“Faster.” Shannon said, touching the side of James cheek with his finger. “You can go faster you know.

James looked over at him annoyed. “People are driving crazy around here.” He said. “You don’t wanna get into an accident do you?”

Shannon just laughed, looking in the backseat. “You’re only going 45 on the highway James. We’re gonna get into an accident, because you’re going so slow.”

James blocked out Shannon’s voice, concentrating on the road. He was driving down route one toward Cameron, North Carolina. A road he’d driven everyday for the past three years, but today was the first day he’d ever noticed how crazy people drove in this state. They were passing him like he was standing still. His nerves weren’t helping the situation at all either. He’d been edgy for about the past four months. Edgy and excited. He couldn’t believe this day was here. The day that would change everything in his life. From now on he had to think of someone before himself. Needless to say he was scared to death.

They pulled into the driveway of their home, James looking at the mailbox as he always did. He’d always taken such pride in the fact that it was him and Shannon Moore’s house, but the mailbox still said Storm on it. He pulled into the garage and shut the car off. Shannon started to get out and James almost yelled at him. “Shut the door!”

Shannon shut the door, quickly. “Why?” He said, looking in the backseat again.

“Because.” James said, with a tone in his voice that said any idiot should know this. “We just pulled into a building and there’s still fumes from the exhaust outside the car. Are you trying to kill the baby before we get him in the house?”

Shannon burst into fits of laughter. “Sweetie, you’re a riot.” He said, opening the door and getting out, not listening to James protests. He got in the backseat and undone the buckle on the car seat, picking up their 2 day old son, Brian Moore Storm and carrying him into the house.

James got out, still protesting having the baby around exhaust fumes, and opened the trunk, filling his arms with all the things they’d been given at the hospital. He walked in the house and quickly dropped everything. “Shannon!” He practically screamed. “Don’t hold him like that.”

Shannon smiled, turning around. “And this is your crazy daddy.” He said, noticing the panicked look on James face. “I’m just showing him around the house.”

“Well hold him like a normal person.” James said, starting to pick things up. “You’re gonna drop him.” Shannon just rolled his eyes and went on to the next room. James took the things upstairs and started putting them away in Bri’s room. He had sweat every detail of this room. The crib was completely round so the baby didn’t hang himself if he fell out of it. The carpet was totally flame retardant and stain proof. The walls were coated in washable lead free paint, that James had tests run on to make sure of the lead free claim. Every plug had a plastic protector on it. The rocker was hand made, but tested with the weight of James and his best friend Chase Stevens to make sure it could hold the weight of Shannon and the baby. Yeah he sweat every detail, and now it was about to pay off.

“You lay right here.” Shannon said. “Daddy has to go potty.”

That’s what James heard as he was putting the last thing up. “Finally, bonding time with my son.” He said, as he left the nursery and entered the bedroom he shared with Shannon. “Shannon Brian Storm! What is this?” James said, looking at his son, laying in the middle of their super king size bed.

“What.” Shannon said, walking out of the bathroom, buttoning his jeans. “I had to...” Shannon had to stop talking and try to keep his laughter to a minimum. James had started stacking, what looked like every pillow in the house, around little Bri. “James, what in God’s name are you doing?”

“Making sure he doesn’t roll off the bed.” James said, not even looking at Shannon.

At that point Shannon just gave up. “I’m gonna go make him a bottle.” He said, as he walked out of the room mumbling. “He can’t even roll yet.” The rest of the day went like that. Shannon couldn’t do anything right. Finally, after dinner when he was getting ready to give Bri a bath. James was checking the water after Shannon had already filled the baby bath, that James just had to have. When he dumped it out and started to refill it, Shannon snapped. “If you think you can do it better, do it your damn self.” He said, throwing down the baby washcloth, also something James just had to have, and stormed out the door.

“That’s okay.” James said, putting Bri in the bath. “Daddy’s just upset. He’ll be back.” James gave Bri his bath and quickly wrapped a towel around him after he got him out so he wouldn’t get to cold. He took him in the bedroom, laid him on the bed and started to dry him off. That’s when he noticed it. That black thing that had been on Bri’s belly was gone, and there was a few drops of blood on the towel and his belly. James quickly wrapped the baby up in the towel and rushed him to the only parent he knew for miles around. Gilbert Hardy.

“James, what’s wrong.” Gilbert said, when he opened the door and saw James standing there holding the baby against his chest, in a towel and tears streaming down both their faces. He ushered them both in and sat them down on the couch. “James, if there’s something wrong, you’re gonna have to calm down and tell me what it is.”

James tried to calm himself and still the only word he could get out of his mouth was “Blood”, as he showed Gilbert the towel.

Gilbert took the baby, pretty well knowing what had happened. He unwrapped Bri, and started to chuckle. “James, his umbilical cord fell off. It’s perfectly normal.” He said, in the calmest tone he could muster. All the chuckling stopped though, when Gilbert saw the look on James face. It was horror. “James, you didn’t do anything wrong. It happens. That’s how he gets his little belly button. Which looks like it’s gonna be an outie.” Gilbert added, looking down at the boy he considered his grandson.

James sat there for another few minutes, trying to calm himself even more. Gilbert took Bri in the other room and put a diaper on him, and some cloths he was going to give the boys as a baby gift. He walked back out and noticed James on the phone.

“It just fell off.” James said, through more tears. “I didn’t know what to do. We’re at dad’s.”

A few minutes later Shannon came rushing into dad’s house, throwing his arms around James. “Are you alright?” He said, drying his husband’s tears with his fingers. “Why didn’t you call me?”

James sniffled. “I just wanted you to think I could do it myself.” James said, wrapping his arms around Shannon.

“James, we’re in this together.” Shannon said, looking over at Bri in Gilberts arms. “We’re gonna make mistakes, and we’re gonna get paranoid, but we have to stick together on this. From now on we do things together. Okay?”

James nodded his head and they both sat down, waiting for James to calm down a little more. After about an hour of talking to Gilbert and listening to stories of things he’d done when Matt and Jeff were babies, both men started to feel better. The walked out the door that night, both knowing that they were gonna screw up again, but secure in the knowledge that together they could do this.