ATM: The Bonehead and the Brain – The Boy is Mine
Now that Seth knows the whole Truth about Sasha and Roman, the Shield have a very difficult decision to make. With the New Year just around the corner, DX do everything they can to stop things from getting out of control.
Chapter Seven – The Shield Baby
The Lobby, The Marriott, Stamford, CT
Bianca Belair looked across at Seth from the seating area in the hotel lobby. She had just told him the secret God told her about Sasha and the heaviness from carrying the secret for so long left her head and the precious gems in her hair were no longer lit. Watching the questioning look in Seth's eyes go from disbelief to acceptance so quickly was something to behold. While the colour drained from each of the other Shield member's faces on hearing the secret, Seth's face stood strong which was in line with who he was as a person. Bianca realised in that moment why he was the Architect of the Shield.
"So there's only one more thing that you guys need to decide before I go," Bianca said to each Shield member. "Do you want me to tell Sasha that the baby she's carrying is not Seth's?"
Seth's eyelashes fluttered his suspended tears back up into his head so he could respond in an intelligible way to his Treasurer's question.
"No," he said in almost a whisper, "I'll tell her,"
"Okay, that's all I needed to know. Now if you fellas will excuse me, I'm going to my husband. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about," Bianca said getting up and she gave Seth's hand a supporting squeeze. Her touch sent strength from God right though to his heart and he watched as she left wondering if he should go with her but he knew he couldn't do that. He had to stay and face the situation. He was not the father of Sasha's baby, Roman was.
Dean Ambrose had not stopped staring at the ceiling since Bianca told them the secret and Roman had been crying profusely ever since. Emotions ranged between rage and regret but most of all regret. Seth had to fight to keep himself from saying what he really felt inside because Sasha had four more months to go before the baby was born and the Shield had to decide when would be the best time to tell her. As emotional as they all were, they had to make the right decision for Sasha and the baby and they had to do it together.
"Somebody say something please," Seth said and Roman collapsed into his hands. "Okay Dean you say something,"
Dean shook his head in silence, "There are no words right now Seth, I'm scared of what I might say right now so I'm going to remain silent,"
"Well we need to figure out the best time to tell Sasha, do I keep my wife in the dark for the next four months, or do I tell her right now?" Seth said the canopy of tears behind his eyes threatening to fall at the sight of his friends' despair at the secret revealed by Bianca Belair. Roman was a human fountain and Dean was a quiet storm waiting to blow over everything in its sight. "There's absolutely no way I can keep this from my wife, I have to tell her what my Treasurer just told us, it's just a matter of deciding the best time to tell her,"
Dean's right leg started to vibrate, his silent rage was about to erupt and Seth looked around. There was hardly anyone in the lobby but he thought it would be best to change location. "Let's go outside," he said but as he went to stand his feet were like cement. His body seemed to go into shock, the secret had really overwhelmed him and he looked at Dean for support, "Deano, can you help me up?"
Ambrose took a deep breath, wiped the tears from his eyes and got to his feet. He pulled Seth to his feet, then he pulled Roman to his.
Seth and Dean led Roman to the street behind the hotel and Seth saw Bianca's Thunderbird parked there and he sat on the hood of her car and dropped his head into his hands while Dean and Roman crashed down by the hotel wall. Seth knew Bianca would be reuniting with her husband shortly and she could be coming for her car in any minute. But sitting on her car made him feel close to her, God knew that he wouldn't be able to get through something this mammoth without her.
Dean and Roman needed him to make the decision but he also needed to process what he had just found out. For months, Seth and Sasha had made room in their lives for a baby boy that wasn't even his and the baby's father was a married man with four children. Now Roman had five children and Seth had none and Sasha still had no idea the baby she was carrying was Roman's, not Seth's. The affair they had in New York the night Chyna drowned had gone from a desperate act of adultery, to a life-changing event that would potentially wreck the lives of even more people when they found out. Roman still had to tell Galina and she had already asked Seth to keep an eye on Roman. Now Galina's paranoia about Roman hurting her again didn't seem so ludicrous to Seth. The worst of this was far from over, the Treasurer's revelation was just a preview; there was much more for the Shield to see.
"Guys come on, you have to help me decide what to do. Should I tell Sasha today or should I wait until after the baby's born? I have to do what's right by my wife but I can't make this decision on my own, I need you guys to talk to me," Seth said.
"No you don't have to do what's right by your wife Seth," Dean said finally speaking, his eyes red from the tears burning the back of his eyes, "you don't have to do anything Seth. Roman is the one who has to fix this, he got her pregnant. This is his mess to clean up, not yours. I say, you come stay with Renee and me in Las Vegas for awhile and let Sasha and Roman sort this whole thing out,"
"I'm not leaving my wife," Seth replied adamantly and Dean's rage finally exploded.
"Your wife left you the minute she got in bed with Roman, so why are you still acting like you're still married to her? You have no dog in this fight Seth, your wife is carrying another man's baby. Its time for you to cut your damn losses and start looking around for another lady to be your wife," Dean Ambrose said.
"Dean calm down okay? I still love my wife and that is never gonna change, I don't care how much this hurts, I'm still gonna stand by her side until the baby's born," Seth said.
"And then what? Are you going to stand by her side after the baby comes? After she brings Roman's baby to term, are you going to hold her hand and say "It's a boy!"" Dean asked sarcastically and Roman got to his feet.
"That's not fair Ambrose, Seth and Sasha are in love with each other, this doesn't change that. Seth asked a very simple question, he didn't ask you for marriage advice. Do we tell Sasha now or wait until the baby...my baby, is born," Roman said his face trembling with anguish. "If we wait, there's no risk to the health of the baby or Sasha because she won't be under any stress from knowing that the baby's not Seth's. If you tell her now Seth, you run that risk or worse, plus there's my wife, we have to think about how Galina is going to handle this. If she leaves me which is a real likelihood at this point, I'll have to raise the baby on my own,"
Seth's face turned to stone, "Galina is not the one you got pregnant Roman, you can tell her whenever you want, it's the woman you actually got pregnant that you should be worrying about right now,"
"So you want me to tell you when to tell Sasha that she's carrying my baby? Seth I gotta think about my wife too, if you tell Sasha now or you wait until the baby's born, I still gotta take care of my wife," Roman said and he collapsed into tears again, "this wasn't supposed to happen, Seth I'm so sorry, this is all my fault!"
Dean crouched down over Roman and as the Big Dog cried tears of hard despair Seth felt his breath quickening. Sasha was carrying Roman's baby and Dean was comforting Roman, nobody was comforting him! It was the New York thing all over again; whenever he was in a tough spot, Roman and Dean were there for each other but no-one was there for him. Dean was right; he had no dog in the fight, his wife was pregnant for another man and he had nothing to look forward to in the spring of 2024, except for kicking Kenny Omega's butt at Wrestlemania.
Seth got off of Bianca Belair's hood and stood on his feet, as he waited for the numbness to subside he walked over to his Shield brothers and encircled them with his arms. He prayed for them using God's strength to fuel his prayer. The prayer worked and by the time Seth finished praying his jacket was soaked with Shield tears and they were still in love with each other. They were still brothers in arms, they were still the Shield and by God's grace they were going to get through this together.
They wiped the tears from each other's eyes and cried then wiped the tears from their eyes and then cried again. Exhausted from crying, the Shield fell asleep by Bianca's Thunderbird. When Bianca came to her car and saw them slumped over in an exhausted embrace, she opened her car and pulled them into it. She put her car keys in Seth's hand and told him to go for a drive until he could decide when to tell his wife she was carrying Roman's baby. Bianca told Seth she'd keep Sasha occupied until he got back.
"Is it okay if I tell Alexa about this?" Bianca asked Seth wiping the tear stains from his cheek.
"Yeah, I could do with the extra prayer coverage," Seth said and Bianca kissed him on the forehead before leaving the Shield to go for a much needed drive around Stamford. "Did you find Montez?"
"Seth for once in your life, forget about other people's marriages and start thinking about your own," Bianca said and she gave Seth another supportive squeeze before leaving him with Roman and Dean who were passed out in the back from all the crying. Seth looked back at them when Belair left him again and realised that he was still without someone to comfort him and that really sucked. He got out of the passenger seat and got in the back with Roman and Dean and they stayed there together with the Thunderbird in park. A few moment later Roman spoke but it was so painful he could barely get through the words without cracking up.
"I think you should tell Sasha tonight," he said and Seth nodded. "once you've told her, I'll come over and support you both and then I'll tell Galina, then I hope you'll both support me. There's a good chance I could go into the New Year a single father,"
Dean held Roman's face in his hands and smiled at him earnestly, "You'll never be single, as long as we're around, I'll always be here for you brother, no matter what,"
Roman hugged Dean and Seth hugged them both, knowing he would always be there for Sasha, no matter what. He didn't know if he could say the same about Roman, he kept those feelings to himself until his Treasurer was available for him to talk to again, then he would let it all out like a biblical flood. The level of hate for Roman was growing like a deadly tree in his heart and he needed Bianca to help him cut it down before it grew and tore his friendship with Roman to shreds, thorn by prickly thorn.