"Anthony get over here and get some clothes on now" I could hear John yell from the upstairs part of the house.
A very naked little boy greeted me at the front door. He was grinning and giggling to himself. I had to smile at him though because he was just too damn cute not to.
"Hey there naked boy" I said giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Hi mama" he said sheepishly "daddy gave me a bath"
"I can see that but now you need to get that cute little but upstairs before your dad get really mad" I said lightly smacking his back side as he ran to go find his father.
"Mama can you brush my hair before bed" a pajama clad Sophie asked me as she descended the stairs.
"Sure thing babycakes" I said taking the brush from her hand and leading her to the living room so I could sit down while brushing her hair.
"How was work today?" she asked me.
"It was tiring and I'm happy to be home" I replied brushing the long golden locks.
"So do want your hair put up or do you want me to leave it down?" I asked her.
"Down" she said.
"Ok well you are all done then little lady"
"Do I have to go to bed?" she asked.
"Yes, it's already quarter of 9" I told her "you have school in the morning"
"Fine" she huffed a little bit.
"But before you go you have to do something" I said.
"What do I have to do ... oh yeah" she said smiling as she gave me a kiss good night.
John came into the room carrying a squirming Anthony. He was shaking his head in an amused way. I could tell John was feeling more comfortable around the kids. At first he seemed very cautious and guarded around them. I couldn't really blame him if I woke up with no memory at all and some guy was trying to tell me his kids were mine I'd probably do the same thing. But as of late John seemed to really try and bond with the kids.
"Your little hell raiser wanted to say good night" John said handing Anthony to me.
"Oh no John Cena I do not get all the credit for him ... he's just like you were as a little boy"
John frowned for a few seconds and I could tell he was trying to remember what it was like for him being a little boy. I felt really bad for him because I hadn't been very forth coming with information about his past and that was only because I was still unsure about how much to tell him without freaking him out. But I knew I didn't want to lie to him either.
"Well it doesn't matter who he's more like right now because he needs to go to bed" John said.
"I agree with ya" I said kissing Tony and telling him good night before handing him back over to John.
"I love you daddy" Tony said resting his head on John's shoulder.
It brought tears to my eyes when Anthony said this because there were so many times where I thought Anthony would never get to meet his father, let alone tell him he loved him. John smiled at me.
"I love you too Tony" he said and I could tell that he meant it.
John took Tony back upstairs and I found myself rummaging through the hall closet. Finally after 5 minutes of ripping through boxes I found what I was looking for. John was sitting on the couch with his eyes closed when I returned.
"Wake up I have something to show you" I said wiping the dust off of the album I now had in my hands.
"What's that?" he asked yawning.
"It's an album I made for Boston ... I wanted something to show him that at one time his parents were young and in love"
I put the album on the coffee table and we both leaned forward to look at it. On the first page was a picture taken when I was 7 and John was 8. He was pushing me on the swing.
"You were such a gentleman back then Johnny" I smiled "but that was when your brothers weren't around and when they were you'd push me in the mud or pull my hair"
"Typical boy"
"We were inseparable ... there were times when I would sneak out of my room and climb the tree that was right outside your bedroom window and you'd let me in and I'd crawl into bed with you and your parent would find us there the next morning wrapped in each other's arms, of course were we kids then so nothing happened"
"You ok?" I asked noticing that he was rubbing his temples.
"Yeah, I just get frustrated at myself not being able to remember" he replied.
"You need to stop putting so much pressure on yourself sweetie everything will come back in time"
"So what happened next?" he asked.
I flipped through a few more pages. Still smiling at all the warm memories I had of being a young child.
"Well you were the first boy I ever kissed but things didn't last, you broke my heart John but I grew stronger from it and after high school I went to collage and became a very successful physical therapist. I vowed never to return to West Newbury but that didn't last long. I eventually did end up going back home about 3 years after graduating collage my father was dying and I needed a friend and you were there for me when I needed you and eventually I fell in love with you all over again"
"How did I break your heart?" he asked.
"I'm not going to lie to you John you were a real prick when you were younger. We began dating in my freshman year of high school I had been dating a football friend of yours I don't really remember his name ... Ben something and well he beat me up one time and you kicked the shit out of him and that is how we got our start. For a while everything was perfect we were together and nothing else mattered and then well you went away to Cushing Academy, which was a boarding school and we didn't see each other as much and you eventually started seeing another girl behind my back and when you came home for Christmas you told me you were in love with someone else and I was left heartbroken and very much alone on Christmas"
John got a look on his face like he was disgusted with himself.
"Don't worry about it, we were both young and foolish"
"Who are all these people?" he asked looking at a picture of all our old gang.
"Well that's me and my two sisters Adrian and Madeline and your four brothers Steve, Matt, Dan and Sean and your cousin Marc. You see we all used to go bowling every Friday night missing Friday night bowling was not an option cause the others would have kicked your ass. It was something we always did" I shrugged thinking about how much fun we had on those Friday nights.
"Why did we never get married?" he asked.
I sucked in a breath and thought about what to tell him, I knew he deserved to know the truth.
"Well I guess it's because you weren't ready to get married, you told me once you wanted to marry me but you were afraid of getting married and ending up like your parents. When you were 19 they went through a very nasty divorce. You were afraid you were going to end up like them I guess" I said " so when I told you about Boston you freaked out and left me"
"And you took me back?" he asked.
"Yeah I guess you could say that ... but that wasn't until almost 6 years later and it was only long enough to conceive Tony"
"What about Sophia and Logan?" John asked "aren't they my children too"
"Yes all the kids are yours John ... I didn't give birth to Sophia and Logan my sister Adrian did"
"So I slept with your sister?" he asked.
"Umm ... no, eww gross thoughts about you sleeping with Addie" I crinkled my nose a little in disgust.
"I'm confused"
"Sophia and Logan are my children ... my twin sister Adrian was a surrogate"
"Why couldn't you have them on your own"
"Just before Boston was born I found out I had a condition where I had to have a hysterectomy, but I knew I still wanted children so I had some eggs frozen for the future" I explained. So far so good but then again he hadn't asked any difficult questions.
"So if we didn't get back together until then how did Logan and Sophia come into the picture?"
"Well look at the time we should be getting to bed"
"Answer my question Ashley" he said.
"Trust me it's better that you don't know some of the past" I said.
"Tell me damn it" he said starting to get angry.
I sighed ... well he left me no choice "I died ... ok is that what you want to know I was shot and died in some alley after working a shift at the dead end bar I worked at so I could support your son and then Adrian dropped Boston off with you and you know what John, you changed so much in that time you truly grew up and then Boston wanted siblings but you didn't want any other woman because you were still grieving the one you lost, so my sister offered to be a surrogate so you could give Boston a sibling"
He looked at me like I had 3 heads by the time I had finished talking. I just started to pace, it frustrated me that he didn't believe me even though I knew this was a lot to take in at one time. But he had wanted to know and I told him.
"Call me crazy but that is really what happened they sent me back down here to look after Boston but then we saw each other again and they took you and the kids away as a punishment and I had to live these last 3 years thinking that I would never see you or the kids ever again but then by some miracle here you are standing right in front of me ... and I just don't know what to do anymore, I feel like I just want to be 6 years old again and have the time of my life with my best friend"
He didn't say anything for a long time and I remained quiet letting him think in peace. But part of me wondered what would happen next. Would he believe me or think I was crazy and try to leave.
"There is still so much I don't know" he finally said "but my heart tells me that you aren't lying and as crazy as it sounds I have no choice but to believe you because as far as I know you haven't lied to me about anything so far and you gave me a place to stay when I really didn't have anything of my own. I love those kids way to much to leave them now"
"Eventually you will remember everything but what happens then you can't exactly be John Cena the WWE champion anymore John ... people think you and the kids are dead"
"Let's work on getting my memory back and then we'll go from there"