Ashley was standing in the doorway of the family room looking at the beautiful Christmas tree. John wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I believe we are standing in under of the mistletoe" John said.
Ashley looked up and rolled her eyes.
"You just happen to be right" she replied.
"You know about the mistletoe right people standing underneath it have to kiss" John said.
"What if I don't want to kiss you" she teased.
"Well then I guess I'll have to find someone who does" he said playing along with her little game.
"Come here you idiot" she grabbed him and kissed him hard on the lips.
"Wow that was nice" John said when they broke apart.
"Ewe mommy and daddy are kissing!" Talon exclaimed from behind them.
John looked at Ashley and mouthed 1... 2... 3. Then they both started to chase Talon, John caught him and threw him over his shoulder. He dropped him on the couch and started tickling him.
"Daddy… stop it… I hate being tickled" Talon managed between laughs.
"Ok who is the best wrestler in the world?" John asked.
"Grandpa" Talon replied as he squirmed to get away from John.
"I don't think so" John said continuing to tickle his son.
"Ok you are the best wrestler in the world" Talon caved.
"Thank you now get to bed you wouldn't want Santa to think you were being bad" John told him.
"Oh no" Talon yelped jumping off the couch and running up the stairs to his room.
"You are a horrible person" Ashley said plopping down beside John on the couch.
"And why is that?" he asked innocently.
"You made our son think Santa was going to put him on the bad list" Ashley said.
"Yeah well I could have done a lot worse" John said. "So what does my beautiful wife want for Christmas?"
"All I want for Christmas is you" Ashley replied.
"So you don't want the present I got you then?" John asked.
"It depends what did you get me?" Ashley asked.
"Wait 2 days and you will find out" John replied.
"Oh that is no fair you know I hate surprises" Ashley protested.
"So" John said.
"Fine be that way I'll just return what I got you" she said crossing her arms.
"Go ahead because you and the kids are the only things I want too" he whispered in her ear.
"Look John it's snowing" Ashley said pointing to the picture window they had in the family room.
"May it'll be a white Christmas after all" John said.
"We should take the kids and play in the snow tomorrow" Ashley suggested.
"Yes but now it's late so let's go to sleep" John said.
Christmas Eve
"Mommy, Daddy wake up" Gracie yelled as she jumped on Ashley and John's bed.
"it's snowing out!"
"Gracie stop jumping on the bed" Ashley ordered.
Gracie jumped one last time and landed cross-legged on the bed. Ashley just rolled her eyes. She looked over at John who had a pillow over his head trying to ignore the yelling. She looked at the clock on the bedside table. 5:30, she bit back a few swears.
"Gracie it's 5:30 in the morning go back to sleep" Ashley said as she collapsed once again on her pillows.
"I'm not sleepy" she said.
"If daddy puts on a movie for you will you be quiet for a little longer?" Ashley asked.
"Yes" Gracie agreed.
"John go put on a movie for your daughter" Ashley told him.
John removed the pillow from over his head and glared at her. Ashley ignored him and closed her eyes. She was almost back to sleep when John came back into the room. He pulled her towards his freezing body.
"What the hell I was almost asleep and you are really cold" she complained.
"Yeah well I wouldn't be cold if I hadn't had to get out of bed now would I" John replied annoyed.
"Get over it" Ashley said.
Trying one more time to go back to sleep she closed her eyes and luckily for her no more children came running into the room. Even at 5:30 there would be at least two waking them up.
"John why is it so quiet?" she asked.
John yawned "I locked the door and told Gracie to make sure that nobody bothered us till at least 8:40"
"But what about if one of the twins cries?" Ashley asked.
John held up the baby monitor. It was clear to Ashley that he had truly thought of everything. They both fell back to sleep.
Ashley woke up to the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. How sweet of John to make breakfast she thought until she rolled over and saw that he was still asleep. Ashley ripped the blankets off of herself and raced to the kitchen.
"Nice of you to join us" Randy said when Ashley walked into the family room.
Randy and her dad were watching a movie with the kids.
"How did you guys get in?" she asked.
"We have keys" Trish said entering the room with a plate of hot cinnamon rolls. Ashley grabbed one and had a seat on the couch next to her dad.
"Dude nice hair" Randy laughed when John emerged from the bedroom.
"Kiss my ass" John replied. "what the hell are you doing in my house?"
"They have keys sweetie" Ashley answered him.
"Mommy can we go play in the snow now?" Gracie asked. This was about the fifth time she had asked so Ashley had told her that when John woke up they could.
"Fine, go get you jack and stuff on" Ashley relented.
Everyone had fun Lilian sat with the twins and Owen and watched as the rest of the bunch had a giant snowball fight. It came down to Ashley and Trish vs. Randy and John. The kids and Chris got tired so they sat by Lilian and the babies and laughed at the adults antics. Ashley had just thrown a snowball at John, he grabbed one of his own but she took off towards the back of the house. Of course he followed her never thinking it might be an ambush.
"I know you are back here Ash" John taunted.
Ashley stayed quiet where she was hiding. He would never find her where she was. Just a few more steps. Ashley jumped down from the tree where she was hiding sending tons of snow on top of John head. She playfully speared him o the ground. There she sat on his chest smirking.
"I believe Mr. Cena that I won" she said cockily.
"Oh really" he said flipping over so that now he had her pinned to the ground.
"Damn you my ass is cold now" she said.
"Whoops" John said. He leaned his head down and captured her lips with his own.
They stayed like that just making out for a few minutes until Chris cleared his throat.
They both looked up and saw everyone was standing there watching them.
"Can you two keep your hands off of each other for two seconds?" Trish asked.
Ashley and John just laughed. John stood up and then helped his wife up.
Later that night they were all sitting around a warm fire. The kids had been allowed to open the presents from Randy and Trish and the boys because they wouldn't be there tomorrow because they where going to St. Louis to see Randy's parents.
The kids were in bed all of them where exhausted from running around all day.
"So Christmas is tomorrow" Randy said. "It seems like just yesterday the boys were celebrating their first Christmas"
"I can say that about Talon and Christian" Ashley said.
"I remember your first Christmas Ash" Chris said.
"Really? How was it?" Ashley asked.
"You had more fun with the wrapping paper then you did with the toys we bought you" Chris replied.
"All babies are like that" John said.
"It was funny Lily and I were trying to get her to play with the dolls and toys we got her but she refused all she wanted was the shiny wrapping paper"
"I believe that it sounds like something Ashley would do" Randy said.
"You know what you are an asshole"
"You wanna go?" Randy asked.
"You'd like that wouldn't you" Ashley countered.
Ashley and Randy locked up in a grapple. She wrapped her leg around his and took out his knee causing momentary weakness. While he was down she put him in the sleeper hold and he tapped.
"Ha, who's the Legend Killer now Orton"
"I let you win" he commented.
"You let me win my ass"
"Wow she is better than I thought she was" Trish whispered to John.
"Trained by the best" Ashley said.
This was the truth Ashley had been trained by everyone and anyone. But her favorite lessons had come from "The Nature Boy" himself. Of course she had gone to Ric Flair first and he had taught her the elements of cheating and getting away with it. If she said so herself she was good at it too.
"Well we need to get going" Trish stood up and went to wake Tyler and Ryan.
It was way after midnight by the time Randy and Trish left. Chris and Lilian stayed over they would be there until New Years. Ashley had been trying to get Chris to move closer but Chris was Chris, it took him over 30 years to move out of Canada so who knows.
"It's nice to hear quiet" Chris said.
"Try living with 6 kids under the age of 10 and then talk about quiet" remarked.
"I won't comment"
"Gee, thanks dad shows what you really think of me" Ashley replied.
"Not you sweetie that husband of yours" Chris joked.
"Hey" John said "I'm a very good husband"
"Yes you are baby" Ashley said trying to stifle a yawn.
"Baby if you are tired go to bed" John said "Chris and I will take care of the presents"
"Ok" Ashley wrapped her robe tighter to her body. Normally she wore very little to bed but she figured her father would be more comfortable with her in a bathrobe instead of her boy shorts and matching bra. She said goodnight to everyone and went to bed.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed also" Lilian said. She gave Chris a kiss and went to check on Owen before heading off to bed.
"So how has Owen been I haven't seen him in a few weeks?" John asked.
"He's a little grouchy because he is teething but he's good, I think we can all remember how miserable he was" Chris replied.
John cringed he did remember how Owen was his first few months of life. He had colic and spent most of his time crying.
"Yeah it was pretty bad" John admitted.
"Ashley was such a happy baby. She was smiling at 3 days old. Owen has definitely made me rethink having other children"
"You have one of each so it's not that bad" John said.
"I'm a very lucky man I have two wonderful kids and a wife I love tremendously"
"Did you think a few years ago your life would be like this?" John asked.
"Honestly I have no idea how I survived, my whole life was gone, to loose your wife and child … infelt like someone had taken my heart and soul and stepped on them over and over again"
"And to think Ashley just stumbled back into you life without even realizing it" John said.
"That's Ashley for ya" Chris shrugged "changing people's lives one minute at a time"
"Well we should get the gifts out and try to get some sleep because those kids will be up at dawn" John said.
" You must be excited this is Owen's first Christmas" John said as he and Chris placed the gifts under the tree.
"Yeah I am it was almost 24 years since my daughter had her first Christmas" Chris replied.
"The only kid's first Christmas I didn't see was Talon" John said "I was being an idiot that year"
"Yes you where, wait what about Gracie?"
"She never celebrated before we adopted her. Madison was an atheist"
"Really that's interesting" Chris remarked.
"Yeah it is when you stop and think about it" John said.
They finished putting out presents and went to their rooms. John's prediction was right all 7 children were up at 6:15 AM and there was no way of getting them back to bed.
"John we really need to figure out this children outnumbering the parents thing" Ashley complained.
John just laughed "Babe I don't think that is gonna work unless we give a few of them away"
"Yeah I guess you are right" she agreed. "but it would be nice wouldn't it?"
"Yes it would"
An hour later the family room was covered with boxes and wrapping paper.
"Mommy I can't believe Santa knew to get me those earrings we saw in the store" Gracie said happily.
"Of course he knew" Ashley smiled at her daughter.
"I think my beautiful wife still needs to open her gifts" John said leaving the room to go get them.
"What did he get me?" Ashley asked the kids.
'We don't know he didn't tell us" Gracie said.
"Ok everyone close your eyes" John yelled from the other room.
After making sure everyone had their eyes closed John walked into the room with a wicker basket in his arms. Ashley was sitting cross-legged on the floor so he placed the basket in front of her.
"Ok open your eyes" he said.
Ashley gasped when she saw the two little puppies asleep in the basket.
"I felt bad about you having to give your cats to Jeff because Avery is allergic so I thought a puppy might make you feel a little better" John said "I was gonna buy the girl at first but they wouldn't sell her without her brother so I was like what the hell I'll get both"
"What kind of dogs are they?" Ashley asked.
"They are mutts, their mother was a cocker spaniel and their dad was a poodle" John answered.
"What are their names daddy?" Gracie asked.
"Your mom has to give them names" he replied.
"How about the kids name the girl and I'll name the boy" Ashley suggested.
Gracie and the 3 boys formed a little group and discussed what to name the female puppy.
"Were going to name her Belle" Gracie announced after a few minutes of discussion.
"Like the girl from Beauty and the Beast" Talon added.
"So what is the boy's name?" John asked.
"Tristan" Ashley said.
"Where did you get the name Tristan from?" Chris asked.
"Legends of the Fall" Ashley replied "I love that movie"
"Is there a movie you don't love?" John asked.
"Yes I hated the remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" Ashley said.
"You walked right into that one" Lilian remarked.
"Yeah I know I did" John said. "now there is one more gift for you to open Ash"
"John… the puppies were enough"
"Hush woman you do so much so just let us spoil you sometimes" John ordered.
He handed her a black velvet necklace box.. Ashley opened the box and inside was the most beautiful cross she had ever seen. It was white gold because John knew that was her favorite and it had each one of their birthstones.
"It's beautiful" Ashley said as she hugged John tightly.
"Trish helped me pick it out" John said happy that she liked the gift.
After dinner Ashley announced that she was going out.
"Ash it's Christmas where could you possibly be going?" John asked.
"I'll be back in an hour or two" she said.
John watched as she grabbed her jacket and keys.
"Chris…"
"Don't worry about the kids go find out where she is going" Chris told John.
Ashley drove for about 45 minutes before parking in front of a really dumpy looking apartment building. She got out of the car and watched as John parked his car and got out as well.
"Stay here" she told him "I have something to take care of in that building"
"What is so important about that building?" John asked. "and why can't you wait till after Christmas?"
"I want to take care of this now so I will never have to think about it again" she replied.
"Who is in that building?" John asked.
"I promise to explain when I come back but it's not what you think" she said.
John walked back to his car and got in. Ashley walked over to the car and John rolled down the window. She kissed him.
"Thank you for trusting me enough to wait here" she said.
She walked into the building and went up the two flights of stairs to the apartment she was looking for. She pulled out a key from her pocket and opened the door. She sighed when she saw the person passed out on the floor. She nudged him with her shoe, complaining about how those shoes were her favorite and now she would have to replace them. The man didn't move. She kicked him a little harder.
"What the hell do you want?" a voice came.
"What you aren't happy to see me" Ashley countered.
"You hate me why don't you just leave me alone"
"Why so you can drink yourself to death and besides I don't hate you" she said "I just think you parenting skills suck"
"That is because you were always a spoiled brat and never saw that I was being tough on you because I wanted you to make something of your life"
"You know nothing about my life"
"Oh really Ms. Co-General Manager of Raw" he taunted her "so how many children do you and your husband John Cena have now 6"
"Stay away from my children" her voice was cold as ice.
"I loved you and Cameron"
"No you didn't Scott let's face it you never wanted children… hell you didn't want to be married at all. You thought we ruined your life" she said "you loved me huh well how many time in my life did you tell me you loved me or hug and kiss me for no reason at all. That is what a parent does"
"Who are you to tell me about parenting?" he asked "how long have you been a parent 3 years"
"4 asshole"
"Yeah just wait till you kids a teenagers and they hate you" he said.
"They won't hate me and you want to know why that is because they know I love them and just want to keep them safe"
"Just leave me alone"
"Yeah I can see how well that is working out for you, your wife is dead and your only son hates you with a passion and wants nothing to do with you" Ashley retorted.
"Cameron loves me"
"That's not what he says" Ashley said.
"So you must be fucking ecstatic you finally got what you wanted, to be alone"
"Yeah whatever"
"I never understood why you didn't love me and I used to try so hard to please you but then I realized you were miserable and if you were miserable you were taking everyone down with you"
"Well no wonder I was so miserable I had rotten children"
"You don't know the first thing about being a father, my real father tells me he loved me all the time and he calls me all the time just to see how I am and why is that you ask because he loves me"
"Oh yes Saint Chris who couldn't do any wrong"
"You said it not me"
"Hate to break it to ya but your dad was a huge womanizer and he cheated on Lily all the time why do you think she came to Cameron before she died she was going to leave him"
"You are lying" Ashley was near tears but she refused to let this man see her weakness.
"Think what you want"
"You are a piece of shit and I have waited a long time to tell you that" she said as she started walking to the front door.
"By the way" she turned around to face him once again. "Merry fucking Christmas Scott"
She walked out of the building she was shaking. John was waiting on the steps for her.
"You ok?" he asked.
"No" she broke down into tears.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I don't know why I a, letting this bother me but Scott told me that Chris cheated on my mother
"Chris would never do anything like that I saw him before he found you… I refuse to believe it"
Ashley pulled herself together "you are right"
"You ok to drive?" he asked
"Yeah I'll be fine" she replied.
During the drive Ashley tried to prepare herself to see her father she didn't think she could bare it if Scott was right.. She walked back into the house.
"Chris I need to talk to you" Ashley said.
Chris looked up from the book her was reading to the kids. He could see pain in his daughter's eyes.
"I'll finish the book man" John said.
Chris handed him the book and followed Ashley to John's office. Ashley had her back to Chris.
"I'm going to ask you this once and I would appreciate a honest answer" she said.
"Ok what is going on?" Chris asked.
"Did you cheat on my mother?" Ashley asked.
"What where would you even get a question like that"
"Just answer the question " Ashley demanded.
"No" Chris's reply was short and angry.
Chris was shocked that his daughter would ask him such a hurtful question.
Ashley turned to face her father she felt foolish now.
"Scott he told me that you were unfaithful and that she was leaving you when she died" she explained. She felt like a little kid again and she was about to get time out.
"Baby girl come here" Chris extended his arms for a hug.
Ashley accepted gratefully.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have believed him" she said.
"It's ok" he said "the reason your mother left was her mother was sick and dying so she took you to be with her for the last few days of her life"
"My question is why would you even go see him?" Chris asked.
"Cameron told me where he was I wanted to tell him how much I hated him and I guess make him see that I'm not perfect but even so I made this great life for myself… I mean the man raised me for 16 years I wanted just once for him to say he was proud of me"
"I'm proud of you and that is all the matters"
"I love you daddy"
Chris had a flashback of when Ashley was little. He had to smile she was still his baby no matter how old she was.
"I love you too"