"Red one."
"Blue one."
A glance into the rearview mirror showed Holly had her face as close to the window as possible in her car seat. She kept her eyes trained to all the cars around them.
"Red one!" she exclaimed excitedly turning to Colby next to her.
Colby responded by turning to press his face against the window which caused Holly to laugh. Spotting no more blue cars, Colby leaned back into his seat crossing his arms over his chest with a frown.
Holly clapped, bouncing in her seat a bit. "I win!"
Jon shook his head. The two had been playing car games for the pass hour since Holly had woken up from her nap. So far, if Jon had been paying attention enough, Holly should be up by two wins. By the way Colby had been acting with the losses, Jon couldn't tell if he was letting Holly win or not. Either way, the games had been keeping her more entertained and occupied then when it was just the two of them.
Colby and Joe, who had fallen asleep himself, had decided to travel to the last house show with them. Jon was glad that he had his two best friends along as he learned in the pass couples days that Holly still had the attention span of a kid even if she was more quiet then most kids. Since he had to focus on driving, it left Holly in a consistent irritated state during most the drives as she found herself bored playing with just herself while restrained to a car seat.
"Where're almost there right?" Colby asked as he leaned forward between the center console.
Jon nodded. "Yeah, about another thirty minutes or so. We're also a bit early so we can find a place for some breakfast. You hungry right Holly?"
Holly nodded her head and pointed at her stomach. "Yup, hungry." She repeated.
About thirty minutes later, they were pulling into a diner near where the house show was. Looking through the window, Jon saw that they were not the only people who had the same idea. A few other Superstars and Divas had taken up a corner of the place.
Jon got out of the car, followed by Colby, Joe and Holly. Joe was stretching and let out a loud yawn.
"As great as getting to wrestle is, I hate the traveling in the cars. We really need to invest in a bus or something." He commented as the four of them headed into the diner.
Both Jon and Colby nodded their head in agreement, but they all knew that having just made it to the main stage, not to get to ahead of themselves. For now, the car would have to do.
As they four passed the table with their coworkers, Jon noticed Holly huddle closer to him. While Holly was becoming more opened with him, Colby, Joe and to an extant Phil who helped her out on the first day, she was still very reserved around others.
"You're heading back after today right?" Joe asked while they waited for their food.
Colby and Jon nodded.
"I gotta go see my girl. It's not the same seeing her over FaceTime as it is in person." Colby said.
"I think Holly needs a break. It's been a long week and a half. Traveling is hard right?" Jon turned to face Holly, who nodded an answer before going back to the coloring sheet she was given. "I'm just ready to go home."
At the mention of home, Holly stopped coloring to look up at Jon. "Home? With mommy?" Holly asked. A smile had formed on her face, and her eyes gleamed.
Jon felt himself frowning. "Uh, no. We're going back to my house. Where you stayed before traveling." Jon could see the realization settle in as the gleam in Holly's eyes disappeared.
"I won't see Mommy?"
"No, we won't see mommy. She's uh, busy." Jon finished explaining lamely when he saw the smile drop completely off Holly's face.
Holly's eyes filled with tears causing Jon to lean back with shock. He hadn't seen Holly cry since that first day. He got over the initial shock, and pulled Holly to him. She turned to him right away, burying her face into the crook of neck and wrapped her arms around him.
"I want Mommy." He heard her mumble through her crying.
Jon looked over to Joe and Colby. Both of them had a look of concern etched onto their face.
What was he going to do now?
-X-
The house show had ended without a problem. After Holly's breakdown in the diner, she had reverted back to how she was the first day that Jon had got her. She barely even spoke up to say goodbye to Joe and Colby. This was especially shocking because of how close and attached Holly had gotten to Colby during the time on tour.
The ride to the airport had been in silence on Holly parts as Jon tried to talk to her. On the airplane, Holly fell asleep and stayed that way for the two hour plane ride. The ride back home had also been in complete silence that even the taxi driver couldn't help but comment on it. Jon had shrugged it off as Holly being tired from the plane ride.
It was when Holly had gone down for the night when Jon couldn't take it anymore. Picking up his phone, he dialed the number to the person that could end Holly's silence.
"Holly misses you." He said, skipping over the formal greetings.
"Hello to you Good."
"She wants to see you. She was fine this week until I mentioned we were going home and weren't going to see you. She stopped talking again."
Scarlett sighed. Jon could imagine her with an annoyed look at the moment.
"Are you sure Holly isn't just throwing a tantrum? She does that sometimes. Besides it normal for kids. She'll get over it."
"This isn't normal, what three year just shuts down completely and for the whole day at that?" Jon had to fight to keep his voice down. "Look, I don't care if you want to be a mother or not. I really don't, but Holly doesn't understand that she's been abandon by you. She probably just thinks she's on a long vacation with me or something. The least you can do right now is talk to her. It doesn't even have to be in person."
A moment in silence passed as Jon waited for his ex's response.
"Fine, I can do that. Set it up tomorrow. I'll call on Skype around nine in the morning before I leave for work."
Jon felt as if something had been lifted from his shoulder when Scarlet agreed.
"Okay."
"Is that all Good?" When Jon didn't answer, Scarlet decided to continue. "Just so you know, you don't have to guilt trip me. Just because I don't want to have Holly anymore doesn't mean I don't care."
With that, Scarlet hung up without another word.
-X-
The next morning, after waking up Holly a bit earlier than usual and telling her he had a surprise, the two sat in front of the laptop place at the dining table. At ten pass nine, Scarlet called. When her face appeared on the screen, the light seemed to come back to Holly. Her face lit up with a smile as she jumped up in front of the computer screen.
"Mommy!"
"Hi Holly. Good." Scarlet greeted.
Jon nodded his head in a greeting, before standing up and leaving Holly alone with her mother to go make breakfast. As Jon worked on making food, he listened in on Holly recount her week. Jon was impressed when Scarlet responded with questions of her own asking if Holly was eating all her vegetables or if she had been bothering people backstage. The two spent thirty minutes on the video call before Scarlet had to leave for work.
When Scarlet's face disappeared, Jon had a fear that Holly would go back to her silent mode again. When she turned back around, the smile was still on her face.
"I saw Mommy."
"Yes you did." Jon agreed, walking over to place the food down in front of Holly after moving the laptop out of the way.
"I miss Mommy. I want to see Mommy again."
Again Holly was looking up at Jon with that hopeful look in her eyes that he couldn't find himself saying no to.
"I know Holly and yes, you'll see your mom again. I promise."
As the two ate their breakfast, Jon made up his mind. No matter what, he was going to have to get Scarlet involved more, even if she didn't want to. No matter what he did for Holly, he wasn't going to be "Mommy". That wasn't a character he could play.
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