So...this chapter and the next one (probably) are going to take a small detour away from the usual. You'll get to experience some of Carter's family, though :) I hope all of you enjoy it!

I has a question/request about seeing Triple H and the answer is yes- he'll be making an appearance.

As always, thank you for the follows, favorites and reviews! I appreciate all the love!

Tampa, Hawaii, Japan, Columbus, Toledo, back to the performance center for a few days, Canada and then finally RAW in Detroit, Michigan.

It had been a brutal stretch of long flights, long drives, hotel rooms and jet lag.

Carter had one more flight to make it through, back to her hometown in Tennessee and she would finally have a few days to relax.

It was Tuesday morning and she was seated next to a window in first class. She was snuggled in one of Seth's jackets, ear buds in; listening to a playlist Becky had made for one of their many road trips. Normally she would be just getting in to the start of her day, heading to the gym or whatever class she was trying out, and then hitting the grindstone with her work plans for the day before Smackdown was taped. Thursday was her nephew's 8th birthday, though, and she had this time off requested for months. She couldn't miss his birthday, no matter how much she was going to miss her new routine.

She had a flash of Seth from that morning, grumpy and half awake as she was packing her things and getting ready to leave. He wasn't a morning person, at least until he had some coffee flowing through his veins, or Carter was waking him up for more intimate reasons. He had his head half buried in the pillow, lying on his stomach and he had grumbled a 'be safe' and 'goodbye' to her as she kissed his cheek before she left their hotel room. She had just opened the door when it fully dawned on him that she was leaving and he'd hustled out of the bed to catch her up in a hug and properly kiss her goodbye.

She cracked a smile to herself and inhaled the scent of his cologne lingering on his jacket. She'd snatched it off the top of his bag, hoping he didn't care.

She was thankful for the past two weeks. The trips to Hawaii and Japan had been more than she could have asked for between meeting fans, watching the shows, experiencing the unique traditions of the two locations and exploring, as a tourist, with Seth and Becky. The views were phenomenal, the food was phenomenal, and she knew she'd gotten an experience most people would never get. Even being back in the states and Canada and falling back in to the grind of taping and teaching she was thankful; she felt like she had finally found her role.

Her new WWE contract offer was tucked away for safekeeping with her laptop in her carry on, waiting for her brother, her lawyer, to look it over.

She got a glimpse of the man sitting across the aisle from her and noticed he was putting his seat back in the upright position and realized she probably missed the captain's announcement due to the volume of her music.

I'm home she thought to herself, smiling as she pulled the ear buds from her ears and prepared herself for landing.

"Whatcha doing out here, kid?"

Carter looked up at her brother who had just stepped out of his house and on to the back patio, beer in hand.

"Relaxing and enjoying the view," she smiled.

He returned her smile and tipped her beer bottle with his in a salute before taking the chair next to her. She had her feet propped up on the railing and they were both facing the lingering hint of sunlight that was disappearing across the tops of the trees and river that ran behind his house.

"Feel good to be home? It's been awhile."

"Christmas and yeah, it feels great. I wish you would've been with me when I picked up Jackson from his camp earlier. He realized Seth wasn't with me and he pouted the whole way home."

"You created monsters out of both of them. Tyler says he wants to be a wrestler now and wants to go to school for it," Jacob frowned at his sister.

"This isn't my fault; you were watching it before I even started working for WWE."

"You gave them free merchandise," he countered.

Carter shrugged, "it's my job as an aunt to spoil the shit out of them."

"How is Seth, by the way?" Jacob gave his younger sister a mischievous grin.

"He's fine," she frowned at him, "don't start this."

"Don't start what? I think I have a right as your older brother to ask questions."

"I guess," she mumbled.

"He seems like he makes you happy, yeah?"

"He does. He's the first guy in a very long time that makes me feel like I can be myself. I've always felt like I've had to be 'more', more successful, more girly, more whatever but not with him. I don't know, it's very safe and very refreshing. He really was just my friend before any of this happened and I think we both needed that."

"I knew this was going to happen as soon as you introduced me to him in Jackson."

"Apparently everyone knew it was going to happen before either of us clued in to it."

"It happens like that sometimes…can't see the forest for the trees." They were silent for a few minutes, taking in the view and the sounds of the night that were starting to creep in. "You in love with him?"

"Yeah," Carter replied softly. She took a sip of her beer and looked at her brother, "I haven't told him yet."

"Why not?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Every time I feel like it's the moment, I chicken out."

"Stop thinking about it, Car, Jesus. Just say it. I promise you he feels the same for you."

"Think so?"

"I'm not around you two every day but yeah, I do. He loved you a month ago when you were coloring on tables with Jack. I could see it in his face."

Carter laughed, "I like to color, ok? I haven't seen any kind of law preventing adults from coloring. I'm glad that you like him…you know you're the one approval I have to have."

"I like him as much as a brother ever will," Jacob winked, "and we're glad you're here. It sucks that you're always out on the road so much now. I know Jack is really glad you're here. I think he likes you more than us."

"Again…I'm his Aunt. I'm the coolest person he knows."

"One day you will have kids and it'll be my turn to do this to you."

"Ugh," she shook her head, "let's not talk about that."

"Do you wanna talk about your contract then?"

"You just jump right off the deep end, don't you?"

He shrugged, "I just figured we could get it out of the way so you can enjoy the rest of your time here."

"Hit me with it," she sat up in the lounge chair, looking at him.

"Four years and a pay increase over each year."

"Is it a good increase?"

"Very," Jacob responded. "Do you want to do this for four more years, though?"

"I'll be 30," she responded and took a deep breath, "four years sounds like a long time right now."

"Well those are the two biggest things. I don't see anything you'd want to counter unless it's changing the length. You have to teach every couple of months but you've started doing that already. There's nothing about getting in the ring but they do reserve the right to make an offer on that, and then the usual health insurance, travel, expenses, wellness policies, yada yada."

"What about the Total Divas offer?"

"It's only one season with the opportunity to resign for another season at the end of it."

Carter made a face.

"Oh come on, it'd be fun to watch you on TV."

"You just want to be on TV," she laughed. "I just don't know if I can do it. I've been around the cameras for Renee and the twins and it's rough. Seth would hate it…"

"Word of advice?" Jacob raised an eyebrow in question.

"You know I always welcome your advice, bub."

"Get his input on it but no matter how you're feeling about him right now, don't make your choices based on him. I do like him but I also want you to have your own plans and not…"

"Jake…I know."

"Ok," he smiled. "You just let me know what you want to do and I'll do what we need to do on our side. You've got a little time to figure it out."

"Thank you."

He stood up and squeezed his sister's shoulder, "I'm going to tuck the boys in. I'll be back."

She smiled up at him as he leaned down and kissed her head. "Love you."

"Love you, too."

Carter drained what was left in her bottle of beer and sighed, gazing at the river in the distance. Four years was a long time. She looked at her phone to check the time. It would be awhile until she heard from Seth. She had a brief moment of sadness, missing her friends and the atmosphere for the tapings. That was her job and it was her environment. It quickly changed to a smile thinking about seeing the rest of her family soon and celebrating her nephew's birthday. It was good to be home, comforting and a relief. She was tired after all of the traveling she had been doing. She would worry about the rest of it once she got back on the road on Friday.

Carter entered the house the next morning after a run, drenched in sweat and pulling her ear buds out of her ears. She could smell coffee and hear Jackson talking to whom she assumed was his mom. She made her way in to the kitchen, "Jack, why are you awake so early? It's summer."

"He always wakes up this early," Megan frowned. "I don't know where he got it from."

"Why are you awake?" He asked, spinning around on his bar stool chair to look at her.

"I was running so I can be prepared for all the birthday cake we're going to have," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"And you're all sweaty. Gross."

Carter ruffled his hair before crossing the kitchen to grab a coffee mug. "Where are the other two boys?"

"Ty is still asleep and your brother went to go get some donuts."

"Well I'm extra thankful I went for a run then."

"I don't know how you do it…."

"You have to take care of three boys; I imagine that's enough of a work out."

"There are only 2 of us," Jackson said.

Carter and Megan looked at each other.

"She's talking about your dad, sugar. She's saying he's a kid."

"Oh…"

Carter smiled at her nephew. "You'll catch on one of these days, J. I'm going to go shower. Yell when the donuts are here."

She headed down the hallway to the guest bedroom. It had, at one point, been a garage but they had built a new one and converted it to a room. It was almost like having a little apartment, complete with its own full bathroom. As much as she loved her nephews and her family, it was nice to sometimes get her own moments alone.

She tossed her ear buds on the dresser and frowned at her phone. She hadn't heard from Seth. Granted, it was early and he had a show the night before, but he was usually awake by now. Then she huffed at herself. Don't become this girl, Car. You can spend time away from each other.

She tossed her phone on the bed and grabbed her bag to take her shower.

She was sitting in the floor of her room after her shower, next to the double doors that led to the patio on the back of the house, trying to put on a touch of makeup in the natural sunlight.

Jackson came running in the room and launched himself at her, almost causing her to poke her eye with the mascara wand.

"Oh god!" she laughed, falling back with him on top of her. He rolled away and jumped up, grinning. "What in the world, Jack?"

"Um so dad is back with the donuts."

"I told you to yell for me not spear me," she laughed. He was hopping from foot to foot and smiling happily at her, excited. "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm fine."

"Let me finish putting on my makeup and I'll be there. Save me a good one, ok?"

"You don't need any makeup. You're already pretty," he tilted his head sideways.

Carter's heart swelled and she smiled at her nephew, "you're the sweetest little thing, you know?"

He shrugged, "Tyler says I'm not."

"Well Tyler isn't always right." She capped the lid to her mascara and looked at him, standing up from her seat on the floor. "Alright let's go get these donuts."

Jackson took off running down the hallway and Carter just shook her head, exasperated by his amount of energy. She ran a hand through her still somewhat damp hair, frowning to herself at the thought of the Tennessee humidity wreaking havoc on it before the day was over. Maybe she had been a little spoiled by having a glam squad available to her.

She entered the large kitchen and she let out a small gasp as she saw not only her brother but Seth standing in it.

"See I told you I didn't say anything!" Jackson exclaimed, still hopping around and excited.

"What are you doing?" she asked, crossing to Seth and hugging him.

"I couldn't miss Jack's birthday," he replied, smiling down at her as Carter cupped his face and gave him a short kiss. Jackson let out an audible 'gross'. "Surprise."

"Dammit, did you two plan this?" she turned and looked at her brother. Jacob pointed to Seth. "How?"

"He gave me his number when we were in Jackson."

"I told him to take care of you and let me know if he, or you, ever needed anything."

"So I wanted to surprise you and I got some sibling help," Seth shrugged.

She looked back and forth between the two of them and shook her head. "You two are finishing each other's story and I don't like this at all."

"Ok can we have the donuts, now?" Jackson interrupted.

"Yes," Jacob laughed.

"Save me a chocolate and sprinkle one, ok?" Carter winked at her nephew. She then took Seth's hand and led him down the hallway so he could put his bag away.

They weren't more than a few steps in to the room when Carter turned to him to meet him in a deep kiss. "I can't believe you came down here," she said, pulling away from him.

"I probably should have asked but…I don't know, it was fun," he tucked her hair behind her ear. "Jackson is having a WWE themed birthday party; did you really think I could just let you come down here by yourself? I'm Seth-fucking-Rollins, babe."

"Well yeah because my whole family is here and you're supposed to be going home."

"I'm happy to be around your family, your brother already loves me. And home, going to the school…that was just a cover up."

"Fuck," she muttered, giving him a playful shove. "I can't believe you got one by me."

"I told you I have some romance in me…"

"Yeah you get like, lifetime points right now."

"Well at least you aren't mad. I panicked about that for a few minutes at the airport."

"No, not at all," she shook her head. "Thank you. I…love that you're here."

He caressed her face for a moment, quietly looking at her. He kissed her head and then broke their contact. "Let's get some of those donuts."

Later that evening, Carter was busy in the kitchen making cake pops for Jackson's party the next day, listening to the yells and laughs from her brother, sister in law, nephews and Seth as they were playing the WWE2k16 game in the adjoining living room. She couldn't see the TV but she could hear that Tyler had just beaten Seth- as Seth.

She smiled to herself. He had fallen right in to stride with everyone. She had taken him out and around the town earlier in the day, showing him where she had grown up, and they'd met up with everyone else at Tyler's baseball game that afternoon before going to dinner at her family's favorite BBQ restaurant. He had told her it reminded him a lot of growing up in Iowa.

She still couldn't believe that he was there. She didn't know why, but for some reason asking him to come down hadn't even crossed her mind. In a sense it felt to her that they had already passed the "meeting the family" part of things since he had met her brother in Mississippi. He still had to get through her mom and stepdad tomorrow, though.

She glanced up to see Seth watching her from the doorway. "Are you going to just hide in here all night?"

"A woman's place is in the kitchen," she teased.

"Oh well in that case, make me a sandwich while you're at it."

"Make your own damn sandwich," she laughed. Seth crossed over to stand beside her and watch her quietly for a few moments as she worked. "I'm almost done."

He shrugged and leaned against the counter top. "So I didn't get a chance to ask this earlier but I have to now…what is the deal with calling you 'Carp'?"

Carter chuckled, "when Jackson first started talking he had trouble with some letters and he couldn't say my name, it came out as 'Carper', and it stuck and got shortened to Carp. They all think they're very funny and help him pick out a fish related gift for me every year for Christmas."

"It could be worse. I got cheese jokes when I was a kid."

"Colby Jack?" she looked at him and laughed. "Oh man I need to remember that…"

"Ok, Carp."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you enjoying yourself down here?"

"Yeah, I am," he answered earnestly, "even though your nephew beat me in wrestling with my own character and the other lectured me about how I need to be a nice guy and not a bad guy, because bad guys suck."

"Did he really tell you that you suck?"

"He didn't even bat an eye about it."

"I think he may be more like me than they bargained for," she laughed a little, "and if it counts for anything I don't think you're a bad guy."

"You don't think I suck?"

"Most of the time, no."

"I'll take it," He reached out to tuck the hair she kept trying to shake out of her face behind her ear and dipped his head to steal a quick kiss when she looked up at him.

"Seth Rollins just kissed my aunt in my kitchen, what is life…" Tyler mumbled from the door.

"How can I help you?" She asked her oldest nephew.

"I just came to see if I could have a cake pop," he smiled.

"Yes, but just one. Take one to Jack, too, and your parents."

He quietly surveyed the collection of pops across the counter and finally picked one before grabbing a few more for the group in living room. He gave his aunt a smile and then looked at Seth.

"Are you in here because you're afraid to lose again?"

Carter laughed at the look on Seth's face.

"Are you hearing this?" He asked her.

"Sounded like a challenge to me, babe…"

"I'll be waiting," Tyler said as he left the kitchen.

Carter snickered and reached for a cake pop, handing it to Seth. "Here, this should help with that burn you just got from a teenager…"

He frowned slightly, "you're enjoying this way too much."

"Go get your rematch, champ. I'll be there in a couple minutes."