AN: Once again thank you for all of your reviews and support. Here's another chapter and I hope you guys enjoy. I alsowanted to send my condolences to Jhanelle and Southern Lil'Me and their families. I'm really sorry for the loss of your father and grandmother and hopefully you'll be able to overcome your tragedy by remembering that they're in a better place.
I Disclaim
Trish peaked out of the kitchen door to look across the room as John and Randy were play fighting on the couch. She laughed to herself. Sometimes when they got really excited, she felt like she had three kids to take care of instead of one. Emma was sitting up in her playpen watching daddy and uncle John fighting and she found it extremely amusing. Trish remembered the first time Emma sat up without falling back down, Randy and herself had made a big spectacle of it with videotapes and cameras. They even called home to let their parents know and sent them videotapes. It was probably less than typical for first time parents but both their parents had gotten a kick out of how celebratory both of them were for something so little. Trish was proud of her little girl but Emma was growing up so fast and Trish felt like soon she would be watching her little girl off to college. Emma had been her strength through so much, especially when her and Randy had hit a road block in their marriage early on. A couple months had passed and with serious dedication and commitment to one another, Randy and Trish were stronger than ever. She hadn't heard from Gail in a long time, in fact, she hadn't heard from Gail since the incident at the hospital. When Trish had replayed the events of that night with Amy over the phone, Amy had wondered what possessed her to help someone like Gail. Truth was, she never expected anything in return from Gail and she was sure if the situation were reversed, she probably wouldn't have been so lucky if Gail were her one and only resort, but Trish's main concern was Kevin. More than that, Trish knew exactly what it felt like to be a mother and the responsibilities that came with it. Thinking about having Emma in a situation like that, Trish would part with her own soul if it meant to save her little girl.
"Hey man….that's my leg you're jumping on…." John yelled. Trish laughed as she walked out of the kitchen and placed the tray of appetizers on the dining room table.
"Yeah….well that's for bending my arm…." Randy yelled back.
John turned to Trish.
"T, can you tell him to stop it…" John whined.
"No…you stop it….baby, I swear he started it…." Randy said. Trish felt like she was in a daycare.
"Okay, why don't you two get cleaned up before the guests arrive…." Trish suggested. As both men rose to their feet and proceeded to the bathroom, Trish immediately walked between them.
"To save ourselves the confrontation, because knowing you two….there will be one….Randy you go first, John, you stay here till he gets back…." Trish said like a doting mother.
"This is ridiculous….we aren't little kids" John said. The look on Trish's face said it all and John conceded.
"Okay okay….you're right…." John said. Randy made his way to the bathroom but not without sending a smirk John's way. John playfully sent him the finger but Trish immediately grabbed his finger and bent it back, causing John to react to the pain.
"How many times have I told you and Randy to never ever speak or DO anything vulgar in front of my child….I swear John, if my precious, innocent little girl starts greeting people with middle fingers, you're gonna find yourself missing yours buddy…" Trish said, causing John to laugh. He gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Sorry, I'm won't do it again…" He turned to Emma, "You didn't see anything did you Emma?" he said in a baby voice. Emma laughed and made motioned her head up and down. John made his way over to the playpen and picked Emma up and started throwing her in the air, eliciting loud giggles from little Emma.
'He's going to be a great father' Trish thought. The family didn't seem complete without John. Emma loved him and she had grown so accustomed to seeing him that a dinner without him just seemed so incomplete. She was busy watching John and Emma play that she didn't hear the tall figure creep up behind her. Randy snuck his hands around her waist and kissed her neck and pulling her closer. Trish immediately relaxed in his arms and gave a content sigh.
"You okay?" Randy asked. Trish turned around to look at her husband and nodded her head.
"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked curiously. Randy just shrugged.
"You've been in the kitchen all day…." he said with a small laugh.
"Well I wanted to make sure that our guests are actually able to eat something! Besides….we've never had your friends and mine come together since our wedding….I think it's a good way of reconnecting everyone with each other." Trish said.
"Sure…." Randy said looking at his wife skeptically.
"What?" Trish said, her large eyes feigning innocence.
"We both know what you're trying to do. I know you're worried about the way Adam's been acting for the past couple of months. He's been rude, bitter, angry and completely out of control. As his friend you want to help but….but do you really think that the best way is to invite him to a dinner where he's practically made himself on the hit list of all of your other guests?" Randy inquired.
Trish frowned. He had a point, but she knew Adam and she was sure that she could get through to him. She had to or else she was sure he would be left to fend for himself against all of his newfound enemies.
"Well it won't hurt me to try would it?" she asked softly. Randy looked at his wife and his eyes turned soft. It wasn't her fault she had such an amazing heart. He just had a bad feeling about all of this. Adam wasn't the same man she had involved herself with those years ago.
"You know I love you right?" Randy asked softly as he stroked her hair gently.
"Always" she whispered.
"Hey lovebirds…." John interrupted the two.
"Don't you hear your guests have been ringing the doorbell for someone to open the door for them?"
"So get it" Randy shot back.
"Hey I'm a guest too…." John said defensively.
"If our depleting stock of food in our refrigerator is any indication, than you are no guest here…." Randy said. Trish giggled before slapping Randy's chest.
"I'll get the door John…." Trish laughed.
"How come you can't be nice like your wife?" John asked. His only reply was one of Emma's rubber balls being flung his way.
"Sour sport" John muttered.
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The guests were all divided. Some of the guys were in the living room watching television while most of the women were fawning over Emma. Amy and Lisa was helping Trish in the kitchen prepare some coffee for everyone.
"T….I know this is your dinner and everything…but is there a specific reason that you invited Adam here?" Amy asked.
"Because he's our friend Ames…." Trish said but Amy jumped in.
"No T, haven't you seen for the past months….that's not a friend. Sometimes your good heart clouds your rational judgement Trish….trust me….I've encountered that problem on more than one occasion. Look….I don't wanna sound like I'm attacking you or something….but I've been hurt by Adam and his sudden rotten attitude and you know what? A lot of people in this very house have been hurt by him. I just don't want you to find out about this "new" Adam the way the rest of us have. If anyone deserves better than that, it's you T."
Trish gave Amy a small smile before enveloping her friend in a hug.
"I know you're trying to protect me Ames….you're always looking out for me…."
"Awwwww, group hug" Lisa giggled as she joined on. Trish pulled away.
"Speaking of Adam, where is he?" Trish asked. She felt bad that everyone was isolating Adam. It didn't help that he was isolating himself as well. She wondered why he even bothered to show up if he really didn't want to be here.
"Sorry to interrupt you ladies, but T, Emma's asleep…." John trailed off.
"Thanks John…I'll take her upstairs…." Trish said.
"Randy or I can do that for you if you're busy…." John offered. Trish offered him an appreciative smile.
"Naw…I've got it….." Trish said.
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Trish tucked Emma into her crib in the nursery. She made her way out and was about to go back downstairs when she heard a noise come from within her and Randy's bedroom. She slowly walked towards the door and quietly pushed it open. She saw a tall figure standing in the middle of the room. She easily found the light switch and turned the lights on.
"Adam…..what are you doing up here?…." Trish asked.
Adam was startled and he wasn't quite sure how to explain himself.
"S..s..sorry, ummm…the bathroom downstairs was occupied and I really needed to go so I thought I'd use the one upstairs before anyone would notice but it seems I can't find the bathroom."
Trish looked at him curiously and Adam was afraid that she didn't believe him. However, after moments passed by, Trish allowed a smile to grace her face.
"Here let me show you where the bathroom is….." Trish offered. Trish let him use the master suite bathroom. She sat on her and Randy's bed and waited for Adam to come out. She didn't have to wait long because he was out in a couple of minutes. As he exited the bathroom, he gave Trish a sheepish smile before taking a seat next to her on the bed.
"So how have you been?" Adam asked softly.
"I could ask you the same thing….haven't seen you in awhile…." Trish said with a small laugh. Her laughter died down moments later and she became serious.
"Adam is something wrong?….because if there is, you know you can talk to me right?" she asked softly. Adam turned to her and silently nodded his head. Trish could have been mistaken but the look he gave her reminded her of when they were together and he would shower her with "I love you's".
"Can I ask you something?" Trish said. Adam once again found it hard to find his voice, he was captured by her and the worst part was that she was now untouchable. Or maybe not. He once again nodded his head, prodding her to continue.
"I haven't really noticed it until now…and if I'm wrong, please don't get offended but if I'm right…please don't lie, because I am the last person who would ever judge you Adam…I know you too well to ever do that…." Trish said.
"Um….seeing you after so long, you reminded me of someone….."
"Who?" Adam asked softly.
"Kevin…." Trish whispered softly. Adam didn't say anything but his reaction told Trish everything.
"You're the father of Gail's baby aren't you?" Trish asked understandingly. Adam didn't bother to put up a fight.
"Yeah I am….I didn't find out until after the whole blood test issue with Randy at the hospital….I see him regularly…he's a really great kid…." Adam said with a smile. Trish placed her hand gently on his back,
"I think that's the first time I've seen you smile in a long time…." she said softly.
"You make me smile….I miss you Trish…."
"I'm sorry I haven't been a very good friend lately, I mean…." Trish was silenced by Adam's finger upon her lips.
"I mean I MISS YOU" he replied pronouncing his words clearly so that she would understand. She did and she didn't know how to respond to that.
Adam's hand slowly followed up her thigh, pushing her short skirt higher. Trish immediately pushed his hand back down.
"Adam stop it!" she said fiercely.
"Is everything alright up here?" John asked. Both Trish and Adam turned to look at John. Trish wasn't sure if he had seen anything but she hoped that he didn't get the wrong idea.
"Everything's fine" Adam said through clenched teeth. He rose from the bed and sent Trish an apologetic look before walking past John and heading downstairs. Trish and John remained in their places looking at each other intently, not saying a word. Both of them heard the distinct sound of the front door slamming and knew that Adam had made his exit. Trish sprung up off the bed realizing that she had to make John see that she hadn't done anything. She wasn't going to tell him about Adam's actions because she knew he would tell Randy and then Randy would probably kill Adam. She had to admit that it was extremely out of character for Adam but she allowed her conscious to hesitantly pass it off as his loneliness.
Trish walked right in front of John and looked up at him with pleading eyes….
"J, I swear I didn't do anything" she said tearfully. John instantly pulled her close into a hug.
"I know you didn't….don't forget who you're talking to here….I believe you T…." he whispered back. Both of them pulled apart and after wiping her eyes with the pad of his thumb, they both made their way downstairs together as if nothing had happened. She just hoped that he didn't mention anything to Randy.
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Trish handed Randy the last pot to be rinsed. He had offered, since she spent all day preparing the dinner, to would help with the dishes. She had insisted that it was okay and that she could handle it but he was adamant to do it. She stepped back and allowed him to take over.
"Where's the soap?" he asked, rummaging through the cupboards.
"Where's the scrubber?" he asked once again.
"Where's the…." he didn't finish because she interrupted him.
"Tell you what…..how bout we do it together?" she suggested. He bent over and gave her sweet kiss on the lips to seal the deal and that's how they found themselves 20 minutes later. When they were finally finished, Randy snaked his hand around her waist and pressed his lips to her neck.
"So did you get anywhere with Adam today because I hardly noticed him around……." Trish immediately tensed at Adam's name.
"You okay babe?" Randy murmured. She nodded. She turned around in his arms, hoping to get away from the subject. She put her arms around his neck and stood on her tip toes.
"I have an idea" she said playfully. It was always her playful moods that made her sound seductive and Randy would immediately go crazy for her.
"What's that?" he asked, playing along.
Trish slowly started undoing his shirt buttons and rubbing his chest gently. She scraped her nails down his chest softly until she reached his belt buckle. She undid that as well and pulled it off from around his waist. She once again got on her tip toes and whispered in his ear,
"You're gonna have to come upstairs to find out…." she giggled. Randy was all for it and not being able to wait until they got upstairs, he pulled her close and kissed her passionately all the while he helped to take off her shirt. He picked her up and took her upstairs to their room, never breaking the kiss. It was the perfect reward to a busy night.
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Trish hummed softly as she entered her home. She had just come from her in-laws place. Randy had gone out with John and so she decided to visit Bob and Elaine and take Emma along to see her grandparents. They were elated by the visit and they couldn't keep away from her. When Trish had insisted that she needed to get home to make dinner, Bob and Elaine had insisted that Emma stay the night with them. They said she should get some rest or better yet, her and Randy could do something special. Trish agreed, knowing how much Emma's grandparents adored her and how much Emma enjoyed them as well. She put her bag down on the counter and moved in to the kitchen towards the phone to check her messages. She had four messages. One was from Randy telling her he would be home before dinner, one from John with his usual teasing. There was one from Stacy, upholding her promise to call and let Trish know that she got home safely and the last one was a surprise to Trish. It was Adam. He sounded upset and frustrated. He apologized about last night and Trish felt like he truly meant it. However, she immediately erased his message, in case Randy heard it he would never stop questioning her about what Adam was apologizing for and what exactly he did last night. As soon as the message was erased, there was a knock at the door. Trish quickly took her coat off and ran to the door to answer. She swung the door open to be met face to face with Adam himself. She was more than a bit surprised at seeing him at her doorstep. She didn't know what to say but thankfully, Adam started off.
"Look, I don't know if you got my message but I just wanted to apologize about last night….can I come in?" he asked genuinely.
Trish believed him and nodded her head while stepping aside to allow him in. He smiled gratefully and walked in to the home he had been in not more than 24 hours ago.
Hours had passed and Trish and Adam were laughing it up as they talked and caught up with each other's lives. He asked about any and everything but Trish observed that he never once mentioned Randy. She had asked numerous times about his love life and whether he had found the "one" yet. He would laugh and say that he had, for some time in fact, but he said the situation was delicate and he had to be careful on how to approach it. Trish was happy that he had at least moved on with his life.
"Do you want some more coffee?" she offered.
"I'd love some more…." he said. Trish got up and moved to the kitchen. She prepared another cup from Adam. When she turned around to head back the living room, she nearly jumped out of her skin because Adam was standing right behind her.
"Sorry didn't mean to scare you" he said huskily as he moved closer to her. Trish backed right up against the kitchen counter.
"Adam, you're a bit too close don't you think?" she asked hesitantly .
"Personally, I'm not close enough" he grabbed her and pulled her completely against him.
"What are you doing?" she said scared. Never in her life did she ever expect to be scared beyond belief by Adam. The man who once vowed to always be there for her and protect her, whether as friends or lovers, it was ironic that he was the one she felt she needed protection from now. Adam gripped her wrists and held on tight. Trish was sure that her wrists were red and bruised by now. She didn't want to show him that she was scared but she was and the tears couldn't be helped.
"Why?" was all that she could muster out.
"Why?" he repeated.
"I'll tell you why…..because I love you….I've always loved you. When we were friends, when we were together and even now, even after you broke my heart and tore it shreds without a second thought….even now I still love you. I know what you're gonna say Trish, you're gonna say that you thought I felt the same way…yeah I did say that, but I didn't want you to feel bad and I certainly didn't want to be the loser so I played along. I agreed to be the friend. You know….at first I was content to just have you in my life. But then things with Randy began. He used you, abused and threw you away and yet you still wanted him. He played rough with your heart and you loved it! Otherwise you wouldn't be married to the bastard would you? I treated you like a queen, but that's not what you wanted, you wanted to be treated like a slut…..".
As he spoke through clenched teeth, Trish could see the fire in his teary eyes and she knew where he was going with this and she was beyond terrified.
"Adam…" she began but his look silenced her. He wasn't done yet.
"Well you know what Trish? I'm gonna do what Randy did to you, maybe then you'll love me…." he grabbed her and kissed her roughly. She twisted and turned trying to break the kiss but the more she tried, the tighter he squeezed her.
"I just want you love me…." he said through a whisper when he finally broke the kiss.
"Adam, I'm married with a baby…I love my family and I'm sorry that I hurt you but I never meant to do it, I swear…." Trish cried. Adam smirked before pulling her with him to the stairs. He was going to make her love him and this seemed like the only way how.
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Trish sat on her and Randy's bed crying. Adam had left her an hour ago in the same position. She had screamed until she couldn't scream anymore and finally when he was finished, he realized too late the devastation he caused. He tearfully repeated "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" until he finally left.
Randy walked into the house at 7 pm. He looked around and saw no one around.
'Shit she must be mad' he thought. He had promised to be home before dinner and dinner was supposed to be at 6 tonight. Trish would usually wait for him in the living room while watching TV and complain that she was starving because she had to wait for him to eat and he, being irresponsible, was late. It was an easy way to get him to do things to make up for his tardiness and it was also and easy way to get apologetic kisses. Randy hoped that they would work this time. He looked all downstairs to find no one so he climbed the stairs to check upstairs. Randy knew that she had gone to his parents house but she told him what time she would be back and unlike him, she was actually on time.
He walked throughout the upstairs and before he could open the door to the nursery he heard her in their bedroom. He slowly walked in. There she was sitting on their bed crying, but that didn't so much as bother him than the fact that she was crying and her clothes were ripped. He immediately noticed the bruises on her wrist and knew that she wasn't devastated because of his lateness. He made a dash over to her.
"Baby what happened?" he asked before he pulled her to him. Trish leached on to him and buried her face into his chest. She sobbed louder in his arms and Randy was growing more scared by the second. He stroked her hair and promised to make things better if she told him what happened. She was still too wound up to answer him.
"Did someone hurt you?" he asked shakily. He could feel her nod into his chest.
"Someone you know?" again, she nodded, while sobbing in his arms. Randy pulled her away from him this time to look into her eyes.
"Who was it?" he asked fiercely. The look in her eye said it all. There was only one person she knew that was even capable of hurting her at this point.
"It was Adam…" he said, not bothering to ask her but she nodded anyway. Randy could feel the pit of his stomach form knots and he didn't want to think of what possible way that Adam could of hurt her. His two options weren't attractive but he would settle with the first one over the second because it was much easier to deal with.
"Did he hit you?" he asked, hoping she said yes. When she shook her head no, he felt like all the wind had been knocked out of his stomach. The tears began to pool in his eyes as he watched his wife shake with sobs, so hurt that she could barely speak.
"Did he rape you?" 'please say no' he thought. However, his hopes were shot to hell as she slowly nodded her head. Randy immediately pulled her to him once again and held on tight.
"Shhhh, it's okay baby…we're gonna get through this okay….he's never gonna hurt you again, I promise…." Randy softly promised her.
This was one promise that he was, without a doubt going to uphold to. As far as he was concerned, Adam Copeland better sleep with one eye open because no one can hurt his wife and walk away unscathed. Randy was going to make sure that Adam got what was coming to him. He was going to make it long, painful and definitely unforgettable.