***********
Two days later, mother and baby were discharged from the hospital.
Both Kellie and E.J. were deemed healthy enough to go home early on the morning of November 27th. She and Brad met with the pediatrician, who gave the first-time parents some supplies and reading material to help them deal with what to do if the baby became ill or experienced some health problems, and otherwise keep track of their baby's progress. The doctor also scheduled appointments to see E.J. during his first year to perform checkups and ensure he was growing at the proper rate and was otherwise healthy and normal in every respect.
Brad carefully drove his wife and baby son home. They spent most of that first day at home taking turns holding him, keeping him close and safe in their arms. Kellie fed him when he got hungry, otherwise he slept most of the time. When they felt themselves get tired later at night they placed E.J. in his crib and went to bed.
For a little while, anyway.
The couple soon learned what all new parents think they know in theory, but REALLY learn in practice; newborns operate on their own schedule. E.J. awoke every two or three hours overnight, and it was a struggle for Kellie and Brad to cope.
The month of December, including the Christmas season, was a blur. Trying to get used to E.J.'s needs and the frequency with which he woke up in the middle of the night completely messed up their own sleep cycle. They counted themselves very fortunate to have plenty of help from their friends, his parents and her aunt and uncle; without that they didn't know what they would have done.
As it was, Kellie did suffer from a case of the "baby blues", experiencing periods of anxiety, mood swings and crying spells. Brad did his best to help her through these feelings, assisting with the housecleaning and caring for E.J. to give her some relief, and being a shoulder to cry on and giving encouraging words of love. After doing some research, consulting with their doctor and sharing her experiences with her mother-in-law, the only person in her immediate circle she knew that also had a child, Kellie felt very lucky that what she was going through was rather commonplace and not nearly as bad as the more serious condition of postpartum depression. All the same she was relieved when these "blues" were over.
Through it all, Brad and Kellie's love for E.J. increased, and they marvelled at how he physically grew and changed even in that short period of time. They were very grateful to see that, all along, E.J. developed properly and was in all respects a completely healthy baby. When the calendar turned to the new year, they found themselves more accustomed and attuned to their son's needs, and felt a sense of settling in to a "new normal".
Before long, Kellie had recovered and healed well enough from the birthing process to think about competing again. She called for a team meeting the week after New Year's Day, and Jennifer, Sandra, Amber and Heather gathered that day at Brad and Kellie's house. Kellie held court while holding a peacefully sleeping E.J.
"You sure you girls won't mind being handicapped by a rusty skip not at the top of her game?" she asked half-jokingly.
"Don't be ridiculous, skip. There's no one we'd rather have leading the way than you," replied Jennifer.
"We know you won't quite be where you normally are with your game... not because you're not a great player, but for excellent reasons you haven't been able to put in the practice time like you usually do," added Sandra.
"I'll get as much practice time in as I can between now and the start of nationals, girls. Brad's offered to help watch little E.J. here so that will help me focus on that."
"That's so wonderful, what a great guy!" Heather exclaimed, and all the girls including Kellie nodded in agreement. Brad, observing the conversation quietly in the corner, blushed and said nothing.
"I think we're going to have a lot of fun, girls!" Amber chirped. "Sure, we'll be the target of everyone since we won the last two, and it won't be easy for us to win again, but let's just play our best, have fun and see what happens!" She turned her head to Kellie and added, "That means you too skip, and no being too critical of yourself because you're not perfect like you usually are!"
Kellie just shrugged and said, "I'll try my best."
So it was decided. There were six weeks from that meeting until the start of the Canadian championships, and Kellie and her team were determined to not waste any precious time. During the week, Kellie stayed home to care for E.J. while Brad went to work at the curling club. In the evenings, Kellie brought the baby to the club for Brad to watch over while she worked out and practiced; sometimes with her teammates, sometimes just on her own.
Saturdays, where possible, Brad and Kellie got help from his parents or her aunt and uncle to babysit while Kellie and her team worked on their game some more. They even managed to find a local bonspiel to get some actual competition under their belts, and even though they were at less than their best they enjoyed the process of competing and slipping back into their traditional team roles.
The rush to get ready reminded Kellie in some ways of cramming for final exams in school. She really wanted to win again; as an athlete and competitor, few things she had experienced in life felt better than the thrill of ultimate victory. But with everything that she had going on this year, she thought she would be satisfied if she didn't embarrass herself.
Before anyone knew it, it was mid-February. Jennifer, Heather and Amber had all moved to their home province's largest city, this year's host of the Canadian women's curling championships, some time ago, so the caravan driving up from their small town only consisted of Brad, Kellie, E.J. and their family, as well as Sandra and her parents.
Brad and Kellie pulled into the driveway in front of the large house belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Janik, Jennifer and Amber's parents, where they would be staying during the tournament to avoid paying for a hotel. Everyone smiled as Amber jumped up and down while holding hands with her long-time boyfriend, Jamie. Sandra excitedly told everyone that Marc, her long-distance beau and a very talented curler in his own right, had arranged for vacation time from his full-time job so he could see her and watch her team compete that week. And, Brad thought, of course Jennifer and Heather had each other. He smiled to himself as he thought Kellie and her teammates would soon be all together with their loved ones; their extended team, if you will. It felt wonderful that, one year removed from their greatest triumphs, the whole gang was to be reunited once more.
This year's championship tournament, in terms of the media and fan meet-and greet responsibilities, was set up very similarly to last year's, the organizers obviously deciding if something wasn't broke, don't fix it. The one major change was a special TV ad that the major corporate sponsor wanted to have filmed just in time for this event. The reps from the sponsor wanted a simple commercial to showcase the multiple talents and responsibilities these extraordinary women had, how the joys of the sport of curling were the sportsmanship and camaraderie of its players they displayed while maintaining a sharp competitive spirit, and how proud the company was to be associated with both the athletes and the tournament.
The announcement was made at a dinner hosted by the sponsor on the Wednesday night before the start of the championships, with all the competitors and guests invited. The four women selected for the honour of appearing in the commercial were the lead from the Quebec team, a young grade school teacher, the second from the Manitoba squad, a marketing representative and mother to two "tween" aged children, the third from Nova Scotia, a university student and volunteer for the local branch of the Canadian Cancer Society, and Kellie.
She blushed furiously when she heard her name announced and tried to deny she was deserving, claiming that many others, not the least of which were her teammates, merited the honour more, but Kellie's protests were quickly drowned out by the happy and excited wishes of congratulation from everyone sat at their table.
