Disclaimer Seth Rollins, and the various other superstars mentioned in this story are the property of the WWE and/or the actors / sports entertainers / superstars that portray them. This story is intended as tribute only and is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

Original characters are the property of myself, and only children of my own imagination. Any resemblance to any real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

The Girl Who Lives

Part Twenty One

"Isn't this awesome?" Dean chirped for about the hundredth time the last hour.

Seth looked around the place, not a difficult feat as it was a ten foot by ten foot space, while shaking his head. "Dean," he said, slowly but distinctly, "we're in a shed."

"I know!" Dean enthused. "But it was cleaned up. Isn't it great?" He was pacing the length of the place, which was large by shed standards, but small by room standards. But he wasn't pacing like a caged animal, he was pacing like someone who was anxious for whatever was coming next to begin.

"It's still a shed." Seth was sitting on an overturned five gallon plastic bucket, that he had wiped down with paper towels and all purpose cleaner, so as not to get his suit dirty. His shoes, however, were another matter and he was pretty sure when they left this room, they would no longer be shiny and black, but instead, a dusty gray color. Yes, someone had removed the lawn mower and many of the bigger shed type things, and done a general floor sweep, but the place still was far from sanitary. He watched Dean pacing, back and forth, and his gaze focused on Dean's waist, where the WWE Championship belt hung. "Are you really going to wear that for this?"

"You betcha!" Dean said, grinning happily. "As long as I'm Champion, I'm going to wear this belt everywhere. Besides, gotta keep the Kayfabe going and you know the rules, I have to wear this belt everywhere."

It was June and Dean was still Champion, and pretty much guarantee to keep the belt in the next Pay Per View, which meant he would hold it until at least Summer Slam. Roman and Seth had been right about Dean to the point where Vince now acted like Dean's run at the championship had been entirely his idea and all Roman and Seth had done was agreed with him.

Dean had brought an unbridled enthusiasm to the Championship that had drawn people in, even people that were at best the most casual wrestling fans. He even brought people who weren't wrestling fans to the WWE, because he was so entertaining, people found themselves tuning in just to see what, "That crazy Ambrose!" would do. He would defend the belt at the drop of a hat, he didn't care where or when and his fights were always over the top. He didn't act like a typical champion, he acted like crazy Dean Ambrose, or maybe even Crazy Jon Moxley, the champ. One of his ongoing story lines that was hugely popular, was between him and the belt, literally, based on a real life incident. A week after he was made Champion, he showed up at Raw late because of a rental car mix up, and without the belt and for a half an hour or so, Dean could not remember where he had left it. The belt turned out to be in the rental car so it was a simple matter of going to the parking garage and getting it, once Dean did remember, but that had sparked an idea with Roman, who mentioned it to Seth, who knew it was a winner. They talked to Dean, who agreed that this was a wonderful idea, and the three of them talked to Hunter and Stephanie, who put their seal of approval on it.

The story line was simple. While Dean was very proud of being Champion, he kept losing the belt. He would take it everywhere, because he was so thrilled at being the champion, but things would happen and he'd end up leaving the belt behind. So almost every Raw and Smackdown opened with Hunter, Stephanie, or another member of the Authority asking Dean where the belt was, and Dean, scratching his head and trying to think. The show would open, sometimes even with Dean going down to the ring to open, with an obviously fake version of the belt and saying nothing about it, acting like it was the real belt. Then later, would come another promo that would show a fancy black SUV pulling up somewhere, usually a rowdy, party place in the area. The next thing you'd see is two guys in suits walking into the place to get the belt, which might be hanging up on a wall, or around the waist of a pretty waitress, or sitting on a bar stool with a drink in front of it. If it wasn't a bar, they went to other strange places too, which made people wonder what Dean had been doing all day. One time the belt was found in the local library, with a copy of one of Mick Foley's books opened on the table as if the belt were reading it, another time the men went into an Elementary school and took the belt from five very young students who were holding it up proudly for show and tell. It was even found once hanging in a Monkey cage at a zoo, as if hung up to be a toy. There were a few people, Vince for one and even some fans, that grumbled about the disrespect being shown to the belt, but most people loved it and speculated where the belt would be found next. The WWE website was constantly flooded with emails and comments making suggestions of where in the next city, the belt might be lost and then found again.

Of course in the storyline, this belt losing was not appreciated at all by the Authority, who kept trying to stop it. They tried first taking the belt from him, giving it to him only for matches, but Dean had grabbed the belt after he won the fight that very night, and ran out the door with it like Punk had done. The latest trick was to insist he wore it everywhere and was not allowed to take it off from around his waist. They did a promo with him sleeping on a cot in the back, the belt around his waist. Of course, he was still managing to lose it, but Dean was right, according to the rules of Kayfabe, he should wear that belt, even now, even for this occasion.

What have I gotten myself into? Seth thought, wishing the air in this shed wasn't so stuffy. June in West Virginia was hot and no one had tried to make sure this shed was cool. It only had one tiny window, which was open, but it wasn't doing much to keep the air from growing hot and stifling.

He was in the shed in Dean and Cinnamon's back yard, wearing a suit, in the middle of June. He knew exactly how how he got here, but he still wasn't sure why.

After Extreme Rules and the Raw show and Smackdown taping that followed, Seth had gone home. The joint funeral for Myron and Andrea was a simple affair. Dolph and Daniel had shown up out of respect for Preston. Stephanie and Hunter had shown up because the WWE had befriended Preston and the family and it seemed only fitting.

What surprised and delighted Seth, Kayla and even Payton, was that Roman, Dean, and their families had shown up as well, even though Dean and Roman barely knew the Caldwells. "Funerals are for the living," Roman explained, after Seth had opened the door on Thursday morning, the day before the funeral, to find Roman, Jessica, Leah, Dean, Cinnamon and Neil standing there. "Besides, we figured Payton might want to hang with her friends for a bit."

Even though Roman and Dean were happy to get hotel rooms, Seth and Kayla insisted they stay at the house, so even though it was a funeral, their was a relaxed almost party like atmosphere. Payton brightened up seeing Leah and Neil and became must less clingy with Seth. She and Leah slept in her room together that one night, Roman and Jessica used the guest room, Dean and Cinnamon the office with the futon. Poor Neil was the odd one out, until Kayla took him on the sun porch and said he could sleep in the hammock. Neil was delighted and reported the next day at breakfast he only fell out of it once, otherwise, he thought hammocks made pretty neat beds and he envied pirates and sailors for being able to use one all the time. He suggested his parents might want to put one in his room instead, but Cinnamon wasn't nearly as crazy about that idea, even if Dean looked like he might be considering it for a moment.

They were unable to stay another night, and left after the funeral, which made all three of them sad, but when they went home, Seth found himself glad they weren't there, because the moment they were in the house, Payton got down to business. "Where am I going to go?" she asked and Seth and Kayla could hear the tears in those six words, the fear she felt in saying them. But she would not show the fear, nor the tears.

"Where do you want to go?" Kayla asked carefully. "And why do you want to go?"

"I don't want to go," Payton said, her fingers curling and uncurling, going from fist to straight, over and over again. "But I don't have a family no more."

"Payton," Seth said slowly. "Didn't I explain when you first came here that we're your chosen family?"

"Yes," Payton said. "But that was when I had an unchosen family. Now that I don't have a blood family, what happens?"

"We become your chosen and unchosen family," Seth said, realizing that he and Kayla had been making sure everyone in the world knew they were adopting Payton, except for Payton. She hadn't wanted to talk about her parents, thus, they hadn't brought up her parents, or her future. They had assumed that Payton knew. No wonder she's been upset, she had no clue that we have no intention of letting her leave us, he thought.

"Do you know what the word, adopt means?" Kayla said gently, looking at the girl. They were in the living room and Payton was sitting on the sofa between the two of them, alternating looking from one to the other.

She nodded at Kayla's question. "It means to get a dog or a cat from a shelter," she explained with an air of being quite wise to such things, but having no clue why she was being asked as it had nothing to do with the conversation. "Dogs and cats are alive, so you don't buy them. You adopt them."

"Well, that's true," Kayla agreed, and Seth could see she was trying not to smile. "You bring them into your family. Adoption means to make someone part of your family in a legal way. You can adopt a dog or a cat, or a young girl too. But unlike adopting a dog or cat, when you adopt child, the people who adopt you become your parents all legal, just as much as if they had you the old fashioned way. They even issue a new birth certificate for that child, listing the adoptive people as only parents."

"Uh-huh," Payton said, slowly drawing it out. "So, what are you saying?"

"She's saying we're going to adopt you," Seth said. "We're going to go and see a judge and let him see what a great family we are and the judge, being a smart man, will say, 'Why, this is where you belong,' Then he'll bang his gavel and you'll be our daughter legally."

"Well, it doesn't quite work like that, but it's similar," Kayla said with a smile. "It will probably take a little longer than that."

"So I stay here, with you guys, forever?" Payton said, looking from one to the other.

"If that's what you want," Seth said.

She nodded. And then she burst into tears and couldn't talk for a long time. Seth was worried about that, but Kayla said that it wasn't just sad tears, they were happy tears too, because obviously Payton had been scared about what would happen next and now she knew, and that was a good thing. Payton nodded in agreement, but kept right on crying. Then Kayla started to cry with her, and Seth found himself feeling like he might tear up, but instead he grabbed the box of tissues from the end table and gave it to Kayla and Payton, who took tissues out and started wiping their eyes and blowing their noses.

I'm going to buy stock in Klenex, Seth thought.

That was a bit of a turning point for Payton. Did she go right back to being the perfect child she had been? No, she still had meltdowns, she still had to deal with the death of her parents, but she was less clingy. Seth could leave her sight to do things without her getting too anxious. She still appreciated that he was around more than normal and he tried to give her special one on one time, just the two of them. While Payton could watch TV or play video games with the best of any kid, she really enjoyed being active, so she and Seth would ride bikes (of course they got her a bike of her own) or go for walks together.

Their lawyer, Steve Lane had wasted no time filing paperwork with the courts, moving for temporary custody of Payton to be awarded to Seth and Kayla. Armed with the paper that the Caldwells themselves had signed, giving Seth and Kayla temporary custody, the hearing was nothing but a formality. Seth and Kayla were allowed to keep Payton until the courts decided what was best for her.

After that, Steve called them one night and told them he had called another lawyer, a Ms. Bethany Laughlin and asked her if she would be interested in taking over their case.

"She's a family lawyer so this is right up her alley," Steve explained. "She's going to charge you more than I would, but she won't rape you, don't worry."

"I'm not worried about the money," Seth said, concerned that Steve was insistent about turning over the case to another lawyer, "I'm worried about adopting Payton, that's the issue, that's all that matters to Kayla and I."

"That's why I think you should go with Bethany Laughlin," Steve said. "To me, this case seems pretty cut and dry, but family court is a whole different ball game. Apparently, the next step is that you and Kayla are approved to be foster parents and Payton becomes your foster daughter."

"Can't we just skip that part?" Seth asked. "Go right for the adoption?"

"You'd think so, but it doesn't work like that," Steve said, sighing. "Family court has rules and since the future of a child is at stake, they won't bend on the rules. That's why you need Bethany. This isn't her first time 'round the Ferris wheel, she'll guide you through it."

When Seth got off the phone with Steve, armed with Bethany Laughlin's name and business cell phone number, he told Kayla about it. As they were going to call, the phone rang and it turned out to be Bethany Laughlin. She agreed to come over to their place the next day at 4:00. When Seth said they could go to her office she told them she would rather come to their house.

"I need to see where you live, how you live," she said. "I also need to talk to Payton. If everything works out, I'll have you sign the paperwork saying I'm your lawyer and I'll do what I can to get the ball rolling to get this over with as fast as possible."

"How long do you think it will take?" Seth asked.

"I'll answer that after we meet."

Bethany Laughlin turned out to be young, blonde, and have legs that went up to her eyes. She showed up at the house wearing a pair of jeans, a nice blouse, and a simple blazer. On her feet were sneakers. Seth wasn't sure what to expect as he lead her into the house, but he wondered why Steve had talked her up so much, she looked like she should be rushing off to cheerleader practice, not meeting perspective clients.

By the time she left, Seth and Kayla's confidence in Steve's choice of new lawyer was through the roof. She explained that they were going to have to tangle with Social workers, who would want to inspect their house so she wanted to go through it first, which she did. She managed to make a list of things they would need to correct. "I'm over thinking this," she admitted. "Chances are you'll do just fine even if you change nothing, but I know social workers, they're human. If they're having a bad day, or if they don't like wrestlers, they'll look for things to bother them. We'll let them find a couple minor ones, if they want to go on a rampage, things that are easy to fix and not really dangerous for a child Payton's age, but everything else they might complain about? Let's take care of it." She tore a piece of paper off the legal pad she was holding and handed it to them. Seth looked it over, it contained things like, "Safety latches not on cabinets holding dangerous household chemicals, liquor cabinet not equipped with a lock." "Do we really have to worry that Payton is going to start helping herself to the booze?" he asked.

"You'd be surprised," was Bethany's answer.

Kayla took the list and looked at it. "We'll get these all fixed, I promise."

"Good." Bethany nodded, clearly pleased with this answer. She talked to Payton alone, and warned them that besides social workers coming to inspect their house, it was likely the courts would appoint a lawyer for Payton.

"What are you, then?" Seth asked.

"I'm your lawyer," Bethany said with a wry smile. "The courts might decide to appoint her a guardian ad litem, to look out for her best interest. They might not, but I want you to be prepared, so you won't be shocked. When we go to court to have you appointed her foster family, I'm going to suggest that won't be necessary, but it is up to the judge. Payton has no estate from her parents, so the courts don't have to worry that you're trying to adopt her for financial gain. Do you have any skeletons in the closet you need to tell me about? Either of you ever been arrested?"

"I got a speeding ticket once," Kayla confessed. "But I went to court and fought it and won."

Bethany smiled. "Okay, I think I can work with that. What about you?" She looked at Seth, who shook his head. "Good, Anyone ever accuse either of you of looking too long at their kid? I'm talking about anything that might come back to haunt us. Here's the problem, folks, you're a public figure, Seth, word of this can and will get out. When it does, if there was ever a daddy or mommy who might even think that you showed too much interest in their little Jane or Jimmy, this will bring them out of the woodwork. So, come clean."

"No," Seth said, slowly. "I don't think so, I mean, not that I know of. I don't remember a fan ever getting upset or anyone, for how I interacted with their kids. I mean, I've met lots of them working with the WWE, but I never really got very involved with them, beyond the usual fan stuff until Payton. And usually the rules are that you're never alone with a kid without adult supervision, preferably with a parent. Now, I admit, I did do some really stupid stuff with Payton, but nothing happened."

"Define, stupid." Bethany stared at him, legal pad in hand.

"I gave her a cell phone. Later, Kayla said she gave it to her so her mother wouldn't worry." Seth said. "We played Nerf once in the boiler room of an arena. Not just her and I, but Jimmy and Jey Uso, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and myself with Payton."

"Five grown men and a little girl, alone in a boiler room," Bethany said, shaking her head. "Yeah, don't do that anymore. I can tell by talking to you it was on the up and up, but if someone wanted to cause trouble, that would look awful creepy."

"I didn't think," Seth said, hanging his head.

"That's what tells me it was innocent," Bethany said. "If you were a pedophile, your story would have been a lot different. And I'm not saying that you did anything wrong, I'm just saying that until all is said and done, be very much on the up and up. I'm not worried about the Nerf thing, because it was Payton you were with, and anyone who talks to that girl for ten minutes will know she's not the victim of sexual abuse and she thinks the two of you are fantastic. I'm just warning you, live your life until all is said and done as if that creepy neighbor from that old TV show, Betwitched was watching you."

"Mrs. Kravits?" Kayla asked.

"Yeah," Bethany nodded, gathering up her note pads and putting them into the satchel she used as a brief case. "Pretend she's watching all the time and don't do anything that would make her suspicious." She looked at both of them. "And one other thing, get married, okay?"

Seth wasn't expecting that and was glad he hadn't taken a sip of anything when she said it, or he would have sprayed her with it. "What?"

"Well," Bethany said, as if she had done nothing more than suggest they might want to paint their kitchen a brighter color. "You're engaged, I assume a wedding is in the plans for some point?"

"Yes," Kayla agreed. "But we were waiting until he could get a month or more off. We want to have a dream wedding and a long luxurious holiday."

"That's nice," Bethany said, smiling for a moment, and then her expression became serious. "That will make a wonderful one year or five year anniversary thing. Redo your vows, go on that honeymoon. But right now? You need to decide, what's more important. your dream wedding or Payton becoming your daughter. Because I might be able to get this done with the both of you engaged, but it will be a whole lot easier if you're married. If you're married, the judge can give both of you custody. If you aren't, he has to pick one of you. Also, judges love families. Not engaged people, but families. So, yeah, it's up to you, but I really think you two need to tie the knot as fast as possible."

When she left, she had a check Kayla had written, both of their cellphone numbers, promises that she could call them day or night for anything they needed from her, and a copy of their income tax record from last year. "Let me know about getting married," she said, as they walked her to the door. "I can't force you, but it will make things easier."

When she left, Seth sat down with Kayla for a moment. Payton was in her room, chatting on her new lap top with Leah, agreeing to stay there after meeting and talking with Bethany, so "the grownups could talk." He had promised to call her down the moment Bethany left, but he needed a minute to collect himself.

"So, when do you want to get married?" Kayla asked him, a mischievous smile on her face.

He grinned, then looked serious. "I'm sorry we're not going to have your dream wedding, our dream wedding."

She shrugged. "The lawyer is right, we can save the dream wedding for a dream anniversary. But the important thing is that we get married ASAP. If it'll make our chances of getting Payton, then I don't care if we get married by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas."

Seth laughed at that. "We won't have to go that far, although flying to Las Vegas this weekend might not be-" He paused, remembering something. It seemed that Kayla was thinking along the same lines as well.

In unison, they both said, "Cinnamon and Dean."

They were supposed to fly out to West Virginia for Cinnamon and Dean's wedding, which would take place on Saturday. They were going to fly down Friday, go to the wedding and fly back Sunday. Roman, Jessica, and Leah would be there, of course, and Payton was looking forward to it so she could see her friends again.

"We can't get to Vegas and get married before then," Kayla said. "It's Wednesday. So, we have to either skip their wedding for our wedding, or go to their wedding and then next week do our wedding."

Seth chewed his lower lip, thinking. "I don't want to miss Dean's wedding, but the way Bethany talked, I really think we need to do this as fast as possible. But man, Dean will be hurt."

"Call him," Kayla suggested. "Call him and explain the situation and ask him if he'd really mind that much. If he does, we'll wait a bit and attend his wedding. But if he's cool with it, tell him we'll take him and Cinnamon out for dinner to the most expensive place in town as soon as we can."

Seth thought that was a good idea and had called Dean, who heard the situation, then oddly, instead of answering, told him that he would call him back in less than an hour. Maybe there's an emergency going on? he thought.

When Dean called back, he was excited. "Seth, Seth, come out here!" he said, close to babbling he was talking so fast. "I talked to Cinnamon and it's perfect, it's just perfect, you'll love it, you have to come out here. Tomorrow if you can, but if you can't switch the flight, just come out on Friday, this is gonna be the best ever, you'll love it, seriously, you gotta get out here!" His words were strung together in a happy, jumbled mess, as if he was telling Seth he just won the lottery.

"Whoa, slow down, buddy!" Seth said, grinning and wondering what was up. "Why do we have to get out there, what's going on? I told you, we need to get married, our lawyer thinks the sooner the better."

"Yeah, I know!" Dean said. "That's why you need to come out! I talked to Cinnamon and we agree! Since you need to get married and we already planned a wedding, you guys can come out here! We'll make it a double ceremony! C'mon, bro, it's the perfect plan!"

End of Chapter Twenty-One

Special Thanks To:

Guest: Another update! Thanks for liking the story enough to ask for frequent updates!

Zipper: Yeah yeah, you're too busy to read my story. I'll bet you're spending your time torturing the peasants, meanwhile, I'm locked up in the tower waiting for my pizza slice. But yes, the Dungeon Master did widen the gap on the bottom of the tower door and now I get waffles for breakfast and the occasional fried egg.

Seriously? I'm glad you liked the last few chapters, even if it did take you longer to get to them. I agree with Randy, that's why I threw that in there, I figured Randy would be there going, "Hey, look, I'm normal, give me the belt! Let these idiots reject it, not me!"

Torrie: Thank you. I'm glad you like Kayla. I wasn't sure about her in the first story I wrote with her, she only had a brief part in that. But in this story, she really found her voice and it speaks strongly to me. This story won't be the last where you see her, I'm pretty sure of that. And I'm glad that even though you are not religious, you understood where she was coming from. Again, I just see that Kayla wouldn't think it was fair for Payton to formulate her opinions on God and religion based on one terrible experience, she should know both sides.

And yes, I'm also sure that Payton's grandparents will be part of Seth and Kayla's family too.

Angela: Yep, I figure everyone feels that to have Myron and Andrea's death be ruled an accident is a better choice. The owners of the building will do quicker what they should have already done, which is make the building safer. And Payton doesn't have to grow up with the shame of having parents who killed themselves. And, yes, there is no real proof of suicide, even if it seems pretty obvious.

Yes, if Payton's grandparents had been healthier, they would have taken her in awhile ago. But, then Seth might never have met her and I do believe in the long run, Seth and Kayla are going to be the best thing for Payton, providing the courts see it that way.

Kayla is... well, she's amazing for someone who popped into my head. She's just so together about things and she realizes that while Payton does deserve some extra indulgence, Seth can't give up everything for her, in the long run that won't make either of them happy.

Yeah, I had fun writing Vince. Poor guy was all confused about why these people didn't want the belt. And why this whole thing with Seth adopting Payton was a big deal. I mean, he sees that Seth is a good guy who will be good to the kid, what is the court's problem? And Stephanie? I figure she's a mom first and she sees Seth as someone who really needs to get this little girl adopted.

Wow, you've read the Cinnamon Girl stuff, eh? Nice to hear! Yes, originally I was just throwing in Dean being with Cinnamon and having Neil, because I wanted to show how Seth was a little irritated at the "Happy Dads" that Dean and Roman were and how as the story progressed, Seth became one of them too. But, as you can see from this chapter, they're playing an important role after all, they're providing the platform for Seth and Kayla to get married. But, wow, I'm glad you like the series.

Yeah, a lot of what Kayla said are my feelings about religion. Having a belief should make you a better person, not a jerk. If it makes you a jerk, then give it up. Same with being an atheist. I've met a lot of atheists who could give the worst bible thumper a run for his/her money in the "Holier than thou" attitude department.

I don't think it's bad thinking that about Daniel Bryan. It's clear that he has done something major and if he keeps coming back, he's going to be loved right into a wheel chair. I hope he can wrestle again someday, but if so, please, don't make him risk himself. I think that's part of the problem, he comes back and they lay so much on him. Let him build back slowly. Again though, I'd rather see him not in the ring anymore if it's going to do this to him. He deserves to have a life where he can enjoy himself and not be permanently injured.

Reality TV? There is no such thing. Reality TV is really "TV with amateur actors." I get such a kick out of people who say to me, "How can you watch wrestling! It's fake!" and then tell me about how much they love some reality TV show. That's all I'll say on that subject.

Emilee: I'm glad you loved the chapter. Yes, you're right, I didn't want to show Vince as being an old fool, more of a man who just doesn't get why the world won't work the way he thinks it should. And I'm glad you liked that Roman suggested Dean for the title. As you can tell by this chapter, that worked out pretty good!

To Everyone Who R/R and/or F/F this story: Thank you. I know, I say it every update, but I mean it too. You folks have been so good to me and shown so much love to this story, it's amazing. I never thought I could write a story that people would enjoy this much. Thank you. I don't think I'll ever have the right words to tell you all what this means to me, so I just have to keep falling on the same weak words over and over again. Thank you.