Chapter 45

"What can I do?" Stephanie asked cheerfully, following Angeni around, her blue eyes wide and sparkling.

She had thoroughly examined the cottage. It was so tiny and quaint. John liked to tease her about her little 'thing' with the new surroundings she had been exposed to since getting with him. She didn't mind and wanted to help.

"You look pissed, don't you want us here? I know we showed up out of nowhere…" Stephanie bit her bottom lip hesitantly.

"I'm not pissed, just wish I would've been notified so I could've come up with a decent menu." Angeni smiled back at her, wrapping an arm around Stephanie's shoulders while flipping the ribs on the rack and ignored her friend's bewildered look. "The potatoes need to be peeled in the house, you can do that." When her blue eyes shined, Angeni chuckled as she watched Stephanie walk into the house to get started while continuing to work on the ribs. A pair of arms encircled her waist and Angeni closed her eyes, leaning into the muscular chest of her husband. "I'm not mad, are ribs okay for dinner? I didn't know what else to make and I figured it would be filling enough for everyone…"

"More than enough." Taker hoped because, between him, Kane, Shaw and Ron, not even factoring in Paul, they could probably eat her out of house and home within hours. He nuzzled her neck, having overheard her 'decent menu' remark and snorted. "Darlin', considering what you normally make is better than most people's usual meals, I'm pretty sure you're fine on the menu." His hands caressed her sides. "Mad at me?"

"How can I be mad at you? You're giving me an orchard for crying out loud." Angeni heard him chuckle as she turned another slab of ribs before setting the tongs down and closed the grill to let them cook faster, turning around to stare up into his green eyes. "I'll make something better tomorrow, though that does leave dessert…"

She tapped her chin in thought, wondering what she hadn't made in awhile and saw the predatory gaze in her husband's eyes. Barely having time to open her mouth, his covered hers and Angeni melted instantly. Taker had his dessert right here and the others could go burn in hell for all he cared.

Though…when he heard John and Ron begin to catcall, he reluctantly broke the kiss, turning to find the flatbed trailer by the garden. Smiling, Taker turned Angeni around so she could see all the flowers, bushes and everything else. He had practically brought her a flower nursery.

The flowers he had burned along with her fruits and vegetables…Mark had replaced everything and added a lot to it. It was so beautiful, especially the trees. Those were her absolute favorite and she never even had them until now.

"Thank you." That was all she could breathe out, reaching up to wrap her arms tightly around his neck and felt him lift her until her feet no longer touched the ground, a few tears falling. "I love you."

Angeni had wrapped her legs around his waist as soon as he lifted her to make it easier for him to hold her, refusing to let him go. The divorce proceedings with her secret lawyer had been cancelled and Angeni paid him for the services he did do for her. She wanted to be with Mark as his wife and nobody could tell her differently or change her mind.

"He's not going to make us do all the work is he? I'm not being paid enough to sweat and plant flowers…"

"You go right on ahead and tell him that."

"Want a trowel up your ass?"

"You want a spade up yours?"

"If you two don't shut up, I will shove these roses down your throat and let you choke on the thorns!"

Taker broke the kiss, still holding Angeni against him and cocked an eyebrow. "Woman, I need to go supervise…" He lightly slapped her ass before giving it a firm squeeze. "Stop tempting me with dessert before dinner."

Giggling softly, Angeni nodded as she rubbed her nose gently against his. "I need to get back to dinner. Later, you're mine." She whispered, kissing him one more time before he reluctantly set her down, her bare feet feeling wonderful against the cool soft grass. She absolutely loved this place. "Get moving with your green thumb." Winking, Angeni walked back into the house and saw Stephanie still peeling potatoes, only halfway through the bag. "I'll help you, sorry, got tied up with something…" Angeni blushed when Stephanie smirked at her, both women catching up on what had been going on in the WWF and their lives. "You and Bradshaw make a very cute couple."

"I am definitely the better looking one." Stephanie said with a grin so arrogant it was definitely a McMahon expression, then she burst out giggling. "I'm joking. But thank you, we are…happy."

She sighed contentedly, not believing that she could be so happy with him, with…this crazy situation and how it was turning out. Not so crazy. Well…the Undertaker planting flowers was definitely insane, but Stephanie had witnessed worse things in her days.

"What about you? How are things with you and Taker? And Kane? He's living here too?! With you both? They seemed to be getting along pretty well."

"I'm happy too. Believe it or not, even after everything that's happened, I'm very happy. Things between me and Mark are…progressing. We have a lot of healing to do still, a lot to make up for on both of our parts. And yes, Glen is living here until his place is finished in Tennessee. It was…destroyed…" Angeni was going to leave it at that, not really wanting to go into detail about how her husband destroyed Glen's house all because of her...because of what she'd done with Glen. "Think that's enough potatoes?" When Stephanie shook her head, Angeni chuckled. "Thank you for your honesty. I think I'll need to peel more corn too and then I'll start the vegetables after that. Those won't take long…"

Kane –Glen- was living here because his house had been burnt to a crisp, both of them Stephanie figured, since Angeni wasn't saying that, that she didn't need to either. Either Angeni assumed she didn't know or…who knew. She only knew because Taker had ordered it done and Mideon had done it. Dark days. She was still trying to forget them.

"Hey, you can teach me how to cook while we're here!" Stephanie then exclaimed eagerly, followed by an immediate frown. "John says he appreciates my ability to order takeout, but…" She shrugged. "He can't cook either…at least, not without burning everything."

"Cooking is easy!" Angeni grinned, patting Stephanie on the back. "You peeled those potatoes good, all you really need to do is follow recipes and even make adjustments to your liking. Just watch, I'll show you."

Paul finally came outside, though he wasn't moving from the shade of the porch, surveying everyone, hearing the women chattering away in the kitchen and felt rather bad for Angeni when Stephanie made that comment about learning to cook. He had tried teaching her and she had set the kitchen on fire, three times. Ron and Bradshaw were now digging where the hedges were meant to go to line the orchard while Taker and Kane were walking along the property, Taker gesturing while Kane simply listened.

"I need a camera…" Paul suddenly announced.

"You're going to plant HOW big an orchard?"

"As big as she wants or I want. I bought the property surrounding hers…she can have as large a garden as she wishes."

"Does SHE know you did that?"

"Not yet."

Angeni had a new goal and that was to teach Stephanie how to cook. She swept her hair up on top of her head so none got in the food. While dinner cooked, Angeni started dessert, deciding on cheesecake since it was easy enough to make and showed Stephanie what to do. She even gave Stephanie a pad of paper and pen, ordering her to write down step by step instructions on what to do.

Then she took Stephanie outside and showed her how to flip the ribs on the grill, explaining what temperature, for how long and even had her write down her special sauce recipe. It was a delicious honey barbeque, hating anything spicy, and began slathering the ribs with it while they still cooked. The smell was mouthwatering and it made both women's stomachs growl with need to be fed.

"About ten more minutes and they should be done. Come on, let's go check on the cheesecake."

Taker had called a halt to the activities, or 'fucking manual labor' as Bradshaw had so eloquently put it, ordering them to go scrub down with the hose since they were filthy.

"We're slaves, that's what this is…"

"You are a-"

"Say it, I DARE you."

"Well, you're…an African American," Bradshaw began, putting distance between him and his best friend, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "And you just called yourself a slave…" He took off running when Ron started chasing him.

Taker was going to have to remind them why they were a part of the Ministry of DARKNESS and not the Saturday morning children's lineup.

Eventually.

"If you kids are quite finished chasing each other around, dinner is ready!" Angeni called out, shaking her head when John skidded to a halt and Ron ended up slamming right into him, both of them toppling to the ground in a heap. "Fools."

She giggled along with Stephanie, both of them heading back inside to get the plates and silverware out, setting them on the table. They couldn't all sit at the small table, so they would have to occupy the living room as well as the kitchen. The food was on the table, but Angeni would move it once everyone loaded their plates. She smiled at Mark when he walked inside, pointing directly to the bedroom and smirked while taking her apron off.

"Steph, mind checking the cheesecake?" Not waiting for a response, Angeni followed her husband into the bedroom to change her tank top since she'd gotten food on it while cooking.

"We're going to need a bigger house." Taker informed her once they were both in the bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind her. He watched as she peeled, slowly and teasingly, that tank top off. Before she could even drop it, he was pouncing her, pinning her back on the bed. "Tease." He growled just before capturing her lips in a fiery kiss, his hands skimming the bare skin she had just revealed.

Why would he want cheesecake when he had angel cake right here in his arms?

Angeni instantly returned the kiss with equal fire and want, her hands gripping his shoulders before one slid up to entangle in his beautiful black hair. He took it down after coming in from working outside all day and that was a tease to her in itself. Company or not, she refused to push her husband's attention away, but had to break the kiss when both of them needed air to breathe.

"I said that earlier." She whispered, running a single nail down his rugged handsome face, violet eyes sparkling. "And I'm not the only tease in this room." Mark had also removed his shirt and that just about killed her because her husband had the most amazing chest.

"I'm pretty sure you are, darlin'." He murmured, bending his head down to nip at her throat.

His hand skimmed down over her stomach and to the waistband of her shorts. Totally contradicting himself on the being a tease thing, he slid his hand beneath the fabric of her shorts until he was cupping her mound, smirking slightly at his wife's parted lips. A gasp escaped her and Taker knew there was no turning back, dinner would have to wait because he was having dessert first, lowering his head after removing her shorts.

"I think I'll eat outside…" Paul stated, those walls being rather thin and that had been an exceptionally loud gasp.

"Me too."

"Cheesecake is done, outside we go!"

Kane exchanged looks with Paul before they also followed.

Hours later, Angeni lay in her husband's arms, trying not to laugh because they had basically skipped dinner and went right to their own dessert. "We are terrible hosts, you realize that right?" When he shrugged, Angeni giggled softly and brought his lips to hers again, never wanting to leave this bed.

Suddenly, she broke the kiss and jumped out of bed like her ass was on fire, holding a hand over her mouth as she raced into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. Barely making it to the toilet, Angeni emptied the contents of her stomach and trembled from head to toe, tears stinging her eyes. She absolutely hated vomiting, it was the worse feeling in the world.

Puzzled, Taker sat upright in bed and frowned, staring at the door before raising a hand to his mouth and doing a breath check. No…it wasn't him…Then his green eyes widened and he was on his feet, walking over to knock gently on the door. She had been fine up until just now and he really didn't like the idea of her vomiting after having sex with him.

"Ange, darlin'…" He gave the handle a jiggle, pushing the door open and stared down at her.

Angeni was bent over the sink and had just splashed cool water on her face, trembling slightly from getting sick. That came out of NOWHERE. She was feeling great, terrific after getting sex from her husband. Where the hell had that wave of nausea come from?

"It wasn't you." She murmured, the first words out of her mouth, not wanting him to think having sex with him was nauseating. "I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from…" She sounded confused and splashed more water on her face before brushing her teeth, rinsing her mouth out with water just wasn't cutting it. "And now I'm hungry, what the hell?"

Taker began doing the mental math, and then bent down to open the cupboards beneath the sink. Not saying a word he pulled out a small brown paper sack and placed it on the counter, staring down at her intently. He had sworn up and down after her miscarriage, he was not going to be brushing off any signs of illness or pregnancy.

Since she now seemed all right, that just fueled his curiosity even more. Angeni dried her face off and slowly looked at the box before her, violet eyes widening. Her gaze slowly moved up until they met her husband's emerald green eyes.

"Mark…" He picked the box up and opened it, dumping the contents on the counter before her, causing Angeni to swallow hard. "Honey, I don't think…" He pressed a finger to her lips, stopping her from talking and fresh tears swelled in her eyes. "It's only been a couple months." Angeni said once she pulled away from him, afraid to take the test because of what it would tell her. She wasn't sure if she was ready to be a mother yet, her and Mark had a lot more mending to do in their marriage. "I'm not pregnant."

Denial would work.