Disclaimer: I do not own any of the WWE superstars and this is purely a work of fiction meant for entertainment purposes.
Summary: It is three years after they pledged their love to one another. Trish is pregnant with their second child..when disaster takes place. Can their love withstand this much pain?
Additional Information: Book 5 in the Love United Series.
Authors Note: I just want to say as I'm writing this book, the idea of The Other Side as heaven and this life as hell hits me in the face. With the events in the world, most recently that in Virginia, it gets one to thinking about our time here, and how important it is to live for the moment and enjoy your life no matter what happens to be going on it. To the families and to the friends and loved ones of those lost that fateful day a week ago, my heart does go out to you and you are in my deepest thoughts especially as I write this story. Much love to everyone.This will be a two part chapter.
The rain poured around them, darkening the sky as they all stood to pay tribute to one of the best female wrestlers the WWE had ever seen. It had been a week since she had passed over to the Other Side, and Shawn had gone all out to put together the greatest send off his wife would have ever expected. People from all walks of life, including a huge number of fans stood there in the cemetery on that fateful day as they prepared to lay her in the ground and Shawn found that he was experiencing comfort in knowing he wasn't alone in his grief.
Paul stood beside him, and to his right was his little baby daughter Carioca, who tightly gripping her Daddy's hand was letting the tears fall. While she might be old enough to truly grasp what had happened to their mother and the manner in which it happened, Shawn knew that she knew that her mother would never be truly gone, just missing from her everyday life on Earth.
He held on to his baby girls hand for dear life because he knew that deep inside when it came time for him to walk to the casket and say his goodbyes, the words would never truly come. He had spent his whole life in search of a love like this, a love that transcended all natural order and thought, and just came from beneath him.
He felt it in every breathe he took, in every movement he made with his body and he especially and fondly remembered feeling it when they were locked in the tightest embrace and making love in each others arms. He knew he would see her again some day, but he knew that his role now was to make sure Carioca never forgot the mother who loved her. He knew that his love for Trish would never die but live on through his baby girl.
Paul walked to the casket then, and before bending down to say his private goodbyes to a woman he truly considered a sister in law, he turned to face everyone before him.
"What has happened to this young woman, to this bright star was a travesty. I know all of you here today believe she is going to a higher place, and while I know that to be true now as well, I do believe that her life on Earth was in no way finished and she was taken far too soon. She had so much living to do and I intend to do that living for her and with her in mind. I want my life to be better from this day forward because I had this true angel in it." He looked to the sky and continued, not focusing on the crowd of people any longer but on something more personal and powerful. "You changed me Trish, you gave me my life back in so many different ways and I know Shawn feels the same way. I just hope that you know we love you and you will always be my sister, in every way that counts."
Shawn watched as he bent down to the casket then and he felt the tears come before he could stop them. His friend had thought the world over Trish and had been best man at his wedding, the real wedding they had finally had three years earlier. Trish and him had a closeness, that blood could never break and he was glad that even for a brief time, Paul had gotten the chance to know her the way he had and love her just the same.
The minister who was presiding over the funeral spoke then, addressing the crowd of fans and family and friends that were in attendance. Shawn could tell that even he was doing it with a heavy heart. Anyone that knew the history of how Trish and he had gotten together certainly felt the agony of this moment as much as he did. It just didn't happen to someone so good.
"May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind always be at your back. Patricia Stratigias Michaels, may the sun shine warm upon your face and the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his soft hand."
Shawn had been asked to speak when he was planning the funeral earlier in the week, and he just knew that what he wanted to say, he wouldn't be able to say with people watching him. So as the minister finished his speech, and people slowly in a line made their way up to say their goodbyes to the lovely angel he had married, he took Carioca over to where his mother and father stood. She would be going with them so Shawn could have the night to grieve without worrying about his baby girl and what this would be doing to her.
As he said goodbye to his little one, he couldn't help but take one long lasting look at her. She looked like her mother with her brightly colored blond hair falling down around her small shoulders, and her big blue eyes that when she smiled and when she tried to speak always opened wide and always looked warm and inviting. She truly was her mother, and he would thank God every day for leaving this pretty little angel on Earth for him to care for. Whenever he needed a reminder of his love for Trish, she would be right there to show it to him.
"Be good for Nana and Papa now sweet pea. Daddy will be by later to get you."
"I will Daddy, and Mommy says she loves you."
Before he had the chance to question his daughter as to what she meant by that last statement she was off and running. As hard as the day was for Shawn, he was glad that his baby girl could still allow herself the ability to be a small child.
Was it possible that what Carioca had said was the truth? Was it possible that Trish had indeed told their baby girl that she loved them? Was she there right now with them, the sun beating around her angelic features, making sure everything turned out alright for them?
It was then that in the wind he heard it, a soft sound that to the normal ear would sound like nothing but the moving of the wind but to him spoke volumes of the love and feeling that he shared with his wife.
"I am here and I will always be here with you Shawn, you have my heart until the end of time and then some."