iMarital Discord

Shelby loved mornings like this. Weekend mornings were her reasons for being lazy and laying around with Wendy and Megan. These were the two days a week that she could rest up, such as it was, and feel something like a normal person.

Megan flounced down on the sofa heavily, in the negative space between Wendy and Shelby.

"I love it when you're home, Mama…"

Shelby loved it as much as Megan did. Wendy held Shelby's hand gently, running her fingers over Shelby's battle scarred hands. Shelby had fought wars in the ring, surviving unscathed. Wendy remembered those days as though they were yesterday. She should. Those nightmares still woke her to this day.

"Shelby…"

The champion knew where her partner's mind had gone. In Wendy's world, everything would be puppies, kisses, and roses. Wendy was the eternal optimist. She was what Shelby always aspired to being.

Shelby Marx felt Wendy's fingers curl in her's. She answered both her partner and the little girl in the same breath.

"I love you both…"

Wendy adored Shelby, but they'd argued recently over Shelby taking Megan to the gym so often. If there was one thing that Wendy Marx did not want, it was another fighter in the family. Shelby countered with the fact that she was simply being a supportive parent, exposing the little girl to something she had an interest in.

Shelby had loved Wendy too hard and too long to let the wheels come off over something like this. Megan chimed in. She wanted Wendy to understand.

"Don't be mad at Mama, Mommy… I like it there…"

Wendy tried cool detachment. She didn't want her little girl to know what this really meant to her. Her little person brain couldn't possibly understand what this was all about.

"Megan… Sweetheart…. It's…"

Wendy was emotional, but she choked it all down. This wasn't the time or the place. Shelby finished her wife's sentence.

"Sweety, you're a little person, and I completely understand why Mommy doesn't want you there. She's afraid of you getting hurt, just like I am."

Megan jumped into Wendy's lap, snuggling her mother close.

"Please don't be mad at Mama… I be real careful, I promise…"

Wendy heard the pleading in her daughter's voice. She never wanted to deny her child anything, even if it meant… unpleasant things. She looked, weakly, into Shelby's eyes. She knew, in her heart of hearts, that Shelby would never let anything happen to their baby. She was giving her big, strong fighter the cold shoulder unnecessarily. Shelby answered the question that Wendy hadn't yet asked.

"Yes, Wendy Sue… I can guarantee you she's safe. It's not like I'm training her… I'm just showing her what I did way back when we first met."

Wendy blushed. She could sense the laughter in Shelby's voice, insinuating that they had become oh, so old. Shelby continued. She knew Wendy wouldn't like this.

"I've been thinking… just thinking… about… maybe… kinda… putting the gloves on again…"

Wendy looked mortified. She looked to her little girl, speaking in a sweet, motherly voice that clearly meant all was not well in the Marx household.

"Megan, go to your room, Sweetpea. Mama and I need to talk…"

The little redhead wasn't stupid. She knew what this meant. She was a Marx, after all.

"You and Mama gonna fight, aren't you? I don't want you to fight. I loves you both…"

Wendy's shoulders drooped. She looked into Shelby's warm eyes. They belonged to her first, last, and only lover. She couldn't stay mad at Shelby, no matter how much she tried. She no longer cared that Megan was sandwiched between them.

"Shelby, please… don't… you've been retired five years…"

Shelby exhaled deeply. Had Wendy not heard one word that she'd said?

"I said I was thinking about it, Wendy, just thinking…"

Megan looked excited. Big girl that she was, she'd just done the math in her head and come to a wonderful realization.

"Mama retired…"

She gently poked Wendy's bellybutton. Wendy smiled, giggled, and answered the child.

"Yes, honey… before you were born…"

Shelby flushed with pride. It was a wonderful memory. The day that Megan Victoria Marx came into the world was the single best day of Shelby's existence, bar-none. It outshone the day that she, at fifteen, became the youngest champion ever. It burned brighter than the night that Wendy had called and they had made their first date. It was more amazing even than the night that Shelby had dropped to her knees, begging Ridgeway's resident art geek to be hers forever. Shelby would do anything in the world for the lanky little redhead she and Wendy had brought into the world. It was her maternal pride – wanting to show the little one what Mama could do – that allowed her to entertain the notion of strapping on the gloves and climbing into the ring again. It was her love for Wendy that told her – deep down in the pit of her stomach – that this needed to stay relegated to the world of fantasy, no matter how much money sponsors and TV people threw at her feet. No less than Sam Puckett herself had pointed out, rather astutely, that she wasn't 'as young as Springtime no more', insinuating that, no matter how expertly trained, no matter how in shape, that maybe, just maybe, the greatest champion in CFC history had lost a step or two.

Wendy felt Shelby's hand clench in hers. She knew Shelby had something to say, but she had no idea what. The familiar knot rose in her throat again. She was afraid for Shelby in a way she hadn't been over the past five years.

"Wendy?"

The redhead held her hand and blinked, fighting off tears. She didn't want this.

"The sponsors and TV people laid out a pretty lucrative package… very lucrative, actually. It's pretty substantial…"

Wendy felt like she was going to be sick, right here, probably all over the coffee table.

"…But I told them that they could go to…"

Shelby realized her little girl was still in Wendy's lap. She was immediately a responsible parent and censored herself.

"…uh… heck… and that I was retired. I told them I had a family to think about…"

Megan tugged at Shelby's t-shirt.

"So no TV, Mama?"

"No TV, Pumpkin…"

"But you still gonna get in a fight with Auntie Sam?"

Both Wendy and Shelby laughed. Their little girl was a handful.