How I Won My First World Championship, Part IV: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Baby vol. 1

How I Won My First World Championship Part IV: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Baby vol. 1

The Year 2031

Voice: Now, kids, this next story I am going to tell you is neither my proudest moment, nor your mother's. Before I begin I would like to point out that neither of use were at a place in our lives that we felt capable of dealing with what happened, but that doesn't excuse our reactions.

The boy and girl are sat there, open mouthed. They glance at each other briefly before looking back front centre.

Voice: ...what? Why are you staring at me like that?

Boy: Papa...did you and mom murder someone and dump the body?!

Voice: What?! No! If you had let me finish, then I would have explained. You don't know it, but back in 2011 you came very close to having an older brother or sister around, a few years before either of you came in to the world...

The Year 2011

Ruben Ricardo León is striding down the street listening to his iPod. He is wearing his mask and regular street clothes and has a gymbag slung over his shoulder. He is walking quite quickly, and in between whistling the tune to Stayin' Alive by the Beegees, a smile is spread across his face. He turns the corner in to the driveway of his house and walks up it, still whistling and occasionally singing the lyrics to himself in Spanish.

He reaches the doorway and pulls out his keys, unlocking it and walking inside. He throws the gymbag on the couch and walks over to the answerphone to check his messages.

Ruben Ricardo León: Well you can tell by the way I use my walk...

He notices that the machine says he has ten messages, confused, he presses the play button.

Ruben Ricardo León: ...I'm a woman's man, no time to talk...

There is a whirring as the tape rewinds, before the automated message kicks in.

Answerphone: You have one new message. First message, received today at 12.32pm.

There is a beep and then another voice kicks in, it is Maria, Ruben's girlfriend's voice.

Maria: R...Ruben, I need you to call me as soon as you get this, it's REALLY important.

Answerphone: End of message. Next message, received today at 12.45pm.

Another beep.

Maria: Ruben where are you? I've tried your cell a few times but I can't get you on that either,
PLEASE call me back, I need to talk to you RIGHT NOW!

At this point, Ruben realises that he hasn't checked his cellphone since leaving the gym about a half hour earlier, so he pulls it out of his pocket and flips it open to see that he has 10 missed calls on there too. Meanwhile, another of the messages has just finished up, with the same sort of theme as the previous one. Deciding he has heard enough and that the other seven are likely to be from Maria too, he presses the pause button on the answerphone. He presses a quick couple of buttons on his cellphone and holds it up to his ear.

The Year 2031

Voice: I had no idea what was wrong with your mother. I was worried she had been hurt or robbed or that someone had died, but it turned out she was just being a bit melodramatic...

The Year 2011

Ruben Ricardo León: YOU'RE HOW LATE?!

Ruben has, by this point, clearly spoken to Maria and she is sat on his couch, a very worried look on her face.

Maria: I was due to start my period five days ago.

Ruben Ricardo León: F...FIVE DAYS?! And you only just told me now?! Madre de Dios, Maria, we aren't ready to have a kid. We've only been together 6 months!

Maria: I know, Ruben, I'm as worried about this as you are. Why do you think I left you so many damn messages?

Ruben Ricardo León: Have you done a test?

Maria: No, I have one with me though.

Maria fumbles around in her bag and produces a small, thin cardboard box. She lays it on the table in front of her and they both stare at it intently for a while. They occasionally glance at one another until Maria eventually picks it back up and opens the box, removing a slender, stick like object from inside. She grabs the instruction leaflet and reads over it briefly before looking at Ruben.

Ruben Ricardo León: What does it say?

Maria: It says I have to pee on the thin end and 5 minutes later it will give us the results.

The Year 2031

Boy: Why have all your stories suddenly started getting gross? I don't want to think about mom peeing.

Voice: You're missing the point. This isn't a story about your mom peeing, this is a story about the most intense five minutes of mine and your mothers life. And that's coming from someone who has fought in some pretty intense matches in his career. Anyway, your mom went and did her thing, waited the five minutes and then came back out. She hadn't looked at the result yet, because she was too nervous. But we were both about to get a massive shock.

For the first time since the storytelling had begun, the two kids were on the edge of their seat, waiting to hear the next part of the story.

Boy: So?? Had you gotten mom pregnant?!

The Year 2011

Maria: Ruben, you look at it, I can't, I'm too scared.

Ruben looks at Maria for a few seconds, a nervous look permeating through the mask, before finally walking over and taking the stick from her outstretched hand. He psyches himself up to look at it for a few seconds, before finally just plucking up the courage and doing it. A look of confusion appears on his face. Maria, who, until this point, had been hiding her eyes with her hands, glances through her fingers and sees Ruben's expression.

Maria: Well?! What does it say?!

Ruben Ricardo León: The test was inconclusive...

Maria: INCONCLUSIVE?! That's the last time I buy one of these drug store pieces of crap.

Ruben Ricardo León: What do we do now? There must be some other way of finding out.

Maria: We could go to the doctor. I know the receptionist at the local clinic from my spinning class, she would be able to get an appointment this afternoon. Ruben, I can't wait any longer to find out, I have to know today.

Ruben Ricardo León: What are we waiting for?