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Chapter 7

Around two the next afternoon, after a rather teary goodbye Maria and Jeff had set out on their way to North Carolina. Jeff had insisted that he would drive and after some initial resistance, the redhead had just completely given up and handed over her keys.

The journey had been a smooth one for the most part except for one small hiccup when Jeff had taken a wrong turning and proceeded to cuss up a storm at Maria's GPS system, untimely telling it to fuck off which had amused Maria no end.

The two had arrived at Shannon's house around six thirty in the evening. The blond man had been out at the time so Jeff had used his key to gain access to the house. They had only been there for five minutes before Shannon returned, he'd been a little surprised to find the Smackdown diva there but had welcomed her with open arms none the less.

After a quick dinner, all three were currently relaxing in the living room. Shannon was sat next to Maria while Jeff was positioned on a near by chair.

They were in the middle of discussing their baby storyline when Maria's cell phone had rung, she pulled it out of her pant pocket, smiling as she saw the caller ID said it was Mickie James, "Hello?"

"Well hello there," Chris Jericho replied.

"Oh hey you … This isn't your number so I didn't think it was you."

"Well I'm full of surprises, Micks is having a match at the moment, my cell is dead so I borrowed hers to call you. Where are you?"

"I'm at Shannon's at the moment with Jeff."

"Sounds cosy."

"Not really … could be better."

"So what ya wearing?" Chris asked randomly.

Maria giggled, "You're such a dork."

"Seriously, I gotta know."

"Um … Grey sweats and a black tank top."

Chris sighed heavily, "Sounds wonderful."

The redhead burst out laughing, "I can't believe you just said that."

"You better believe it," Chris replied, unable not to laugh himself. "How's the little guy doing?"

"Great."

"Put him on, I wanna talk to him."

"Okay, hang on a second." Maria pulled her cell phone away from her ear and placed it on her stomach. She leaned in as much as she could so she could hear what Chris was telling the baby. After hearing him blowing a raspberry, she assumed the conversation was over and picked up the phone again. "Did you have a nice chat?"

"Oh yeah, he's real talkative."

The diva smiled at her friends crazy words and adjusted her position to a more comfortable one. As she did so, she caught sight of Jeff out of the corner of her eye, for some reason he was shooting daggers at her. After deciding it was best to ignore him, she continued her conversation with Chris for another five minutes.

They had made small talk before Chris had to get ready for his match for the house show. He'd been insisting that Maria hung up first for the last minute or so, "You hang up,"

Maria giggled, "No you hang up."

"No way, you do it."

"No you,"

"No you hang up."

"Some fucker better hang up soon," Jeff muttered.

"Oh … I gotta go, Bump has decided it's time for me to be sick. I'll call you later … I love you."

"Love you too, take care."

Maria pocketed her cell phone and jumped up from the couch. "Sorry I gotta throw up. Where's the bathroom?"

"Three doors down on the right."

"Thanks." Maria ran off towards the bathroom.

"Dude, you okay? You're looking a little green over there."

"Shut the fuck up, man."

"I'm just saying."

"Well don't."

"You're so fucking jealous."

Jeff frowned, "I know."

"Who was she talking to?"

"That I don't know. When I ask, she avoids the question."

"She's not dating anyone is she?"

The multi-coloured hair man shrugged, "I dunno, I hope not."

With that the door bell rang, Shannon excused himself to answer it. He was a little surprised to find Beth standing there when he opened the door, "Oh hey Beth."

"Hey Shan. Jeff here?"

"Yeah, come on in." Shannon side stepped allowing the brunette into his home.

After a particular bad bout of morning sickness Maria had finally made it out of the bathroom twenty minutes later. She was totally shocked when she walked back into the living room and found Beth sitting on Jeff's knee.

"Hi Beth," Maria said with as much fake sweetness as she could muster.

"Hey Maria."

"I didn't know you were coming over," Maria said honestly.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good," Beth asked.

"Just the morning sickness. I'm hoping this will be the last week."

"Morning sickness? You're pregnant?" The brunette's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"Yeah … Didn't Jeff tell you?"

Beth glared at her boyfriend, "No, he didn't."

"I was going to, must have slipped my mind."

"Who's the father?" Beth asked bluntly.

"Drunken one night stand. Not exactly my finest hour so if you don't mind I'd rather not talk about it."

Behind Beth's back, Jeff and Shannon exchange a look, leading to the blond man shaking his head, "Hey Maria do want some water or something, you really don't look so hot."

"Thanks Shan but I'll be fine. Just need to sit down for a couple of minutes."

Shannon patted the spot next to him, "Well I just so happen to know a real nice comfy spot over here."

"Oh really?" Maria sat next to him and smiled, "You're right, it's great."

The prince of punk casually threw his arm around her shoulders, "I told you so."

After seeing his friend's actions, Jeff proceeded to pull Beth closer to him, kissing her passionately.

Two minutes had passed before Maria had finally had enough of watching her best friend and his girlfriend make out, "I'm gonna go outside before I throw up again."

Shannon laughed, "I think I might join you … That's if you don't mind?"

"Of course not."

Once outside, Maria was starting to feel a bit better, the fresh air in the back yard felt wonderful.

"So, is there anyone special in your life right now? Besides Bump that is?"

Maria sighed, "Nope, he's the only man for me."

"Oh? I kind of got the impression from the phone call there was."

"Phone call … Oh you mean when Chris called me?"

Shannon shot her a confused look, "That was Jericho?"

Maria nodded, "Yeah he was calling from Mickie's cell phone."

The blond man smiled, highly amused by the fact that Jeff was getting jealous for nothing, "Right."

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing. I just wouldn't have guessed that was Chris. I mean you're just friends right?"

"Yeah, we're pretty close. Even closer since I got pregnant. I don't know what I would have done without him and Mickie."

Shannon gave her a thoughtful look, "Weren't you the one who hooked those two up?"

"Oh yeah, I'm a regular Miss Matchmaker," Maria replied and then she suddenly smiled, "Is there anyone special in your live right now Mr Moore?"

"Well, there's sort of someone I like but I don't know if they like me or not."

"Who is it?"

"Julie, the seamstress."

The redheaded diva smiled, "Oh she's so nice. Do you want me to see how the land lies for ya?"

Shannon gave her a small smile and ran a hand through his hair, "You'd do that for me?"

"Sure, you're letting me stay here, it's the least I can do."

Suddenly Shannon hugged her and kissed her cheek, "Thanks Ria."

Maria kissed his cheek in return, "You're welcome."

"Well isn't this fucking cosy." An angry sounding Jeff Hardy stated.

Maria turned around to face him, "What's your problem?"

"I'm not the one with a problem."

"Back off, man," Shannon told his best friend.

"I think I should be the one telling you to back the fuck off … man." Childishly, he pushed Shannon in the chest, causing the shorter man to stumble backwards.

"Cut it out, guys," Maria insisted. But she was ignored, her two friends were now involved in a heavy pushing contest which soon ended when Jeff fell back on his butt.

"You're acting like an asshole," Shannon pointed out.

"I don't fucking care," Jeff replied.

Maria shook her head and took off towards the house. She didn't know what Jeff's problem was but right now she didn't care. All she wanted to do what to get out of there and she knew just how to do it.

In the meantime, Shannon had made the mistake of getting too close to Jeff and had now joined the other man on the floor.

Noticing that Maria had gone back to the house, Jeff decided it was a good time to get something of his chest, "I can't believe you kissed her, how could you?"

"It was just a thank you kiss, you fucking idiot. She's gonna put in a good word for me with Julie."

"She is?"

"Yes."

"Oh …" Jeff trailed off and shook his head. "I'm real sorry man, I don't know what came over me. It's like this red mist came over me and I couldn't think straight."

"Tell me about it. And what was up with the big make out session with Beth back there?"

Jeff shrugged, "I dunno."

"Well only one good thing came out of this," Shannon commented. He picked himself up of the floor and stuck out his hand to help Jeff up.

The other man took his hand and got up as well, "And what's that?"

"I found out who she was talking to on the phone."

"Who is it?"

"Chris Jericho."

"Fucking Jerky? You've got to be kidding me."