Chapter 71

Mercedes was very happy to back to hotel an hour later. She was tired as well as Colby and the kids. It had been a fun and wonderful night. As well as emotional. But great in the end. She had loved the fans that had attended the Hall of Fame ceremony. But she looked forward to WrestleMania the next day. Thousands of fans would be in attendance for one of the greatest events in WWE. And it was all in her hometown of Boston, Massachusetts.

"Well, Derek and Valerie are sound asleep," Colby said as he entered his and Mercedes's bedroom of the three-bedroom suite they were staying in at their hotel.

"Good," Mercedes said as she sat on the king-sized bed. She dressed in her pajamas.

"Aaron is on his way there," Colby continued. "And the girls will be up awhile longer."

"Yes, they will," Mercedes replied.

Colby chuckled as he climbed onto the bed with his wife.

Mercedes smiled as he moved toward her and kissed her.

"Did you enjoy tonight?" Colby asked.

"I did," She replied. "I especially enjoyed (hostess) saying you were handsome."

Mercedes grinned as Colby chuckled.

"And she has nothing to worry about either."

"Yes, you're the only one for me."

"You might have to prove that to me."

"OH," Colby said. "Are we going to play that game?"

"Always," Mercedes replied with a grin. "And we do have to celebrate me having been inducted into the hall of fame. A celebration with just you and me."

"That does remind me of a couple things. WWE and Evie."

"What?"

"Nothing bad, baby," Colby said.

"Good. But what about Evie first?"

"She has decided on the song she is going to do for the talent show."

"What one?"

"I Turn to You by Christina Aguilera."

"Oh, I love that song!"

"The song is a tribute to you!" Colby smiled.

"It is?" Mercedes asked, eyes tearing up.

"The meaning of the song is about being able to turn to a certain someone whenever need be. After tonight, she made her official decision to do that song. You mean as much to her as she does to you, baby!"

Tears streamed down Mercedes's cheeks.

Colby moved toward her. He wiped away her tears and kissed her.

"I can't wait to hear her perform it," Mercedes replied with more tears falling from her eyes.

"Hopefully, she can get through it without crying herself," Colby replied, wiping those tears.

Mercedes chuckled. She kissed him. "What is the other thing related to WWE?"

"Guess who is getting inducted into next year's Hall of Fame?!"

"Seth Rollins!"

"As well as Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. Paul is doing the Shield together as they did the Four Horsewomen."

"Yay!"

"Oh, Finn Balor as well."

"Fergal will be inducted next year with you three?"

"Yep. Paul made the final decision for that. Four more great inductees."

"I love it!" Mercedes exclaimed. "And I love you!"

"I love you too! Now how about we get to that game we were going to play?"

"Let me quote one other Christina Aguilera song: come one over baby. Because all I want is you," Mercedes giggled as she motioned for her husband to come over to her with her finger.

Colby laughed as he moved toward her. He kissed her passionately.

Two days later, it was WrestleMania day. Mercedes, Ashley, Becky, and Pam didn't have to do an all-day thing at the venue for the event like they had back in their days as WWE Superstars. However, Mercedes was there at the time everyone else was getting there. So were Colby, the kids, her in-laws, and her mom. One time during the day, Mercedes took her four older children into some of the seats where thousands of fans would be sitting later that evening. They all surveyed the setup for the 48th WrestleMania. Mercedes talked to the kids about all her times at WrestleMania.

"My first WrestleMania moment was at WrestleMania 30," Mercedes began. "It was me, Ashley, and Lexi, and we were part of Paul's entrance. It was so much fun. I loved our costumes."

"I love watching that entrance with Paul," Mariah said. "when you show it to us."

"Me too," Aaron said.

"That was also the WrestleMania where the Shield delivered the double triple powerbowb!" Evelyn exclaimed.

Mercedes laughed. "Yes, it was. The Shield versus the New Age Outlaws and Kane."

"I know your most favorite WrestleMania was fifteen years ago," Katianna said.

"Yes," Mercedes replied with a bright smile. "I was pregnant with your big sister and your father proposed."

"I love the story of your proposal!"

Her siblings agreed.

"I'll never forget," Mercedes said.

But something else great happened that night, Mercedes thought.

She grinned as she remembered her first night with Colby. Her first time having sex since her rape. That one horrible thing that happened to her brought her to a great man. And that night with Colby was the greatest night she had ever had with a man. Colby was so gentle and caring with her. But slowly over time in the many times that followed with that first experience with him, he got a little rougher. Sometimes you just needed a little roughness. But not a brutal roughness. Just your partner being in full control.

Mercedes looked at her four older children. She grinned even more. They were the result of some of those times. Aaron had been conceived the night she had retired from wrestling. A night she had truly needed with her husband after a tiring few weeks getting ready for Survivor Series. Then Katianna had been conceived the first time she and Colby had been able to have sex again after Aaron's birth. Mariah's conception was just a random night of being with her husband. The same with Derek and Valerie.

Mercedes and Colby just let nature take its course and be the one to decide if they got their six children. They still did the birth control. But they had two slips with Derek and Valerie being conceived. And there was nothing wrong with that.

Mercedes looked at Evelyn, though. She still grinned. She had not conceived Evelyn with Colby. But that didn't matter. Colby had shared all the moments of her pregnancy with Evelyn. He had loved every minute of it. And she saw a change in him just moments after Evelyn had been. It was the way he had looked at Evelyn. Mercedes was being sewn back together from her C-section. But when he brought Evelyn over to her for her to see. The smile on Colby's face was one of the biggest one's she had seen.

"I love you so much, Evie!" Mercedes exclaimed.

Evelyn smiled. "I love you too, Mommy!" She moved so she could hug her. She knew it had been a very emotional weekend for her mom. It had been clear at the Hall of Fame ceremony.

At an early age, Evelyn had known Colby was not her "birth father". He was her daddy and everything. But her mother had been with another man to get pregnant with her. A man that had meant nothing to her the way her husband been. However, Evelyn learned when she was a little older and understood, her mother had been raped. Evelyn was shocked at first. But when she was told the story it didn't surprise her.

Evelyn was never ashamed of the way she came to be. They referred to her mom's rapist as the evil sperm donor. Evelyn referred to him as a bad man her mom had been with once. Some people assumed Mercedes had had a one-night stand. Evelyn didn't care what people thought and when they knew the truth. Colby was her dad! And Evelyn didn't blame her mom wanting her to have a miscarriage with her pregnancy. She didn't care about any of it as her parents. Her parents loved her and did not think of her as anything bad.

"I wanted to tell you," Evelyn said pulling away from her mom and looking at her. "I decided on a song I'm going to sing at the talent show."

"I Turn to You by Christina Aguilera," Mercedes said. "Your dad told me last night. And I can't wait to hear you sing it." Mercedes's eyes watered.

Evelyn's did too. She hugged her mom again and very tightly. She loved her mom as much as she loved her. Evelyn couldn't live without her mom. Or her dad, her siblings, anyone else of her family, and her adoptive aunts and uncles of wrestling.

Later that night, the kids with their grandparents sat in the crowd with the thousands of WrestleMania fans. Derek and Valerie were with their older siblings and grandparents as well. They were all also sitting near Becky and Fergal's kids, Fergal's parents, Becky's mom, Ashley and Rami's kids, Ashley's siblings and their kids, Pam's kids, and the rest of her family as well. All the families of the Horsewomen.

The Four Horsewomen were backstage with their husbands. The eight were all happy to be by themselves while their families were watching from the crowd.

"I'd say last night was emotional for Ashley and Mercedes," Aaron, Pam's husband commented. The eight were discussing the Hall of Fame the night before.

Everyone agreed.

"I have cried nonstop since January," Ashley said. "Just thinking about all of it makes me think of Dad and Reid." And the tears began again. "I just wish I could talk to Reid one more time. Just for five minutes. I know he and Dad are proud of me. I just want to hear him say it."

Rami moved over toward his wife. He wrapped his arms around her. Ashley smiled, wrapping her own arms around him. He and their kids had made her so happy. They had made her so happy as Mercedes, Becky, and Pam had. Plus, all the other people Ashley made friends with on her own in the company. Not just because of her dad.

All of the women were thankful for people they had met along their wrestling careers. But most of all, they were all thankful for their husbands. They had all met their husbands due to wrestling. Everyone thought Becky's was the cutest meeting because Fergal had been her trainer in the very beginning.

Later that night, all the inductees for the 2032 Hall of Fame were presented.

"The Four Horsewomen," The announcer announced. "Bayley." The fans gave their cheers, screams, and applause.

"Becky Lynch."

"Charlotte Flair."

Woos came from the crowd. Ashley smiled. She did her dad's strut. Everyone on the stage clapped and laughed at it.

"Sasha Banks!"

The crowd was the loudest for her.

Mercedes smiled. She was wearing her Legit Boss rings and her glasses on top of her head. She put her glasses on. She swayed to the side, holding her hands.

"I have always loved that of her entrance," Judith commented to her oldest grandkids. "I am so proud of your mom!"

"We are too!" Mariah exclaimed. "I have never tired of hearing her wrestling stories over and over again. The same with Dad's."

Her siblings agreed.

Colby smiled as he was backstage watching. As usual he was proud of his wife. However, he couldn't wait to be inducted into the Hall of Fame himself next year. And he was very excited it was with Joe and Jon. The Shield was like the Four Horsewomen.