Jeff let himself into their room, his steps faltering when he saw Keri sitting in the middle of the huge bed with a laptop on front of her. There were books, paperwork and a few shopping bags all around her, like she'd been working on something the whole time since she'd left the arena.

He'd thought she'd be asleep by now. Or still with Orton. It was after midnight; he'd spent an hour nursing a beer downstairs so he could avoid this situation until he'd memorised everything he had to say.

"Hi," he said.

Keri looked up briefly, then back at whatever she was doing.

"Hi," she muttered.

He cleared his throat and walked over to the lumpy couch. He'd sleep on that crappy thing tonight, no matter what Keri said.

"I thought you were tired?"

"Too much to do," Keri said answered without looking up.

He dropped his bags next to the couch and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Anything I can do?"

"Thanks, but I've got this."

She'd emptied her purse next to her, and her credit cards were lined up by the laptop.

"Shopping?"

"Yes. I've ordered all the things I'll need for the twins. At least all the things I think I'll need. I found these sites some weeks ago with helpful tips and information, and extensive lists for new mothers. It says I may not need everything but I want to be prepared."

He didn't miss the fact that her statement had a lot of 'I', not 'we'.

"I thought we were going to do that together."

Keri closed the laptop and pushed it away.

"I know, but I just didn't want to waste any more time. You were right earlier. I've been... neglecting the babies_"

"I never said that_"

"It doesn't matter how you put it; it boils down to the same thing. Lately my head's been so wrapped up around...other things that I haven't given the important things any thought," Keri said.

She stood up and stretched.

"I ordered all that stuff; it should be delivered to your Dad's house by the end of the week. I confirmed the furnishings you ordered for the house, though I doubled up on some of the nursery things. The interior designers are good to go. And then I looked at some colleges."

He didn't miss the message at all. She really was determined to do this without him.

"Did you...um... Did you order the stuff for my bedroom?"

It was the only way he could ask without really asking.

"I left the master bedroom as it was. I added a thing or two for my room, but I paid for it myself."

So he was still welcome to stay, then. He relaxed a little, but frowned at her words.

"The master bedroom is yours."

"It wouldn't feel right." She shrugged as she started clearing the bed.

It felt like she had finally set some boundaries, the same ones he'd tried to enforce before. He should have been relieved. It would make the talk a lot easier. But still...

"I wasn't implying that you'd be a bad mother." He walked to stand close to her, hands still in his pockets.

"I should have thought about the babies. You were right."

"That doesn't mean you'll be a bad mother."

"It does. But from now on everything I do will be for our kids. I'll try not to fuck up any more," she said as she straightened and met his eyes. "You don't have to worry. About anything."

He didn't miss that message, either.

He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I'm not going to hold you back from accomplishing any of your goals, but I need you to understand that you're not alone in this. The kids will always have a father, and you... you'll always have me. Okay?"

She nodded.

"We need to talk," he said, indicating for her to sit down next to him.

"Oh, oh. If we were going out I'd be freaking out right about now," Keri said with a small smile.

But she sat and looked at him expectantly. And everything he'd thought to say flew right out of his head.

"Um... Last night... and today at the arena... That can't happen again."

"I know. I said you don't have to worry about that."

"Yeah, but I need to explain something. It's not that I don't want to," he admitted. "I do. A lot. And you know that. It's just that... "

He should have taken a little more time to think about this. Especially considering every word he said was being recorded.

"You mean a lot to me, not just because of the kids, and I... I guess what I'm trying to say is..."

I want you to marry me, to make a life with me even though I did you so wrong, because I'm hopelessly in love with you.

"Um... I want us to be friends forever. But this... You're going to resent me somewhere down the road. You know Vince is making it look like we're this great love story, and maybe... certain people are buying that. Certain potential lovers. You could be missing out on finding the man you want to spend the rest of your life with if we continue to act on our...needs."

Keri gave him a tight smile and looked away.

"I understand where you're coming from but I'm going to have my hands full with the twins. Finding a husband is not on my list of priorities at all."

He shouldn't have been relieved. He pushed that intense satisfaction to the side and tried to remember the speech he had been working on. She needed to find a husband and forget all about him. She needed to find happiness. Then maybe he'd feel a little less guilty.

"You don't have to look. I'm just saying keep the option open. Someone's going to come along who won't make you cry all the time. Who won't hurt _"

Keri stood up and cut him off.

"Okay. I'm really tired now so I'm going to get ready for bed."

He watched her walk to the bathroom door. Nothing had come out the way he'd wanted. What he'd been thinking of had involved something about concentrating on building their friendship so the kids would have a healthier upbringing.

Instead he'd just stuttered a lot of bullshit.

Keri didn't take long in the bathroom but she hadn't dressed for bed. He frowned when he noticed the set of her jaw. She was upset.

"You can have the bed. I'm crashing in Randy's room," she explained as she pulled out a bag from the closet and started stuffing clothes into it.

What?

"Isn't it a bit too late_"

"He's waiting for me," she cut in. "I'll see you in the morning before we check out. Goodnight."

And with that shot to his heart she was gone.

He sat in silence for a long time, hoping she would come back. But when his back started hurting from being in the same position for too long he knew she wouldn't.

He swallowed a lump. Then he crawled up the bed to bury his face in the pillow she'd slept on last night, breathing in the sweet scent of her shampoo. It was all he could allow himself now.

His arm brushed against one of the shopping bags she'd left in the bed, knocking it over. Its contents fell out, right by his face.

He took a sharp breath and turned away from it.

A bag of sex toys.

Toys that had probably been bought with him in mind.

Toys he would never have the pleasure of using on her.

Keri looked at her phone for the millionth time and wiped her face. She'd been sitting on the stairs for a while, hoping to stop crying before she went to Randy's room. He'd seen her tears enough for one day.

How had she got herself in such a mess?

She should never have taken Randy's advice, no matter how satisfying it had been. All she'd done was make herself look like an irresponsible woman with nothing but sex on her mind. And she'd shown everyone she was nowhere near ready for the lifelong responsibility of raising children.

Sniffing again, she found a number in her phonebook and pressed the call button. It was picked up after two rings.

"I can't do this," she said. "Jeff had to tell me just how much I'd fucked up - again - when I should have thought for myself."

She wiped her silent tears.

"Maybe I'm missing some essential maternal gene," she continued. "Maybe I'm doomed to be like my mother."

Maybe she just really wasn't good enough. As a mother and to be somebody's wife.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," she mumbled. "Tell you wife I won't do it again."

"She's actually your biggest supporter," Mark said gruffly. "Says it's a shame I had to come home because she likes that I have a BFFwho calls me at the stupidest times."

That last bit was said in the irritation she had come to expect from him. It brought a little smile to her lips.

"Aw. If you were here I'd be giving you a great big hug right about now."

"I know," he growled.

That brought a big smile.

"You say the sweetest things," she said. "I'll let you get back to sleep now. I'll call you again real soon, though."

She heard low muttering. That managed to actually make her chuckle.

"Bye, Marky."

"Wait," Mark said with a sigh. "The prospect of parenthood scares anyone. It's probably scaring Jeff, too. It doesn't mean you won't do your best when the lil' ones come."

She sighed.

"I hope you're right."

"I'm always right. Now go to sleep."

The line went dead.

She put her phone back in her pocket and wiped the last of her tears.

Then she stood up and opened the doors to Randy's floor. She had a lot to think about, and she couldn't do that near Jeff. Not when he'd just broken her heart again.

Jeff was exhausted. After travelling on the noisy bus all morning he'd had to go straight for a media appearance and then to the arena.

All without a wink of sleep.

"Dude, you look like shit," Shane said when he walked into Catering.

"And I'm starving," he said with a mouthful of food, moving his chair over so Shane could sit with him at the small table.

He'd chosen a seat that had the best view of the hallway so he could watch out for Keri. She'd called him in the morning to tell him to catch the bus without her because she'd hitched a ride with Randy so he hadn't seen her all day. And he was desperate to see her.

He felt like a part of him was missing.

"Where's Keri?"

"She was with Matt a minute ago," Shane answered. "I think she was trying to convince him to teach her how to cook."

He stopped chewing.

"I'm supposed to do that." He frowned and put his fork down. "She's pushing me away."

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Shane asked as he bit into an apple.

Shane had his mind-fuck-talk face on him again.

"No," he admitted. But it was what Keri needed.

"Make up your mind, Jeff. Otherwise she really willmove on."

He met Shane's gaze. Again, his heart squeezed at the thought of giving her up without a fight.

"Jeff, could we have a moment?"

He looked up to see Matt Striker with a microphone, and the camera crew right behind him.

Then he swore under his breath. Vince had really crappy timing. Couldn't they do the interview when his head wasn't so messed up?

Shane chuckled and stood up. "Catch you later."

With a tired breath he watched Matt sit in the vacated chair.

"Could we make this quick?"

"Sure," Striker smiled. "We just need a bit of background and your take on what's going on."

If only it were that simple. Vince would want drama, and he was positive Matt had been asked to deliver it.

"Your relationship with Keri is quite intense. Some are billing you as the Brangelina of the WWE."

"They shouldn't. Keri's going to do a whole lot better than me."

"Why do you feel she needs to find someone else?"

He pursed his lips. Damned if he was going to answer that!

"Okay. We'll get back to that one another time_"

"How many of these interviews are you going to do?"

"As many as it takes," Striker grinned. "So moving on, how old were you two when you first met?"

"She was nine, almost ten. I was sixteen."

"Did you become friends?"

"For a little while. It all went downhill so fast."

"Why?"

"She did everything she could to mess with me. Broke my guitars, blamed me for shit I didn't do to get me into trouble, sold my irreplaceable stuff for shit money... Name it, she probably did it."

"And you've been fighting ever since?"

"Pretty much."

"So what changed? One minute you hate her, the next she's having your baby."

He fell on love.

"Um..."

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Do you still hate her?"

"Of course not. And I realise it was wrong of me to feel that way before. She's an awesome woman and I... I'll forever be grateful that she's having my babies."

"When did you first realise that she's...um...awesome?"

"Too late," he said with a sigh.

"Care to elaborate?"

He shook his head. It occurred to him that Vince wanted that information badly. He couldn't hide how he felt about Keri, that man had to be dying to know why he didn't just chase after her like a normal red-blooded man would have done in his shoes.

"Okay. Maybe you want to talk about when you realised you were attracted to her? I watched some of the footage, and on the day she told you she was still pregnant you revealed to your brother and friends you'd had certain feelings for her for years."

He'd revealed those 'certain feelings' were love. And Keri was going to see that, for sure.

"This show was such a bad idea," he muttered.

"How many years, exactly?"

"It doesn't matter." He scowled.

"Okay. We'll go over that another time," Matt grinned. "So. Twins, huh?"

Now that he could talk about. That was a safe subject.

"Yeah."

"Do you want boys or girls?"

"Definitely girls. They'll be as beautiful as their mother." He frowned. "Then I'd have to buy a gun... All those horny little shits knocking on our door... No. I want boys. Definitely boys."

"Well, boys will certainly help you keep anybody knocking on the door for their mother."

"Yes. I mean, no. That's not what I want. Are we done here?"

Striker had a smug grin on his face.

He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, not breaking eye contact with Striker. He had to set the record straight for everyone.

"Keri is a damn fine woman. She's perfect. But I'm not. I fucked up her life so bad. So you and anybody else thinking we'll get together in the end - don't. It'll never happen. She'll find someone better."

"She's a beautiful woman. I have no doubt that she will."

He frowned.

"Especially considering how close she and Randy have become."

He scowled.

"I... I need to lie down," he muttered.

"You okay? You look a little sick."

"Shut up, Striker," he snapped as he stood up. "I'm tired, that's all."

He'd only taken a few steps when he heard Keri's laughter down the hallway, and like a starved man, he searched through the crowd for her. She'd dressed in jeans and a maternity top that nicely showed the growing bump, and sensible flat shoes. And walking next to her towards him was the Viper himself.

He wanted to walk away before she saw him, but that would only give Striker something to play with.

They slowed down when they saw him and he forced a smile on his lips. He didn't miss the fact that Keri's answering smile seemed a little forced, too. But even with the tension surrounding them, it felt incredibly good to see her.

"Hi," he said. "Are you alright?"

He completely ignored Orton. Until he knew how to deal with him, that had to be the way.

"I'm good," Keri answered.

"I missed you today."

Dammit. That shouldn't have come out at all. He cleared his throat and didn't dare look back at Striker.

"Um... I have to go. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," Keri smiled.

Then without thinking he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. When he straightened, Keri seemed as shocked as he felt. But it didn't mean anything. Civilised people did that all the time, and anyone who'd interpret that innocent gesture any differently had to get their mind out of the gutter.

"Bye," he said, and then he walked in the direction they had come from just so he'd avoid having to walk with Keri and Randy.

"What - am I fucking invisible?" Randy chuckled.

"He didn't mean anything by it. He was clearly very tired," Keri said. Her eyes were on Jeff as he walked down the hallway.

"No. He blatantly ignored me. But that's okay. You can defend your man."

She punched him in the arm.

"Ouch. Aggression is not good for our babies."

She rolled her eyes and turned away from Jeff's retreating back.

"Keri, may I have a moment?"

A man she'd seen a few times backstage stood in front of her with a camera crew. Did she have a promo she had forgotten about?

"What's going on?"

"We're doing some interviews to wrap up the show."

This shit was finally going to be over? Thank fuck!

"Bring it on. Where do you want me?"

The sooner those idiots stopped following her the better. Even if it meant Jeff would finally see her stupidity in all its entirety.

"I'll see you in the locker room," Randy said, leaning over to kiss her cheek the way Jeff had done.

"Actually, Randy, I'd like a few words with you, too."

What?

"You want me to sit in on the interview? Cool. 'Cause I have questions of my own."

"What?"

"Excellent idea, Randy."

"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard!"

Randy knew everything! Who knew what he would say given the chance.

"Sit your little ass down, Keri. You heard the man," Randy grinned as he led her to a table the interviewer indicated and helped her into a seat.

"I want to speak to Vince. I've never seen this guy before in my life; this has to be a mistake."

"Matt Striker. Sometime wrestler and backstage interviewer. Nice to finally meet you," the man smiled.

"Okay, we've got that out of the way. Now on to my questions. Remember the night we all went out and you threw yourself at me in the elevator?"

"I did notthrow myself at you!"

"Totally threw yourself at me. Can you explain to everyone why you couldn't go through with any of that."

"I'd like to be interviewed by the other guy."

"This is new information. I'd like to know that, too. Was this the night Jeff found out about your past...uh...occupation?"

"I'm not going to talk about that."

"But I will. It had been a good night despite all her efforts to tempt me. Then we were talking about her awesome job and that jealous bastard rocked up from nowhere, like he'd been stalking us all night and getting pissed off with me for doing shots on her body."

She frowned and studied the Viper's face. She didn't buy the innocence.

"Er... It's just a guess. 'Cause I'd have told you if Jeff had followed us and cock-blocked me all night."

She frowned again. That had been around the time Jeff had started pursuing her. Had he really been out with them that night?

"Anyway, so dude came out of nowhere like he'd known what Keri wanted from me. He was angry and jealous, like somebody else touching Keri was the worst thing that's ever happened to him. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure guys don't act that way unless they're really into the girl. Care to explain that one?"

"No."

"That was also the time you found out you're pregnant and Jeff went out of his way to soften that blow and make things a little easier for you, even though he was upset. Correct?"

"Are you asking or you just want to get all my private stuff out there?"

"People need to know," Randy grinned.

"I really hope somebody does a show about you. I'll be all up in that shit like you wouldn't believe."

"I'm the image of propriety. Nobody's got shit on me," Randy said with a dismissive wave. "Anyway, there was the time you lied to the poor guy that you'd got rid of his child, against my advice. Did you really think he'd take the kid from you?"

"Things have changed since then."

"Yeah, drastically. You two obviously lost all your brain cells between then and now. Something so obvious but you can't see it."

"I see things just fine."

"And you choose to ignore them?"

"I'm not ignoring anything! You don't have all the facts, so just drop it."

"I have all the facts I need. All your excuses are just bullshit. I thought after the other day you two would have figured this out but that isn't going to happen if you don't step up. Tell him how you feel and put the guy out of his misery."

"Is this an interview or an interrogation?" She snapped. "I'd like Matt here to finish this up. I have things to do."

"Are you planning more ambushes?" Striker grinned.

Really?

"That's the question you want to ask? That's the sort of cutthroat shit they pay you to do?"

"I was only going to ask about your background, but since Randy brought this up, I'm just going to go with it. And the WWE Universe wants to know," Striker shrugged.

"People already know about that?"

Shit. It seemed she had to go online and see exactly what was being said. And if they thought she was a whore she had to correct them.

"Listen; don't go around making it seem as if I'm this dirty slut who can't keep her panties on. I don't sleep around, despite what you may have heard or seen. For the record, Jeff was my first and my only."

"I think everybody already knows that. Cena's Twitter feed is a boatload of information. Everyone's curious about the pregnant virgin," Striker said.

Randy burst out laughing and she punched his arm again.

"Not funny! That dude needs to learn about boundaries," she snapped. "It's bad enough I can't do or say anything private anymore without him spilling all my other secrets."

"He's only saying what you've already spilt yourself," Randy chuckled, putting his arm over her shoulders and pulling her back against him.

"There are some things that should never be repeated," she grumbled.

"You saved yourself. That's a very good thing, nothing to be ashamed of at all," Randy said softly.

"I'm not ashamed. I was actually very proud of myself but now all this...

"Do you regret any of it?" Randy asked.

She looked up at him and sighed. "No. None of it."

Rand smiled and pulled her closer.

"You two look good together."

She looked at the interviewer she had forgotten about and grimaced. What would Jeff think of that statement?

"Yeah. But it doesn't mean anything. I make anybody look good," Randy said.

And he looked so serious saying that that she had to laugh.

"Okay. And that will take us to my last question for today," Striker said. "About your complicated living arrangements_"

"Nothing complicated about them."

"Well, what will happen when you get a boyfriend or Jeff brings girlfriends home?"

Then she'd die.

She cleared her throat and frowned at the camera that was focused on her face. She wasn't going to stumble on this.

"I'm not some naive little girl. I know life doesn't have fairytale endings. Jeff will be around for however long he wants to be around, and we're both fine with that. I'm not going to force him to put his life on hold just because we're having kids."

"You'd really be fine with that?" Randy asked.

"Of course."

"And if he decides to get married?" Randy asked again.

She felt a little bit sick. She licked her lips and met the Apex Predator's gaze. He knew how she felt. Why was he doing this?

"I'm having kids with a guy who barely tolerates me, but that's okay. We're grownups. We're learning to deal with that. When he finds someone he wants to marry, we'll deal with that too."

All the light-hearted teasing had disappeared from his face. He looked serious, which was something she hadn't seen from him often.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Well, I'm glad you two have it all figured out, then. I wish you the very best."

Yet she got the feeling he was thoroughly pissed off with her.

She frowned and looked at the interviewer.

"We're done here," she snapped and then stood up.

Fucking reality show. It was the stupidest thing she had ever done.

AN/ Somebody's going to reach breaking point real soon.

Thank you for your reviews of the last few chapters msgemgem, Agnesita1385, Bingobaby, see-me-clarely, Blackhat, ILoveAnime89, RKOCMJHGIRL, Randy4rkocenahardy, LiesForTheLiars, NAY, Kamaria Jay, Pickle Paige, ILoveAnime89, sailormama, xSamiliciousx, Randy4rkocenahardy, Blackhat, LegacyChick, FOREVERECHELON and all the guests. I'm sorry if I left any names out. I've got a terrible cold and I need to go sleep.

Thank you all for reading and following.

Much love.