Chapter 37

Melanie lay with her head against Roman's chest while he ran his hand through her hair. She hadn't spoken to Joelle in a few days and given what Roman said she had witnessed between him and Evelyn, Melanie just wanted to know if she was okay. She lifted her head from his chest to look up at him, feeling her sudden change in position he lowered his head to meet her gaze.

"How is Jo doing?"

Roman pursed his lips together, before giving a small sigh "She isn't doing great but she is doing better than she was on Saturday. After it happened I couldn't be out of her sight for longer than a few minutes and she refused to communicate with anyone except for me, and even that communication was limited to one word answers or phrases, but by the time I left to catch my flight she was at least comfortable enough around my parents and Vanessa to be in the same room with them without needing me to be right there with her."

He ran a hand over his face "I am hoping that by being with me and the family this week that we will be able to help get her back to her normal self."

Melanie gave him a puzzled looked

"I guess this is as good of a time to tell you as any" he started as he shifted nervously. "Jo is on break from school this week and since my parents and the rest of my siblings are all coming to Raw I told them they can just leave her with me for the week….So long story short you get to meet my parents…..today" he added as he waited for her reaction.

She blinked at him a few times as the gravity of what he said slowly sunk in and her eyes grew three times the regular size.

"Holy shit"

Roman chuckled "Don't panic Lalelei, they are going to love you"

She looked at him with a look of sheer panic "You don't know that" she said as she stood to her feet. Roman tried to pull her back into his lap but the minute his hands touched her waist she frantically swatted at his arms until he finally released her.

"Yes I do, my siblings have all met you and they love you, Jo met you and well you already know how she feels about you, and then there is me, I think everyone can agree that I adore you so what are you worrying about? The deck is completely stacked in your favor lalelei" he said as he stood on the bed on his knees reaching out again to entwine his arms around her waist.

She shrugged out of his hold shook her head and dropped her face in her hands "We are so backwards" she spoke into her palms

Roman chuckled "What do you mean?"

She dropped her hands to her sides and looked at him incredulously "Exactly what I said, but just for shits and giggle I will list the ways, one we just met last week yet we are consistently snuggling, cuddling, or touching in some way shape or form, two your daughter is literally my kindred spirit which is the oddest thing ever…. to be honest I think that reflects poorly on me that my kindred spirit is a 6 year old but that's neither here nor there" she rambled as Roman smirked at her nervous ranting "Three we have yet to go on a first date but I am meeting your parents TODAY…. Oh. My. God." She said slowly "I am meeting your parents today…..We are moving entirely too fast" she said as her eyes darted around the room and she started to breathe erratically.

Roman stepped over the side of the bed, he would be damned if he was about to let a panic attack get in his way of the plans he had with Melanie this week. He quickly wrapped her up and pulled her down so that she was sitting on his lap and coo'd soothingly into her ear.

"Baby listen to me, I need you to try and calm down. I want you to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth." She nodded her head and followed his directions.

"Do you believe in kismet?" he whispered in her ear

She paused for a minute thinking thoughtfully before answering "Yes"

"Good, now what if I told you that I believe that you are my Kismet, and that my heart recognized who you were to me the minute I laid eyes on you." he said as he leaned down and nipped her earlobe.

Melanie involuntarily closed her eyes at the contact. He still had his lips hovering next to her ear, she could feel them twitching up into a smile thoroughly satisfied with the effect his touch was having on her. "Hmmm, you're not playing fair" she said breathily into the air as her head lolled lazily from side to side.

He took his hand and pushed all of her hair away from her neck, softly raking his fingers down her shoulder as he deposited her hair on the opposite side of her neck.

"If your heart recognized me immediately then why didn't you ask me out the day we met" she said as she forced herself to push out of his arms. She eyed him skeptically before turning her back, and kneeling next to her suitcase busying herself by rummaging through her bag to select the outfit she would wear for the day.

"My brain didn't quite get the message as fast as my heart did." He said honestly

"Hmm" she responded evenly

Roman was taken a little off-guard by her lack luster response. He licked his lips nervously and leaned forward, a certain level of uncertainty seeping into his veins "That's all you're going to say?"

Melanie didn't turn around as she shrugged her shoulders non-committedly and raised her hand to scratch her nose. "Yup"

Roman was growing more confused by the second; did he push her to fast to hard? He instantly went into panic mode and replayed the last 2 minutes of their conversation in his head because somewhere along the way he clearly had taken a wrong turn. "You sound neither interested nor happy about it" Roman said slowly.

Melanie stood up with her clothes in her hand, took a few steps towards the bathroom then changed her mind mid-stride stopping to turn and stare at him with an unreadable expression on her face. He felt his chest grow tight in anticipation worried that she had changed her mind about giving them a chance because of something he said or did. He waited for seconds which seemed like hours watching as her lips slowly twitched upwards forming into a mischievous grin. "Serves you right for telling me the day of that I was meeting your parents, you don't just spring that on a girl she needs time to prepare" She lightly fussed as Roman's mouth gaped open "But I bet you won't do that again now will you?" she said before winking at him and sauntering slowly into the bathroom.

"That's just cold Mel" Roman shouted in her direction as he chuckled to himself "Damn near gave me a heart attack" he said as he reclined back onto his bed with his hands behind his head, as his chest rumbled from his laughter.

Melanie emerged from the bathroom to find Roman leaned against the headboard, his legs straight out in front of him crossed at his ankles and his arms propped behind his head with his fingers linked behind his head. She wore a simple pair of medium washed skinny jeans and a grey flowing scoop neck tank top. The off white blazer that she planned to pair with it was neatly lying on the foot of the empty bed. From the corner of her eye she saw him greedily drink in her frame from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. She didn't even look in his direction "Like what you see Anoai?"

"Without question" he replied huskily making it hard for her not to automatically curl her toes at the sound of his voice.

She chuckled at his honesty and began to put her things away. Using her distracted attention to his advantage Roman wasted zero time and quickly wrapped Melanie up and pulled her down into his lap.

"You are incorrigible" she laughed as she wrapped her arm around his neck and traced his hairline lightly with her fingers. Her touch was light as a feather as she grazed over certain areas that were marred in cuts and abrasions. She linked her arm back around Roman's neck softly digging her fingers into his hair at the base of his neck.

"Given everything that happened with you, Jo and her current emotional state do you want to reschedule on Wednesday so you guys can spend more quality time together?"

Roman's heart melted. "I love how your mind works, but no you are not getting rid of me that easily I already have plans for Jo on Wednesday night I have 2 different options for her to choose from both of which will make her very happy. Besides I am hoping that she will be in a much better space by then especially with spending time with me, you Seth, Sasha, Jimmy, Trin and Jey. She will also get to see her Uncle Dean so I am hoping that being around all of the people that she loves will help bring her out of this current state of mind."

Melanie nodded her head "Okay just know I won't be angry or upset if you need to change plans." She said as she stood up and walked over to her bag pulling out what looked to be a small travel size makeup bag.

"Noted, but not happening" Roman said as he settled in quietly watching her cross legged form in front of the full length mirror that was against the wall.

She ran her hands through her hair contemplating what to do with it. It was a bit of a frizzy mess since she fell asleep before she could wash her hair and because she didn't have the time to wash and let it air dry this morning, so she settled on putting it into a top knot. She popped up to her knees and then folded her legs underneath her, the bottom of her feet facing the ceiling as she leaned forward and brushed her hair to the front. She grasped all of her hair at the top of her head making sure to smooth out any lumps or bumps that the brush had missed and put it into a high ponytail. From there she twisted the ponytail into one large twisted piece and tightly wound it around itself in a counterclockwise motion forming a sleek curly bun. She poked the bun a few times pressing a few unruly hairs into place before quickly appraising her hair do. Seemingly satisfied with her hair he watched as she quickly turned her attention to her makeup and applied eyeliner, ran an eyelash comb through her eyelashes and effortlessly applied a thin layer of mascara. She hummed to herself as she once again fished through her make up bag, tapping a finger to her poked out lips as she contemplated what color lipstick to wear. She held up a tube of pink neutral cream in her right hand and a tube of classic red matte lip in the left. "Hmm" she hummed as she looked back and forth in-between the two.

Roman smiled to himself, he knew she wore little to no makeup but he had to admit that it stroked his ego and other parts of his body to see with his own two eyes that she was that breathtaking with such minimal effort.

She caught Roman eyeing her through the mirror and quirked her lips to the right.

"You pick" she said as she stood and extended her arms to show the different colors. She lifted up her right hand "should I go more natural and wear the pink neutral cream? Or" she said as she lifted her left hand "Should I go classic matte red"

Roman looked from the right to left "Before I answer that question what does Matte mean?"

She bit her lip to hide her amusement "It means it's not shiny. It's more of a deep, richer velvety looking color." She explained. She watched him nod his head and look back and forth between the tubes that were in her hand.

"Red"

"Red it is" she said with a smirk quickly applying the classic matte lipstick to her full lips. She took a quick look in the mirror nodding her approval. "Good choice Le" she praised before digging out her jewelry bag from inside of the makeup bag, and pulling out her diamond tennis bracelet. Quickly attaching it to her wrist she stood to her feet and grabbed her silver MK watch from the dresser. She heard the bed creek behind her and smiled as she heard Leati's footseps closing in on her. She felt his hands slide across her waist from behind as she finished fastening her watch into place. "You look beautiful" he murmured in her ear as he nuzzled the side of her face with his nose.

Melanie turned in his arms and gently placed her hand on the side of Romans face that was the least bruised stepping on her tip toes and kissing his jawline "Grazie Amore" (Thank you Love)

Melanie's phone beeped making Roman begrudgingly release her so that they could both look for the offending device. Roman spotted it on the bed grabbed it up and handed it over to her.

"My car is here. It's show time"

She quickly tossed her blazer on and slid her feet into her nude Giuseppe pumps. Her phone beeped again and she looked at it quickly before grabbing her purse.

"Hey Le, did you leave your phone in your room?"

Roman checked his pockets and looked around on the bed.

"Yeah I think I did why?"

"Nessa just text me and said they are less than 5 minutes away."

"Okay come on I will walk you down and wait for them to get here."

They headed down stairs side by side in comfortable silence. Since it was 7:30am it was relatively clear other than a few other Superstars that they spotted along the way that were headed to the gym. As soon as they reached the entrance where Melanie's car was waiting they saw Roman's family exiting the truck that Roman had sent to retrieve them. Joelle spotted the two of them the minute they walked out of the Lobby entrance and immediately ran straight to Roman.

"Hey princess" he said soothingly in her ear as she latched onto him. Vanessa and Summer weren't to far behind both stopping at Melanie first and greeting her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek accompanied with a sympathetic look that Melanie didn't necessarily understand, before moving on to hug their brother.

"You guys are three people short where are mom, dad, and Maritza?"

Matt helped the driver unload the final bag from the trunk and rolled his eyes "Where do you think?" he laughed

"Walmart" The Anoai siblings said in unison

Melanie giggled as they made fun of their parents and the fact that Maritza had been sending S.O.S texts begging them to rescue her from rollback hell.

She turned her attention to Jo who was looking at her warily through glassy eyes. She reached her hand up to stroke her face "Hey lady bug how are you" she said softly. Jo jerked away from her and turned her face so that it was tucked into Roman's neck.

Roman and his siblings froze in complete shock at the completely cold reception that Jo just gave Melanie.

"Jo, that was very rude" Roman admonished softly "Mel was saying hello to you and what you did was completely uncalled for."

Melanie was shocked by the reaction but shook her head "Le lasciarla essere" (Le, let her be) she whispered softly "lei verrà in giro" (she will come around) she said with a soft smile.

Melanie had no idea how much Roman hoped her statement was true, but what he also had no idea about was that they were about to find out sooner rather than later if that would be the case.

Roman looked at her with the same sympathetic look his sisters did not even 2 minutes ago. She looked at him curiously wondering what the hell was going on but said nothing, becoming distracted when Matt walked over and gripped her in a tight bear hug.

"Where you headed Mel?"

"I have an interview in an hour"

"You look amazing, I'm sure you will kill it" Nessa said as she wrapped her arm around her waist standing in a side hug position. Melanie squeezed her back appreciating the show of support.

"Thanks Nessa I really should be going though, I don't want to be late" Melanie said as she hugged each of the sibling's goodbye saving Roman for last as she once again reached for Jo then hesitated deciding to simply place a small kiss on the top of Joelle's head before walking towards the car, she didn't make it three steps before being stopped in her tracks.

"Is it true" she asked quietly barely above a whisper.

To say Melanie was perplexed was an understatement; she turned around and looked at Joelle but not before catching the sympathetic glances from the Anoai's. Something wasn't right and she had a feeling when she found out what it was she was going to be furious. She refocused on Joelle locking in on her big brown doe eyes that had welled with unshed tears.

"Is what true Jo?"

"Is it true that you don't really like me, that you are just pretending so that you can get to daddy?" her voice cracking as she stumbled through the last word. Melanie dropped her purse on the concrete shocked at the questions that had just come from the tiny 6 year old. But those weren't the only questions that she had, and with every question that was asked Melanie felt like someone had punched her in the gut.

"Is it true that you wished I wasn't around, that you only want daddy and that you are going to send me away? Is it true?" she asked as tears ran down her face

A/N

Happy Saturday my lovelies!

Not-that-kinda-gurl - hmmm I never thought about killing Evelyn by making her choke on something that is an idea that I may have to keep in mind. That is definitely one way to get rid of her... I am trying to go easy on RO but he keeps doing stupid shit like not telling Melanie about his parents visit until the day of (not major but still not cool!) and then not telling Melanie that Evelyn took aim at her and Jo's relationship that was definitely not good!

KiaraKitty08 - thank you! Melanie has alot of things to clarify thanks to Evelyn so we will see!

AmbroseReignsCenaRollinsOrton - I have a line of people who are waiting to whoop his ass...I just haven't figured out how or when its gonna happen or who is gonna get the first crack or even if I am going to go in that direction at all but if I do he will be getting the ass whooping of his life!

Madjai6 - your comments ALWAYS make me laugh! from the punting to the story being more addictive than a controlled substance I eeeee like a little fangirl every time you comment! yeah you had to wait a week but look at it this way there will be two chapters posted when I do update this time...

Yup yall read that right SUPRISE! Two updates this week go ahead and click that next button!