Chapter Eleven

Acelynn stirred softly, John waking her as he kissed around her bellybutton. Before she even opened her eyes, she was aware of the heat rising through her as his tongue glided across her skin. "Good morning, Mrs. Cena," he whispered against her bare flesh as she ran her hands through his hair.

"Oh, God, say it again," she moaned, finding herself smiling uncontrollably. Her entire body was aching from the intense lovemaking the night before, but she couldn't help but want more. And more, and more, and more.

He lifted himself so he was eye level with her. "Good morning, Mrs. Cena," he restated.

Acelynn laughed, hugging her naked body to her husband. She felt his arousal against the inner part of her thigh. She ached for him as much her whole body almost convulsed.

It was almost impossible for her to get her mind around. Yesterday, they were merely engaged. Basically, they were still dating, but with a little more commitment. Now, as she allowed her whole self to collapse in his bulky arms, she was his wife. His partner forever. And it was going to be forever. It really, really was.

He kissed her neck with wet, sloppy kisses. "Are you happy?" he asked in between kisses.

"Very," she whispered back, almost unable to find her voice.

"Somehow, I don't believe you."

"No?"

"No. I think you need a little more convincing."

Acelynn giggled, feeling his kisses moving a little more south with every passing second. Yes, she was hurting, but she could always take a little more love in her life. After all, she considered herself to be a tough girl. "Now what could we do to make you a believer?"

"Oh, I could think of a couple things."

With that, they were at it again.

- - - - - -

It had taken two weeks of uninterrupted bliss to make Acelynn come down from the high of her wedding. But, as was inevitable sooner or later, the honeymoon was over and it was back to the happy couple's chosen vocation. The urge get back to work was stronger in Acelynn than she would have thought possible after the seven different kinds of splendor she had experienced on that private little island in the Caribbean John had chosen. Still, when their plane landed near the next venue for the show, there was a small pang in her heart that told her that she really did miss her time in the WWE. After all, with her new husband being who he was, it was going to be a big part of her life for a long time (not that she hadn't thought about that before, though). Mentally, she fought with herself over if she would like to retake her place at his side at the ring permanently. Or maybe something else. She had enjoyed the other odd jobs she had backstage.

At any rate, she wasn't worried about that in the slightest at the second. Holding John's hand as he led her down the hallway towards his dressing room, Acelynn told herself to worry more about the present than the future. John was in her future, and she was in his. No matter what happened, it couldn't be that bad if he was there.

Then again, her mother had always been the "half-empty" type of person to bring up the point that nothing was set in stone.

Acelynn shook her head. No, she couldn't think like that. To think like that would be to think like her mother, and she had no intention of doing anything of the sort any time soon.

She would live for the present, because the present was where she was. She was happy, more than just happy. If she kept her present self happy, then she could keep her future self happy.

John squeezed her hand as they approached the door. There was still a couple weeks on her temporary contract with Vince, in order to tie up all the loose ends after the wedding. She had a couple more weeks to decide whether she wanted it to continue in the future - assuming that Vince and the writers would find it in their interest to have her back in some way or another - and she was going to take full advantage of those weeks to really think. Seeing the plaque on the door that read "John and Acelynn Cena" made her decision seem a little easier.

Sure, she had seen their names coupled together before, but there had been less of an impact on her. Now, it not only sent her own heart fluttering, but she could see John smiling uncontrollably from the corner of her eye.

Somehow, "until death do you part" didn't seem long enough anymore.

The room was filled with baskets of flowers and fruit, all portraying congratulatory notes from other superstars and production people.

Acelynn took a seat on the couch in front of the flat-screen television that had been provided for them. John unwrapped one of the baskets and tossed her an apple at her request. "You better be careful," she laughed as she sunk her teeth into the juicy fruit. "A girl could get used to this."

John rolled his eyes, allowing himself to fall into the cushions beside her. "I think I can afford to buy you apples."

"That's not what I meant," she kidded.

John reached his arm around the back of the couch, pulling her into his side as he lowered his mouth to her neck. His hand played at the hem of her t-shirt, inching it up her back as the tips of his fingers caressed her skin. She giggled, falling into him.

It never seemed to get old.

As John moved her onto his lap, a knock at the door initiated his halt. Candice poked her head into the room, smiling widely. "Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to make sure you got my flowers," she apologized, motioning to a vase full of lilies on the end table next to Acelynn. "And I see that the honeymoon isn't quite over yet so…"

She moved to shut the door, but Acelynn stood. "Candice, wait. Thank you for the flowers. They're beautiful," Acelynn admired, studying the white and gentle pink spray. "Lilies are my favorite."

Candice nodded. "Yeah, I know." Without another word, she disappeared behind the solid door.

Acelynn cocked her head, her smile disappearing. "She knew?"

John picked himself up from the couch, wrapping his arms around her as he continued his advance on her neck. "You were holding lilies at the wedding," he pointed out.

She twisted in his arms. "You remember what kind of flowers I was holding but you can't remember what you had for breakfast yesterday ?"

"I remember everything about that day," he confirmed against her nape.

Silence enveloped her. Only for a moment. "What did Candice say to you before the wedding? Outside, on the sidewalk?"

John stopped his kisses, pausing with his lips still pressed against her skin. He had just forgone his option to say he didn't recollect ever noticing Candice that day. Obviously he couldn't lie. She wouldn't have brought it up if she hadn't seen it happen. He could buy more time, though. "Ace, come on…"

Acelynn pushed herself away from him, realizing she was falling into past habits. "Oh, no! I didn't mean that…I was just… I don't know. Just curious. I mean, the thought just popped into my head and I asked before my brain could… think." She really hadn't meant to imply anything other than a simple conversation between John and the diva. Old habits die hard, she concluded as she also decided to shut her mouth before she got herself in trouble. Something of a first for her.

"She just wanted to wish us well, is all," John confessed half-heartedly. It was true, the word 'congratulations' had left Candice's mouth during the particular conversation. Although, how she had expressed it was something he did not want to confess to his wife. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, and wouldn't cause her any unnecessary drama.

Somehow, when it came to Acelynn, it all came back down to drama.

But he loved that about her, mostly because he got to pick up her pieces when she had decided she had had enough. He wanted to be the one to catch her when she fell, but he wanted to be the one to keep her from falling.

She replied with an almost inaudible "hmm" and let him persist.

He stopped suddenly, pulling away from her as his hand moved up his arm towards his shoulder. His face scrunched in pain, Acelynn cocking her head at his expression. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he grimaced, rubbing the back of his shoulder. "It's probably nothing, just a muscle spasm."

"On a scale of one to ten?"

John laughed, finding her concern over a simple pain amusing. "It's nothing. Just an ache, promise."

"JC… the pain wasn't there a couple minutes ago. Even a couple seconds ago…" she frowned.

He removed his hand from his shoulder. "All gone."

She crossed her arms. "I saw you lifting weights the other day. It was a lot more intense than the stuff you usually do."

"…Because I wanted to make sure I was ready to compete tonight after the two weeks of… well, you know…" He added a sly smirk, trying to convince her it really was just a random muscle spasm.

She squeezed her arms tighter against her chest, her eyes directed towards the floor. Ever since her accident, she had been more protective of John and his health. As much as she wanted to wrestle - although she had never really gotten the chance to be very good - she felt that she could live without it since she had no other option after her surgery. John, however, was another story. His life was the in the WWE, and she didn't even want to think about what he would do if he couldn't ever wrestle again.

Her own story had made that point very clear to her, and she had ever since been trying to convey that same message to her husband.

"John," she scolded with a single word.

He laughed again. He knew she didn't mean to be as overprotective and overbearing as she was sometimes, but he knew to take it as a clue that she loved him, and cared about his general well being as a whole.

Throwing his arms in the air, palms out as a sign of surrender, he admitted defeat. "Okay, I give in. If it'll make you happy, then I'll go see a trainer. When he says that I'm fine, though, I'm going to have three words for you."

"Which three words would that be?"

"I told you - adding a fourth - so." He emphasized his point by holding up the right amount of fingers.

With a kiss on the forehead, he left in search of a physical trainer.

Acelynn smiled to herself. It was normally much harder to make John see her way of thinking, and she was pleased that it had taken her only a minimal effort this time.

She took the time to herself to examine the bouquets of flowers around the room, wondering what she was going to do with them all. As her nose descended into the petals of an orange flower Acelynn could only guess the name of, the door opened behind her. Randy stepped into the room, a motorcycle helmet under his left arm as his right hand reached up to cover his eyes. "Is it okay to look?" he teased, lowering his hand without waiting for prompting.

"Ha ha," Acelynn jested, her hands on her hips as she lifted her face from the flower. "You and your buddy just constantly crack me up."

The side of his mouth curled into a smile. "It look like the Botanical Gardens barfed all over your dressing room."

Acelynn rolled her eyes in response. "Which ones are yours?"

"Why are you so sure that I sent you any in the first place?"

"Because Melanie's are over there," she pointed, averting his eyes to the other side of the room. "If Melanie sent me flowers, Tina did, too. And Christina would have put your name on the card… stop me when I'm getting warm."

Randy picked up the vase closet to the door, sunflowers mixed with yellow lilies covering his face from view until he placed it back down on the table. "Here."

"I should have known. My favorite flowers with her favorite flowers," Acelynn smiled. "So what did you want?"

"Well, we're hospitable, aren't we?"

"What do you want, Randy?"

His smiled faded, his hand reaching up to the back of his neck as his chin lowered to his chest. "Have you heard from Tina in a while?"

Acelynn checked her watch, mentally figuring the last time she had talked to her best friend. "Umm… this morning, I think. Why?"

He hesitated, his gaze never returning to hers.

"Randy, what's wrong with Tina?" Acelynn panicked.

His eyes shot up, looking past her but not at her. "No! Nothing like that… it's just…well, she's going to be calling you later, I guess. She wants to talk to you, but I don't know if…"

"Randy," Acelynn directed, walking towards him until he had to look her in the eye. She squinted, her gaze turning menacing as she stared him down. "What's going on?"

"I accidentally told her something I don't think I should have, and she wanted me to… well, she wanted to tell you, but I suggested that it might be better if I…" he stammered.

"Randy, sit!" she interrupted, pointing to the couch. He took a seat, then followed.

Acelynn silently scolded herself before she sat down beside him, not wanting him to think of her as a bitch for ordering him around. She was just concerned, and the way he was approaching whatever subject he was approaching was not helping her. She looked at Randy, her gaze softening as she took a deep breath. He followed her example.

"Okay, but I didn't tell you any of this," he offered. She nodded in agreement. "Let me just say that I made a stupid mistake in telling even Tina, but I felt that someone had to know. And, well, I just kind of blurted it out."

"Randy, please."

"Okay, okay. But you have to promise me that you won't overreact."

Acelynn held up two fingers. "Scout's honor." Yeah, like she could ever promise such a thing. Overreact? Acelynn? Never!

"Okay. Tina had mentioned to me that you saw Candice talking to us when we got to the church." Acelynn nodded in confirmation. "She said that she was waiting for someone, but it seemed to me that she was just using at as excuse to talk to Johnny."

Acelynn nodded, her eyes squinting with mixed emotions. "Go on," she urged.

"Candice said that she wanted to congratulate Johnny for not having to deal with being single anymore."

Acelynn whipped her head back. "What does that even mean?"

Randy shrugged. "That's what Johnny asked," he replied. Acelynn smiled inside herself, keeping a stern look on the outside. Somehow, the look in on Randy's face told her that he was finished. "She told him that it was hectic to be single anymore. She used examples like not having to go through date after date, not having to worry about only yourself, being tied down so not to go too crazy… kind of like the 'ol ball and chain' but in reverse."

"Wow," Acelynn spoke bluntly. "Well, that's real subtle."

"Yeah, but…Johnny just kind of brushed her off and I thought he saw that she was just being… well, Candice…"

"But?"

"But - and this is really the reason I thought you should know - John was kind of… twitching before the ceremony. Like, you know how he rubs his chin when he's thinking about something? Really thinking? It just bothered me that he kept touching the knot of his tie. His face was even going red, like he was choking, but he was fine before that. I mean, I spent all most all morning with him…"

Acelynn put her hand up. "If it was such a big deal, wouldn't JC have said something to me?" That was the only real thing that bothered Acelynn, and she was proud of herself for that.

"He said not to tell you, that you'd just get upset. Not about the tie thing… I never talked to him about the tie thing… but the Candice thing."

"Then why are you telling me, Randy?" she asked, leaning forward on her knees.

"Like I said, I accidentally told Tina and she was gung-ho on wanting to tell you. I figured if you did get upset, I would want you to get mad at me and not her."

That was what surprised Acelynn the most out of everything he had said. "What would make you think I'd get mad at you, Randy? Or Tina? Tina is one of my best friends and you, although I don't know as well as JC, are one of my good friends. Why would I get mad at you?"

"Because that's what you do."

Acelynn violently shook her head. "I'm not mad."

Randy smiled as he rose. "Good, then I should go get ready for later."

Acelynn rose with him, walking along side him the short distance to the door. "You're a sweetheart, Randy. Thank you."

He nodded, feeling good about himself. He reached for the handle, stepping out into the hallway. He turned back to Acelynn as she moved to close the door, catching on last glimpse at her. "You know, I don't know where Candice can get off saying stuff like that."

Acelynn shook her head, not really caring.

"I never saw you as the jealous type anyway."

She had been closing the door, but caught herself mid-swing. "Randy says what?"

"Yeah. That crack Candice made about how it was good Johnny was marrying someone who was jealous, that way there was a shorter leash and less opportunity to be unfaithful or something? That's why I thought he didn't take her seriously… and… and I forgot to mention that part, didn't I?" He stammered, stumbling over his feet. "Sorry, Ace…. Are you mad?"

Acelynn smiled. "Oh, I'm not mad," she responded as she gently closed the door. And it was true, she wasn't mad. She was furious.