*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter they were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much*
"Baby," I say as Seth holds open the door to the jewelry store he is taking me to before we have our appointment with Tayla's dad. "I told you we don't' have to do this today. It's not that big of a rush."
"I want to do something. I want to at least put a ring on your finger so that everyone knows you're mine forever," he says making me smile as he places his hand at the small of my back as we walk into the jewelry store. "Of course it won't be the rock you deserve but it will be something like a promise ring of sorts," he says.
"I thought we weren't really engaged right now and that we were just discussing it until you asked me in a more romantic way," I say.
"That's why it is a promise ring. You already said you'd be my wife in discussion but when the time comes I'll ask you the right way and a more romantic way when I can afford a bigger and better ring for you."
"I never understood that," I say as we look at the rings in the case.
"Understood what?" he asks.
"Why some girls need an expensive engagement ring and need a big rock to show that their man loves them. I think that's stupid and materialistic. I could have a cracker jack box ring and be happy as long as I am marrying the man that I love," I explain. "I think it's shallow when girls are all about the ring and not about the love they are getting from their man. I would much rather have the heart than the diamond."
"So you're saying you don't want a big diamond ring to wear?"
"I'm saying that yes," I say as I look at the promise rings. "I don't know why size matters it's not about a piece of metal. It's about what's in here," I say as I touch his chest. "I love you, Seth and I know you love me. That's all that matters to me. A diamond ring isn't going to change that big or small. You gave me something much more important; your future."
"I love you too," he says before kissing my lips softly, "but I'm still going to get you the ring I think you deserve. It's just going to take some time to get that far once I get my WWE contract then I am going to buy you a diamond ring and I am going to ask you the right way," he promises.
"If you say so," I say taking his hand into mine linking our fingers together. I could not love this man any more than I already do. He's amazing with Jonah and he's amazing with me. I'm happy and blessed to call this man the love of my life. He can buy me whatever ring he wishes but the truth is his heart and his future are priceless and mean more to me than some band on my finger.
"Do you see anything that you like?" he asks as we continue looking at our rings. "I'll buy you anything."
I smile and look at the rings in front of me. "I like that one a lot," I say pointing to a ring with two hearts interlocked together one with black diamonds and the other with white diamonds. It catches my eye because it looks like a promise of forever not to mention that it's beautiful.
"Is that the only one you like?" he asks.
"I think it is the most beautiful but yes the other ones are nice but this one is a promise of forever," I say. "I think this is the one I want."
"Okay," he says with a smile as he rubs my back softly. "Excuse me," he says to the woman behind the counter.
"How can I help you, Sir?" she asks as she walks over to us giving us her full attention, giving Seth more of her attention than me. "Is there anything I can help you find?"
"My girlfriend, well fiancée in a way were looking at promise rings until I can provide a better ring that she deserves and she likes this one," he says wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer to him as he points out the interlocking heart ring. He kisses my temple to let the sales girl know that he is happy and taken. I know his actions well.
"That is a beautiful ring," she says with a smile. "Do you know what size you wear?"
"I'm not sure," I answer her.
"That's not a problem," she smiles, "I'll just size your finger to find the size of ring that you need."
"Okay," I say as she gets her sizer to find my ring size. "I love that ring. I think it is so pretty and simple. I like the black diamonds."
"I like it too," he says with a smile. "I think it will look beautiful on that finger right there," he says touching the ring finger on my left hand, "and right now it will go perfect with your French manicure."
"I think you're right," I say with a smile as she returns with the sizer.
She tries all sizes on me and finally a size 6 fits perfectly onto my ring finger. "It looks like you're a size 6 lucky for you we have just one more size 6 left in that style," she says. "I will be right back." She makes her way to the back and returns with a small ring box. She opens it and puts it on my ring finger. It fits perfectly as it sparkles in the light and it looks beautiful on my finger. "That looks perfect on you," she says with a smile. "And it goes well with your manicure."
"Thank-you," I say with a smile. "What do you think, Baby?" I ask Seth.
"Perfect like you," he says with a smile before he kisses my lips softly.
"You have the option of having it engraved, is that something you wish to do?" she asks.
"Do you want to have it engraved?" he asks me.
"I don't know. What would we have engraved?"
"I'm not sure," he says rubbing his beard he was growing. "It's up to you."
"What if I got your name engraved on this side and got mine engraved on this side then have forever engraved on it, what do you think?"
"I think that works," he says with a smile. "We would like to have the ring engraved."
"Wonderful," she smiles as I take the ring off my finger. "We can have that done here within the hour if you would like."
"That would be great," he says, "can I pay for everything first? We can walk around the mall till it's ready."
"That's fine," she says with a smile as they walk over to the cash register where she rings up the total before he pays with his credit card. Seth and I walked around the mall while my ring was being engraved, he took me shopping to get some shoes and some clothes to deal with the hot Tampa summer that was on its way even though I told him not to but he wanted to. Then we go to get something to eat at the food court before we head back to the jewelry store to pick up my ring. It was a great afternoon spent together and I enjoy any time I get with him. I know from my parents' marriage that once he gets contracted to WWE our time will be cut down to a couple days a week and I'm okay with that because I know he will be living his dream that he had since he was a little boy.
After the mall we head to Tayla's dad's office to discuss with him about the adoption for Jonah. He's the only lawyer I know and he was the lawyer that drew up the custody papers for Jonah when he was a baby when he was living with Roman and Tayla while I was getting myself together. He is the only lawyer I trust to handle the situation. "Jordyn and Seth," he says as he comes out of his office as we are waiting in the waiting area. "Come on back," he says. Seth and I get up to walk to his office hand in hand. Miguel Rodriguez closes the door behind us and invites us to have a seat. He makes his way over to his desk and takes a seat across from us. He pulls out our file and opens it. "Tayla told me that Seth is interested in adopting your son Jonah? Is that why you're here today?" he asks.
"Yes," I answer. "Seth wants to adopt Jonah and become his father legally and legally responsible for him. We plan to get married someday and we all want to have the same last name."
"I see that's an understanding situation I have a lot of clients that wish to do the same for whatever reason the death of another parent, a parent's parental rights were termed. I have done it before. I have to ask where is Jonah's biological father?" he asks.
"Sitting in jail for the rest of his life," I answer.
"Is he aware that he has a son?"
"He's aware that he has a son that he sold to an undercover detective when he was a baby so yes he knows he has a son, does he want anything to do with him? No. He tried to kill him while I was pregnant with him."
"I see and I understand your point but if Jonah's father knows that he exists he still has rights to the child unless there is a chance that Jonah may not be his. Are you 100 % sure that he is Jonah's biological father?" he asks me and for the first time in my life I actually question Jonah's paternity. I just always assumed that he was Kris' baby but he could be anyone's son to be honest which is the best case scenario.
"I'm not sure. I just always assumed that Kris was his father," I answer.
"Is there a possibility that someone else could have conceived Jonah with you?"
"Yes," I answer as Seth rubs my back to comfort me. "There is a possibility that there could be a different father."
"How many men do you think could be his father?" he asks.
"From around the time he was conceived I would say probably 15," embarrassed by my answer.
"15?" he repeats.
"Yes. It doesn't matter how many men what matters is Seth wants to adopt my son."
"I know that he does," he says, "but if Kris believes he is Jonah's father whether he is in jail or not he has rights to his son. This is what we can do because there is a process to get us to the point where Seth can adopt him. The first part of the process is having a paternity test done to see if Kris is the father."
"Okay," I say. "How would you even go about that?"
"I would have to get in touch with the Arizona court system and petition their courts to have a court ordered paternity test done on Kris and have one done on Jonah to see if their DNA matches. The best case scenario would be that Kris isn't the father and the father would be unknown which would make the process easier. We would then be able to move forward with the adoption and Seth would easily become his legal father and his last name would be changed."
"Okay and the worst case scenario?" I ask.
"Worst case scenario, worst case scenario is that the test comes back that Jonah is Kris' son and that's where things can get messy even though Kris is in jail he still has rights to his son. He could deny giving up his rights and ask to have a relationship with his son and in which Jonah would have to go visit him in Arizona and you may or may not be ordered to move back to Arizona."
"I don't want to move back to Arizona, my entire life is here and I don't want that man to have anything to do with my son. I don't want any part of him in Jonah's life. He doesn't need that kind of influence and I will not allow my son to go to a jail to visit some convict."
"And that's why given your history we will petition the Arizona courts to terminate Kris' rights."
"Can they do that?" asks Seth.
"Given what he is in jail for and everything he did to Jordyn he can be seen as a negative influence in Jonah's life and all courts do what's in the best interest of the child. They can see that he is happy and healthy here in Tampa and terminate Kris' rights and at that time we can proceed with the adoption."
"I just want to do the best thing for Jonah," I say. "When can we have the paternity test done?"
"As soon as I can draw up the papers I can have them sent to courts in Arizona to order a paternity test for Kris," he says, "and then we'll go from there."
"Okay," I say. "I just hope that Kris is not the father of Jonah. I spent the last 3 years believing that he was but the truth is I never thought he couldn't be. It would be best if he's not, not that the other candidates are any better."
"I will be in touch with you," he says, "about the paternity test."
"Thank-you so much for doing this for me," I say. "Thank-you so much."
"You're welcome," he says with a smile. "You're one of Tayla's best friends and she loves Jonah I would do anything to help him out and help you out."
"Thank-you," I say with a smile. We shake hands and say our goodbyes before we go back to my nana's house before Roman and Tayla drop Jonah off at the house after spending the day at the zoo.
"You okay?" he asks as we are in my bedroom. He's sitting on my bed as I am pacing back and forth nervously.
"I don't know," I say. "I never wanted to use so much as I do in this moment," I say honestly. "I can't have Kris back in my life, Seth, I can't have him around Jonah either. You're Jonah's dad and that's the only dad he needs."
"I know, Babe, calm down," he says. "Come here," he says putting his hand out to me. I put my hand in his and he pulls me over to my bed and pulls me onto his lap. "I don't care what any paternity test says Jonah is my son and he will always be my son."
"But you don't know Kris," I say. "I never thought I would have to deal with him again and then to be told I might have to move back to Arizona? My whole life is here, Jonah's whole life is here."
"I know, Babe but look if you would have to move back to Arizona you won't be moving alone. I'll move with you if I have to. We're a family remember?"
"I remember," I say with a soft smile as he wraps his arm around my waist and I wrap my arms around his neck. "I just can't deal with Kris, Seth. I'm hoping he isn't his father. That would be the best thing for us. Here is my issue with Kris. He has friends on the outside, he has friends that aren't in jail that can make our lives a living hell if he wishes. We would be his bitches so to speak. I got involved in the wrong crowd and with the wrong people with him. I'm scared, Seth. I'm really scared."
"Well, you said before that Kris wanted nothing to do with Jonah why would he want to now?"
"Because he's going to be threatened that a better man has stepped up and became a father to his son. That will drive him insane he doesn't like to be upstaged, Seth. I have seen what he and his friends are capable of."
"After all this time," he says rubbing my back, "after all this time you would think he would know that someone was going to be a father to his son. He didn't want him. He sold him."
"Won't stop him from making our lives hell," I say as I play with the buttons of his shirt nervously. "I don't know what to do, Seth."
"Relax," he says. "We'll figure it out together let's get through the paternity test first for all we know he won't be the father and we can all move on with our lives. Just relax," he soothes me as he rubs my back. "I love you, Jordyn."
"I love you too," I say with a soft smile but still feeling anxious inside. "This is not how I planned on today going."
"Me either but it's a start," he says. "Were you serious about what you said about using?"
"Yes, I never felt the need to use so much as I do right now. Heroin was a vice for me. It was a way to escape I would NEVER use again. I spent too long and came too far to ever go back. I get urges but I would never act on them."
"What do you do when you get those urges?" he asks playing with my hair.
"I escape some other way. I like to knit and I like to write," I say "that's how I escape and fight my urges. We learned that in rehab to find another way to let loose and escape in times of stress. I need to see my therapist though. That helps too."
"You should just relax," he says with a smile. "You and I will get through this together and everything is going to be okay."
"I hope you're right," I say with a smile. "I love you so much for being here for me."
"I love you too," he says with a smile before he kisses my lips softly and I kiss him back the passion in our kisses growing stronger and hotter pushing us close to a place I'm not ready to go. I break the kiss before anything else can happen between us and offer to watch a movie with him or play some type of game with him to steer away from the thing I am afraid of most.
*A/N: What do you think of Jordyn's thoughts on an engagement ring? Do you agree with her views? What did you think of him buying her a promise ring to show that they have discussed being together forever? What about their meeting with Tayla's dad? Did that seem to go opposite of what they expected? What do you think about Jordyn realizing after 3 years Kris may not be Jonah's dad? Do you think if Kris is Jonah's dad that he is going to give up his rights to his son? Do you think he is Jonah's dad? What do you think about Jordyn being scared, does she have a right to be scared? Could this turn out badly for her and Seth? What do you think Jordyn is most afraid of? Will she ever get over that fear? Please review and thank-you for reading.