From the day Ronnie left, Mark was never the same again. Apart from a telegram indicating that she had the baby (though she never revealed the sex), Mark hadn't heard anything from Ronnie. There was a big void she left in his heart forever. Mark stopped writing poetry, stopped drawing, he just lost interest in the arts period. However, he did keep his jazz collection, especially Claudine Peyroux's albums, though he couldn't finish listening without bursting into the tears, because he never understood her blues more clearly than he did now.

Whenever Mark wasn't wrestling, he spent majority of his days drunk, high, or a combination of both. It wasn't uncommon to find him in a strip club, drunk as a lord a beautiful dancer grinding against him.

After a few months, however, he'd grown sick of the life of excess and went back to Jodi where they sat down and had a long talk. He told her he'd be willing to do whatever it took to get back in her good graces, and that he'd promise he'd be a better person and a better husband. While she was still upset with all that Mark put her through, Jodi was a firm believer in giving people another chance. She allowed Mark to move back in.

Though there was slight improvement in their relationship, there was still that area of mistrust between the both of them. Jodi was often suspicious of Mark and would often accuse him of messing around again. This annoyed Mark; If she was going to accuse of him cheating, she should have at least have evidence.

In the summer of '93, Mark and Jodi welcomed their son, Gunner Vincent Calaway into the world. While Mark was overwhelmed with joy at having Gunner into his life, there was always that feeling of unease in the back of his mind whenever he watched Gunner play, knowing that Gunner wasn't his first born. Somewhere in Europe, there was probably a little boy or little girl, running around, probably looking just like him.

For the next six years, Mark and Jodi's relationship got more rockier with infidelities from both parties occurring. The both of them would get into full blown arguments over exceedingly minor things like Mark not putting the cap back on the tube of toothpaste, or Jodi chewing too loud. They tried not to argue in front of Gunner, but it was hard for Gunner not to hear the sounds of his parents raging and cursing at each other through the thin walls.

After 10 years of misery, Mark and Jodi filed for divorce, citing irreconcible differences as the reason. During this time, he'd begun dating Sara, a women he'd met in California during an autograph session. She was tall with an athletic build with long flowing blonde hair and bold features. Mark knew right away he had to have her and asked her out.

Sara was a tough, no nonsense woman who was a bit of a tomboy, sharing Mark's love of sports, specifically boxing. They hit off pretty wheel, dating her for a year, before proposing to her the following year. For once in his life, Mark became a one woman man, abandoning the party boy lifestyle altogether and committing to Sara. She motivated him, always furthering him to better himself by caring for his body and getting intune with himself, something he hadn't done in years. The marriaged produced two little girls, Chasey and Gracie, with Mark being over the moon, as he had always wanted daughters.

However, as the years progressed, Mark found himself getting annoyed with Sara like he'd done with Jodi. Sara was emotionally immature with an irascible temper that magnified whenever a woman attempted to talk to him. When she went on the road with him a few times, she attempted to beat up a few WWE Divas when she perceived that they were flirting with her husband. It got to the point where Mark found her jealousy unbearable, so they separated for a year, eventually divorcing after 7 years of marriage. He had taken up to dating a fellow wrestler named Michelle during that time.

He felt he could relate to Michelle as they were both wrestlings going through nasty divorces. They decided to keep it casual, though during the first few dates, Mark swept Michelle off of her feet and she knew he was the one. After two years of dating, he and Michelle married each other in a park that he'd often occupied during his childhood in Houston. Michelle was just perfect to him, a tall attractive country girl from Florida who was deeply into religion. Mark was never a religious man, but once he'd started attended church with Michelle, he felt some spiritual connection with her that he'd never had with Jodi or Sara. He made him so happy to wake up to her every morning. With Michelle, he sired his fourth child, Kaia, who was more precious to him than any diamond. He could finally live happily ever after with his wife and four children. Or so he thought.

Michelle had fallen very ill in the summer of 2015. She often complained of pain, especially in her limbs, she felt tired easily, and there was swelling in certain areas. After it became too much for her to bear, Mark took her to the hospital where she was diagnosed with stage M1 bone cancer. The doctors had said the cancer was quickly spreading and that she didn't have much time left. Mark felt as if an elephant had stamped on his chest crushing the very air out of him, though he never showed it in front of Michelle; The last thing she needed was to be treated like she was dying, even if she had lost an incredible amount of weight in a short space of time and was losing her hair. Mark spent her remaining days of her life catering to her every need, making her feel special. He was holding her hand when she closed her eyes forever, surrounded by friends and family.

2016

The sun glared jarringly down on the two men as they lounged in the backyard. The smaller of the two was on the grill, flipping over the steaks for that night's dinner, while the larger one sipped a beer, staring wistfully at the palm trees in the distance.

After all those years, Mark and Shawn had remained friends. It was one of the few friendships of Mark that had survived, however rocky. Shawn had abandoned his wild party boy heydeys around the same time Mark had. He'd married his second wife, Rebecca in the late 90s and became a born again Christian. Shawn credited Rebecca, along with his two children, Cameron and Cheyenne for being the reason he turned his life around. He was more happy than he'd ever been in his life.

"Mark," said Shawn's voice, bringing Mark back to the present again. "You were thinking about Michelle again, weren't you?"

Mark nodded.

"I really miss her, Shawn," said Mark, "I miss her sweet smile, those pretty blue eyes, the way she said my name with that slight drawl. It's been a year, and I still can't believe she's gone."

Shawn watched Mark drift off into space again, pity pronounced in his eyes.

"Mark, let me ask you something," said Shawn, "do you think Michelle would have wanted you to be miserable like this?"

"I reckon not," said Mark, taking a long sip of his beer.

"I know you miss her, Mark," said Shawn, "but grieving and missing her is not going to make her come back. Michelle would want you to get on with your life and be happy. For her sake, and the children's sake."

"I know," said Mark, and he sounded tired, and older than he actually was. "It's not just her death that's affecting me, it's the fact that maybe I'm destined to be alone. That just scares the shit out of me. I don't want to die alone."

"And you won't," said Shawn. "You know what I'm thinking, big fella? I'm thinking it's about time you found Ronnie."

Mark looked at Shawn in amazement. He had not heard, or uttered that name in years.

"Ronnie?" he repeated. Funny how years ago, the mere mention of her name made his heart beat 100 times faster, but now it just felt odd hearing it. "Why do you think I should find her?"

"Because one, I think it's time you find out what became of your child with her," said Shawn, "and second it all started with Ronnie, maybe she's the answer."

"Ok, say I take your advice, Shawn," said Mark, "how the hell am I supposed to find her. I don't even know where she is."

Shawn feigned impatience and let out a dramatic sigh.

"You are aware of computers aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes," said Mark, "I'm also aware of this foot about to go up your condescending ass."

"Some things never change," said Shawn, shaking his head, laughing. "But seriously, go on the Internet and look her up. Didn't you tell me years ago, that her mom was a famous jazz musician?"

"Yes, I did," said Mark.

"Well, there you go, my man," said Shawn, "look up her mom and the rest will take care of itself."

The knot that had been sitting in Mark's chest slowly began to unravel, and he could breathe a little again.

"Alright," said Mark, "I'll do that. Thanks a lot, Shawn."

"Not a problem, ol' buddy!" said Shawn, fist bumping. "Now that's you're finished moping, why don't you make yourself useful and start unpeeling the corn."