Notes: This takes place a couple of days after 125 & 126. Sniffs this fic is almost done. :'( Is it okay if we stall the end for a month or two? Ducks. I'm joking!

Jules adds: Sniffles

I'm at mom and Jason's keeping an eye on Trevor and Misha since they and Tatem were at work. Not how I imagined things would be when the trial was over but I had decided to take time off from training. People seemed surprised by that. Things just seemed weird now.

Misha was coloring in her coloring book and Trevor was playing a game on the computer. I was waiting for Tatem to come pick up Misha and Trevor. She was taking Trevor to a doctor's appointment.

"Hello? Daniel you still here?" Mom called. I went into the front room and saw her loaded down with groceries. I grabbed a couple of bags. I was surprised to see her. I thought she'd be at work. "Oh good you're still here. I wanted to talk to you."

"Tatem's a little late picking them up. Why aren't you at work?"

"Every once in awhile you need to take some time off right?"

"Sure I guess." I should know I'm the one who's taking time off.

"Trevor can you keep an eye on Misha till Tatem gets here? I need to talk to Daniel."

"Sure." He said turning off the game. He hobbled over to where Misha was and started coloring with her.

"Let's go outside." Mom said.

It was a warm spring day so we sat on the porch. "I thought now would be a good time to talk to you about this. You have heard your father's side but you haven't heard mine. I made the choice to not tell you about the match for your own good. You were four at the time. It pretty much traumatized Tatem and she was ten."

"How come when I got older you wouldn't tell me? Not even when I said I wanted to be a wrestler."

"I guess I felt a need to shield you from the sport. Anyone that came to visit knew not to speak about the sport to you. But as you got older, I started to realize you knew more then I thought you did. It became clear when you came home from Florida with a tattoo on your ankle. I don't know if it would have bothered me as much if it was a different kind of tattoo." I just nodded. We'd discussed that many times. "But I never understood why you wanted to be a wrestler."

"I had wanted to follow in dad's footsteps. I always thought you'd understand that since you had been in the sport for about ten years."

"True. I gave it all up when I married your father. I had custody of Tatem and wanted to take care of her. Your father said he could support us with his contract. He was making roughly five hundred thousand a year then. But your father had been so proud when he found out I was pregnant with you. You're the reason why he went to the WWF instead of Japan. He wanted to be here when I gave birth. Though later I found out what Shane Douglas was trying to do was keep your father from going to WWF. But we didn't know why at the time. Wish we did though."

I finally asked the question I had wanted to ask her ever since she found out dad hadn't died. "Are you still in love with him?"

She didn't say anything right away. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't have feelings for your father. But no I don't think I love him the way I used to. I was scared that I still loved him but I don't. I love him but I'm not in love with him and that's a big difference."

I contemplated what she said while she went to check up on Misha and Trevor. If only we had all known. I didn't think it was possible to hate Vince McMahon and Hunter Hearst Helmsley more then I already did but I think it was possible.

Mom came back out. "Where was I? Oh yes your father being in WWF. He had hurt his neck in 2002 and needed surgery. He was the doting loving father that whole time he was gone. Then in 2003 in what was an accident your father broke his elbow again. He broke it in Japan in 1998. But things got strange when he went back for Survivor Series of that year. And I don't mean just Steve Austin's near death."

"Steve Borden told me about his match with dad and how Helmsley told him to work on the elbow."

"That's what your father told me when he came home to tell me Steve had died. He said Helmsley was acting strange, as was Jarrett. He didn't mention it again until the fateful PPV that I thought he died at. He was so worried about the match. Your father never had a problem with jobbing. He didn't mind losing to Goldberg; he just didn't want to wrestle him. He told me his worries about it being the fifth anniversary of Owen's death and what Goldberg did to Bret Hart. He told me that you were not going to the show. He wasn't too sure about me and Tatem going but I told him things would be fine." She stopped talking and just stared out at the cars going by.

"When I was going to Kemper I had a dream of the night you guys went to the show. He told me I was too young and that when I woke up the next morning he'd be waiting for me."

"That was our own plan. But as things seem to go in wrestling it seems, nothing ever goes the way you plan it." Don't I know it? "Tatem and I had front row seats for that show. Your father came over, kissed me, and hugged Tatem before jumping into the ring. I, as many I guess, knew something looked really wrong when Goldberg picked your father up for the power bomb. I jumped to my feet and watched it. I'm not sure which one of us screamed first between Tatem and I. Goldberg pinned your father and got up. But your father didn't. I saw the paramedics and Eddy go to ringside. Eddy left for I didn't know why at the time. The paramedic told me that your father was dead and I don't' remember what happened after that. Tatem said I fainted right next to his body. National Enquirer ran a picture of that in their magazine. Sued them for that. Anyway telling you was the hardest part. I remember telling you and you wouldn't believe me. You ran out of the kitchen. You wouldn't eat you wouldn't sleep and you barely talked." She paused again. "You remember the funeral?"

"Vaguely."

"It seemed like everyone was there. Your brother David, Shane Douglas, Dean Malenko, Eddy Guerrero, Perry Saturn, and Ric Flair served as pallbearers. I do not remember much of it except the nagging reminder that I'd never see your father again. Though that would turn out to be wrong later."

I closed my eyes. I was remembering the funeral. I sat on my mother's lap. Tatem was sitting next to us along with Levi, Megan, David and their parents. I had a red rose in my hand. I just stared at the coffin, which was closed. I remember thinking that dad wasn't dead. It was someone else's funeral.

The looks of pity people were sending over at us. People talked. But I don't remember when they said. I just remember the coffin and thinking dad couldn't be dead because to me I thought my dad would never break a promise and he had promised to be home when I got up that morning. I remember mom leading me past the closed casket and being instructed to put a rose on top of it. Mom had to lift me up of course.

I don't remember if I cried but I must have. I didn't want to ask mom that.

"That was one of the toughest days of my life." Mom continued. Everyone that your father had worked with were there offering their condolences. Jushin Thunder Liger even came to offer his condolences. They had wrestled each other in Japan for years. Debra was the shoulder I needed to cry on. She had gone through it just six months before." She paused wiping away a tear. "Don't know why I'm crying." She said. That's mom. Always trying to be strong.

"I remember Vince McMahon wasn't at the funeral but Stephanie and Hunter were. I wouldn't let either of them into my house. Though they tried. I think they and Bischoff were the only ones I refused to come to the house. I thought they had a lot of gall to show up. I didn't trust any of them. Now I'm not surprised Vince didn't show up at the time I thought it was strange though I was glad he didn't."

She didn't say anything for a few minutes. "The first couple of weeks after the funeral were tough. I didn't think things would ever get better. I'm glad that Dean, Perry, and Eddy came by. Eddy came less then they did for reasons that are obvious now. At the time I thought it was strange until Dean said it was probably his way of dealing with things. Of course I now know he was in Marietta with your father."

"Did you ever try to sue the WWE?" Probably a dumb question but I remember Athena saying her mother had sued them.

"I had thought about it but my lawyer discouraged it. He said there was no way to prove Vince had done anything. It was proven that Goldberg had done it. Though we did get a percentage of the rest of Goldberg's contract as part of the settlement with Vince, which I divided between yours, Megan's, and David's college funds that your father had set up along with the remaining of your father's contract. I think Vince was trying everything he could to avoid a lawsuit." That did sound like Vince. "Of course you decided to use your money for wrestling and Megan never did go to college. So only David used it for its intended way." I chuckled. Mom was right.

Her face became serious. "I was glad that people respected my wishes not to talk about wrestling in front of you. I knew I couldn't keep them from coming over. The only time someone didn't comply was Eddy when he told you that some of the people training at OVW went to school at Brown High School. I knew as soon as you heard that you'd want to go to OVW. I didn't think we'd fight over it that much. I think the only solution was for you to not spend the summer at home and you did come back in time for school at Frederick Douglass High School."

"I remember what you told me, you can do whatever you want after you graduate high school but until then you are staying here and doing it. Course you still didn't want me to become a wrestler."

"I didn't want you to get hurt. I had thought your dad had died and couldn't stand the thought of the same thing happening to you." She paused. "I just wanted to keep you safe. That was always my goal for you, Tatem, and Trevor, Levi too even though he was living with his dad. I couldn't ignore the fact that wrestling was a dangerous sport."

"Even if it was to make me give up my dream?"

Mom sighed. "Even that. I know I encouraged you to follow your dreams but I didn't want you to be a wrestler. David and Tatem both said you are doing well even Chavo said so. I was starting to warm up to the idea and then you got kidnapped. And then I found out you were the next target…" she closed her eyes. "I'm just glad everything's finally over."

I agree with her about that. Now if only I knew what I was going to do and what dad was planning to do. "How's Jason taking everything?"

"He's taking it better then he was at first. He said he got a better understanding about everything after talking to your dad at the restaurant. I'm surprised there wasn't any blood shed." That makes two of us. "Don't expect them to be friends but they at least there's an understanding." She said with a grin.

I'm glad mom's taking things better then she did when she first found out. I'm glad she's still not about to kill dad. Maybe hearing dad's side of the story a couple of days ago helped her as much as the hotel restaurant dinner meeting helped Jason to understand. That's not to say she won't kill someone like Bischoff but at least she's not going to kill dad.

Which is about the best thing. I still wonder what dad and the others are going to do. They still don't sound like they know.