"Today's talk is very selfish. I'm going to talk about Moi. ㅡYes, I hear you. I always talk about myself. I am my very own guinea pig. It's via my experience and observations that I began to coach. I sought to improve and educate the person I was into the person I wished to become. I wanted to fix the broken boy to save the man.
"ㅡI am still learning and fixing myself because self-improvement is a lifelong process, no matter how many books I write and read. So here's a fresh piece; it details my observations and what I've experienced in the last few months. Today, I will be talking about the unscheduled pleasures and the pressures of parenting. Where am I coming from? ㅡEleven months ago, I had the most frightening and beautiful experience of my entire life. I became a father, and my life twisted and turned upside down."
Kenneth paused, and images of the last months flooded his mind.
"ㅡYou see, when I found out I was going to become a father. What flashed before my eyes was the word pain. I was a pain as a kid, and eleven months ago, I was convinced a kids' job was literally to drive us up the wall, but I also saw the word loss. I thought I would lose my freedom. After a moment, I began to say to myself, alright, you can do this, Kenneth. Plan your parenting. Bad idea, believe me, you can not. I repeat, you can not plan your parenting. You can try, but trust me, things will go how they want to go without your blessing. The only thing you can do is work on your stress factor, and that's your mindset.
"ㅡFor example, I hate ironing. My other half," Kenneth paused and looked down the aisle. How he wished Monday and Ryleigh were there. " ㅡShe can Iron three days straight and come out of the experience unbothered, I'd rather a bungy jump off Niagra Falls than do that. I only like to cook when I'm doing it with someone. You can't imagine how often I almost starved because I let my mind remind me how long it takes to cook and all the cutting and chopping needed. My mind pressured me into giving up, but if I don't let demotivation beat me, I find cooking pleasurable and even feel a sense of pride when I finish.
"ㅡWhat are unscheduled pleasures? They are the things you decide to categorize as a chore as a first-hand reaction. Once you do that, you activate the pressure button, which will deflate your motivation. Well, guess what? Your friend here put his unborn child in that box. I let the pressure mount so high I ran. I was scared of failing and losing myself. I thought Kenneth would die. I know what you're thinking. What a coward, you're right. It's regretful, but I was that fearful," Kenneth said, pointing at himself. "ㅡThank goodness, I came to my senses because,"
Sweet, tangy, and sometimes sour, to say it was easy would be a lie, but on the whole, it was worth it, Kenneth thought and smiled. "Having a child has made me complete. Let's get back to our pressures; otherwise, I will cry. Okay, to overcome this fear, I thought planning would help. So I did all the maths and was proud of the outcome, but I forgot an essential part. My baby, my child, was the x-factor.
"I had no clue what type of child she would be. And I stupidly thought she'd be how I wanted. Please raise the red flag. I am guilty. You see, this is the moment in your life when you realize your education, wealth, or connections will not influence this being. Children come with their manual and roadmap. Mine came for me. From the moment she opened her eyes, she decided she would coach me. I swear she has me running around her little finger.
"I wanted to talk about this because I'm learning to be a parent, and I thought, well, there might be some other people in the same situation. They may be struggling with parenting, and like there is so much information, not all of it fits one's situation."
While Kenneth talked, Monday finally arrived in front of her publisher's booth.
"Monday," Ben yelled.
"Please give me a minute. I'm exhausted."
"What happened?" Dagmar said, kneeling to greet Ryleigh, who sat in her buggy.
"Try to slalom through the aisles with a buggy. Thank goodness most people are listening to Kenneth's talk," Monday said as she knelt to detach Ryleigh. Who already tried to stretch her hands for Dagmar.
"She wants you to carry her."
"Monday, you know meㅡ."
Ryleigh was in her hands before Dagmar could finish.
"Oh, she is so adorable. She smells so good that I could eat her. Oh, la la, you're so cute. Oh yes, you are so beautiful," said the person who is supposedly lousy with kids.
"How are you?" Ben asked.
"I'm good; my body snapped back, and I got my sleep back. I get the impression that Ryleigh understands me sometimes. She's on my clock. It's so comforting."
"How are your courses going?" Dagmar asked.
"They're very instructive. I feel so old; I've got all these twenty-year-olds around me."
"You don't look your age at all, Monday," Ben said.
"Well, thank you." Monday looked about.
Dagmar mimicked her motions and looked about, too, "What's wrong, Monday?"
"I came to surprise Kenneth. I don't want him to surprise me."
Monday hadn't seen Kenneth in two months. He was working on his children's book and searching for the perfect illustrator. The exacting man had difficulty finding the right person to bring his child's fantasy to life.
"Oh gosh, I didn't see the time. Kenneth's almost finished. I've got to go."
Dagmar handed Ryleigh back to Monday, and she hurried off to Kenneth's talk.
"ㅡThis is all to say that life is all about choices. Try to make the best one for yourself. I know I did," Kenneth said when he heard a cry he could recognize among millions. The man looked down the aisle and smiled as Monday released Ryleigh. The infant ran to join her father, who jumped off the stage to grab her.
He hugged and kissed Ryleigh's head as Monday entered the aisle in a striking green dress. For a split second, Kenneth foresaw an alternate image in which he watched Monday walk towards him in another type of dress and prayed such a day would manifest itself.
Monday felt nostalgic as she remembered the day their eyes first met. There, the emotions that animated her heart were far from those of repulsion she had for the man back then. Wasn't life just funny?
Some people stood up to see a rumor become a reality. Many speculated about their relationship, but none ever got tangible proof. There, in front of everyone, the authors publicly appeared as a couple and as parents.
Kenneth kissed Monday.
"Finally," gasped Brad. The man was tired of giving those who asked a runaround. Their couple reveal made his life so much easier.
"Tu m'as manqués," Monday said.
Kenneth's French was rusty but good enough to understand such declarations.
"I missed you too," Kenneth said before remembering he still had his mic.
Everyone clapped; it was an excellent way to end his talk. It felt like a happy end for the fans who followed the man at the early stages of his career. Those he helped were delighted to see that he, too, found happiness, and those who still sought the light hoped they would smile like Kenneth someday.
Life wasn't just a succession of choices but also of books. The classification differed from one person to another. Some classified life from infancy to adulthood, others from failure to success, and others from breakups to love. Yes, life was a succession of books one opened, continued, stopped, or completed. Kenneth felt the new book he began was only at its prequel as he took Monday's hand and walked down the aisle with Ryleigh in his arms.
This is it, everyone. You just read the last chapter of Typed Out. In the updated version, I added over thirty chapters to my initial story for NaNoWriMo. I'm happy with the outcome. I'll clean it up a little more later; I've got too many other stories to write.
Thank you so much for reading this. I hope you enjoyed reading Mondays and Kenneth's growth journey.
I hope to see you in my other stories chapters.
Take care