Her Daughter's Father
Chapter 3
December 15th 2010
Lita sighed as she gripped the steering wheel of her car tightly, her stomach still doing somersaults from her encounter with Chris. If Tara hadn't come in-or came in a second later…
"Deer," Jessica said from the seat beside her, her brown eyes scanning the dark that spread before them. The redhead nodded, slowing to a stop in front of the doe. Frankly, she was glad for the small delay.
"So, did Rob end up finding you?" Lita asked, sliding her hands down the leather, listening to Tara's gentle snoring in the backseat. At the mention of Rob's name, a slight hazy look appeared in Jessica's eyes.
"Yep," she replied. Lita smiled to herself, taking in her facial expression. So…her daughter had a crush on R-V-D? "What are you smiling about?" Jessica asked, turning to face her mother.
"Nothing," Lita responded, looking at the doe, startled when she realized that there was a fawn with her. A small smile crossed her face as the doe nudged the fawn across the street.
Jessica tucked some of her black hair behind her ear, and asked, "Where are we going?" with a glance at the clock, which read 1:31 A.M., she looked earnestly at Lita, hope in her eyes, "Are we going to miss school?"
Lita laughed, pushing her foot on the gas pedal, "Yes, honey. You can just miss this whole week of school if you really want." Jessica nodded happily as she yawned. "Right now we're going to a taping of Smackdown so we can see Daddy and his friends."
All signs of tiredness vanished from Jessica, "We're going to Smackdown?!"
Lita looked over at her oldest daughter with a grin. "Yep," she confirmed, turning the wheel as they rounded a curve in the winding country roads.
"There's a Smackdown in Cameron?" Jessica asked, biting her lip. "I don't think there is…"
"That's because they're not. You remember that I was talking to someone on my phone earlier? Well, that was Vince McMahon. He reserved seats for us on the 6:55 flight to New York City."
Jessica let out a squeal, "Oh my gosh! We're going to Smackdown AND New York City!" she crawled over to give Lita a hug, sputtering out mile-a-minute thank-you's. After a few minutes, Jessica had curled up in a ball, her head resting against the seat belt as Lita drove, her eyes never leaving the road.
Quietly, she formed words in her head on what to tell Matt. Wincing, she remembered her failed attempt to tell him what had happened when she caught him in bed with Dawn Marie, after he'd suggested that they'd see different people.
~Flashback~
Matt fiddled with his hands, avoiding eye contact with Lita. She stood before him, eyes tinted pink, a calm look on her face, a shadow of pain showing through.
"Listen, Lita… When you walked in on Dawn and I… It made me realize," he stopped, stepping closer to her and looking into her eyes earnestly. "It made me realize that I don't love her. I only love *you*," his hand traced across her cheek, and she felt herself melt, wanting nothing but to fall into his arms and reassuring nothings.
Nonetheless, her chin trembled, and she stayed put, images of what she-and Chris-had done the night before. She shivered. She'd betrayed Matt! Lita shook her head. She hadn't cheated on him-they'd been over when that'd happened. But still… "M-Matt…" Looking into his eyes, she knew she loved him. Truly and deeply. What she felt for Matt was no comparison for what she felt for Chris. Matt…she loved him beyond the world. Chris… She didn't know how to describe what she felt for him, but she knew it wasn't half as strong as what she felt for Matt. "I…I love you too." Matt stepped forward, wrapping her in his arms, sighing in relief, sputtering a thanks. As he pulled back, Lita decided to tell him what had happened between Chris and her. "Matt… When we… When we broke up, and I caught you and…her in bed, I –"
He touched a finger to her lips and replaced his finger by his gentle lips. "It doesn't matter. What happened happened, and now it's the past."
Lita smiled queasily, leaning into him, tilting her head up and locking his lips with hers. The redhead ignored the nagging voice in her head, the one that tried to tell her that she needed to tell him the truth soon.
~End Flashback~
Lita grimaced at the memory. She had the chance to tell him then and there, and then this wouldn't be so hard. The redhead wondered fretfully what he would think of her when she told him that Tara wasn't his, and that it was Chris's. Blowing the stray strands of hair, she jerked the wheel to make a pit stop at their house, cursing herself for staying so late to cheer on her friends in the back.
The shrill ring of her cell phone cut through the silence, and Lita fumbled with it, quickly opening it before it woke either Jessica or Tara. She glanced at the caller ID, and froze as she held the phone to her ear.
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