Chapter Twenty-Five: Perfect

2 weeks later

Randy and Alex laid in bed after finally getting the twins and Jayda settled in for the night.

"Ya know," Randy began as he pulled Alex closer to him. "John and Payton are coming by tomorrow."

"Yeah, you already told me that," she replied, yawning and nestling her head into his chest.

"Well, I was thinking that you and Payton should go out and go shopping and maybe go to the spa or something."

"Except that the spa would kinda be a hard place to relax when I have the twins with me."

"Which is why I was thinking that John and I could watch them while you two go and do your own thing. Then I could take you out to dinner tomorrow night."

She leaned forward and looked up at her husband. "There's no way I'm leaving you and John here to watch the twins and Jayda."

"Why not? I think John and I are perfectly capable of watching the kids."

"I just don't think it's a good idea, Randy."

"Well, I do. You haven't really been out of the house since we brought the twins home. You need to get out before I have to back on the road. I can promise you that it'll make you feel better."

"Don't even talk about you going back out on the road. I don't want to think about it," she said, her eyes welling up with tears. She blinked, trying to keep the tears from falling. She had been so emotional about everything lately. Hell, she even started crying while watching The Lion King with Jayda when Mufasa was killed. That was just a damn cartoon.

"I know you don't want to think about it, sweetheart, but it's only a couple of days away. And that is precisely why I want you to go out and do something for yourself tomorrow."

"I know I have to deal with it, Randy. It's just that I want to spend as much time with you as possible before it does happen."

"And like I said, I'm taking you out to dinner tomorrow. We'll have some time just for us. John and Payton have already agreed to watch the kids. Please just do this for yourself. You more than deserve it."

Alex sighed and wiped away the tears that had escaped her eyes. "Okay, I'll go, but only because it seems like it means so much to you."

"Good. Now, get some sleep. You have a long, relaxing day ahead of you," he said and kissed the top of her head before they both fell asleep.

-The Next Day-

"Alex, come on, honey! We're going to be late!" Payton yelled up the stairs.

Alex sighed as she looked in the mirror, still unsatisfied with her appearance. How in the hell was she supposed to go out to a romantic dinner with her husband when she still looked like she was nine months pregnant with twins? She frowned before throwing on her hoodie and walking downstairs. "Sorry, Pate. I was trying to find something to wear."

"Lex, we're just going to the spa and the mall, not a red carpet event," her friend replied.

"I know, but it's just frustrating," Alex said, looking around the living room. "Where's Randy and John?"

"They're in the kitchen fixing lunch for Jayda."

"Okay. I'm going to go talk to Randy for a second and then we'll go." She walked into the kitchen and saw John sitting at the table playing Uno with Jayda while Randy stood at the stove presumably making a grilled cheese for his daughter. "Are the twins still asleep?" she asked her husband who just nodded. "Okay, do you have the baby monitor down here?"

"Right here babe," he said, picking it up from the counter briefly before setting it back down.

"Remember the twins have to be fed at three and make sure to burp them afterwards. Sadie usually doesn't take very long, but Jace is a different story, but don't quit if he doesn't. Oh, and Jayda was planning on going down to Reagan's house today but…" she stopped talking when she saw Randy staring at her with one hand on his hip.

"You done?" he asked. "I know what I'm doing, Alex. I'm their father. I can handle this. Now, go!"

"If you're going to be this mean to me, I'll just stay here and annoy the hell out of you all day."

"Cena, come watch this," Randy said, pointing to the sandwich on the stove. John nodded and set his cards down on the table before taking Randy's spot as Orton walked over to his wife and threw her over his shoulder. "You're going. Stop trying to get out of it."

"Randall Keith! Put me down now!" she yelled, pounding her fists against his back.

He walked past Payton and through the front to the future Mrs. Cena's car and put Alex in it. "Goodbye. Have fun. I love you," he said

Payton smiled at Randy as they passed each other on the sidewalk. "I'll make sure she has a good time. Don't worry."

He smiled back at her before walking back into the house.

Shortly after, Payton and Alex arrived at the day spa. They changed into white terry cloth robes and sat in some loungers while getting pedicures.

"You know as much as you would like to be home spending time with Randy, you've got to admit that it's pretty nice getting pampered like this," Payton said, leaning her head back in relaxation.

"Yeah," Alex muttered softly.

"What's wrong, hun?"

"Do you think I've been acting differently lately?"

"What do you mean, Lex?"

"I don't know. I just don't feel happy. And I should. I have two new babies and that's more than I could ever ask for. I mean, Randy and I weren't even sure if we were even going to be able to have one…I just don't get why I'm not happy, you know?"

"Your hormones are still out of whack. You are disappointed that you haven't lost your baby weight; not that you should've already. It's only been like two and a half weeks. Then on top of all that, Randy is leaving. It's a lot of stress for someone who has to take care of three kids. But I promise you that it will get better."

"I sure hope so, Pate," Alex replied before leaning back and closing her eyes. "I wonder how the guys are doing with the kids."

"I'm sure everything is fine. You just need to sit back and relax. Stop worrying."

Randy was about ready to pull what little hair he had out. Sadie and Jace were both crying and Jayda had been constantly on to him about going down the street to her friend Reagan's house all day long.

"Dude, can't you get them to be quiet?" John asked, rubbing his temples from the headache he was getting.

"I don't know what the hell is wrong with them, Cena. I fed them, they burped. Their diapers are changed. They won't go to sleep. What the hell else am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe we should call Alex. She'll know what to do."

"No," Randy refused. "She's supposed to be out relaxing. I'm not going to ruin that."

"Daddy! I want to go to Reagan's NOW!" Jayda screamed, coming into the twins' nursery.

"Well, you're going to have to wait! I have to get your brother and sister calmed down first."

"Can't Uncle John take me?"

"No, he has to help me with the twins," he told his daughter, much to John's dismay. Randy picked up Jace and Sadie from their cribs and held them in his arms. "Shh…come on guys. Please stop crying. You're giving daddy and John a headache," Randy said, softly rocking them back and forth. The infants began to quiet down but not for long as their half sister opened her mouth again.

"I WANT TO LEAVE NOW!!" Jayda screamed as she sat on the floor crossing her arms across her chest.

Randy closed his eyes trying to will away the pain that was pulsing through his head. Why did this happen to him? Any other time, everything would be quiet around the house, but of course, not when it was just him and Cena in charge. He was just about to turn around and say something to his eldest daughter when his cell phone rang from his back pocket. Knowing his luck, it was probably Alex and if he answered, she'd hear the total chaos that was going on around him and insist on coming home to help him. But if he didn't answer, she would get worried and come home anyway.

"Hey, Cena, you wanna pull my cell out of my back pocket?"

"Hell no. I ain't touching your ass."

Randy rolled his eyes at his friend's comment. "Then take one of these kids."

John walked over and took Sadie from Randy's arms and started to rock her back and forth, trying to get her to stop crying.

Randy pulled the phone from his pocket and put it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Orton. How's it going?"

"Hardy, this isn't a good time. Can I call you back?"

"Dude, what's wrong?"

"Can you not hear it? Sadie and Jace are both crying, Jayda's screaming at the top of her lungs about going down to Reagan's house and Cena has done nothing but complain the whole time. I'd say something is wrong."

"Well, where's Alex?"

"I sent her away to go relax. And I said I'd call you back," Randy managed to grunt out as Jayda had begun to cling to his leg, while somehow managing to scream even louder. He glanced over at Cena who was sitting in the rocking chair, his ball cap pulled as far over his face as possible while still holding Sadie in his arms.

"Have you tried singing that song that Alex sings to them?"

"No, because one I don't know the words to it because it's some dumbass country song and two, Alex says I'm tone deaf." At this point, Randy wished he was deaf completely as all three of his children continued to scream.

"Do you have a speakerphone?"

"Yeah, just a second," Randy said pulling the phone away from his ear and turning it on speaker. "There it's on." A few seconds later, he heard Jeff singing the song that Alex always sang to the twins. If it wasn't awkward having some other guy sing his kids to sleep, Randy didn't know what was. Before long, the twins stopped crying and for some reason, Jayda had stopped screaming.

"Uncle Jeff," she said, excitedly and grabbed the phone from Randy's hand and trotted out of the room, completely forgetting about the absolute need to go down to her friend's house.

John looked to his friend, eyebrows raised. "I think next time, Hardy should babysit."

Alex walked back into her house with Payton feeling the best she had in a long time. She felt refreshed and relaxed and was grateful to her husband that he had made her go. She had even managed to get a new dress for dinner that she thought made her look fabulous.

She smiled to herself when she saw Randy and John sitting on the sofa, each with a beer in their hand watching TV, still in one piece.

"Hey, baby," she said in a singsong voice and kissed Randy on the cheek.

"You seem in a much better mood than when you left," he told her.

"Oh my God, Randy. It was absolutely wonderful. We got our nails done and pedicures. I even got a full body massage from a really hot guy," she said, pausing to see his reaction.

His beer stopped its journey to his mouth as he turned and looked at her. "Was he hotter than me?"

"Of course not. And his massages aren't as good as yours either. I even bought a new dress for tonight. And the big shocker? I think it's perfect for me."

"You look beautiful in anything, honey," he said, leaning up from his spot on the couch to give her a kiss.

Alex pulled back and smiled before sitting on the arm of the sofa and hanging her arm around her husband's shoulders. "So, how did everything go here?" she asked, looking from Randy to John.

"Fine," Randy lied, quickly.

"If you're deaf," John muttered, taking a sip of his beer. "The twins were screaming bloody murder for like an hour and then it got even worse when Jayda started in."

"So everything was fine?" Payton asked, looking at Randy, who didn't answer but took a drink of his beer instead. He was going to kill Cena if he said anymore.

"It was after Hardy called." Oh, yeah. Cena was a dead man.

"What does him calling have to do with anything?" Alex questioned.

"He sang some song to the twins and they went right to sleep. Then Jayda took the phone from Orton and took off talking to him and seemed fine with everything."

"Where is Jayda now?" Alex asked her husband.

"Down at Reagan's house."

"She wasn't supposed to go down there. Reagan's little brother is sick with the flu. I didn't want her to get sick."

"You didn't tell me that."

"That's what I was trying to tell you before you went into caveman mode and threw me over your shoulder."

"Shit," Randy muttered, running his hand over his chiseled features.

"We can go get her if you want us to," Payton offered.

"Thanks, Pate," Alex smiled as she and John got up and left.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, Lex. You're not mad at me, are you?" Randy apologized, standing up.

"No, just go get ready for dinner," Alex said, kissing Randy. She was in a great mood and she wasn't going to let one little mistake ruin that.\

About an hour later, Alex and Randy pulled into the parking lot of her favorite restaurant, Finale. Randy got out of the car ad rushed over to the passenger side and opened the door for his wife and took her hand, helping her out. She couldn't believe he was being such a gentleman. She knew he could be, but it wasn't a side of him that she got to see very often.

"Have I told you that you look extremely sexy tonight?" he asked her as he eyed her up and down. She was wearing a gorgeous emerald green dress that cam just above her knees and had a plunging deep V neckline.

"You're just saying that because I'm showing off my newfound boobs."

"One of the many things I can thank the twins for," he winked at her as they walked into the restaurant, hand in hand.

Once they were seated at their table, a nice secluded booth, Randy put his arm around Alex. "You know, I wish I could do this for you every single night."

"I know. Me too," she said, quietly, suddenly being reminded that her husband was leaving her in just two short days.

Randy noticed the sudden change in his wife's demeanor and decided that it was now the best time to give her the present that he had gotten her. He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a small velvet box. "I got something for you," he said and handed it her.

"Randy, you shouldn't have gotten me anything," she told him looking down at the box in her hand. "I didn't get you anything."

"I didn't expect you to. Now, open it."

She did as she was told and felt her breath catch in her throat. Inside the box was a mother's ring. There were two garnet stones for the twins, a ruby for Jayda and a diamond for Randy with the names of each engraved, separating the stones from one another in a yellow gold band. Tears began to reach Alex's eyes as she pulled the ring from the box. "Randy, it's beautiful."

"It's not nearly as beautiful as you," he smiled, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

A nice long chapter for you all. Hope it holds everyone over until I can figure out how the next chapter is going to go.

Anyway, thank you to ShannonMooreFan, AshMattXoXo, Medieval Mystic, kimberlin, giftiebee, Enigmatic Lotus Leaf, alana2awesome, techwiz, Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 and CapriceCC for reviewing chapter twenty-four. You are all really great. I love you all!

Until next time,

Keep it rockin'

-Gabby-