*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter they were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much*
"What do you think of the name Luca?" I ask Roman as we are driving to look at a new house in the San Francisco area since we were surprised with Roman getting a head coaching job with the 49ers we were not expecting it at all it was definitely a good surprise for us. We sold the house in Pittsburgh we had purchased within a couple days and the last couple weeks Roman and I have been staying in a hotel. The 49ers owner is paying for our stay but we had nowhere else to go since we were set to move to Pittsburgh and our New Orleans house had been sold. Roman needed to report to San Francisco nearly right away so we just went to stay in a hotel here while most of our furniture and belongings are in storage.
"Luca Reigns," he says. "Roman and Luca Reigns," he says again. "Roman and Luca, I like it. Let's do the sibling test, Nova, Kylynn, Luca and Roman."
"That actually goes pretty good together," I say, "You have two names that end in an a and two names that end in a n. They all sound good together, so we are agreeing on Luca and Roman for their names?"
"For now," he says, "When Shea was pregnant with the girls we changed our mind so many times. Nova was going to be Stella, Olivia, or Gianna but then she was born and her name was Nova. Same with Kylynn I think we had chosen the name Olivia and Stella for her but then she was born and we went with Kylynn."
"How did you even come up with those names?" I ask.
"I don't know. We heard the name Nova somewhere after we had chosen Gianna for her and we both really liked it so we went with Nova Reigns and Kylynn came from Shea's mom I haven't always been a fan of it I wish we had gone with Olivia instead."
"So why did you agree to Kylynn if you didn't like it?"
"Because Olivia and Stella were too popular and we wanted something a little more original but not too original."
"I see," I nod. "I always wondered how my parents came up with Hayden it's not Italian nor is it Spanish, I just thought they would have given me a name reflecting their cultures but I like my name."
"Hayden suits you," he smiles. "And I like Hayden."
"Thank-you," I smile. "So for now Luca and Roman will be their names."
"Roman isn't going to change," he promises. "I want my junior. I'm so excited to have sons. I was wishing for boys. I'm so glad my wish came true."
"I love seeing you happy," I say. "So how is everything going with the team?"
"Pretty good, these guys really want it and I feel like it's not so tension filled as it was with the Steelers. I don't think I would have lasted too long if I had to deal with Mack and his arrogance all season. It probably would have cost me a lot of money and I battered him to a pulp."
"Yeah, and you would have gotten an assault charge too and then you would be sitting in jail missing your daughters' lives and your sons coming into the world and honestly Mack wasn't and isn't worth all that. I'm glad you got this job although I am sad that we won't be closer to my parents but this is your dream and this is something that you deserve, something you have waited for your whole life." I squeeze his thigh softly.
"I may have waited for this my whole life but I have waited for you more," he smiles.
"That was smooth," I smile.
"It's the truth," he says. "I have waited for a woman that I truly love, that makes me happy and makes me want to wake up the next day. You bring out the best in me and you make every day worth living. I have waited for you my whole life. You make me want to be a better person than I ever was. The man I used to be, the man I was is not who I want to be with you. You bring out the best in me.
"Baby," I squeeze his thigh once more before he takes my hand into his, lacing our fingers together and kissing it softly with a smile. "I love you."
"I love you too," he says as my phone starts to ring.
"It's my dad," I say, "I need to take this."
"Okay, tell him I said hi."
"I will," I say as I answer the phone after our trip to New York my dad and Roman have gotten along pretty good, a lot better than before. I think my dad finally realizes that Roman is the best man for me and that he's not going to hurt me like he thought. Roman made some poor choices in his life before me and the poor choice to cheat on his wife with me but that was his choice, his freewill to make that decision but I know that he would never cheat on me with another woman or another man, he is loyal to me and we are a pretty good team. My dad sees that now and I am happy that he does because I'm happier than I have ever been because of Roman. "Hey, Dad," I say answering the phone.
"Hayden, how are you?" he asks.
"Good, busy really," I say.
"Busy? You are on leave from work," he says, "how could you be busy?"
"I know dad but we are in California and trying to find a house here to live in," I say, "Plus I am thinking about writing a book."
"California? What's in California?" he asks.
"Oh yeah, Roman got a head coaching job for the 49ers they offered him double what he was making with the Steelers and there's not as much drama with the 49ers as there was with the Steelers. He was being controlled by one of his players."
"Hmm," he says, "So he got the coaching job, I knew he would do the right thing."
"What does that mean?" I ask.
"It means that Castellano Electronics is a sponsor for the 49ers and the only way I was willing to sponsor them is if Roman was the head coach because I know Roman has talent, loves what he does and will take the 49ers where they need to be."
"You are the sponsor for the 49ers?" I ask as I look at Roman as he looks at me. "So you are the reason Roman got the job?"
"Part of the reason, Roman did the rest on his own," he says.
"I see," I say, "But how did you convince him to hire Roman?"
"I didn't I just said that I wouldn't sponsor them unless Roman was the coach and they made things happen. I didn't want Roman coaching Mack or the Steelers," he says, "why should your husband have to coach the man that raped his wife. It's not fair to Roman and it's not fair to you," he says.
"Wow," I say, "I don't even know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything at all," he says. "Roman deserves this job and you deserve to live a life of peace. Congratulations."
"Thank-you," I say. "And you know Roman and I are having boys right?"
"I did and I can't wait to meet my grandsons, I am sure they will be playing football in a few years just like their dad."
"Maybe we will see maybe they will be an artist instead or a scientist," I smile.
"Football is in their blood and they will grow up around football they are going to be football players."
"I know, but I was just thinking beyond the field," I smile as Roman and I pull up to the house we are looking to buy. "All right, Dad, we are going to look at a house. I will call you later."
"Okay, Principessa, good luck. I love you."
"I love you too, Ciao," I say.
"Ciao, Bella," he says before we hang up the phones.
"What was that about?" Roman asks as we get out of the car.
"Well, apparently Castellano electronics are a sponsor for the 49ers franchise and my dad wasn't willing to sponsor them unless you were the coach."
"So I didn't really earn the coaching job?"
"No, you did, my dad said that you earned it, besides do you think if you didn't deserve that position they would have given it to you just to have Castellano Electronics to sponsor them, they could just move on to another sponsor so as far as I am concerned you earned and you're going to be amazing at it."
"I hope so," he says.
"And he said it wasn't fair that you were to coach Mack, he said you deserved better and I deserve to live in peace which he's right I do."
"Yes you do," he says, "but I heard you mention the book, I thought you weren't going to write the book."
"I wasn't going to write it when you were coaching Mack but since you're not coaching him anymore I don't see an issue. I want to share my story and I am going to share my story. So many rapes occur on college campuses and so many rapes go unreported because of fear of retaliation. I'm glad you made me report my rape even if the charges were dropped without prejudice."
"I still think Mack should have paid for what he did," he says.
"Yes me too but things could have been a lot worse for me," I say. "I have been doing some research on rape cases in America. Like the woman that was raped in North Carolina and got pregnant during her rape, she chose to keep the baby but the rapist continued to harass her, she filed charges and 7 years later the case was still open and she finally moved to Georgia. 7 years later the rapist came back in her life and according to Georgia law rapists have rights to their child. It was not fair to her of course he lost but some women end up losing and have to share custodial rights with their rapists. It's so unfair, it's tying them to their rapist's for life, they already inflicted enough trauma and enough pain on their victim, to be tied to them for life is unimaginable like what if we hadn't aborted that baby all those years ago, Mack could have come back for a DNA test and if he was the father he would have had rights to the child. That would have been the worst. Georgia is such a backwards state and I can't even take it, you can't abort a child of rape, you can't abort for medical reasons, you will be charged for aborting a child, it takes away a woman's right to choose. Every woman has the right to choose what she does to her body. I'm not saying use abortion as a form of birth control BUT every woman deserves the right to choose what she does with her body. Then there was the rape case in Washington where a girl reported that she was raped by a man that broke into her house in the middle of the night, she was asked several times about the details of her rape, who she called after the rape and her story wasn't matching up so they thought she was lying about the whole thing, then they bullied her into saying she made it up, later she was charged with reporting a false rape even though it happened and had to pay $500 to the city then a couple years later in Colorado rapes were happening similar to hers but since they dismissed the case or closed the case no one knew anything about it. Three precincts teamed up to solve the case and to find the rapist. They eventually found the rapists and pictures that he had taken of his victims including the girl from Washington. The detective in Washington still said she made up the rape and that she was charged for a false police report, the detective from Colorado ended up sending him the pictures that were taken of the girl. He eventually reached out to the girl and gave her money back to her but never really apologized to her. She sued the city and settled on a settlement, it wasn't about the money for her it was more than that. She started her whole life over again. I related to her story so much because no one wanted to believe me and while there was evidence they dropped the charges. That's why rapes go unreported but I want to change that, I want to make a difference."
"Wow," he says, "you're such an advocate, I don't know how they could dismiss charges when all that evidence was there."
"We will never know," I say, "Mack will just need to answer to God at end of his life for all of his sins."
"He's going to burn in Hell," says Roman.
"Absolutely, but enough about that let's go check out this house."
"Okay," he says as we meet with the realtor to look at the house.
We spend a good bit of time looking at the house this afternoon, it's a pretty nice house with 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms a large living room and family room. There is a beautiful room for a dining room and a kitchen with beautiful white cabinets and white marble counter tops. A sliding glass door that leads to the backyard and then a nice private street for us to have a peaceful life. We ask about schools in the area with the hope that Shea and Roman can work out a custody agreement where he would have custody of the girls during the school year and she have custody over the summer. I think it's pretty fair but I can't speak for Shea. I just know she's unwilling to relocate to San Francisco but I can't blame her but there have also been talks about her possibly moving to Las Vegas with Dean which is a lot closer to California than Louisiana. Apparently the schools in the area are some of the best which is good enough for us, the house is beautiful, well over $2 million dollars but it's worth it. Roman and I put a bid on the house in hopes of getting it before we go back to the hotel for the rest of the day. "I really hope we get this house, I can't live in this hotel much longer."
"Neither can I," he says, "And I travel for my job I should be used to hotel stays but this is different. I want to live in my house!"
"Same here," I say, "so hopefully we get this house."
"I know," he says, "and the schools around here sound pretty good. So here's to hoping Shea and I can work something out."
"She's stubborn, so I don't know," I say as my phone rings. "Hold on," I say not recognizing the number. "Hello."
"Hayden Gonzales-Castellano," says the woman's voice on the phone.
"It's actually Hayden Reigns now, how can I help you?"
"I'm sorry, Ms. Reigns, my name is Alexandra Boyer and I am calling from Atlanta, Georgia. I am an attorney for women's rights and victims of crimes against women. I was looking over your case and saw that it had been dropped due to lack of evidence however I saw some of the evidence and I believe that you have enough evidence to start a new case, it was dismissed without prejudice which means that you are able to reopen the case and I want to represent you to get you the justice you deserve."
"Um," I say, "I don't know, if somehow he was proven to be innocent then I could face charges of my own. I don't know this is something I have tried to leave behind for the last 5 years."
"I believe that you have a good case, I can reopen the case and get you the justice you deserve. You deserve better than what they did to you."
"I'm not sure," I say, "I think I might want to let this one die."
"How about you think about it and give me a call back with your decision," she says.
"I will think about it but I can't guarantee anything," I say. "what's your number?" She gives me her number and I write it down. "All right Ms. Boyer, I will give you a call back when I make a decision."
"I really hope you pursue these charges against Mack, a man like Mack shouldn't keep getting away with his crimes, I look forward to hearing from you, have a good night," she says.
"You too," I say before hanging up the phone.
"What was that about?" asks Roman.
"I don't know some women's right attorney from Atlanta, she wants me to reopen the case against Mack."
"How if the charges were dropped? Isn't that like double jeopardy."
"No, if it would have been dropped with Prejudice it would be double jeopardy but they dismissed the case without prejudice which means that the case could be reopened again at any time."
"I see," he says, "so why don't you go for it?"
"Because it's risky," I say, "I could get in trouble if he's found innocent."
"What happened to the voice for women, and about reporting rapes? Aren't you going against your beliefs by not pressing charges again?"
"You know I hate you sometimes," I say with a smile, "You're right but I need to think about this. This is a risky decision and I need to think if I want to actually relive it all over again. Just let me think about it before I make any decision."
"It's up to you, Hayden but whatever you choose to do know that I support you no matter what."
"Thanks, Baby," I say as I look down at the number in front of me. I don't know if reopening the case and charging Mack with rape is worth all the emotional turmoil I will face but also I would love nothing more than to get my chance to testify against that monster and see him taken to jail. I have a tough decision to make and a lot of thinking to do, this isn't going to be easy by any means.
*AN: What do you think of Hayden's dad having a part in Roman getting his job with the 49ers? What are your thoughts on the names Luca and Roman for the twins? Do you think Hayden should take the risk and reopen the case against Mack or should she let it rest? Also is anyone still interested in this story? Please review and thank you for reading. I know I am updating less but I am going through some personal things that I am trying to grasp and with work it's a lot and trying to be a parent makes it difficult to update as much but I am trying my hardest so please be patient with me.