It was a typical Friday night for me and the guys, the guys being Eddie, Rey, Mark J., and Charlie. It was a little more than typical though, because RAW was in Boston, so Randy, Dave, Chris Jericho, Shelton, and Adam were there too. We were doing a typical night of playing video games, eating pizza and drinking the occasional beer when there was a knock on the door.
I figured it was Pizza Hut delivering some more pizza that Dave had ordered, so I jumped up to answer it. When I opened the door, a little girl was standing there. She couldn't have been older than thirteen or fourteen, and it was almost 9:00 at night.
"What can I do for you little girl? It's almost 9, shouldn't you be at home?" I said trying to get her to look at me. When she looked up and locked eyes with me, I froze. Those eyes were familiar. Hazel and bright. Like someone I used to know.
"Bella?" I whispered
Flashback
15 year old John Cena was torn. He was moving to Massachusetts the next day and he had to leave his girlfriend. He loved her more than anything, and he knew it, even if he was only 15. He walked to her house, which was only a few houses down from his own and climbed the tree near her bedroom window. He knocked three times, on the window, and it opened revealing his girlfriend.
"I can't believe I'll never see you again." She sighed as he climbed into the bedroom.
"I know, but my dad's getting this new job, and I can't do anything about it. I don't want to leave you Isabella." He said, hugging her.
"Isabella? John, you never call me by my full name, in fact, you've always called me Bella. You told me no one else is allowed to call me Bella. It's really happening, huh? You're really leaving tomorrow." she said, crying.
"Bella, don't cry. I hate to see you cry, and I hate to know that it's because of me." He moaned. He hugged her again and stroked her hair. She looked up at him and kissed him. He kissed her back with every ounce of emotion he had. She slid her hands under his sweater and eventually took it off of him. He paused for a second and looked at her.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" he said, looking her in her eyes.
"Yes. I'll never see you again, and I want you to be my first. No one else, and this is the last chance I've got. I love you and I want you." She said. John kissed her again and lay her down on the bed.
"No sir, my mom's name was Isabella, but no one ever called her Bella" the girl whispered. She took her hood off and I was floored. She looked just like me.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"McKenzie Emily Winters. My mother's name was Isabella Jean Winters. She died yesterday, and she told me she wanted me to live with my father, and that's you." She said, looking back down at the ground.
"Bella…she's dead?"
"Yes sir, she was in a car accident with my little brother Johnny, he was nine, and he died three, well now four days ago. Mama suffered a little longer than Johnny did."
"Johnny?" I said, feeling a tug inside.
"My little brother. He was 9. His full name Was Jonathan Anthony Christianson." She said. I watched a tear fall down her face and I nearly cried for her.
"So you're my daughter?"
"Uh huh. That's what mama told me. She said that before you moved from Edmonton, you and her were together. She had me when she was 15, and when she was 20, she married Bryce and had Johnny."
"Bryce Christianson?" I'd grown up with that guy, and he hated me with everything he'd had.
"Yeah, my step dad. Mama didn't trust him, so she sent me here." She was still staring at the ground.
"McKenzie, look at me." When she did, I felt her mother inside of me. After all of these years, I still loved her. She'd been my first love, my first…everything. I saw my Bella in McKenzie, and I knew she had to be mine.
"Come on in McKenzie, I'll hook up a room for you." I said, letting her in. She smiled at me, and I felt something in me melt. I led her into the hall way and told her to wait there. I went in the living room and motioned for Eddie, Randy and Dave to come out into the hall.
"What's up man?" Randy asked, looking at me.
"A lot just happened Ran," I said. But before I could finish my sentence, a tiny voice piped up.
"Oh my gosh, you're Dave Batista! And you're Eddie Guerrero! And OH MY GOD, you're RANDY ORTON!"
"Uh John, what is that?" Randy said, pointing at McKenzie.
"That's what I brought you guys out here for. Do you guys remember Bella I used to tell you about?"
"Yeah," they all said.
"Apparently, that time we hooked up, resulted in her. Guys, this is my daughter, McKenzie. And if I'm right, she's…" I did the calculations in my head quickly. "Fourteen?" I looked over at her. She nodded.
"She's also a wrestling fan I take it?" Eddie smirked. McKenzie blushed furiously and nodded again.
"You know," Dave said, "she looks like you John. The nose, the smile…"
"Those dumbo ears…" Randy smirked. I smacked him in the head and looked at McKenzie. She was smiling and she looked so much like her mother.
"Come on McKenzie…let's get you a room." I smirked. I led her to the left and took her up the stairs through the kitchen. We got upstairs and she ended up picking the room across from mine. I took Mark's stuff out of it and threw it in the hall. Then I led her inside. We sat on the bed and started to talk.
"So McKenzie, tell me a little about you." I said, still amazed I had a daughter.
"Well, for one, I hate being called McKenzie. I prefer Kenzie, Mackie, or, what Johnny called me, McEmily. I'm 14, and I'll be 15 October 31st. My favorite holiday is Halloween, of course, last Halloween, my friends all went dressed as WWE superstars, and strangely enough, I was you. I'm a WWE fanatic, I absolutely love to sing, and I want to be a singer when I grow up. My favorite foods are Pizza Hut Meat Lover's Pizza, New York Cheesecake, and Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey Ice Cream. My favorite groups are TLC, Jagged Edge, and pretty much anything hip-hop or R&B. My favorite singers are Mary J Bilge, Fantasia, Beyonce and Whitney Houston. And my favorite Rappers are Eminem, Ludacris, Jay Z, 50 Cent, Method Man, and a bunch of others." She smiled. "Oh yeah, in order, my favorite wrestlers who still wrestle are Taker, HBK, Randy Orton, Shelton Benjamin, Eddie Guerrero, You, Rey Mysterio, Batista, and Jeff Hardy, even if he isn't in the WWE."
"Chunky Monkey Ice Cream?" I said, looking at her.
"Yeah! It's the best in the world! Banana ice cream, with fudge, walnuts, and banana chunks mixed in."
"Now that just sounds gross." I said, looking at her face when I said that.
"It's not gross, dad! It's the best in the world!" she quipped.
"What ever Mackie…wait a minute…you called me Dad!" I realized.
"Well yeah…you are my father. Or would you prefer I called you Cena?" she said, giving me this look that I swear I give people on a daily basis.
"Mackie, I'd love for you to call me Dad." I smiled. Then I hugged my daughter for the first time. "It's 11:00. You're 14, so get showered and to bed. The bathroom is right down the hall…second door. Towels are in the closet in the bathroom. Just yell if you need anything." I said.
"Yes sir." She said, going in her bag.
"And Mackie?"
"Yeah dad?"
"No need for the sir after every time you answer me." I smirked.
"Okay!" she grabbed what looked like a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. She walked into the bathroom and I went back down stairs.
"Took you long enough Cena, you go jerk off or something?" Jericho smirked. I just flipped him off and grabbed the controller for the PS2 from him. I played Randy in about two games of Madden and Mark in three when I heard a call from the bottom of the stairs.
"Dad?"
I turned around to see McKenzie in a Legend Killer Tour T-shirt and a pair of oversized shorts along with Winnie the Pooh socks.
"What's up Mackie?" I said walking over to her.
"I can't sleep…I…I had a nightmare about mom." She said softly, looking at the ground.
"Come on baby girl, we'll get you something to drink and we'll get you to bed, it's almost 1 am." I said softly, putting an arm around her and leading her in the kitchen. I sat her down at the table and got her a glass of the only non-alcoholic drink in the house besides Gatorade…milk. She took a sip and looked at me.
"What happened baby girl?" I asked her.
"Well, it's always the same dream. Mom is teaching me how to drive and Johnny's in the back seat behind mom. Then an 18 wheeler hits the car, taking the half mom and Johnny are on. Then I look again, and Bryce is sitting there." She starts to cry again. "He reaches out towards me and I start to run to where Johnny and Mom are, but I can't reach them. Bryce is chasing me and I fall. Then I look up at him, and his hand is up, ready to hit me again."
"Again? You mean he used to hit you?"
"Yeah, for anything. He said it was because I couldn't do anything right, and that if I was to just listen to him, it wouldn't happen." I looked at her and seen fear in her eyes.
"Baby girl, I'd never hit you, ever. That's god's honest truth." I said, stroking her hair.
"Promise?" she said, sticking out her pinkie. I laughed; her mother did that to me so many times.
"Yeah, I promise." I said, linking my pinkie with hers. Then she finished her milk and we went back to her room. I lay her down and put her covers over her. She fell asleep instantly.
After I put her to sleep, I went back down stairs and answered all of the questions the guys had for me. Then we set Mark up in the living room, since I'd given Mackie his room. We went to bed around three.
I woke up and looked at my clock. It was 10:30am when I woke up. I washed and brushed my teeth then slipped on some shorts and a wife beater. Then I went in Mackie's room. I looked around the room and laughed. She sure adapted quick. She'd put a couple of pictures on the bed table, and her clothes were already all over the place. I noticed a blue book on the end of the bed. I picked it up and opened it up. 'It's a diary,' I thought. I opened to the last page.
I can't believe dad let me stay with him! I can't believe Randy Orton was standing three feet away from me! He is so gorgeous! I can see it now…Mrs. McKenzie Emily Orton…yeah right, like that would happen. He's 10 years older than me for Christ sakes! I nearly fainted…it was so funny! I hope dad never finds that out, I don't think he'd let me live it down. Dad's so wonderful, I love him already and I've only known him about a couple of hours. The day long trip was worth it. I still have a whole 785 bucks left in case I need it…I hope I won't have to…I shouldn't but if I have to catch another bus somewhere…so be it. If I can run away from Bryce's house, I can run away from here if I need to. But I don't want to have to, I love my dad already, and I don't want to leave him. We'll just have to see where this adventure leads us.
McEmily
I was amazed. She wrote in all capital letters…different sized capital letters, just like me. Damn, I couldn't get rid of her…she was my Bella, all I had left of her. I wouldn't get rid of her. I stood there flipping through her book, learning more about her with each page.
"Don't you know you're not supposed to read a girl's diary?" a voice said. I looked up to see Mackie lying in the bed still with her eyes closed.
"How long have you been awake?" I laughed, walking over and sitting on her bed.
"Long enough to see you open my sacred book," she said, opening her eyes to look at me. I laughed at her and started to tickle her. She started screaming at the top of her lungs, laughing and trying to get away from me. I tickled her for about ten minutes, until I was attacked by Randy, who must have been woke up by her laughing and screaming. I was knocked over and Randy and Mackie jumped on me, attacking me with pillows. I screamed for help and Shelton walked in the room and leaned against the door jam.
"Shelton, could you help?"
"Why? I mean, come on, if you can't beat a fourteen year old girl…how're you gonna beat Layfield?"
"Kiss my ass." I said, trying to get from out of my daughter's headlock. She let me out and jumped out of bed.
"I'm hungry!" she said, scratching her head and stretching. I looked at Randy, who smirked.
"Just like you dude."
"I know, it's scary huh?" I said, looking at my daughter.
"Hey McKenzie, nice shirt." Randy smirked. I smiled to my self when she blushed then grimaced.
"Dude, she hates being called McKenzie…call her Mackie." I said, winking at her. She smiled to herself then looked at Randy.
"Thank you." She said, pretending to model the T-shirt. "I'm still hungry!" she spoke up, after about two minutes of goofing off.
"Impatient, are we?" I asked, poking her in the ribs.
"Yes sir, I am impatient, just a little bit."
"What did I tell you last night?"
"Oh yeah, kill the yes sir, no sir. Sorry." She smiled, tucking some blonde hair behind her ear.
"It's alright baby girl. Just go get a shower and get dressed. We'll go to IHOP, alright?"
"Cool." She said, going to her bag and throwing clothes all over the place.
"Damn John, she's a slob just like you…" a voice said from the door. I looked up to see Dave dressed in jeans and a t-shirt that said, 'To save time, let's just assume that that I know everything.'
"Shut up Batista. Go get dressed Mackie." She nodded and bounced out of the room.
"You love her already, huh?" Dave said as I started to put clothes in the drawers and clean up a little bit.
"Yeah Dave. I look at her and I see my Bella. I wanna be there no matter what." I said, looking at a picture on her bed table. It was a picture of her with her little brother, who was sitting on her lap. Standing behind them was none other than my Bella. She was so beautiful standing there in just a pair of jeans and a sweater. They were outside at a park.
"So, how're you going to tell Dawn?" Randy asked.
Shit.
"I haven't thought about that one yet Ran. She gets back from the shoot tonight. She'll be at the taping of Velocity, and so will Mackie. They'll have to meet then." I said, running my hand through my hair.
"How do you think she's gonna take it?" Dave smirked.
"She's gonna flip!" I said at the same time as Randy and Shelton. We all laughed and went to our rooms to get dressed. I slipped on a pair of Jeans and an Antwon Walker jersey with a white Celtics cap and my black tennis shoes. I walked out of my room and looked in on Mackie's room. She was looking at the stereo I had in there and put in one of her CDs. She started to sing at the top of her lungs jumping on her bed. I was amazed; the girl could sing!
"Damn girl, expect a Grammy singing like that." I laughed when she screamed and fell off of her bed. I walked over and helped her get up. "You alright?" I said, checking her over for bumps and bruises.
"No, I hit my head off of the corner of the bed table," she muttered, rubbing her head. I gasped a little when I saw that her hand had blood on it. I looked at the back of her head and I saw that it was just nicked…no need for stitches.
"Damn Kid, I have you less than 24 hours and you're already bleeding!" I laughed. She looked at me and stuck her tongue out at me.
"Oh my god…you're too much…three minutes ago, you nearly gave yourself a concussion…now you're being a little smart-ass!" I said, rolling my eyes.
"Well, she is your kid man," a voice said from the door. We looked up to see Rey standing there smirking. "Hey, McKenzie, right?"
"Mackie." She said, suddenly getting really quiet. I looked over at her and she was staring at Rey.
"Well Mackie. I was walking past your room when you were singing, and I have to say…you have a wonderful voice."
She turned as red as the T-Shirt she was wearing. "Thank you" she smiling.
"No prob…John, everyone's ready to go man. We're heading out, we'll see you guys at the arena later?"
"Sure thing man…see you next time," I said, shaking hands with him. He hugged Mackie who stared after him amazed.
"Someone's star struck," I said off handedly as I left the room. I was hit in the back of the head with a pillow.
"Ow, that one hurt there, baby girl." I said, pretending to cry.
"Get over it, you big baby!" she laughed. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot…Mom told me to give this to you when I found you." She said, handing me a package. I looked down at it and nodded.
"So are ya gonna open it?"
"Yeah, I will…but not right now." I said, knowing the right time to open it wasn't with Mackie right next to me.
"You're no fun!" she whined.
"Yeah, well, sue me."
She just rolled her eyes and jumped back up. "So, am I gonna ever get something to eat?"
"Yeah, come on." I smiled. We walked to the car and she jumped in and immediately started going through my CD's.
"See anything you like?"
"Yeah! You got the Fantasia CD!" she shrieked, putting it in.
"It's not mine, it's my girlfriend's," I said, looking at her quickly.
"Which Diva is it? Come on, I know it's a Diva. I wish it were Lita…she's my favorite…but I know she's like on reserve for Matt Hardy." She smirked.
"Dawn Marie. We've been together about 9 months."
"She's really pretty…I like her a lot, her attitude sucks on TV, but she's an awesome athlete." Mackie commented.
"She's not really that bad..." I laughed.
"I never said she did!" she said, looking "innocent".
"Okay baby girl…if you say so."
We pulled into IHOP and we walked inside. We were sitting down and eating…she got my appetite I gathered, and we were talking about everything. Then my cell rang and I answered with out looking at the Caller ID. I put my phone on speakerphone so I could keep eating.
"Hello?"
"Hey baby."
"Hey you. How was the trip?"
"It was alright…I wish you would have came with me…"
"Yeah, but I couldn't. I wish I could have too."
"So what did you do this week?"
"Well, RAW was in Boston, so I had my usual Friday thing with Rey, Eddie, Mark and Charlie…along with Dave, Rando, Chris and Shelton."
"Your house is a mess isn't it?" she laughed.
"You know it…it was cool though. I got some news for you." I said, winking at Mackie.
"What?"
"I found out last night that I have a daughter."
"WHAT?"
"Yeah, her name's McKenzie, she's 14."
"Isn't that a little old to be yours?" she said, sounding a little upset.
"No, I know she's mine too…I remember her mother, we dated."
"Yeah, but…"
"Dawn, she's here."
"What do you mean she's there? As in with you right now?"
"Yeah, we're at IHOP right now. She's coming to the arena with me tonight."
"So I get to meet her?" she said. She sounded a little happier.
"Of course, I wouldn't keep something this big in my life away form you."
"Great. Tell me, what does she look like?"
"Just like her mother…but with my ears and nose. Most of my habits too…"
"Oh no, we can't have that!"
"What do you mean?"
"You're a slob!"
At that, Mackie started to laugh…HARD.
"Jonathan Anthony Felix Cena! Do you have me on Speakerphone again?"
"I wanted to keep eating!" I laughed, poking Mackie in the side. "It was Mackie's idea!"
"WAS NOT!" she said, punching me in the shoulder. Dawn just laughed.
"Babe, I gotta get going…I have to take Mackie to my parent's house…."
"Okay, I'll see you later."
"Alright…see ya!"
"Bye."
"Bye."
I hung up the phone and looked at my daughter. She looked a little apprehensive.
"What's wrong?"
"I hate meeting people…I never know what to say." She sighed, raking her hands through her hair.
"After, we'll go shopping. There's a walk in closet in your room that we can't fill with just the clothes you brought in your duffel bag…that was only about seven or eight outfits and the tennis shoes you have on your feet."
"Mall?"
"Yeah, we'll go to the damn mall," I sighed, knowing my wallet was going to hurt after this day.
"Okay, but only because we get to go shopping afterwards!" she joked.
"You truly are my daughter…a real smart-ass." I said, laughing as she took my hat and put it on his head. "Let's get out of here?"
"Let's get out of here." She nodded. She took my hand and we left after paying the bill.
The drive to my parent's house was a little quieter than the one to IHOP, but that was only because Mackie looked scared as hell. When we pulled up to my parents' house, she looked over at me and sighed.
"Stay here for a second will you? I'll tell them everything, then I'll have you come on in, alright….give you a chance to chill out?"
"Okay…"
I jumped out and went up the walk. I knocked on the door and walked in when my dad answered the door.
McKenzie's POV
I was scared as hell. I hate meeting new people…first impressions aren't my thing. I put on the radio and I just sat there thinking. I mean, if daddy's so awesome, my new Grandpa and Grandma should be cool too…but then again, Bryce was an ass and Johnny was my world…you never know.
I saw my dad come out of the house and motion for me to come in. I sighed, raked my hands through my hair a few times and got out of the truck nervously.
"You ready baby girl?" he asked me on the porch
"Ready as I'll ever be…"
