Page 212 of The Champion
Christmas morning started simple enough. The kids openedpresents with us and I gave Sway her gift, alone.
For a while, I’d been thinking about what I would get awoman who has absolutely everything she could ever want. With the help of mymom, I found a picture of Sway and me when I won Knoxville Nationals during oursummer together in 1997. Sway had always been fond of the picture and told methat was the night she knew she’d fallen in love with me. The picture was theone they had used on the front page of the newspaper the next morning but fromslightly a different angle.
I was still sitting inside my sprint car, leaning towardSway who was leaning inside the car. Her arms were around my neck with one ofmy gloved hands touching the side of her face as we kissed. Up until a coupleweeks ago, I’d never seen the picture.
My first thought was: Wow, look how young we were.
My second: She was just as beautiful twenty years laterand as she was that night.
Though my early years of racing were becoming vague, Istill remember that race and the feeling that washed over me when I saw herwaiting for me.
She says that’s the night she realized she loved me and Ithink deep down that’s the night I realized what her being there for me meant.I wouldn’t say I knew I loved her then, because I did love her but myrealization didn’t come until a few years later, having been too caught up inracing to see anything past that. But I did love her back then.
Sway would never understand what that summer meant to me.You could say it was just the summer I made a name for myself but back then, itwas more than that. We were all just a bunch of kids but you honestly couldn’ttell any of us that.
For Christmas I had that picture transferred into acanvas painting and hung it above our bed as she slept that night. When shewoke up Christmas morning, naturally we made love. Carefully I pulled her ontop of me and she straddled me for a better angle. Her head tipped back and shesaw the picture.
“Holy shit Jameson. Where did that come from?”
She remembered the picture. I was sure of that when asmile tugged at her lips. “That’s the night.” She whispered so softly I had tostrain to hear her. “How did you...?”
“My mom found it.” I told her leaning forward to sit up.My arms wrapped around her backside pulling her closer as my lips found hercollarbone. “Merry Christmas honey,”
“Merry Christmas to you too,” Her lips met mine with asudden sense of urgency.
Though we were good at the dyno testing and align boring,that morning in bed with my wife of the last twenty-one years was all aboutlove. The love I’d felt for her our entire lives. It was slow, passionate andall that storybook love you read about. Over the years, I would like to think Iprovided Sway with the fairytale fantasy she wanted to remember—now I knew Ihad.
There was no doubt looking at that painting, and thenlooking at us now, we had something note worthy of a fairytale.
After we made our way back downstairs, Lily was therealong with Kale, her younger brother who was convinced he would marry Ariesomeday. I had a feeling my headstrong little girl liked him but wasn’t readyfor anything serious after what happened with Ricky a few years back.
Kale cared about none of that and he claimed he’d waitfor forever.
Today was also Axel’s twenty-first birthday.
And where was my son?
He was flying home from Australia where he’d been racingfor the past few months.
Much like me at his age, he lived to race. And since ourweather here didn’t permit winter racing, he flew to Australia where it was. Ispent many winters racing down under but these days, I enjoyed the time away.Every January though, I was itching to get back to it. That’s how I knewretirement wasn’t near.
Axel ended up arriving shortly before the rest of thefamily arrived with a big smile on his face when he saw Lily had made it.
The real fun began when my sister’s asshole childrenshowed up with the Double Mint twins and they started hitting on Axel. Up untilthat night, I had never heard Lily swear.
But when the Double Mint twins corned Axel, she got herpoint across.
“Most guys may fall for your fake breasts and yourbleached out hair but Axel’s different. Leave him alone.” She told them in acivilized manner. Listening to them around the corner in the family room, Sway,Casten and I stood in the kitchen.
Casten giggled and that’s when Sway slapped her hand overhis mouth and pulled him to her.
“Shhh,” she urged trying to suppress her own giggles.
“Maybe he needs more than just a small town girl fromHillsboro,” one of them snarked back.
Lily laughed. “Yeah because being from LA is so muchbetter.”
Axel interrupted by then.
