Part Eight

"Oh my God. It's you!"

"Stephanie, for goodness sakes, you scared me to death!" Lita said, grabbing her heart in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I think I should be asking you that question, Lita. I thought I told you to not come near here today." The young brunette woman was perturbed to say the least.

"I just, well, I mean, I ..." Lita struggled to find words that wouldn't tick off Stephanie any further. She finally decided there weren't any. She sighed. "I was worried about the boys, especially Matt. I needed to be close to him today."

Stephanie raked her hands through her hair. "Lita, I told you it would be too dangerous for you to come anywhere near here. Especially with half the roster here. Are you crazy?"

"Yeah," Lita sighed. "I suppose I am. Look what I've done so far."

Stephanie laughed just a little. "It is a little wild, even by my standards." The two girls smiled at themselves. Stephanie turned somber once more. "But this time, it's for a damn serious reason. Kane went ballistic the other night. He destroyed the back stage area and we eventually had to get the trainer and security to sedate him. He was shouting your name, mumbling about his legacy, his plans, etc. It was scary, he went completely nuts. I just hope he calms down now that everyone thinks you're gone."

"Oh my. I'm glad Matt wasn't there. Kane might have destroyed him. Steph, I was hoping that if Kane thought I was dead, he'd leave me, my baby, and Matt alone. This is troublesome."

"Give it time, Lita. Kane doesn't exactly express his feelings normally you know. His plans of having his own legacy were thwarted, and I think he was just taking it out on, well, everyone. I'm hoping he'll be calmer when he comes back."

"Does he have to come back? Can't you just fire him?"

"Daddy won't do it," she answered. "I'd love to do that. But he has a contract, and you know how my father adores having the big wrestlers on the roster. He says as long as Kane is a competitive grappler and doesn't actually seriously hurt someone outside of the ring, he'll keep him around. Incredibly short sighted in my opinion."

Lita shuttered at the thought of Kane still being there once Matt returned to the ring. "I hope you're right about Kane being calmer after some time passes. I'd do anything to protect mine and Matt's baby, as well as Matt."

Stephanie smiled at her friend. "And I'd do anything to help you. But, Lita, you're going to have to leave here. The memorial is over and people will start leaving soon. Someone might see you here and come over, thinking you're an intruding fan."

"I know," she sighed. "I was hoping to get a glimpse of Matt. Is he doing alright? And how's Jeff?"

"Matt's holding up. He's pretending to be anyway. The wall is up, he's not really letting anyone through. Jeff is doing ok. They were both so sad today. But Beth's there, and she's looking after them."

"That's good. Lord, when this is all over, she's going to kill me."

"Nah," Stephanie chided, reaching over to lightly pat Lita's still flat belly. "She's going to be relieved and super excited about the baby. I talked to her. She's very strong, and incredibly intuitive when it comes to the Hardys and their needs. She'll be happy you're back with Matt."

Lita smiled at the thought of her other friend, Jeff's girlfriend. She pat her belly and looked at Steph. "I'm past the 9 weeks now," she said, looking at her stomach. "That's a little over 2 months. I'll be showing before I know it."

"Yes, you will. And we have to keep you healthy. Are you taking your prenatal vitamins?"

"Yes, I am. I'm going to need to find a new doctor Steph. How will I manage that given that I'm supposed to be dead?"

"Ah, I have that covered. Here," she said, digging in her purse. "I kind of figured you'd show up here, so I went ahead and brought this with me." She pulled out a large envelope from her shoulder bag.

"What's this?" Lita asked, accepting the envelope.

"It's you're new identity information. My friend from protective services drew it up for me. It contains a social security number, driver's license, everything you need."

"Wow. Thanks, Steph. I'm amazed."

"Yeah. Well, you're welcome. And Lita, I had to choose a new name for you. I hope you don't mind."

"No, it's ok. So who am I now?"

"Well," Stephanie began. "Your middle name is Christine, right?"

"Yes. But only my mom ever used it, and that was when I was in trouble."

"I wanted to give you a name that would be familiar to you, yet different enough from Lita Dumas. You are now Christine."

"Christine," Lita repeated. "Ok. I can live with that." She frowned slightly. "But what's my new last name?"

"I went with something sort of common," Stephanie said. "But yet something that would help you feel closer to home and those you love even though you're so far away."

"And?" Lita questioned, tipping her head slightly in interest.

Stephanie stuck her hand across the car to shake Lita's. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Christine Hardy."

Lita's mouth dropped open, touched at the reference to her beloved. Momentarily unable to speak, she simply let the tears roll down her cheek. She finally found her voice. "Thank you," she choked. "But why Hardy?"

"So that when you have that baby," she pointed to Lita's midsection. "He will have his daddy's name, as he rightfully should until this is all settled."

Lita leaned across the seat, embracing her friend. Pulling away, she wiped the tears from her eyes. "But Steph," she cried, trying to wipe her tears on her shirt. "It could be a she you know."

Both ladies smiled, then laughed as they embraced in another warm hug.

To be continued...........