Her Father's Daughter

December 17th, 2010

Lita froze, her eyes locking onto his, but she didn't pull back. Chris stared straight back at her, waiting for her answer. "I..." she looked away, unable to speak. "I don't know what to say," she whispered, looking back at him, her eyes wide.

"Don't say anything," he replied, leaning closer. He knew it was a mistake, but it was almost as if he was watching himself outside of his body. Chris kissed her gently on the lips, his hand on the back of her head.

To his total surprise, she kissed him back, her hand sliding to his cheek.

They both jerked apart as a key scraped against the doorknob of the front door. Lita stood immediately, smoothing out her jeans as she walked toward the door, opening it for Jessica and Tara, the thirteen year old holding her sister's hand. The redhead bent down, hugging them both tightly. It was a daily routine—Jessica got off the bus stop, baby-sat at a neighbor's for an hour, picked her sister up from her bus stop, and walked home.

"Hey," Chris Jericho greeted them, standing up from his chair. Tara squealed and ran toward him. He knelt down, and she hugged him tightly. As he wrapped his arms around her, Lita looked at him. Something in his eyes has changed, she thought to herself.

"Hi, Chris," Jessica said simply to her, giving a smile at the closeness between the two. Chris looked at her, a playful smile on his face.

"What's the matter, Jessie? Too grown-up for a hug?" Jessica made a show of rolling her eyes, but ran over and hugged him tightly anyway, laughing.

As Lita looked at them, Chris listening as they excitedly told him about their days, all of them amused, she was suddenly struck by the feeling that maybe, just maybe, everything was going to be okay.

Lita let out a long breath, pursing her lips tightly, nerves bouncing. From the downstairs, she could hear Tara excitedly talking to Chris, and the smell of a cooking dinner wafting through over his deep laugh. The redhead tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and knocked softly on the door ahead of her.

"C'mon in, Mom," Jessica told her, and Lita did so, smiling at the black-haired teenager before her. She shut the door softly, simply studying her firstborn for a moment. She was laying sprawled out stomach-down on her bed, a small book that Lita knew to be her diary open before her. Jessica was wearing a denim mini-skirt and a tank top, and suddenly Lita remembered the days when Jessica was little, and the redhead had shopped for her.

Lita laid down next to Jessica on the bed as her daughter closed her diary, shoving it to the corner of the bed. For a minute, they simply laid side by side, looking at the small blackened television before them. "So," Jessica said, looking over at her mother.

The redhead plucked at the Barbie-pink comforter and sheets beneath them, and looked around the room. Boring wallpaper colored the walls, too much work to strip. "Do you want to change your bedroom?" Lita asked finally, and smiled softly at the happiness sparked in Jessica's brown, amber-splashed eyes.

"Oh my god, are you serious?" she squealed, and hugged her mother the best she could. "I've been wanting to forever!" she exaggerated. Her grin was wide. "When do I start?" Lita didn't reply, instead looking down at her hands. Jessica's grin slowly faded. "Mom..." she whispered, and Lita didn't respond. Finally, she tried again. "What's the bad side?"

Lita sighed heavily, swallowing tightly. She held her daughter's hand, intertwining her fingers with Jessica's. "I wish this wasn't going to happen," she whispered, trying desperately to keep the tears out of her eyes. "Matt and I..." she took a breath, "we're having some major problems." Jessica's grip on her hand tightened.

"Mom..." she started, and then shook her head. "What is wrong? Why is Daddy mad at you?" she asked. Something told her it wasn't vice versa; that Lita wasn't the one would was mad at him.

Lita looked at Jessica. "When we were dating, we had a huge problem, Jess," she looked at her hands. "I want you to know the whole truth, and you're old enough now to understand it." Jessica nodded firmly, her expression serious. Lita sighed heavily before beginning. "Matt and I were dating...and one night I caught him...in bed with another woman." Jessica froze, her muscles tightening. She knew exactly what her mother meant by in bed. "I immediately broke things off. I was so hurt," she exhaled, closing her eyes. No. She wouldn't cry. She'd shed enough tears for Matthew Hardy. "Chris helped me through it all; he was a really great friend. Time passed, and I got over Matt. I started to go back on the dating scene, and, well... Things between Chris and I just escalated..." she trailed off. "I slept with him. It sounds so uncommitted now, but both of us, I think, were both looking forward to a great relationship."

"That was when I was seven, and Gram and Gramps took me for that month-long vacation in Europe," Jessica spoke suddenly, her memory sparking.

Lita smiled sadly. "Yeah. Matt came to me a while after that, and we got back together," she wiped a forming tear from her face. "I guess, I just wanted what we had," she frowned. "Now that I realize how much I must have hurt Chris..." she trailed off and shook her head. "What Matt and I have—had...was great," she squeezed Jessica's hand. "Then I realized I was pregnant with Tara. I didn't want to ruin what Matt and I had re-started, so I told him it was his. I knew that it was Chris's, in my heart, but I knew telling either of them would mean ruining Matt and I. So I didn't," Lita looked down. "Now I wish I had told them from the start, but hindsight is twenty-twenty, as they say," she sighed. "You know, guilt's been eating at me for years. I finally told Chris, and I was on my way to tell Matt, when this man called. He knew about what had happened, and told Matt before I could get there. Matt blew up at me, and now," Lita's eyes were brimming with tears, "He's divorcing me and going to try and take custody of you." Jessica paled, and looked away, completely silent for a moment. Then, nearly spontaneously, she reached over and hugged her mother tightly. "I'm so sorry," Lita mumbled tearfully.

With a maturity that surprised her, Jessica looked at her in the eyes. "We'll get through it, Mom, I promise." She set her jaw in a line of determination that Lita knew could only be from her genes.

Lita looked at Jessica, and squeezed her hand again. It was clear Jessica had her questions, but the redhead knew that she needed to be alone. Lita bit her lip as she walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly, listening to the resumed scratching of pen against paper as she did so. Her shoulders sagged with relief, but she knew the relief was only temporary.

Soon, she would start the fight of her life: the fight for custody of her firstborn child.