A/N: This is dedicated to Adrian Jade. It was a challenge of sorts that she posted on an update of Ride of Your Life. Just a little shout out for ya, girl :) I have a few graphics for this one shot on my myspace page. This is taking place in 2009, just so the timeline is right, and I don't have to change real events. Be sure to be on the look out for updates of Accidentally Expecting very soon. And without further ado, Home.
Home
"Johnny, catch me!" Turning just in time to see his new bride running towards him as fast as her two inch heels could carry her, she bounded into his muscular arms in the center of Rome, Italy. The vacation wasn't John's top idea of a honeymoon, but he just wanted to surprise Asher. She was all set to head to the Turks and Caicos Islands with John for a week for some well-needed rest and relaxation, to which she could return to "The New" as John called their hometown, with a sun-kissed tan.
Instead, John got her girlfriends to pack a bag for a few days in Rome followed by a couple nights in Paris, France, the two places he knew she wanted to go more than anywhere else. "Ash, you're crazy," John replied as he spun his wife around, indulging in the familiar scent of her long blonde and brown streaked locks.
"And that's why you love me." He could only smile at her Boston accent. His diminished over the years of traveling with the WWE, but she had hers intact. The two originally met at Springfield College where John was studying Exercise Science, as Asher studied to work in Physical Rehabilitation, but went their separate ways when John left school. They had the same small group of friends, most of whom lost contact with John after a while, but not Ash.
When John was injured in October of 2007 with a torn pectoral muscle, he was surprised to see that Asher would be helping in his rehab. The two hit it off from there. They would catch a Red Sox game whenever John would have the time, or just hang out at one of the many hole-in-the-wall bars in Boston to catch up on the past few years.
After a year or so of dating, John got down on one knee, which led to a simple Boston wedding six months later. The two didn't want anything very fancy, so chose to get the ceremony done as soon as possible.
Present Day
John Cena, WWE Superstar and star of the new action film, sat in his hotel room in Rome, Italy while on tour to promote his new film "12 Rounds". He loved that his job took him to these sorts of places, but after seven years in the WWE and a couple of years of promoting "The Marine" and "12 Rounds", he was starting to hate all of the traveling. It tore him away from his wife, and he couldn't deal with the guilt of not being there.
As he stepped through the lobby of the Hotel Trevi, the pain of not being in States washed away as fans barricaded him for autographs. Though there will millions of people in Rome and then Paris waiting for John to make an appearance, it wasn't the same as being home with Asher, and Killian.
Killian Johnathan Cena, or K.J. as John called him, was born nine months after their wedding. A healthy seven pound, four once baby entered the world almost one year ago. Asher wasn't very thrilled when John told her that he didn't think he would be home in time for K.J.'s first birthday.
Once back to the peace and quiet of his hotel room later than evening, John logged onto his laptop. Ash loved to send him photos of Killian when he was on the road, as well as the updated photos of her expanding waistline. He maximized the page where he started to send an e-mail back to his blushing -- and very pregnant -- bride at home.
"Mama," the message started, "I'm fine, baby. How are you?" He read the next few lines of the note, but realized that message just wouldn't be enough. Against the white background of the e-mails, his words seemed so bare and cold. It was one thing to tell her on the phone, but with the time difference and K.J. and Asher's nap schedules, it was difficult to get her on the phone long enough than to let her know he was still alive and that he loved and missed both of them.
He could describe everything over in Europe to her, but she knew the sights. She knew his fans were die-hard and would wait in rain, sleet, snow or hail to meet the West Newbury native.
The plane ride to Paris was uneventful. After signing some more autographs in the airport, he retired to his hotel room for the rest of the day. It was getting close to 10 P.M. in Paris, so it would be around 4 P.M. back home. He could just picture their home in The New around this time just like every other Sunday; Ash's sister and brother-in-law would be over with their daughters to play with Killian as Asher and Courtney would make dinner for the six of them. With Courtney and her husband there, Ash could slip away when John called, as usual.
"Johnny." Her voice upon answering the home telephone could have melted his heart. But the sniffle she added to the end of his name tugged at his heart strings.
"Mama," he cooed into his cell phone. "How's my girl doin'?"
He could just picture the smile taking over her face. She loved the nickname he gave her upon finding out she was pregnant for the first time. "I'm hanging in there. Doctor Martin said I looked really good when I went in yesterday. Did you get the pictures I sent you?"
Though he checked them the night before, he opened his e-mail account and the message she sent the morning before with new photos of the two of them. He couldn't get over how big his "little man" was getting so fast. And it sucked that he couldn't be there to experience it. "I did, thanks Mama." He stopped on the photo of Ash and Killian at the zoo with her Courtney and the girls, with K.J. reaching out for the camera, probably to his Uncle who was behind it. "I'm still goin' to try to get home for Saturday. We still have a week - a lot could happen between now and then."
"I hope so, Johnny. We miss you." And there was more sniffling. He couldn't do this anymore. It wasn't fair to the three of them. He understood exactly why Ash didn't want to join him. This was his dream, not hers at all. She started off wanting open her own rehab center, but she was perfectly fine with putting that on hold while she raised her children. Her babies were more important than any job would ever be.
She knew that John loved his job and she wasn't going to ask him to quit by any means. Ash just thought that after they had a baby that he would slow things down. Though he promised that things would eventually slow down after "12 Rounds" was released, she wasn't sure that they would. But she always believed in him, knowing that he was doing what he loved and that he wouldn't do it for the rest of their lives.
By early Friday morning in Paris, John was fed up. He couldn't be away from his family anymore. He loved his job, both aspects of his career, but the movie would live a long theatre life. He could make some appearances later on. But all he wanted to do now was head home to his wife and son and baby on the way.
After passing the cab driver some bills to cover his fare, he grabbed his bags out of the trunk before walking up the front path. He stopped halfway towards the door to take in the feeling of being home. It was still early enough on Friday night to know that his wife would still be awake, if not both of them. John headed up to the front door and placed his bags down beside the bench on the porch as he rang the doorbell. He could hear Asher yell a "Coming" towards the door from presumably the kitchen area.
She opened the door with the phone in hand and to her ear, probably in a conversation with her sister, but took it away and hit End when she saw who was on the porch. "Mama." She tossed the phone towards the couch in the living room, not really caring whether she broke it or not. All she cared about was her husband was home. "I'm home."
John took the sobbing blonde into his arms and spun her around on the wrap-around porch. 'You're home," she whimpered into his neck as she tightened her grip around him, afraid that if she let go, he wouldn't be there. "Johnny, you're home," she repeated again to truly convince herself.
John placed her feet to the wooden surface beneath them and nodded, kissing away the tears streaming down her face. "I'm home. And I'm not going anywhere." With his hands placed on her growing belly, he captured her lips in a soft, yet anxious kiss.
Once inside and after helping his wife to the second floor, they stood in the doorway of his son's room, watching as he slept in his crib. Ash tried to wrap her arms around John from behind the best that she could, but he turned so she was enveloped in his awaiting arms. As far as his fans knew, he was still doing press for his new movie and would be until a while after his newest child was born.
He kept true to his promise and stayed home for the first few months of Alessandra Leighton Cena's life, before heading back onto the road for a much lighter schedule, thanks to Vince McMahon.
Fin.
