*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter they were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much!*
The next afternoon we took Alani back to Vanessa's house and we walk her up to the front door. "Hey," says Vanessa as she opens the door. "Did you have fun at Daddy's?"
"Yes," says Alani with a smile before she runs into the house leaving us standing on the porch with her book bag in our hands.
"Alani!" yells Vanessa, "come say goodbye to your dad and Willow."
"Actually," I say, "Willow and I wanted to talk to you about something that Alani said to both of us while she was staying with us. Do you have time to talk?" I ask.
"Sure, come in," she invites us in. "Please excuse the mess. I have toddler that runs around getting into everything. I haven't had a chance to straighten up today."
"It's okay," I say as we walk into the house. "I have been there I remember when Alani was a toddler and the messes she would create."
"She did create some messes," laughs Vanessa as we remember Alani when she was a little toddler. She was mischievous into anything and everything she could get her hands on. Throwing cell phones into toilets, coloring on the walls and no room stayed clean for long because she would make a mess with her toys or whatever she could get her hands on. "Let's talk in here," she says taking us to the kitchen. "Do you two want anything to drink? I have a beer, do you either of you want beer?"
"I can't have beer," answers Willow, "but water is fine."
"Okay, Joe?"
"I'm all right," I say as Willow and I take a seat at the kitchen table while she gets Willow a glass of water. She brings it over to the table and hands it to her before sitting down. Willow thanks her before taking a sip of her water. "So what's going on?" she asks. "Did Alani say something bad? Is something going on with her that I should know about?"
"It's nothing bad," I say. "She's very upset it seems about us moving to Houston in a few months," I say. "She seems really upset."
"She is," responds Vanessa. "She likes you being here in Tampa and we did move to Florida so that you could be closer now you're moving to Houston. I'm not uprooting my family again to move where you move so you can see her more. I don't think that's fair. Why can't you stay in Tampa?"
"Because," I say, "Willow wants to go back to her home roots. She wants to raise our children in Houston and she wants to go back to where she grew up. We need a new start and a new beginning after everything we have been through in the last couple months. I didn't say we weren't going to see her. You and I made arrangements for me to see her so we know how it's going to work."
"But that's not enough for Alani," she says. "She doesn't want you to move to Houston."
"I know," I say, "but she wants to move with us. She said she would rather go to Texas than stay here in Florida. And I think that's a good idea."
"So you want to uproot her again, make her change schools again? You want her to leave her Mama?"
"I want to do what Alani wants to do," I say. "I don't think it is a bad idea for her to come live with us in Houston. I would love that. It's not like we're incompetent and we don't know how to take care of her and how to parent. I think she would like it there. The house is going to be huge and it's going to be on a farm. We're going to have horses and there's a beautiful pond behind our home. It's going to be a nice home in a quiet, private neighborhood. It's not like we can't have her live with us. I would like that a lot."
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to uproot her again and move her to another state," she argues.
"But it was okay for you to uproot her from Tampa to San Francisco and then back to Tampa again but it's not okay for her to come to Houston to live? I have rights to her too."
"I didn't say you didn't have rights," says Vanessa, "I just don't think it's good for her to be uprooted again. She has friends here and a school here. She has a brother here and I'm here."
"And she will have a father in Houston and a step mother that loves her a lot in Houston with her. Alani wants this and to be honest so do I," I say. "I think she should come live with us and you get visitation. From the time we broke up, Vanessa you have always had custody of her and I allowed it. It was what was best for her at the time but now I think it's better she be with us."
"I'm sorry, Joe but how is having two wrestlers for parents best for her? How do you two think you're going to be able to be parents and travel? Alani needs stability she won't have that with your careers," asks Vanessa, "it's impossible. Who is going to be with her while you're on the road?"
"Actually," I say. "Willow is leaving the business. She's asking for her release on Monday night. I will still be traveling like I normally do but for a few months I am going to drop down to a part time schedule working RAW and every other weekend so that I can be home a little more but I will get back to full-time but Alani will not be without one of us. Willow will be home with her."
"Willow is leaving the business?" she asks and I can see the shock on her face. "I never expected that."
"You want to tell her?" I ask Willow with a proud smile. I still can't believe that we're having twins I'm still thinking it's a dream.
"Yeah," she says with a smile. "Well, I decided to ask for my release from the company because I'm pregnant with twins. I don't want to be in the wrestling business anymore. I feel like my place is at home with the babies. I would be home with Alani too."
"So you're going to be a stay at home?" she asks.
"Yes," she answers. "I plan to be."
"I see," she says, "so what you're saying is you want to have primary custody of Alani and I get visitation?" she asks.
"Yes," I say, "What do you think? Do you think we can work this out?"
"I would hate for Alani to move to Houston but if that's what she wants to do I'm going to do what she wants. It's her choice. I'll talk to her and then I will let you know but if she does want to move to Texas we need to figure out a plan."
"I'll get primary custody," I say, "and the arrangements would be the same. We could bring Alani back two weekends out of the month, you get her on school holidays and you and I split holidays like Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving with her. You'll have her over summer break. How does that sound? Does that work for you?"
"Two weekends a month seems like it would be hard for you to get her here. I will settle with one weekend a month with her and all the other stuff, school holidays and splitting the holidays. I'm good with that."
"Okay," I say, "well, talk to Alani and see what she really wants to do. I want to keep this out of court and keep things friendly and civil between us."
"Me too," she says. "We've co-parented pretty well the last 8 years I think we can do it the next 9 to 10 years. It's not going to be easy but we can do it. As long as we work together there's no need for us to go to court. I'll just sign custody over to you and you'll be set to go."
"Okay," I say. "Thank-you."
"You're welcome," she says with a smile. "So congratulations," she says with a smile.
"Thank-you," says Willow. "We haven't told anyone yet. I want to wait until I am 12 weeks along and make a big announcement."
"That's wonderful, I'm so happy for you two. You two deserve this after everything in the last couple months. Was it planned?"
"No," I say, "it was a beautiful surprise. I'm grateful," I say with a smile. "It's going to be pretty crazy come June."
"I am sure. I have one I can't imagine having two the same age. You're going to be exhausted."
"I know," says Willow with a smile, "but I'm blessed."
"You truly are. I'm happy for you both."
"Thanks," says Willow with a smile. "We are both pretty excited about it. I'm ready to get through the NT scan and through the entire pregnancy. I want to make sure they are both all right."
"I understand," she says. "I'm sure they will be."
"Well," I say, "I think it's time that we got going. Thank-you, Vanessa," I say.
"You're welcome. I think we have it all settled," she says. "I'll talk to Alani and see what she thinks then we will go from there."
"Okay," I say.
We say our goodbyes before we make our way to the car. I open Willow's door for her and help her into the passenger's seat before I shut the door. I walk to the driver's side and hop in. "That went surprisingly well," I say.
"Almost too well," she says, "you don't think she would try to talk Alani out of coming to live with us in Texas do you?"
"I would hope not. Vanessa is usually pretty good about doing what's best for Alani," I say backing out of their driveway. "She seemed sincere."
"It just went a lot better than I was expecting," she says. "I don't know. I just hope the conversation with my dad goes just as well when I tell him I'm leaving the business. You think he's going to be disappointed in me?"
"I don't think so," I say. "Your dad has always supported you in what you chose to do in life right except when it came to me."
"Yeah you were the only thing in my life he didn't support until he found out how awesome and amazing you were then he was okay with you. I just don't want to let him down. I always wanted to make him proud."
"I think no matter what you do you're going to make him proud, Willow. You aren't going to disappoint him. The only thing he wants is for you to be happy. Are you sure you want to walk away from all of this?"
"Yes," she says. "I'm sure. I have thought about and thought about it again. I do love wrestling, I always have loved it but I love the idea of having a family and being a mother more. Maybe down the road I might go back but for now my time in the ring is done. I want to enjoy life outside the ring. Do you ever think about walking away from WWE and calling it quits?"
"Well, I do love wrestling and I love the life that it has provided for myself and Alani but if given the chance I would walk away from it. I would love to be a stay at home dad, taking the kids to school and doing all that fun stuff. I'm actually going to be jealous of the fact you'll get to stay home with our little babies and Alani. I would give anything to be able to do that but WWE has been my job for the last 8 years and honestly it has given me opportunities I have never had. Maybe one day I'll retire from the ring and be at home with the kids but right now I need this especially if we're having twins. I need to put food on the table somehow."
"You're such a great dad," she compliments me. "And I love it. This time I want to do maternity pictures with you. I think that would be fun."
"Me too," I say with a smile.
Willow's point of view:
Shortly after Joe and I get home I go upstairs to our bedroom and grab my I-Pad off the bedside table. I log on and hit the facetime app. I start a facetime with my dad waiting for him to answer. "Hey, Scout!" he says happily as he appears on the screen. I have been missing my dad since he moved back to Houston. I don't see him nearly as much as I used to but it won't be long until I am in Houston with him.
"Hi, Dad," I say smiling back at him. "How are you doing?"
"I'm good," he says, "and you and Joe?" he asks.
"We're great!" I say with a smile. "I miss you."
"I miss you too," he responds.
"How's Houston? You glad to be back?"
"It's good and yeah. I'm happy to be back. I bet you can't wait to be back."
"I can't. I'm counting down the days. They're making progress on the house then we just have to decorate it when it's built."
"Yeah," he says, "how is training going? You ready to get the Women's Championship yet?" he asks with a small chuckle.
"Actually, I haven't been training. We're back in Tampa," I say. "Training wasn't going so well and I thought about it and decided I was going to stop," I lie but I'm not ready to tell him the news just yet. I have a plan to announce it to our families on Christmas. I think it will be more special than telling my dad on Facetime.
"How do you expect to get back into the ring and not train? You've been out for months. You need some type of training. Do you want me to work with you?"
"Actually, Dad, I'm not getting back in the ring. I thought about it and I want to have kids. I want to be a mom. I want to live that life so I decided that this coming Monday I'm going to ask for my release. I just don't have the passion for it anymore, Dad. Maybe in the future I'll go back but right now I think I need time away from the ring, live life and hopefully start a family with Joe."
"But you have your wedding coming up, I thought you were going to wait till after your wedding to start a family."
"I'm ready to start a family now," I say, "but I wanted to let you know that I'm going to ask for my release on Monday. I wanted to tell you before it broke onto the internet and you didn't hear it first."
"Why, Willow? You have such a bright future with WWE."
"I know, Dad but I have an even brighter future with Joe. This is what I want to do. I know it's shocking and this probably isn't what you wanted for me but this is what I want."
"Scout," he says and I can see the sadness on his face. "I have always wanted you to be happy above everything. If wrestling doesn't make you happy anymore I understand. This is your life and your choice I just hope leaving the business makes you happy."
"It does, Dad. I just don't have the fire of passion burning in me anymore. I was rough at training. I just don't have the same passion for it anymore. I am happy, Dad. I'm going to be happy outside the ring especially when Joe and I start our family."
"You're going to teach?" he asks.
"I'm going to stay home for a bit," I answer. "I just want a break you know?"
"I know. If this is what you really want to do then go for it. I wish you wouldn't leave yet but I understand this is a choice that you made. What did Joe say?"
"He supports me and my decision. I think he was just as shocked as you were but he supports me."
"I support you too, Scout. I always have. I have always wanted to see you happy and I hope this makes you happy."
"It does, Dad but I will be in Orlando for your last match with WWE. Are you sure you want to walk away from 26 years of wrestling?"
"I'm not a spring chicken anymore and I need hip surgery. It's time, Scout."
"I understand. Is it true you're going to wrestle Joe?"
"That's what they want but we will see. You know how it goes," he laughs.
"Yeah anything could happen, plans change all the time. I think it would be cool to see you two face off against each other and watch you pass the torch to him."
"He deserves it," he says, "he works hard even if the fans don't appreciate it that man works hard for that business and he's dedicated."
"I know," I say. "I'm proud of him. He's a great guy."
"He really is," he says. "I'm glad he makes you happy and that you are happy with him. I couldn't have picked anyone better for you. You're going to be happy with him the rest of your life."
"I know," I say with a smile. "He already makes me the happiest woman alive. I am so proud of him just like I am proud of you. I love you, Dad."
"I love you too, Scout," he says. "I'm going to let you go. I'll facetime you again later."
"Okay, Dad, bye."
"Bye, Scout," he says before I end the call.
I lay the I-pad down on the bedside table and make my way downstairs. I walk into our living room and Joe is watching football coverage. I take a seat next to him and cuddle up next to him. "How did it go?" he asks.
"It went well. I think he was a little sad and surprised but he understands. I'm glad that he does. This hasn't been an easy decision but it's what I want to do."
"I know," he says. "You have worked so hard to get here but I understand your decision."
"Our little babies need me more than the WWE universe," I say with a smile as he places his hand on my growing stomach. "I want to be with them every minute of every day and don't want to miss a thing."
"I know," he says with a smile. "And right now you're doing the best thing you could do, growing two beautiful lives inside of you," he says with a smile. "I love you."
"I love you too," I say and my heart melts as he leans down to my stomach.
He kisses my stomach softly and says to the babies, "and I love you both so much. I can't wait to meet you. I'm going to be the best dad to you that I can ever be. You're going to be so loved and so cherished. You're our little blessings. I can't wait to meet you," he says before kissing my stomach again. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen and my stomach filled up with butterflies.
*A/N: How do you think their conversation with Vanessa went? Did it go better than you expected? Did you expect her to agree to allowing her to move to Texas? Was she being sincere do you think she will try to talk Alani out of moving to Houston? What did you think of Willow telling her dad she's leaving the business? Do you think it hurt him a little bit? Do you think he is a little disappointed? Do you think she's making the right decision by giving up her WWE career? What did you think of Joe talking to the babies? Please review and thank-you for reading.