Blessed: A Child's Song

Summary: Sequel to Blessed, Not Unlucky. Now together for five years and married for two of those, Cheryl Leigh and Dave Batista have weathered the ups and downs of the wrestling business, refusing to bend to the pressures upon their relationship. Following a pay-per-view in which they both lose their respective championship belts and after a long vacation, they find themselves at a crucial crossroads in their careers that could lead to the end of their tenure with the WWE.

Rating: T or PG-13 for mild swearing, sexual situations, and mild violence.

Disclaimer: I do not in any way lay claim to any name or character in the WWE. This is not-for-profit fiction. The only profit received is pure entertainment. Poetic license has been taken with character personas, along with television canon. Original characters of Cheryl Leigh and her family are copyright of Disco Inferno1, 2005-8.

Notes: Personalities presented within are not necessarily those of the characters in real life nor are the views presented within necessarily those of the author.Poetic license has been taken with character personas and television canon.

Even though this fic is based on "reality," I have not used wrestlers' real names or history or their families' names or history (which I have subsequently made up). I am highly uncomfortable doing so as wrestlers' personal lives are none of my business. No disrespect meant for those authors who do, simply personal belief on my part. It feels, for instance, as if I'm writing a fic about David Bowie rather than Labyrinth's "Jareth."

A great friend of mine Clare (her pen name is WandaXmaximoff; user id 747588) borrowed Cheryl for her Fine Line Between Love and Hate (It's a Cena fic, ladies! Go read it!) and since then, I've been dying to write something else with Cheryl and Dave. I must credit this wonderful woman with the re-formation of Evolution and Cheryl's news, which you will subsequently read about and spurred this entire fic. Samantha Edwards belongs to her as well and can be found in Fine Line.


Chapter I: A Lying Tongue Gains No Trust

Cheryl Leigh-Batista paced the bedroom floor of the house she shared with her husband, Dave Batista, in DC. She chewed the inside of her mouth as she wore a track in the carpet, her arms defensively wrapped around herself. She never thought she would ever receive news that was both depressing and exciting at the same time. She wanted to talk to Dave, tell him the good news but the downside was the possible end of their careers. She had to make a decision for herself first before she could break the news. If he was here now, he'd definitely know something was going on. She could never hide anything when she was this nervous.

But she had to tell someone. The redhead picked up her cellphone and started to press the speedial for Nidia Guenard Angle. The kinky brunette may have been out of the business for five years, choosing to be a stay at home mom to her four and a half year old son, but the two women hadn't lost their friendship. Knowing exactly what the former diva would say, she clipped her phone closed and heavily sat down on the bed. She could call Samantha Edwards, the diva she had been mentoring for over two years now and with whom she had become close friends. But her decision could weigh heavily on their match next Sunday and there was no point in worrying Sam over it.

Two sets of papers stared at Cheryl and she picked up both, reading over them again. Maybe it was for the best. She was turning thirty-five next year. How many women could say that they were still employed as a diva in the WWE in their thirties? Very few. Her biological clock was ticking as well and something seemed to pop up every day to remind her of that. If she and Dave wanted to have more than one child, she wouldn't be staying in the company much longer anyhow. She could go out on her own terms instead of being put in a ridiculous storyline that would either see her buried or get her fired for lack of fan support. Or even worse, half naked and begging for her job in the middle of the ring.

She was bringing the women's belt back to the reformed faction of Evolution this Sunday night. If she played her cards right, she could retire the women's champion—her character Cherry Leigh could go out on top. What a sweet dream… That's what one set of papers was about.

On RAW, John Cena and his on-screen and off-screen girlfriend, Sam Edwards, had messed with the wrong people, particularly singling out former members of Evolution. Of course, the point of it was to look like it was random but the intent of Creative was to reform Evolution at Unforgiven this Sunday. Cheryl had dropped her belt to Sam prior to leaving for a much needed three week vacation with Dave. In the process, Triple H, Cherry's on-screen half brother, had come to defend his sister against Cena and Sam. Since then, she had stood behind him, arguing and fighting with the couple. So, it was only natural that the veteran diva would immediately take her newly won belt to the stable she was once a part of. This time, it would be a strong version of Evolution, Triple H, Randy Orton, Ric Flair, and Dave Batista. When she had officially joined them originally, Orton had already left and her initiation into the group was to turn on Dave after she had lured him into a relationship. That didn't exactly go as planned but she ended up standing in the place that was left by Orton and Batista before Evolution imploded.

Dave was on his way over to RAW again in the upcoming draft so that Evolution could be fully reformed. They were elated at the news, thankful that their brand separation was coming to an end. However, it wouldn't matter if she was no longer employed with the company. Believing that this was the right choice for her didn't help because it could bring an end to Dave's career. He wouldn't be so lucky as to leave as either the WWE or Heavyweight Champion.

The papers she now held in one hand were her script for the pay-per-view along with the latest plans for her character. Dave's was still unopened on the bed beside her. To come back to Evolution should have meant something for her character's storyline but not really considering how she was becoming a heel again and would be revamped for her new place among the faction. That alone was enough to make her want to quit but she had thought the same thing every time Creative tampered with her character.

Cheryl tucked her feet up under her on the bed and tried to read over the script again. The wrestlers obviously had the freedom to ad lib but there were certain things that McMahon wanted said and done a particular way. Her spot with Samantha was nothing really. Since it was an interbrand pay-per-view, they were lucky to even get air time for themselves rather than standing in the corner of their respective wrestlers—Sam with John and Cherry with Hunter. The only point was to have Cherry win the belt and join with Evolution as a threat five strong to her archenemy, which was currently Sam.

The pages kept blurring and the woman could feel a headache coming on. She would memorize it all on the flight out Friday to an autograph signing. The only reason she was trying now was to take her mind off things and because Dave wasn't there. The second he stepped foot in their house, she was solely devoted to spending time with him. Because he was on SmackDown, they only had about two nights together each week. He would come in on Wednesday and she would be right back out the door on Friday morning.

When the phone rang, Cheryl tossed the papers aside and picked up the cell. Dave's number was on the ID and her heart dropped to her feet. She was hoping to be calm enough by the time she picked him up at the airport but she wasn't ready for a call from him now.

"Hey, pum'kin," he greeted.

"Hi yourself, stranger," she replied. "What's up?"

"I don't see you here at baggage claim. Are you stuck in traffic?"

"Uh, your flight wasn't supposed to be in for another two hours," she replied, her voice sounding unsure.

"I left you a message, said I got on an earlier flight. You didn't get it?" he asked.

She could tell he had shoved his other hand in his pocket in frustration. "No, I'm so sorry. I'm on my way now. Just let me throw on a pair of shoes…" She was already shoving her feet in a pair of sneakers.

"You okay, babe?"

"Yeah," she replied, faking a smile for her own benefit. "Just mad at myself for missing your message. Now you've got to wait on me to get there and—"

"It's okay," he interrupted and he meant it in a way. If she didn't get the message, she didn't get it. He was just ready to be home.

Cheryl picked up the second set of papers that she had been trying to avoid. They had to go somewhere. Dave couldn't see them yet. "Um, okay," she trailed off, looking around the bedroom for a place to stash them.

"Just take your time and drive safe," he replied, still thinking she wasn't fine.

"I love you, honey. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Love you too," he replied and ended the call.

Cheryl felt that tickle in her stomach at the thought of her husband being home in less than an hour to say those words to her. But then she went back into a panic over the documents and, after thinking about where she could hide them in each of their rooms in the house, she lifted the edge of the mattress on her side of the bed and shoved them under. She'd move them when she thought of a better place.

With one last glance at her secret, the diva bounded down the steps and paused to pick up her handbag and keys before slipping into the Lexus. Since it was early afternoon, lunch traffic had dissipated and rush hour had yet to start. It felt odd to want nothing more than to be with her husband and yet not want see him but, before she knew it, she was arriving at the airport. Just as she pulled into a parking space, Dave was coming out of the sliding glass doors, having seen her drive up. He motioned for her to stay and she put the car in park and slipped out. Four bounding steps and she was jumping in his arms, her legs locking around his waist and her lips planting squarely on his.

When Dave finally untangled his wife from his body, he asked, "What did I do to deserve that?"

"I missed you," she replied with a shrug and turned away to pop open the trunk.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Absolutely," she replied, raising up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. "Guess I feel bad about not being here when you arrived." Her nervousness had not remotely subsided by the time she arrived at the airport but it was just too easy to launch herself into his arms. But at least she could blame her state on being upset with herself for missing his message. What exactly was she doing when he called? She flipped open her phone and checked the missed calls. She must have been in the middle of receiving the surprise of her life.

Cheryl handed the keys to Dave and they both climbed into the car. "How've you been today?" he asked, glancing at her as he looked over his shoulder to back out of the parking space.

"Eh," she replied. "Got our scripts today."

"That's what's bothering you."

"I guess."

"You're not feeling sick again about all this, are you?" he asked, running a hand up under her hair.

"A little maybe. I knew they were going to change my character but it's something else to see it in print."

"I'm sorry, baby. I wish there was something I could do."

"You could talk to—"

"Don't think about it," he warned with a smirk. Since she had stupidly accused Triple H of having more power over who was hired and fired than he actually had, she and Dave had privately joked about appealing to Hunter and Stephanie when they didn't like where Creative was going.

Cheryl remembered confronting Helmsley like it was yesterday and she had learned that day that she was almost part of the roster cut of the century. The woman didn't even want to think about how her life would have turned out if she had been released.

She and Dave had not exactly been making immediate plans for either of them retiring. They kicked around the occasional idea of what they would do if one of them was released and casually discussed having children—career first, they had always said to their parents and in-laws. Career-ending injuries were never brought up, as if it would be bad luck to mention them.

The diva said nothing else about her irritation at the scripts and Creative's plan. Dave muttered his disagreement while looking them over but tried to cheer her up by talking about how they would be traveling together again. Of course, that only made her more depressed. She declined going running with him as she was still feeling a little nauseous but found the strength to not forego their work-out together, although she concentrated only on her upper body.

Showered and still riding the euphoria of having just made love, Cheryl whistled a nameless tune to herself as she pondered what she was preparing for dinner. Dave watched his wife sort through the cabinets and then pull out a few pots and pans while he flipped through his mail. She was oblivious to his eyes following her as she turned back and forth from the refrigerator. She bent over to retrieve fresh vegetables from the crisper and he couldn't help but smile to himself—his wife had a fine ass. She stood out in the midst of most divas being only a half foot shorter than he. Stacy Keibler was the only woman in the company in the past six years who could stand eye to eye with her without heels and Torrie and Michelle were close. But they didn't have something that Cheryl had—curves, from top to bottom, breasts, hips, thighs…

Watching her, he noticed she was favoring one leg. His first thought was that he had hurt her when he could no longer contain himself and had ambushed her in the shower to make love to her. But she had declined running with him, something that should have thrown up red flags. It was another way they spent time together with them on different brands. She had also only worked her upper body—not a problem because she always switched each day between upper and lower—but put it all together and it made sense to him. She had been lying to him about her knee. He knew she had hurt it or worse Candice had been sloppy and injured her during her first match back from their vacation. But Cheryl simply wrapped it up, claiming it hardly hurt.

Dave pushed aside his opened mail and left the table to surprise Cheryl by slipping an arm beneath her knees, another around her back, and picking her up. She let out a squeal, still clutching the box of aluminum foil, as he deposited her on the countertop. She stared at him with wide eyes as he prodded her knee, trying to elicit a reaction from her, one to admit she was going to have to do something about the injury.

"What are you doing?" she asked, smacking his hands with the box of foil.

"You're favoring one leg and it just happens to be the one that idiot messed up," he answered, his fingers dodging the box and poking her knee again.

"You're going to be there all night then because I stubbed my toe this morning," she lied. She could use a painkiller for her knee at the moment but she had neglected to have the prescription filled her doctor had written her that morning, probably because she had been walking around in a haze all day. "I'm surprised you didn't hear me all the way in Nashville when I did it."

Dave stepped back and scrutinized her—she was lying. He'd get it out of her eventually, he always did. This title win was too important to her but then he would give her hell until she sat her ass down and let the knee heal. "I just worry about you," he stated and kissed her forehead. Picking up his mail, he headed down the hall to the study.

Cheryl shook her head and slipped down off the countertop. He was absolutely going to kill her. But first, a decision had to be made. She honestly believed she could walk away from the company when the time was right. It still didn't seem the right time but, nevertheless, she was more than likely going to do so. The woman never really thought about how it was going to feel to leave. Eight years with the company, six of those as an on-television personality. Her character had seen some phenomenal moments that she never thought she would ever see. She had experienced unbelievable highs, meeting and marrying Dave, winning the belt four times, being part of a popular stable. Then there were some incredible lows, her marriage almost falling apart, her character almost destroyed by Creative, and the uncertainty of where her storyline was currently going. This could be her last moment in the spotlight but was it worth the risk on her body, the wrath of her husband if he found out she had knowingly wrestled while she was pregnant, and the displeasure of the creative team over their plans for her character?

TBC…