Houston, We Have a Problem

If Dave had learned anything from being married before, it was that he was better off letting his fiancee and her friends plan his wedding. If he just slipped into whatever tux Jennifer commanded and showed up at the church she had reserved on the day she said to be there, he felt like he was doing his part.

But they began talking about "married life" as soon as they returned from the restaurant and put Keegan to bed. And though he wanted her to move into his house immediately, Jennifer asked if they could wait until after the wedding. It wasn't that she was opposed to spending some nights with him, or having him spend the night with them. But getting a new "daddy" was change enough for Keegan at the moment. Ripping her from the only home she had ever known seemed like too much at once.

The only thing Dave asked, as a compromise to the living situation, was that they join him on the road more often. Jennifer tried to explain that she would have to take too much time off work, but Dave wasn't about to take "no" for an answer. Instead, he offered her a position as his personal assistant. And while she knew it was a bull shit job, something he made up to keep her closer to him, she couldn't say that she minded the concept.

It wouldn't be all the time, of course, but every couple of weeks, Jennifer and Keegan would pack a bag and catch a flight to whatever city he was working. They would spend a couple of days with him and then all three would fly home again as a family. It was a plan that suited both of them fine, and one that they knew Keegan would be happy with.

As she walked through the hall of the arena, Jennifer gripped Keegan's hand tightly. She had left her daughter with her sister a few times to visit Dave when they were dating, but this was different. She hadn't seen any of his co-workers, even their friends, since he had proposed a week ago, and she wondered what, in anything, they would have to say about it.

"Okay, girl, let me see it!"

The voice seemed to come out of nowhere as Trish and Lita came running toward them. Stopping, Jennifer held her left hand out and looked over their shoulders for the man who was supposed to meet them.

"He's in the ring," Trish answered before she could ask, her eyes glued to the diamond in her face.

"Holy SHIT!" Lita exclaimed as she ripped Jennifer's hand out of Trish's and examined it for herself. "How are you not getting carpal tunnel with a rock that size?" Glancing at her own hand, she glared up at Jennifer. "Edge is so getting a firm talking-to when we get back to the hotel!"

The women were laughing and talking about wedding plans when Keegan began to tug on Jennifer's hand. "Can I go over there, Mommy?"

Glancing up, Jennifer saw John and Randy talking with some other members of the administration. Nodding, she gave Keegan her best maternal look. "If they're busy, you come back over here, okay?"

She nodded and ran off full speed, screaming as she went. "JOOOOOOOHN!"

Turning at the sound of his name, he felt his heart fluttering as he tuned out of the conversation he was having and stooped to open his arms. Just the sight of her, crazy curls bobbing as she ran, made him smile. "Hey, Precious," he grunted as she slammed into his chest with a giggle. "What are you doing here?"

"Me and Mommy came to see Daddy!"

He felt his insides tense, but John fought like hell not to react. She was so happy - so excited. It wasn't her fault that she didn't know she already had a daddy, standing right there in front of her face. "Ah. Have you seen him yet?" he asked.

Though he was no closer to being okay with the situation, John had come to the conclusion that he couldn't change it, so he would have to live with it. He didn't have time to become that man so obsessed with one choice in his life that he couldn't move beyond it. He had his own wedding quickly approaching, and soon he would be married to a woman he loved with his own happily-ever-after.

"Let's go find him," Keegan said, pointing down a random hall way. Turning, she noticed another man watching her. "Hi, Randy!"

With a warm smile, Randy reached out and patted the top of her hair. "Wondered how long you were gonna ignore me there, Munchkin."

Since John had made his confession, Randy had done a lot of thinking. Whatever John and Jennifer had done, they were adults. And they lived their own lives. And all he could do was what he would hope John, or any one of his friends, would do in his position - keep his mouth shut and keep the broom handy. Cause there was gonna be a ton of shit to clean up when the truth came out.

"You coulda said "hi" first, ya know," Keegan rolled his eyes as the man beside them laughed. "Let's go find my daddy!" she pointed again.

It was as if, in the days since the proposal, she threw the word around every chance she got. The idea of having a daddy, to Keegan, was like a new toy that she couldn't stop playing with, and most people thought it was adorable. John was trying to find it, at the very least, moderately cute.

Stepping into the arena, they walked toward the ring, where Dave was laying out a match with Bobby Lashley for the evening's house show. Motioning for her to stay quiet, John sat in the front row of chairs and pointed toward the men. "Have you ever seen Dave get ready for a match?"

She shook her head, her eyes wide as watched Dave and Bobby talking over a move, and then performing it. "I'm glad it's not this boring on TV," she told John after only a few minutes. "They talk too much!"

"I think you talk too much," Dave responded playfully, turning to lean against the ropes and smile down at Keegan.

"I DO NOT!" she responded with a giggle. "Not when I'm s'posed to be fighting!"

"Ah," Dave sighed, nodding for her to come join him. "So now you're gonna tell me how to do my job, huh?"

Jumping out of John's lap, she ran to the steel steps in the corner closest to him and climbed carefully onto the apron. Dave lifted her over the top rope and kissed her head before sitting her feet on the mat.

"Only when you're not doing it right," Keegan argued back, straightening her little shorts before looking up at the men standing beside her. They were about the same height - both towering over the tiny girl between them. "You guys are big," she said, as though the thought had never really occured to her before.

John watched from his seat as Dave picked her up and threw her into the air, catching her easily while she giggled and screeched. Maybe if he had demanded to see her back when she was born, things would be different. Maybe if he had tried, on one of those many occasions when he had wanted to pick up the phone, he would be the one grinning like an idiot when she yelled "Daddy."

"Hey, you," a soft whisper sounded in his ear as Trish wound her arms around his neck and kissed his earlobe. "Whatcha thinkin' 'bout, Handsome?"

But things weren't different. They were as they were for whatever reason, and he couldn't change it. As she stepped over the folding chairs and sat beside him, slinging her leg over his lap, he realized he didn't want to. As much as he loved Keegan, he was still madly in love with Trish. "You," he said honestly.

Lacing her fingers with his, Trish turned her eyes back to the ring and rested her head on John's shoulder. "You think ours will be that cute someday?"

If you only knew, John thought as he nodded. "I think it's a pretty sure thing," he responded.

"Good," Trish sighed. "You wanna get outta here for a little while?"

He stood without answering and took her hand. There was nowhere else he wanted to be at that moment than alone with Trish. Away from Dave and Keegan and Jennifer and wrestling and any other distraction. He just wanted to rest in her arms and feel like he wasn't the biggest liar on the face of the earth.

"You ever gonna tell me what the fuck is wrong with you?" Ashley asked as she watched Randy prepping for the night's show.

Shooting her a surprised look for a moment, Randy continued taping his wrist and shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Ashley nodded knowingly and stood, running her hands over her cargo pants. "Alright, we'll play your way," she said, walking toward the door.

He hated keeping it a secret from her, but he knew that Ashley was close to Jennifer. And if Jennifer wanted her to know, she would tell. John was his friend, and it had always been, and would always be, bros over hos. He wasn't about to break that rule because his sexy little girlfriend was pouting at him.

"Ash," he said, raising his eyes and winking when she looked his way. "You look hot tonight, baby."

She rested against the door and leveled him with a glare. "Ya know how I always tell you that there will come a day when your bedroom eyes and your compliments won't be enough to make me forget that I'm less-than-happy with you?" He shrugged. "Today's the day."

"Well, you do look hot," Randy mumbled as his girlfriend reached for the door. "And I'm not just saying that," he turned to look over his shoulder with a wink and a pout that always convinced her to stay.

"Bull shit," Ashley spat back, taking a few steps toward him. "And stop talking to me like a child. Like I don't know when you're hiding something from me! Randy, we've been together for almost a year. I know when there's something you don't want to tell me. I'm not stupid!"

He cringed and stood, running his large hand down her thin arm, causing both of them to shiver a bit at the contact. "Baby, I wish I could tell you," he said sincerely, his blue eyes begging her to believe him. "But I can't."

After a long moment of just considering him, she took a deep breath and nodded. "I have to go get ready," was all she could manage to say as she turned for the door again.

"Ash, please don't be mad about this," Randy pleaded, knowing that Edge, especially, would tease him merciless for begging like a puppy.

Returning to his side, Ashley put a reassuring hand on his back. "I'm not mad," she said. "I'm just going to say this, and we'll leave it behind, okay? At any point, should you decide that you want to discuss the fact that John is Keegan's father, I'll be ready to listen."

With a swish of her hair, she started for the door. Until Randy threw himself against it, his eyes wide. "WHAT?"

Smirking, Ashley rested her hands on her hips. "That's it, Orton? That's all you got for me? A big "DUH"? Come on. You can do better than that, baby."

Randy shook his head and tried to wrap his mind around the information. Ashley knew? How could she know? Did he talk in his sleep? Had he accidentally said too much during sex? He shook his head. Why the fuck would you talk about John, Jennifer, and Keegan during sex, fuck face? "How long have you known?" he finally spat.

Ashley sighed and returned to the couch she had once been sitting on. "About five months," she answered non-chalantly.

"FIVE MONTHS!"

"Calm down there, Fuschia Face," she teased, patting the couch for Randy to join her. "I asked Jen if she ever noticed how sometimes Keegan looks like John, like when she isn't quite buying what you're saying. When her little eyebrows go up, she kinda looks like him. So I said something about it, and she told me."

He had known that his girlfriend was close to Jennifer, but he had no idea that they were that close. Something dawned on him. "HEY! You've been walking around pissed at me for not telling you for a month, and you've known for a hell of a lot longer than that?"

Nodding, Ashley shrugged. "She said she would pop my implants in my sleep if I said anything."

"Ashley, I'm your boyfriend."

She rolled her eyes and straddled his lap, resting her arms loosely around his neck. "Yeah, but she was holding a knife when she said it," she smiled, pecking his lips and then smiling. She trailed more kisses down his neck.

Within moments, Randy was lifting Ashley's shirt, content to forget everything but the sexy woman grinding against him. Until she pulled back and bit her lip. "What are we gonna do, Randy?"

He chuckled as his eyes wandered down her body and back. "I thought you liked it better if I just surprised you, baby."

Jumping to her feet, Ashley smoothed her shit back over her chest and shook her head. "I mean about Jennifer and John. Somebody's gonna get seriously hurt."

Randy nodded and reached out for her, pulling her back into his lap. "Probably. But it's none of our business, Ash."

"They're our friends. It is so our business."

It wasn't that Randy didn't care. He loved Dave. And he adored Trish. He didn't want to see either of them get hurt. And the thought of breaking little Keegan's heart wasn't anymore exciting. But they were adults.

"Baby, I think it's sweet that you want to help. Trust me, if I thought our interference would make things better, I'd be right there with you. But it's a fucked up situation as it is. We would only make it worse. We just gotta keep our mouths shut, and be there for them when the shit goes down, okay?"

Resting her forehead against Randy's, Ashley smiled and sighed. She loved Jennifer like a sister. But Randy was right. There was nothing she could do to make it better.

"Randy?" she whispered as his nose grazed hers.

"Hm?" he moaned against her neck as he began to kiss her throat.

"You don't have any secret kids I don't know about, do you?" He mumbled a distracted "no," as Ashley fell back against the couch and he covered her with his body. "Good. I'd hate to have to kill you."