Thanks for waiting so patiently and for the great reviews.
One week later
Randy glanced around the catering room sadly before heading for an empty table in the corner. Sitting down he began pushing around the food on his plate, not interested in eating.
He had been sitting there for five minutes when his table was invaded. Looking up in surprised he was faced by the younger generation of superstars.
"Can I help you?" he asked when they just sat there grinning at him.
"Listen, we just wanted to tell you that we don't care anything about your past." Adam Copeland spoke up.
"Yea man, we all have had to do things to get where we are." Jay Reso added.
"So you don't care? You don't even know the whole story." Randy asked warily.
"We don't need to know the whole story. We already like you." Shelton informed him.
"Thanks man I just wish everyone else felt that way." Randy said glancing over at Dave Batista and Paul Levesque.
"If they don't understand they're just being hypocrites. Look at what Paul and Shawn did during their DX days." Adam said.
"Have you tried talking to them at all?" Shelton asked, frowning at the rest of the room.
"Every time I got near them they would start asking questions. They don't seem to realize that I don't want to talk about it." Randy answered shrugging.
"Well then screw them. I'm ready for some fun. Who's interested?" Jay said standing up.
"How good are you at Madden?" Adam asked Randy.
"Are you kidding? John is my brother. I had to be good or he wouldn't let me live it down." Randy informed them laughing. Hearing his phone ring he picked it up and glanced at the caller id before shoving it back in his pocket.
"Some one you don't want to talk to?" Shelton asked as they walked out of the room.
"My parents. John kinda told them that I was having trouble and they have been calling non stop since." Randy explained.
Three days later
The security guard at the back entrance of the arena stared in surprise as the man gave him his name. Unable to say anything the guard waved him in, not needing to verify his identity.
The grim man smiled silently as he began searching locker rooms. Soon he came upon one filled with wrestlers.
"Excuse me." He said standing in the door way.
The room quieted as one by one the occupants looked up.
"Hey aren't you ?" Jericho started before he was poked in the ribs by Benoit.
The man smiled at his old friend before addressing the room at large. "I'm looking for my son, Randy Orton. Does anyone know where he is?"
He resisted the urge to laugh as everyone's jaw hit the floor. Dave Batista was the first to regain his senses. "He's been avoiding us since the big announcement. He seems to think we don't like him anymore."
Yea, he's been avoiding me too and frankly I am tired of it." The man responded.
"He's in catering with Shelton Benjamin." Paul spoke up.
"Well then shall we?" The man asked grinning. The rest of the roster grinned and jumped up to follow.
Crowding into the doorway of the large room they found Randy and Shelton throwing around a football.
The man shook his head and reached out to grab the ball before Randy could. "How many times have you been told not to throw the ball in the house?"
Randy glanced around in surprise before groaning and slumping in a chair. Across the room Shelton gaped in surprise at the visitor. "You're Sting. Oh shit you're Sting."
"Shelton, meet my father Steve Borden." Randy called out. "Dad, this is Shelton Benjamin."
"I've seen your Stinger's splash. You're good kid." Steve told him.
"Oh shit" Shelton said, unable to think of anything else. Randy grinned at his friend before turning to his father.
"What are you doing here?" He asked frowning as he noticed everyone else entering the room and taking seats.
"Why haven't you answered your phone?" Steve countered.
"Because I have caller id and I didn't want to talk to you." Randy answered.
"Stop being a smart ass. We need to talk." The older man growled.
"I really don't want to do that here in front of everybody." Randy muttered.
"Then tell me how we are supposed to get things resolved if we don't discuss the situation with them?" Steve asked reasonably.
"Dad I'm not seven. You can't sit me and my friends down and get us to work everything out." Randy groaned.
"Can't I?" Steve asked before continuing. "From what I understand you have been avoiding most everyone in the room because you think they don't like you anymore."
Randy laughed sarcastically. "If you're going to get your information, at least pick a more reliable source than John. I don't give a rat's ass if they have a problem with me. I am angry because I can't be around my friends with out them harassing me for answers."
"Watch your mouth. I am your father and I expect to be treated with respect." Steve warned him in a low voice.
Randy nodded to acknowledge his father's words but remained silent.
Dave spoke up in the silence. "Randy we weren't trying to press you because we had to know. You just seemed so upset about the situation that we figured it would be better if you got it off your chest."
"I don't want to talk about it ever." Randy ground out.
"I don't think I can let that happen. I think your mother and I made a mistake when we didn't force you to talk twenty years ago. You are not upset about what McMahan made you do and you don't have a problem talking about your family. Its Bob Orton and what he did to you. You have never got that out of your system." Steve said softly.
"Stop" Randy pleaded as his breathing picking up.
"You get up and leave and I am going to come after you and drag you back." Steve threatened. "If you don't tell these people your story today you are going to be looking over you shoulder every time you come in contact with one of them. Soon you will hate coming to work. After everything you've endured to get here I am not going to let that happen. You are not leaving this room until they know."
"I don't think I can tell them." Randy bit out.
"That's okay. I'll tell them and you just jump in with anything you want, okay?" Steve waited until Randy had nodded before turning back to the room. "Randy's mom died giving birth to his sister Rebecca. Randy was two at the time. Bob Orton went a little crazy in his grief. He started drinking heavily and was often gone for long periods of time. Randy and the infant were left to fend for themselves."
Steve glanced over at Randy to make sure he was okay before continuing. "When Cowboy Bob did come home he often took his drunken rage out on his children. It is a testament of Randy's courage and intelligence that his sister lived to be two years old in that environment."
"Why didn't someone do anything?" Paul asked horrified.
"Who? Every time someone came over we were kicked out of the house. I would hide out in the woods until I saw the cars leave and then try to get back in the house. Sometimes I wasn't able too and would have to spend the night outside." Randy spoke up warily.
"After about a year and a half Bob was made to see the error of his ways and he was devastated over how he had treated his children. So for the next couple of months he became the devoted father." Steve added.
"What changed him?" Jericho asked.
"Roddy Piper came over and beat the stuffing out of him. After that he came every week to make sure we were okay." Randy informed them after Steve admitted he didn't know.
Steve stayed quiet wanting Randy to continue, knowing the next part was going to be the hardest.
Randy swallowed hard. "I had lost my mother and my father had turned into an evil monster. But then he was my father again. I didn't have to be scared anymore. It was great. It was my birthday and Piper had come over. He and my dad had started arguing. Next thing I knew we in Piper's car and we were driving away. Last time I saw Cowboy Bob until I joined OVW."
"Piper brought the kids to me. He knew my wife collected strays. I was a little hesitant. I was 24 and already had a seven year old and a five year old. John settled the issue. He grabbed Randy and dragged him to his bedroom, telling him the whole way to stop squalling. I didn't have a choice after that. When I talked to Bob about the legal issues he signed away custody without blinking an eye." Steve filled in.
"What was his reasoning?" Dave growled, horrified at what he was hearing. He couldn't bear the thought of giving up his girls.
"He said that with his career taking off that he couldn't care for a couple of kids. That they would just hold him back."
"But didn't you have a wrestling career and do it with four kids?" Adam asked over the outraged shouts from the parents in the crowd.
"Actually he ended up with eight kids and was still a damned good father." Randy said.
"Watch your mouth." Steve ordered.
Randy rolled his eyes when Steve turned back to the room. Shelton struggled to hold back his laughter. "So how did you manage to do what you did? Agreeing to pretend that he had raised you and that you look up to that abusive bastard."
"I didn't really care about the abuse or neglect. The thing I can never forgive him for was abandoning us like that after pretending to care about us and spoiling us those couple of months. As for the whole third generation thing, I knew someone was going to bring that up. The only bad part was when we had that show in St. Louis and he walked me down to the ring. You have no idea how close I came to beating the shit—er crap out of him." Randy explained.
"Now see don't you feel better?" Steve asked after everyone had thought about it for a couple of minutes.
Randy pretended to glare at his father for a couple of minutes before he gave in and grinned.
"Then would you please do me a favor and call your mother so she will get off my back." He pleaded as the whole room laughed.
