Irreconcilable Differences
chapter six
Paranoid

Natalie felt the plane drop about three feet and she let her left hand reach over and clutch Randy's arm. She hated flying but had to admit that having someone who was so used to flying like Randy there for "moral support" was helping a bit. Between Randy talking to Carter about their favorite Wrestlemania moments and telling her every five minutes or so that everything was alright – she was watching the time, no pun intended, fly right on by.

Randy, who was mid-sentence about defending his Wrestlemania match against Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, looked over to her hand on his forearm and he smirked gently. He gently reached over and gave her a soft smile, taking her hand in his and laced their fingers together. "You're fine, breathe," he said softly.

Carter looked out the window constantly, his nose pressed against the glass as he watched the landscape of America slowly slide past them with every passing moment. "Are we there yet, Randy?" Carter asked, looking up at Randy with a bored expression on his face.

The three hour flight was his first and Randy was somewhat entertained by the constant questions of their location. He laughed and shook his head to his son, "No little buddy, we're not there yet," he said before spotting the flight attendants coming down the narrow aisle with sodas and peanuts. He looked back to Natalie and smiled.

"How are you holding up?" he asked, raising an eyebrow innocently.

Natalie had been clutching the arm rest so hard that her knuckles had turned stark white and she had her eyes trained on the seat back in front of her eyes. She weakly nodded and shrugged, "As well as can be expected," she whispered, looking over at Carter. "All that matters is that he's having fun," she said gently. "He is having fun, isn't he?"

Randy snorted playfully, "Are you kidding me? He's been asking me so many questions about the WWE and all of that, I think we've got another me on our hands," he smiled softly.

She laughed softly and sighed, "Randy, if he's bothering you – you can tell him you have a headache or something, he'll leave you alone for a b-"

"Are you kidding?" Randy smiled, "Please, I love talking to the kid. He knows so much about the business, Natalie," he smiled. "Alanna doesn't really care, she just knows that Daddy's working," he said. "He knows wrestlers that my dad wrestled with," he explained. "He's a smart kid," he smirked. "You did good," he winked.

"You too," she teased softly before ordering a glass of water. But Randy nixed that immediately.

"Can we get two shots of whiskey?" he smiled at the younger flight attendant. "And chocolate milk for this guy," he said, motioning to Carter who was now playing his game boy.

"Certainly, sir," the attendant smiled, going to get their drinks.

Natalie smirked and looked down before hearing Carter speak again.

"So what's the plan, Randy?" he asked. "When we get there? Just so I know..."

Randy had been asked this question by Carter at least four times since they boarded the plane two hours ago, seven times on the way to the airport in the car Randy had rented for the ride, and three since they woke up that morning. But Randy gave a smile and answered the question as if it were the first time.

"Well, we're going to get to St. Louis a day early," he said simply. "So we're going to stay at my house for the night," he said.

Natalie closed her eyes and nervously took a slow inhale of breath. Randy had assured her that Samantha had gone down to Cancun with her best friends for a relaxation trip for the week, having left last night.

"But we have to pick up my daughter, Alanna from my Dad's house. You know, Cowboy Bob Orton," Randy smirked.

Carter's face lit up again and Randy just wanted to come out and tell the kid that one of his favorite veteran wrestlers was his grandfather.

"We'll get dinner tonight, then I'm going to the arena tomorrow morning – really early to help set up and such, but then when you and Alanna wake up, your Mommy will take you two to the arena and we'll meet up. You can come backstage and meet everyone you wanna meet, eat with us then you three have ring side seats for Raw tomorrow night," Randy said simply as their drinks were delivered.

He handed Carter his chocolate milk and even put the bendy straw in the tiny hole for the kid before clinking his plastic cup of whiskey against Natalie's. "Bottoms up," he winked.

"You keep fidgeting like that and your entire manicure that you got yesterday is going to come off," Randy murmured from the driver's seat of his BMW. He looked out the corner of his eye to see Natalie beside him, her fingers playing with one another nervously as he pulled onto the street that his parents lived on. "Honestly, Natalie," he said gently, reaching over and grabbing one hand away from the other to cease the movements. "Relax, they're my parents, they loved you," he said. "Hell, they still do, let's be seriously," he shrugged.

"Do they know?" she asked softly.

He shook his head gently, "No, I didn't want to tell them until you were ready," he said, looking in the rear view mirror to see Carter passed out in the seat behind his mother. "But I think we need to tell him before we leave St. Louis," he said, his voice dropping down an octave. "I mean, we can get everyone knocked out at once and everyone can know what the plan is."

Natalie bit her lip, "What's the plan again?" she asked softly, making Randy instantly smile.

"Your son is the spitting image of you," he told her, enjoying the smile that graced her lips. "The plan is that after St. Louis, you're going to San Diego and start packing all of your stuff up," he began, adjusting his grip on the leather steering wheel. "You're going to move in one week from San Diego to St. Louis in that place we saw online and I'm going to come see you and Carter every time I'm back in town. He's mine too, Natalie, and I fully intend on being apart of his life now," he said gently.

Natalie nodded her head and sighed, "I just hope that Sam doesn't get ma-"

Randy pulled into his parents driveway and he sighed, killing the engine before turning in his seat. "Right now, my priorities are you, Carter and Alanna – she wants to go to Cancun for a week, good riddance. I need to get you and my son sorted out before I leave for Mexico City," he told her.

She smiled softly as he leaned in and kissed her cheek before stepping out of the luxury car – stretching as he reached his full height. He looked up at the porch as the door swung open and Alanna ran out of the home.

"Daddy!" She screamed.

Natalie watched her ex-boyfriend with his daughter and smiled gently, getting out of the car and waking up Carter and opening his door. He lazily got out of the car and looked at the house before it clicked.

"Is this Cowboy's house?" he screamed, running towards the door before he got yanked back by his shirt collar. He halted and looked over his shoulder, seeing his mom with a scowl on her face.

Natalie looked up and saw Elaine and Bob Orton walk out of the house – just like old times. Elaine was wearing her simple outfit of a pair of pants and a loose fitting blouse underneath an old apron with flour all over it. Bob was in a pair of basketball shorts and an old t-shirt – she smiled softly and held back as they started to talk to Randy.

She couldn't quite hear what Elaine was saying but she heard Randy's low voice answer simply like, "It was good, long but good..." and "No, we're headed out to the house, but thanks, Ma..." before he turned to look at her and Carter. He motioned for them to join and she slowly walked up with her son.

"Ma, Pop, you two remember Natalie – " before Randy could even finish, Elaine threw her arms open and pushed past Bob to give her a big hug.

She held her tight, "Welcome home, love," she whispered into her ear. Natalie smiled and held onto her tight.

"Hey, Carter, why don't you help Alanna with her stuff, huh?" Randy said with a smirk. Carter nodded and went with the little girl into the house.

"And that is..." Randy began, looking at Natalie. "Is her son, Carter."

Bob eyed up Randy and Natalie before going back into the house.

Elaine grinned from ear to ear, "Oh! He's just the sweetest thing, Natalie! Congratulations! Did you get a good look at Alanna? She's growing up so darn fast," she gushed. "I'm such a proud grandma, Randy just needs to gimme another one – I want a boy!" she smiled warmly.

Natalie smiled, "See, my mom wants a granddaughter," she smirked as Randy walked into the home to help the kids with Alanna's bags.

"Do you want anything to drink, honey? I just made a thing of sweet tea."

"Now have I ever turned down sweet tea?" Natalie smirked, walking into the house with Elaine and into the kitchen.

Randy walked past Alanna's guest room and down the hall towards his father's office. He knocked twice and walked in, seeing his Dad at the desk towards the back of the room.

"You know, it isn't very polite to just walk off from a guest like tha-" Randy began.

"And you know that is your kid, don't you?" Bob said, not looking up from the newspaper.

Randy watched his father intently as if he were eying up opponent in the ring before the bell would ring.

"That boy is yours and you know it – when were you going to drop that little bombshell on him?" he asked.

The WWE Superstar looked down, "As soon as Natalie figured it'd be right," he said.

"That boy's gonna need a steady father figure in his life," Bob started, folding his paper.

Randy snorted and stood up from his seat and shook his head at his father.

"You have no right to tell me about being a good father or about how I should be there for Carter," he said simply, turning on his heel and walking out of the office.

He quietly made his way to Alanna's room and sighed, leaning against the door frame. "Alright, Alanimal, you ready to go?" he asked - "Carter, you too?"

They nodded and when Alanna tried to grab her Princess and the Frog suitcase, Carter took it and wheeled it out of the room towards the door. Like Randy had done for Natalie at the airport. He smirked. He was already teaching his son stuff. He smirked and said goodbye to his mother and walked out to the car with his family.

After a big meal of Chinese take out, Randy and Natalie laid on separate couches as they heard the kids run around upstairs. Randy lazily tilted his head to the side and sighed, watching as Natalie played with a strand of her hair. He watched her and smiled softly – she was so damn gorgeous when he took the time to take her in. Her hair was up in a high ponytail for the night and her outfit simply consisted of a pair of form fitting, skin tight yoga pants and a white tank top that she wore a lace black bra underneath. If he really stared he could see the lace with each inhale as her chest would move up.

He blinked when she glanced over at him and he jerked his head forward, staring at the television that was showing SportsCenter. He took a long sip of his Budweiser bottle and glanced down at the label as he heard Alanna's voice carry down the hall.

"Daddy, we're ready for bed!" She called.

Natalie smirked and watched as Randy went towards the hall, "I've got this, don't worry," he said, "Relax for a minute," he winked before making his way to the stairs. She heard his steps upstairs and closed her eyes, somewhat feeling like a family.

After a few seconds of silence when his steps moved off the stairs, she laughed gently when Alanna screamed playfully. "Ah! Monster Daddy!"

She even heard Carter laugh which made her grin from ear to ear. They had made a tent for Carter and Alanna to sleep in on the floor of Alanna's room and Natalie would be sleeping in the guest room.

She sighed and pulled her head off the couch, standing up and walking around the lower floor which had Randy's office, his home gym, the kitchen, living room, game room and the garage. She slowly crossed her arms against her chest and took in a deep breath, staring at photos. Randy in the Marine Corps, Randy and Sam back in the day – probably when he started out at the WWE. A slight pang of jealousy came over her and she moved down towards Randy's computer seeing their wedding photo. She closed her eyes and walked into Randy's office.

Natalie smiled softly as she saw every title that Randy had ever won, a bunch of memorabilia – he really was a fan and then a WWE Superstar if you thought about it. She grinned at the photos of him in high school and was even shocked to see one of her and him when they were dating. He had her on his back and she was leaning over, kissing his cheek lovingly. He had a dopey smile on his face but they were happy. She picked up the frame and stroked his face before putting it down and moving to sit at his desk.

She took a deep breath and moved the mouse of his computer which was already on. She sighed and saw a log in password screen. So much for that.

"There you are," Randy's voice sounded from behind her.

Natalie jumped about six feet in the air and clutched her chest, turning to see Randy in the door frame. He smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"You scared me!" She said with a frown.

Randy smiled, "So did you. I left you on the couch for two seconds and you disappear," he said. "What's up with that?"

Right when Natalie thought she was in trouble, Randy walked in and stood behind her. His hands went to her shoulders and rubbed them slowly.

Natalie's eyes closed quietly, "Do you think we're doing the right thing?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He watched her and let his hands slow to a stop. Were they doing the right thing?

Randy certainly felt pretty bad about having his ex and his son staying at his home with Sam gone – but for the first time in a long while, it felt like there was a family there – and a reason for him to come back after a road trip instead of pushing on to the next city with the single superstars like Punk and Ryder.

"I think we're doing what's right for us at this exact moment," he said. He moved to face her, leaning against the hardwood desk. "Natalie, you don't get it," he said gently. "I'm going to be there for you from now on, and Carter," he whispered. "So you moving to St. Louis is the best way for me to try and do that for you," he sighed softly.

She watched him and pursed her lips, nodding her head. "You're right," she sighed.

Randy nodded and leaned in – pressing his lips against her gently and quickly- before she could tell him now.

"Everything is going to be okay," he whispered. "I promise," he said. "You should get some sleep," he told her. "I'll sleep in the guest room, you sleep in my room, okay?" he asked.

Natalie closed her eyes when her lips pressed against Randy's and before she could react, he was gone and across the room telling her where to sleep. She blushed gently and nodded.

"Bring the kids by around ten, okay?" he asked. "I'll be done with press by then..."

She simply nodded.

"Sweet dreams, darlin'," Randy's Southern accent said gently – and like that – he was gone.

Natalie sighed and exhaled, her hand going to her face and she pouted.

What was that all about?

author's note:
hey you guys! Sorry it's taken so long for me to update this story! (; I'm so mean.
I was in San Diego and I just got a whole 'nother bunch of ideas for this one. I wrote this one on the flight back yesterday and I hope it's worth it!
You guys are so nice with your reviews, I wanna know exactly what you think!
I know if you have seen Randy's DVD "Evolution of a Predator", you'll already get why I threw Randy vs. Bob in there – but if you haven't;
Randy's been rather vocal about his Dad being gone a lot back in the day – Bob even said in Randy's DVD that he probably saw Randy about ten or eleven times in an eight year span.
Insane.
Adorable Carter and Alanna moments to come, promise!
Some Natalie and Randy fluff, huh? Sort of a glimpse at the possible future, maybe.
Do you think Sam's gonna come into play? When will they tell Carter! :D
Ahaha, five reviews, possibly?
Love you all so much! Subscribe to story alerts for this one, read my other stories and lemme know how you feel!
xoxox
Ashley!