CHAPTER TEN

"Ouch, ouch, ouch." Cat muttered, limping down the hallway. "Jeffrey Nero Hardy, bring me back my cane or I'll kill you!"

"I'm givin' it a new paint job, darlin'!" Jeff waved over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner. He was seeing dragons, purple and black dragons over a silver background.

"Allow me." Mark said, stepping out in front of Jeff, knocking the kid to the ground. He retrieved his girlfriend's cane and handed it to her. "She needs it."

Cat looked at Jeff, who was slightly stunned. "Remember, I'mma gimp, I need the cane."

"I wanted to give it a new paint job." He sighed.

She looked down at the cane, it was looking pretty ragged. "Fine, take it. Don't be long about it though."

"You'll have it back tomorrow!" He promised, running off before she changed her mind.

**

Mark was in his dressing room shadowboxing when the door opened, smiling at Catarina. "Hey darlin', where's yer cane?" He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at the thought of Jeff stealing it from her again. He smiled when she explained and nodded. "There's water in the fridge down there." He pointed, not stopping with the boxing

Cat grabbed a bottle of water, sipping it and winced. "I think I should start going to Brazil for the winter." She joked, hating this cold seasonal shit. Not to mention the WWE was like, hitting every cold place possible. "Something wrong? You're hitting that back awful fucking hard, Mark."

He sighed heavily and stopped, sweat glistening on his forehead, and turned around to face her. "I heard about Glenn cornerin' ya last night at the PPV. Why didn't ya tell me?"

She swallowed hard. "I didn't want to worry you." She admitted finally, just as softly. "Mark, he was just making threats is all, he didn't act on any of them." Cat sighed, raking a hand through her hair. She leaned her hip against the table, not in the mood to sit down and then get back up again. "He'll get over it."

"Just… tell me next time, alright? Yer important to me, darlin'." He smiled briefly, eyes crinkling before turning back to his shadow boxing.

Cat watched him for a few minutes before walking out of the room, knowing he'd know where she was going. To work. She didn't know what they were. They were together, but it wasn't like any relationship she'd had before. Well actually, she had had very few relationships. Factor the whole being married for most of the past decade and yeah... She shrugged, time would work it all out

***

"This is awesome Jeff." Cat said the next morning over breakfast. Mark was upstairs sleeping, worn out apparently. She studied the cane and grinned. "I love it. Can't wait for spring though, this limping shit is killing me."

"Ya look sexy doin' it though honey." Jeff teased, digging into his grits with gusto. "So... where's the boy toy?"

"Which one?" She teased.

"The olllllllllddddddd one…"

"He's not old!"

"Call me old again boy and I'm shovin' yer face in them grits." Mark threatened good-naturedly from behind, smirking when Jeff jumped in his. "Mornin'." He greeted Cat, dropping a kiss on her cheek as he sat down.

"So polite…" Cat sighed, shaking her head and sipped her orange juice. She tapped her half smoked cigarette, bringing it to her mouth and inhaling. "You hear about Sam and Steve?"

"Expectin' already? I heard."

"Work awfully fuckin' fast, don't they?"

"They're in love, I'm happy for 'em." Mark said, grinning when a plate of everything was set before him. "I'm hopin' it's a boy, we can teach him how to wrestle."

"You ain't teaching that kid how to wrestle, until he's twelve…"

"Oh like the time-" Jeff stopped, clearing his throat. "Sorry, Catarina."

She shrugged, clearing her throat. "Doesn't matter kid, tell him…"

"No."

Mark stared at her thoughtfully, his eyes lighting up with the possibility of one day having a baby with Cat. Not that he'd mention that outside his head of course, she was skittish enough.

Cat seen the look in his eyes and groaned. "I ain't having no kids Mark, never fucking again."

Jeff spewed water everywhere. "Thought you weren't tellin' him?"

"It's not like it's a secret, Nero."

"It is here, you think Matt told anyone?"

The sound of a fork clattering made them both look at Mark, who'd dropped the utensil, his mouth agape.

"You mean, you had a kid… with that- that thing?" He shot Jeff an apologetic look- kid couldn't help his DNA.

Jeff winced, already knowing what was coming and cleared his throat.

Cat winced as well, lighting up another cigarette, shooting Jeff a look.

He shrugged, pushing away his plate, no longer hungry.

"Be godfather then, kids are fun, if you can send them back when you're done spoiling them."

Mark was a bit confused. "Sam is gonna ask ya to be godmother." He offered finally.

Jeff watched as Catarina got up and walked away, groaning. "You have got to be the thickest person I've ever met man." He said, shaking his head. "Honestly, really thick. Can ya not see she ain't enthused about that topic?" He banged his head on the table. "Word of advice, steer clear of her for about a week."

Mark's arched eyebrow and bemused face prompted Jeff to bang his head again.

Jeff slowly pulled out his wallet and fished around. He tossed a crumpled, faded picture at Mark. "Morianna Hardy, born October 8th 2001 two months early, died October ninth 2001." He said finally. "The same accident that shattered Catarina's knee is what killed Morianna, Matt smashed a bat against Cat's knee, the knee broke and she went flying down two flights of stairs. Morianna practically came flyin' out into my arms, she died at the hospital, Cat never even got to see her except for the pictures."

***

"Hear about Matt?" Jeff asked Cat a week later as they walked around the new property she'd just invested in.

Cat leaned on her cane, surveying the empty lot with shaded eyes. "Nope."

"Apparently his knee was smashed... both of them... and his elbows…"

"Sorry."

"Shit happens."