"Hey, darlin'," Dean said, pleasantly surprised to see Alexa when he opened The Shield's locker room door. It was somewhat rare for them to see each other until a show was over, once they had parted ways after their customary afternoon visit to catering for something to eat. "Just couldn't stay away, huh?" he added with one of his silly grins that never failed to make her giggle.
It worked this time, too, but Alexa had a comeback for him. "I could have stayed away just fine. I'm here for Seth. Lucy needs him to come to our locker room."
Dean feigned grumpiness at that revelation. "What's up with her? Her legs stopped working or something?"
"Very funny. Can you just get him to come out, please?"
"Seth!" he turned and yelled into the locker room, still holding the door open. "Stop jerking off and get out here."
Alexa rolled her eyes at the way the Shield guys always talked to each other.
"Fuck you. I was sorting my hair out," she heard Seth say somewhere in the room.
"That accounts for five seconds, doing something with that mess," Dean said dryly.
A moment later, Seth appeared in the doorway. "Hey, Alexa. What's up?"
"Your boss wants you," Dean answered for her. Then, to Alexa he said, "I'll see you later."
"See you later, baby," Alexa replied, batting her eyelashes at him in the hope of embarrassing him in front of Seth. Instead, he just laughed and walked away into the room.
"That's true love right there," Seth chuckled as he and Alexa set off along the hallway. "Is everything okay with Lucy and Clem?" he asked, turning more serious.
"Yeah, they're fine. They just asked me to come fetch you."
Alexa made sure not to elaborate any more than that before they got to the women's locker room. Clementine's gifts were certainly not her surprise to spoil. "Right, here will do," she said when they were in sight of the locker room. She knew that Clem needed somewhere quiet to speak to him and Lucy. Considering how busy everywhere was backstage, a quiet little alcove in the hallway was the best it was going to get. She signalled to Bayley, who had been posted outside the women's locker room with instructions to send Clem and Lucy out when Seth arrived.
"What's going on?" Seth said, a nervous grin on his face as Bayley went into the locker room. It was clear that he was being set up for something, but he had no idea what it might be.
"Just wait here," Alexa said, determined not to let anything slip.
The women's locker room door opened again and Clementine came out, followed by Lucy. "What's going on?" Seth repeated when they approached him.
"I don't know," Lucy admitted with a curious smile. "Clem wanted to see us both somewhere quiet, that's all she'll tell me."
"This is about the best I could do," Alexa said to Clementine, gesturing to the alcove behind her where several large equipment boxes were stacked.
"Thank you," Clementine said, leading the way over there.
Alexa took it upon herself to stand guard and make sure no one else walked over there and interfered. She couldn't deny that she also wanted to see how Seth and Lucy reacted to the lovely, unexpected gesture they were about to receive. It wasn't really her business, though, so she made sure to keep her distance as much as was practical.
"What's up, Clem?" Seth asked once they had some element of privacy.
Clementine took a second to think about how best to put what she wanted to say into words. "I, uh, have something to give you guys." She reached into her jeans pocket, pulled out the two light blue wristbands and handed one to each of her soon-to-be guardians. "My mom found a site where you can design your own wristbands," she explained. "They let you choose a colour and add a personal message. I spent my allowance on getting you one each to say thank you for agreeing to adopt me and give me somewhere to live."
Alexa watched as both of her friends read the words 'Thank you' on the wristband, followed by the smiley face. She got the distinct impression that, in that moment, they seemed to be fully comprehending the love a parent had for their child, whether there was a biological relationship or not, for the first time. Both Lucy and Seth had tears in their eyes, and in Lucy's case running down her cheeks as well. She was the first to crouch down and give Clementine a tight hug.
"You don't have to thank us, sweet pea," she was saying. "There was no chance of us letting you go into the foster system. We couldn't have lived with ourselves if we had let that happen. We'll do everything we can to take care of you."
Clementine was returning the hug just as tightly. "I know you will," she said quietly.
Then it was Seth's turn. He had already put his wristband on while he had been waiting for his hug. "This was such a sweet thing to do, Clem," he said, crouching down in front of her. "I'm going to wear it all the time, from this moment on. Come here."
Clementine walked into his arms and hugged him, if anything even tighter than she had with Lucy. "I didn't know what was going to happen to me when my dad died," she said, now crying herself. "I thought I might have nowhere to go after mom died too."
"We'll always be here for you, Clem," Seth promised her solemnly. Alexa could tell that he had a lump in his throat. Feeling a little awkward seeing all three of them crying, she turned her back.
"Don't ever doubt that," Lucy added. Her words were quickly followed by a loud sniff. She was obviously trying to stop herself breaking down in front of Clementine.
Seth went on, "Do you remember what we promised you and your mom that night when we all talked about this at your house? We promise to always love you and care for you as if you're our own. We promise."
By now, Alexa was scrunching her own eyes closed tight to fight back tears. A few feet behind her, a family was being created. A situation that was too heart-breaking for words was being turned into something heart-warming by the sheer force of human kindness.
Lucy's voice came next. "I want you to show me the site you got these wristbands from, Clem. We're going to get you one, too. We'll put 'We promise' on it, so you never have to worry about us letting you down."
"Okay," Clementine said, sounding happy with that suggestion. "We're all crying," she pointed out next, weakly trying to inject a bit of humour into the situation.
"We are," Lucy said, managing a small laugh. "I think we should go to the bathroom and wash our faces."
"Good idea," Seth agreed.
With the emotional part of the conversation over, Alexa turned back to face them, glad that they had managed to have their moment without interruption. Seth took Clementine's hand and walked past Alexa, giving her a smile of gratitude as he passed by.
"Thank you for helping to organise that for Clem," Lucy said quietly to Alexa when they began following Seth and Clementine along the hallway.
"I was glad to," she replied. "There was no way I could have said no, anyway. It was so touching when she asked me to help her and told my about the wristbands she bought. She used her own money, too. I nearly burst into tears myself. She's such a sweet kid."
"I know," Lucy said, looking at the wristband which she had decided to put on her right wrist. "I'm never going to take this off unless I absolutely have to."
"I don't blame you. But what about when you're in the ring?"
Lucy considered that for a second. "I can probably tuck it inside my glove. They come up just past my wrist. I'll find some way to keep it on, that's for sure."
Hearing what Lucy was saying and watching Seth and Clementine walking hand in hand up ahead of them made Alexa feel so happy for all three of them. They were just starting out on their journey as a family, yet it was easy to see the love already developing between them. There would be tough times for sure, particularly when Clementine's mom succumbed to her brain tumour, but she had every confidence that they would get through it. "I'm really happy for you guys, I just have to say that," she said with a smile.
"Thanks, Alexa," Lucy said warmly.
They had now reached the bathrooms. "I'll wait for you when I'm done," Seth said on his way into the men's room, knowing that he would be done faster than the girls.
As Alexa followed Clementine and Lucy into the women's room and stood in the corner of the room, she remembered something she had been told earlier. She was glad she had, otherwise she could have landed them both in hot water. "I just thought, Clem and I bumped into Vince earlier."
"He scares me," Clementine interrupted while washing her face.
"What did he say?" Lucy asked, doing likewise at her own basin. It wasn't exactly clear who she had directed the question to.
"He was nice, but he still scares me."
Grinning, Alexa also answered the question. "He said Hunter needs to see us."
Lucy turned and looked at her with a slightly confused expression. "What for?" Then she remembered that creative plans couldn't be discussed in front of Clem. "Actually, never mind. We'll just go and see him in a minute."
"Can I come with you?" Clementine asked.
"No, sweet pea. You can go with Seth and see Roman and Dean. How does that sound?"
Clementine looked a bit uneasy at the prospect. "Dean is a bit scary too."
Alexa burst out laughing at that, already looking forward to teasing him about it later. Her laughter surprised Clem, who looked over at her with widened eyes. "Sorry, Clem. Don't worry about Dean, he's a big softy really, you'll see."
Clementine looked to Lucy for confirmation, and got a nod. "It's true, and you can tell him Alexa said that. They're good friends."
"Okay," Clementine said brightly, obviously intending to do exactly that. Alexa's only regret was that she wouldn't be there to see it happen.
Shortly, Lucy had sorted herself out and checked that Clem was okay. All signs of their tears had been washed away. "All set," was Lucy's verdict.
Alexa led them out of the bathroom, finding Seth leaning against the opposite wall out in the hallway. "Everything okay?" he asked when his two favourite girls appeared.
"We're good. Right, Clem?" Lucy asked.
"We're good," she confirmed.
"Alexa and I need to go see Hunter, Seth. Can you take Clem with you? She's got something she wants to say to Dean."
"Oh? What's that?" Seth asked Clementine.
"Alexa said he's a big softy."
Seth roared with laughter. "You're right, he is a big softy. You should definitely tell him that. Come on, let's go." He held out his hand for her to take, then added, "Say bye to Alexa."
"Bye," Clem said with a cheerful wave.
It was amazing how quickly kids could go from being upset to happy, and, Alexa supposed, back again. "Bye, Clem," she said with a wave of her own. She and Lucy stood there for a moment watching them walk away. "Such a lovely kid," she said when they were far enough down the hallway for Clementine not to hear the conversation.
"She really is. I love her already," Lucy said, making it sound like she was taking Alexa into some kind of confidence.
"I don't doubt that. And, more importantly, neither does she."
"You think so?" Lucy asked.
"I know so. She might not think of you as parents, understandably, but it's obvious she knows how you feel about her. I can't imagine what was going through her head when her dad died, knowing that her mom was going to die as well. She's a smart kid. She might have looked it up online and read about the fostering system. I'm sure there are a lot of great people who foster kids, but she might also have read some real horror stories. Then you guys stepped up for her. It's such an amazing story, Lucy. You've done such an incredible thing."
"Thanks," Lucy said quietly, looking down at the floor for a second to compose herself. "Don't start me off crying again; I've got a reputation to keep up around here."
Alexa gave her a knowing smile. "The secret is safe with me. Come on, let's get to Hunter's office before he sends out a search party."
A/N: Thanks, as always, to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter.
I hoped you enjoyed the moment between WWE's newest little family? What do you think Hunter might say to Alexa and Lucy?