A/N: Looking forward to wrapping this up now. I have another story that I've been working on simultaneously with this one waiting to be released. I would say that after that story, a third installment I guess you could call it, this saga would be complete. Perhaps another chapter of this one, and it shall be done. As always, thank you for reading, and enjoy.
"Are you sure you're going to be fine? You've been staying with us just great for the last two months. I'm sure Cristine loves having you around these first few months of having a baby."
He looked over at her. A hand on her expanded tummy and a relaxed look on her face, he didn't understand why she wanted to come back to St. Louis. He did as she asked him to though, without argument.
"I'll be fine, Jeff," she told him, a smile crossing her beautiful face. "Thanks for driving me all this way. I really appreciate it." She opened her door without another word.
"Here, let me help you," Jeff quickly said, and was at her side to hold her hand before she knew it. When she was steady enough, he grabbed her bag from the backseat. "I'll carry this for you."
"Thanks," she said quietly.
Something was off about this. Something was wrong, and he knew she wasn't going to get any answers from her. All he had known was that Randy wanted to come get her, but she refused him the directions on how to get to any of their homes. Her only reply to that was that he didn't need to know. So Jeff took it upon himself to drive her all the hours into Missouri.
"Watch your step," he said lightly as they made their way to the front door. He waited patiently as she unlocked the door, letting them inside.
"Just leave the bag at the door," she said as she walked into the house. "Would you like something to eat or drink before you go back?"
He held up his hand once he dropped the bag near the side of the door. "No thank you." Looking around the house, he knew that she definitely made it her own. She was just like her mother in that sense. Any house or area that Vivian stayed in, you certainly knew it was hers. Anise seemed to have picked up on her mother's signature touch, the rich reds and golden hues throughout the part of the house he could see.
"I'd feel better if you at least took a sandwich with you," she said from behind the kitchen island counter. He stood on the other side, smiling at her.
"Give me your best one," he said with a gentle laugh.
"It'll be ready in just a minute."
While she busied herself with the makings of a sandwich, Jeff continued looking around the house. Randy seemed to be gone. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. His attention was brought back to Anise, who was now wrapping up the sandwich neatly to be placed in a plastic baggie. She looked beautiful, glowing and radiant, much like how he imagined Vivian was during her pregnancy with Shawn. Judging by how well the bruises faded on Anise's body, perhaps it was a good thing that Randy was not home.
"You, uh, really made this place your own, didn't you?" he asked as she placed the wrapped up sandwich in front of him.
Smiling, she looked up at him as she cleaned up the counter. "I tried to," she softly said. "Takes more to make a home than decorations though."
"Well, you'll definitely have quite a home with twins," he said with a bright smile. Pushing his food towards the end of the counter, he walked around to where she stood, embracing her. "You call if there's a problem."
"I will," she said, holding onto him as if she didn't want him to go. "Thank you."
He pulled away from her, hoping that the sadness in his eyes didn't show. She may have been her mother's child, but she couldn't read him like Vivian could. He said nothing more as he grabbed his sandwich and the drink she placed along side it. Walking away from her felt wrong. Her being here felt wrong. He didn't like this at all.
"""""
She watched Jeff leave, closing the door behind him. Sighing, she went towards the door, locking it securely before taking a hold of her bag and making her way up the staircase. The cheerful thoughts of her niece swimming in her mind, and the excitement she felt with the comings of her own babies was soon put on halt as she noticed the door to their bedroom was awkwardly open. Almost as if someone had hurriedly swung it open and it bounced back, leaving it half-way ajar. Setting her bag down, she slowly pushed it open, the sight before her making her mind blank.
"Randy?"
She was sure he wasn't completely sleeping, and when his eyes opened, she could instantly see the regret in them. It was hard for her to pull away from his glare, but the wavy form laying beside him underneath the sheets ultimately won her attention.
"Anise," he said, swinging his legs out.
"What is this?"
He slid on his boxers and held out his hands to her. "Just listen to me."
"Listen to what? What's going on?" Her eyes snapped to him. "This is what you do to me when I'm gone? It's not just phone numbers, is it?"
"Anise, this is not what you think."
She knew she looked confused, shocked, paralyzed even as he approached her. Her lips parted to question him some more, but before she could, a voice emanated from the bed.
"Randy," the womanly voice called out. "Who is this?"
Anise looked over to the girl as she pulled the sheet from her body.
"Is this what you really want?" Anise asked Randy, not taking her eyes off the woman. She was brunette, perky breasts being held together by a red lace bra, and a waist that was as slim as Anise's thigh. As Anise was turning her attention back to Randy, the girl was sliding on some red lace panties to match.
"You are what I want, Anise," he told her, rubbing her shoulders.
"Really?" Anise asked, pulling away from his hands. Shaking her head, she rejected his touch as she walked back out into the hallway.
"Stop, Anise." He followed her down the staircase, forgetting about the brunette woman he'd met at a bar the previous night. "Stop it, come here."
"No," she said, lifting her arms so he wouldn't grab them. "Is this what you really do to me? When I'm pregnant with your babies? When I'm trying so hard to convince myself to stay with you? What reasons have you ever given me to even keep giving you chances?"
"Anise, I'm sorry – "
"No!" she screamed out. "I don't want to hear sorry, Randy. You cheat on me. You lie to me." She moved closer to him, her face merely a few inches from his. "You hit me. And you just expect me to be okay with it?"
"No, Anise, and I'm sorry. I didn't know you'd be home this early."
"Oh!" she said with a cynical laugh. "Oh, you didn't know I'd be back this early. So it's okay if I didn't come back early, right? It's my fault that you're cheating because I caught you, right?"
"That's not what I'm saying – "
"Then what the fuck are you saying, because this shit is my breaking point, Randy. When I finally see what you've been doing to me behind my back." She moved away from him, leaning on the kitchen counter, praying that it would give her the support she needed.
Randy looked away from her as the woman from the night before casually made her way down the steps. Dressed back into the tight jeans and short halter top, looking as available as she made herself to him the night before. Randy couldn't help but think she wasn't worth it. She wasn't worth losing Anise. The anger towards himself rose up when she spoke.
"I'll be leaving now," the brunette said expectantly.
Randy brought his eyes towards Anise. She was leaning on the counter, her head on her arm. She looked like she was in pain, and he could clearly see the anger that flared inside of her. Her eyes had never been more expressive. If she wasn't eight months pregnant, he would have been downright scared of her. Looking back over the brunette, Randy quickly saw her to the door. As she stepped outside, she turned to say something to him, but he swiftly shut the door in her face and made his way back to Anise.
"You should sit down," he told her, touching her back.
"I'm done."
She was so quiet, he wasn't quite sure if he had heard her correctly.
"What?"
"I'm so done." She stepped away from him, holding her hands up. "I didn't really want to believe that you were. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it, but I didn't want to believe it was true."
"I regret ever doing it to you."
"Yeah, but you did it anyway," she bit out angrily. "You think about something before you do it, not after shit's already done."
He couldn't say another word as she doubled over, leaning on the counter again, a sharp wince coming from her. He tried touching her, but she wouldn't allow him to.
"What's wrong?"
"Leave me alone," she muttered, kneeling on the kitchen floor. Feeling a wetness, she unbuttoned her maternity jeans, dipping her hand down under her panties. Pulling her hand out, she didn't like the shade of red she saw.
He looked down at her, her breathless words leaving him on edge. Seeing the tint of blood on her fingertips, his heart dropped into his stomach.
"Fuck."
"""""
"Well, good thing first," the nurse informed him. "She's stable enough to go under."
Randy shook his head, taking in what he was being told. "What's the bad?" He didn't like how the nurse sighed.
"Bad part is, we're not completely sure what damage, if any, has been done."
"Will they be okay?" Vivian asked, pushing Randy aside. She looked back at Stephanie, who was quickly coming to stand beside her.
The nurse looked from Randy to the two ladies. "It looks like the cord was wrapped around a neck. We'll know the extent of any damage done once she's had her c-section."
"Damage?" Vivian whispered. "Damaged, Steph."
"It'll be okay," Stephanie comforted, taking Vivian into her arms. "They'll all be just fine."
"Hey, what's going on? Paul told me Anise is in labor?"
"Jay!" Vivian cried out. "Oh my God, you're finally here!"
He all but supported Vivian as she collapsed in his arms. "What's going on, Steph? What's wrong with Anise?"
Stephanie tore her sad eyes off of Vivian. "Come sit, I'll explain."
Randy watched as Anise's parents sat down on a couch, Stephanie giving Jay all the details. He couldn't sit himself, his nerves eating away at him. He felt responsible for the what was happening. She had been in shock and under the stress of everything he allowed her to see, it had caused violent contractions. It was because of him that one of his children might not make it into this world.
The wait was ticking at his nerves. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to Anise or to either of the babies. Kicking himself in rear end seemed like the thing to do once he began thinking back to all the stress he caused her. Not just with finding him in bed with another woman, but for nearly the entire year. He had been raising hell for Anise, and for the life of him he didn't really know why. Just because he was Randy Orton? That may justify him causing hell in other areas of his life, but not with Anise.
Women all over were impressed by him. They threw themselves at him. They marveled in his character. But Anise... It clicked to him long ago why she wasn't impressed. It drew him to her, and it made him want to try so much harder to even get her attention in the first place. She had grown up in this, and she was used to all the showcasing and showstoppers. None of it impressed her, and that only made him drive that much harder in order to keep her.
But as he stood at the door to the waiting room, ready for any sign of positivity from his wife's nurses, he known he had failed her. It was in the trying too hard to make her love him, that he completely forgot his role as her man to begin with. He was to protect her. To keep her from harm's way, and that's what ate at him the most. He was the harm to her. It pained him inside that he couldn't even comfort Vivian. He wanted to at least give her a hug, reassuring her that her daughter and grandchildren would be okay. In his stubbornness, he'd quickly burned that bridge.
He noticed Vivian's sobbing had ceased when the deafening silence gripped everyone inside the room. His only sign of hope was seeing the redheaded nurse stride his way.
"Good news, Mr. Orton," she said, placing some spare gloves into the pocket of her scrubs. "Anise is doing great, and you are the father of a healthy baby boy and a healthy baby girl."
"Boy and girl?" Randy questioned, the nurse's words seemingly going in slow motion to him.
She nodded, a smile on her face. "Both are doing well, but we're monitoring your little girl's lungs. We heard a bit of fluid in her chest, but it should clear up with no real problems," she explained. "You're all welcome to see them in about ten, fifteen minutes."
Randy let a deep breath out, a sigh of relief over the fact that they all were alive. He didn't have any idea in his mind what he would do without Anise. They sat in waiting for nearly a half an hour more before the nurse guided them to where Anise was settled. Walking down the hallway was the most enduring thing of this entire night. The wait had almost set his nerves on fire, but this hallway... It seemed endless. It seemed like he'd never reach his wife and his children.
Hearing Vivian's soft crying as she walked into Anise's room didn't help much either. He had taken the liberty of staying a few steps behind Vivian, Jay, and Stephanie. He wanted Anise to see them first. They would comfort her more than he did at this current moment.
"Oh, they're beautiful, Anise," Vivian cried out. "Hello there, baby girl."
Jay, who had carefully picked up the new baby boy, was all smiles as he sat down next to his daughter. Stephanie walked up to the other side of Anise, making sure she was comfortable.
"You look exhausted," Stephanie commented as she gently brushed Anise's hair smooth.
Randy heard Anise let out a deep breath. "Exhausted, but I feel so much lighter."
"What happened?" Stephanie asked in curiosity of her niece's sudden emergency. When Anise and Stephanie started talking, Randy then came into the room more, his wife's eyes landing on him for a swift moment before diverting themselves back to her aunt.
"Honestly, I think I exerted myself too much," she replied. "I didn't know Randy was home. I carried my bags in myself, and I shouldn't have done that." She shook her head, making loose strands of hair fall back into her face.
"Well, you'll be resting," Stephanie told her, smoothing back her hair once more. "Just let us worry about everything."
"I can't let you guys take care of me," Anise said, a small smile on her face. Randy noted she sounded weak, and that made him nervous. "You all have other things to concentrate on."
"Oh, yeah," Stephanie said casually, leaning over at Vivian's side to get a glance at her great niece. "But you know we can do everything."
"All at once," Vivian added with a laugh. She handed the baby girl to Stephanie, then stood to look at her daughter. "You still look beautiful, honey."
"Mom," Anise scoffed out. "If beautiful means removing eleven pounds of babies and a thousand pounds of fluid, sure."
"Eleven pounds, huh?" Jay asked, still cradling his grandson close to his chest. "What do they weigh?"
Anise sighed out, thinking of what the nurses had told her in the quickness of it all. "Six pounds, four ounces, and five pounds, two ounces."
"Well obviously this big boy got the weight on him," Jay said happily as he placed the baby boy into Anise's arms. The smile on his face faded though as he looked towards his daughter. "What's wrong?"
She wiped a trail of tears from her face before planting a kiss on her baby boy's forehead. "They said that my baby girl was in a breech position."
Randy slowly approached her side as Stephanie took the baby boy from her arms. He took a hold of her hand as he watched more tears fall down her face.
"They are beautiful, Anise," he told her, kissing her hand. "And I've never been so happy before in my life."
Another small smile broke through, but the sadness returned to her face shortly after. She wiped away more tears before telling them what the nurses had told her.
"The cord wrapped around her neck. He was fine, but she was having difficulty getting oxygen. They called for an emergency c-section. I didn't even get a chance to look at her before they took her away." The tears proved to be too much for her as she began crying, Randy tightening his grip on his hand more.
"We were told there was bleeding?" Vivian questioned as she spent a few moments with her grandson.
Anise nodded her head. "I told Randy, and he immediately brought me here."
Randy eyed her. It was fabricated a little, but he figured she didn't want her family to know what really happened. He couldn't blame her. They didn't need to know exactly what was going on. His mind was brought out of that horrible moment though as Vivian stood.
"So," she said, wanting to get out of the sorrow that blanketed the room in just a matter of seconds. "Names?"
