"This is so weird to me, Adam." CJ whispered into the phone while she laid in a chair by Seth's pool soaking up sun. It wasn't anything fancy, just an in-ground pool, but she loved it and planned on getting in as much bikini time as she could before she lost her bikini body to this baby- or babies. "Everyone has their own little routine, and they're all happy with it."

"That suburbia. Aren't you happy with your routine?" He asked and CJ scoffed.

"The only routine thing I do is walk the dogs at three and seven. Otherwise I try my hardest to avoid eye contact with anybody."

"People are going to think you're a battered woman." Adam warned and CJ shrugged, feeling Kevin jump onto the lawn chair with her.

"Fuck what they think. I'm tired all the time, I'm two months away from getting fat, I have to limit my caffeine intake, I'm in an unfamiliar environment by my lonesome for about ten days, and the two men I love are at each other's throats because of me." She ranted, using her free hand to lift Lola into the chair beside Kevin. "I'm kind of over what everyone is going to think, dad."

"So you love both Dean and Seth?"

"After all that, that's what you retain? Yes, at least I think. Eighty five percent positive."

"Even though Dean is a world class asshole?" He asked and CJ smiled.

"Even though he is a world class asshole. But I'm a world class bitch, so it kinda works." She reasoned, adjusting her sunglasses and scratching Kevin behind his ears.

"Kinda." Adam repeated and she nodded.

"Kinda." She repeated and she heard Adam make an 'ehh' sound.

"Okay, soo.. Kinda?" He asked and she laughed.

"Kinda. Can we switch topics?"

"Does Seth know?" Adam asked and CJ sighed.

"That's not changing the subject, but I was going to wait until he got back to tell him. Some things are just better in person." CJ mumbled, standing from her seat and dotting on the edge of the pool to dip her legs in the cool water. CJ always loved looking in the water and seeing the visible goosebumps on her skin, it was one of the little things she loved so much.

"Have you seen your mom recently?"

"No, I should make a trip up there, huh?"

"Maybe you should. I know Seth doesn't know, but maybe you should tell him before he brings it up. With his luck with you, you'd have a really bad mood swing and get pissed the hell off at him because he didn't know and he only didn't know because you didn't tell him." Adam reasoned and CJ nodded, looking to see Mikaela peeking over the fence.

"You're right."

"I'm always right. I've got to go film, so I'll text you later, kid."

"Alright. Love you dad."

"Love you too." If there was one thing CJ appreciated about the woman who she'd never met, it was her manners. She waited until CJ had tossed her phone onto the pool chair that the dogs weren't on before more than those dark eyes were visible.

"Are you planning on leaving anytime soon?"

"Uh, no?" CJ mumbled as she stood, walking towards the fence. "Is there some sort of law preventing me from leaving right now?"

"I wouldn't know about a law, since I'm from Vegas, but I do know that there's a moving truck parked in front of your driveway."

"Good thing I've got nowhere to go today. I'm CJ."

"Mikaela. It's nice to meet you." The two women shook hands over the fence and CJ looked over to her ringing phone. "I should let you get to that. I really just wanted to let you know that your driveway was blocked."

"I appreciate it. See you around."

"Definitely."

Telling Seth about my mom would be opening a huge can of worms that I don't necessarily want to deal with. CJ thought to herself as she tossed her sunglasses onto the chair with her phone and jumped into the pool. Being immersed in the cold water for those couple of seconds was quite the refresher, and once she went up for air she looked to where Kevin was watching from the chair. Lola was fast asleep in the chair, but that wasn't surprising because she was a lazy dog.

"I wish I could be that lazy."

"Is there a special reason why you specifically were the one to jump on Hunter all three times you guys attacked Evolution?" CJ asked and Seth grinned from where he stood in the airport talking to her on the phone.

"I found out that he gave Dave the go-ahead to spear you back in January. It was no tragic accident."

"How'd you find out?"

"Dean talks in his sleep." Seth stated simply, looking over to where Roman was trying to get Dean to eat something. "I know we're currently mad at him, but I haven't seen him eat anything since I got in on Saturday."

"I doubt it's because he's feeling sorry for himself. He's probably just eating not with you because he's mad at you." She tried to reason and Seth shook his head, knowing Dean better. "He's got to be eating to feed his muscles at the very least."

"True. But what if he is feeling sorry for himself?"

"He made his bed, Seth, and now he has to lie in it. You're bound to see him eat, because you're about to spend the next week pretty much joined at the hip."

"Would you ever take him back?" Seth had to ask, frowning when she hesitated to say no. Why would she be hesitating? He left her.

"Honestly? I don't know, because I don't know what the future holds. We could start to hate each other, Sethie. I don't want that to ever happen, but it could."

"I know." Seth sighed and he heard her sigh.

"I know that if he wants to be part of his child's life, I have to let him."

"Why do you have to let him? He wanted nothing to do with them before? Isn't that enough?"

"I spent my childhood praying that my father would want something to do with me." CJ spoke in a low tone and it was then that Seth knew he would be in deep trouble if he pressed the subject further. "If Dean wants some kind of relationship with his kid, then I'll happily oblige."

"But I'd be there, wouldn't that be enough?"

"Having the surrogate parent was great, but nothing measures up to having a good relationship with the man who made you."

How would you know? You never had one with your father. When she fell silent on the other side Seth realized that he had accidentally vocalized his thoughts. "Shit, CJ, I didn't mean it-"

"Only you did, Seth. It's late, I should get to bed." She even went so far as to fake a yawn to try and prove her point.

"I'll text you when my plane lands."

"Alright."

"I love you." It was a desperate attempt to sweeten her a bit, and he knew that he sounded desperate. He'd make desperate pleas to her, because he loved her.

"I know. Goodnight, Seth."

"Goodnight, CJ. Sweet dreams, babe." He barely managed to get out before she hung up and he let out a sigh before making his way over to his teammates. Roman looked up from Dean to Seth as the younger man flopped into the empty seat at their table. "Dean, I haven't seen you eat and I'd really like to."

"I thought we weren't friends?" Dean mumbled and Seth sighed.

"We're not, but brothers don't have to be friends and they don't have to like each other. We do have to look out for each other, man. Please just eat."

"I'm not hungry. I ate at the arena after we beat down Evolution the second time." Dean mumbled and Seth nodded, looking over at Roman. The older man said nothing, but gave Seth a nod of approval while giving Dean's shoulder a gentle pat. If they kept things like this, minus Dean not eating much, then everything would be fine for this tour.

CJ, however, wasn't fine. She couldn't believe Seth's nerve and she was tempted to send him a strongly worded message telling him exactly what he did wrong. He didn't understand what it was like to grow up without a father figure. He didn't understand the single parent household life, and hers was barely even that because her mother was almost never home. Seth didn't understand, therefore he had no right to make comments like that.

That was where her connection with Dean was the strongest. He didn't even know his father, and he fully understood the barely single parent environment. He could relate to the root of her abandonment issues, and CJ appreciated that. Seth would never be able to understand, and that hurt CJ because she felt that would hurt their relationship in the future.

What she really hated about being pregnant is that now she had to think not just four steps ahead, but twelve. She had to consider the future for her children, and not just doing what would make her life easier. Being pregnant meant that she had to grow up and work things out instead of running from her problems. She could no longer run and there was no more hiding. The only hiding she could really do was in Adam's house, and even that would stop being effective after a while. She couldn't pull another vanishing act, since she wouldn't let her children grow up without their fathers because she promised herself that they wouldn't.

She hated everything about making that promise to herself.

"Fuckin' a." CJ muttered, turning over onto Seth's side of the bed and feeling Kevin curl into the crook of her bent knees. Lola was fast asleep at the end of the bed and CJ felt like some things were messing. She knew Seth was the obvious one, but there was something else that she wanted in the bed with her. She couldn't quite place her finger on it, but assumed it was only a bigger dog and snuggled into Seth's pillow.

Raw last night was pretty great in my opinion. But, any night we get to have Dean on commentary is a good night in my opinion.

Thanks to UntilNeverDawns, ArtisticLullaby, TaijiaK, Sarcastic Nightmare, ChelleLew, and Guest for reviewing the last chapter!