A/N: Okay, I'm truly thankful for all of you who have been reviewing, especially the fallowing (if I forget you…PLEASE don't flame me…I'm doing this off of the top of my head!)
Shannfan14
Shinebright-starlight
Huntersgirl
OTHlover04
Sandra Moore
J3r1ch0h0lic4eva
Diva-Xtreme
Legendkillerthriller
Randy is a God
All of you guys ROCK! With a capital r, o, c, and k! Any way, thanks for reviewing, and here's chappy 19!
I let Ash out in to the main room with Matias and Angel, then I closed the door and looked at Shelton. He had a look on his face I couldn't read. In his eyes, I saw sadness, and anger and frustration, but there was something else there too…something I couldn't place.
"What are we going to do?" I said, pulling my knees under my chin and wrapping my arms around my legs.
"I don't know…I mean, I looked at them, and I saw me. I seriously did, so I don't want to ship them off to my mom…she doesn't need to raise more kids…and Kai is only 16, she doesn't know what to do with a kid…hell, I barely know. I think I should keep them, that's what Craig wanted anyway, and I'd love to prove him wrong." He said, rubbing the top of his head, clearly stressed. I walked over and looked up at him.
"Shelton, I'm here for you, regardless, you know that. If you want to hang on to the munchkins, I'm here for the long run. If not, hey, it's cool. You know that, right?" I said, lacing my fingers behind his neck.
"Yeah. So we keeping them?" he said, putting his arms loosely around my waist.
"Yeah, if that's what you want."
"Cool, I'm raising my brother and sister to be good people, and no one's stopping me." He said, kissing me on the forehead. Then we went back into the room where the twins were. Matias was chasing ash around the room, and Angel was dancing to a song that was playing on Kim Possible. When they heard the door open, they immediately stopped what they were doing and sat down.
"Sorry," the chorus, looking at the ground.
"For what?" I said, noticing something.
"For the noise." The chorused again. Then I recognized what I saw; fear. I saw me and Matt in that exact same situation each time our mother would come in the room. That's when it hit me. Those kids had gotten abused, and badly if they were acting like that each time an adult walked in the room.
"You guys, you don't have to be sorry, you can make noise, and have fun all you want, you're five, and you're allowed to!" I smiled. Matias looked at me uncertainly. Then he stood up and walked over to me. I dropped to my knees so that I was almost eye to eye with him.
"You're not mad?" he said, confused.
"Far from it little man." I smiled.
"Really?" Angel spoke up.
"No, we're not mad…don't be afraid to have fun." Shelton said. "Now, come on over and sit on the couch." He said. When we were all sitting on the couch, we started to talk. In order, it was me, Matias, Angel then Shelton.
"Now guys, I'm not your dad." Shelton said, looking at the two, who were holding hands again. "I'm your older brother. My name is Shelton. Now over here, is Ari, she's not your mom or anything, but you do have to listen to her. And me too." He said, talking softly to the two. "You two are staying with us now, and we'll be with a lot of other people who are good, and some who are bad, okay?" they nodded. "Now, these are the rules, okay?"
"Okay," they nodded.
"You have to listen to me and Ari no matter what. You're not to go off with anyone you don't know, even if they tell you to. Don't fight with each other, and no tantrums, deal?"
"Uh-huh" Angel said, smiling at him. I could tell that he melted when she did that.
"I got it." Matias said, nodding.
"You guys hungry?" I said, looking at the two.
"Yes." they chorused. I noticed they did that a lot.
"Well, let me make some phone calls, and we'll get dressed for breakfast." I jumped in the shower, and Shelton stayed with the twins. When I came out dressed in low rise jeans, a black tank top, and a pink button down shirt, Shelton was wrestling with the twins on the floor while Ash jumped on Shelton every now and then. Shelton was lying on the floor, and the twins were diving on to him from the couch.
"Okay guys, come on in here, let's get you washed up." I said. They walked in the bathroom, and Shelton threw me the bag that I hadn't noticed in the hall way. In the bag were two t-shirts and a pair of pants each along with another pair of underwear. I stripped the two on them down and gave them a bath. It was completely normal until I saw their backs. There were scars and what looked suspiciously like cigarette burns there. I pretended I didn't notice, because the twins were smiling and splashing one another. I took my cell out of my pocket and texted Shelton to come in the bathroom. When he came in and saw the twin's backs, he almost lost it. His eyes got wide, and he bit his lip so hard he broke skin. He went back in the room, and I got the twins out of the tub, which was a battle in itself; they were having a ball in that tub. I got them dried off, and dressed Angel in a pink t-shirt and the jeans that were in the bag, and Matias in the blue one that was in the bag along with a pair of jeans. Then I re-did Angel's hair in a pony tail at the top of her head. When we came out, Shelton went in, and I called my dad.
"Daddy?"
"Hey, what's up baby girl?"
"Wanna come out for breakfast?"
"Okay, where you wanna meet?"
"That Denny's down the road okay?"
"Sure, see you in thirty?"
"Okay, and dad?"
"What's up?"
"Bring Matt and Uncle Randy with you? I want you to meet some people."
"Alright, see you then." He laughed. I hung up, then I put on MTV. Videos were on, and I was dancing around with the twins. Ash was eating in his little bowl that the twins had filled. When Shelton came out, Angel and I were dancing around to Gwen Stefani's "Rich Girl" and Matias was playing with Ash. I checked my watch, and noticed that it was almost time to meet dad.
"Well people, time to motor!" I smirked. Shelton scooped Angel up and threw her on his shoulders. I had Matias on my back, and we ran out of the hotel and to my car. We got in and strapped them in the back.
"Ari, this car is nice!" Angel smiled, looking at the small TV that was in the Headrest in front of her.
"Thanks, Shelton and all of my friends and family got it for me for Christmas." I smiled
We pulled in the Parking Lot, and walked into the restaurant. We sat at a table, and three minutes later, my dad, brother and uncle came in, laughing and joking.
"Dad, over here!" I called, waving them over. They came over, and stopped when they saw the twins playing keep-away with Shelton's hat.
"Okay Munchkin, what's with the munchkins?" Dad said, laughing a little about his joke. I took the letter I'd grabbed out of my pocket and gave it to him. He read it and gave it to Matt. Matt looked kind of like my dad did, shocked. Uncle Randy looked at the twins and smirked.
"Damn, those little crumb snatchers look just like you Shelly-boy!"
"I know, they are my brother and sister." He said laughing as he tried to get his hat back. "This little angel over here is Angel, and the little man, that's Matias." He smirked.
"Wow," Uncle Randy said, looking at them. He watched as Angel jumped out of her chair and ran with Shelton's hat around the table. She was looking back at Shelton who was chasing her, acting like he was 6, so she ran right into Uncle Randy and fell down. She looked up into his smiling face and her smile dropped.
"Sorry," she said hurriedly, her face filled with fear.
"It's okay...don't be afraid, I won't hurt ya little Angel." He smiled. He reached out for her, and she screamed, running behind me.
"What's with her, Ari?" Uncle Randy said, looking at her confused as he stood up.
"She's scared of adults unless you get them to like you, especially Matias, that's why he hasn't come over and talked to you yet, I'll tell you why later." I said picking Angel up. She put her arms around my neck and held on for dear life, eyes wide on Randy. Matias came over and looked at the three men I was talking to, grabbing my hand.
"Angel, Matias, this is my Uncle Randy. And that over there in the blue hat is my brother Matt, and this, is my dad. They're all really nice people." I said, smiling at them.
"What's up shorties?" My dad smiled, taking off is hat. He put it on Matias's head and smirked.
"How old are you little man?" my dad said. "Three, four?"
'No, I'm five," he said, holding up five fingers. Dad chuckled, and stood up to look at Angel, who'd loosened up her vice-like grip on my neck, but was still a little apprehensive.
"You guys are little for five."
"I'm not little, I'm a big girl." Angel said, pouting.
"So, are you and Matias twins?" dad asked, smiling.
"Yes." She whispered looking at the ground.
"Who's older?"
"Matti." She said stronger.
"How much older?"
"Three minutes and forty seven seconds." She said smiling.
"How do you remember that?" Uncle Randy said smirking.
"Well, three plus four is seven, so, three minutes and forty seven seconds!" she grinned.
"She's pretty smart!" Matt smirked.
"Well, smarter than you, at least." Shelton said, sitting the shrimps back down. Everyone sat down and ate, and when we finished, we went back to the room. By now, it was about 12:30, so I decided to wake up the gang. I sent the twins back to the room with Dad and Shelton along with Uncle Randy and Matt. And I went and knocked loudly on my friend's rooms. Matt and Amy's room first, then Jeff, and Shane, finally, I knocked on Allen's room door, but I didn't know who his roommate was I was surprised when a rather pissed off Tyson Tomko opened the door.
"WHO THE FU- oh, hey princess, what'd ya need? Allen?" he said, calming when he saw me.
"Yeah, he awake? Sorry about that, I didn't know who his roommate was, and it's my job to wake his up…he's helpless." I said, smiling.
"He's still out like a light, but don't worry about it, I thought you were Jason…the whole 'Captain Charisma' thing is really getting to his head." He said, rolling his eyes.
"I know, Trish is a real bitch too, but don't tell her I said it! On second though, yeah, tell her."
"Tell Allen to hurry up," Jeff piped up.
"Yeah, apparently, Ari has a surprise for us in her room, and she can't tell us, 'she has to show us'." Shane said, mimicking me at the end.
"Hold on a sec…ALLEN, Get up!" Tyson said, leaning back into the room.
"So what's new?" he said, looking down at me.
"Too much, that's for sure. You'll find out tomorrow night at the house show, okay?"
"You keeping secrets from me Baby Cena?" he laughed, using his nick name for me.
"Yep." I laughed.
"No fair, you're telling them!" he whined.
"Tough. HURRY UP ALLEN, I GOT SOMEONE I WANT YOU TO MEET!" I said, earning looks from my friends. Allen finally came out of the room with his t-shirt on inside-out and backwards, looking like he'd just rolled out of bed. We said bye to Tyson and went to my room. I stopped them at the door.
"Okay guys, wait here, okay? I have to get them ready." I said, slipping inside before they could say anything. I went in and saw my dad and Uncle Randy chasing Matias around the room, and Shelton sitting in a chair with a sleeping Angel.
"Dad, Uncle Ran, stop chasing the child!" I laughed. Dad sped up and scooped Matias up and sat him on his shoulder. I held my arms out to Matti and he pretty much jumped off of dad's shoulder and into my arms. I caught him and spun him in a circle. Matti yawned and rested his head on my shoulder.
"Tired Little Man?" I said, rubbing his back and bouncing a little bit. He nodded and fell asleep almost instantly.
"Dad, the guys are at the door, can you grab them?" I said. He nodded and went to the door. I went and laid Matti on the bed, and Shelton laid Angel down too. Just as we did, the gang came in and saw the twins.
"Oh my gosh…" Amy said in awe, upon seeing the two of them asleep. Matt and Jeff looked at each other and laughed.
"What's so funny?" I said while shushing them. We left the room, closing the door behind us.
"What's so funny that you almost woke the twins up?"
"Well, while you were in South Carolina, me, Amy, and Matt were working on the paint job on your Skyline." Jeff said.
"I know that much," I said, urging him to get to the point.
"Well, one day, me and Matt were in the garage working on it, and Matt said that you two act like a newlywed couple, and that he could see you and Shelton chasing a couple of kids around the Arenas some time soon…and I don't know the story behind them, but looks like you two are going to be doing some chasing!" he said, bursting into laughter as he finished. I rolled my eyes and punched him good naturedly.
"So what's the story on the two?" Allen said.
"Well, Angel, the girl, and Matias, the boy, are 5 year old twins, and my half- brother and sister." Shelton said.
"They're so sweet guys, you have to earn their trust, and Matti takes to guys faster then girls, and Angel loves my dad already," I said, smiling. Those little munchkins grow on you quick.
"So they're staying with you two now?" Shane asked.
"Yeah, long story behind that one though. There are just some things we need to ask of you guys."
"What?" Amy said, smiling at the two of us.
"Help us out. I mean, they're five, potty trained, and they eat the same foods as us. Plus, we're going to need it." I said, looking at my friends.
"You ask us that like we're going to say no!"
"I know, but come on Aims, who really wants to hang around with a couple of five year olds?" I said.
"Well, Jeff and Allen have the mind set of a couple of five year olds," my dad said, speaking for the first time.
"Hey!" they said, throwing my dad a look.
"We're gonna help." Amy said, smiling at me.
"Amy, you ROCK!" I said, hugging her.
"Hey, I've always wanted to hear someone say 'Aunt Amy'. Why not sooner than later?" she smiled.
We sat around watching a movie, and around 2:00, we heard a cry from the room, I got up and opened the door to see Matti sitting on the bed cross-legged eyes wide, looking at Angel, who was screaming, like she was having a nightmare. I immediately did the first thing that came to my mind; I picked her up and started rocking her softly, singing a song my dad used to sing to me.
Smile, when your heart is breaking
Smile, even though it's aching
even when tears, are getting ever so near
that's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You will see that life is more worthwhile
if you just
Smile
As I sang, Angel started to relax and fall back asleep. I looked up to the door to see my dad, Uncle Randy and Shelton in the doorway smiling. I laid Angel back down and picked Matias up and sat him on my lap.
"You okay Matti?" I said, stroking his head.
"Uh huh."
"Does Angel have nightmares a lot?"
"Sometimes."
"Do you know what they're about?"
"Our mommy."
"Did your mommy hit you?"
"Uh huh, a lot, and daddy used to scream at us, then laugh while mommy hit." He said, playing with the ends of my hair.
"You wanna meet some more people, or do you wanna stay back here for a while with Angel?"
"I wanna stay with Angel." He said, looking at his sister.
"No problem. Want me to let Ash in here?"
"Uh huh, I like him."
"Okay mijo," I smiled, setting him back on the bed. I picked Ash up out of the living room and put him in the bedroom with Matias. Then I closed the door and looked at my dad.
"You know how good of a mom you're gonna be?"
"No," I said truthfully.
"You got both of them to trust you whole-heartedly in a few hours. I know how you're feeling right now too baby girl." He said smiling.
"How?"
"You're feeling like you want to protect them from everything, and that even though you've only known them for a few hours, you want to melt every time they smile at you, or take your hand. And even though they're not your blood, you still love them like they were."
"Exactly dad! I want to be there for them no matter what. How do you know?" I said amazed.
"That's how I felt this one day in the park when a little girl with bright green eyes came up to me with her brother, and that's how I feel every time I watch that same little girl and her brother get in the ring." He said, looking at me and Matt. I went and hugged him around his waist, and he immediately put his arms around me and kissed my head.
"I love you dad." I whispered, smiling at him with tears shining in my eyes.
"I love you too, mija." He smiled. He'd never really called me anything in Spanish before. I didn't even know that he knew Spanish! Mama always called me mija, but dad only called me baby girl, or munchkin. I was really surprised when he called me mija.
"Ari?" a small voice called from the door way. We turned to see Matias in the doorway, looking confused. I went to the small boy and smiled.
"What's up little man?"
"Angel's awake, and I have to go potty."
"Come on little man," I said, holding out my hand. He didn't budge. I looked at Shelton who came over and kneeled in front of his brother.
"What's the matter Matti?" he said, looking confused.
"Strangers."
"It's okay, these are our friends. Come on I'll take you to the bathroom." He said. Matti took his hand and they went to the bathroom. Angel came out, and I introduced her to the gang. She immediately liked Jeff and Amy, who were going to go with me and Shelton when we went shopping for their clothes. We spent the next week buying the twins clothes and toys, and learning more about them. We told Shelton's family about them, and Rome and Leon were going to come up and meet them.
It had been about 3 weeks since the twins had come into our lives, and Rome and Leon were coming to meet the twins and visit with us. We were waiting in the airport for Rome and Leon, playing a game of I Spy, one of the twins' favorite games. I saw Rome, and I jumped up and jumped in his arms.
"IRELAND!" he smiled, spinning me in a circle.
"Rome!" I laughed. I hugged Leon and then introduced them to the twins, who loved them instantly.
"You're really tall, but not as tall as Mister Uncle Mark." Matti said matter-of-factly to Rome, who laughed and picked him up.
"Let's go," he smirked. We got out to the parking lot, and after about 15 minutes of Rome bellyaching about how much my car rocked, we got into the car to head to the Arena where Smackdown was taking place. We had a meeting were Stephanie and Shane had some news to tell us.
"Well, as you know, our head of Security, Logan Gordon retired last week. So here is the new Head of Security, Arnold Williams." Shane said, pointing to a man who was sitting in a chair. I looked at him and my eyes widened. He still looked the same almost 14 years later. The black eyes, the short hair, muscular body, every single detail was the same. I looked at Matt, who's eyes widened and he instantly grabbed me and ushered me out of the room, here I screamed and passed out.
Matt's POV
The second I saw him, my insides froze. He looked exactly the same. Igrabbed Ari and rushed her out to the hall. She screamed and passed out right in my arms. Dad, Shelton, Uncle Wayne, Uncle Randy, and Amy all ran out of the room behind me.
"What's wrong with her?" Shelton said, looking scared at the look of murder on my, Uncle Wayne, Uncle Randy and my dad's faces.
"He's the one that has my baby sister like she is, scared to go out of the house alone, in a deep depression for almost five years when we were kids, the reason that the both of us had to go to a psychiatrist." I said, shaking with anger. Amy was looking on confused and crying for her friend.
"Do you mean?" Shelton said, his eyes widening.
"Yeah, he's the one who raped her."
