The days that fallowed were full of confusion. Ari was dead to the world, off stage. In the ring, she showed off with just as much charisma as before. Once she got back stage however, she was completely silent to everyone but the twins. She treated them the same, and they didn't know anything that was going on.
However, as March faded into April, she slowly started coming around with the help of John, Matt and Rome, who'd stayed and was trying to get a job with ring crew (He was still on Shane's bad side though, so he was really begging.) Ari started smiling more, and was pretty much back to normal by the middle of the month. She was completely fine, unless she was around Arnold Williams, who Shane refused to fire. She'd clam up until he was out of sight, then she'd slowly come back around.
It was a couple of days to her dad's birthday, and Ari wanted to do something special for him…he WAS turning 40 after all. As she walked around the mall with the twins on each hand, she stopped at a photo shop. 'It'd be good to have some pictures of the twins' she thought to herself.
"You guys wanna get your pictures taken?" she asked the smiling faces to either side of her.
"YEAH!" they cheered. She ushered them into the shop, and paid for a photo session. The twins took pictures together and by themselves. Luckily, she'd dressed them in nice clothes instead of play clothes. Angel was in a white blouse with a pair of pink Capri's, and Matias was in a white Celtics jersey that John had bought for him, along with a nice pair of jeans.
Ari paid for the prints, and then took the twins into some other stores. She went into Champs and bought a Jersey and the matching fitted along with a pair of jeans and the new Jordan's. Then she went to the toy store and bought the twins each a toy for being well behaved. She got Matti some hot wheels cars and Angel a Bratz doll. They got in the car and drove back to the hotel they were staying in. They opened the lobby doors, and the twins ran to a pair of familiar figures standing at the main desk.
"GRANDPA! UNCLE RANDY!" they screamed, running to John and Randy. They each scooped up a twin as Ari came through the door with the bags.
"Hey Little Man! Hey Princess! How was the mall?" John said, smiling at the two and hugging Angel who was in his arms.
"Fun!" Angel said, smiling.
"Boring!" Matti said, rolling his eyes.
"We took pictures!" Angel smiled.
"We had to go in a million, kajillion, fafillion stores!"
"I had fun!"
"I didn't!"
John and Randy looked at each other and laughed.
"Hey baby girl!" John said, kissing his daughter.
"What's up, Munchkin?"
"Hey Daddy, hi Uncle Ran." She smiled.
"How was shopping for my gift?"
"I'm not getting you anything, I told you! Unless you want to see the underwear and bikinis I bought, get out of my bags!" she smirked.
"What'd you get from Champs?"
"A Jersey for Shelton cause he asked me to pick one up for him." She said, smirking at her dad.
"Really?"
"Yeah…when you're 40, you don't get presents…but when you're turning 18…like some daughters of yours will be in oh, say, two months, you get many presents…an abundance, you could say." She said, dodging the five-year old that was swung at her in good fun.
"Was that an old joke Randall?"
"Why yes Jonathan, I think it was…good one by the way Munchkin…."
"Thanks Uncle Ran," I smiled, taking Matti out of his arms and plopping him on the ground.
"I've been making them all week…"
"Says the now 37 year old." I said, off handedly, looking away from him, and earning a kiss from her dad.
"I got to go now, the twins need a nap." She smiled, and took Angel from her father.
"By Grandpa, bye Uncle Randy!" the twins chorused, waving.
"Bye twins," John and Randy smirked, waving back. Ari and the twins got into the elevator and rode up to the third floor. They walked right in front of her and went to the room. Ari put the key in the door and let the twins in ahead of her. The twins ran in and dived on a sleeping Shelton who was knocked out on the couch.
"SHELTON!" they screamed as they dived on him.
"Hey twins," he groaned, taking Angel off of his head and rolling over to go back to sleep.
"Come on guys, nap time." Ari said, smirking at their groans and whines.
"Ari, we're not sleepy yet!" Matti said, yawning.
"Yeah, we're not even tired!" Angel groaned.
"No arguments shrimps come on, in your room." The two rolled their eyes and sulked into their room. They took off their shoes, and climbed into bed.
"Take your nap guys, you'll feel better," Ari smirked.
"Okay, see you later."
"Alright twins, see you later. I love you guys."
"We love you too." They chorused.
"Ari?" Matti said, sitting up suddenly.
"Yeah?"
"Could we call you mama?"
ARI'S POV
I was floored when Matti asked me that question, and I wanted nothing more than to pick him up and say 'Sure sweetie, I'd want nothing more!', but I restrained my self and just smiled at him.
"Sweetie, we'll talk about that after your nap."
"Okay." He yawned and lay down.
I went back into the other room and woke Shelton up.
"Shelton, get up, we have to talk about something."
"What'd I do?" he grumbled sitting up.
"Nothing, goofy. I just put the twins down for their nap, and Matias asked if he could call me mom."
"What did you say?"
"I told him we'd talk about it after his nap. What do you think? I mean, they already call my dad Grandpa, and Amy and the gang are Aunt Amy, Uncle Matt, Uncle Skittles, and Uncle Hurri-shane."
"Don't forget Uncle AJ…" Shelton laughed.
"So, do you mind?"
"No, I mean, I've felt like dad for a while, and listening to them call John Grandpa, technically makes you mom."
"You know that makes you dad, right?"
"It does, doesn't it? I love you mommy." He said, kissing me.
"I love you too Daddy." I smirked as I kissed him back. Our little make out session was interrupted by my cell phone ringing. I groaned and answered it.
"WHOEVER THIS IS HAS REALLY BAD FREAKING TIMING!" I sighed.
"Well, it's good to hear from you too!" the voice on the other end laughed.
"Hey mom," I smiled, giving a now shirtless Shelton the finger when he laughed. "what's up?"
"I'm landing in Philly three hours before Raw, and I was wondering who's picking me up?"
"I'm sending Jeff to pick you up mom…he's the main event that night with his brother against Edge and Christian (A/N: I'm sorry, but they're doing a lot of matches together nowadays, and I wanna see them get back together! E&C 4 EVER! Wooooooooo, I got a little out of it, I'm back, and here's the rest of the chapter!) and Uncle Randy has dad thinking I'm doing a terrible job of throwing a surprise party for him…"
"You're good at this little girl." She laughed.
"Mommy…"
"Yeah?" she said.
"You'll never guess what happened today."
"What?"
"Matti asked if he could call me mom." I said, smiling
"Aw…that's so cute! What did you say?"
"I told him we'd talk about it when the twins woke up from their nap cause I wanted to talk to Shelton about it before I answered them."
"So, what are you gonna say?"
"What do you think?" I quipped. "I mean, they already call dad Grandpa."
"I bet that makes him feel so old!" she laughed.
"Well, he is gonna be 40 on Monday…"
"I know, we've been making all kinds of old Jokes on him."
"Oh, on good old Uncle Randall as well," I smirked.
"Baby girl, I can't believe you're able to put this together. I mean, I don't know how you do this!"
"Well mom, I have to pay him back some how…I'd still be a ward of the state or something, or even dead…I'm so thankful for that…and he has no idea how thankful I am. He deserves it mom."
"I know. I'll see you in two days baby."
"Okay mama. Love you."
"Love you too."
"Bye."
Just as I hung up, there was a knock at the door. I got up and crossed the room. The door opened to reveal Uncle Mark holding a video tape.
"Hey Little One."
"Hi Uncle Mark. Is that the tape?"
"Yes it is. Do you know how much I had to go through to get this tape?"
"No, and I don't want to know…you got it and that's all that matters!" I smiled, taking the tape.
"I can't believe you put this whole thing together!" he said, running a hand through his thinning red hair.
"That's what mom just said!" I laughed. "Are you sure he has no idea?" I said, motioning to my dad, who didn't know I could see him.
"Positive…the "party" is all set…I'll have him at the restaurant Monday for lunch while you guys set up everything." He said, winking.
"Thanks Uncle Mark. This party will rock!" I smiled.
"I know…I'll see you tomorrow to go over final arrangements."
"Alright, see ya!" I winked closing the door.
"I take it your dad was outside the door listening somewhere?" Shelton laughed as I sat across his lap.
"Duh!" I giggled, laying my head on his shoulder.
"Don't get smart, little girl!"
"What are you gonna do, little boy?"
"You DO realize I'm a grown-ass man, right?" he laughed.
"Not really." I smirked.
"Keep on getting smart…"
"Oh I'll keep getting smart…what are YOU gonna do?" I said, standing up.
"Keep messing with me little girl…you're gonna get it…"
"Oh yeah?" I smirked. He laughed and grabbed my waist, pulling me down on to him.
"Yeah," he murmered taking my lips in a kiss. I opened my mouth to let in his tongue, and his hands went up my shirt and started to un-hook my bra. I trailed my finger down his chest but before my finger could even touch his belt buckle, a tiny voice came from the bed room.
"Ari?"
I sighed and turned around in Shelton's lap to see a tiny face in the doorway. Shelton's hands discreetly re-hooked my bra and then his hands slid around to rest on my lap.
"Yeah Angel?"
"Is nap time over yet?"
"No, go back to sleep so I can play with mommy…." Shelton whispered in my ear. I laughed and elbowed him in his side.
"Yes sweetie, you can come out." I smiled. The twins came out of the bedroom and we watched Aladdin. Then we went out for dinner at the Old Country Buffet. Shelton and I had an ice cream eating contest, and Shelton won…only because Matti was helping him eat his ice cream. After that, we took the twins to this street carnival thingy that was going on near the hotel. Angel was afraid on the Farris wheel, and Matti didn't appreciate the haunted house Shelton took him in while I got a cotton candy with Angel. We got back to the hotel at 9:00, so we decided to bathe the twins and put them to bed. As Shelton and I tucked them in, the question was arisen again.
"Ari?"
"Yes Angel?"
"Could me and Matti call you mama? You're a lot nicer than our first one." She said, playing with my hair.
"If you want, you can nena." I smiled. (A/N: Mija means my daughter, Mijo, means my son, and nena means baby. All are Spanish)
"Shelton, could we call you dad?" Matias said, looking up at him.
"Okay little man." Shelton smiled. He kissed both twins and then tucked them in.
"Good night nenas…I love you both so much." I whispered, kissing them.
"Good night Mama" Matti smiled, "I love you."
"Good night Daddy, I love you too." Angel said, closing her eyes. I smiled and wiped my eye f the rouge tear that allowed itself to leak from my eye. We turned off the light and left the door cracked, because though he didn't like to admit it, Matti was afraid of the dark. We sat down on the couch and started to watch Save the Last Dance, one of my favorite "chick" movies. My cell rang, so I answered it. It turned out to be Amy asking me if everything was set for tomorrow. I told her everything was fine, and that my dad had no clue what was going on. Then, Matt got on the phone and told me that everything was a go on his end, seeing how he and Jeff were picking up my mom and all the next day. We talked for a while more, then we hung up. I took a shower and lay down on the bed waiting for Shelton to get out of the shower. I was watching Sunday night Heat, which we'd taped right after Velocity the day before. I smiled as I watched myself pin Trish, and groan as Carmella came out and ruined my celebration.
"She's really starting to get on my nerves." I muttered to myself as Shelton said coming out of the bathroom laughing.
"Wait till tomorrow night, when we actually become a couple!" he smirked.
"I know…out first kiss in front of an audience." I laughed.
"Well…an audience that wants to see it."
"And my brother!" I laughed. Shelton kissed me softly, and I cut off the TV.
"Good night baby, I love you."
"I love you too," I yawned as I curled into him and fell asleep, nervous and excited at tomorrow's events to come.
