Moving Forward – Chapter 13: Elsa

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February 2016 – Monday

“Mommy, is Elsa ready to come out?” Alyssa asks as she finishes her breakfast that morning. Marie could only let out a sigh and shake her head no. She wished that she had a different answer, though. “Soon?”

“I hope, sweetie,” Marie comments with a smile.

“Okay!” Alyssa then runs off to go play with her toys as Marie glances over at Dale.

“You know, Dale, I have to wonder when she will be here actually,” Marie comments out loud as Dale looks over, shrugging his shoulders. “She’s due to be here by Wednesday if you ask the doctor, but will she come on time?”

“Alyssa came a week early,” Dale recalls, as he remembered the surprise that he experienced when Marie said that her water had broke. “Perhaps Elsa will follow the trend, or maybe she’ll come on her due date.”

“There’s also the possibility that she could be stubborn and wait.” Dale knew that was possible, and had thought about the possibility of what could happen if she hadn’t come by the weekend. They also both knew that stubbornness ran in the family, so it wouldn’t be much of a surprise.

“The guys, by the way, are debating when she will arrive this week. Steve predicted that we’re going to sit here anxious all week, just for her to arrive on Sunday. He says I can have a Daytona 500 victory and baby in a day, with an excuse to miss the media tour.” Marie shook her head as she wasn’t set to go through that experience. She was set to have the baby, and be in Daytona with him. She didn’t want to be at home on edge of possible labor without him there, running the 500.

“Steve can kiss my ass because I am not dealing with that option, no matter what happens. You are going to be here with me when this baby is born because this baby is coming this week before you have to go to Daytona.” He had to laugh at the determination in her voice, and hoped that she was right in her assumptions as to what would happen.

“Hey, it’s a possibility depending what your dear child decides. You never know…” She shakes her head no with a sigh “Perhaps if it comes down to that, I could get a Chase waiver for a baby. Do you think NASCAR would allow that?”

“We’ve seen stranger things lately with the caution clock and such. Given that you’re Mr. Superstar, I wouldn’t put it past them.” She knew that it probably wouldn’t be a possibility, and knew missing a single race without a “chase waiver worthy reason” was not an option. She wasn’t about to ruin the championship chances. If she had to, she knew that she could probably own up to sitting there pregnant watching the race without him. Besides, she’d have Sharon and Kelley if anything was to happen. “So, anybody have any better predictions?

“Greg said that she’d come on Friday. She’d putting us through the stubborn ringer of waiting, but will let daddy run his big race on Sunday without worry. It’ll just mean winning the race from the rear of the field.”  Marie could only smile at the comment, knowing that was possible.

“You did it last year, despite being in pain and the unique circumstances. What is stopping you from doing it this year?” He simply shook his head in agreement, as that’s why he wasn’t worried with the plan that they had put in place. He had confidence in the car, and everybody knew how well he could work the plate races to his advantage.

“T.J. agreed with Steve’s theory, because he says we seem to take the dramatic approach to life. It’d be unique to say that our daughter was born on the day of a big win, anyway.” She smiled, as it did have a special unique sense to it if it were to happen. They say that sometimes things are done for a reason and meant to be, and perhaps that was why was taking place as it was. “Chase said she’s going to put us through the ringer of worry, only to come on Tuesday after Speedweeks.”

“She’ll be grounded till she’s 18 if she does that, mister.” Dale laughs, though had to agree. There had to be some special payoff to the worry and nerves that they were going through. “We have an appointment on Wednesday if she hasn’t come so they can check on her.”

“Didn’t he mention the possibility of inducing you if you haven’t had her yet?” Marie shakes her head yes, remembering that discussion. It wasn’t something that she was too keen on, as she preferred to let things happen as they would. However, with these circumstances, perhaps that’d be for the better.

“I also told him what I thought about that, too.” Marie then lets out a sigh as she glances down at her belly. “She’ll come out when she’s ready, hopefully sooner than later. Perhaps she’s giving us a good lesson in patience that’ll come in handy later.”

“Are you saying that she’s going to be a troublemaker?” She then glances over at him with a sly smile. “Okay, so we got spoiled with Alyssa thus far. Perhaps we’re right to be a little worried.”

“You have to remember the genes that she’s getting from us. We weren’t always the most behaved people, were we?” Dale shakes his head no as he walks over and kisses her forehead.

“I remember that I broke a country’s law of falling in love with their princess.”

“And I broke a country’s law by accepting the love of someone that wasn’t pre-approved for the family.” She then glances over at his laptop that he had left sitting on the table. She knew that he was probably working on a mix of things for JRM, but also things pertaining to the country. Since she had began the third trimester, she had been suspended from working on country business, per Dale and Sharon. They assured her that they’d handle it all. “Hey, do you think we’re doing a good job at running the country?”

“I think so. There are not a lot of complaints, and we’re working through the corrupt business practices that plagued the country before. I think in a couple of months, everything will be sorted out. Sharon says morale seems up.” She was comforted by the words from Dale, though still had her reservations.

There was so much that went into running a country, from deciding laws to punishments to making sure business practices were fair for everybody involved. There was also making certain decisions and keeping the people happy with the amount of money circulating around. She still doubted that she had what it took to do the job that had seeminglishly fallen in lap without any training, or teaching as to things to expect.

Despite that, though, things had gone quite smoothly in decisions being made. She had gone through making sure to out-think her decisions and make sure that they were fair to everybody involved. Sometimes they’d take longer than some people were wanting, but she was willing to do that if it meant things getting done properly.

It was just a matter now of keeping that balance, while raising a family and enjoy her life as it was. For now, the main focus was on a little girl and making sure she arrived as soon as possible.

Perhaps they’d get lucky and she’d show up later that day.