Title: Sooner or Later
Author: Adrian Jade
Summary: John Cena goes to a bar and meets this girl. He doesn't tell her what he does and she doesn't ask. Never did he imagine he would see her again. But he does and the charade begins sooner or later he'll have to tell her the truth. Sooner or later she'll have to do the same thing.
Disclaimer: I own Eve and Zoey only. The rest of the people own themselves and their likenesses belong to both the WWE and ECW accordingly.
Road weary and aching all over John Cena dragged himself to the front door of what had become like a second home to him. He quietly stuck the key into the lock and stepped into the small 6 room apartment. It was humbling really because here he wasn't John Cena the rap artist / wrestler / actor, he was simply John. Pulling off his shirt and shoes in the living room he urged himself to walk a little further and then he could pass out. By some miracle he had made it to the bedroom. First he went over to check on Zoey, she was wide awake.
"Hey baby girl you should be asleep" he whispered.
Zoey just stared up at him with her big blue eyes and then smiled at him. He picked her and hugged her tightly to his chest. He would never admit this to anyone but he had truly come to love this little girl and it would be one of the hardest days when he and Eve would have to say goodbye to this beautiful baby. All the fatigue went away as he held Zoey in his arms, he figured she'd be hungry soon so he'd save both himself and Eve the trouble and give her a bottle now instead of later. As he sat feeding the baby he couldn't help but want to tell her about what he did on the road.
"I bet you missed me huh? Well it's ok if you did because I missed you too, I looked at those pictures Eve gave me before every match." Zoey greedily sucked on her bottle.
"You know I really can't understand how anyone would want to give you up, I mean you are perfect in every single way. I bet your adoptive parents are going to love you I mean who couldn't love you. I mean I love you and I know so does Eve. You know my friend Randy looked at those pictures and even he said you were cute which is a big step because he isn't a baby person. I got mad at him today but I don't know why, he kept saying that I was your daddy but that shouldn't bother me right. I just wish I knew what's been bothering Eve so badly. I don't know if you can tell but I really like her"
Zoey pushed the bottle away signaling that she was done so John put her on his shoulder and patted her back gently till he got two good burps from her. He moved her from his shoulder and she now comfortably rested in his arms.
"I bet you feel better now that your tummy is full don't you" he looked into her eyes and saw something that he had never in his life seen before and that was complete and total trust and love.
This little girl was trusting him to take care of her and love her, that thought alone scared and excited him all at the same time. He never had another person depend on him and only him before. Zoey brought her little fists up to her eyes and began to rub them. John watched as she slowly closed her eyes. He waited for her breathing to become even before he stood up and walked back into the bedroom. He placed Zoey back into her bassinet. He traced his finger over her sleep drawn features. At that moment he had never felt so much love for another person as he did for this little girl.
He crawled into bed and Eve as if sensing he was there cuddled closer to the warmth of his body. John felt content like nothing could ever hurt him. He fell asleep with a smile on his face and that is the way it should be.
Eve woke up that morning and was pleasantly surprised to find John in bed with her. She must have been really tired because she didn't even hear him enter. She liked the feeling of waking up in John's arms and not only that but she managed to get a whole nights sleep. But Zoey was almost out of the crying in the middle of the night to eat phase. The way things were right now she woke up once at 5:30 to be fed and that was it. It was still pretty early so she decided to go back to sleep till Zoey signaled she wanted to be fed, cuddling even closer to John's warm body she closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.
The delicious aroma of French toast filled her nose, John walked in with a tray carrying two plates containing French toast , scrambled eggs and bacon. He handed her one and she just sat there gaping at him for about 3 minutes.
"You know how to cook?" she asked amazed.
"Yep" he replied taking a bite of his food.
"Who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend?" she asked.
He laughed at her, that was one of the things he loved about Eve that she could always make him laugh. She wasn't "questionable" he like of the other girls he had known but she wasn't serious all the time either, she was just his.
"Penny for your thoughts" she said.
"Just thinkin bout how perfect you are"
She blushed and couldn't look in his eyes right away. He picked her chin up and forced her to look into his eyes.
"What's the matter you can tell me"
There were tears in her eyes. John was truly confused now why was she crying. Eve got up and ran to the bathroom. She emptied the contents of her stomach and then sat there breathing heavily. John was behind her rubbing her back, he had no idea what was going on but he was scared none the less.
"Baby tell me what's wrong"
"I can't do this anymore" she said to herself.
"Can't do what?" he asked.
He felt her forehead, she was feverish.
"Eve you need to calm down you are making yourself sick"
"You don't understand you don't know what I did" her normally pale blue eyes took on a desperate grey color.
By this point John was fearing for Eve's safety. How can you still be here after what I did.
"Sweetie I don't know what you did" he said.
"I was just trying to protect you" she said "I lied and now when you find out you will never want to talk to me again"
"What did you lie about?" he asked.
"I lied to you about Zoey… she's your daughter John"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Here look at this" she handed him Zoey's birth certificate.
He read it and everything became clear to him. The headaches, not wanting to talk to him, she felt guilty for not telling him.
"Why would you keep this from me?" he asked angrily.
"I wanted to protect you" she said.
"From what my own daughter" he yelled.
" John … I'm sorry" she went to touch his shoulder but he pulled away from her.
"Don't touch me"
"John … I"
"No I don't want to her it we are through I never want you anywhere me or my daughter ever again"
"I was only trying to protect you"
"I was only trying to protect you" Eve yelled. She felt herself being shaken and when she opened her eyes she saw John looking very concerned. She flung her arms around him and held on for dear life.
"Oh my god John you are here ... Zoey was here too and then I was feverish and then …" she stammered making absolutely not sense at all.
"Please tell me you don't know how to cook" she begged.
"I can honestly say I don't know how to cook" he laughed a little.
She was shivering in his arms. He held her tighter hoping that would help her calm down. She rested her head against his chest and listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. After a while she calmed down.
'Would John really be like that when he found out the truth' she wondered. That dream scared her to death, she was so afraid of loosing John and Zoey . The thought of living life without them seemed unbearable.
"Are you ok now?" John asked rubbing small circles around her lower back.
"Yeah I'm fine" she said.
"You scared me you know" he said.
"What a re you doing here you were supposed to be on the road for 2 more weeks?" she asked.
"I'm injured" he said "popped my shoulder blade so Vince decided to give me some time off"
"Oh this could be fun" she kissed his lips enticingly.
The kiss that has started out as sweet and innocent became so much more. The fiery passion that both adults felt was about to come to the surface. John was on top of Eve, he had removed her shirt and was now feasting on her soft flesh. He kissed her neck and then she shoulders before making his way back up to her mouth which he clamed fiercely as his own. But time was not on their side because a wail from Zoey killed the mood.
"Well there goes that" John said getting up to get Zoey.
He returned with the baby in his arms.
"I can't believe how big she has gotten in such a short time" John said.
"That's what happens when a baby is taken care of properly" Eve smiled at the little girl who was clapping her hands together and smiling.
"She really is a happy baby" John said.
"Yes she is which works out to an advantage seeing as I have been the one taking care of her" Eve said.
"Hey I helped out when you first got her" John said.
"More like you wouldn't put her down" she teased him.
"Yeah well you got to hold her for the whole entire month and a half I was gone" he stuck his tongue out at her.
"I see who you love more Mr. Cena" she nagged him.
"Don't go there" he said a little too roughly.
"Ok"
"I didn't mean it like that it's just saying I love you means so much and I don't want to say it to anyone until I am definitely sure… I'm not that kind of guy"
She leaned over and kissed his cheek "I never expected you to be"
"I know but some guys are they tell women that they love them to get in their pants or for other sick reasons" John said.
"I believe you"
"Now that we have dealt with that I'm hungry so let's go out and get something to eat from the waffle house"
"You are your waffle house" Eve rolled her eyes "how many times do you eat at any waffle house?"
"A lot… what can I say it makes me feel at home" he laughed.
"You are a weirdo but I could go for some pancakes and I don't feel like making them so let's go"
"Woohoo waffle house" John got all excited.
He threw some clothes on and grabbed Eve's car keys.
"I'll meet you in the car babe" he said.
"John are you forgetting about someone?" Eve asked.
"Oh yeah sorry not used to having a baby around" he grabbed Zoey and changed her into some clean clothes while Eve got dressed.
Eve pulled into a parking space of the local waffle house and got out. John jumped out of the car and grabbed Zoey. They were seated and looking at the menus.
"Hey there cutie" the waitress said to Zoey who gurgled in return.
"How old is she?"
"Almost 3 months" Eve replied.
"She looks just like her daddy"
"You know everyone says that but I don't see it" John said.
Eve looked at him like he was an idiot but didn't say anything. The waitress took their orders and walked away.
"Well at least we know where Zoey gets her good looks" John joked.
"Wouldn't be surprised" Eve mumbled under her breath.
"What was that?" John asked.
"Nothing babe" she smiled reassuringly at him.
John pushed the plate away from him.
"Damn I think I ate too much"
"Well I told you to stop after the waffles, eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, 4 cups of coffee and pancakes" Eve said in a told you so kind of voice.
"Are you kidding I eat more than that normally" He said "I just have to take it slow because I'm injured"
"Riiight" Eve said skeptically.
"Well anyways you are done too because I want to go back to your place and put Zoey down for a nap" his eyes sparkled mischievously.
"Mr. Cena I'm not sure I like your intentions" I said mocking him.
"Oh trust me you'll like what I have in mind" he winked at her.
John drove home, he kept Eve's hand in his own and while they were sitting at a red light he bit it.
"What the fuck was that!" Eve exclaimed.
"You are sexy when you are mad" he smirked.
They walked into the house and John put Zoey in her swing.
"You wait here" she said "while I change"
The blinking red light was going off on Eve's answering machine so he decided to listen to the message.
"Hey Eve it's Jase, I have the results to the paternity test you wanted done. It turns out that Zoey is John Cena's daughter. Well call me when you get this."
John was stunned … Zoey was his daughter and Eve knew about it and didn't tell him. He sat down with his head in his hands. Why would she lie to him again.
Eve walked into the room wearing a t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts.
"Whose Jase?" John asked his head still in his hands.
Eve froze in the place where she stood, she was caught now he obviously knew the truth… whatever it was.
"John I can explain" Eve said softly.
"Well I'm glad one of us can" he threw up his hands in frustration.
"That day I had to do something for work , do you remember that day?" she asked him.
"Yeah … so"
"Well my boss called, they had found Zoey's mother so he sent me over to get her to sign her parental rights over so Zoey could be adopted and while I was doing that I happened to ask her if she knew who the father was and she said you. John I didn't believe her but I needed to be sure so I stole your toothbrush so they could test the DNA, my friend Jason well that is what he does … he works with DNA, mostly for the FBI but he agreed to help me because he is engaged to my best friend"
"So why lie to me?" John asked.
"I wanted to protect you John … you have to believe me"
"Protect me from what" his tone was cold and unforgiving.
"If I had told you and she wasn't your you would have been devastated and don't deny it because you and I both know it's true" she said "I wanted to save you the heartache if I could, I was going to tell you as soon as I was sure she was yours"
John looked at Eve for the first time, his normally peaceful blue orbs were hard and filled with rage. Eve found herself being very afraid at the sight although she thought John would never hurt her she also knew he had a short fuse and she had definitely crossed it.
"I can't even look at you right now"
"John please" she touched his shoulder.
"Don't touch me Eve please I don't want to hurt you but I am in that state" he warned her.
"John please you have to know I was only trying to do what I thought was best"
"I would have been disappointed if she wasn't mine but I'm a big boy Eve I would have gotten over it… you lied to me for the second time and I can't be with someone I can't trust, especially now that my daughter is involved" he picked Zoey up and headed towards the door.
"You know damn well I love that little girl and would never hurt a hair on her head" she yelled.
"Do I really know that" he countered.
"How do I know it isn't a lie"
"Think what you want John at this point I really don't care" she said in an almost broken tone.
She watched as John walked out the front door with Zoey in his arms. She has just lost the best thing that ever happened in her life. But she was trying to protect him he had to realize that… but was she really trying to protect him or did she truly not want Zoey to be his.
She felt yet another headache coming on at this point she wasn't sure of anything.
A/N: Wooo I updated you people should really thank Lita for pissing me off enough to write this chapter... of course Cena go screwed AGAIN. Well anyways I am nowhere near done with this story but sometimes it's hard thinking up fresh ideas so if anyone wants something to happen in this story send it to me.