned his head to follow Stryker when the dog got up and strutted away on his own. Rocky tried to call him, but the dog seemed to have spotted his own female dog to socialize with in the distance. Rocky sighed. "They grow up so fast."