A/N: See I told you guys I would update every Monday so here it is, I don't really like this chapter but it's kind of a filler for whats to come next. So go ahead and read, review, favorite and follow this story so you can get the notifications when I update, I'll try to keep it up every Monday but we'll see. So anyway enjoy.
Chapter 14
"Come on girls" Stephanie said as she helped her daughters out of the car and into the a large gym where her older brother worked. Once inside she was met with the smell of sweat and funky guy, however the gym was empty beside on man who was working away on a punching bag in the back corner.
"Wow this place is cool" Becky said as the girls began looking around at all of the trophies, and pictures that hung on the walls
"Ah...something wicked this way comes" Said the man once he noticed Stephanie
"Don't you think you're a little old to be running a gym?" Stephanie responded softly as she made her way over to him
"Stephanie….it's good to see you"
"It's good to see you too Shane"
Shane smiled at his little sister before he gathered his things from around the punching bag, wiping his face on an old towel and sliding on a Dodgers baseball jersey over his muscular body, "If this is about dad then I-"
"This isn't about dad Shane"
"Then to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you down at one of my gyms?" He said before walking away from her as Stephanie followed behind him
"I just wanted to see my big brother" she commented, earning a small eye roll from Shane
"That's her brother?" Becky asked her sister in a low tone as she and Sasha watched Stephanie and Shane talking from their seats on the apron of the larger wrestling ring
"Yeah that's uncle Shane, he's pretty cool" Sasha replied, " Dad told me that Shane and grandpa bought this place along time ago but we've never actually been here before"
Bayley ran past her sisters and up to Shane, jumping into his arms for a hug, "Uncle Shane!"
"Niece Bayley!" Shane laughed as he mimicked the young girl causing him to look over her shoulder and noticed the rest of the girls.
Charlotte, dressed up in a blue adidas tank top and a pair of grey leggings, smiled and gave Shane a side hug while he and Sasha, who dressed similar to Charlotte with a pink tank top, did a small handshake that only those two knew. Shane smiled at them before looking over at Becky, who wore a black muscle T that cut off at her shoulders and a pair of black and red shorts, and a gave a pleasant smile.
"You must be Rebecca, Stephanie called me the day she saw you in Ireland and told me all about you. I knew she would get you sooner or later" Shane said only causing Becky to smile nervously before he continued on, "So Stephanie tells me you girls have been experiencing some bullying at school"
"Yeah uncle Shane, you should've seen those girls they were like twenty feet tall and like this wide" Sasha said enthusiastically as she stretched her arms out to help explain
"One girl was taller and bigger than me and the other was about Becky's height" Charlotte said with a straight face causing Sasha to deflate a little, while Shane walked up to Charlotte and examined her black eye.
"Well that's alright, no matter what I'm sure you guys could've handled them. But I'm going to help you guys learn to better protect yourselves if you ever get in a situation like that again" Shane explained as he began walking around the gym. There were a bunch of dumb bells and work out equipment in the corners by a long way of mirrors and a section in each part of the gun looked to be designated for a certain thing. There were boxing gloves and punching bags in one, there were black belts and different dummies stationed in another and there was even a larger wrestling ring in the middle of the room.
"You girls listen to your uncle I have to head into the office for a bit but I'll be back later." Stephanie said as she kisses each of the girls on the head and gave Shane a kiss on the cheek, "Do not let them kill each other...and for the love of God Shane don't let them push you around"
"Push me around.." Stephanie walked out and as the door closed Shane muttered, "What does that mean?"
Shane took a breath and turned around to see that the three girls he was supposed to be trained were no longer there but in the wrestling ring playing around and running the ropes. He smiled, he knew wrestling was big in their family as they all grew up watching it and he was glad to know that each of the girls picked it up as well, but he was asked to train them in self defense not wrestling. Still, that didn't mean they couldn't have a little fun with it.
"Alright let's get started on some training"
*With Stephanie*
Stephanie sat in silence as she pulled away from the gym, she hadn't been there in years and really didn't want to go back, but with Hunter pressuring her to get the girls in some self defense classes then who better than family. Stephanie made her way to the highway, traveling for about thirty minutes before she got off at her exit and made some turns to get to a large building with rows on rows of windows. The parking lot however was emptying as people slightly fled from the building and drove off, leaving only two cars.
"Oh..uh hey boss...w-what are you doing here?" came the voice of Byron Saxton as Stephanie walked into the office building, passing security and many other cubicles before heading to the elevator.
"Relax Saxton, I'm just here for Hunter" She responded calmly, "He is in his office isn't he?"
"Yes I believe so, he came in early this morning and he's been working on our company project that's due next month" Saxton said quickly as they waited for the elevator. Stephanie knew that Saxton was one of the men Hunter trusted, he wasn't in charge of one of the sections Hunter had in his division of the company but the trust and respect were still there. He had been with the company for year and Stephanie had overheard Hunter mention moving Saxton into Michael Cole's spot once that man retired, so she didn't mind his company. With her being on the Chair board with her father, she never spent much time in this office. She was mainly on phone calls and skyping as the headquarters offices was located in Florida, so seeing where Hunter worked was kind of different.
"Thank you Saxton, I'm sure you have a bunch of work to get done so I'll leave you to it"
"Actually Mr. Helmsley, just let everyone go home early...something about everyone being idiots
Stephanie laughed as the elevator opened, "That sounds like my husband"
She let the doors close and pressed the top button, once te elevator reopened she was met with a long empty hallway which held only three offices, the one at the very end of the hall being Hunter's. Stephanie knocked on her husband's door softly before pushing it open to reveal Hunter pacing back and forth, seeming to be talking to himself. Stephanie was at first going to call out to Hunter when she noticed the blue flashing light of the bluetooth in his right ear.
"Yes...no I...I understand that the files are….ok and that means that….you're not listening to me….well no but I…." Hunter paused for a while listening to whoever was talking on the other side of the phone and continued his pacing. As he turned back around he saw Stephanie standing at the door, leaning against it's frame with her arms crossed and a smile on her face.
Once Stephanie saw that he noticed her she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him as he continued to talk.
"Yes, well this is a huge investment deal…..I know….that's what I'm trying to….alright...no but…" Stephanie placed her head on Hunter's chest and listened to his racing heart as he grew frustrated with the conversation he was having.
Hunter looked down at his wife and smiled, wrapping her up in his arms and laying his head on top of hers. They stayed like this for a while as his phone call slowly came to an end. Once he was off the phone he places a kiss on top of Stephanie's head to get her attention.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to surprise, you and have a little lunch date" Stephanie said as she stared up into her husband's eyes
"Really...we haven't done that in ages" Hunter laughed as he slowly began to rock Stephanie in his arms
"That's exactly why I think we should…..the kids are with my brother, I don't have to work right now and you look like you could use a break...so why not lunch?"
"Lunch alright...where did you want to go?" Hunter asked
"I was actually thinking about a more lunch in kind of thing" Stephanie pulled away, only so they were holding hands as she swung them slightly with a goofy smile on her face, "I have a sort of picnic in the trunk so maybe we could have a little date right here"
"In my office?"
"Yea"
Hunter thought for a second before agreeing, he could use the distraction, "Alright...I'll help you get the stuff out the car"
Together Stephanie and Hunter left the office and made their way to Stephanie's car. There were three large bag filled with pastas and bread as well as different types of fruits, chocolates and a bottle of champagne.
"You got all of this?" Hunter asked in disbelief
"Well yeah, I really wanted this to be special...I mean when I was in Ireland we missed our anniversary, so this is kind of my way t make it up to you" Stephanie said with a smile
Hunter gave her a small kiss on her forehead before grabbing the food, while Stephanie grabbed the champagne and blanket and closed the trunk, "Thank you for this...I could really use the break"
As they made their way back into the office Stephanie turned a little and looked at Hunter suspiciously, "Who were you talking to on the phone when I came in anyway?"
Hunter laughed a little before clearing his throat, "uh...your father actually. He uh.. He has really been on me about this whole Charity ball coming up, and the projected target fields are due to the board soon" Stephanie laughed and nodded causing Hunter to scratch his head with his free hand and say, "But you already knew that...because you're on the board"
"Yeah, I know they are coming down hard on you and the company, but my father has promised some serious investors that we would be a multimillion dollar company, accessible globally by the end of the year, and right now we only cover about half of the country." Stephanie said knowingly, much to Hunter's annoyance. Now he never cared that his wife was basically his boss, he was actually used to it, but sometimes he wished that he was on the same level as her. He wished that he didn't have to do all of the heavy lifting while Stephanie and the rest of whoever her father considered family sat on the board.
"I know babe...how about we don't talk about it anymore and just enjoy our belated anniversary"
"Fifteen years"
"Fifteen years" he repeated with a laugh
The two began to set up the blanket on the open floor in front of Hunter's desk, then placed the food out on top. Once everything was laid out they each sat across from the other smiling. Hunter leaned forward over the food and placed a kissed on Stephanie's lips to which she returned just as passionate as always.
Once they pulled away Stephanie said, "You know, this is probably the last time in a while that we'll be able to just sit and do this"
"Do what?" Hunter smiled moving back to kiss his wife again eagerly, mumbling against her lips, "This?" He moved slightly away from her lips, trailing kisses down her jaw, "Or this?"
Stephanie laughed at her husband as he began to kiss her neck, his beard tickling her with every word that came from his lips, "I love you"
"I love you too" Hunter said seriously, pulling back so he could stare into her eyes before motioning for them to eat
*With the girls*
Shane rushed around trying to get to all of the girls as they seemed to be everywhere at once, playing with everything and fighting each other. The girls had basically run through the self defense training in less than an hour and moved on to martial arts. Sasha begged him to teach them a couple of cooler moves and he agreed, only to lead to them trying each and every move on each other and him. He had to say he was a little scared by the girls wild actions but he was also impressed by how quickly they picked up on each of the moves. They even managed to learn things he had never showed them just from pure instinct and, from what Shane can only guess, from Tv. He looked to one corner of the gym and noticed Bayley hanging upside down from the pull up bars like a monkey.
"Look at me Uncle Shane!" she called out causing Shane to rush over to her and pull her down from the height, "Ah..no fair"
"How did you even get up there?" Shane asked out of breath but before the youngest could answer he heard the sound of weights hitting the floor.
He turned to see Sasha in the other corner trying to deadlift a weight that was more than all of the girls combined. Shane told Bayley to go sit down before turning to go get Sasha.
"Look Uncle Shane...I can lift this whole thing" Sasha said loudly as Shane approached before spitting in both of her hands, rubbing them together and placing her hands on the bar
"Ok that's just gross" Shane said before grabbing the small girl from around her waist and placing her on the ground away from the weights, "Go do something else that doesn't include you being crushed by a weight"
With that Sasha ran off and Shane sighed, running his hand down his face when he felt someone tug on his leg. Once he looked down he saw the blinded hair of the oldest girl and smiled slightly, "Yes Charlotte, what can I do for you?"
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah….you girls are more of a workout than my actual workout" Shane laughed but Charlotte just stared at him
"Ok" Charlotte said before walking off, she and Shane were never close like he was with Sasha and Bayley so conversation between the two usually lasted that long and went just like that.
Shane thought for a second upon remembering that there were now supposed to be four girls. He counted all that he encountered and gasped once he realized that he had yet to see Rebecca since they finished their self defense lessons earlier. He immediately began searching around the gym in all of the high and low places for the girl. Liking for any signs of orange but couldn't find any.
His search came to an end in front of his office where he heard the TV playing. He opened the office door to see the room which appeared empty. There was just a desk facing the side wall where a TV was placed on the wall, playing old videos of Shane and Stephanie wrestling their dad. Shane stared at the screen for a while and smiled before he heard the rolling chair from behind the desk move out a little.
"Sorry….I didn' mean ta go through yer stuff" Shane turned to see Rebecca's head peeking from behind the desk
"What are you doing down there?" Shane walked around the desk to see the young girl holding a old photo book, "oh..you found that old thing"
"Charlotte sent me in here ta look for somethin'...but I forgot what it was and then I found this" She looked back down at the book and began to flip through the pages, "You and Stephanie were really close"
"Yeah"
"Are ya still close now?" Rebecca asked as she stared up her uncle
"More or less...we work together at our father's company...not for long, but we still have our moments"
Rebecca flipped back a couple pages and pointed to a picture where Shane was a young boy, dressed in his middle school wrestling gear, and posed with two other boys, "When was this?"
"Oh well that...I was only in middle school at the time...so that was probably thirty year ago"
"And what about these guys...are ya still friends with 'em?"
"No..uh..not really. I haven't seen them in years" Shane said slowly, having no idea where this conversation was going, "Why?"
"Why aren't ya still friends? Did you leave them behind….Did ya lose their numbers?"
"Sometimes people grow apart?" Shane said sadly, "Did you have friends back in Ireland?"
Rebecca sighed, "Just one..but I don't think i'll ever seem 'em again. I mean..if you didn' see these guys and you grew up together, then what chance do I have?"
Shane smiled and pulled the book from the girl before helping her to her feet, "Don't worry about it too much...if it was meant to last it will" Rebecca nodded slightly before hugging Shane slightly and leaving the room.
Shane took a couple of minutes to straighten up the room and placed the book back under the desk before turning off the TV and heading back out. Once back in the gym he noticed that all of the girls were by the wrestling ring.
"Ugh" Sasha let out a huff as she was planted, face first into the mat with Charlotte holding her arm behind her back, slightly applying pressure
"What do you say Sash?" Charlotte said with a smirk
"Never" came the muttered response as Sasha's face was pushed further into the mat
"Ok" Charlotte moved the pressure slightly causing Sasha to groan out in pain
"Just give it up already Sasha, she's got ya pinned" Becky said from outside the ring,Charlotte had been practicing different move Shane taught them at the beginning when Sasha came into the ring and egged her older sister on to fight her. They went a few minutes, then started over going back and forth however Charlotte managed to get Sasha into a submission ever time. However Sasha was being stubborn on this one and she wouldn't say uncle.
"No way...ah ah.. ow!" Sasha said, ending her sentence with groans of pain as Charlotte continued to put pressure.
"Say it"
"No"
"Say it"
"No"
"Fine then I'll snap your arm" Charlotte said before getting in position to twist the girl's arm but stop when she looked up to see Shane walking up behind Becky
"What are you doing?" Shane asked
"They're fighting" Bayley explained before crossing her arms at her older sisters
"Well it looks more like you're going to break your sister's arm"
"I am" Charlotte said before placing pressure again on her hold
While Shane just smiled and hopped into the ring. He walked up to the girls and tapped twice on Charlotte's hold, signalling for her to let go. Once she did Shane helped both girls to their feet before saying, "You girls are pretty fast learners but i promised your mom that I would let you guys kill each other..now what did I say at the beginning of your training"
"..."
Shane looked at Charlotte, " Know when your opponent is in over their head...you don't want to seriously injure anyone in a sparring match"
"All she had to do was say uncle" Charlotte said causing Shane to turn towards Sasha who was holding her shoulder in pain
"And Sasha...know when you are beat. There are two people in a match and its each opponents job to know their own strengths and their limits, otherwise people can get hurt"
"A couple more minutes and I would've had her" Sasha mumbled earning a pat on the back from Becky, which only caused Sasha pain in her shoulder
"A couple more minutes and your arm would've been broken" Shane said before motioning for the girls to take a seat around him in the middle of the wrestling ring, "When I was younger, my father and I used to wrestle all the time...and every time he would beat me up"
"That doesn't sound very nice" Bayley said
"It wasn't...but he would always say to me to know when I was beat" Shane said laughing at the memory while the girls stared at him confused
"He can't still beat ya now...can he?" Becky asked
"Nah...ive trained a lot and learned from my mistakes as a child. I beat him for the first time when I was sixteen" Shane smiled, "I made him tap out...and still to this day he never congratulated me on that win"
"Why not?"
"I don't know...my father is very stubborn like that...and that's the difference between me and him."
"Really..mama says you guys are alike" Sasha said with a funny look on her face while she rotated her shoulder around a little
"Ha..she would say that" shane laughed, "Stephanie is more like our father than she would ever care to admit...now...how about I teach you girls some real moves?"
All of the girls nodded and hopped up from their seated positions and began to pull up Shane urging him to hurry up and teach them some new moves
About a half an hour later Stephanie came strolling through the door with shades over her eyes and her purse around the bend of her arm. Shane was standing on the outside of the ring looking up at Rebecca and Sasha who were locking up i the middle of the ring.
'"What is this?" Stephanie asked, as she removed her shades
Shane looked to her and took a deep inhale before giving her a disgusted look, "You smell like sex"
Stephanie looked at her girls before slapping her older brother hard on his chest, "Shut up...don't say that in front of the kids"
"Sorry"
"Mommy look what I can do" Bayley said before hopping into the ring and taking Sasha by the arm before swinging it around behind her older sister's back, and kicking her leg out, taking Sasha to the ground and holding her in the same position that Charlotte had on the same shoulder causing her to cry out in pain
"Ow...ow...stop" Sasha said causing Bayley to let go with a smile
Stephanie looked at her brother with a sharp look before calling for the girls to come out of the ring, "You really had to teach my girls wrestling moves?"
Shane shrugged, "It's what I do best"
Stephanie rubbed her eyes as Becky helped Sasha up to her feet and the girls made their way out of the ring, "I asked you to teach them self defense not bring them into wrestling"
"I was just-"
"I don't care what you were doing...they are my kids...and they will not get caught up in this fantasy life that you have around wrestling." Stephanie snapped before looking to the girls, "Come on, we have to get home so you girls can finish your homework"
"But it's only Saturday" Sasha said from her seat on the apron of the ring
"Well, would you rather do it tomorrow in between all of the chores and cleaning you girls are going to be doing?"
Sasha shook her head but was still taken aback slightly at what her mother said, "Why are we cleaning and doing chores? Are we in trouble for something?"
"Yeah Stephanie...are they?" Shane asked with his arms crossed but Stephanie just walked away calling for the girls to follow her, "Go on girls...I'll see you later"
"Bye Uncle Shane" Charlotte and Rebecca said before heading out the door after their mother while Bayley gave him a quick hug
"Bye Uncle Shane"
"Bye niece Bayley"
Sasha frowned, not wanting to leave but eventually hugged her favorite uncle and said a quick goodbye before rushing after her siblings, leaving Shane alone in his gym, thinking about why Stephanie was so angry with him.
A/N: Thanks for reading, go ahead and review, favorite, follow all that good stuff and I'll see you guys next time ( Well not really but you know...whatever)