Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or real people portrayed in this story. The characters belong to WWE and the real people own themselves.

A/N: With a couple of stories winding down (or at least I think so) and because I'm a sucker who can't turn down a story, I decided to start a new one. This one is very much AU as you will soon read. I just got the idea while watching an episode of Maury (I know, I know) and it just kind of popped into my head.

I'm not entirely sure about this story, I kind of wrote it and I was actually wondering if I should post it or not so reviews would be extremely welcome on whether or not to continue it. Please let me know if you want me to because otherwise, I'm not sure I'll continue it. If you want to be brutal, then I won't stop you. I really do hope you enjoy though. :)

The trees created a canopy that left half the small two-bedroom house in the shade. It was nice on these summer days, adding a small respite as the humidity continued to rise, leaving her skin feeling sticky and her clothes like a film. She wiped her forearm across her forehead, her arm collecting the drops of sweat as she washed the dishes from lunch. Usually she'd wait, but these days things were moving so slow with the heat that she knew if she didn't do them immediately they would sit there until the morning or beyond. She tried to keep the place tidy, but with a seven year old boy creating havoc, it was difficult. Not like she had many visitors who didn't know her anyways. Everyone knew each other in this small town and it was half the charm of it. Her mother lived a few towns over and it was convenient. Her father had died when she was 17 and he'd been a good father to her, her Daddy, and he'd worked hard every day of his life to try and provide for his children until his heart finally said enough and quit on him. She missed him something fierce, but soldiered on, just as he would have liked.

Her brother had moved to Louisiana a few years ago, a girl there had caught his eye and his fancy and he'd decided to make the state his new home. Marissa was a great gal and Stephanie liked her a lot, but wished they lived closer so she could see them more often. But well, when there wasn't enough food for a true dinner, her father would always say that beggars couldn't be choosy and so she'd lived by the mantra as best she could.

But back to today because the heat was invading her brain. They didn't have air conditioning, couldn't afford it, but they had a number of fans creating a soft background buzz that the crickets would later try to emulate with their night music. She lifted the back of her hair up and let the fan sitting behind her breeze against her neck.

"Court!" she yelled out the window, "don't get too close to the pond, please!"

"Okay, Mama!" he yelled, looking sadly towards the pond that lay just beyond the tree line. It was so hot out and he really wanted to go wading in it, but his mother told him it was not fit for wading.

Stephanie sighed as she looked at her beautiful boy, just as handsome now as the day he was born, all red and wrinkled. She'd been alone then. His father, if she could call him that, sperm donor seemed more appropriate, had been in jail at the time. Paul had an affinity for lifting cars and selling them for scraps. That was the charge they'd brought him in on, it was the crystal meth he'd been making that got him sent up the river. The last she heard of him, he was spending the next 30 years locked up, three strikes indeed. Didn't matter to her much, he'd left the moment she found out she was pregnant, but it mattered to her because of Cortland. She wished better for him than a Mama who who worked as a secretary and a Daddy in lock-up.

But beggars can't be choosy.

"Mama, come out and play!" Court danced around the front yard where all his toys lay scattered amongst the grass that was in desperate need of mowing. She'd ask Jay to get to that when he had the chance. Trish, her best friend, hated the summers and she knew Jay was itching to get out of the house and away from her wrath. When the weather turned so did Trish's moods.

"Can't right now, baby," she told him, "unlike certain little boys, I've got take care of the dishes that we had from lunch."

He pouted, but understood, nodding his head a little and going to find something to play with. The town they lived in was as rural as it came, about 300 miles from Atlanta and just as pretty as a postcard to her. She liked the slow crawl of life here; it suited her for now. Someday she might envision herself in the big city with big city dreams, but for now, she knew that she was happy here. She was only 26 after all and that left a lot of time for living. She'd always planned to go to college when it was clear that Court could stay at home alone for a little bit of time and she still hoped to do that. She was determined. Her father had always told her that, said she was more stubborn than a horse at the glue factory.

"Mama, Mama!" Court yelled, running into the house, the screen door slapping loudly behind him.

"Court, Court!" she said good-naturedly as she looked down at him, his dirty blond hair getting into his eyes. She reached a soapy hand out to brush it away from his eyes. She'd need to get the clippers out soon for a trim. She touched his nose with a wink and left some bubbles behind, which made him giggle. "What is it? Do not tell me that you saw a snake out there that must now be your pet, you already done killed 2 snakes this summer, you're too young for a pet."

"I didn't mean to kill them, Mama," he told her.

"Oh, I know you didn't," she said, unlike his father, Court didn't have a mean bone in his body. "So what made you run in here like the devil was after ya?"

"There's a new person moving in next door, I saw the truck pull in and everything, but then it went behind the trees and I couldn't see it no more."

"Anymore," she corrected him, wiping her hands on a dish towel. "I thought I'd never see someone buy up that old place. It needs a lot of fixin'"

"I could help," Court said proudly, thinking of how his Uncle Jay had been teaching him all about tools and the like.

"I"m sure you could, baby," she smiled at him. "Did you see who was in the truck?"

"No, it was too far away."

"Then I think we should go greet our new neighbors tomorrow, how does that sound?"

"Why not now, Mama, we know they're there!"

"Well I don't have anything to bring them and you gotta bring something, it's polite."

"Make your sweet potatoes, Mama, those are the yummiest."

"You just want some for yourself," she told him, pretending to be stern about it and call him out.

"Maybe the new neighbor will share?" he asked hopefully.

"Okay, okay, come on, let's go down to the store and grab some potatoes." The dishes could wait until later. They had a new neighbor and the proper thing would be to introduce themselves. And who knew, maybe she'd get a new friend.

Court hung onto the back of her cart as she plucked things from the shelves of the small market. Court kept picking things up and looking at her hopefully and she was getting better because she only gave in about half of the time. She turned the corner and her cart bumped into that of the town's biggest busybody, Mae Young, or as she liked to be called, Missy Mae. She was an old bat with a penchant for going down to the lake and taking all her clothes off and skinny dipping, like anyone wanted to see her wrinkly body anymore.

"Oh, my dear, it's so good to see you!" she said and it was with the false cheer she greeted everyone with. Stephanie was convinced that Mae really didn't like anyone, but that she kept up appearances so she could hear all the gossip.

"Hello, Missy Mae."

"And you're with your young one too and everything," Mae said, reaching out to pinch Court's cheek. He twisted his head away from her. He hated when people did that. "What brings you to the store on such a hot day? I came because I figured everyone would be sitting in front of a fan and judging by lack of people I was right."

"Well, we have a new neighbor and I was going to bring them some of my sweet potato casserole."

"Oh yes, I heard about someone moving into that old place, you must tell me how they are."

For the gossip she could spread around, Stephanie was sure, "Yes, of course," she indulged the older woman, "but these sweet potatoes ain't gonna cook themselves so Court and I better be going. You have a nice day, Missy Mae, stay out of the heat though, don't need you to be boiling."

"I always do."

"Court, what do we say?" Stephanie reminded him.

"Bye, Missy Mae," he mumbled as they made their way to the check-out. "I don't like her, Mama."

Stephanie leaned in closer to him, "I don't either, but sometimes you gotta be nice even to the people you don't like." Court smiled at her, loving that he and his mama had a secret they could share. Stephanie paid for the groceries and Evan, the bag boy, helped her out to her pickup truck, a piece of shit if she ever saw one, but it was the only thing that Paul had ever given her (stolen of course, but for once, he'd covered his tracks). She thanked Evan and headed back home.

Court helped her with the casserole (if sneaking marshmallows was really helping) and when it was done and cooled, they decided to trek their way next door. The sun was high in the sky and it was sweltering out. She just hoped she didn't look a mess when she got over there. The properties weren't exactly far, but they weren't exactly close and in this heat, she felt like melting the moment she stepped out the door.

"Come on, Mama," Court prompted her and she stepped down the couple steps and into the cool grass. The two of them were like a short procession, walking with Court in front her, like a parade leader as Stephanie held out the casserole like some prize. It only took them about five minutes before they reached the dirt path that signaled the driveway. There was a pickup truck sitting haphhazardly in the grass, much bigger than the one she had and much newer as well. She eyed it enviously, but didn't dwell on it as her eyes slid along the cool blue exterior paint to the back of the truck, which had the hatch down and someone leaning into it. She could only see a pair of jeans, but she could tell whomever owned those jeans was decidedly male.

"Hello there, neighbor!" she called out genially.

The head that belonged to the jeans popped up and Stephanie blinked a few times. She wasn't real sure, but it was like the man's eyes were piercing her from over here, like a dart spearing its way quickly through the air and landing right on her. Then he smiled and she completely forgot about the blue of his eyes. The smile seemed even brighter than the sun was that day. As white as the good Lord made the angels as her grandma would say whenever she hung up a load of white laundry on the line outside, proud of her handiwork. The man, and he was a man, wiped his hands on the front of his jeans and then adjusted his ponytail before walking over to her and Court. She was rooted to the spot and she felt like she was laying down roots.

"Heya," the man said, then looked at Court and smiled, "Hey, young feller, I saw you playing outside when I was driving up, you looked like you were having a lot of fun."

"I was," Court said, "we're your neighbors."

"I figured, this your mama?"

"Uh huh, I'm Court McMahon and this is my mama, Stephanie," Court said, sticking his hand out and the man laughed as he shook it with a short bow.

"It's a pleasure," the man said, "I'm Chris, Chris Irvine."

"Hi, Chris."

"Your mama speak?" Chris asked, looking at Stephanie and smiling at her, completely disarming everything inside of her. She hadn't felt much for men since Paul had left her high and dry. She'd been too focused on Court to really think about men. Sure, there'd been dates here and there, but they never lasted, most of them being put off by the idea of associating with a child that didn't belong to them. She wasn't even sure how to act around men. Paul had been in and out of her life, doing his own thing and leaving her to her own devices most of the time, not the ideal relationship.

"I'm sorry," she said, breaking free of her reverie, "I'm being awfully rude. I'm Stephanie as my little boy told you, but I just wanted to welcome y'all to the neighborhood and the town really, I'm sure you'll like it here."

"I reckon I will," Chris told her, his eyes surveying more than just the plot of land. "But you don't have to say y'all, it's just me here."

"Oh, you're alone?"

"Single, unmarried, childless men tend to do so, yes," he said, then glanced at the home. "I like fixer-uppers and this one here is about as fixer-upper as you can get."

"I can use tools, I can help," Court said, "my Uncle Jay's teaching me everything he knows."

"Well then you're a lucky kid, maybe I could use your help every now and again," Chris said kindly.

"Mama, give him the sweet potatoes," Court hissed, wanting to get on Chris's good side so he could help with the house.

"Oh yes, the sweet potatoes," Stephanie said, thrusting the dish at Chris. "I didn't know if you'd had anything or well, I just wanted to do the neighborly thing and bring you over something to eat as a housewarming. Everyone in the town says my sweet potato casserole can't be matched so I thought I'd give you some, let you decide."

"Thank you," he said, taking the dish from her. "I didn't have anything over here so this is pretty convenient. I just got in, don't really know where anything is yet."

"Mama," Court tugged at her tank top. Stephanie smiled and leaned down to Court's level as he cupped his hands around her ear. "We should invite him over for dinner, that'd be the nice thing to do, right?"

"I do believe you're right, baby," she said, straightening again. "Seeing as how you can't possibly just survive on a meal of sweet potato casserole, my son and I would love to invite you over for dinner."

"Your husband won't mind?"

"If I had one, he wouldn't, as it stands, it's just me and this tough guy here," Stephanie said, ruffling Court's hair, "and I think the both of us would be more than happy to have you over."

"That's really nice of you."

"We try occasionally."

"And I ain't putting you out?"

"Not a chance, I always cook for an army," she told him, "please, we'd like it."

"Then I'll take you up on that."

"Wonderful," Stephanie clapped her hands, "Well then you can come on over at about 6, that work for you?"

"That works out just fine."

"Okay, then we'll see you at 6, 'til then."

"Yes, 'til then," he nodded his head as they began to walk away. Stephanie stopped and he looked up and over at her.

"And Chris, welcome to Lawdale."