Randy's POV
"I can't even begin to describe to you how awkward dinner was," I complained over the phone, "Ken doll acted as if I wasn't even there and if I said anything to her she would call me Randal."
"Babe, I told you this would happen. I told you she wouldn't trust you anymore," my wife, Sam reasoned.
"Oh, but it gets better. John brings up having kids," I told her.
"No he didn't"
"Mhm. And he says 'Priceless, you're not on birth control are you?' Do you wanna know what that sneaky little-"
"Randy be nice," Sam said.
"Sorry," I said, knowing full well I sound like a child who just got yelled at by his mother, "Anyway, she said 'no I'm not on the pill.'"
"So, she's not on the pill. I don't understand what's so terrible about that. I mean, I know Kenny doesn't want kids, but if she's not on the pill then she's not on the pill," Sam replied.
"That wasn't what he asked, Sam. She is on birth control, just not the pill. She has an IUD. She got it like a year after her and I, ya know," I said and cleared my throat. It was still a bit uncomfortable for me to talk about it with Sam. I'd never told her, simply because I didn't want her to think there was any reason Ken doll and I shouldn't be friends. "Any way. She lied to him, Sam. I've never seen her lie to anyone before, but she looked him right in his eyes and lied. She isn't the same girl I used to know."
"Technically, she didn't lie. She just didn't tell him the full truth. It's his own fault for not pushing it more. And as for her not being the same girl you used to know, she doesn't have to be that girl anymore. She doesn't have to watch what she says and worry about if her dad or brothers are going to be mad at her about it. This is what we wanted, remember? We wanted her to be able to stand up for herself," she replied.
"But at what cost?"
She didn't have an answer, because she didn't know. And quite honestly I didn't either. Was she standing up for herself or more for John? Although, she never stood up for her brothers or her dad. Not once. She never defended their actions. She was very loyal to them, as she was trained. She never once lied. That was the one thing I didn't want her to lose. Just because she was allowed to be some what free didn't mean she could lie about things.
I shouldn't be worried about it though, because it's not my business. If I were John, I'd be really pissed that she was lying. But it wasn't my business to tell him, it wasn't my place to tell him that she was lying. She needs to do that. I don't want to know what he'll do when he finds out though. That's what worries me, I think. I know what he's capable of, even if she doesn't
Tasha's POV
"Kenny," I insisted in a hushed voice.
"What?" she asked in the same tone.
"You know what. You lied."
"No I didn't"
"Yes you did."
"No I didn't"
"Yes you did."
"If I had lied then I would have said 'No John, I'm not on any kind of birth control at all.' However, I simply said 'No Johnny, I'm not on the pill.' Therefore, no lying was involved in the conversation at dinner tonight," she said with a shrug.
I flopped down on my bed with a sigh, "You do realize how angry he's going to be when he finds out right? He is going to be absolutely pissed off."
"He isn't going to find out. When I'm ready, if I'm ready, I'll have it taken out. Until then, we'll just think that we aren't compatible that way. His sperm wont mix with my eggs or something like that," she explained.
"Ew, please stop talking about his sperm and your eggs. That's gross. I don't want to know about you guys having sex. And keep it upstairs because I never wanna hear it, k? Thanks," I joked.
She smiled my way, "How is school going? I know you've said good every single day but you haven't really gone into detail."
"I like it, a lot. The people are pretty nice, they aren't too snobby or anything. And they've included me a bit too. Like, I've been sitting with the same people at lunch all week and I have some people that I talk to in my classes. I don't have much to talk about though, mostly because I don't know what to tell them," I looked up at her sheepishly and in a small voice asked, "Kenny, what do I tell them?'
She put her chin in her hand, as if thinking, for a few minutes before exclaiming, "Oh! I've got it! How about you have an deliciously young aunt who recently got married to a wretchedly old man, who just so happens to have graduated from Cushing. Long story short, dude thought you'd have a better opportunity of getting into a really great university if you graduated from Cushing as well. Conclusion, you moved here with me and are now going to Cushing."
I laughed at her description, "Okay, but let's simplify it just a bit. My aunt just recently got married. And her new husband graduated from Cushing, which happens to be a great school that will give his new wife's favorite niece a wonderful opportunity to get out from under their family's thumb. Conclusion, I moved here and am now going to Cushing."
"Fine, fine, fine. I guess you can leave out me being deliciously young and Johnny being wretchedly old," she laughed with a wink.
"You called him Johnny," I pointed out, "You haven't done that since he threw-"
"I know. He said the same thing today. But, when Randy got here, after they fought and what not, when Johnny was telling him what happened, Randy said something about how Johnny was actually upset about the whole Hunter thing, like he was surprised that he would be upset or something. And Johnny said 'she's my fucking wife, Randy. I'm suppose to protect her from things like that.' It just, I don't know, meant a lot to me. No one has ever really cared that much, no one has ever really wanted to protect me like that, ya know?"
I nodded, realizing how much John was helping us. First, he got Kenny away from her brothers and everything they did to her. Then, he got me away from them. And now, he's all but promised to our faces that he's going to protect us from anyone who wants to hurt us. And even though the possibility of him hurting us is always going to be there, having someone who would want to protect us is comforting in ways that I can't even begin to explain.
"I don't know if I've ever told you this, it's only been like two weeks," I began, "but thank you. For bringing me here and keeping me. For taking me in and taking care of me. For not sending me back to them and what they did."
"Sweetie, I didn't have anything to do with that. When Teddy told me he was coming here and bringing you, I panicked; even more when Johnny told me I was going to work with him because I knew that if I wasn't here when you guys got here then Teddy would have hurt you. That's why Johnny hit me that night, well kinda. I told him that I didn't want to go to work with him. He said that he'd have his brothers come here and have a 'talk' with Ted and that you wouldn't be going back to Mississippi with him; even if it meant him paying them to keep you here. That's when he hit me. I said something sarcastic about him paying for you and not me and he didn't like it," she admitted.
I looked at her, flabbergasted, "What?"
"I would have given anything for you to be here, you know that. But I was afraid to ask for anything, hell I'm still afraid to ask for things. And it honestly had nothing to do with the fact that it was you, more of the fact that my father doesn't give anything away for free, but he did me. It just hurt that he'd pay for someone who really wouldn't be anything to him, but he wouldn't pay anything for someone who was going to be his wife," she ranted quickly.
"That's not what I was whating," I told her, "John suggested me staying?" she nodded, "Why? Not that I'm mad or anything, I'm not trying to be ungrateful. I just, thought it was you who asked, well begged, and that was why he hit you."
"Nope, I got hit because of my own stupidity. Which is usually whenever I open my mouth, so I'm kinda shocked that it hasn't happened more often, but I'm thankful it hasn't. Anyway, I don't know why. You'll have to ask Johnny," she responded with a shrug.
"Hey Priceless? You down here?"
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
"Yeah, just talking with Tiny," she answered, "She actually has a question for you."
I looked at her like she was crazy. She wasn't the only person who had an irrational fear of asking questions. I grew up in the same house she did, I just didn't live there. She sent me an encouraging look as John walked into my rather large room and plopped down on the floor in front my desk chair where Kenny was sitting.
"Oh really? What would that be?" he asked, obviously intrigued.
"Well, um. It's just that. Kenny and I were, um. I was wondering." Yeah, I stammer a lot when I get nervous. I looked to Kenny for help.
"We were talking about school and she said that she wanted to make friends but she didn't know what to tell people," she explained, "So we made up a story about how I'm her aunt and you're my new husband. She's my favorite niece and you gave her an opportunity to get out from under our family's thumb and also a great education. Well that lead to her thanking me for letting her stay here and asking you if she could come. Which is when I corrected her and told her that I didn't ask, that you did it all by your bighearted lonesome. And now we get to her question."
I took a deep breath and looked at John. In the loudest voice I could muster, which just so happened to be a whisper I asked, "Why?"
"Why what?' he responded, slightly confused.
"Why did you take me in? Knowing nothing at all about me. I mean, I'm very grateful for everything that you've done for me and Kenny. I just, I don't understand what you're getting out of this whole, arrangement. You don't have to answer if you don't want to," I said quickly.
John chuckled softly, "I didn't do it for me, if that's what you're wondering. I did it because that day when I first met the both of you, you were honest with me. You told me about them cutting Priceless. And I could see how protective she was over you. I knew that she would always worry about you. So when she said that Ted was bringing you with him, it just felt like the right thing to do. You being here would help her but it would also get you away from them as well."
I jumped from my bed and tackled him on the floor, "Thank you," I whispered.
He sat us back up and hugged me back before pulling Kenny down from her perch in the chair. We sat in his lap and for the first time in a very, very long time I just felt safe.
"My girls," he said softly and I nodded in agreement.
Kendall's POV
I yawned as I wrapped my orange towel tightly around my body. It'd been a wedding gift from Tiny. She'd had my name stitched into it and Johnny had a matching one. My hair was dripping water on the floor was I walked from the bathroom through the bedroom to Johnny's closet and pulled out a t-shirt to wear to bed. Just as I was pulling it over my head, he joined me in the closet.
"Is that my towel too?" he asked cheekily.
"No, this one is mine. See?" I said, showing him the stitching, "It says 'Kendall Grace Cena' not 'John I have fifty-seven middle names Cena'."
"Ha ha. You're so funny, Priceless. I only have two middle names and our kids will have two middle names too," he responded.
I grimaced. There was that word again. Well, those words. Our kids. I'm not having kids. And not just because it's John Cena. I'm not having kids with anyone. I don't care who the father is. I'm not going to put any child through what I went through. And, since it is John, he's already hit me, there is no way I'm going to give him a child to hit as well. No, I'm not doing that to an innocent baby.
"What? What's with that face?" he asked.
"It's just, I don't know. I don't really-"
"You don't want kids," he stated simply, his voice firm.
"No, not really," I confirmed quietly.
"I think you already know that I don't care," he said with a smirk.
"I know," I sighed and walked out of the closet.
He could try all he wanted. He could sleep with me all he wanted. But until I take this IUD out, I'm not getting pregnant. And it's not like he can find out. And I sure as hell am not telling him. I know Randy wont tell him, especially with him trying to gain my trust back. And Tasha, well she'll always be on my side.
I climbed into the large bed and Johnny joined me seconds later. I decided to changed the subject, "Thank you for talking with Tiny. It meant a lot to her. And it meant a lot to me. I know you don't care very much, but it really meant a lot."
"Prove it to me."
"What?"
"Prove how much it means. Prove to me how thankful you really are that she's here. Show me that you're grateful and that I didn't do this for nothing," he said.
"How?"
"Have a baby with me. Have my baby."
"John, please. I don't want to have kids," I said as I sat up in bed.
"If we don't have one then she goes back. If you don't give me the baby that I want, Tiny goes back to Mississippi," he said angrily.
"You can't do this. You can't use that against me. What if I can't have kids? What if you and I aren't able to have kids? Then what?" I asked, my eyes filling with tears.
"Then that's different. We can check these things out. But right now, you are blatantly refusing to have kids with me. It's not like it really matters though because I'm not going to use a condom and you aren't on birth control, so it's only a matter of time before you get pregnant," he said.
"And if I don't? What then?"
"Then we go to the doctor and figure out what's wrong. If we biologically can't have kids, then we'll adopt. It's not like they'll say no to us. We have a ton of money, a huge house, and you're going to be a stay at home mom," he told me, already planning out our future.
"John, you realize that they look into people's backgrounds. They're going to look into our families history. Police records, background checks, medical records, bank statements. Everything that is on any kind of file will be available for them to look at. They'll ask what you do for a living, what our parents do. We can't lie to them," I said, making up excuses.
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there," John shrugged.
I sighed and laid back down on my side, my back facing him. I didn't want him to see my face. I was too tired to mask the emotions I was feeling at the moment. A mixture of panic, fear, and relief crashed through my body all at once and made it hard for me to breath. I wanted to tell him, only because I didn't want to face the consequences of him finding out from someone else. But I didn't want to tell him because I was no way near ready to be a mother. I don't want kids. I haven't wanted kids. I wasn't like normal little girls growing up, the ones who dreamed about what they'd name their future sons and daughters. I didn't do that because I didn't want them.
"I'm not ready," I whispered, my last excuse for him to maybe give me some time.
"Not ready for what Priceless?" he asked.
"A family," I responded, "I mean, we've only just gotten married. Shouldn't we be enjoying out time together and not worry about kids getting in our way. And not just that, but I'm only 23. I don't want kids yet. I want to grow up and have more experience before I bring children into this hell we call a life. I want to be able to prepare not only my body but my mind as well. If we have kids, I don't want to treat them the way I was treated. I don't want to resent any of them. I want to love them all equally."
"How long?"
I rolled over and faced him, "How long what?"
"How long do you think you'll need?" he asked.
"I don't know. I've never wanted kids, Johnny. Now, I don't really have a choice. But I don't want you to be always angry with me because of it. I'm sorry that I'm not what you want," I said.
"Let me know when you're ready," he reassuringly smiled, "On Monday, we are leaving for our Honeymoon."
"Um, since when did we plan a Honeymoon, honey?" I asked.
"I planned it when I planned the wedding. I just didn't tell you about it until now," he told me.
"What about Tiny? And I need to pack! Oh gosh, what kinds of clothes do I need to pack? We can't just leave Tiny here by herself. I mean, I know she's 17 and everything, but she has school and work and homework. And she'll have to eat and I don't want her to be staying in this big house all by her self. And-"
"And, Eve is coming on Sunday night to stay with her until we get back next Sunday," he interrupted my rambling.
"Seriously?" I asked.
"Seriously."
