Chapter 36
"How's your arm?" Teddie noticed Finlay flexing it. Their plane had been delayed and she and several of the other superstars were trying to lie low while awaiting the next available flight.
When he didn't answer, Teddie realized the fighting Irishman hadn't heard her. Shifting Gracia to her other arm, she approached from behind, reaching around to wave a hand in front of his face.
"Finlay!"
He frowned, catching her hand and pulling her around.
"Come in front where I can see you."
"Well geez why would you want to see me?" Teddie teased. "Nothing here."
"Just, come around."
"Okay." Teddie obliged.
"You know, you haven't really let me hold her yet," Finlay said, motioning toward Gracia.
Teddie smiled broadly. "You never asked."
"Do I have to ask to hold your child?" Finlay rolled his eyes. "Come on. Let me have her."
Teddie passed Gracia to Finlay. The little girl, who had been falling asleep in Teddie's arms, blinked at Finlay before closing her eyes again.
"Now that's something, "Teddie said softly, taking a seat beside Finlay. "She's usually not that comfortable around men. Looks like you're one of the select few."
Finlay touched Gracia's rosy cheeks gently. "She's beautiful," he observed. "Looks a lot like you."
"So I'm told," Teddie nodded.
"You must be proud of her."
"I am, actually." Teddie nodded. "Would you guess that when she was born though, people accused me of cheating on Aidan because he is Hispanic and she is so white?"
Finlay shook his head. "She is darker than you though," he pointed out. "Even with the blonde hair."
"And blue eyes, though you can't really see them now," Teddie smiled affectionately at the sleeping baby.
"Can we get one thing straight here?" Finlay said, surprising Teddie.
"Sure."
"You keep calling me Finlay."
"Yeah...so?"
"Finlay is my father's name. My name is Dave."
"Oh. Okay..." Teddie flushed. "Sorry."
"No problem. Just call me Dave and it'll all be straight."
"Okay...Dave."
He flashed her an amused smile. "So...when was this little angel born?"
"November," Teddie mused. "I was actually in school at the time and had to miss a week of classes."
Finlay raised his eyebrows. "One week?"
"One week."
"You're supposed to take six weeks after a c-section, crazy woman."
"I know. But I couldn't afford to fail. So I passed instead," Teddie chuckled. "Shortly after that was when Aidan and I started having serious problems. And then," she paused. "He became convinced I must've cheated on him somehow because, like I mentioned, Gracia is so white."
"And did you?"
"What?"
"Cheat on him?"
"No," Teddie locked eyes with Finlay. "No, I did not."
"And did you tell him that?"
"Yes," Teddie nodded. "Yes, but even after that we were still having problems, so I went back to live with my parents."
"What problems?"
Teddie frowned. "What problems?"
"What problems?" Finlay repeated, stressing the two words.
Teddie shook her head. "I don't know if I can talk about that," She said slowly.
"Let me see. I don't think I can discuss my private life with you either, Teddie. It's just too...I don't know ... personal."
"Okay, okay, okay." Teddie lowered her voice. "He came from an abusive family, okay? He grew up watching his father hit his mother, and so Aidan learned to also be aggressive when he was angry. He wouldn't ever hit me, though. Nothing like that. He was just sexually overbearing and controlling. Gracia was born because he refused to use birth control, okay? We did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, however he wanted. There was no negotiation, no reading between the lines. When he got bored of the same old thing, he had to come up with something new. He didn't care if it hurt me, the only thing he cared about was whether his needs were being met. And if they weren't—he would get physically aggressive. Ok? That's my sad story. Take it or leave it—I don't care. It's not something I care to remember, and I don't like to spend my time feeling sorry for myself, and neither should you or anyone else."
There was a long pause.
"Thank you for telling me that," Finlay finally broke the silence. "For the record, like I said, I already knew the whole story. I just wanted to see if you would tell me yourself."
"Well, I did."
Finlay cocked his head. "I could tell, you know?"
"How?"
"I've seen you take plenty of knocks in the ring and you never back down. It's when someone tries to get close to you, act loving - that's when you begin to flinch.
"Ouch. I didn't know it was that obvious," Teddie frowned.
"Not really, but you know. I've seen it before."
"You have?"
"I'm old—I've been around," Finlay joked.
"Oh," Teddie smiled. "Well, I don't think you're old. Well, older but not old old."
"Thank you. I appreciate that."
"I thought you would," Teddie chuckled.
There was a moment of silence between the two of them as they watched Gracia peacefully sleeping in Finlay's arms.
"You know," Teddie finally spoke softly. "I know there's no point in saying this, but I wish things were different."
"So do I," Finlay locked eyes with her. "Teddie, I don't have anything under control yet. But I want you to know I'm working on it."
She smiled sadly. "You can work on it forever, Dave. But the fact is, your family needs you. And you need them. I understand."
Finlay nodded slowly. He sighed. "You're right."
Teddie was standing at the gorilla position, ready to make an appearance on Monday Night RAW. Regal had informed her that since she would not be making her return for another month, that she should at least let the fans know what that she was still alive and would be back. Although in light of Regal's sudden directions she hadn't had time to prepare a speech, Teddie had a pretty good idea of what she was going to say.
Come on boy
I've been waiting for somebody
To pick up my stroll
Well don't waste time
Give me a sign
Tell me how you wanna roll
I want somebody to speed it up for me
Then take it down slow
There's enough room for both
Well, I can handle that
You just gotta show me where it's at
Are you ready to go
(Are you ready to go)
If you want it
You already got it
If you thought it
It better be what you want
If you feel it
It must be real just
Say the word and imma give you what you want
Timberlake and Madonna's "4 Minutes" boomed over the arena like thunder. Teddie made her appearance, walking carefully. Although she felt as though she were almost fully recovered at this point, she knew it wouldn't make a good impression if she were too bouncy after sustaining an injury that was going to keep her out of the ring for at least a month or longer.
Teddie smiled at Lilian Garcia as she accepted the microphone from her.
"Hey ya'll!" Teddie was a little nervous but tried not to show it. "How's it rolling tonight?!"
There was a cheer from the crowd, although many of them still did not seem to know who she was.
"Well, I don't know if you guys saw my match last week against Beth Phoenix, but...yeah. She kicked the daylights out of me. So give it up for Beth!"
Teddie clapped a moment before resuming her speech.
"Now, all the WWE divas are soon going to find out that it's hard to keep this girl down! However, I've been ordered out of the ring for a full month and unfortunately if I disregard this notice I won't be medically cleared to wrestle for a good bit longer! So I've decided that prudence may be the better part of valor and, unfortunately, you guys won't be seeing me in the ring for a couple of weeks. But as I stick out like a sore thumb – I will definitely be around!"
She waited until the scattered smattering of applause died down.
"Thank you all!"
Teddie lowered the microphone and turned to make her exit.
Suddenly, the familiar throb of a long missed tune filled the packed stadium.
Don't you see the writing on the wall(Don't you see the writing on the wall)
You're in way over your head
You're gonna drown in the things that you said
"Oh my...!" Teddie squealed with surprise and delight as Jeff Hardy burst into view. The crow screamed and leapt to their feet at the unexpected return of the high flyer. The arena echoed with the rockstar-like ovation.
Teddie waited with an enormous smile on her face as the rainbow haired warrior made his way down the entrance ramp, greeting the fans along the way. He entered the ring and crossing it, leapt onto the ropes. He rounded all four corners of the ring, saluting the crowd each time, making them cheer all the louder.
When he'd finished, he came to the center of the ring and without hesitation, opened his arms to Teddie, engulfing her in a warm hug. As he pulled back he spoke in her ear.
"Surprised?"
Teddie laughed and nodded. "Beyond words."
Okay guys! Here's another chapter for you, since I've been "slow" on updating recently and I know everyone has been looking forward to Jeff's return!
Let me know what you think! I LOVE all your reviews—you guys rock!!
And now the Shout Outs for those very quick reviewers I love so much! :D
x.Hardy.at.Heart.x: Aww – well thanks for reviewing this chapter! I'm glad you didn't think it was boring...because I was bored while writing it! ;) No boredom during this chapter though – this one was FUN!
Inday: Well, Dave better hope it's not too late already – Jeff Hardy has returned!!