Hey all. This chapter was a little bit harder to write than I thought it would be. But here it is so enjoy."
Early December 1985
"Hi." Laura said as she opened the door. "Steve's running some errands." She explained as she held the door open.
Piper nodded in greeting as he looked down at the little boy hiding behind her legs. "Hi, you must be Brent."
Laura laughed as he took off running. "He's still shy around strangers." She explained as she led the way into the kitchen.
"It's a good thing you're doing here, taking in kids." Piper started nervously.
"It makes us happy." Laura said.
"Have you considered taking in any more?" He asked avoiding her gaze.
Laura hesitated. "I definitely want more, but I want to wait a while, let John and Brent settle down some more." She poured him some tea. "Page and Kimberly will be moving in a couple of weeks. You should think about moving to the area." She teased.
He shrugged. "I'm pretty happy with St. Louis." He shifted restless in his seat.
"You look like you have some things on your mind." She said as she settled across form him. "You know sometimes it helps to have someone to talk too."
Piper nodded as he thought about it. "Steve's told you about my new partner in the ring?" He started. He continued when she nodded. "He's a nice guy at work, totally dedicated, very professional." He paused as he rubbed his head "We live in the same town so I invited him over to watch a game one day we were off last week. He was stinking drunk when he got there and mean with it."
"You've never seen him drunk before?" Laura asked softly.
Piper shook his head. "He barely drinks caffeine while we're on the road. But apparently he stays drunk 24 hours at home."
"Are you wanting to get him into AA meetings?" She asked.
He waved her question away. "I drove him home because I didn't want him driving."
"Of course not." She murmured.
"When I opened the door there was this little boy standing there practically naked. He was so thin I could count the ribs on him. He looked at me with these sad eyes before darting away. I could hear a baby crying in the background."
Laura covered her mouth with her hands and waited for him to continue.
"I shoved the cowboy in to a chair and I managed to get out of him that his wife had passed away a year ago giving birth to their daughter. When he passed out I went looking for the children."
"The boy, he's around three, is smart. Damn smart. He had bruises on him." He told her wretchedly.
"Please don't tell me that you left them there alone with him." Laura asked fearfully.
He shook his head. "I stayed the night. And when he sobered up the next morning I took him out back and beat the ever-living shit out of him. Told him he better clean up his act or the next time it would be worse." He looked up at her pleadingly. "He's a good man when he isn't drinking."
Later Laura related the story to Steve. "My heart goes out to those two little kids. No mother, their father going off the deep end. They're probably starving."
Steve frowned. "Do you think it would have been better if he had called DFS?"
She bit her lip as she thought about it. "I don't know. You know how I feel about foster homes."
Steve put his arms around her. "I'll keep in touch with Piper, make sure everything's staying okay." He assured her.
She smiled as she leaned back to kiss him. "Thanks honey."
Two months later
"Hey, kid." Piper said spotting the little boy sitting on the front steps of the house. He was relieved to see that the child was relatively clean and dressed appropriately for the weather.
"Hi." The little boy sneered.
"Kind of cold to be sitting out here." Piper observed as he sat down next to him. "Why aren't you inside?"
The kid shrugged. "Becca's sleeping."
Piper nodded as if he understood what the little boy meant. "Is your dad home?"
Another shrug. "He's watching TV."
"Have you eaten lunch?" Piper asked as he tried to tap down his impatience. When the little boy shook his head he made a suggestion. "Do you want to go to McDonalds?"
A quick smile lit the little boy's face before he frowned. "What about Becca?" He asked.
Standing up Piper reached for the little hand. "We'll bring her something back. Lets go tell your father we're going."
Later he sat down to talk to Cowboy Bob Orton. "Everything going okay?" He asked the other man.
Orton shrugged. "I'm clean and sober."
Piper nodded as he thought about how to word his next question. "Have you ever thought about hiring someone to help you out here, with the kids?"
Orton turned to frown at him. "I'm doing fine. I have that girl that comes and stays with them when I'm gone."
Piper frowned. "This is the same girl who left them with you while you were drunk?"
"It's hard to find someone to stay with the kids three days a week." Orton defended himself.
Unhappy with the situation Piper prepared to leave and was stopped by the little boy at the front door.
"Are you coming back?" He asked.
Piper smiled as he rubbed his hand through the boy's hair. "I'll be back next week." He assured him. "Maybe we can go to McDonalds again." He said, his heart lifting at the sight of the boy's wide smile.
April 1986
"How are the kids doing?" Steve asked his friend as they lounged in the arena seats.
Piper frowned thoughtfully. "Orton's remained sober and the kids are being taken care of but there's no emotion involved. He does what he has to and that's it."
"Hard way to grow up." Steve murmured.
Piper nodded. "Randy's so serious and solemn, always making sure his sister is okay. He never has any fun. I think I've been going more to give him a treat than to check on things."
"Is something else wrong?" Steve asked as he observed his friend's face.
The other man shrugged restlessly. "Orton feeds them. Surprisingly he can cook really well. I've even popped in unexpectedly at dinnertime to find them all at the table. And the little girl looks plump and healthy."
He rubbed at his hair. "I can't explain it but Randy's still really thin. Unnaturally thin. And last week I went into his room and found a stash of food. He's been hoarding it."
"Hoarding, but not eating?" Steve observed.
"Something's not right about the situation. We had the day off in between shows last week. Most guys opted to stay over, including Orton. The day happened to land on Randy's 4th birthday."
Steve frowned. "We weren't that far from St. Louis. He could have easily gone to see his kid."
Piper nodded. "But he didn't so I did.
The week before.
"Hi." Piper greeted the 23 year old who stayed with the kids on the weekends.
"Can I help you?" She asked warily, standing in the doorway. He could hear music blasting away in the background.
"I'm a friend of Bob Orton's. I'm here to see Randy." He said observing her glazed eyes and distracted manor.
"No can do. He's busy." She said before slamming the door shut.
He stared at the door in disbelief before knocking again. "Listen buddy I told you no deal. You keep harassing me and I'm calling the police."
"Go ahead. That way I can charge you with child endangerment, neglect. And I'm sure I can find a whole bunch of other stuff." He threatened smiling savagely.
She sneered at him. "They're out back somewhere." She waved him away before losing the door.
Shaking his head in disgust he walked around to the back. Opening the gate he scanned the small yard, spotting the dirty faces of the kids peaking out from the doorway of a rundown doghouse.
"What in the world are you doing in there?" He roared startling the kids into ducking back into he dark hole.
"Hey." He said softly ducking down and peering into the dark opening.
"Hi." Randy said putting his face close to the older man's. "What are you doing here?" He asked warily.
"I came to bring you your birthday present." Piper responded, pleased when the boy crawled out the small door.
The boy eyed him suspiciously. "Why'd you do that?"
Piper shrugged. "Because I like you and it's your special day." He said grinning as he rubbed his hand through the boy's hair. He looked around. "What are you doing out here?"
Randy looked at the house cautiously. "We're not allowed in the house when Geoff's over. Sherry doesn't like it." He explained.
The older man closed his eyes in despair. "Does this Geoff come over often?"
"Everyday. Sometimes he stays the night." The little boy told him.
"Where do you sleep when he stays over?"
Randy scooted back to the doghouse and pointed inside. "We have blankets and a nightlight. And Becca had to bring the bear you gave her." He flushed as his stomach rumbled.
"Hungry?" Piper asked trying to remain calm for the boy's sake.
He scuffed the toe of his shoe in the dirt. "Sherry doesn't have time to fed us. She said that's not part of her job."
"And that's why you have all that food in your room. Why don't you eat some of it?" Piper asked carefully.
"It's for Becca. I need to make sure she's okay."
Present
"Hey." Dave Batista said in greeting as his friend sat down beside him.
Randy studied the drink in Dave's hand with interest. "What's that? I want one."
"Trying to get drunk?" The big man asked in amusement when Randy tossed the drink back.
He shrugged. "My parents anniversary party is coming up and I don't want to go." He slid a glance over to the other man. "Does that make me a bad son?"
Dave glanced up in confusion. "I thought your mom was dead. Didn't Cowboy Bob raise you himself?"
Randy snorted. "Like that jackass could raise anything." He said bitterly.
"Am I missing something?" Dave asked taking the glass out of his hand before he could consume any more alcohol.
"It's a long story." Randy said waving the question away. He looked at his friend appraisingly. "Want to hear it?"