The Cruiserweight (30 page)

The animal began to purr and rubbed against his
leg. “Hey, you’re a friendly one. I think some asshole didn’t want
you any more and dumped you off here instead of going to a shelter.
That’s okay, pal; you’re better off with me anyway.”

Brett returned inside, cat in his arms.
“Jesus!” Patrick cried. “Get that freak out of here!”

“Chill out, he’s just hungry.”

“Just what you need, a fucking cat. You do
enough shedding on your own.”

“Very funny. This guy needs a home, and I could
use a furry friend.”

“I think you’re going senile. First your
woman’s having a baby, and now you’re taking in stray cats. Who’s
going to take care of this thing while you’re away?”

“There’s the old lady next door who loves
animals. She might look after him. Now I need to go to the store
and get some cat stuff.”

“You know cats suffocate babies,
right?”

“Pat, that’s what my mother calls an old wives’
tale. There’s never been an actual case where a kid died after
being suffocated by a cat.” Brett set bowls of tuna and water on
the floor. “Look at the poor guy. How could anyone resist something
so cute?”

“Better pray he’s neutered, or you won’t be the
only one in this place who’s going to be a dad.”

CHAPTER 52

Months passed, and Karen progressed well in her
pregnancy, better than she’d expected. She and Brett didn’t contact
each other often with his busy schedule, but despite her own
schedule, Karen kept up with his accomplishments the best she
could, proud of every moment.

Karen lay back on the exam table, and Dr.
Sheppard exposed her belly. He squeezed some jelly onto it, placed
a transducer over the gel, and turned his attention to the
screen.

"There’s your baby," he said,
smiling.

“Grew fast, didn’t it?” Karen asked, amazed
what she saw on the monitor.

Dr. Sheppard nodded. “About right for your June
due date. Want to know the sex?”

“Not really. I rather like the element of
surprise.” A slight smile crossed her face as she thought of Brett.
“Might keep Daddy guessing too.”

“How is he taking all of this?”

“I think Brett’s more worried about the baby
than I am, and
I’m
the one carrying it for nine
months.”

The doctor nodded and printed out a copy of
Karen’s sonogram. "Baby’s first picture," he said, handing it to
her. “Something to send to Dad if you’d like.”

"I’m sure Brett will love this, that is, if he
can figure out what part is the baby. Thank you.”

"We‘re finished," Dr. Sheppard said, handing
Karen a warm cloth to clean the remaining gel from her stomach.
"You may get dressed and then go into my office to discuss any
further questions.”

*****

“I almost forgot what Venice Beach was like,”
Brett said as he and Patrick walked together, stopping on occasion
to check out the sights. “Hey, any chance you shooting another one
of your nutty Internet show videos?”

“How’d you guess?”

“Kind of hard to miss the camera guy two feet
behind us, dude. When you going back to actual
wrestling?”

Patrick scoffed. “Got burned out on that shit,
so I’m taking a break. I’m having too much fun doing the
vids.”

“You sound like a stoner in most of
them.”

“This coming from the guy who has pot smoking
down to an art.”

“I also have a written medical order for it,
not to mention I cut back on smoking. I have a kid on the way,
remember? Want to be a good role model.”

“Last I checked, it was
Karen
who was
pregnant,” Patrick said with a goofy grin.

“Ha, ha, ha, smart shit. You know what I
mean.”

“Course I do. I was just messing with you. Hey,
I almost forgot to say I’m doing the Squared Circle Express Duel in
the Desert on Labor Day weekend.”

“About time you put your fat ass back to
work.”

“I
am
working. There’s royalties from
the DVD you and I shot awhile back, and of course, my Internet
show’s really taking off. Fans are digging it. I’ve done
conventions and stuff too. Not exactly starving.”

“I know. I’ve seen your new palace. Nice
spread, by the way. Who’s your sugar mama?”

“Now who’s being a smart ass? Speaking of
which, you consider a bigger place? Going to need one with a kid
coming.”

Brett nodded. “Question is, which state will we
live?”

Patrick gave him an incredulous look. “You
haven’t discussed
that
with her? Uh, dude, bun’s going to
pop out of the oven in a few months. Better get in
gear.”

“I know. I’m just concerned that Karen won’t
want to leave Pittsburgh, and you know I’m not a big fan of winter,
which is why I came down to L.A. and then went to Orlando. What am
I going to do?”

“Try talking to her. Karen isn’t psychic, man.
Hell, she may even surprise you.”

“Yeah. I have TV tapings and a couple house
shows next week for Orlando Wrestling, but I can give her a call
after that.”

“That’s the spirit. Now let’s give the
cameraman back there something worth shooting for my show’s next
installment.”

CHAPTER 53

Upon hearing the buzz about Patrick’s videos,
Karen became curious. Now working from home following Dr.
Sheppard’s rest orders during the final months of pregnancy, she
often surfed online after sending Sullivan completed news
assignments.

“Is Pat high or just plain nuts?” Karen asked
while viewing his latest episode, the one filmed in Venice Beach
with Brett. “Of course, by now, nothing he does should surprise
me.”

The phone rang, interrupting her thoughts.
Figuring the office was calling, Karen picked up the receiver
without checking the Caller ID.

“Hey, Mama!”

“Brett?
What a
pleasant surprise. I thought you did house shows this
week.”

“Not scheduled. Can’t a guy check in with his
favorite girl?”

“Been a long time, but I’d never say no to
you.”

“There’s something I wanted to discuss with you
anyway.”

“Something wrong?”

“No, at least I hope not. See, when I was in
L.A. visiting Pat, he made a suggestion that got me
thinking.”

“About what?”

“Where we’re going to live after the baby’s
born.”

“Wait
…
are you
suggesting we live together?”

“Isn’t that what expecting couples madly in
love should do?”

What a shock! To think I’d planned to raise
the baby alone without asking him for a thing.
“Nowadays, most parents live apart.”

“Yeah, I grew up in a household run by a single
mom. No way in hell will my kid go through the same shit I did.
I’ll be in my little boy’s or girl’s life as much as I
can.”

“With all the traveling you do, I’m shocked you
even made the suggestion.”

“Well, I’m not a big fan of cold weather since
I grew up in Washington, and you might have some hesitation about
leaving Pittsburgh, so I thought we could work on a
compromise.”

“I don’t know, after this past winter, moving
away from here may not be a bad idea. By March, I’m often tired of
snow and cold.”

“You wouldn’t be homesick?”

“I might, but probably get over it after a
while.”

“So where will we go, Florida or
California?”

“Hawaii,” Karen replied in a teasing
manner.

“Too expensive to live.”

“You’re right. Besides, you might run off with
one of those pretty hula girls anyway.”

“Ha! Two chances of me doing such, and that’s
slim and none.”

“California’s nice, but in my opinion, more
suitable for guys like Pat. He’s more the Hollywood type than I am.
I find the Floridians are more laid back, especially the Orlando
crowd. You’ll dig living there, and the studio where we tape the
show every couple of weeks is just a mile from where I live right
now.”

“Isn’t your place just one bedroom?”

“I’m up for a bigger unit. First on the waiting
list, in fact, in case you wanted to come to Orlando. Manager loves
me. Oh, I almost forgot. I have a new roommate. Get online and turn
on your webcam. I’d like you to meet him.”

She walked over to turn on the computer and her
cam. “Brett! Why are you discussing us living together when you
already have a roommate?”

“Don’t worry; he doesn’t take up much space or
even eat much, though anything with tuna’s his favorite food, and
tends to keep night hours.”

“Great, like the baby isn’t going to keep me
awake the first few months as it is.”

“Oh, come on, you’ll love this guy.” Brett
disappeared from the camera’s view a moment and then returned,
holding up a cat. “Jack, say hello to Karen.”

She began to laugh. “Your ‘roommate’ is a
cat?”

“Yeah. Old lady next door feeds Jack and cleans
his shit box when I travel.”

“I should’ve guessed the moment you mentioned
he liked anything with tuna. Where did you adopt him?”

“I heard something crying outside one day and
went to check it out. Found a cat howling his head off. Jack was
skinny and kind of scared at first, but as you saw, he’s fattened
up some. Now he walks all over the place like he’s
king.”

“He’s beautiful. I just hope he doesn’t get
jealous of the baby.”

“Nah, I have plenty of love for everyone. Don’t
get pissed, but I had Jack’s front claws taken out while he was
getting neutered, just in case.”

“Brett!”

“What?”

“Do you have any idea what goes into declawing
cats? It’s almost like cutting off our first knuckles. Just imagine
the pain that poor animal went through.”

“
I don’t want Jack scratching the
kid. I’m keeping him in the house anyway. Too many fucking freaks
around wanting to hurt animals, like the psycho over in England who
dumped a cat in a garbage bin. Crazy bitch.”

“Well
…
since
you had him declawed with good intentions, I guess I can excuse
your decision. At least you were smart to have him fixed in the
meantime.”

“Yeah, one daddy in this household is plenty,
thank you. So does this mean you’d come to Orlando?”

“Yes, but not until after I have the baby. I
have all my prenatal care here, and it wouldn’t make any sense for
me to make any changes this close to my due date.”

“No problem. We have plenty of time to get set
up. I should have the new place in a couple months.”

They hung up a short time later, Brett relieved
that the conversation turned out better than he’d expected.
She
was going to come to him. Soon, they would become an actual
family
…

Jack rubbed around Brett’s legs, yowling.
“Figures,” he said, looking down into the cat’s questioning green
eyes. “I’m having what may be the best day of my life, and all you
can think about is your gut. Okay, let’s go get your precious Meow
Mix, buddy.”

CHAPTER 54

As Brett’s fan base within Orlando Wrestling
grew, he had to make several decisions about his independent
commitments. Though he still made occasional appearances with
Squared Circle Express, he asked to be permanently removed from
their roster.

Severing ties
–
for the most part
–
with
SCE wasn’t difficult, but Dragonfly was another matter. Brett and
Graham Sobek had a long history that spanned from Brett’s early
wrestling roots, and he was apprehensive about approaching Sobek on
the subject of being let out of his contract.

Sobek understood, much as he hated letting one
of his longtime favorite talents go. “Tell you what,” he said.
“Let’s work out one final match for the next pay-per-view to make
your exit, so fans aren’t left hanging.”

Brett nodded. “Name it. You always come up with
good ideas.”

“You and Joey Exler in a ‘Loser Leaves
Dragonfly’ match. Plus I’ll send you off with a hefty bonus for
your loyalty. Work for you?”

“Work for me? Bring it on!”

“By the way, you think Sanchez-Garcia could get
off his ass and take a day off from being an aspiring Internet
video star for a match?”

“I could check with him. Why?”

“I was thinking a tag match with you two
against Exler and Sonic Boom.”

“I’m all ears. This is sounding better by the
minute.”

“Well, this is what I have in mind
…
”

*****

“Sobek wants me to do
what?”
Patrick
asked.