A/N: A special thanks goes to BreakTheWalls for the wonderful review and yogaratw607 for becoming a follower. I appreciate all of you readers. Onto number nineteen, let me know what you think.

Chapter 19:

Family

Karina

Being back at home felt indifferent to me. I had felt so comfortable around everyone at the party and I hadn't felt that way in a long time. Wiping the counter of stray coffee droplets, I turned to look out the window above the sink. The rain was coming down hard as the storm rolled in from the south. Today wasn't going to be very productive at all and had I known the weather was going to suck, I would have tried to stay a little longer in Canada.

"Karina!" My mother called from the foyer. She must have just let herself in with her key.

"In the kitchen!" I shouted back.

It wasn't long before she appeared in the room with my step-father in tow. Henry Kensington, the man who practically raised my brother and I since we were five. He outstretched his arms, waiting for me to enter them. I smiled and did just that. It had been several months since I've seen him. He worked overseas quite a bit; but he always made sure to come see me when he's home. "I hear you are doing quite well for yourself young lady." He commented.

"Eh, maybe a little." I answered with a light hearted laugh.

"How about we go get some lunch and catch up?" He offered.

Before I could open my mouth to accept the offer, there was a loud pounding on my front door. My brows furrowed in confusion. I knew that Jayson and Hayley weren't going to be there today. They had a meeting with the owner of the place they were renting for their wedding reception and Landon was out of town with his girlfriend.

Walking across the foyer, I opened the door to see a police officer standing there. He was probably five foot ten or eleven with dark brown hair and probably the darkest brown eyes I had ever seen. "Are you Karina Dawson?" He asked formally.

"I am."

"I regret to inform you, that your father has passed away."

"Wait! What?"

I couldn't believe it. I had only seen him once, so how was it possible for a police officer to know I was his daughter. My mom and Step-Dad came into the foyer with me. I took a couple steps back, placing a hand against my stomach. My heart sunk without knowing a reason why. There was no relationship between us and I hadn't given him a chance to really form one, which was going to be a regret of mine for the rest of my life. "What's going on?" My mom asked.

"David Lewis has passed away, I assume you are Karina's mother." The police officer explained yet again.

"I am. How?"

Now I had a name that I had been too stubborn not to ask for. My father's name was David Lewis. Burning tears made my vision blurry. I could feel Henry's arm wrap around me. My mom stood in shock as she was trying to comprehend the thought. The officer opened his mouth to speak. "A house fire. There is more. He left behind a daughter and you, Karina, are her only living relative. Her mother also died in the fire."

"I have a sister?"

"You do."

He waved to the second officer standing by their vehicle. He opened the backseat door and a girl got out. She was no older than seventeen years old. Dark brown hair and the same ocean blue eyes that my father and I shared. She was wearing light colored distressed skinny jeans and a black crop top. An umbrella was sheltering her from the rain as she made her way to my front porch. "This is Shay Lewis."

"Hello, Shay. I'm Karina." I greeted, trying hard not to cry in front of her.

"Let's get you inside and get you some dry clothes." My mother said wrapping an arm around the frightened teenager.

"We will be in touch." The officer said, before taking his leave.

I closed the door, turning to face my step-father. He had no idea what to do with the situation that presented itself to us as a family. I had a sense of duty and because I was her only living relative, there was no way I was going to let her go into the system. Pulling my phone out from my back pocket, I quickly opened my inbox and proceeded to type a new message. "I could really use a friend right now. So much has happened in the last fifteen minutes that I feel like I could just explode." I sent it to Kenny.

Shay was looking around in the living room. My mom had wrapped her into the fleece blanket that had cloaked the back of the couch. "I'm sorry for your loss." I said, trying to get a conversation going with her.

"Thank you. My mom was a wonderful person. She looked a lot like your mom." Shay answered, moving to sit down on the edge of the oversized chair in the far corner of the room.

"Oh? My mom is a wonderful person too. She's been different since Haden passed away."

"Haden?"

"He was my twin brother."

Shay looked disappointed with the news. I walked further into the room and picked up a framed photo from the mantle over the fireplace. Handing her the photo, she brushed her thumb along the photo. "He had dad's eyes too." She commented.

"Yes, he did. We didn't know our father. He never made an attempt to know us. It wasn't until about a month ago did he finally try to know me."

"I didn't have much of a relationship with him either. He was always in a hospital of some kind. It was pretty much just mom and me my whole life."

I could understand exactly what she was feeling. There was no greater bond than a mother and daughter. She handed the photo back to me and all I could do was stare at it. He would have loved to know this girl. He was always about family. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she pulled her knees up closer to her chest.

Instinct took over and I immediately sat down next to her, wrapping my arms around her. This couldn't be easy for her. She didn't know me. All I could do was be there if she needed comfort.

Kenny

Reading Karina's message, it got me worried about her. Thankfully, I was in Jacksonville already for a meeting with Tony Khan. Sitting in the meeting, my mind was not focused on what was being talked about. It was on her. Something was off and I could feel deep down in my gut. "Moxley is out. He has MRSA in his arm that developed while he was in Japan. Does anyone have a replacement in mind?" Cody stated.

I was pissed off with the news. I felt like Jon had been reckless knowing what our match was going to be. It was a money maker and he blew it, now we were scrambling to find a decent replacement. They were tossing out names left and right. None of seemed like good options. It wasn't until Nick and Matt cryptically suggested a name that got my blood boiling. PAC.

"That's perfect!" Tony said excitedly, he knew nothing of the past he had with Karina. Of course, no one did and I had a feeling that it would come to light sooner rather than later.

"What do you think, Kenny? Is that a good enough replacement for you?" Cody asked.

"I believe so."

The meeting was over a few minutes after they decided my new opponent at All Out. I walked out of the room, holding my phone in my hand. I immediately replied to Karina's message, "I'm in Jacksonville, would you like me to come over later?" It wasn't long before her answer came back. "Sure, my mom is making dinner. How about 7:30?"

"That sounds great. See you then."

So I was going to be eating dinner with her mother as well, I suppose that I should probably dress nicely and not in my usual getup of workout shorts and a t-shirt. Nick and Matt were in the hall chasing me down. "Why are you in such a hurry?" Nick asked, catching up to me.

"Sorry, Karina seems a little distraught. I'm going to go see her." I answered, which only put a smile on their faces.

"I don't know why you keep hesitating with her. She obviously cares a great deal for you and we all know you care for her, so what's the problem?"

"Just drop it, okay. If it happens, it happens. I'm not going to force anything along, now if you'll excuse me."

I took my leave and headed straight back to my hotel room. There was a lot on my mind and now I had to focus on a new adversary. One that had a past with Karina and I'm sure she wouldn't like it at all. Hopefully, she'd tell me what that past was before the match happened. If there was anyone who could help me prepare for him, it was her.

Quickly getting into my back, I dug out a pair of jeans that had no holes in them and a brown polo shirt. Putting gel into my hair, I made sure that it was stiff enough to not get into my eyes during the dinner.

Karina

Shay stood in the empty spare room upstairs. The only things in there were a full bed and a cherry wood dresser. It felt empty and I couldn't imagine what was going through her mind in that moment. She had just lost her mother, everything she owned and found out that she had a half-sister that she knew nothing about all in a matter of days. "I'll take you shopping for clothes and things tomorrow." I said, when she turned to look back at me.

"Why are you being so nice?" She questioned.

"Regardless of how things played out in lives, you are still blood to me. I'm not going to let you go through the system. You can stay here and finish school. If you want to enroll in a public school or want to do it online, either one is perfectly fine." I answered as honestly as I could.

She sat down on the edge of the bed, running a hand through her long chocolate colored hair. I moved across the room to sit down next to her. "There is no rush on these things, okay. One step at a time."

"Thank you."

"Come on, it's dinner time."

I allowed her to go ahead of me. As we made our way down the spiral stairs, there was a knock at the front door. She went into the kitchen as I moved into the foyer to open the door. Kenny stood there with a smile on his face. He stepped inside, searching my face for the answers to his silent questions. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"My father died. I assume it happened a few days ago, otherwise they wouldn't have brought his teenage daughter to me."

"What?"

"Yeah, I got a half-sister."

"Jesus...I know you didn't know your dad; but that can't be an easy thing to hear."

No, it wasn't easy to hear. I had to be strong for someone else this time around. Shay had no one to look out for her. Kenny wrapped his arms around me tightly and I immediately felt the release of the worries I had been holding onto. "Karina, are you coming?" My mother called from the kitchen.

"Yeah…"

We walked across the foyer and into the kitchen. Henry was sitting at the head of the dark oak rectangular table. Shay was sitting at the other end. My mother was busy putting food onto a plate for her husband. The three of them looked up to see me step into the room with Kenny by my side. "Welcome Kenny, it's nice to see you again." My mother greeted.

"Hello, Rachel." He answered, lifting his hand up to wave.

A smile tugged at my lips as we sat down next to each other. Shay's eyes lingered on him before returning to the food in front of her. It was a few minutes later when my step-dad opened his mouth to end the silence. "Karina, I heard your new song made to Sirius XM radio." He stated.

"It did. I'm very proud of what we accomplished with it."

"What song?" Shay asked, taking a drink from her glass of lemonade.

"Karina is the lead singer of the band Celestial. One of their songs finally got onto the big time radio stations."

Her eyes went wide for a moment, then she looked directly at me. She was looking for a confirmation to what he had told her. Kenny's hand found mine under the table. He gave it a reassuring squeeze. This new role of mine was a hard adjustment. I had no idea how to be a big sister. Haden had been the older one by a few minutes. "Yeah, it's a group effort though. I couldn't have done it without the other members of the band."

I could tell that she was holding in her emotions. The grieving stage hadn't yet hit her and if she's anything like me, it will be just a waiting game to see when the breakdown happens. When Haden died, I couldn't come to terms with it until a month after the accident happened. That's when my whole world crumbled. "And you are? Her boyfriend?" Shay asked nonchalantly.

Kenny choked on his diet coke. My mom tried hard not to laugh at the turn of the conversation. The heat found its way to my cheeks almost instantly. I gently patted his back to get him to stop coughing. "No, he's a friend from my other career."

"You have two jobs?"

"Yup, I'm also a wrestler for AEW. My first match takes place this Saturday at their Pay-Per-View, All Out."

"If you want, she can bring you along to see first hand what she does." Kenny offered.

I was stunned to hear his words. Shay smiled for the first time since she's been in my home. After dinner was over, she stayed in the kitchen to help my mom do the dishes. The girl was well mannered, which was something you didn't see too often anymore in teenagers of this generation.

Kenny followed me out onto my back porch. It was covered and there was a small waterfall at the far right corner with LED lights in the bottom of the basin. I enjoyed hearing it at night, so soothing and it just allowed me to relax on some of the most stressful days of my life. The night air was humid from the earlier rain and I knew it wasn't over just yet. "Thank you for coming here today."

"You're welcome. I can understand why you felt overwhelmed. I can't imagine what you're thinking right now."

"To be honest, all I care about is Shay. The poor girl has been through enough. Apparently our father wasn't there for her either, which doesn't surprise me in the least. I don't want her to fall into the system, so I'll be fighting for her to stay with me permanently."

"That's probably a good thing. She's going to need some guiding and you're the perfect person for it."

I loved that he had faith in me; but there were so many insecurities that just wanted to come to the surface. Sitting down on the outdoor sofa, I curled my legs close to my backside. Kenny moved to sit down next to me. We really hadn't talked about what my part will be in The Elite or what my role in the Casino Battle Royal would be. "Is it going to be okay, if she does want to come with me Saturday?" I asked, hoping that he had something that would get him in trouble later on.

"Absolutely, she's your family. There will be no questions asked."

"Again, thank you for coming out here. You being here made me feel a little bit better about the situation."

He slid over closer and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me in. I rested my head against his chest. "You're welcome. I'm glad I could help." He answered. Pushing myself away to look up at him, my head reached out to touch the side of his face. The texture of his facial hair was course against the palm of my hand.

"Rina...there is something I need to tell you."

I immediately removed my hand from his face, letting it rest on my lap. Perhaps, I read too much into whatever was developing between us. It was wrong of me to think that maybe we would be more than friends one day. "Jon had to be taken out of our match. He got MRSA while in Japan." He explained.

"What! That's awful. Now what? Do you not have a match now?"

"No, they announced a replacement."

"Who?"

"It's PAC."

My body froze instantly. Why on earth would they choose him? Was this some kind of joke that wasn't in the least bit funny? Clenching my hands into fists on my lap, Kenny took notice of it without any time passing. "Karina, I know there is history there between you two. I just want to understand it."

"I...I can't…"

My chest hurt and I was fighting for a breath. It felt like everything was spinning and closing in around me. Kenny called my name and I could no longer hear it clearly. The thought of PAC in the ring with him was not something I wanted to envision. Adrian knew me all too well and he'd use anything he could to get back at me.

Kenny quickly got on his knees in front of me, taking my hands into his. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I felt his thumb brush across my knuckles. "Karina, take a breath. Listen to my voice, you don't have to tell me anything."

"You should probably stay away from me. I'm only going to bring you down."

"I'm not going to do that. I think we both know that too much has happened to let this fall apart now."

Another sob escaped my mouth. He leaned up capturing my mouth with his. The familiar feeling of his lips against mine was all I needed to come out of the anxiety attack. He pulled me up to stand, still locked in his kiss. When we separated, a smile was on both of our faces. "No matter what happened between the two of you in the past, he won't get a chance to repeat it. You are safe with us, as part of The Elite."