"Where the fuck are they?" Kaitlyn muttered as she paced the hallway, waiting on her younger sister and new tag team partner, newest member of the reformed Chick Busters, Megan Bonin and her 6 year old daughter Claire to finally show up. Tonight was huge.. Tonight they actually had a shot at a no holds barred match against the Bella twins..
And as per usual, Megan was running at least 10 minutes behind schedule. AJ placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and said "Would you stop pacing? She won't miss tonight, it's her debut. Just try texting her again."
"I did. Apparently our niece has the flipping phone, babe, because the text came back as a series of different letters. You know how bad Claire is at using her mommy's phone."
AJ hugged her girlfriend and then said calmly, "Calm downnnnn. The match isn't until later tonight anyway, it's alright."
The backstage doors opened and Claire ran full speed at her aunts legs, hugging them. "Mama drived like a bat outta hell. It was fun." she giggled as AJ bent to pick up her best friend's daughter and smiled then said "You're getting so big!"
"I know.. I can be in chickbusters with ya, right? You promised." Claire said as she crossed her chubby little arms, looked from Kaitlyn to AJ, both of whom laughed and said "Yeah. You can be in Chickbusters. You gonna come down to the ring tonight with Aunt AJ and Aunt Kaitlyn's boyfriend?"
"Spaghetti head?"
AJ burst into laughter and then said "Yeah." as Claire nodded excitedly. Then the three men in black walked past and her eyes went wide. She squirmed against AJ's grip and said "I wanna go meet 'em..."
"No baby." Kaitlyn said quickly, as she picked up her niece and hugged her. Only Kaitlyn and her sister and of course, AJ, knew exactly why Claire couldn't go and meet the members of the Shield like she wanted, and for now, it was just better all around if the secret stayed between her and Megan and AJ.
Claire tried begging again, but both her aunts told her that no meant no, so she gave up for now. Maybe she could sneak off while they were busy and see the wrestlers she admired so much. Megan groaned as she caught sight of her ex, Dean Ambrose. She'd never really gotten over him, but when she found out she was pregnant, knowing him like she'd known him at the time, she figured it'd be for the best if she just left.
"When the hell did HE get signed on here?" Megan hissed as her stomach twisted, her throat went dry and her eyes, even though she didn't want them to, followed him down the hallway.
Kaitlyn sighed and said, "Relax.. With me and AJ keeping the secret, he'll never know unless you want him too."
"Kaitlyn... You can look at her and SEE him in her. She is Dean made over.. What if he figures out?"
"So you tell him?" AJ suggested as Megan's eyes widened and she shook her head furiously. "No. He'd be furious. I mean I left him without a word, because I found out I was pregnant. I highly doubt he actually loved me, or if he's even capable of love.. But yeah.. I can just see how that'd work out for everyone involved."
"Well.. you're in the same company now, there's really not much you can do to hide it." AJ pointed out as her girlfriend Kaitlyn nodded in agreement.
Claire watched the three men walking down the hallway from her mother's arms.. had she just heard her mom and her aunts right? Was Dean Ambrose, ultimate badass and leader of the shield really her father?
She smiled to herself, her small chubby cheeks creating a dimple. Now she definitely had to sneak off later and meet them. Because of all three of them, Dean Ambrose was her absolute favorite.
He was the best.
And now, Claire knew that he was also her dad.. And her little six year old mind began to swim with ways to get her mommy and her daddy back together. She just wasn't sure which one of the ideas she had would work.
"Sweetie, are you gonna be good tonight? You can't just go running around everywhere." Megan pointed out as Claire nodded yes, but crossed her fingers behind her back.
"Can I wears my black kitty hat? And my black skirts? Please mama?"
"Yeah, let's go get you changed. But you have to stay backstage when Mommy's fighting, okay? Promise me. And no sneaking off."
"Otay, otay."
Megan finished getting her daughter dressed as her mind spun wildly in a panic.. Just how the hell was she going to keep this secret from coming out?
"I'll avoid him. That's it." she muttered to herself as she picked up her redressed daughter, and started out of the locker room door, down the hallway to catering to get Claire some food and something to drink. She'd turned the corner when she smashed straight into the very person she was trying to avoid.
"Dean..Hi."
Dean fixed his eyes on Megan, kept silent. He'd been thinking about her a lot lately, and now here she stood, right in front of him. He was still angry at how she'd left without a word, but he knew that he treated her like shit, even though she gave back as good as he dished out, so he didn't actually blame her.
And he didn't want to want her, but seeing her now, he still did. And it pissed him off.
It took a few moments to register, but then he noticed the little girl wearing a black ski cap with cat ears on top and a black tutu, with a black Metallica t shirt and pull on boots with little silver stars.. But the little girls eyes were what stood out for some reason. The little girls eyes were what he couldn't shake.
He nodded and finally said with a smirk, "Meggy." before walking down the hallway, escaping the situation and the weird feeling that his ex girlfriend being a mother gave him..
Not that he was given to emotional bullshit, but when they were together back then... He actually thought they had something.. And then he woke up one morning while CZW was in Texas doing a show, and she'd been gone.. No note, no goodbye, nothing.
Just gone.
Now, apparently, she was back, and they were on the same roster again. His mind raced, and nothing he thought was coherent.. But he knew that he had to keep his distance.
"If she fuckin wanted me, she'd never have fuckin left." Dean muttered as he set off to find his stable mates backstage. As he walked down the hallway, he heard humming, looking down, he saw the little girl that Megan had been holding earlier, wearing one of those MP3 players with hot pink earphones in her ear.
He could faintly hear Rammstein playing, and then he felt a tug to his cargo pants.
"Mr.. I gotted lost.. Can ya help me?"
He studied the little girl a moment.. She reminded him a lot of the cousin he'd practically raised back in Ohio, before that cousin had been taken by CPS.. He wasn't exactly a kid person.. But he didn't want to be an asshole for no reason, either..
"I.. Yeah, kid, sure.. Where were ya tryin to go?"
"I wanted to go get candies..." Claire said as she smiled, being as innocent as she could. She knew she wasn't supposed to be sneaking off, but this was her daddy.. And she wanted to get to know him.. Even if she couldn't just tell him he was her daddy..
"Okay.." Dean said as he looked around, making sure noone saw and thought he was about to hurt the damn kid, everyone knew his reputation, knew he was 'crazy', so he figured with his shit luck, that'd be what happened. Satisfied that noone saw, he picked up the little girl.
As he held her, he noticed an old scar. "How'd ya get that?"
"My not real daddy.. He did it to mama too, but she beat him up and we leave. I thought he was my daddy.. But he not. I have none." Claire said as she pointed to a cupcake.
Dean grumbled, grabbed the cupcake and said "Don't choke on that... What ya said before.. About that guy.. Did he do that stuff a lot?"
"Nope.. just the one time and Mama beat him up. Then we lefted and Mama come back to work.. We travels everywhere, it fun." Claire said as she bit off the cupcake carefully, then held it out to him.
"Nah. You eat it."
The voice from behind them had him turning around and he growled to himself as he saw Randy Orton standing there.
"Give me the fuckin kid, Ambrose.. You're the last person I'd trust around a kid. What'd you do? Steal it?"
"No, she found me in the hallway, Orton." Dean said as he sat Claire down and said calmly, " Go sit with those two men over by the door, kid."
"What kid in their right mind is gonna want to have anything to do with you, Ambrose?" Randy asked as Claire looked up and said with a smirk, "Me, sir. He my favorite wrestler."
Randy raked his hand over his head and studied the little girl a moment then said "Where's your mom or dad, sweetie?" feeling that if he found her parents, he'd feel one hell of a lot better, knowing she was NOT with Shield, alone.
Megan cleared her throat from behind Randy and said with a smile, " I'm her mom." before looking at Claire and saying "I told you not to wander off, sweetie. You scared me!"
Her mouth dried out as she realized who Claire ran off with.. Surely she hadn't overheard her talking to her aunts earlier and told him..
Megan's hands shook a little, but she kept calm and said "Claire, sweetie, let's go back to the dressing room. It's almost time for mommy's match." as she held Dean's gaze, her heart hammering wildly in her chest.
Dean held her gaze back and then said calmly, "I saw the scar, Meggy."
"And I handled it on my damn own, Dean." Megan replied as she picked up Claire and shoved between the two men, walking down the hallway.
And everything inside of her, told her to go back down the hallway and fix the wrong she made in not telling Dean about being pregnant. But she'd only done what she felt was right.. He'd never have wanted to stay, and hell.. She really didn't even know if he really loved her then or not.
But something about the way he looked at her just now had her paranoid that he at least suspected the truth. She was on borrowed time, she knew this.
Dean watched her walking off down the hallway, and turned to Randy as he leaned in, sneered. " Don't even think about it, Orton. She's fucking mine. I'll gut you first."
Randy rolled his eyes and leaned in as he said calmly, "We'll just see about that shit, won't we, Ambrose?" as he walked away and Dean walked over to his friends, sat down between them.
"What the fuck was that?" Roman asked, trying not to laugh as Seth did laugh and asked, "You're still hot for Meggy.. Aren't ya?"
"Yeah.. But this time.. I'm not gonna fuck it up."
Roman burst into laughter and then said "No offense Ambrose.. But do you know how to do something without fucking it up?"
"Fuck you, Reigns." Dean muttered as he got lost in his own thoughts again. He kept trying to figure out what he was missing, what he wasn't seeing, and the more he tried and couldn't, the angrier he got.
