*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much!
TWO MONTHS LATER:
"This is the appointment you've been waiting for," says Ana as we are sitting in the waiting room of my doctor's office in Phoenix, Arizona. I'm meeting with my surgeon to see if I am cleared to go back to the ring or not. I have been undergoing physical therapy for few months now and I have been working really hard. I have strengthened my neck and after watching the Royal Rumble a couple weeks ago I have been dying to get into the ring.
"I know I can't wait. I hope that he tells me I can get back in the ring. I'm ready."
"I know you are. You've been going crazy being home all this time," she says.
"True but I had this little guy to keep me busy," I say as I look down at Oliver as he looks up at me with his big dark brown eyes. He looks more and more like Ana every day. "I can't believe he's almost two months old. Time is flying by so fast. Look how big he's gotten."
"He has been a pretty good distraction," she says, "I can't believe I start working again in a couple weeks. I'm just glad Stephanie is allowing me to work from home so I can be home with Ollie and Natalia. Natalia isn't adjusting too well to having Ollie there is she?"
"I thought maybe after a week or two she would have adjusted and accepted him more but still almost two months later she's not handling it well. And her attitude has increased 100 percent. She needs to get it in check."
"Oh you're not seeing a little Dean coming out of her?" she asks with a smile. "She doesn't steal her attitude," she says. "She is a mini Dean."
"Okay, I'll accept that but damn it her mouth gets her into so much trouble."
"And so did yours. She's taking after her daddy but I don't know what to do with her about Ollie. She is 11 years old she is too old to be jealous. When I was her age," she starts to say. "I was playing mom to Chastity and Roderick. I wasn't jealous I loved being a big sister."
"Natalia is her own person," I say. "She looks at things differently than you do. You didn't really have a choice but to play mom to your brother and sister but Natalia doesn't have to. It has only been her for so long. She has gotten all of our attention up until now and now this baby comes in here stealing her thunder."
"And don't forget those hormones," she says, "she has been really emotional lately."
"Yeah I know," I say hesitantly not wanting to admit that our baby girl has started to grow up in the last couple months. I hate the fact that I know we're so close to puberty. If I could keep her little the rest of her life I definitely would. She is growing up too fast and getting interested in boys. I'm not ready. She already took on my attitude. I don't want her to take on my behavior. I don't want her having a baby at 17 years old although becoming a father at 17 changed my entire life I was still too young. I want to see my daughter reach her dreams. I want to see her become something she aspires to be. Her mom and I are giving her the means to have every opportunity that she can to go to college and become whatever she wants to be. Boys are nothing but trouble but that P word is deadly.
"You knew it was going to happen sooner or later," she says.
"I would prefer later almost never," I say.
"Well, that's not going to happen. It's going to be sooner rather than later. I don't know if I am ready to deal with it yet."
"I know I'm not," I say, "she's crying all the time, she's always upset about something and now we're wearing bras. I just can't deal with this."
"Everything will be fine. It's going to be tough but we can get through this together. Are we really that old that our daughter is going to middle school this year and she's about at the age of puberty?"
"I wouldn't say we're old we are seasoned veterans at parenthood though. What were you like at her age?"
"I was really responsible. I had my emotional outbursts but you have to remember my mom left so I was extra emotional but I didn't hit puberty till I was about 14 years old."
"You were a late bloomer," he says.
"I didn't have breasts till 8th grade," she says with a smile. "I still don't have breasts."
"You have enough to master, Baby," I say with a sly smile. "And with breastfeeding they are pretty amazing. They are like BAM! I have no complaints."
"I didn't think you would but anyway when I was Natalia's age I wouldn't say I had much interest in boys or anything. I pretty much helped take care of Chastity and Roderick and went to dance class. I didn't get into boys until high school."
"I wish I was like you at 11," I say with a smile. "I was having sex at 12. I was bad already. There was no saving me till you came into my life."
"Well, I'm glad I saved you," she says as Oliver starts to fuss. I get out his pacifier and give it to him to keep him calm. "Are you nervous?" she asks.
"About this appointment? Of course I'm nervous. The doctor could tell me today that I may never wrestle again. I know Roman and I are looking for places to open a gym but I never knew how much I would miss wrestling until now. It gets harder to watch every week because I'm not there. When you're not on TV you get forgotten about. I don't want what happened to Roman to happen to me," I say.
"Like what?" she asks.
"You know when he got surgery for his hernia last year, he was off TV for a while. People wanted him to come back much like the fans want me to come back but when he came back, won the Rumble they hated him. They caused a riot. I don't understand they begged for him to come back for months and when he finally did the fans turned on him. I'll never understand that."
"I don't think the fans are going to turn on you. They seem to really like you. I have been checking out Twitter and Instagram. They are begging for you to come back, they have sent you well wishes too. They support you. I think it was just the crowd in that particular arena that turned on Roman. I mean there were other arenas shortly after where they were behind Roman. I just think it was that Philadelphia crowd. You know how rowdy they can be."
"I know," I say. "But they booed the poor man out of the building."
"I know but look at his fan base now. It's so large because people believe in him. What do you think of Cesaro winning the Royal Rumble?"
"I think it's about time," he says, "he is one of the most under-utilized talents in WWE. It's like they swept him up under the rug and told him to tag with Tyson Kidd and to waste his talent in tag matches. He's a great wrestler and I don't understand what took them so long to see that."
"I know," I say, "they seem to push the wrong people. I'm so tired of the Seth Rollins era. They continue to shove Seth down our throats. I have nothing against the guy because I know he's one of your best friends but at the same time there are other talents in WWE they can use. It doesn't always have to be him. He leaks one nude pic and suddenly he's the God of WWE. How is that good for the company? And his racist girlfriend, don't even get me started on her."
I let out a laugh and say, "Maybe they felt bad for him because he didn't measure up. He came up a little short if you know what I mean."
"Were you studying it?" she asks.
"Not really. I just know he came up short. It must suck in life."
"Well, Dean, not everyone is as blessed as you are. I just don't understand how he stays at the top of WWE with so much controversy surrounding him and creative really likes him yet I can't get Mike to back Roman for anything."
"Mike has an issue with Roman and I don't know why," I say. "Roman is a talented guy. His mic skills were a bit rough but he has improved in the last year. He carries his own. He does well and he has the look. The last time I checked WWE wasn't about the talking it was about the in-ring action. Everyone is always going to have a critic but I personally allow my haters to be my motivation. I have been criticized and hated most of my life. I've been kicked when I was down but I got back up and I kept fighting and here I am today. I have a wife that's not only hot, probably the hottest woman on the planet but she is the most beautiful woman I have ever met and she's smart, I have my dream job that everyone told me I would never have and I have two beautiful kids. I kept fighting to get what I wanted and here I am. I was supposed to be some drug addict out on the street, in and out of jail or maybe even dead but I pushed it all aside and stood stronger and bigger than my critics and my haters. Haters are going to hate. You can't control who hates you and who loves you. You can't control how people treat you but what you can control is how you let it affect you. Roman has a lot of people against him but he keeps going. He's a fighter. He isn't going to let what people think of him tear him down it builds him up. That's what he is one of my best friends because it just rolls off his back."
"You did a pretty good job standing up to your critics and your haters. Remember when we went back to Ohio and everyone was trying to be your best friend? No one cared when you were living on the wrong side of town and were the high school bad boy. Now look at you. You're all mine too. And I agree with you. That is the most poetic thing you have ever said. You can't control how people treat you or how they feel about you but you can control how you let it affect you. Those are words of wisdom, you're going to be great for Natalia when she needs some of those words of wisdom."
"I'm a wise man," I say with a smile.
"That you are," she says before she kisses my cheek softly, "and you're an amazing father and husband. I wouldn't trade you for anything. I love you."
"I love you too," I say with a smile.
A few minutes later we are called back to talk to my surgeon. I have never been more nervous in my life except when I was in trouble for drugs but other than that I have never been more nervous than I am now. My entire career depends on this appointment and what he sees on the MRI. Once I am back there I undergo my MRI for them to look at my neck to see if it has healed properly and what the chances of reinjuring again are. I'm hoping that I don't injure my neck again but in my line of work it's a good chance it could happen. Ana and I sit in his office after my MRI waiting for him to talk to us about the results. "It's going to be okay," she says. "If it turns out that you can't go back to the ring we will figure everything out. You have the idea of opening a gym and training people. I know it's not the same thing but at least it's something. Just remember every ending is a new beginning if this is the ending of your wrestling career remember it's a new beginning for you to do something else. I know how much you love this business but you don't have to leave the business completely. You have a good plan and whatever happens I am going to be here and we are going to deal with this together."
"I know," I say letting out a deep breath as I hold a sleeping Oliver. "I just don't want to hear the words it's over you know? I worked so hard to get here, I made a lot of sacrifices to get here. I haven't even accomplished half the stuff I want to. I'm only 29 years old. I'm too young to call it quits but if that happens I know there is always something but it's going to suck."
"I know, Baby," she says as the doctor comes into the room.
"Hello, Dean," he says.
"Hello," I say with a smile.
"How are you feeling?"
"Scared," I say.
"You have nothing to be scared of. This is the big appointment for you. This is what you've been waiting for."
"I know but I'm scared you're going to say the words that my career is over. I don't think I am ready to hear that just yet. I'm a young guy. I have a lot of fight left in me."
"Well," he says, "it all depends on what I find on the MRI. How is life going?"
"Pretty good," I say. "We had our baby on Christmas Eve."
"Congratulations," he says with a smile as he looks at Oliver as I hold him up. "He's a cutie. He gets his good looks from his mom," he says with a smile.
"Thank-you," I say, "and he certainly does."
"Okay," he says getting out the MRI results. "How is PT going? Are you making progress?"
"I'd like to think I am," I say, "I have been working really hard to make it stronger."
"That's good how is it feeling?"
"Much better," I say.
"That's good to hear," he says looking at my MRI. "I'm looking at your MRI and compared to what your neck first look liked when you came in here after your injury it looks significantly better. We fixed you up pretty well."
"Well, enough that I can get back in the ring?" I ask.
"Yes," he says, "you are cleared to go back to the ring and wrestle," he says making me smile. "Your neck seems to be strong enough and it looks like it has completely healed from the surgery. You are cleared to get back in the ring."
"Thank God," I say with a smile. "And what are the chances of me reinjuring my neck?"
"The chances of another neck injury are pretty slim. You have about a 1 in a thousand chance of another neck injury. We fixed you up and you're good to go."
"This is great news!" I say with relief. "When can I go back?"
"Whenever they can write you into the script," he says, "you are cleared to go back tomorrow if you wanted to. Most neck injuries are career threatening and most times there is no going back into the ring or into the line of sport you're in. Sometimes people have to sit out but with your neck injury we fixed it so that you can continue on with your career and can continue to wrestle. There is a slim chance of another injury but as far as I see you're going to go on to have a long and healthy career. Everything looks good, Dean."
"Thank-you," I say shaking his hand before Ana does the same. "I can't wait to get back in the ring."
"I can't wait to see you back in the ring," he says, "and hopefully you become champion again."
"I hope so," I say with a smile. "That's on my list of things to do in the future but for now I am just doing part time stuff and maybe one day I'll work my way back up to full-time. Right now I want to enjoy wrestling and enjoy my family. Plus we have a wedding coming up in a few months I have to get ready for."
"At least you know what you want in life," he says.
"I already have everything that I need in life," I say with a smile. "Everything."
*A/N: What do you think about Ana and Dean dealing with Natalia and her new changing personality? What are your thoughts on her not adjusting well to having a baby brother? What did you think of Dean's comment about controlling how others feel about you and only you can control how it affects you, is he right? What did you think about Dean being cleared to go back to the ring? Do you think he's ready? Please review and thank-you for reading.