Title: Solving Problems (12?)
Rating: We'll go for a nice safe R, M in parlance
Content: mentions of domestic violence, drug use, swearing, sex
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters mentioned herein, except for Laura, no offence meant.
Summary: Laura hasn't been around the wrestlers of the WWE for a while. When she returns, things have changed, schisms have formed, and all is not well. Can she sort things out?
Laura was nervous about telling Chris what she and Randy had decided. He'd been so protective of her yesterday, and she was thankful for that, but the last thing she wanted was another fight. She knew Chris was looking out for her, that he felt guilty for not 'protecting' her from Jeff, but she just wished that he would trust her instincts for once.
As she'd expected, Chris exploded. Not when she told him that she was keeping the baby, but when she let slip the decision to move in with Randy.
"Are you fucking mental babe? You've been dating for what, a month now… you've never even been to St. Louis." Chris was pacing the floor in front of where Laura was sat. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, not ashamed of her decisions but too weary to fight with him over them.
"I'm having his child Chris."
"I know." His voice dropped and he took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down a little. He sat down next to Laura and put an arm around her. "I just worry about you. When he ran out on you yesterday, I was so angry… I hated seeing you so upset. What if he runs out on you again? What will you do?"
"I can't go through life thinking 'what if', I spent too long after Jeff trying to work out how things went wrong… not everything is within my control and I've accepted that. I have to take risks, otherwise I'll be scared and alone for the rest of my life." Although she'd taken the decision to move in with Randy quickly, it wasn't something she'd taken lightly. She knew the risks she was taking. "I'm not giving up everything for him. I'm keeping my apartment, and it's not like I can't work anywhere."
"Why now though? You've only been dating for a month or so."
"I'd have to do it sooner or later. We can't be a family living all those miles apart. Randy will be spending enough time away anyway, you know that."
"Does he want a family?" Chris asked carefully. He'd known Randy a lot longer than Laura had, and that didn't sound like the Randy he knew. The young man had been somewhat scarred by his military experiences, and it had seemed that he'd been making a concerted effort not to be tied down to anything, or anyone.
"He said he does. He's shocked about what happened, we both are. I gave him the opportunity to walk away, he said no. He's willing to try and make this work."
"I hope he does." Chris had his doubts, but he didn't want to upset Laura with them. She had always been stubborn, so there wouldn't be any chance of him changing her mind. He smiled at her sympathetically, "so you're gonna be a mommy, huh?"
She grinned and nodded, "it's still a bit surreal… but I'm starting to get my head around it. I always wanted kids… never guessed it would happen like this, but there you go. No matter what happens Chris, something good will come of this."
He agreed. Laura had always been able to make even the worst situation seem to have a silver lining.
There was one person that Laura was really concerned about telling. Lita.
Ever since she'd discovered that she had chlamydia, Lita had been dwelling on the illness, only too aware of the potential consequences. One of those potential consequences was infertility. It would be difficult to tell if the disease had affected her until she actually began trying for children. However, for someone who had always assumed that one day her life would include her own children, the realisation that the scenario may not be the case had really hit her hard.
Now Laura was pregnant, and she felt like her situation was like a slap in the face to her good friend. She wasn't sure of how to tell her, but wanted to tell her before she heard from gossips. She arranged to meet up with the redhead after the athlete had finished in the gym.
"Hey Laura, what happened to you last night babe? I heard they took you to the hospital." Lita sat down and drank about half of a bottle of water. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Laura bit her lip, nervous about telling Lita this. "I collapsed, my blood pressure fell low. They found out… they found out I'm pregnant."
"Congratulations babe." Lita enthusiastically hugged her friend. "Are you and Randy happy?"
"Yeah, we are." Laura smiled shyly, still worried about hurting her friend. "I was worried about telling you… especially because of everything we're talked about over the last few weeks. I was worried that you'd think I was rubbing it in your face or something."
"You're too sensitive sometimes, you know that?" Lita touched her friend's cheek affectionately. "I have to accept that I may never have children, but fortunately my best friend is having a baby that hopefully she'll let me spoil rotten." There was something behind her words, some kind of sadness and disappointment behind her words, but she chose to give a brave face for now.
"You're sure, sweetheart?" Laura knew that Lita was taking everything harder than she let on, but she also knew that as a private person, she wasn't quite ready to reveal her feelings and deal with everything yet.
"Yeah." Lita sighed. "So tell me everything. How this happened for a start, what Randy said… all the gory details!"
Laura laughed, "do I have to explain the birds and the bees to you?"
"Come on, the good stuff… tell me everything."
"Ah, ok." the brunette crossed her legs, getting comfortable. "We think it must have been the first night we got together… we were both drunk. We've been careful since, so it must have been then. I had no idea, not until they said at the hospital… oh god Li, I was so upset. I thought I'd fucked everything up big style. Randy… he ran off, he was… I'm not sure how he was feeling then, terrified probably, like I was. Chris was ready to kill him. But then he came back, and when we talked about it later, he said he'd stick by me, and he asked me to move in with him."
"He did what?" Lita screeched, "Laura babe, you're kidding me, right?"
"No. I said yes. I'm going to meet his parents this weekend."
"Wow, this is really serious, isn't it?" Lita looked concerned. "He'd best do what's right by you love, or I'll seriously hurt him."
"I think Chris has first options on that. He's worried about me… he doesn't trust Randy. I love that he's so concerned, but it does hurt that he won't trust my decisions. I know I'm taking a big risk but I feel like I have to. I love Randy, and I need to take risks or this won't work, no matter how hard we try."
"You love him?"
"Yeah, I do."
Lita hugged her friend again. "Do what you think is right babe. I know what it's like to lose the man you love, so do what's best for you, Randy and the baby. Take risks, but don't risk destroying what you have."