Houston, We Have a Problem
"EDGE!" Keegan shouted as she threw the front door open and surveyed the visitors on the porch.
Sweeping the little girl into his arms, Edge looked around for any sign of Jennifer. "Where's your mom, Munchkin?" he asked.
Known amongst them as the anal retentive one, Jennifer was adamant about keeping her house clean and orderly. But what greeted the group in the living room was above and beyond neat. It was sparkling - like something out of a magazine. Or the Stepford wives.
"Holy shit," Lita whispered, looked toward the kitchen to find meticulous counter tops, not a speck of anything out of place. "What the hell is going on here?"
As Edge sat on the couch and began to talk to Keegan, Ashley started down the hall. Though she knew the situation between Jennifer and Dave was rocky, it was clear that she was taking out her frustrations on the house, cleaning and straightening until it looked like no one could possibly be living there, especially not a five-year-old.
"Jen?"
From somewhere inside the closet, a muffled answer came. Ashley pushed into the bedroom and looked around. The bed was unkempt and clothing was strewn everywhere. Just as she was about to move in the direction of the voice, another stack came flying at her.
Emerging from the closet, Jennifer gave her friend a lackluster smile and held up a pair of jeans. "Have any use for maternity pants?" she asked.
"What the hell happened to you?" Ashley asked, sitting on the bed and looking Jennifer over.
Since telling Keegan about Dave and John and the whole sordid mess the week before, Jennifer hadn't stopped thinking about what she could do to make Keegan happy again. While her daughter rarely emerged from her bedroom, Jennifer kept herself busy with organizing things that had always been organized. And she had planned and plotted all the ways to fix what she had done.
"Oh," Jennifer cast a glance down at her ragged sweat pants and Dave's over-sized Redskins tee shirt. "I haven't really had time to shower yet today," she explained, running her hand over the top of her ponytail. "Garage sales are a lot of hard work, ya know?"
Unsure of what to say, Ashley watched as Jennifer threw some more clothing into piles. "Why are you having a garage sale?" she asked cautiously.
With a roll of her eyes, Jennifer stopped and put her hands on her hips. "How am I supposed to come up with enough money to move if I don't sell some of this shit, Ash?"
"Move?" The word was out of Ashley's mouth before she could really process the meaning. "What do you mean "move"?"
Sinking to the floor, Jennifer began to fold the clothes in front of her. "Well, I've been thinking. Everything is all fucked up and the longer we stay here, the more chances we have of bumping into Dave and John and Trish. So I figure Keegan and I will pack up and head out in a couple of weeks," she shrugged as though the plan was fool-proof. "Problem solved."
The words still rattling in her brain, Ashley sank to the bed. "Um, no," she said deliberately. "Problem not even in the same room as solved at the moment." She shook her head and looked back at her friend. "Jennifer, you can't just run away from home!"
Jennifer glanced up and then went back to what she was doing. "I'm not running away," she said simply.
Sliding onto the floor, Ashley crawled over a stack of dresses and placed her hands on Jennifer's shoulders. "You're not moving," she insisted. "That's just insane."
With sad eyes, Jennifer shrugged. "What's the point in sanity?" she asked cryptically.
"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about," Ashley responded, standing and pulling her friend with her. "Come on. Get in the shower." When Jennifer cast another glance at the clothing on the floor, Ashley turned her toward the door and pushed her. "Shower, Jennifer Crystal. Now."
"There's no time," Jennifer tried to argue.
But Ashley was done with this crazy-lady version of her friend. "There's always time for hygiene, Sweetheart," she reminded, pushing until Jennifer was in the bathroom. "And don't come out until you're shampoo-commercial shiney."
Heading back to the living room, Ashley clapped her hands together and rallied the troups. "Okay, guys, we've got work to do," she announced as Lita stood from the couch and smoothed her hands over her jeans. Edge held Keegan in his lap as they both turned to face the woman addressing them. "Li, call Trish. We're going to the spa," she instructed.
Lita bit her lip skeptically. "Not sure that's the best idea, Ash. Trish isn't exactly," she started.
"Just call her," Ashley demanded. "If she doesn't show, at least we know we asked." Turning to Edge, she pointed to the child on his legs. "Do you think you can?" she asked.
With a nod, he stood and swung Keegan around to his hip. "I'm on munchkin duty," he answered, smiling at Keegan as they started toward her room. "You wanna get some lunch, Kid?"
Keegan's giggle permeated the room. "Can we go to Panera?" she asked, her eyes wide with anticipation.
"I think they require shoes there," he smiled, grabbing one of her bare toes.
"EDGE!"
As Keegan's laughter faded, Ashley turned to Lita. "We've got to get them back together."
Nodding, Lita pointed down the hall. "He knows that," she assured Ashley, her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "As scary as it may be, I think he'll find a way to make it happen."
Before Ashley could respond, the pair reappeared, Keegan chasing Edge, who was now wearing her fuzzy, pink princess crown firmly on his head. "That's not for boys, silly!" she proclaimed.
Turning, Edge touched the crown daintily and fluttered his eyelashes. "Why not?" He grabbed her into his arms again and moved toward the door. "I think it makes me look pretty."
They were out the door as Ashley dropped her shoulders and shook her head. "God help us all."
---------
"You're gonna throw your shoulder out again, big guy," Randy warned, as Dave did his twentieth press in a row. "Or crush your windpipe." Sitting on a nearby treadmill, the younger man shrugged. "Course, as much as you've been talkin' lately, don't guess it would matter much, huh?"
Securing the bar back on the stand, Dave struggled to sit while glaring at Randy. "Not in the mood, Orton."
"Yeah, that's nothing new," Randy said. "Dude, you're gonna kill yourself if you don't resolve this soon." Receiving nothing in response, he went on, undeterred. "The whole situation fuckin' sucks, man, no doubt."
"Don't," Dave interrupted firmly. "Ya know what? Just don't," he repeated, shaking his head. "You, of all people, have no right to talk about my personal life."
In a way, Randy knew Dave was right. He could have ended this charade, and he didn't. "Look, man, maybe I should have told you," he conceded. "Maybe I did the right thing by keeping my mouth shut," he added with another shrug. "But it's not about me."
"No, it's not," Dave growled, taking his water bottle from the floor before standing. "It wasn't about you when you decided not to tell me about this shit, and it's not about you now," he said, anger flashing in his dark eyes. "So why don't you just do what you've been doing all along, Orton, and keep your fucking yap shut!" He turned, fully intent on storming out of the room, when the door opened and his blood boiled faster.
John looked like a deer caught in the headlights as his gaze settled on the man before him. "Woah, Dude, my bad," he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "Go ahead and do your thing. I'll come back later."
"I was just leaving," Dave said, fighting everything inside himself to keep his hands at his sides. His knuckles hurt from the death grip he had on the towel in his left hand and the bottle in his right.
The tension was more than thick as the door opened once more. "You said we could have lunch first," a little voice whined as Edge walked into the room, followed closely by an irritated-looking Keegan.
Dave's thoughts were racing before she even entered the room. Would she want to see him after he had ignored her phone call the week before? Was she angry with him for staying away? Would she run into the arms of her real father now? His stomach began turning in a thousand somersaults as her gaze rested on him.
"DADDY!" she squealed, running past John and launching herself into Dave's arms.
If anything bad had happened in his world since he walked out of Jennifer's house with the truth, he couldn't remember it when Keegan wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and kissed his cheek repeatedly. The feeling of her pudgy little hands on the back of his neck sent shivers down his spine and he found himself backing toward the wall to steady himself. "Hey, Peanut," he finally managed to say through his beaming smile.
When she pulled back and rested her palms on his cheeks, Dave thought his heart would break into a million pieces again. "I missed you, Daddy," she whispered, kissing his lips happily before giggling. "Really, really a lot," she added.
"I missed you really, really a lot, too," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I got your message."
She smiled wider, content to be settled in his arms once again. "You did?" Dave nodded. "But you didn't call me back." He nodded again. "Because you're mad at me?"
He shook his head. "No, Sweetheart. I'm not mad at you," he answered, running a reassuring hand down her back.
"Because you're mad at mommy?" Keegan asked, tilting her head to consider him as he thought of an answer. "She said you're mad at her because she lied to you about John being my real daddy."
The room was silent as all of the men awaited Dave's answer. Though it was awkward, John felt as though the light switch had been flipped on for him. Jennifer had told Keegan the truth, and she still ran to Dave as her daddy. He was the only tangible father she'd ever known, and if that meant that he only got to take a back seat to the relationship his daughter had with this man holding her now, he was okay with that. As long as it made Keegan happy.
"A little bit, yeah," Dave answered honestly, though he was beginning to move through the anger and into the sadness and realization that his relationship wasn't what he thought it was.
Keegan's blue eyes shone with sincerity when she shook her head. "Look," she started, her matter-of-fact voice bringing a smile to his face again. "I like John. He's a good babysitter," she smiled and stroked his cheek softly. "But he's not my daddy. You are!"
Feeling an overwhelming joy, Dave crushed the small girl to his chest and kissed the top of her head. Anyone else in the room didn't matter as he rocked her back and forth and hugged her tightly. "And you're my peanut," he whispered.
"I am!" She nodded in agreement. "So let's go home and play with my barbies, okay?"
Though he wanted nothing more than to spend the afternoon with his little girl, Dave knew that he wasn't ready to face Jennifer just yet. "How about we just get lunch first?"