*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. THey were greatly appreciated thank-you all so much*
"What's wrong?" I ask Willow as she sits me down on the stool next to her. "Everything okay? Why were you crying? Did something happen at your appointment?" The nervousness building up inside of me is tearing me apart. I automatically start thinking of the worst possible thing that could happen at her appointment. The C word pops into my mind first and it breaks my heart.
"Joe," she says with tears in her eyes as she links our fingers together and looks down at our joined hands. "I have to tell you something."
"I'm listening, what's wrong, Willow?"
"There isn't any easy way to tell you this because I'm still trying to process it and let it sink in."
"Willow, just tell me," I say growing impatient. "Is everything going to be okay?"
"I hope so but I don't know," she says looking up at me with her blue-green eyes. I reach up and wipe away a tear.
"Whatever it is we'll get through it together, nothing you could say would ever scare me away, what's wrong?"
"When the doctor was doing the pelvic exam she saw that my birth control fell out."
"Your birth control fell out? Is that possible?"
"Obviously it is possible because it happened."
"So you don't have your birth control in. We can use condoms until you get it put back in or until you find another method to use. It's not that serious, Willow. I have no problem using a condom if I have to. I know how much you don't want to have a baby and right now with me being the champion things are going to start getting hectic especially since I'm carrying the company while John is out it's not a good time to have a baby so I understand your concern," I say. "You can just get another method of birth control."
"That's the problem," she says, "I would have gotten my birth control put back in today but they had to do a pregnancy test before they would do it. You know to make sure I'm not pregnant or anything."
"Okay," I say, "and I'm sure you're not."
"Actually," she says. "I am pregnant surprise you're going to be a daddy again," she gives me a questioning look.
I am almost speechless at her news. I wanted more kids other than Alani but I thought that Willow and I had a couple more years before we actually got pregnant. I'm not upset just surprised. "You're pregnant?"
"Yes, the doctor said probably about 5 weeks along."
"Wow," I say. "You're pregnant."
"Yes, Joe, you and I are having a baby," she says impatiently. "You got me pregnant."
"Actually it was your failed birth control that got you pregnant. I had no idea it wasn't in."
"Neither did I," she says, "and now we're having a baby. What about my career? I have to give that up to be a mom."
"You don't have to give it up," I say.
"Oh so we're going to travel 300 days a year with a baby? I'm not doing the nanny thing, Joe. I don't want our baby to be raised by strangers."
"Willow, relax we have time to figure everything out. Are they sure you're pregnant?"
"They did a test, Joe. It was positive. You and me are having a baby in September."
"Well," I say, "this is unexpected. You're upset?"
"I'm not happy about it," she says, "but what am I going to do now?"
"We'll figure everything out. Everything is going to be okay," I say, "don't worry."
"Is it really going to be okay, Joe? I'm not ready to have a baby. We're not ready to have a baby. I want to be married first and then there's my career. I have to be out even longer now that I'm pregnant. It's pretty much over. I worked my whole life to be in the WWE and now I don't even have a future in the business that I have loved so much since I was a little girl. That's all I ever wanted to do. I thought we had a couple years before we got pregnant."
"Willow, I will do everything to make sure it turns out okay. I thought we had some time too but sometimes it happens unexpectedly. It's a shock I can imagine because I'm shocked but at the same time it's time that you and I both act like adults and deal with the consequences of our actions. It's not like we didn't know that a pregnancy was possible. We were selfish counting so heavily on your birth control. We have been having sex every day every week and most of the time multiple times a day this shouldn't be a surprise. It happens. You got pregnant it's time that you and I act like the adults that we are and own up to our responsibility. Whether we're ready or not, whether we have a career or not you're pregnant and that baby is our number one concern right now."
"Joe," she says, "that's easy for you to say because you don't have to give up your career. You can keep going out being the superstar you are. You can continue living your dream but I can't. You'll be out on the road 300 days a year and I'll be at home being a mom raising our child by myself. I am not ready to give up on my dream yet. I'm not ready, Joe," she says with tears filling her eyes. "I gave up so much to be where I am. Then I got injured I had to sit on the sideline for almost 6 months and when I finally get cleared to go back I'm sidelined again by an unexpected pregnancy. You know what it's like when you're off TV people forget about you. I'm not ready to give this life up yet. I'm not ready to give up on my dream. There's so much more I want to do with my life and in my life before I become a mom. I want kids but not now. I'm not ready now."
"Ready or not, Willow there's a baby growing inside of you. You're going to need to be sidelined for a bit. I'm not saying you need to walk away from the ring. You don't have to give up on your dream. You can still be everything you always wanted to be. You'll just have to revisit and revise how you handle your career. It wouldn't be hard to get a nanny or to take the baby on the road with us. I'm sure we will have plenty of people backstage that would be willing to keep an eye on the baby for us while we're getting ready. We could even have a nanny travel with us. The options are endless. You don't have to walk away because you became a mom. You can still be a mom and do both."
"What female wrestler has been a mom and a successful wrestler in WWE?"
"Terri Runnels, she and Goldust had their daughter and managed to be on the road still being able to live their dreams. Ashley Massaro," I say trying to encourage her. I don't want her to think that just because she's going to have a baby that her dream as a WWE diva is completely over because it's not. It's just the beginning of something wonderful. "You can do it, Willow. I know that you can."
"But I want to breastfeed and I want to have a part in my child's life. I don't want to be like my dad. He was away all the time. He missed out on so much of my life because of the ring. I don't know if I'm ready to sacrifice my job to raise a child."
"It doesn't matter if you're ready or not. What matters is what is going to happen and that's you are going to have a baby. Can't you be happy about it?"
"Are you happy about it?"
"I am happy about it. I'm happy that we're having a baby. Am I happy about the time of it not really? You can't stop what's meant to be from happening, Willow. There's going to be a lot of surprises in life but you can't stop life from happening. You can't stop this. I'm happy to be blessed with another child. I love Alani and I love being her dad. Just like I'm going to love our baby just as much, this is a baby you and I created together out of love. We may not have planned it but it is still a creation of our love. That should mean more to you than anything. You and I will have a little Willow and Roman running around. I would never ask you to give up your career to be a mom. I will never ask you to do that. I will support whatever you choose to do but there's no point in being upset over something that we have no control over. You'll see how much fun it is being a mom."
"This baby is going to change everything. I'm not going to have a career."
"Stop being selfish, Willow, it's not about you anymore. It's not about what you want anymore. It's about our baby. You're not number one anymore, Willow. What you want doesn't' matter."
"So I'm selfish now?"
"You're acting like a child about this. You and I made a choice to have sexual relations and a lot of them. Pregnancy has always been a possibility we just thought your birth control would prevent it but sometimes birth control fails and these things happen. I'm not saying I'm not scared because I am scared. This is different than it was with Alani. When Vanessa got pregnant with Alani I was just out of college, I didn't have a future. I didn't know what I was going to do. I always wanted to be a football player but that didn't work out. This time I'm a wrestler and I already hate the lack of time I get with Alani. I'm scared that I'm going to make you feel like a single parent. I don't like missing out on things either but during this time and age technology is helpful in those ways. I have missed cheerleading competitions, gymnastics shows. I miss a lot but Vanessa always skypes me in if she can or she videos it for me. I don't completely miss everything. I'm nervous about it too but being selfish about it is not the way to go. I was where you were before too. When Vanessa told me she was pregnant with Alani I was scared to death. I had no idea how to be a dad. I didn't think I was ready to be a dad. I wasn't ready to give up my 20's to raise a child. I wasn't ready for that life but as Vanessa started to grow, Alani got bigger and everything became more real I started to get excited. It's hard to take now but it will get easier. I promise, Willow."
"I'm scared, Joe," she says as I pull her off the stool into my arms. I wrap my arms around her as she wraps hers around my neck. "What are we going to do?" she cries. "I'm not ready."
"I know but we have a lot of time to get ready for it. Everything is going to be okay. I promise," I say as I comfort her. I kiss the top of her head as she cries on my shoulder. I know that she's scared. It's the same fear that I had when I found out about Alani. Finding out you're going to be a parent for the first time. You just see your entire world falling apart if you're not expecting it and you just see your entire future being wiped out but that's not the case. She just doesn't realize how great it feels to see your baby for the first time, hold them in your arms and know that you would do anything for something so little and the love you have for them is indescribable. "It's going to be okay, I promise," I say as she hugs me a little tighter.
"Promise?" she asks looking up at me with her blue-green eyes.
"I promise," I say with a smile.
"I trust you."
"We'll figure it all out we have some time but right now you need to take care of yourself and the baby," I say, "I just can't believe you're having a baby."
"We're having a baby," she corrected, "and we aren't telling my dad. The engagement was enough for him. I don't want him to know yet that we're having a baby."
"You're not going to be able to hide it long. It all makes sense now. The larger chest, the sickness and how tired you've been it all makes sense."
"Are my boobs really that much bigger?" she asks.
I look down at her breasts and say, "Yeah they're much bigger."
"Shut up," she says with a smile as she pushes my shoulders. "I go back in 3 weeks for an ultrasound we'll know more but she said we are due in September probably mid-September. I'm going to be so miserable that Tampa heat all summer long and almost 9 months pregnant. I can't even think about it."
I smile at her as I wrap my arms around her waist pulling her closer to me again, "you'll be all right. We'll be all right. I promise if I have to make the house an igloo I'll make it an igloo. I just want you to take care of yourself and the baby. Can you do that?"
"I guess," she says. "I love you, Joe."
"I love you too," I say with a smile before I capture her lips kissing her softly. "You better take care of my baby while I take care of you," I whisper against her lips.
"Okay," she says before she kisses me again wrapping her arms around my neck.
*A/N: What did you think of Willow telling Roman she's pregnant? Do you think he handled it well? Do you believe Willow is being selfish about the entire thing? Does she think it's all about her now? What did you think of Roman putting her in her place letting her know that it's not about her? And calling her selfish? Do you think they should tell her dad sooner than later? Please review and thank-you for reading.