Put your hands up

“You’re almost as good at giving me a hard time as you are at boxing.” She scoffed as she went under the water and let her hair soak for a moment. Eira wasn’t expecting him to start swimming laps but she knew it was a bad sign when he had a hard time just catching up to her. Only when he began to float did she join him, she stood behind his head, gently she ran her fingers over the knots in his back. She kneaded them out like air bubbles in the dough for fresh bread before dipping down and kissing his forehead. “Star maps.” She murmured and glanced up at the sky. “My mother loved constellations.” Her hands switched to rub out the knots in his shoulders and chest. “I just liked looking, never really understood it too much.”

“If I didn’t give you a hard time, who would?” It was true, though. They really only had each other. She was so good to him, honestly too good to him. “And I love you.” He replied once she started to talk about the constellations. Having her rub everything in pool was helping him loosen his muscles up. He’d at least be able to move a little bit better. “All I know is that there’s a big dipper somewhere. Can I buy you a star now, baby?”

“Not for now.” She tried her best to get him to see through her eyes but he just couldn’t do it. “If you take too many hits up might just end up with multiple concussions. You could end up punch drunk or…forget it.” She breathed, she didn’t want to talk about what could happen if he fell asleep on a concussion. No, she wouldn’t think about him dying, she refused to. He wasn’t invincible like he seemed to think he was. “All you need to do is put it on your eye before you fall asleep. Why do you make things so difficult?” she breathed a laugh of frustration. Getting him to take care of himself was like pulling teeth and she didn’t understand it. Slowly she took a seat on the side of the pool before lowering herself into the warm water. As he joined her at the side of the pool she reached up and took one of the glasses of champagne. She took a small sip as she stared up at him. “Come on.” she beckoned after placing her glass down and swimming out towards the middle of the pool.

“Baby, stop being so pessimistic. I’m fine. I can take a few hits. Nothing like that’s gonna happen to me. I can handle my punches just like people can handle their alcohol.” He wasn’t going to get too hurt, he knew that. This wasn’t his first time around the rodeo. This was who he was. He’d probably be a lot worse off if he wasn’t punching people. “Cause I like giving you a hard time.” Jon teased. It was hard for him to follow. The water felt nice on his back, but it still hurt. It also was still pretty painful. But he followed her, and slowly he joined her in the middle of the pool. “No races tonight.” He announced, “If that’s what you’re expecting. This motor needs to chill out for a bit.” Jon then began to float on his back as he looked up. “How do we know which constellation is which?”

Eira lifted his hand to her cheek, gently she kept it cradled against her skin. She loved to feel his skin against hers, it was her comfort. It was why she slept in just a bit of clothes, she liked to tangle with him and feel him against her. “Baby, I think you forget it’s not just cuts and bruises you can suffer from. What about concussions? Major brain damage? Baby that’s what I’m scared of, skin is skin but your brain–” she shook her head and gave a soft huff. “Yes seriously. Do you want to see with both eyes tomorrow?” She turned the car off and took the keys before joining him at his side. As soon as they where inside she got on her toes to kiss his lips. “Get the champagne I’m gonna go change.” She playfully smacked his ass before making her way up to their room to find a bathing suit and grab a couple towels for after. She came back downstairs in her favorite bikini, immediately she went to throw the towels on a chair and dip her feet in the pool.

He hadn’t really thought about any shit to do with his brain. He tried not to think about stuff like that. “You’re gonna stress yourself out worrying about that, baby. I’m fine, I got no concussions.” He tried to empathize with her but he couldn’t seem to do it. “I do wanna see with both, I just don’t wanna have to spend my whole night icing one of ‘em.” He didn’t really take care of himself as much as he should’ve, but thankfully she did. She always took care of him. He kissed her back softly, and then listened to her words. “Yes ma’am.” He playfully said. He found the best bottle of champagne that they had. Jon then went into the laundry room to find some shorts and put them on. After he opened the champagne bottle, he grabbed two flute glasses for them and headed outside. “Damn, who is that sexy looking woman out there?” He shouted playfully. He couldn’t see her completely but he still knew that she looked beautiful. He then took his shirt off and joined her at the side of the pool with the champagne. “See? Isn’t this fun?”

Eira shook her head at the mention of more money. Yes, she knew that’s why his manager was so eager but it felt like they sometimes forgot he was a person. It was like sometimes Jon forgot he was a person, he was constantly on ‘go’. It became Eira’s job to pump the brakes when her husband and his manager wouldn’t, it was her job to rest him and make sure he didn’t completely tire himself out like she knew he would. “I don’t know, baby. You’re just-” she sighed as she started the car and headed towards their house. “You’re taking a lot of hits, I don’t like that.” she admitted “It’s like you’re dropping your guard on purpose.” She slowed at a red light and turned her attention to him. “Have you looked in the mirror yet?” she muttered “You look like rocky.” She failed to keep a straight face after she said it. A soft laugh fell past her lips as she hit the gas once again. They didn’t live too far, she liked that cause on nights like this they could get home in ten minutes. She pulled into the driveway and pushed the button they kept in the car to open their safety gate. “You’re gonna need to ice your eye before bed tonight.”

Did he like to get hit? Yes, yes he did. Did he want to get hit on purpose in a fight? Not really. He kept his eyes closed as he listened to her speak and reached over for her hand to hold for the ride. “Each match my opponent gets harder, it’s meant to keep it exciting. We both know I’m still gonna win. That win bonus is worth it. Winning is worth the cuts and the bruises. That stuff heals.” Her Rocky reference had him laughing. “Except he was the underdog and we both know I’m not, baby.” He then shook his head at her next comment. “Seriously? I’m the swelling is gonna go down naturally.” He then slipped out of the car once they got into their own garage and waited for her patiently before he walked in. He knew his house pretty well, he didn’t have to worry about falling, he just felt more comfortable with her by his side. “I wanna spend some time in the pool before you make me ice. That can wait. Being with you in the pool can’t.”

Eira kissed his ring then slid it on his finger. She wasn’t sure when she started kissing his ring but somewhere along the line it started and she kept it going. She pulled her jacket on. The whole time she watched him get dressed. She wished he could see what this looked like through her eyes. The man she loved so much just barely able to get his clothes on by himself. “I love you.” she announced as he pulled his pants on. Her eyes skimming over his frame as she grabbed his shorts and threw them in the laundry basket they kept in the corner. As he wrapped his arm around her she carefully guided him out of the room. “Jon! Before you go we need to discuss your next fight. Drew Lynch is next up the ladder so if we–” His manager followed them down the hall which immediately frustrated Eira. “Not tonight.” She blurted out in the middle of his sentence. “He just finished a rough fight, give him some time to recover before you push for another fight. Go home.” She huffed as she opened the door to the garage and guided him to their car. “Fucking vulture I swear.”

His eyes were glued to her as she did their ritual and he felt a sense of relief when she put his ring on. He stopped what he was doing when she said those three words, and flashed a smile at her. “I love you too, babe.” She was the best thing that ever happened to him. All of this wouldn’t matter if she wasn’t right by his side. He was ready to talk about his next fight too, hopefully with Lynch on the other side of his right hook. But Eira stopped him from talking about it any further and Jon obeyed. He loved that she was able to stick up for the two of them, even when it wasn’t what Jon wanted, he understood that it came from a caring place. “Yeah you heard my wife, not tonight.” He kept his arm around her, and let out a slight chuckle. “He just wants to make more money, you know how it is.” He slipped into the seat slowly and closed his eyes for a moment. “Did you see anything wrong with any technique today?” 

Eira huffed and untangled herself from him. She went and grabbed his shirt shoes and ring. “Finger.” She commanded, holding out the wedding band engraved with J&E on the inside. It was the first thing she put back on him after every fight. She hated when he wasn’t wearing it, it could almost be considered an insult in her book. The pool seemed like a good idea, it might even help his muscles loosen up so he wasn’t so sore tomorrow. “Me, you, the pool and some champagne.” she corrected “That sounds nice and relaxing for tonight.” Gently she pressed a kiss to his forehead before slipping away once again to grab her purse and jacket. “I’m ready to get out of here, it smells like sweat and blood.”

He immediately put his left hand out for her to put on his ring on his ring finger. It was part of their after fight ritual. He then nodded at her next statement. “Some champagne? Consider me excited.” He smirked. “See? I come up with some good ideas, babe.” She was so gentle with him, even her kisses were gentle. “If you’re ready, I’m ready too.” He slowly put his shirt on, having to fight through the pain that his back muscles were feeling. Then he took his boxing shorts off before he put his pants on, one leg at a time. He couldn’t really see a whole lot, everything was pretty swollen. He slowly walked over to her and put his arm around her. She’d get him out of here without him bumping into anything, he hoped. “Lead the way so we can go home and celebrate.”

Eira furrowed her eyebrows, he was too stubborn for his own good. She absolutely hated it but she had to admit she liked taking care of him. Day after massages and treating every cut to make sure it wouldn’t get infected since he didn’t do it himself. She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting her body rest against his lightly. “You did great but, I don’t like how many he got in. Look at this.” Her fingers once again brushed over his cut. She knew it didn’t seem like much to him but it was huge to her. Slowly her mouth pulled into a smile. “As good as that sounds, you need to rest. That fight was intense. Besides, you don’t look like you could take another round. Especially not against the champion.” Her fingers gently traced along the broad muscles in his back.

He loved being close to her after a fight, it always calmed him down immediately. She was virtually his impulse control. “I’m still fine, baby. It looks so much worse than it is, I’m sure.” He replied as he looked her in the eyes. His wife was amazing, anyone could see that she was amazing just from how she was with him. She was so patient and so gentle. “I wanna celebrate, E. I busted my ass for that win. How ‘bout at least a celebration when we get home? Just, you, me and our pool. I’m still pretty amped up, there’s no way I can’t just do nothing.”

@jonkamaka

The fight was rough, every hit his opponent landed made Eira cringe in the front row. “Come on, Baby!” she cheered on anyways, she tried her best to support him no matter what but when it came to fights like this it physically hurt her as well. Finally the bell rang signaling that the last round had ended. It was announced that he won and he was ushered back stage to treat the cuts on his face. She took her time, standing and smoothing her hands over the wrinkles of her jeans. Before slowly making her way back towards his room. She watched them tend to him, wiping his sweat, giving him water and cleaning up his cuts as best as they could.

“You did great out there.”

“Amazing job out there, Jon.”

They showered him in compliments while she stood back and watched. After ten minutes they noticed her standing back and one by one slipped out of the room. Only when they where alone did she make her way to him, gently she ran her fingers over his cut before gently kissing it. “How are you feeling?”

Finally. Finally the fight had ended. It was one of endurance, and while Jon liked to think he had that, it was still extremely hard. He only got a moment to celebrate before he was on his way to get checked out. He only had a few cuts and injuries, what was the problem?