Hey everyone. I am back online and have a new chapter up. Enjoy and happy reading.
Present
"Okay, let me get this straight." Dave said as he supported a very drunk Randy down the hall of the hotel. "John is your brother and you were both raised by adoptive parents. What I don't understand is what where were doing there in the first place."
"Whatcha mean?" Randy slurred.
"Why didn't Bob Orton raise you?" Dave asked as he brought them to a stop in front of John's hotel room.
"Jackass." Randy muttered as he banged his head against the door.
"I got that part." Dave said dryly. "And stop that before you hurt yourself."
Randy turned to grin at his friend, losing his balance when the door was jerked open. Dave watched in amusement as he hit the ground hard. "Probably be better if you stay there." He advised the younger man.
"What the hell." John exclaimed as he took in the scene.
Dave looked up at the angry man in front of him, taking in the naked chest and unbuttoned shorts. "You know as loose as you wear those I'd be careful about moving around." Catching movement in the room he leaned over to peer in. "That's interesting."
Randy raised his head to see what was going on. "Dude you're bouncing Ashley?" He asked laughing.
John aimed a small kick at his side. "What are you doing here?" He asked turning to glare at the older man.
Dave shrugged as he continued to look amused. "Randy was telling me an interesting story." He started. "Aren't you going to help your brother up?"
John ran his tongue over his teeth. "Come on in." He invited opening the door wider. Grabbing Randy's arm he pulled him out into the hall. Dave muffled a laugh as he came back in alone and shut the door.
"You just going to leave him there?" He asked.
John shrugged as he turned to face Ashley. "Do you think we can pick this up later?"
She nodded as she gathered up her shoes. "Give me a call."
John waited until she had left before he turned back to Dave. "What did he tell you?"
"Not much." Dave admitted.
"So why are you here?" John asked. "In case you didn't notice I was in the middle of something."
"I had some questions that Randy didn't answer." Dave shrugged as he settled down in a chair. "How did you end up with the family?
"You know this is how it always is. Randy starts something and I have to clean up the mess." John muttered as he yanked on a shirt. "My parents died. Laura was my godmother and guardian."
"How did Randy end up there?" Dave asked watching carefully.
John shook his head. "That's his story. You'll have to wait and ask him."
Dave nodded in understanding. "Why did you decide not to tell anyone?" He asked next.
"We joined OVW pretty much at the same time. We had been involved in wrestling our whole lives. Guys that come into this company as brothers end up staying together as brothers, even in the ring. Neither one of wanted to be a tag team and we didn't want to have to sacrifice the other one to get ahead." He explained.
"How did you hide it for so long?" Dave asked in amazement.
John grinned at the look on his face. "We have different names and we used our original hometowns. We hung out with each other in OVW and by the time we joined WWE it was well known that we were best friends."
"You mentioned you were involved in wrestling your whole life. In what way?" Dave asked as he tried to put the facts together.
The younger man gave him a searching look. "Oh you know we watched it on TV and had backyard wrestling matches." He improvised. "With five boys we had some good matches."
"Five? How many were there of you?" He asked in shock.
John grinned. "He didn't tell you anything did he?"
Dave rolled his eyes. "He was pretty much gone after he mentioned you were his brother."
"Good." John said standing up. "You can ask him the rest after he wakes up." He grinned widely. "I need to get back to what I was doing." He said holding the door open.
"What about him?" Dave asked indicating the body sprawled on the floor.
John studied the sleeping figure. "He looks comfortable to me."
Summer 1986
"Steve, get the door will you?" Laura called out from the kitchen.
Frowning Steve put down the paper he was reading. "It's seven o'clock in the morning." He muttered under his breath as he walked to the front door. Pulling it open he stared in surprise at Bob Orton. "Hello." He said as he smiled in greeting.
The other man's return smile was strained. "Steve, I was wondering if I could talk to you and your wife." He said pulling the two kids from behind him.
Glancing down Steve studied the dark haired girl with her rosy cheeks and the rail thin boy with his brilliant blue eyes fixed in a defiant stare.
"Who're they?" John asked sleepily as he walked up behind his father.
Steve rubbed his hand over his son's hair. "This is Randy and Becca. I need to talk to their father so why don't you take them into the kitchen and get them some breakfast." He suggested.
John sneered but waved for them to follow them. At a small nudge from his father he reached out for the two year old's hand.
Seeing this Randy moved to intercept. "Don't touch my sister." He growled.
Steve watched as Orton placed a hand on his son's shoulder and squeezed tightly, causing the young boy to wince. "Don't cause trouble." He admonished gruffly.
Grim faced he waited until the kids had walked out of the room before he led the other man into the living room. "What's going on Orton?" He asked as he settled into his chair.
Orton shrugged as he paced around the room. "I've heard some of the other guys talking about how you take in kids that need help."
Steve nodded slowly. "My wife and I have taken in two boys that have needed us."
"I'm hoping you would be willing to take a couple more." Orton said gravely as he turned to face him.
"Steve, is everything okay?" Laura asked as she walked in the room. She raised her eyebrows at the level of tension.
"Did the kids get settled okay?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the other man.
"Yeah, they've all got cereal. But I don't want to leave them alone too long. What's going on?" She asked.
Steve glared at the nervous man in front of him. "Orton was just about to tell me why he wants to give away his children."
"It would be for their own good." The red face man stuttered as she turned to gape at him.
"They're your children." She argued.
"I'm not a good father." He argued back. "They would be better off without me."
"Well we all know that's true." Steve growled as he sat forward. "But instead of throwing them away like trash why don't you change and actually be there for them."
Orton shrugged. "Tried. Didn't work and I'm miserable." He said simply.
"You're miserable?" Laura asked outraged. "What about those two precious kids in there?"
"They would be happier with someone else." He yelled back at her.
Steve stepped in front of his wife. "Do not raise your voice to her."
"What right do you have to judge me?" The other man ranted, his face flushing red. "You don't know what's it's like, losing someone you love so much that you can't stand to look at her kids." He threw a vase across the room. "Every time I look at them I see her and my heart breaks again. I can't do it anymore. They're not worth going through that. "
Calmer he turned to face them. "If you don't want them give'em to someone else and tell them to call me when they want to do the paperwork." He announced before walking out.
"I can't believe he just walked out with no concern to his kids." Steve grumbled as he watched the car drive off.
"Steve." Laura said in a strangled voice causing him to turn around. His heart sank as he caught sight of the pale boy in the doorway. They watched as eyes dry he turned and walked into the kitchen.
Later that afternoon
"What do you want to do?" Laura asked as she stood at the window. Her eyes were trained on the little boy standing guard as his sister played.
"That bastard doesn't deserve children." Steve spat sitting at the kitchen table.
"No, and he's not getting them back." She said determinedly. She crossed her arms as she turned to face her husband. "They don't deserve that."
Steve shook his head. "No they don't. But." He hesitated. "Are we ready to take in two more kids?"
"Do we have a choice?" She asked giving him a small smile. "I've been saying how I wanted a little girl."
"We aren't prepared for more kids yet. We've been taking the reconstruction on the house slow. We don't even have bedrooms for them." He argued.
"So, we'll hire contractors and finish the remodeling. They can bunk in the den until we're finished."
"I'm gone a lot. You're the one that's going to have to take care of them. Four kids is a lot of work." He pointed out.
"We'll figure something out." She slid into his lap and put her arms around him.
"And what happens when we fall in love with them and he comes back and takes them away." He asked softly as he pressed his face into her.
"Then we deal with it. And in the meantime we give them the love and affection that they're starved for. Besides." She said rubbing a hand through his hair. "The decision was made as soon as they walked through the door."
He smiled. "You know me too well." He leaned into kiss her.
They broke apart at the sounds of yelling coming through the window. "Something tells me that isn't going well." Steve said ruefully as they got up.
Walking outside they found Randy and John facing off. Shaking her head Laura walked over and picked up the squalling toddler.
"What's going on here?" Steve asked as he walked up to the two boys.
"He was throwing rocks at the dog." John accused, folding his arms over his chest.
"I should have been throwing them at you." Randy yelled as he balled his fists.
Steve pushed John back when he started forward. "He's three years younger than you and he's had a bad day. Cut him some slack." He warned in a low voice. Turning he observed the defiant child in front of him. "Where you trying to hit the dog?"
Randy shrugged his shoulders. "No. Stupid dog walked in front of me."
Steve smiled. "Well that settles that." He turned as Brent walked up behind him.
"Is he going to be staying?" The six year old asked.
"If he wants too." Steve replied, ignoring his oldest son's groan. He raised his eyebrows to Randy. "What do you say?"
"What about Becca?" He asked suspiciously.
Steve indicated the small girl wrapped around his wife. "I think she's already decided."
Laura laughed as she walked over to John. "You know we need to fatten up your new brother. How about we go make some cookies."
John eyes the other boy speculatively. "He is pretty skinny. I could have taken him."
Steve rolled his eyes as he pushed John toward the house. "Are you coming?" He called over his shoulder.
One week later
"I'm looking for someone to clean the house and cook dinner. Child care will not be your primary duty." Laura informed the motherly women in front of her. "I want to be able to enjoy my children and not worry about doing laundry."
"They seem like they would be a handful." The visitor said as she glanced at them out the window.
Laura smiled. "They can be." She rifled through the papers in her hand. "Your references are excellent. You would be living in house. Would that be a problem Mrs. Lindsey?"
She shook her head. "My husband is deceased and my youngest child is in college. He has a life of his own now."
"Shall we go and meet the rest of the crew?" Laura suggested as she led the other lady to her husband's office. "Steve, this is Mrs. Lindsey."
"Just call me Nana. All my grandchildren do." She said holding out her hand.
"You don't look old enough to have grandchildren." Steve said causing her to smile. "Are you ready to become part of our Brady bunch?"
"I can assure you I'm used to rowdy boys."
"Well, you would be staying in what used to be the servant quarters. They need some work but we have a team of carpenters coming next week. You would have a bed room, bathroom and your own sitting room." He explained.
"That's fine." She agreed as the doorbell sounded.
"Let me show you the rest of the house." Laura said as she led her out of the room. She threw a look at her husband over her shoulder.
He sighed as he got up to answer the door. "Orton." He greeted the other man shortly.
"Steve, I'm happy you agreed to take the kids." Bob answered smiling warmly.
"Let's get this over with. I don't want you in my house any longer than necessary." Steve growled as he led the way back to his office.
"You have every right to hate me." The other man sighed. "Did you have the papers drawn up?"
Steve nodded. "I added a clause stating that if you ever come back and attempt to reclaim your children that they be allowed to decide their own fate."
Orton nodded. "Sounds fair but I can assure you that I won't be coming back." He said as he signed the papers in front of him without reading them. "Where's your wife?"
"She felt she would be sick if she had to be in the same room with you." Steve informed him as he sorted the copies. "Now get out."
Orton nodded as he turned around. He stopped seeing Randy standing in the doorway.
"Are we going home with you?" The little boy asked.
"No." He answered harshly as he pushed past his son.
"Why not?" Randy asked calling after him.
Orton stopped but didn't turn around. "Because I don't want you." He said before walking out the door.
Steve's heart broke as he watched the little boy's shoulders shake. Meaning to take him in his arms he moved forward. Unnoticed John slipped forward and approached the boy first.
"He's an asshole." The seven year old said, lowering his voice as he said the last word.
Randy gave a laughing sob as he half heartedly pushed at his new brother.
"I can still take you." John said slipping his arm around the other boy. "Let's go check out the new housekeeper. I bet she's afraid of snakes."