This is the newest story. Hope you all enjoy it. It is an AU fiction.
Co-written by RatedrKjErIcHo.
Disclaimer: I do not own the WWE or the wrestlers in this story. I own only my ocs. This story is fiction and is to be take that way. No Copyright Infringement Intended.
Chapter One:
He couldn't stay away any longer. It had been a month since the warehouse fire that had cost Randy Orton his life. Now John Cena was on route to his widow's house in a tract of homes on the outskirts of San Bernardino, California. He'd never be able to tell her or her daughter the truth about what had happened that day. He wasn't going to destroy the heroic legacy Randy had left behind when death had claimed the city's firefighter.
But John owed Hailey Orton something. And Brayden too. If he'd acted on his instincts that morning, Randy never would have died. Hailey wouldn't be a widow, Brayden would have a father.
The truth twisted in John's gut. He'd vowed to bury the knowledge of what had happened that morning six feet under the ground along with Randy's remains. Being a firefighter meant you were part of a closed fraternity. You didn't blow the whistle on a brother, particularly when your brother's own stupidity had let red devil claim his life.
Maybe, if he handled it right, John could help Hailey's transition from wife to widow with the least pain for all concerned. Despite what had happened, he owned Randy that much. It didn't matter that John had trouble looking the men of Firehouse Eight in the eye these days, afraid he'd give the truth away.
He'd never forget that he shouldn't have allowed Randy to go up on the warehouse roof in the first place. He'd never forgive himself for not trusting his gut. Not trusting his instincts. He should have stopped him. Should have tried harder to keep him off the roof when he knew he was in no shape to be there. He pulled into the long drive way and put the car into park. He could see her through the kitchen window, sitting at the table, cup of coffee clutched in her hands staring into space. He'd barely said two words to her at the funeral. Barely even looked her way. And he'd felt bad about it in the weeks that followed. That was part of the reason he'd decided to come see her. Why he had to talk to her. He walked up the back steps and knocked on the door waiting for her to answer.
Hailey put down her coffee cup and walked to the door. She opened and was shocked to see John standing there.
"John, hey."
"HI, Hailey. Can I come in?"
"Yeah of course." She said stepping aside to let him in. "Forgive the mess please."
He nodded as he saw the kitchen table was covered with paperwork. "What's all of this?"
"Bills and papers of Randy's." She replied. "Can I get you a cup of coffee?"
"Please." He said as he sat down.
"Cream and sugar?"
"Please." She nodded and poured him a cup and bought it over to him. "Are you looking for something in particular?"
"Life insurance papers." She said as she sat down. "Randy took out a policy when Brayden was born and I was trying to find the papers."
"And I'm guessing no luck?"
"No. There are credit card bills by the bunch. I didn't know Randy had so many. There must be like ten or so. Add that to our other bills and I have no idea how Brayden and I will make it without that life insurance."
"Let me help you look." John said as he grabbed some of the papers. He looked over the credit card bills and saw that Randy was only making the minimum payments and the interest was piling up. He saw tons of withdrawals in Las Vegas. He saw that Randy had several checking accounts. Some with only a few dollars in them and some with no balance. He saw nothing that said Randy was making monthly payments on life insurance. Then he came across a paper, tucked behind so many others and stared at it for a moment. It was the policy she'd been searching for and it had lapsed five months ago. "Hailey, I think I found it."
"Great." She smiled as she took the paper from him. She read it and the smile dropped from her face. "Oh no. What am I going to do?"
"You have his benefits from his job don't you? The widow fund will help." John suggested.
"His benefits won't be enough. With the debts we have, without that money, I have no idea what Brayden and I will do." She said trying to hold back her tears. "Why would he not tell me this? I thought we had this policy that would keep us secure. Now, I don't know how we will pay bills or anything. The benefits from his job will only last so long and then I have no idea."
"We'll figure something out. I mean...I'm here for you Hailey. Randy was...he was my best friend. Like a brother to me." Hailey nodded.
"I know. And I know this has been hard on you too." She said as she placed her hand over his.
He looked down at her hand over his. He looked her over. She had the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen and she was petite and blonde. He moved his hand. "I'm not concern with me. I'm thinking about you and Brayden. I will talk to the chief and see what we can do to help."
"Oh that's not necessary." She smiled.
"No, I want to." He smiled. "So, did you need anything else or anything done around the house?"
"Well I have a whole 'honey do' list that Randy was suppose to work on but he never did."
"Well, let me help."
"Okay. I have an armoire in the guest room that needs to be moved to the basement. Gutters to be cleaned. A garage to paint." He nodded. "And Christmas lights to put up soon."
"Well, I can help you with that. I will come by on my days off and help you."
"Thanks." She smiled.
He smiled back. "Not a problem. I will talk to the chief about the benefits and we will see what we can do for you and Brayden."
"I appreciate that. I just can't believe Randy did this. I thought his second job might help but I can't find anything on it."
John looked at her shocked. Randy never mentioned anything about a second job to him or the others. "Second job?"
"Yeah. He got a job as a salesman. He had to make regular trips to Las Vegas for it." John shook his head. He didn't know why he was keeping Randy's secret anymore. He was gone and he wasn't coming back. And he felt for Hailey and everything she was going through. They looked up as there was a knock on the door and Hailey smiled when she saw her sister Christina come in the back door. Christina was married to Mike Mizanin, another firefighter in their company. She hugged Hailey and then John and sat down at the table. "Hey Chris. John was just helping me find Randy's insurance papers."
"Good. I know that money will come in handy." Christina replied as she sat down.
"It would if there was some." Hailey replied with a sigh. "Apparently, Randy didn't make the payments and it lapsed."
"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry." Christina said hugging her. "What are you going to do now?"
"I don't know. I was counting on that to pay off some of the bills and pay for Randy's funeral. Then his benefits from the job and government would help us with everything else while I found a job. Now, I don't know what will happen."
"What if you sold the house and moved in with me and Mike. Just temporarily until you found a more affordable place."
"No. I love this house."
"Then what about renting out the spare room? You could take on a roommate." Christina said. "You've got this big old house and there are guys at the firehouse who are always looking for a decent place to stay."
"I couldn't even think of letting some stranger live here."
"What if I stayed with you?" John said.
They looked at him. "What? You want to move in here?" Hailey asked. "But you have your place. Why would you give that up?"
"To help you."
"I can't let you do that." Hailey sighed. "I will figure something out."
"Hailey, you don't have to do this alone." Christina said to her.
"I know. I just need to get things together. Then I can decide what to do." She said as she heard Brayden crying. "I need to check on her." She got up and headed upstairs.
Christina looked at John and Mike. "How do we help her? And how could Randy do this to her?" She picked up some of the papers. "Leave her with all this debt. He knew his job was dangerous and that she and Brayden needed to be protected. How could he do this?"
"Because that was Randy. He was a good guy but he could be pretty damn selfish sometimes too."
"This is more than selfish. He should have thought about Hailey and Brayden. This is irresponsible." Christina sat down at the table and looked at all the papers. "I just can't believe he left her with all this debt. "
"We will help her." Mike said to his wife. "We can't really give her money but we can help in other ways."
"Yeah." She said as Hailey came back with Brayden in her arms. Christina had to smile at her six month old niece. "There's my favorite little girl." She said taking Brayden from her. "So, Mike and I and John were talking and we want to help you in any way."
"That's nice of you but we will be fine."
"I know you will be but we want to help. We can go through the bills with you and figure out the best way to handle things." Christina said to her.
"Alright." Hailey smiled.
They all sat down and they went through the bills. They found nothing about Randy's supposedly second job. John sighed and wondered what Randy was really doing in Las Vegas and how it would affect Hailey and Brayden when the truth came out.
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