Chapter Twenty-Seven: Piper
A.N: For the 'John Morrison got April pregnant' thing, go read Falling in Love: Seasons by Skillet's Lady Goddess
November 9th-2009, San Diego, California- RAW- Demon Crew Locker Room
Xander growled deeply as he swung punch after punch at a boxing bag. Jodi sat a few feet away from him with her doll. She looked up at her father and wished he didn't have such a short temper. He was going to kill John Morrison for impregnating his wife and then bragging about it, Jodi could see that.
The door leading into the hallway opened and April walked in, flanked by her brother. A slight purple bruise sat under her eye and her bottom lip was swollen from the 'accidental' thrashing she had received from her husband.
Xander swung one more jab at the bag before slipping his boxing gloves off of his hands and dropping them on the seat beside Jodi. He ran his fingers through his dark hair and put his arm around the bag, leaning against it. He normally wasn't like this; his temper had been spiked and now he was an emotional wreck, lashing out at anyone and everyone close to him... and this time it was April.
"Come for another round?" he asked cockily as April stopped in front of him. Gunner balled his hands into fists and went to knock out Xander with a single punch. April held him back. He stared at her for a moment as if to contemplate what she was doing; this man had beaten her, left bloody bruises all over his body, and all she could do was smile?
April shook her head at Xander and handed him a folded piece of paper.
"You should find this interesting," she said softly, turning on her heel with Gunner being dragged behind her.
As she left, Xander flipped open the piece of paper and read it; it was a paternity test with April's name at the top. As he scanned the page, his eyes widened; he had been misled into believing that April was pregnant with John's child when in fact it was entirely backwards- she was pregnant with his kid. Xander was going to be a father again.
Jodi, having seen her father's expression rapidly change, stole the piece of paper from him and tried to read it. Not understanding it, she asked her father what it meant.
"Can't talk," he said, running from the room, "gotta talk to April."
~X~
April was walking down the hallway when Xander caught up with her. Her brother had disappeared from her side and he was thankful for that; he really didn't want to deal with Gunner's beyond violent mood swings at the moment.
"April," he said, out of breath. He took her hand and spun her around. She looked at him, her eyes brimming with tears. He cupped her cheek and rubbed his thumb over her bruises, the bruises he had caused. He mentally kicked himself as the tears slipped down her cheeks. "I am so sorry. I am such a gullible idiot. You are my world and I never meant..." he stopped himself before he made himself cry. He was so angry at himself for everything he'd done.
She smiled. "Why did you think John was the one who got me pregnant?"
"He was bragging about it and I thought he was serious and…" Xander stopped himself before he could verbally bash Morrison again.
April's smile softened as she stroked his cheek.
"I slept with John, but it was a long time ago. Before you and I ever got together. When he was still known as Johnny Nitro."
"I know." Xander kissed her forehead, all open wounds sealed and fixed. Then he remembered something. "I still have a pay-back match against him tonight."
April rolled her eyes. "Rayne flinging out favours again?"
Xander nodded, a smirk on his face. April grinned in return.
"I'll be by your side anyway."
~X~
Xander smirked down at the Shaman of Sexy as Morrison writhed in pain. Chaos Theory, his most potent attack, was definitely his most powerful offensive manoeuvre. It had only taken one to knock the 'Honcho of Hotness' off of his high horse and onto his ass. As he climbed the top rope to finish Morrison off with a senton bomb, he felt a stab of agony in his heart.
He never heard his wife's cry from ringside, but he did feel her pain. He looked down at his wife and saw April doubled over in pain on the mats, Jodi rubbing her back soothingly.
It wasn't even a question for him as he jumped from the top turn buckle and landed with a soft thud beside her; he'd pick April over bashing the crap out of someone any day.
"Baby?" he asked, not listening to the referee's ten count. The bell rang as April screamed, her legs twisting beneath her. This answered his question and he scooped his wife into his arms, starting to jog up the ramp with Jodi trailing behind him.
~X~
Xander sat in a chair in the waiting room of the hospital, his hand clamped to his jaw in thought. What if something happened to April in the operating room and he never saw her again? What if they lost the baby? These thoughts plagued his brain as he waited for a doctor to give him some news, whether it be good of bad he didn't care, and shed a little light on the situation.
~X~
Jodi was asleep on his knee at about 4:30 the next morning when he saw Doctor Carmichael, April's doctor, heading his way. She stood up and caught the tall woman by the arm, stopping her from checking on April.
"Is she alright?"
Carmichael smiled softly, her lips crinkling at the edges. The African-American woman put a hand on Xander's shoulder and Xander felt his heart sink.
"Your wife is fine. Your baby daughter is fine as well but we suspect some slight brain damage. We won't know for sure until the test results come back but you can go in and see them."
As she left to check on the midnight-haired Diva, Xander looked down at the sleeping form of Jodi.
Sometimes he wished he could be a child again. Skinned knees were so much easier to fix then a human soul. He wanted to be in Jodi's shoes right now so he wasn't stressed and panic-filled. As she slept, she seemed at peace and that's what Xander craved.
He smiled, ruffling his daughter's soft, red hair before pushing open the door to April's room. He found her sitting up in bed with a tiny, pink bundle in her arms. Xander's heart melted when he saw his daughter's tiny arm reach up and touch April on the face. He blinked back his tears as he stepped over to the bed, careful not to startle the baby. He sat down beside April on the bed and looked down at his daughter. She had chubby, pink features with dark blue eyes that would eventually turn green. She had a thin ruffle of black hair on her head, much like her mother.
"April," Xander murmured, taking his wife's hand.
"She's beautiful," she whispered back.
"Just like her mom." Xander rubbed his daughter's hair and smiled.
The baby looked up at her parents and smiled, her eyes wide with amazement. April and Xander both grinned down at her.
~X~
"She's way too cute to be our offspring," Xander cooed as he and April looked at the tiny form of Piper Rose Levesque as she slept peacefully in the nursery. April, from in side her husband's arms, smiled and tilted her head back, resting her head against his chest.
"She almost wasn't," she whispered, a tear slipping from her emerald eyes.
April and Xander had been informed only moments before that Piper shouldn't have survived her birth because the scarred tissue lining April's abdomen had been pressing up against her ribcage, crushing her heart. Once she was cut from her mother, Piper seemed fine. Further tests proved that, physically, she was. Doctor Carmichael had pointed out that Piper might take a little longer to learn things, but that was it. That in itself was a relief.
"Don't think like that, Angel," Xander said, turning her in his arms. She looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. He wiped them away, kissing her forehead. "You and Piper survived and that's all that matters." He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her, letting her tears fall onto him with her fears.
