"I can't believe it," Alex whispered, sitting down as she took in everything that Cody had just told her. "How could she let herself go through all of that?"
"I don't know, honey," Cody brought an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. "She ran away, and didn't want any of us to know where she was. She was even declared legally dead for years."
"Well, I have a feeling that she and I would be friends right now under different circumstances. So I'd like to do anything I can to help her out," Alex smiled softly.
"Are you sure you want to be involved?" Cody bit his lip.
"I already am," Alex shrugged. "That jerk who tried to snatch up Marcus already saw me as someone that the kid trusts. I'm in this, Cody. I'm going to stand by your side and do whatever I can."
…
The next day at the SmackDown tapings extra precautions were taken in the backstage area. Most of the employees of the company had no idea why, but they all accepted that it had to be being done for a reason. So they went with it. After being let in, Alex immediate went in search of Mary. She found the older woman in the engineering booth and immediately wrapped her up in a tight hug.
At first, Mary was taken aback by the sudden invasion of her personal bubble, but once she looked down to see the custom arm warmers of Alex Hardy she smiled. She turned around in her chair, standing up and returning the hug. "Hey baby girl. So I take it Cody told you everything?"
"He did," Alex nodded as she stepped away from the hug. "It was horrible, but I understand. Are you okay? Are the boys taken care of?"
Mary nodded with a smile, "the boys, along with both Ted's and my parents, are safely hidden away where they can't be found. Hopefully, this won't last for long."
Alex bit her lip as she took in the baby bump poking out from Mary's Poison (the band) t-shirt. "Yes, because you really don't need any stress with a little one coming."
Mary took a deep breath, running her hand over her stomach, "I'm trying to remain calm, but... what if they can't find this bastard and his associates? Look at what already happened last night."
Alex held up the ID badge on the lanyard around her neck. "Hopefully these will help. Only legit WWE employees can be backstage right now."
"That does give me some relief," Mary nodded, looking up to her personal bodyguard. "As does this guy," she pointed him out to Alex, "Alex, this is Gary. He is in charge of watching me at all times. Even here, where we all have to have badges."
Alex waved to Gary, "no, it's cool. I'm sure that it's just in case. Plus, I'm sure Ted feels better knowing that someone is watching you at all times."
"I do," Ted nodded as he and Cody walked in with their personal bodyguards. "I'm not taking any chances with my family." He walked over to Mary, kissing her on the cheek, "I'm just checking in." He then turned to Alex, "we have a talent meeting regarding the situation. I know that you already know, but we are all required to be there."
Alex nodded as she took Cody's hand, "no problem. See you later, Mare!"
…
After everyone found out what had happened in the debriefing, there was an outpouring of support. Especially from those who understood those types of situations. Many of the employees of the company had gotten to know Mary in the year that she had been traveling with everyone, and sympathized with her predicament. Knowing how potentially dangerous things could be, they welcomed the extra security and precautions. Mary had been given the rest of the week off, but seeing as how Ted was the new world champion, he wasn't able to get the time off. This just meant that Mary barely left her husband's side. Which was more than fine with both of them.
On Friday night, they convinced their bodyguards to stay in the next room, so that they could finally be alone. After wrapping up all of his appearances for the day Mary took a shower and walked out into the main room in a maternity flyaway babydoll top with matching panties. She casually walked over to the bed, looking over at Ted, who was watching TV. "We're finally alone, Teddy Bear."
Ted looked up and visibly gulped. He knew all about lingerie, and had occasionally came across a picture of a woman in some online, but his late wife wasn't one to ever bother wearing any. He looked his fiance up and down and knew that he wouldn't be able to hide his reaction in his boxer briefs for very long. "Damn Mare... I... you... wow."
Mary giggled, climbing onto his lap. "Thanks baby. I was going to say we need to talk about something, but it appears we need to take care of something else first."
"You're the one who came out here in that," Ted smirked at his lover, placing his hands on her hips.
"We both know that we need it, Ted. It's one of the best stress relievers," Mary smirked.
"You couldn't be more right," Ted grinned, leaning up to kiss Mary passionately.
After they made love, Ted and Mary laid in a sweaty mess, bodies intertwined, with the sheet barely covering their naked bodies. Mary spoke first, having finally caught her breath. "You could have walked away."
Ted looked down at her in shock, "I would never leave you, Maryanne. You know that I never stopped loving you. Nothing could ever make me leave your side. I would put my own life in front of yours. Same goes for Marcus. As far as I am concerned, he's mine, Mary. I love you both with my entire heart and soul. No matter what happened, no matter what you did, I am yours."
"Oh Ted!" Mary began sobbing as she wrapped her arms around him. "You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that. I love you so much. Thank you for everything."
"You're welcome, Mare. You, the boys, and this one," he placed his hand on Mary's stomach, "are the most important things in the world to me. I would do anything for all of you. Anything at all."
Alright, so that was a bit of a cool down. After the heart-stopper in the last chapter, I figured we needed this. I know I did.
Also, there is a poll up in my profile for those of you have read "The Orton Way" (it's coming back very soon). Please check it out and vote!
