Chapter XI: Standing at a Crossroads
Cheryl had been so exhausted that she slept right through breakfast. Dave thought about waking her but decided that, after one of her best matches and that she had probably had too much to drink last night, it was best to leave her alone. Besides, how often did he wake up before her? But after the second time his stomach grumbled, he quickly pulled on a pair of track pants and a t-shirt to try and find somewhere that was still serving breakfast. He scribbled a note and left it on his pillow before quietly letting himself out.
The click of the door closing woke the sleeping diva and she sat straight up in bed, heart pounding when she didn't see her husband. Deciding the coast was clear and that no one had forced their way into the room, she lay back down and then the note caught her eye. She fumbled for her glasses on the nightstand while slipping out of bed. So, he had decided on breakfast, she thought and shuffled around in her suitcase to find an open sleeve of saltine crackers. It seemed that was the only thing that would settle her stomach this weekend but she had kept them hidden so that people wouldn't automatically think she was pregnant.
Dave's absence would make her ruse all the easier. By the time he was back, Cheryl was packed and had dressed for driving a few hours across Texas to RAW's venue in Dallas. When she heard the keycard slide into the lock and the doorknob turn, she assumed her planned position—sitting on the bed with her legs crossed yoga style and her hand limply holding her cell phone. She let her face go still and turned blank eyes on him.
"Baby?" he asked, hurrying to her and sitting on the bed beside her. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she replied, holding out the phone. "I got a call while you were gone."
"From the doctor?" She nodded but he didn't like the way her face was pale or the hesitancy she had in responding. "They know what's making you sick?"
"Yep," she answered with another nod and then slid off the bed to stand. She took a couple steps away, trying to calm herself and remember to breathe. Turning back around, she took a hard swallow, none of this in her plans for suavely breaking the news. "I'm—we're—there's…"
"Spit it out, Cher."
"We're going to-to have a b-baby."
"You're pregnant?" he asked, rising from the bed. With another hard swallow, she nodded. "No joking?"
"Uh-uh," the redhead answered, her eyes searching his for what he was thinking.
"Holy shit," Dave responded and then grabbed her around the waist, picking her up in an embrace and twirling her. He began laughing and she couldn't help but join him. The room was too small for his size and her long legs and he almost stumbled on the bed corner but chose to fall on over, taking her with him, rather than righting himself. He grinned broadly and she returned the smile as he brushed curls from her face. "Wow," he sighed.
"I know," she quietly responded, placing her hand against his cheek.
"Wow," he repeated and brushed his thumb across her temple before moving it to her waist. "So now what?"
"I suppose we should talk to Vince and Stephanie and let them know. They're going to have redo everything with Evolution and John and Sam. Then Wednesday I have a doctor's appointment and I want you to come with me and then we'll take it day by day."
Dave quickly glanced at his watch and then let his hand trail down her waist to the fastener on her pants. "So, we're having a baby," he whispered, his knuckles lightly brushing her stomach where he had undone the button and slid the zipper down. He laughed softly against her hair and nuzzled her neck. She sighed in reply and then reached for the hem of his t-shirt after he dropped her pants at the bottom of the bed.
Before Dave and Cheryl had left Houston with little time to spare in arriving in Dallas, the diva had called Brian Gerwitz to request a quick meeting. As soon as they arrived at the hotel, they dropped off their luggage and were knocking on his door. Despite the anger in his eyes, he congratulated them but then told them to wait while he called Vince McMahon but he could only get his P.A., Allison Crest, who informed him that the McMahons were en route to the arena.
While the Batistas were packing for a night at RAW, the creative director of the show was on the phone to the entire team, already running ideas through his head of how to deal with this literal bump in the road. Although their presence wasn't required for almost an hour, the couple was searching the venue's halls for their bosses.
"Hey, you two," Triple H greeted, seeing them before they saw him. "Brian said something about you looking for Vince and Steph?"
"Yeah," Dave answered with a nod.
"Everything okay?" Hunter asked, considering two of the top male and female wrestlers of the company were looking for the two most in charge.
"Well…" Dave began and nudged Cheryl with his shoulder, who looked back up at him in annoyance. "You gonna tell him or do I have to? It does make him an uncle of sorts."
"What?" the blonde asked, recognition starting to dawn on him.
"Let's say," Batista began rubbing the stubble on his jaw line, "you and Ric won't be the only ones in Evolution celebrating Father's Day next year."
"Cheryl, really?" he asked, setting his coffee down. The blush rose in her cheeks as she nodded in the affirmative. "Way to go, man," he said to Dave, shaking his hand and clapping his other arm around the man's back. "And you, as if you could get any more beautiful," he added, turning to Cheryl and then hugging her.
"Stop it," she bashfully replied as Hunter released her.
"Stop what?" Stephanie asked, eyeing the television siblings suspiciously. It depended on what mood she was in as to whether or not she personally liked Cheryl. More or less, they had gotten off on the wrong foot and that first impression stayed with her despite the fact Cheryl had never given her any reason to doubt the diva. Business-wise, she couldn't ask for a better employee. Still, she was always wary of women hugging her husband.
The redhead always clammed up around Stephanie and began to stutter. "We're—I'm—uh—"
"Babe," Hunter interrupted, "Cheryl's gonna be a mom."
The Creative head couldn't mask the thoughts that ran through her head. It was obvious that her first concern was with the storylines and the loss of a diva but then she recovered and smiled at the Batistas. "Congratulations," she smoothly replied, extending a hand to both of them. "I suppose it's a good thing that you only have a promo tonight, Cheryl."
"I suppose so. We'll need to—I know I'll have to—my contract—" The diva was so embarrassed that she was stuttering over herself but her tongue wouldn't work.
"That is true," Stephanie replied, holding the file she had in one hand to her chest. "There are a couple of options. You can ask for your release but you know you lose full termination benefits. Do you know when your current contract is up?"
"July, about two months or so after the baby will be born."
"Then there are two other options. You can continue to work for the WWE in a diminished capacity, something behind the scenes maybe until the baby is born and then your contract will be up or, when you can wrestle again, we'll enter negotiations for a new one. Considering you wrestled last night, I assume you found out this morning and haven't given it much thought as to what you'd prefer to do."
"Yeah, uh, yes, ma'am."
"We need to know soon, as in the next couple of days, even if you could, tonight. We need to start making plans to write your character out."
"Why don't you keep her in?" Dave suddenly spoke up. "This wouldn't be the first pregnancy angle. Triple H, the angry, protective brother, and think of the fun you could have with a feud when he finds out."
Stephanie's mind was already in overdrive. "Then that would definitely mean we need to know your decision about your contract soon," she coolly replied. "I should probably tell my father. If you'll excuse me."
"She's all business, pay her no mind," Hunter stated as his wife had disappeared and placed a comforting hand on Cheryl's back.
"Easy for y'all to do," she replied. "You can take Rory along on the road with your fancy bus and jet."
"True. I won't argue with you there but we've got some serious decisions to make when she starts school. But you've got even longer to wait to think about that. Right now, Red, you've got to figure out if you still want to remain as an on-air talent, a backstage lackey, or leave us all together."
"You don't sound too biased," she replied with a joking grin. "I didn't think y'all would let me stay on as a talent."
"Well, it'll be a first," he stated.
"Yeah, I'm sure most women plan for this," Cheryl muttered to herself.
"What?" Both Dave and Hunter asked.
"Nothing. You know what would be fun? To let Dave be the father and the two of you fight it out. Give me a good show for having to be the one going through morning sickness," she snarkily replied, half joking
"You know…" Hunter began and Cheryl could see the ideas flashing in both wrestlers' eyes.
"Oh, good lord," she muttered and took the nearest available seat while the two men debated ideas for her character's fate.
When a light hand descended on her shoulder and soft feminine voice spoke in her ear, Cheryl jerked and realized she had drifted off, lulled into a cat nap by the two men's deep voices. "Hey, Allison," she said to the brunette and then looked down at her watch to see that over an hour and a half had passed since they arrived at the arena.
"I was sent to find Hunter and then you but I found you both at the same time. Lucky me."
"What is it?"
"It seems you've been given a reprieve from last night. Vince said to tell you all major changes are to come through him, Stephanie, or Brian or it could result in a major fine and he'll deal with the other matter at your direction, whatever that means," the personal assistant explained with a shrug.
"I know what it means," she sighed and rubbed her eyes. It was a good thing that she hadn't reapplied her mascara since that morning. The woman didn't step foot out the door without mascara. Her eyelashes were the same color as her hair and gave her eyes the same creepy look as Triple H's. It didn't take a second glance for her to know why his eyes bothered her—his blonde lashes disappeared and made the lids appear bare. Hers looked about the same without make-up. "Babe, isn't it about time we got dressed?" Cheryl asked Dave, slipping a hand into the crook of his arm.
Both men looked down at their watches at the same time and realized how much time had passed. They agreed to meet later and Hunter extended his congratulations once again. Out of the corner of her eye, Cheryl noticed Allison's confusion but they were already late in dressing out and warming-up. The P.A. would find out quickly enough when Samantha had permission to talk about the pregnancy.
And speaking of the devil herself, the blonde diva was already in the make-shift canteen and eyeing the couple coming their way. "When did you tell Sam?" Dave whispered in her ear.
"How do you know?"
"By the look on her face," he replied.
"I called when you went into the convenience store to get me some more crackers."
"So?" Sam asked and Cheryl nodded. The blonde moved so fast next that the older diva didn't stand a chance of stopping her. She popped up on the nearest empty chair and let out a shrill, ear-piercing whistle. Everybody in hospitality turned towards her and, in Cheryl's mindset, it was indeed everybody that was now staring at Sam.
"Samantha," the redhead warned but her lips moved without sound.
"I have an announcement to make." She saw the look on her boyfriend's face—one of panic at what she was about to say—and laughed to herself. "Because she won't do it herself, I'm taking it upon myself to do it for her. Cheryl Leigh Batista is going to have a baby!"
The redhead turned the same color as her signature red leather jacket. She suddenly felt like a little kid and buried her face in Dave's shoulder like a child hiding in her mother's skirts at a compliment. He put an arm around her and laughed at the cheers and catcalls.
"Who's the father?" someone shouted and the diva immediately looked up at speaker—John Cena, narrowing her eyes at him.
"You, uh, questioning my manhood?" Dave asked with lifted eyebrows over the wolf whistles.
"Men," Sam scoffed loudly. "Now I know why women choose sperm banks."
The statement elicited a raucous response while the diva slipped down off the chair. The crowd of wrestlers and divas took this to mean the 'announcements' were done and many of them began trailing over to congratulate the Batistas.
Allison was the first to greet them and pulled the couple into a tight embrace. "Congratulations," she cooed. "Now I understand what you and Sam were acting so suspiciously about yesterday."
"Uh...actually it was S-Sam with the p-problem yesterday," lied Cheryl, hoping her husband hadn't noticed the P.A's comment.
"That's right," the blonde instantly jumped in to cover for her friend. "I had some personal issues I wanted Cher's advice about."
Dave was now slapping hands with Cena and the redhead nervously chewed her lip, assuming he hadn't heard Allison or wasn't concerned with the comment.
She had initially thought that, aside from telling Dave, informing their superiors was the hard part and letting everyone else know would be a close second. But it still wasn't over. She now had a decision to make about staying with the company and Dave still hadn't mentioned anything about the same for himself. Until the baby arrived, everything would be downhill.
TBC…
