*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter they were greatly appreciated thank-you so much*
SETH's POINT OF VIEW:
"There's the married man," says Roman as I walk into the locker room. "How's the married life treated you?"
"I love it, Man," I say as I lay my bag down on the bench. "Marrying Jordyn was the best day of my life. I love her so much. I'm happy with her she makes me the happiest man alive."
"That's good. I'm happy for y'all," he says. "Congratulations. I wish I could have had an invite."
"Honestly it was a private wedding. We didn't really have anyone there but two witnesses my brother and her sister of course Jonah was there and he walked her down the aisle and gave her away to me. It was just a special day for us we didn't want a big party thrown or anything like that."
"I understand," he says. "From the pictures Tayla has shown me it looks like a beautiful day. Jordyn looks so happy and so do you. So are there any babies in the future?"
"Yeah but we're not pregnant yet but we are trying," I say with a smile. "I'm pretty excited to have a baby with her someday. It doesn't have to happen right away but hopefully sometime soon. How's married life going for you?" I ask knowing that he and Tayla have just gotten back together after their months of separation because Roman cheated on her with their adoption coordinator.
"It's going," he says with a smile. "I got my wife back and we did a lot of talking to get back with each other. I love her, Seth."
"I know you do," I say with a smile. "And she loves you too. So everything is going good?"
"For the most part," he says. "I have moved back to Tampa to be with her even though she's still driving up to Pensacola to train with my dad to be a wrestler. She's doing pretty good with that. Pops says she's doing great so she's focusing on that and we decided to take a break on the baby making. We don't really want to have a baby right now because things are still a little tense. I'm proving myself to her every day."
"That's good," I say. "I'm happy you two are working it out."
"Me too," he says. "And Tay made a pretty good point so many of our issues are coming to light now because after every single fight we never really talked about it. We just buried it with sex. We can't do that. We're in marriage counseling too. It's working out and we also put off having sex until we are both ready it's like starting all over again you know?"
"How do you get by without having sex?" I ask.
"It's hard but if I want this to work out we need to do it this way. I'm okay with it. I want to make my marriage work."
"That's true too," I say. "So what happened with Dean? I'm still confused on that."
"Dean has been trying to get with my wife since the moment he met her. I know he has. I'm pissed he went behind my back and did it. I don't know if I was more pissed at Tayla for jumping into his arms or if I am more pissed at Dean for getting to her at her most vulnerable moment. You know he was RIGHT there after I screwed up. It's like he was waiting for me to screw up so he could jump right in and take my wife from me. Luckily she came to her senses and realized it was me that she loves and not him. Even if it took us meeting up at Toa's grave to make it happen. We will always have that child together and we will always have that bond together. We lost our son and it will always be a part of us. If Dean is smart he will stay away from me. I don't want to see him unless we are out in that ring working as The Shield."
"Do you think that the animosity between you two could cause issues within the Shield?" I ask.
"As long as Dean leaves me alone there shouldn't be an issue," he says. "I can do my job and I can put whatever I hate about him aside."
"Good," I say. "Not that what he did was right because I am right there with you but you two do need to get along for the shows. Do you think you'll ever forgive him?"
"I don't know. I'm thinking about it. He pounced on my wife like she was some piece of meat, waited until she was vulnerable too. He is not my favorite person right now," he says as Dean comes into the locker room. "Here we go," he says under his breath but loud enough that I could hear it.
"Roman, be nice," I say. "So is Tay still on her fertility drugs?"
"Yes she is," he says. "She never stopped taking them. I mean one day we are going to have a baby and they are really expensive so it was probably best she keeps taking them. We can always be cautious if we do have sex."
"That's true," I say.
"How do you like your new house?" asks Roman as we both seem to ignore Dean as he is just standing at his locker getting things out of his bag. He didn't even say hi.
"We love it. It is so much better than my tiny apartment. Jordyn loves the fact that it's next door to Ben's house and not too far from Chelsea's house. She really enjoyed time with her family in Phoenix. I'm happy that they are finally all getting along. She needs her family and honestly I have known the Batista family for a while. They're good people. They have been through a lot but they are still good people. Dave helped train me and I worked for him a little bit. Jordyn doesn't even know that. We decided we wouldn't tell her."
"That's probably a good idea," he says. "So when's the house warming party? And how come you two didn't go on a honeymoon?"
"We haven't planned one yet. We are still getting everything together once everything is settled in we will have a party and as for our honeymoon we aren't going until the summer time because of her being in school."
"I see if you need a babysitter for Jonah you know Tay and I are always available. I miss my little buddy," he says.
"Thanks," I say with a smile. "He misses you too we'll have to set something up."
"Tay will love that," he smiles. "So what's the plan for tonight?"
"We're beating up Daniel Bryan again," I say with a smile.
"Nice," says Roman.
"Is that all we're going to do?" asks Dean. "We're just going to beat up Daniel Bryan all the time?"
"We'll do whatever creative tells us to do," says Roman. "What would you rather do?"
"I don't know," he says. "I don't know. How's Tayla?"
"Shut up," says Roman. "Don't worry about her. She's none of your business."
"Yeah so you've won, congratulations. I hope you treat her better this time besides I have moved on," he says.
"That's great," says Roman, "but I don't really care."
"Maybe you will. Remember Brittany?" he asks.
"Yeah what about her?"
"I'm kind of involved with her," he says.
"Great, good for you," says Roman. "You must enjoy my leftovers. I had a sandwich earlier that I didn't' finish do you want that too?"
"Damn," I say. "That was deep." I have to admit Roman is epic with his comebacks. It is definitely Roman 1 and Dean 0.
"Shut up, Seth," says Dean. "I have to go. I need to catch up with some friends. I'll be back later."
"Okay," I say before Dean walks out of the locker room with his stuff. He's been starting to distant himself from us lately. I guess it has something to do with Tayla.
"Did you see that?" asks Roman.
"Yeah he does it because he knows it gets under your skin," I say. "Don't let it get to you. Just let it roll off your back."
"I'll try but I don't like him bringing up Tayla."
"He did it to upset you and he succeeded. If you ignore it and don't react to it he'll stop. I promise."
"I'll do what I can," he says. "You hungry? You want to go to catering before we get ready for the show?"
"Yeah," I say, "sounds like a plan," I say with a smile before we head to catering to get something to eat before we get ready for the show. I don't want to be in the middle of their issues but somehow I ended up there. I like both Dean and Roman. I feel like Dean is wrong for going after Tayla the way he did but I also think Roman is wrong for allowing it to get that far. If he hadn't cheated on his wife she wouldn't have left him and ended up with Dean. They are both at fault but need to get it together. We're supposed to be brothers not at each other's throats. That's not how we can dominate the roster if personal conflict is interfering with our professional lives.
JORDYN's POINT OF VIEW:
"What are you doing, Mama?" asks Jonah as I am sitting on the couch on my laptop as he watches his cartoons on Netflix.
"I'm just doing some research, Buddy," I say. "What are you watching?"
"Ninja Turtles," he says as he looks up at the big screen tv plastered on the wall and plays with his action figures on the coffee table as he watches the show. "Want to play with me, Mama?"
"Not right now, Buddy. I will in a little bit okay?" I ask as Max starts barking as the doorbell rings. "I'll be right back," I say as I get up from the couch and walk to the front door. I smile as I see Ben and his son Mikey standing there. "Come in," I say opening the door for him after removing the locks. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought Jonah could use a little playdate with his cousin."
"Cool," I say. "Jonah did just ask if I wanted to play Ninja Turtles with him. He's in the living room watching TV. How are you, Mikey?"
"Good," he says with a smile. "Can I go play with Jonah?"
"Go ahead," I say with a smile before he runs to the living room to play with Jonah. I love the fact that Chelsea, Ben and I all have boys around the same age. They all get along well with one another. "So I was thinking that when Seth is home this weekend that Mikey and Langston could come over and have a sleepover with Jonah. Is that okay with you?"
"If you're up for the challenge," he says with a smile as we walk to the living room that the boys have vacated to go to Jonah's playroom to play with his toys. "I mean 3 boys. That's a lot they can be a handful."
"I can handle it and I'm up for the challenge. Jonah loves his cousins plus this gives you and Alyssa a free night it also gives Chelsea and Cody a free night I will even take Libby Friday night."
"You're crazy," he says as he looks at my laptop sitting on glass coffee table. "And what is this," he asks picking it up and looking at what I was researching. "You're researching Dr. Ciccone and Sophia," he says looking at me. "Why, Jordyn?"
"I just need to know if Kris was working for him. I need to know if Kris ever really loved me or if it was just a way for Ciccone to get back at mom and dad."
"Jordyn, it's not important. Do you know how dangerous they are? If you start digging up information on them you're going to invite them back into our lives. You don't want them back in our lives. Just know they probably did have Kris working for them and they wanted to hurt you just as much as they hurt dad. You were an easy target for them."
"I don't understand them, Ben," I say. "I don't understand why they are after us and want to hurt us so badly."
"You want the truth?" he asks.
"Yes," I say.
"It all started because Mom dated Ciccone's son. He put her through a lot. He beat her up a lot, put her in the hospital and he was into drugs. Mom wasn't into that so she left him and that upset Ciccone and ever since they had been after her. Ciccone put a hit on her. My dad was supposed to take her out many times but he loved her. He could never take her out. He could never kill her. He kept the money he was given by Ciccone for the hit but instead of taking her out he got involved with her while your dad and mom were separated on their way to getting a divorce. That's when I came into the picture. Your dad and mom thought I was your dad's for a long time until Ciccone's son got out of jail and started asking for a paternity test on Chelsea because he thought Chelsea was his daughter because he raped Mom not too long before she was conceived but everyone also kept saying how much I looked like this Ron guy and kept asking mom if I was really your dad's son. She was upset about it so she got a test done on both me and Chelsea to prove that your dad was ours too. It turned out that I wasn't your dad's son and I was Ron's son. Chelsea was your dad's daughter. Mom and Ron lied about my paternity to protect me from Ciccone, Brian and Chris. It worked for about 5 years until we were in New York living. They found out the truth and they shot Athena's husband Tony, which is Ciccone's son, they shot dad and paralyzed him for a little bit and they kidnapped me. They put me through a lot of shit while they had me. I still have nightmares about it. I was a 5 year old little boy that was used to sell drugs, hit, kicked, burned whatever they wanted to do. They were trying to turn me out. It was Chris' wife that brought me to safety. The first detective on the case was working for Ciccone and they were getting nowhere with him. Finally Chris' wife Ashley gave me back to mom and took off to Italy not too long after she was found dead in Italy we all know it was Chris and Brian's doing. I was the only witness they had and I had to testify that it was Chris and Brian that killed Tony and shot dad as well as kidnapped me. I had to relive the torment of my kidnapping over and over again as I told the story. It fucked me up big time and finally Chris and Brian were put into jail. We thought we were done with that whole part of our lives when we moved to Phoenix but we grew up so did their kids. Apparently Bad Blood is real and they do have a grudge against us, against me, you, Chelsea, Josiah all of us are bad blood to them. Sophia is the worst of them all. She planned for Chelsea to be raped and she succeeded to keep her out of New York. I won't go back to New York unless it's for work because I am number one on the hit list because I was a rat and sold them out. There's probably a hit out there for me but I have learned if we leave them alone they will leave us alone. Kris came into your life the same time Sophia came into Chelsea's. I wouldn't be surprised if Kris was employed by her to do what he did to you as revenge. They want us to suffer. You know what I mean? They're dangerous it's safer not to get yourself involved with that."
"I just want to know, Ben. I want some closure."
"And if you find out Sophia paid Kris or Charles to do that to you then what?"
"I don't know, Ben," I say. "I just need to know."
"Fine," he says, "but don't say I didn't warn you. Sophia is no joke none of them are. You can ask Mom, you can ask your dad and I would say you can ask my dad but he died because of them. He was shot to death in cold blood in front of mom and your dad. I never even got to know him. I've heard stories but never got to meet him. Despite what he was involved with he was a pretty good guy. Mom always thought she was Ciccone's target that day but in truth my dad was always the target. They knew he would come to mom and your dad to protect them. Otherwise they would have killed mom and your dad. Don't think that for one second they won't come after us again."
"Ben, I'm not scared. I went through hell with Kris. I don't know what other hell I could go through."
"But you have such a good life with Seth right now. You're doing well. We're all doing well. We don't need the Ciccone drama in our lives."
"Isn't Aunt Contessa Ciccone's daughter? How come we're all right with her?"
"Because she helped take her father down and she helped take Brian and Chris down. It was her and Mom that raided their warehouse and found files that they turned into the police to bring down that part of the empire but for some reason I don't think that empire will ever be destroyed."
"Me either," I say with a shrug. "Do you ever think about your dad? Do you wish you could have met him?"
"I sort of met him when I was a baby. I have a picture of him and me together. From what everyone tells me is he loved me. He loved me enough to allow another man to raise me to keep me safe. He was a good guy and I know he was good to mama. I have seen pictures and I am identical to him now. I wish I could have had more time with him but it just wasn't in the plans. I love your dad as my own. He has raised me and never treated me like I wasn't. I'm grateful I had two fathers that cared about me and loved me the way your dad and my dad do or did. Whenever I have another son I want to name him after my dad."
"I don't remember ANY of this."
"Because you're too young to remember but Mom and Dad did the best they could to forget about it and move on. That's why it shouldn't matter, J."
"Please, Ben just look up Charles Santiago and Sophia please see."
"Okay," he says, "but we may not find anything." He types something into my computer and clicks. He reads through the results and looks up at me and says, "well, J, it's true."
"He worked for them didn't he? He didn't' truly love me I was just their target and he wanted to kill me. He promised he would."
"He is Sophia's cousin," he says with a nod. "You were a target to be taken out to hurt mom and dad but look they didn't' succeed. You're alive and you're much stronger than you were at 15 years old. You're married, you have a nice house, you have a son, and you are in school. You have so much more to live for. You won against Kris/Charles and Sophia. We've all won except for Tony and my dad but we have all won against them. There is no greater victory than success. You're going to be amazing and you're going to help others change their lives."
"You're right, Ben," I say with a smile. "You're a great big brother you know that?"
"A great big brother or a great big half brother?" he asks.
"I never considered you half you have always been my brother. I love you, Ben."
"I love you too, J. I'm so proud of you. You've come a long way from kicking your drug addiction to being a great mother, a great wife and you're going to get this internship I know it. You'll be something greater than you ever imagined to be," he says as the phone rings.
"Excuse me," I say as I answer the phone. "Hello," I say answering the phone.
"Can I please speak to Jordyn Bautista-Rollins," says the voice on the other end.
"This is she," I answer. "How can I help you?"
"Yes, Jordyn, you were in for an interview with our company for an internship the other day."
"Yes, I was," I say nervously.
"I just wanted to inform you that you have been selected for the internship. Are you still interested in the internship?"
"Yes I am," I say with a big smile on my face. "I am very interested."
"Well, we would love to have you and you can start on Monday morning at 8 am," says the woman on the other end. "Your hours will be 8a-4:30p Monday through Friday. Congratulations and we look forward to having you as part of our team," she says.
"Thank-you so much," I say. "Thank-you," I say before we say goodbye. "I got it. I got the internship!"
"Congratulations," says Ben with a smile before he hugs me. "I knew you could do it you can only go up from here, J. I'm proud of my little sister. Congratulations."
"Thank-you, Ben," I say hugging him back. "I'm so excited! I can't wait to start. I'm ready to change lives."
"And you'll do awesome at it," he says with a smile.
*A/N: What did you think? Please review and thank-you for reading.