Chapter 25

As much as he hated to say it, she was right and it pissed him off all over again. Not with her, but with Samantha. After all that lying, cheating bitch had done to him; she was STILL ruining his life. Sighing, he nodded, running a hand over his hair.

"You're right." He said, trying to keep his voice level. "I should probably leave then, just so nobody gets the wrong idea."

Tears formed in her eyes when she heard him say that and all Layne could do was nod as he slowly let her slide down his body, her feet landing on the deck below. "I'm sorry." She whispered, wanting to touch him, but knew that wouldn't be a smart thing to do. "I do love you, Randy." She walked back inside when he just stared at her, his eyes telling her all she needed to know, and went upstairs to check on her daughter...and to cry her heart out again. Sometimes life just wasn't fair and she wanted to kill Samantha.

She took off before he could even say the words back and groaned, slipping into the house, ignoring the 'what did you do to her' comments and questions he got. "I'm going to take off." He said quietly. "Cody, Teddy, you guys can-"

"Did you two break up?"

Randy was wondering that himself. Were they even together? No. Were they on a break? He couldn't answer that either.

Ted was fed up and stood up from the couch, his eyes blazing. "What the fuck happened out there, man? What the fuck did we even come here for and why the fuck are you walking away from her NOW?"

Cody blinked, though those were three very good questions. "He's right, she came in here and went right upstairs, what the hell did you say to her?"

"Or better question, what did she say to you about what happened? Cause I tell ya what, I'm tired of your anger problem and I know you're going to be a HUGE bear until you two reconcile so get upstairs and get it DONE."

Cody was blocking the front door, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"She told me we shouldn't do anything until I'm divorced, that someone could be following me. When all is said and done, she'll be waiting for me." Randy said in a monotone, more then ready to bang their heads together, his eyes slowly icing over. "So unless you WANT me to show my ANGER problem, GET THE FUCK OFF MY GODDAMN BACK!"

"All three of you can take it outside and WATCH YOUR MOUTHS!"

"Well then, that doesn't mean she's breaking up with you!"

"It's a...separation?"

"Yeah that. Let's just go back on the road and when your divorced is finalized, then we can bring Layne and Reed back." It sounded simple enough.

Cody looked upstairs and furrowed his eyebrows, knowing his sister was heartbroken right now and sighed heavily. "Whoever mentioned it, you're right. You two shouldn't be doing anythin'. This is messed up all the way around." They were outside by now, all three of them talking in a circle while Randy puffed on another cigarette.

"I never said she was breaking up with me." Randy said the cigarette still in his mouth. "I just know that if I'm around her, temptation is-"

"That is my SISTER."

"Look, I love her and I want to be with her, but this shit with Sam has to be settled first. Lay was right about that."

"She's a smart woman."

"No shit."

"She'll wait for you, man." Ted saw the raw emotion and love between Layne and Randy.

It was nothing like he'd ever seen before. They were made for each other; that was the bottom line. The sooner this divorce went through, the sooner Randy and Layne could be together again with Reed.

"I'm gonna stay behind and spend a few days with my family. Do you guys mind?"

"No man, go on. Me and Randy got this. Come on man, I'll buy you a drink."

"You can buy me two." Randy grumbled, looking up at the house. "I want to say bye before I leave." He said finally, looking at his friends, not missing the look they exchanged. "What?"

"Think that's such a good idea?"

"She needs to know I still love her."

"That's true."

~!~

Layne sniffled softly while sitting on the bed with her daughter, hearing the light tap on the door and looked up when it opened, staring back at Randy. She pressed a finger to lips, silencing him and kissed her daughter's forehead before walking over, shoving him gently out the door and closed it behind her, leaving them standing in the hallway. Such heartache and pain were in her blue eyes, but it was mixed with love for this man, not able to stop her feelings for him no matter what.

"What is it?" She asked in a soft whisper and allowed Randy to pull her into his arms, melting against him instantly, and hugged him around the waist as her face buried in his chest.

"I love you Layne." Randy whispered, resting his head on top of hers, inhaling deeply. The ragged breath that escaped her broke his heart. "I'm going back on the road with Ted and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get this divorce pushed through as fast as possible so we can be together, really be together. You, me and Munchkin." He gently tilted her head up, bending down to brush his lips against hers.

Tears slowly slid down her cheeks as Layne rested her hands on his chest, kissing him back softly, and felt him pull away as their eyes locked. "I love you too, Randy, and we'll be here when you're ready." She promised and hugged him tightly around the neck, sniffling and released him before taking a step back, knowing he couldn't stay with her, not yet. "Go on." She cracked a smile at him, though it was shaky, more tears falling. "We're not going anywhere."

"You had better not." Randy said seriously. He knew he needed to trust her, but he also knew she was a flight risk, reaching out to wipe away her tears. "Let Reed know I was here and that I miss her." He requested quietly, his blue eyes straying to the door. "I'll call you both every night." He promised in a deep voice.

"We won't, we-"

"Mommy?" Layne froze when she heard that voice and turned around, the door opening as Reed walked out, rubbing her tired eyes. "Mom, I-" Her green eyes widened at the sight of Randy and then looked at her mother, looking more confused than ever with a frown on her face. "W-What's he doing here?"

"Sweetheart, it's a very long and complicated story." How was she supposed to tell her daughter about all of this? She was only eleven and she was going through all of this mess. Layne felt awful and blinked away the tears in her eyes.

Randy lowered himself to one knee, looking at Reed, taking in the distrustful look on her face and inwardly sighed. "Munchkin, we had a misunderstanding." He said softly, holding out a hand to her. "But we talked about it, okay?" He glanced up at Layne, not sure what to really say. How did he explain this complicated mess to an eleven year old?

"That's right sweetheart, we talked it over and everything's fine. I overreacted." Layne said, bending down with Randy, staring into her daughter's eyes, needing to be strong for her.

"So...he's not married then?"

"Well...technically he is, but he didn't know he was." Layne bit her bottom lip, feeling her head beginning to swim while Reed's eyes narrowed slightly.

"What do you mean, Mom? You either know you're married or you don't." She stated matter-of-factly with a monotone voice. "So which is it?"

Layne took a deep breath and looked over at Randy, who looked very uncomfortable, and guided her daughter back into the room, Randy following. They sat her on the bed and explained, not in so many words, but enough, the reason why Layne had left abruptly and ran away. "So now Randy has to go away for a little while, but he'll call us every night and he'll be with us fully soon enough."

"This is too confusing."

"My wife is mean." Randy said flatly, using words he knew any child would understand. "She hates me and she would like to hurt me any way she can. So until I'm divorced, I'm going to stay away from your mom for awhile. This way you and her don't get hurt either."

"I am eleven, not three."

Layne bit her bottom lip to keep from giggling, shaking her head and ran her fingers through Reed's hair. "He loves us very much sweetheart." She murmured quietly, knowing her daughter was having a hard time with all of this, not blaming her a bit. "Until his divorce is finalized and Samantha is gone, we're staying here with grandpa."

Reed could only nod and lowered her head until she felt Randy pull her into his arms, then she clung to him for dear life. "I love you daddy." She whispered, burying her face in his neck and let the tears flow, knowing he would have to go away again and it broke her little heart in two.

Daddy, she had called him daddy. Of course, Randy had known since the beginning of his relationship with Layne that Reed had been entertaining hopes of him and Layne getting married and being a family. But this was the first time she had ever called him daddy, as far as he knew anyway.

"I love you too, baby girl." He whispered, wrapping his arms around her in a gentle hug.

Layne buried her face in her hands when Reed called him that, her shoulders shaking and felt Randy pull her into his arms, all three of them sharing a hug, a moment. It would be the last one for awhile, six months to a year is usually how long a divorce took.

"I'll miss you and watch you every Monday night on Raw." Reed promised and felt Randy slowly release her, tears in her green eyes, though she was trying to keep them in. "Don't forget me okay?"

Layne's heart was shattering over and over again to the point where she could barely suppress sobs, wanting to wait until Randy was gone before releasing them and sat back down on the bed. "He won't." She whispered, wiping her tears away frantically.

"I could never forget you. You're my princess, my Munchkin, my pumpkin." Randy said, getting a small smile from her. "You have access to your mom's laptop, email me, okay? I want you to send me pictures, emails, all of it. We can chat online, do the webcam thing. You WILL see me all the time, even if not in person." Randy promised. He would do anything he could to keep his family.

Reed grinned and nodded before hugging him around the neck again and kissed his cheek. "We will no worries! We'll keep Mom busy with horseback riding and other things. Mom, don't cry." She hated seeing her mother cry and crawled on her lap, snuggling against her. "Randy will be back soon, mom."

"I know you're right." She whispered and slowly kissed her forehead before setting her down, hugging Randy next tightly, not wanting to say goodbye to him. "Don't say it." She whispered, shaking her head. "I'll see you soon." Layne wasn't going to say that dreadful word because this wasn't goodbye, it was only the beginning and looked back at her daughter who was smiling, giving them the hope they needed before her eyes turned back to his. "I love you." Her forehead pressed against his, hearing him say it back and kissed him softly before he pulled away, knowing he couldn't deepen it and headed for the door. Layne sat down on the bed, feeling her legs giving out on her, and did everything in her power not to stop him.

Randy had to walk away before he grabbed Layne and Reed up and refused to let go. He was so tempted too, fuck Samantha. She could have everything of his, he didn't care. But common sense told him if he didn't fight her, she would be taking a huge portion of his paychecks and he needed those for his REAL family, his girls. He headed downstairs, spotting Dusty waiting, and almost broke down at the sorrowful look on the older man's face.

"Hey now son, this isn't the end and they ain't goin' nowhere." Dusty assured him, patting the man on the back and pulled him in for a fatherly embrace, patting his back. "Now go on and get everythin' taken care of."