The Usual: I don't own WWE. The McMahon family owns it.

Chapter 4: Reunited

Ted looked across my shoulder to see why I wasn't answering. I felt his breathing stop when he saw the screen.

"But. How?" he asked aloud. I did nothing, not a whisper, movement or anything else apart from breathing. The phone stopped ringing.

"I don't know." I finally said.

Thinking of the phone that I left in my mam's hands at the funeral, I suddenly had an idea, but it would be difficult.

"Ted, do you think that mam could still be alive, and the doctors could have been wrong?" I asked him.

"Possibly. Why do you ask?" Ted replied.

"The phone that rang was the phone that I had left mam when she was going to be buried. Mam could be alive ." I told Ted.

"Are you serious? She was buried a few months ago." Ted reminded me.

"I have to check though." I stated to him.

"Are you mad? Have you noticed something missing?" Ted asked.

The electricity was out. Thunder and lightning were raging outside.

"All the better. No one will catch us trying to dig my mam out of her grave." I said and begun to get changed.

"You can't go out in that storm. You'll be swept off your feet." Ted protested.

"Tough. This is my mam that I'm helping. You can stay here if you want but I'm going before she actually dies of starvation and thirst." I told him stubbornly.

"Just let me get dressed." Ted replied.

I stripped off my PJ's and threw them on the bed, replacing them with a heavy jumper and bottoms.

Sticking on my boots, a hat, jacket and scarf, Ted and I snuck out of the house with a shovel each and a torch in a backpack. I packed a jacket for mam too because what she was buried in wasn't enough for the weather.

"I just noticed. Shouldn't we have told Randy about this?" Ted asked.

"He'll freak. I can't anyway." I said as we ran to the nearby cemetery where mam was buried.

Ten minutes later we got to the grave. I began to dig immediately.

The digging went on and on and on. I remembered the good times I had with mam before she died, which made me dig quicker to get her out sooner.

I was sweating, tears were streaming, and my muscles were tired. Finally Ted hit something. My heart jumped all the way to my throat.

Jumping into the hole we dug, I brushed away the dirt and cleared the face of the coffin.

"Mam?" I called.

No answer. I wrenched the lid off and dust burst out at me. I coughed and swished it away with my arm.

"Are you all right Kate-Lynn?" Ted called down.

"Yeah." I replied and swished the rest of the dust away. More coughing came, but from below me.

"Mam?" I called again.

A cough was my reply.

Mam's eyes fluttered open and her warm, chocolate brown gaze looked up at me.

"It's me." She said. Her voice was hoarse.

I pulled her up into a sitting position, and then to her feet.

"I'd say your starving." I said to her, pulling her into a huge hug.

"Not really. I woke about an hour ago and ate the bar that was sitting beside me."

"Bar?"

"It must have fallen out of your pocket. You know what a git you are for leaving food in your pocket untouched." Mam laughed.

"Hey Samantha." Ted called down. I forgot about him somehow.

"Hello Ted dear. Where's Randy and Cody?" Mam asked.

"At home. They don't know that we left the house for you." I said as Ted lowered an arm for mam. She took his wrist and got pulled up.

"Get the jacket out of my bag." I told Ted. I put the coffin lid back on and tried to reseal it, or at least have it sitting the way it was before. When I had it right, I hopped up a little and caught the edge of the hole. I pulled myself up. Ted wrapped an easy arm around my waist and lifted me out.

"You could have just asked me to help." Ted told me.

"You should have been taking care of mam." I replied.

"You know I'm alright." Mam interrupted and crouched down beside us.

"Yeah, I know." I said as we went home.

I showered and got back into my PJ's after coming home from the graveyard. I was reading my book, but I couldn't concentrate on it. Ted was in the bathroom, taking his turn with my shower.

A light tap came on the door and mam stepped in, her hair damp.

"I thought you'd be awake." She said and sat down on the bed beside me.

"How couldn't I?" I asked.

She wrapped her arms around me and I rested my head in her shoulder. I missed her scent.

"I'm so glad you're home." I mumbled.

She began to sing the Tarzan soundtrack to me, she was a very good singer, and I whispered the words along with her.

"Come stop your crying, it'll be all right

Just take my hand, hold it tight

I will protect you from all around you

I will be here, don't you cry

For one so small, you seem so strong

My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm

This bond between us can't be broken

I will be here, don't you cry."

I drifted off to sleep while mam left for the spare room when Ted came back in to take her place. Randy wouldn't be able to wake up and find mam lying in bed beside him. Not yet.

"Where's that god damn snooze button?" I swore. If Randy had have heard me talking like that he would have murdered me.

To be honest, I was already awake. I slept lightly, if at all, last night. Ted slept easily though.

Climbing out of bed, I fixed my PJ's so that they weren't twisted around my legs and arms and stomach. They were loose on me, like three sizes too big for me. That's what makes them comfy. Ted woke too and got out of bed. He was about to leave the room, but I threw my pillow at him.

"What?"

"You're not going down the stairs like that." I told him.

"Like what?" he looked down at himself. "Oh." All he had on him was his socks and boxers. He pulled his askew PJ's on him.

"Happy now?" No. I wanted you naked. I ignored myself.

We went down stairs and walked straight into the kitchen, where mam was standing at the cooker grilling rashers.

"Hey mam." I said, startling her.

"I see that didn't change." She laughed as I stood beside her.

"Nope. I haven't changed at all since you left." I said.

"Lovely conversation." She said.

"That's me. The best creator of conversations." I smiled. Ted laughed and I elbowed him to shut it.

"Is your father up yet?" mam asked me.

"No. He'll be up in a small while though. It'll be a shocker for him."

"Is he dating anyone else?" Mam asked.

"Are you mad? Sure there's been girls going for him but he told each of them to..... bobble off." mam sent me a glare. She knew exactly what he had actually said.

"I hear talking. Who are you talking to Kate-Lynn?" Granddad Bob asked, coming around the corner.

Both of us looked to him, and he froze when he saw mam.

"Sam?" he asked walking straight into her personal space, but that's Orton men for you.

"Yeah. Turns out I didn't die after all." She smiled warmly and hugged Granddad Bob.

"Well thank God for that. Randy was going to implode he was so depressed." Granddad Bob laughed.

"Honey, what are you talking about?" Granny walked around the corner and, funnily enough, did the exact same thing as Granddad Bob.

"This is fantastic. But shouldn't you go to a hospital or something to get checked out to see if you're ok?" She asked, hugging her tightly.

"I've been asleep the whole time. Nothing is wrong with me except that I'm starving. I went to the toilet when I got back but it wasn't a huge emergency since I didn't eat or drink anything." Mam explained.

"What's the excitement about?" Randy's voice came from the top of the stairs. I looked up. Mam looked calm, as usual. How does she do that? It's impossible for me, but that's what makes me an Orton.

The heavy footsteps hit the wooden floor at the bottom stairs. I'm hoping he's half decent.

He walked into the kitchen in his boxers and his socks only. Disgusting.

"You could have at least got dressed." I moaned, covering my newly scarred eyes.

"You see me wrestle all the time. You should be used to it." Randy retaliated. He didn't even see mam. Dope.

"Son, do you notice someone else here?" Granddad Bob urged.

Dropping my hand, I saw Randy looking around, curious to see what his father was looking for.

He finally copped onto mam standing beside me. His mouth made an 'O' shape.

"Took you long enough." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"You're charming." Cody said as he walked in too. This is a great family gathering.

Cody saw mam and pushed through everybody to get to her. He bear-hugged her so tight I thought she was going to pop.

"She's back!" he yelled like a child.

"Nice to see you too Cody." Mam laughed. You'd think she was just back from a holiday.

Seeing Randy's confusion, I pushed everyone else out of the kitchen.

"Give them some time, you can interview later." I said shoving them out.

Just before I closed the door I gave the two a wink.

"Why have you got PJ's that are too big for you on you?" Ted asked me as I was walking up the stairs to the bathroom, but only to scrub my teeth.

"Because they're comfortable for during the night. You should know." I replied and put some toothpaste on the brush.

"So you're not trying to show off or anything?" Ted asked with a smirk. I played dumb.

"Show off? To who?" I asked, and then shoved the toothbrush into my mouth.

"Oh I don't know. Me maybe." He smiled.

I flicked water from the tap at him, still scrubbing my teeth with my other hand. "Don flasher yourshelf." I told him, my mouth already full of toothpaste.

"You did not flick water at me."

"Did shoo." I said and wetted my hands more.

"What are you doing?" Ted asked.

I stood on the tips of my toes and spiked up the front of his hair.

"Why did you do that?" Ted asked again.

I spat out the toothpaste and washed out my mouth before answering.

"It was really irritating me the way you had the hair sitting on your forehead so I spiked it up for you. It makes you look younger anyway." I said, walking past him into my room.

"You are so stubborn like your father." Ted told me, which I have heard so many times already.

I passed off that comment.

"What part of you did you get from your mam?" Ted asked, not looking for an answer.

Searching in my wardrobe for something to put on me.

"Are you going anywhere?" Ted asked me.

"I'm going out into town to get some stuff, do you want to come?" I asked as I re-checked for something to wear. I found my favourite pair of jeans and a tank top at the end of the rail. How did it get there?

"Sure, why not. You can't drive anyway."

I kept my back to him. "Excuse me, I can drive." I snapped.

"You're only after learning yesterday in Bob's jeep." Ted replied.

"I can still drive." I stated.

"You haven't drove a proper car though." Ted said and planted his ass on my bed,.

"Whatever." I said and stripped off from my PJ top and into the tank top. It didn't bother me that Ted was there. When you share a locker room with guys, privacy doesn't exist.

"You do know I'm still in the room, don't you?" Ted asked.

"Yeah. So?" I put a bit of perfume on me and changed into the jeans.

"Oh I get it. You're showing your body off to me." Ted smugly said, lying back on the bed with his hands behind his head.

"There's no need for me to show off. I already know that you watch me while I'm wrestling. You don't be spying on the likes of Alisha Fox." I said.

"You'd hardly be watching Evan Bourne." Ted retorted.

"I wouldn't, but that would have nothing to do with you if I were." I told him, kneeling down to look under the bed for my shoes.

"Pull down your top. Your back is showing." Ted told me.

"Stop looking." I told him, dragging my shoes out from under the bed beside everything else.

I kneeled up and he was lying on his side, his hand supporting his head now. We were face to face.

"Your perfume smells nice." he complimented.

"Same could be said for your cologne." I returned.

"Are you ready for town yet? I could fall asleep before you even put on the first runner." Ted complained.

"Put up and shut up." I replied, narrowing my eyes at him. I shoved him away a little bit and sat on the side of the bed. I pulled both runners on quickly. Ted pulled down the back of my top.

"I told you to put it down but you didn't listen." he defended when I glared at him. I stood and then we walked downstairs into the kitchen, which was empty. Mam and Randy must have moved to somewhere else for a chat.

"You have an attitude like Randy's too." Ted noted standing in the corner.

"Didn't I tell you to shut that mouth of yours?" I asked in a statement, going up close in a warning for him.

"I guess you did." Ted said. He out his hands at the small of my back and pulled me closer until we were pressed together.

"What are you up to?" I whispered. He just smirked in reply, getting steadily getting closer and closer to my face.

The kitchen door opened. "Guys, Granny sent me in to..... am I disturbing anything?" Cody asked, stepping into the room.

I whirled around to face him and ended up busting my head on the open steel cabinet door which we had marked as the medical cabinet.

"Ah shit!" I exclaimed, slapping my head over my forehead. Taking it away, there was blood on my hand, and a lot of it too.

Cody dashed to the sink and grabbed the tea towel, soaking it in warm water. Ted took it from him and held it to my head tightly, applying the right amount of pressure. He supported the back of my head gently.

This is the Ted I like. The rare, caring one.

"Thanks." I mumbled.

"No problem." Ted replied, squeezing out the towel to get all of the excess blood out and re-soaking it.

"I'll go and ask Granny where the bandages are." Cody said and dashed out of the kitchen, not even seeing the open cabinet.

There was a silence between myself and Ted for about five minutes at least as he concentrated on my head.

"You think he asked?" I asked. We listened for a moment.

"Nah." Both of us answered at the same time.

My vision suddenly became blurry and I gripped Ted's arm.

"You ok? Dizzy?" I nodded a little.

"Are you going to black out?" Ted asked. I nodded again.

"Low bloods or the cut?"

"Both." I breathlessly replied.

I then collapsed into his prepared arms.