A/N: Update time!

Randy pulled his car up the drive to the private community his and John's home was in. The guard manning the security checkpoint at the entryway stepped out and smiled as Randy's car approached.

"Mr. Orton! Long time no see, sir."

Randy smiled and stopped the car. "Yeah, it has been awhile, Fred. How's it going? How's the family?"

"All's well, sir. Thank you for asking." Fred leaned on the side of Randy's car and motioned inside the gated community. "Mr. Cena arrived about an hour ago with Ms. Alanna."

Randy nodded, his heart beat increasing and his stomach churning with just the sound of John's name but he forced the smile to remain on his face. "OK, great. I should go then. A week without my daughter and it feels like an eternity. I can't wait to see her."

Fred frowned momentarily before nodding back and stepping aside, allowing Randy's car to move through. Randy caught the confused glance and noticed too late how his remark must have sounded to Fred. He said he had missed Alanna and couldn't wait to see her but made no mention of John. Inwardly groaning and cursing his loose tongue, Randy continued on the path, past the other homes and heading towards his at the end of the road's curve.

As the large home came into view with John's car parked in the driveway, Randy forced himself to relax. This wasn't a strange home he was pulling up to. This was his home…even if he hadn't been there for what felt like months. He had every right to be there that John did. They had purchased the home together after their small Boston wedding years earlier. Both men knew they wanted children together, Randy mainly. He had loved the child he'd had with Samantha and was anxious to have another, especially after seeing John accept Alanna as his own. There was no doubt in his mind John deserved to have a child he could raise as his own and have all legal rights to. Neither man had known the wait for an adoption would hit 3 years or that their marriage would take a turn for the worst in the meantime.

Randy parked his car behind John's and slowly stepped out of the safety of its confines. He pulled his rolling suitcase out of the backseat and let the door slam, the sound echoing throughout the quiet grounds. As he walked up the stone path leading to his front door, Randy took deep breaths, trying to calm his racing nerves. He wiped his sweaty hand on his jeans before reaching forward and pushing the door open. The suitcase dropped from his hand as he left it against the wall in the foyer and Randy frowned as only silence greeted his arrival.

"Hello?"

The sound of laughter drew Randy's gaze toward the back of the house and his feet quickly carried him in that direction. His lips curved into a smile as his eyes landed on John and Alanna eating lunch at the patio table, papers and crayons strewn over the surface along with plates of half eaten pizza.

"Hey, guys,"

Alanna quickly turned over at the sound of Randy's voice, a wide smile on her face and a happy squeal escaping her lips. "Daddy!"

Randy bent to welcome her into his arms as she raced towards him. He held her tightly against him as he placed kiss after kiss on her head, a smile on his face, as well. "My baby, I missed you so much, sweetie."

"I missed you, too, Daddy." Alanna squeezed Randy's neck tightly before pulling back. "I'm so happy you're here. We're eating pizza because there's no food here. Daddy John says we have to go grocery shopping but you have to make the list."

Randy nodded, his smile faltering at the mention of John's name. His eyes moved over Alanna's head and connected with John's briefly before quickly turning away and locking back onto his daughter's. "Well, I'll take care of it. Why don't you go finish your lunch?"

Alanna shook her head and wiggled her way out of Randy's embrace, grabbing his hand instead. "I finished but you have to eat now! Come,"

Randy shook his head and tried to resist her small tugs on his hand. "No, baby, I ate a little while ago…I'm not hungry, OK."

Alanna frowned up at him and continued tugging. "No, come eat! You have to say hi to Daddy, too."

Randy groaned softly and peered up at John, who had begun cleaning up the table, not involving himself in his and Alanna's conversation. His mind spun as he frantically thought of a way to avoid John for a few more hours while keeping his daughter none the wiser to what he was doing. While Alanna knew things had changed between her fathers, both Randy and John had still not told her their marriage was practically dead. They had happily let her assume the splitting of homes and the fact they barely spent time together anymore was only due to work.

"Daddy?" Alanna looked up at Randy, a confused frown on her face as he refused to move from where he stood.

"All right, all right." Randy shook his head and gave in to her insistence, sighing softly. He trudged behind her, getting closer and closer to John with each step until he was only a few feet away from him, careful to still leave some distance, though.

John smiled hesitantly, trying to remain as calm as possible for Alanna's sake and making no effort to close the gap between them. "Hey, how was your flight?"

Randy shrugged and finally locked onto John's eyes. "Fine. It was your typical flight."

John's smile wavered and he nodded. "OK. Are you hungry?"

"No, I ate earlier." Randy's hand was finally released by Alanna and he quickly crossed his arms over his chest.

"OK, I guess I'll go put this inside…" John began, grabbing the pizza box and starting to move towards the backyard door.

"Daddy!"

Randy and John both looked down at Alanna's yell but Randy was the first to recover. "What, Al? My God,"

Alanna stared at him accusingly. "You didn't hug and you're talking weird. What's wrong?"

Randy rolled his eyes and waved away Alanna's concern, the small girl unaware of how close she was to figuring out the truth. "Let's go inside, Al. Nothing is wrong."

Alanna frowned, her gaze saddening. "But…"

"Ally, nothing is wrong, baby," spoke up John, quickly setting the pizza box down and approaching Randy. Their arms brushed together and John felt Randy instantly stiffen but ignored his reaction as he smiled down at Alanna. "Daddy's just tired."

John turned over, reaching for Randy's arms and uncrossing them. He held Randy's hands tightly linked with his own, his eyebrow arching as he silently asked him to play along. "Right, Ran?"

Randy slowly nodded, his heartbeat having begun its race as soon as he felt John touch him. "Yeah, I am."

"Everything's fine, baby." John smiled down at Alanna before pulling Randy in for a hug, the younger man standing stiffly in the embrace. "Will you at least make a fucking effort?" he hissed sharply in Randy's ear and slowly felt him respond, his own hands wrapping around John's waist. They remained in the embrace for only a few seconds before pulling apart and simultaneously taking steps away from each other. Despite the awkward hug and reaction after, Alanna seemed satisfied and moved to the table to help John clean up. John quickly followed suit, the two busying themselves with cleaning up after their lunch and it gave Randy the perfect opportunity to make his escape.

Randy practically ran out of the backyard into the house. He grabbed his luggage from the hall and dragged upstairs, his feet automatically leading him into the bedroom he'd shared with John for years now. As the suitcase dropped from his hand, Randy froze in the doorway of the room, staring at the new furniture and unfamiliar décor. He tentatively took a step into the room, leaving his suitcase by the door. His hands reached out to touch the smooth wood on top of the dresser before continuing forward to look at the bed. Randy's eyes narrowed as they traveled up and down the neatly made bed, all happy memories of the nights he and John spent there erased and replaced by the memory of John in that bed with another man.

"Hey, how do you like it?"

Randy lifted his head at the sound of John's voice, the older man standing awkwardly in the doorway. He turned away and shrugged before responding, "It's not bad. I'm still not sleeping here, though."

John nodded, a small smile on his face. "I figured you wouldn't but I swear that I still had everything changed. Obviously the furniture but also the mattress and even the drapes..."

"It doesn't matter," replied Randy quickly, his lips curving into a smirk. John rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Fine. Just stay here until Al falls asleep then you can go to the guest room, OK?"

"I was planning on doing that. I don't want her to notice any more tension between us." Randy moved away from the bed and headed for the closet. "Do I still have clothes in here or did you move them to the other room?"

"Yeah, I noticed how badly you didn't want her to notice the tension by that wonderful performance you gave downstairs. The hug was great," mumbled John. He sighed and leaned on the doorframe. "Yes, your clothes are still in that closet. This will always be your room, Ran."

"The hug took me by surprise. I was caught off guard by her reaction and insistance something was wrong. I know it looked weird but I'll try to work on it. All I can do is promise to try that." Randy turned away from John and headed inside the large walk-in closet, ignoring his other statement. He emerged a few minutes later, his arms loaded with clothes. "That hug was brutal, John. Tell me you know that."

John nodded and turned around quickly, ensuring Alanna was not in earshot. "It was. I don't think a hug between us has ever felt so weird, even during some of the bad times we've had before."

"Kinda made me feel like shit there. Also makes me wonder..." Randy dropped the clothes onto the handle of his suitcase and avoided John's gaze. "Are we really gonna make this work? Can we? We can't even hold hands without cringing."

John took a deep breath and moved up off the door. He took a couple of steps towards where Randy stood. "I don't know, Ran. We put each other through hell and broke the trust we had in each other by doing the unforgivable. It's gonna take time to build it back up. One day won't do it."

"But you think we can trust each other again? That we'll be able to touch and not cringe at one point in the future?" Randy slowly smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Why? What makes you so confident, Cena?"

"The fact that we're here together so I know we're at least willing to try," replied John, a confident smile on his face. "Now, can you unpack and make me a grocery list so I can go to the market with Ally?"

Hours later, John sat in his bed, Alanna beside him and Randy lying beside her. It had only taken a pout from Alanna to make Randy get on the bed he'd sworn not to even touch only hours before. They had spent a peaceful afternoon, so peaceful that for a few minutes John forgot that their family was on the brink of falling apart forever. He and Alanna had gone to purchase all the groceries Randy had listed and then come home to help the younger man cook dinner. It had been eaten to the tune of Alanna's stories as she filled Randy in on all she and John had done during their week together. They had retreated up to the bedroom after cleaning up and baths to watch a movie and somewhere along the lines of Dorothy's adventures in Oz, both Alanna and Randy had fallen asleep besides John.

John stopped the DVD as the credits began to roll and turned to look at his daughter. He smiled and lifted her into his arms as gently as he could. Quietly walking out of the room, John walked to Alanna's bedroom only a few feet away from the one he shared, or used to, with Randy. He quickly settled her into her bed, the small girl barely stirring as John wrapped the covers around her and placed a kiss on her head.

Slowly trudging back towards his room, exhaustion beginning to creep in, John froze at the doorway as he saw Randy still sleeping soundly in the large bed. Unsure of what to do, he walked over to the bed and climbed on, turning to face Randy's body. The younger man was sleeping soundly, his expression peaceful. John hated to disturb him but knew if Randy awoke in the bed any later, he would be livid.

"Ran? Randy, wake up."

Randy didn't stir at John's soft call. John groaned softly and reached a hand forward, gently shaking Randy's shoulder as he tried again. "Randy, wake up."

Randy sighed in his sleep, shifting slightly but not waking. John sighed as he rested his hand on Randy's shoulder, shaking him once more, aware of how difficult he would be to wake up. "Ran, come on, baby,"

The endearment slipped out before John could stop it and he froze his motions in case Randy had heard. Randy turned over, changing positions and effectively sliding closer to John's touch. John remained still, enjoying the feeling of Randy's skin on his hand after so many months.

"Johnny,"

Randy's soft mumble of his name snapped John out of his daze and he shook his head, uncomfortable now with the closeness of the men. He resumed shaking Randy's shoulder and, finally, after a few more shakes, Randy's brow furrowed and he frowned as he slowly awoke. His eyes connected with John's, widening slightly. "What's going on?"

"You fell asleep during the movie. I just took Ally to bed and figured you would want to go too..." John shrugged. "I mean, if you want to stay here, I don't care but I know you probably don't so I figured I would wake you up so you don't get mad at me if you wake up on your own..."

"Jesus, shut up," interrupted Randy, laughing softly. "You're making my head hurt."

John smiled but it was clearly full of sadness. "Sorry. I just don't know how to be around you or even talk to you lately. I don't know how you're gonna react. It's like you've become someone I don't even know any more."

Randy's smile faded and his eyes lowered. "I know. Trust me, the feeling is mutual and it stinks just as much over here." He pulled his body up and sat in the bed, resting his head on the headboard. "We're gonna need help trying to figure this stuff out, John."

"I called Nancy this morning and got her recommendations on a couple of doctors that specialize in marriage counseling. I didn't think we would be able to work this out on our own, either." John shrugged. "I'll let you read over the list and pick your favorite."

Randy nodded, agreeing that calling his former anger management counselor would be the best way to find the best doctor to help them. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stretched his arms over his head before standing up. "OK, I'll go over it tomorrow. I'm too exhausted to do anything but get some more sleep right now."

"Yeah, of course. Get some rest and we'll talk tomorrow." John smiled over at Randy from the bed, lowering his body into the bed. "Sure you don't wanna stay here? I won't talk any more."

Randy rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No, thanks, funnyman." He turned and walked to the door slowly.

"Randy,"

Randy stopped at John's soft call of his name. He was only a few steps from the outside but turned around to meet John's intense gaze. "Yeah,"

"Is it terrible that despite what you did and how angry I still am at you, that I still want you so bad?"

Randy inhaled sharply at John's softly spoken question. He moved his gaze to the floor as he licked his suddenly dry lips, contemplating how to respond. Figuring honesty was the best policy, Randy shook his head and looked back up, locking eyes with John. "No, it's not terrible because despite what you did and how angry I am at you, I still want you just as badly. Unfortunately, we both know that it can't happen."

John nodded from where he lay on the bed. "I know." He sighed but then slowly smiled. "Good night, Ran."

"Good night, John," Randy smiled back and turned away, walking towards his new room, anxiously looking forward to the next day. Getting a doctor to help him and John work out their problems was sounding like a better idea with every passing minute.

A/N: Review, please! In the next chapter we find out who John cheated with but I give a hint in this chapter...