Irreconcilable Differences
by barry effin gibb
chapter seven;
Beautiful Disaster

"Hey," Randy whispered, his lips pressing against her forehead. He let his hand shake her body gently before he watched her stir to life. He flashed a small smile and he sat beside her on his wife's side of the bed. He was mentally kicking himself for not letting himself sleep with her. It had been years since he had actually had someone that he actually loved on the other side of the bed – it would have been nice to be able to reach over and pull Natalie into his arms in the middle of the night.

Natalie's eyes cracked open and she immediately snuggled up in the covers, watching him.

"I'm getting ready to leave, okay?" he asked softly, letting his hand reach over and fix the stray hairs that had left the confines of her ponytail. "You know how to get to the arena," he continued, his hand going down to his lap. "I left the keys to the Mercedes, Alanna's booster seat is in the backseat," he nodded. "It's got a full tank of gas so you won't have to worry about it," he told her. "I've got some press to do for the show, but after that, I'll be at the arena all afternoon."

Natalie slowly nodded her head, staying quiet.

"So take your time getting ready, take a shower, relax a bit," he smiled. "And once you have the kids ready, just send me a text and I'll make sure I'm there to get you through security, okay?"

"Alright," Natalie mumbled.

He gave her a wink and leaned down, kissing her forehead again – carefully trying not to linger. He failed and when he pulled back a few seconds later, he spoke. "Tomorrow is our day," he told her. "We'll let the kids go to my parents for the night and we'll go look for your place tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded again, reaching forward and letting her hand rest on his tattooed forearm. She didn't want him to go.

Randy smiled and let his hand touch hers before sighing, "I'll see you in a bit, okay?"

"Bye, Randy," she said, getting ready to get out of bed.

He smirked, "Whoa, what are you doing?"

Natalie froze, "Um, getting out of be-"

"It's six AM," Randy said. "You don't have to work today, the kids are sleeping, you need to sleep in for the both of us," Randy winked.

Before she could answer, he was gone – and she snuggled back into bed, grabbed one of Randy's pillows and cuddled into it, inhaling deep. It was the closest she could have gotten to Randy in bed with her last night.


Randy walked into the arena after doing two morning radio talk shows, clutching a cup of Starbucks and wheeling his suitcase into the locker room.

He greeted a few of the WWE Superstars that were in there eating breakfast and watching television and situated himself in the corner of the locker room.

The moments that he had to himself were sacred; he used them to often think about his life, his daughter, what he would do with Samantha – and more often than not, Natalie. But now, he could only think of the family that was hanging out at his St. Charles home right now. He wondered what they were doing, if Alanna was taking well to Natalie being around.

Natalie was a natural mother, Randy knew this. Even if Alanna wasn't her's, she certainly would treat her like she was. Randy smiled softly and started to unzip his suitcase.

"Randy!"

His head tilted up as he heard Cena's voice from the doorway.

"Quit primping and come get some breakfast with me, man, I'm starving."


"Carter, you go take your shower, okay?" Natalie said, "And check on Alanna, okay?" she asked her son as he got up off of the couch and walked out of Randy's master suite.

Natalie stood in the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. She had curled her hair and was getting ready to apply her makeup when she felt a tug at her pant leg.

She looked down and saw tiny Alanna in her black and pink tutu, matching leggings and a black long sleeved t-shirt. She held her arms up and Natalie recognized this as the universal sign as "I want up".

"You look so beautiful!" Natalie gushed playfully, picking the little girl up and placing her on the counter beside her.

Alanna sat patiently. "Can you help me with my hair? Daddy likes pigtails, but I can't do them."

Natalie smiled warmly and nodded her head. "Oh! Of course, honey!"

Alanna grinned and handed her two mismatched elastics and Natalie turned her gently, starting to do her hair.

"You're pretty," Alanna said as they heard the water from Carter's shower start.

"Not as pretty as you," Natalie countered as the brushed the little girl's hair.

Alanna looked down and smiled. The three and a half year old was too damn cute for her own good, Natalie thought.

"Do you love my Daddy?"

Natalie froze.

"Daddy loves you," Alanna said. "He looks at you like the Princes do in the movies!"

"He looks at your mommy the same way, though, I'll bet," Natalie frowned, wrapping half of Alanna's hair in a band, forming the first pigtail.

Alanna shook her head, "Not anymore."

Natalie frowned and went to work on Alanna's other pigtail.

"Your daddy and I loved each other a long, long time ago," Natalie told the girl. "A long, long time ago – before you were even an idea," she said gently. "But your daddy met your mommy and they love each other so much that they thought that they would make someone like you," she smiled looking at the girl in the mirror. "So that you could get all of their love," Natalie smirked, hugging the little girl. "Your mommy and daddy love each other very much. I promise."

Alanna smiled and turned on her knees, hugging Natalie tight.

Natalie looked in the mirror at herself and seriously wondered what Samantha would say if she knew that she was in her bathroom, holding her daughter, and sleeping in her bed.


"So, wait, wait, wait," John Cena said as he fixed his napkin in his lap, his eyes staring at Randy head on. "You mean to tell me that you have a son?"

Randy quickly held his hand out to his best friend, giving a glare as he scanned the catering department. Nobody who was ballsy enough to air out Orton's dirty laundry was there, but that didn't mean he wasn't paranoid.

"Jesus, Cena, you're like a little kid," Randy cracked, letting his finger pop open the top of a Coke can. "But yeah, Natalie had Carter like, twelve years ago, when I went into the Marines," he said softly.

"What does Sam have to say about this?" John asked.

Snorting, Randy took a sip of his soda. "She doesn't need to know just yet," he said.

"Does the kid look like you?"

Randy smirked gently and nodded, "Spitting image, I mean, he's got Natalie's hair, but he's got my eyes... and ears."

John smirked, "That poor, poor kid," he said, getting hit by a fork that Randy had thrown.

"They're coming here," Randy informed. "Nat's bringing them to see the show," he shrugged. "Natalie's gonna move back from San Diego to come and live here, so I can see Carter more," Randy said gently.

"That's a good idea," Cena agreed. "Let him see you as often as you're in Missouri," he nodded.

Randy smiled, "Man, can I tell you something?" he asked, eying his friend up nervously.

"Shoot, man," John said, leaning in.

Randy moved in and sighed, "Is it bad that I finally feel this... family feeling now that Natalie's here?" he asked.

John frowned and let his hand run over his face as he considered his answer.

"If you never felt it with Samantha, then no. But if you have felt this way about seeing Samantha, then," John shrugged.

Randy nodded, leaning back in his seat.

"I've gotta go sign autographs, alright?" John asked, standing up and grabbing his trash from his breakfast. "Bring this kid by, I wanna see the Orton son," he teased.

"Alright man," Randy said, shaking John's hand.

When Cena was gone, Randy sighed aloud and looked down at his phone. He let his finger slide across the lock screen and saw a photo of Carter and Alanna with Zack Ryder, a message saying, "He met us here before you did, (;" from Natalie.

Randy smirked and slowly gathered his things, threw them away and walked through the arena towards the parking lot.

"No, no, no, man," he heard Zack said as he rounded the corner. Zack was bending down talking to Carter. "You have to fist pump while saying "woo, woo, woo, you know it, bro"," Zack nodded, standing back up. "Try it again."

Randy watched from a distance, staring at his son from behind as he tried to copy Ryder's trademark. Squinting, Randy noticed that Carter was wearing a purple "Broski" headband, he shook his head and smirked as Carter nailed the gimmick.

"Yeah, man!" Zack chuckled, "Oh! Randy, bro! What's up?"

Carter turned around to see Randy and he grinned, waving. "Look, Randy!"

Carter pulled on a pair of sunglasses and pointed to his headband. "I'm Broski of the Week!"

Randy chuckled, nodding his head. "You two are ridiculous," he said to Zack then glanced down to Carter. "Hey, John Cena wanted me to tell you that he's down this hall and to the left, signing autographs, why don't you take Alanna down there to see him? I'm sure he'd give you something for you!"

Carter's face lit up, "Oh my God, yes!" He grabbed Alanna's hand and walked with her out of sight.

"Are you sure that they're alright back he-" Natalie asked before Randy leaned in and kissed her cheek. She blushed, going silent.

"Who's that kid?" Zack asked, "I'm totally gonna put him on the show," he said.

Natalie was about to speak and give him his name before she was beat to it.

"Carter," Randy said. "He's my son, Carter."

Zack's eyes bulged out. "What!"

"This is my ex-girlfriend, Natalie," Randy continued. "We had Carter when we were younger and yeah," he shrugged. "But he doesn't know, Zack. So don't say it, okay?"

Zack nodded, locking his lips like a kid.

"Well, I'm gonna go see the writers," Zack said. "I'll see you guys around?"

"Bye, Zack," Natalie said, waving gently.

Randy watched him walk off before his eyes fell on Natalie.

"Did you listen to me and sleep in?" he asked, taking her hand and lacing their fingers together as he led her down the hallway.

"I couldn't really," Natalie frowned, "I slept maybe another hour?"

"Enough to make me jealous," Randy winked.

"Are you sure that he's not going to say anything?" Natalie pouted, changing the subject.

Randy watched her and he nodded. "I'm sure of it, okay? It's going to be alright."


[Author's Note:
Alright, guys. Another chapter down – another step closer to the whole story being finished. Just kidding, this one is going to go on for a while longer. I just wanted to thank all of you guys for reading, reviewing, subscribing to me and all of that. It means a lot! (:

And for people to say that they like the characters, you know how that gets to me! (:

I was thinking maybe THREE reviews for this one. Who knows, I might just be uber nice and post the next chapter sooner rather than later. Enjoy, enjoy!

What did you think about Alanna? I know she's only three and a half, but I had to get a good scene with her and Natalie. Aw, yeah! :D Kay!
xoxo Ashley.]