"Randy… Where are you taking me?"
He merely smiled looking at his girlfriend, Mara, of 2 years before turning back to continue on the path towards the surprise he was going to give her.
"Seriously, Randy… Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise, babe."
They walked further up the beach until they reached a beach house that sat at the end of the beach.
Randy stopped, making Mara stop next to him.
She looked at him, "Are we going to break into someone's house?!"
Randy chuckled and literally swept Mara off her feet, carrying her bridal style.
"That is not someone's house. It's our house." Randy said
Mara put her hands round Randy's neck, "Our house?"
"Yup. I bought it." Randy said, walking towards the house.
"Why?" Mara asked
"Because we're going to start a family in that house." Randy replied
Mara looked at him, "Randall Keith Orton… Is this your way of proposing to me?"
"Maybe…" Randy said, "Well… Yeah. It is."
Mara made a face, "That's not very sincere of you…"
"If I recall correctly, you're still in my arms and if you don't agree to marry me, I'll just have to throw you into the ocean so no one can have you." Randy said
Mara laughed and touched Randy's face, "I would be the dumbest girl in the world to say 'no' to you."
Randy smiled and leaned into kiss her just as they reached the door step.
"Will you do the honors, future Mrs Randy Orton?" Randy said
Mara smiled and opened the front door. They entered and he put her down, so that she could stand next to him. She looked around the room and smiled. The furnishing of the house was exactly as how she had wanted her dream house to be. She thought that Randy wasn't listening to a word she said but she was wrong. He listened.
She turned to look at Randy, "This is exactly how I wanted my dream house to be…"
Randy grinned, "I know. I was there when you described it."
"I thought you didn't listen…" Mara said
He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close, "I always listen to everything you say."
Just as he was about to lean in to kiss her, Mara pushed him away slightly.
"What's wrong?" Randy asked
"Um… I kinda forgot to mention something…" Mara replied
"And what is that?" Randy said
"You know when I said that I couldn't say 'no' to you… I kinda left something important out…" Mara said
Randy looked at her, "And what is that?"
"You're going to have to ask my dad for permission…" Mara said
"You're kidding, right?" Randy said
She shook her head, "Nope... My dad kinda wants to be apart of the whole 'giving my daughter to another man' process..."
Randy hesitated and Mara put her arms around his waist.
"Do it for me… Please? I'll promise to throw in a little something special later." Mara said, smiling as a hint.
Randy looked at her and sighed dramatically, "Fine… I'm only doing it because of you."
Mara smiled and pecked him on the lips.
"That's why I love you." Mara said
Randy smiled and lifted her off her feet and threw her over his shoulder.
"Now back to what we started…" Randy said
He smacked her bottom, making her yelp in surprise just as he started up the stairs.
The next morning, they drove to Mara's parents house that were in the suburbs of Los Angeles and upon seeing the gates surround the mansion, Randy knew he was going to be in for a tough ride.
"Your parents live here?" Randy asked, driving into the estate as soon as the black gates opened.
Mara shrugged, "Dad kinda moved here after retiring…"
"So they bought the house with the gates surrounding it?" Randy asked
"Well… Dad kinda did that himself since this is a pretty big estate…" Mara replied
"You didn't think that it was worth mentioning?" Randy said
"Relax. I wasn't born rich… It's just that dad's job got him a pretty good amount after he retired…" Mara said
They pulled up in the front of the house and just as they both unbuckled their seat belts, two 40 plus year old adults came out of the house. Mara hurriedly opened the car door and got out with a huge smile on her face.
"Mara dear!"
"Hi mom!"
Mara ran into her mother's open arms for a hug just as Randy walked up behind her. Her mother broke the hug and cupped Mara's face.
"You look even more beautiful, dear." Her mother said
"Thanks, mom." Mara said
"Come give your old man a hug."
Mara turned to her right and smiled as she hugged her father.
"Hi dad."
"Hi pancake."
He let her go and looked at her, "You still look the same."
Just then, Mara remembered Randy, who was standing behind her.
"Oh! Mom, dad, this is Randy." Mara said, pulling Randy next to her.
Her mother smiled delightfully and gave Randy a hug while her father stood there, eyeing him up and down.
"Welcome dear! Mara has told me a lot about you." Her mother said
"She has told me a lot about you too, Mrs McAdams. But she never told me how beautiful you are." Randy said
Her mother giggled, "Oh, stop… Call me Mary-Anne or mom… Since we're going to be a family soon."
"Who said so? He hasn't even asked for my permission yet." Her father said
Mary-Anne looked at her husband and whispered, "Jack… That's not how we treat our guests… Much less our soon-to-be son-in-law."
Jack looked at Randy sternly and said, "Until I give my approval, he isn't in any way related to us."
Before anyone could say anything, Jack turned and walked back into his house; leaving Mary-Anne, Mara and Randy in a minute of awkward silence.
Mary-Anne shook her head and said, "Randy dear, you mustn't take Jack's words to heart. His always like this around Mara's boyfriends…"
Randy gave Mary-Anne a small smile and said, "That's okay, Mrs McAdams… It's my fault for not coming to visit him until now. My marriage proposal may have come as a surprise…"
"Well, I'll go give him a piece of my mind. You two can come inside when you're ready." Mary-Anne said
Mara and Randy both nodded just as Mary-Anne gave them a smile before walking back into the house. As soon as her mother was in the house, Mara turned to Randy.
He gave her an expectant look and she gave him an awkward smile.
"Sorry… My dad's not usually like that…" Mara said
"Oh, really?" Randy said, cocking an eyebrow.
"He just needs sometime to warm up to you. He'll be fine after a day. Trust me." Mara said
Randy still looked unconvinced and Mara pouted.
"Please?" Mara said
Seeing her adorable pout, Randy had no choice but to give into her.
"Fine. We will make this a two night stay. No longer than that." Randy said
Mara smiled, "Thank you!"
She kissed him on the lips before the two of them headed into the house.
At dinner, Randy still hadn't been able to break the ice with Jack. Every time Randy made an effort to try and start a conversation with Mara's father, he'd get shot down. Until her mother tried to help.
"So, Randy… We heard from Mara that you're a professional wrestler." Mary-Anne said
"Yes. My father was a professional wrestler too and I grew up watching him in the ring. So, that kinda started my interest for wrestling." Randy said
"And you never thought to do something else that was more rewarding?" Jack asked
Mara looked at her father, "Dad!"
"It's okay." Randy said
He turned to Jack and said, "Sir, with all due respect, I find wrestling a rewarding experience. Everyone has their own opinions on what they find rewarding. Some people find being a doctor or a lawyer rewarding but for me, wrestling is something that gives you a satisfaction that you can't get elsewhere."
"Well, of course you can't get it elsewhere. There's no other occupation out there where you can legally beat up another man on live TV." Jack said
"Jack!" Mary-Anne hissed
He looked at his wife who gave him a scowl.
"But, like you said, every man is entitled to their own opinion on what they find rewarding." Jack said
Mara rolled her eyes and sighed to herself. This was going to be even more difficult then she thought. Her father wasn't always like that. Out of all the meetings her father had with her boyfriends… This was the worse of them all and she had this egging feeling that it was going to get a whole lot worse.
Her mother cleared her throat and said, "I'll go bring out the apple pie. Mara, could you come and help me?"
"Sure." Mara said, getting up hesitantly.
She followed her mother into the kitchen and stood by the kitchen island while her mother bent slightly to open the oven.
"Mom... What's up with dad?" Mara asked
"Nothing. He's just being dad." Mary-Anne replied
"Is he? Mom... He's being really harsh on Randy." Mara said
Her mother put the apple pie on the kitchen counter and took off her oven mittens before looking at Mara.
"Your father's just being his usual self. You know how he's like with boys that you bring home." Mary-Anne said
"And he always never fails to make them all break up with me after 2 weeks!" Mara said
She looked at her mother, "Mom... I don't want that to happen to me and Randy. That's the only reason why I've never brought him home to meet you until now."
"Because you need your father's approval?" Mary-Anne said
"Yeah. And because I don't want to cut you guys out of my life. I love you both but I'm always afraid that dad might ruin things for me." Mara said
Mary-Anne reached over to lightly touch her daughter's face before saying, "I know how you feel, dear. And I can see how much you love Randy. I'll promise to make sure your father doesn't ruin things for you, okay? But you'll have to do me a favor by letting your dad relive his CIA moments?"
Mara nodded, "Okay..."
"Good. Now, let's bring this pie out before your father tries to over-intimidate Randy." Mary-Anne said
Mara chuckled a little before following her mother out of the kitchen.
That night, after drinking a glass of warm milk like she always did in the kitchen, she held hands with Randy, who waited for her by the kitchen island and started up the stairs, back to their room.
Just as they reached the top of the stairs, they spotted Mara's father standing there.
"Hey, dad." Mara said, "What are you doing still up?"
"I'm just making sure that you all get to your rooms, pancake." Jack said
"Rooms?" Mara said
"Yes. I wouldn't want our guest to lose his way." Jack said
Mara furrowed her eyebrows, "What are you talking about, dad? Randy and I are going to share a room."
"Not in my house, you're not. As long as I haven't given my approval, I would not allow the both of you to be in the same room." Jack said
Just as Mara was about to protest, Randy stopped her.
"I totally understand, Mr McAdams. Do you have another room I can sleep in?" Randy asked
"To show Mara that I'm not being difficult, you can take the room next to hers." Jack replied
Mara shook her head and mumbled 'good-night' to both men before she stomped off towards her room. As soon as Mara's room door closed, Jack looked at Randy.
"Before I give my approval, we're going to do a lie-detector test tomorrow morning. Meet me in the library when you're done with breakfast." Jack said
Before Randy could even process what Jack just said, Mara's father walked off towards his room, leaving Randy standing there, feeling even more uneasy and uncomfortable then when he first arrived.
The next morning, Randy woke up to find Mara in his bed. He immediately sat up, waking Mara.
"Babe… How did you get here?" Randy asked
She rubbed her eyes sleepily before sitting up, "I snuck in. Duh."
"Aren't you afraid your dad might find out?" Randy asked
"He may be intimidating but it doesn't work on me." Mara replied
"It works on other people?" Randy said
"Yeah. Those crooks and terrorists." Mara said
Randy looked at Mara, "Mar… Exactly what was your dad's job before he retired?"
"He was the deputy director of the CIA." Mara said
He immediately leapt out of bed, "What?!"
Mara looked at him strangely, "What's wrong? You didn't commit any crime or anything… So why are you worried?"
"Mara! This is something big! You should have told me before we came here!" Randy said
"I knew you'd overreact so I didn't want to tell you until we were here..." Mara said
"Well, you could have at least warned me beforehand. Now I know why he seems to hate my guts." Randy said
"Randy… You're thinking too much." Mara said
He looked at Mara and said, "Am I?"
Mara sighed, "Okay, okay... Maybe it is my fault for not telling you beforehand that my dad used to be the deputy director of the CIA. But I had my reasons."
Randy's frown softened a little as Mara continued, "I was just afraid you might not want an ex-CIA for a father-in-law and take back your marriage proposal."
He chuckled a little and reached over to cup Mara's face, "Are you crazy? I'm marrying you. Not your father. I'm only going to see him during the holidays so that wouldn't have been a problem."
"I love you and only you. Even if your dad was a leader of a Military army, I'd still wanna marry you." Randy said
Mara smiled and Randy leaned into kissed her on the lips.
"You better get going before your father finds out that you're here. I don't want to make my score with your dad any lower." Randy said
"Alright. See you downstairs!" Mara said
She pecked him on the lips before she walked out the door, back to her room.
After breakfast, before Mara could spend sometime with Randy, her mother asked her to help in preparing some of her famous cupcakes. Not wanting Mara to know about the test, Randy pretended to show some interest in the library and headed over to meet Jack there.
Randy opened the door to the library to see Jack standing by the table, where a lie-detector machine sat. As if hearing Randy speak, Jack turned around.
"Glad to see that you didn't weasel your way out of this." Jack said
"Why would I when I need your approval?" Randy said
"Men like you would." Jack said
Randy scoffed a little, "Men like me?"
"Yes. People like you who choose a traveling job that puts you on the road for more than half a year. People like you who might cheat while you're on the job since meeting new women all over the world will be enticing." Jack said
He motioned for Randy to sit down and he did so. As Jack put the required equipment onto Randy, he was beginning to understand what exactly Jack was doing.
"Mr McAdams… May I speak candidly?" Randy said
Jack took his seat across from Randy and said, "Go ahead."
"You're doing all this not just because you don't like me but because you're not ready to let her go, right?" Randy said
"What do you mean?" Jack said
"You know what I mean, Mr McAdams." Randy said
He looked at Jack, "All this CIA thing? It's more than making sure that your daughter isn't dating a thug."
Jack looked at Randy, trying his hardest not to show his true emotions but remembering what his wife told him last night, he figured that he should just be honest.
"I only have one daughter and Mara has always been my little girl. It's hard to let her go when I know that I won't be the one taking care of her anymore." Jack said, "When Mara called us last night to tell us that she was getting married and wanted our approval, I wasn't sure she's ready or you were ready to make such a commitment… I'll admit… I did background checks on you and although I was quite pleased with your background, I couldn't help but try to find a way to pick on you."
He looked at the picture of Mara when she was a freshman at college and said, "Mara has always been my pancake and it's hard to see her grow up. It seemed only like it was yesterday when she started college."
Randy looked at Jack and said, "I know it's hard to let go. Heck, I've seen my dad in your position before when my sister wanted to get married. And he's not even CIA. But, you have my word, Mr McAdams, that no matter what, Mara will still be your little girl even after we're married."
"Fathers, huh." Jack said, with a small laugh.
Randy nodded and smiled, "I believe I'll be in your position one day too."
"You really love my daughter?" Jack said
"With all my heart and soul." Randy said
He looked back at Randy, "Since you love my daughter as much as she loves you and you seem to make her very happy… I'll give you my approval."
Just as Randy was about to get up, after taking off the equipment, Jack stopped him.
"Just don't let Mara know about this. I don't want her knowing that her old man can be a softie too." Jack said
Randy nodded, "You have my word."
After learning from her mother that Randy went to the library for a lie-detector test, she immediately dropped whatever she was doing to find him. As she neared the library, the door opened and out came her father and Randy; laughing and chatting like they were old friends. All traces of her father's initial dislike towards Randy had faded away.
"Dad? Randy?" Mara said
"Hey pancake." Her father said
"Hey babe." Randy said
She closed the gap between them and looked at the two of them.
"Dad… What did you do to Randy? Did you do some CIA brainwash on him?!" Mara said, immediately checking Randy to see if he had been hurt.
The two men laughed and Randy held onto Mara's hand.
"I'm fine, Mar. We just sorta came to an understanding." Randy said
"What do you mean?" Mara said
"Let's just say that he aced the lie-detector test." Jack said
"He aced it?" Mara said in disbelief
"Yes, and I gave him my approval." Jack said
Mara smiled widely and hugged her father, "Thank you, dad."
Her father hugged her back tightly and said, "Anything for my pancake."
Jack looked at Randy who gave him a curt nod and a smile; indicating that their little conversation will be kept secret.
That night, Randy and Mara slept together in the same room since her father had given them his approval.
Randy had his arms wrapped around Mara and her head was on his chest. She looked at the ring that Randy had officially proposed to her with at dinner, and sighed happily. To be honest, Mara had her doubts at first. She was really worried that it wasn't going to work and her father might stop her from seeing Randy ever again.
"Randy… How did you do it?" Mara asked
"What do you mean?" Randy said
"How did you convince my dad?" Mara said
She looked up at him, "He is ex-CIA after all. It would be pretty hard to persuade him."
Randy chuckled, "All it took was a little understanding."
Mara cocked an eyebrow, "Really? That easy?"
"You'll understand when we become parents." Randy said
"Whoa, whoa… Hold on there mister. Who ever said I was going to bear you children?" Mara said, "You're mostly on the road so that leaves me to take care of the kids. I'm not going to be that stupid."
Randy grinned, "You don't have a choice, babe. You agreed to marry me. It's inevitable."
"Oh, really?" Mara said
"Really." Randy said
"I'll just back out." Mara teased
"No can do, sugar. Once that ring is on you, you're mine forever." Randy said
Before Mara could think of a comeback, Randy kissed her. She giggled loudly and just as she did, the two of them heard a cough outside their door.
"No hanky-panky in the house."
Randy and Mara both laughed quietly before responding.
"Yes, sir."
"Yes, dad."
Once they heard Jack go back into his room, Randy gave Mara a kiss and said, "We'll do this tomorrow when we get home."