Last thing I needed was Tyson to be on a war path about someone asking him about his wrestling career but here I was in the damn car with him going off about his parents questioning him about his career. Like, damn. Did his parents have to ask him "What are you going to do after wrestling?" of all days? I mean it wasn't too long ago that Tyson was ready to rip my cousin's throat out of his body and now his own parents want to ask him what was he going to do after wrestling. That's just a sensitive subject I don't think Tyson wanted to talk about because that man could wrestle in his sleep.

He pushed the end call button on the steering wheel, clutched it tightly a bit but tight enough to where his knuckles turned whiter than his own skin, and huffed loudly enough which let me know he was pissed. Again.

"Do you want me to retire?"

"No."

I said that hastily but for good damn reason.

"Okay, so…why the hell is everyone asking me about my wrestling career? Do they think, I don't know…what…that I'm just going to stop wrestling all of a sudden? I'm not going to stop."

"I know you're not."

That feeling of regret began to sink back in which caused me to stay silent while looking out of the window while tears filled my eyes. I let out a small sigh but still didn't look at Tyson because I didn't want him to see me on the verge of crying but my small sniffle gave me away.

"Tia? Tia, talk to me."

"I don't want to say anything, Tyson," I sobbed. "I know you don't want to stop wrestling but I feel like ever since we had the children, our families think that you should just hang up your boots but I don't want you to do that. Not because of me."

"Not because of you? Tia, please don't say that because you know damn well it's not true. What did your therapist tell you? That you're not at fault for anything so you can't blame yourself for something you never did."

"I still feel bad."

My tears never stopped flowing as Tyson pulled into the parking lot of our hotel and got me out of the car as quickly as he could so we could check into our room. We had been in Toronto for a gaming convention that he was hosting and he had wanted to stop by the convention center where it was held but instead he changed his plans and remained with me for the rest of the day. I managed to stop crying but I was still upset because of that damn feeling coming back. The feeling that I had trapped Tyson into becoming a father and a husband wouldn't leave me mind at all and fuck was it torture. Tyson had helped me undress and get into bed then ordered me some food as I hadn't eaten anything since we had left home in the morning which was evident by the fact that my stomach was growling loudly. When my food finally arrived, I devoured the turkey sandwich and soup that Tyson ordered for me then felt a wave of content wash over me while my stomach digested the food I had shoved down my throat.

I had been sitting up in the bed nibbling on some crackers idly watching t.v. as Tyson sat next to me and asked me if he could find a movie to watch to which I replied yes. He flicked through some channels until he settled for some random action flick that played in the background as he began to talk to me.

"Do you feel better?" he asked me.

"I do. I'm sorry for breaking down earlier," I replied softly.

"It's okay. No need to apologize."

"Do you regret anything?"

"Like?"

"Anything."

Tyson shook his head slightly as he rubbed my thigh that fortunately wasn't covered by the blanket.

"Not at all. I know what you're thinking, I know why you became upset, and I understand how you still have uneasy feelings about our marriage. But just remember that I love you, okay?"

"I know. I love you, too."

Tyson kissed me on my cheek and we continued to watch the action movie together until I initiated a pillow fight that I won.

Flashback:

The year was 1994. I had just turned 11 and it was summer vacation which meant freedom to do whatever it is that I had wanted to do. My parents had given me twenty dollars to spend at the arcade which meant pizza, soda, and of course video games all day long but unfortunately Pac Man had been occupied by two boys that liked to hog games. Luckily, they had went to the restroom which meant I swooped right in for the game, put my coins into the arcade, and started to play until the boys came back and started trouble with me because I took over "their" game.

"I didn't take over anything," I said. "Now leave me alone. You guys are always messing with me."

"Because we don't like you being here!" One of the bullies had pushed me down to the ground and started playing Pac Man along with his other idiot friend.

"HEY!"

I looked up to see the boy that is one of my neighbors walking up to the bullies, pushing them both to the ground, and kicking them in their backs until they got up to run away. He had made sure that the bullies were gone before helping me up to my feet to make sure I was okay.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I am. Thanks," I responded.

"No problem."

Curly blonde hair. Bright blue eyes. Big smile. Teeth glowing brighter than the moon itself. Yup! It was the boy that I lived by and boy was he very cute indeed!

"Do you want to play Mortal Kombat with me?"

"Sure! I'm Tyson! I live next to you!"

"I know. I've seen you outside sometimes. I'm Tia. Do you want to be my friend?"

"Yes!"

"Good! I'm glad we are best friends now so I'm going to beat you in this game!"

"You're on!"

Present:

Hot water ran down my entire body as I stood underneath the shower head in a daze until I felt soft lips touch the back of my neck, snapping me out of my thoughts, and becoming aware that Tyson was right behind me. He gave me a quick kiss then showered alongside me, got dressed, and headed out to the convention that he was hosting as I walked around to see which games everyone had been playing. From fighting to racing games, everything had been played by gamers from all over the world and the great memories of whooping Tyson's ass in Mortal Kombat all came back to me at once. I had gone backstage to where he was after I grabbed myself some nachos with a Diet Coke and sat with him as he played Street Fighter alongside some other gamers. Every time he had won a match, he would grab one of my nachos to eat then continued to game in content which was something I loved seeing. Had he not been a wrestler, he would definitely make a great video game developer and I would be there to support him all the way just like had has supported me.

I want my husband to be happy. That's all I wanted.

I didn't want to be a burden to him or have him thinking that I wanted to trap him and keep him from obtaining any goals he had in life. I wanted him to simply be happy like I am.

"YES! I BEAT YOU!" Tyson yelled at his friend as he took a sip of my soda and resumed gameplay.

I had an idea that I should've thought about long ago but the more I thought about it, the more I knew it needed to be done. Seeing Tyson playing Street Fighter made me want to play against him in a video game that we hadn't battled each other with in a long while…Dance Dance Revolution

It was on.