Kellie and Brad Ch. 06

"Oh god, Brad, what are we going to do?" Kellie asked in between contractions.

"I don't know," he answered, just as one of the police officers, an older but fit looking gentleman, tapped on the driver's side window with his flashlight.

"Sir, miss, you shouldn't be out on the roads right now, it's very unsafe. We're closing this road because of the hydro pole." The officer's voice was strong and authoritative, but not harsh or unkind.

"Constable, please, you need to help us!" Brad pleaded. "My wife is in labour with our first child, and we really need to get to the hospital!" Kellie leaned over to look at the officer as well, with a pained expression on her face.

The constable sighed, as if he was wondering how he managed to get into this mess. "Just a moment," he said. He shielded himself against the elements and climbed into his squad car.

Brad and Kellie tried to remain patient, but the minutes ticked away and the wait was excruciating. But finally the constable emerged and spoke to them again.

"I've arranged for a salt truck to clear some of the road ahead, he can only start about a kilometre or two ahead of us but it should help some. I've also radioed the hospital and told them to expect you soon."

"Thank you!" Kellie exclaimed. She just realized that, in their haste to leave, neither she nor Brad had alerted Dr. Holland or any of her colleagues that they were on their way.

"No problem, ma'am," the constable said. "In the meantime, drive carefully and follow me!"

The constable returned to his car, lit up the flashing lights and slowly eased his way around the downed pole, the driver's side tires rolling well on the shoulder of the road in order to avoid the obstacle.

Brad was shocked at this new development. He shook the feeling off quickly enough to throw the truck into gear and followed the police car's tracks.

"Amazing," whispered Kellie between short breaths. "We're getting a police escort to the hospital."

"Yeah," Brad replied. "Gonna be a hell of a story to tell our kid when he or she grows up."

The normally one-hour drive ended up being close to three this time. Brad and Kellie sighed in pure relief as they turned into the hospital parking lot and rolled to the emergency laneway.

A nurse was waiting to help Kellie into a wheelchair. Brad and the constable helped her with that task. Brad vigorously shook the policeman's hand in appreciation.

"I can't thank you enough, Constable..." Brad started to say.

"James," the policeman stated his name with a smile on his face. "Constable Eric James."

"Well, Constable James, you will always have our gratitude!" Kellie said before another contraction hit her.

He shrugged and said, "Just doing my job. Congratulations to you two and best of luck!"

Brad waved back and hurried to be by Kellie's side. He eagerly awaited the delivery, but at the moment he was more relieved to not have to drive right now; the length and danger of the trip combined with the intense concentration he poured into the task had left him with a stress headache. He didn't want to complain about that, though, not with what still lay ahead for his wife.

Kellie was wheeled into a delivery room where Dr. Holland was waiting. After some diagnosis of the situation, the doctor determined that Kellie was well into labor, but it being her first child it could still take some hours to complete the process.

Brad stood by Kellie and squeezed her hand. "I'm here for you, baby. I don't know what I can do to help other than to give you moral support. I hope it will help."

"Brad, honey," she replied, "you being here means so much to me. Just stay here by my side, please don't leave me."

He kissed her hand tenderly. "I'll be right here all the way. I'm not going anywhere."

It tore Brad up inside to see Kellie deal with the exertions and pain of delivery, but as difficult as it was for him, he held his tongue the rest of the way. While he didn't think she would go over the top with spontaneous yelling and screaming like they showed on TV sometimes, he didn't want to distract her or ask a dumb question that would give her real reason to be irritated. He continued to hold her hand and occasionally brushed his free hand down her arm to remind her he was there. When she pushed, he dealt stoically with the reflex action of her squeezing his hand in a white-knuckle death grip.

They were the longest hours of their lives. But at long last, it happened. With the care and coaching of Dr. Holland and the attending nurses, and the support of her husband Brad, Kellie pushed twice more and gave birth.

"Congratulations, Kellie," Dr. Holland said, holding the baby. "At 4:03pm this afternoon, November 25th, you have given birth to a baby boy!"

The doctor and the nurses performed some simple tests to ensure the baby was healthy, and cleaned and prepared him as required. They weighed him in at eight pounds and seven ounces, a very healthy size indeed. Wrapping him in soft, warm blankets, the nurse happily and proudly handed the baby to the new mother.

Tears of happiness rolled down Kellie's face as she got to hold her little bundle of joy for the first time. She felt Brad touch her cheek and watched him stare in wonder at their newborn son. It was a moment she would remember for the rest of her life.

"Honey, you... I..." Brad struggled to find the words to express his deep love for Kellie. He stopped trying; instead he placed his hand gently on her shoulder and felt his eyes well up with tears.

"I know, honey. I know," Kellie replied with a smile. She knew exactly what he meant and how he felt. She couldn't form the words to explain her feelings either, but she was just as in love with him as he was with her.

"So, just out of curiosity," one of the attending nurses asked after giving the new family their moment together, "have you decided on a name for your son?"

It was a question that had vexed Brad and Kellie all along. They had difficulty coming to an agreement; a name she would like, he would reject, and vice versa. But when they looked at each other this time, it was like they could read each other's minds; they knew immediately what to choose.

"Eric James Galenchuk," Kellie said.

"That's a great name," the nurse said, smiling. "Sweet dreams, little E.J.," she added, and blew the baby a kiss as she left the delivery room.

"E.J.," Brad mulled aloud. "I like that."

Kellie nodded. "It does seem to fit, doesn't it?"

Just like that, the die was cast. For the remainder of his life, Eric James Galenchuk would be known by everyone he met as E.J.

Brad sighed and smiled. "We're a little happy family now."

"Yes, we are," answered Kellie.

"Kellie, I'm not too proud to say, I'm a little scared. I want to raise our son to be a good boy and good man, but I don't know how to do it."

"I'm scared too, Brad. But we have friends and family to help us. And we have each other. We'll find a way."

"OK, honey. I know you'll be a great mother."

"And you'll be a great father, baby. Trust in yourself. We can do this."

"I love you, Kellie Galenchuk."

"I love you, Brad Galenchuk."

Each new parent kissed their newborn son. "And we love you, E.J. Galenchuk," they said in unison.

They took advantage of a few minutes of silence to help bond with little E.J.

"I was thinking," Brad finally spoke, "we could have a little more quiet time together, and then later tonight we can call everyone to come and visit. Would that be OK with you, hon?"

"Mmmm," Kellie responded, "I'd like that."

**********

That same day, in the city that elsewhere in the province was colloquially known as just "the big city", another birth had just taken place.

The mood and circumstances, however, were far different.

Anita Morriss had a stony look on her face as she held her newborn son, Johnathan. Not for the first time, she thought about how her life as she previously knew it had gone completely out the window.

It started the day after the most painful loss of her curling career, to her hated rival Kellie Galenchuk in the Canadian championship final match. She remembered going to the hotel bar that night, and then remembered nothing until the next morning, when she woke up with a wicked hangover and a strange man in bed next to her. It was easy enough to get rid of him, but more difficult to clear away her blinding headache.

Even harder still was dealing with the shame she felt in losing control of her surroundings and allowing herself to have sex with that random guy without any form of protection.

Later that day, she flew back with her teammates. She barely spoke two words to each of them the whole trip back. One week later, those same teammates told her they were quitting en masse. They were tired of the mind games and the constant unyielding criticism, they told her, and they were going to form a team together that didn't have any of that drama. Just like that, her curling career was in ruins.

Once the morning sickness hit with a vengeance, however, the state of her curling career was the least of her concerns. The home pregnancy test told Anita that she was with child. She met with her mother and sister to break the news. Her mother and sister had concerns over Anita's questionable decision-making and choices in life. They had attempted to gently broach this subject with her, but Anita took offense to their words. It led to an intense screaming match and her walking out on them, loudly slamming the door behind her to punctuate her belief that she didn't need them telling her how to live her life.

Soon after was her medical check-up, and her doctor confirmed that she was, indeed, pregnant. It hit Anita at that moment that she had no one to help her deal with this. The man who impregnated her was a mystery and long since gone. She had ostracized herself from her family, and any friends she had were gone as well. The only thing she remembered about the rest of her time in that doctor's office was putting her head in her hands and weeping bitterly.

Anita considered giving the child up for adoption. She gave even stronger consideration to having an abortion. Twice she found herself driving to the city's abortion clinic, only to have something change her mind at the last minute each time. For better or for worse, she decided to keep and raise the child.

She worried that she was making the wrong choice, that she couldn't be the kind of mother her child would need, that she didn't have the resources needed to help her along the way, that she would continue to be too proud to go back to her family and former friends to ask for the assistance she desperately required. But here she was, in the delivery room, holding her newborn baby boy. Too late to change her mind now.

"It's you and me against the world, kid," Anita whispered to her son. She kissed him on the forehead and sighed. She felt far less confident than her barely audible words of bravado suggested.

**********

The scene unfolded before his eyes, just as he planned it.

He had just opened the locker room door at the curling club, which he proudly helped run and where he spent so much of his time. What he now saw, however, had nothing to do with curling.

Brad and Kellie were naked on the bench. She was on top of him, straddling him. They both had a "freshly fucked" look to them.

But while Brad had looked satisfied, Kellie appeared distracted and unfulfilled. That is, until she took a good look at him, the man who had just entered the room and interrupted the scene.

She gave a disparaging look to Brad and immediately rose up and shoved him away. Brad fell away to... well, he couldn't actually say where. Brad could have disappeared into the ether, for all he knew... for all he cared, really. All he knew, all that was important, was once she pushed Brad away from her, she only had eyes for him, this mystery man.

And those eyes were hungry.

His own eyes roamed over her and ogled her naked body approvingly. His cock also approved, proving so by how it hardened and strained against his pants. When he spoke, his voice was teasing and demanding all at once.

"Are you done playing with little boys, Kellie?"

"Oh yes. I am ready for a real man," came her breathy reply.

Her walk was sexy and bouncy. Her pretty breasts jiggled with every step. Halfway there, she turned around and bent over, giving him a good look at her tight ass and her gorgeous pussy. She faced him again and continued her seductive strut.

He possessively took hold of the back of Kellie's head as she got in range and kissed her with all the skillful passion of a man half his age. The whimpers he heard coming from the back of her throat were fuel to his fire. He broke the kiss and pushed down on her shoulders. She immediately took the hint and dropped to her knees. When she swiftly undid his belt and unbuttoned his pants he ran his fingers through her hair and said, "Good girl."

Kellie removed his pants and boxers and regarded his cock with reverence. It was long, thick and hard. The crown appeared angry and red, and it demanded attention.

He groaned when she took hold of his shaft and looked at him longingly, seeking permission to do what he knew they both wanted her to do. A domineering smile curled across his lips.

"Are you ready to pleasure a real man, Kellie?" he asked.

"Yes, I am, Russ. Please let me suck your cock, Russ," she answered. With a nod of his head, Kellie opened her mouth and prepared to make love to Russ' erect member with her tongue.

A ringing noise threatened to break his concentration over the scene before him, but he tried to block it out. He couldn't do so despite his best efforts; it grew louder, more urgent. "Why the fuck doesn't someone turn that damned thing OFF?!" he thought.

The telephone kept ringing. It awoke Russ from his daydream with a start. When he realized what had just happened, he buried his head in his hands, then balled those hands into fists and violently pounded them on his kitchen table.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he yelled loudly to his empty house.

Ever since he accidentally walked in on Brad and Kellie having sex in the locker room a few months ago, Russ could not get the image out of his mind. Sure, Brad did quickly hand Kellie her shirt so she could partially cover up, and sure, Russ did cover his eyes before he stared too long.

But he saw enough. Oh Lord, did he ever.

The two seconds or so that he glimpsed the side view of Kellie's breasts, one of her shapely legs and plenty of silky smooth skin was enough to burn the image permanently in his brain. His sex-starved mind filled in the blanks.

It also kicked his fantasies into overdrive. First he dreamed he was merely an observer, watching his best friend screw his, at the time, fiancé. Later he was joining in, making it a threesome. And now, his visions were eliminating Brad altogether, leaving Kellie for Russ and he alone to ravish as he saw fit.

Russ knew it was wrong. SO wrong. "Goddamnit," he told himself more than once, "this is your best friend's wife! How can you be so fucking perverted? Don't do this to yourself, or them!"

Still, the fantasies didn't stop.

The ringing of the phone wasn't stopping, either. Russ finally answered it.

"Hello?"

"Russ! About time you answered!"

Russ winced at the sound of Brad's voice. He almost didn't want to talk to him given what he was just dreaming about. Then he remembered hearing that Brad had taken Kellie to the hospital that morning because she was in labour, and his mood lifted.

"Yeah, sorry about that, Brad, I was... uh, busy doing something and away from my phone. So? What's the word?"

"It's good news, Russ! It's a boy!"

Russ couldn't help but smile at the elation in his friend's voice. "Congratulations Brad, that's awesome! How's everyone doing?"

"Mommy and baby are resting quietly and comfortably and doing very well. Me, I'm wired like you wouldn't believe!"

"Yes, I can hear that! By the way I'm so glad you got there safely, the weather this morning was awful."

"Damn, man, you have no idea! That's a story for later though. Right now Kellie and I want you to visit and see E.J.! When can you be here?"

"E.J.?"

"Yeah, E.J., short for Eric James, that's what we named him!"

"I like that name a lot, Brad. And I have one thing to finish at home here, but I can probably be there in an hour and a half or so."

"That's perfect! There will still be enough of the visiting hours left, and the timing will let Kellie have a little more rest before everyone comes over. My parents, her aunt and uncle and her friends-slash-teammates will all be visiting, but I'll make sure you get a chance to see E.J. too!"

"Can't wait! See you soon, and tell Kellie I'm looking forward to seeing her and the baby."

"You bet! Thanks so much, Russ, see you soon!"

They exchanged goodbyes before ending the call. Russ thought that the excitement and chaos that would ensue with everyone else at the hospital visiting the baby and the new parents would be good for him. It would take his mind off Kellie and her hot body, or so he hoped. What he would do to distract himself in the future, or, preferably, end these thoughts altogether, was a mystery to him, but he knew he needed an answer soon.

Russ couldn't stop dreaming about Kellie, and it was driving him insane.