CJ was a bit out of it while she and Dean ate and, as concerned as he was, he held her close to him and made sure she knew that he was there for her. The books he read covered what she might feel in the event of a miscarriage, and they all told him that being there for her was the best thing he could do. So he took initiative and told WWE med staff that he caught some bug and couldn't go on the weekend tour so that she wouldn't be all alone.
He could understand that she was upset, since he was too, and she probably didn't want to talk about it right now but he really needed to know their plan of action when it came to Seth. As far as Dean was concerned, the sooner Seth knew the faster everything evened out and Seth could butt out of their lives for the next four months. Then they could get a paternity test and if she was Seth's baby, Seth got a cookie and visitation, but if he wasn't the father then Seth was out of their lives for good and Dean could live on without a Seth could hanging over his head.
"CJ." She kept her attention on the TV and he sighed, grabbing the remote from beside her and shutting off the TV.
"I was watching that."
"Well now we're talking."
"Dean, I don't want to talk." She stated, not bothering to look up at him.
"Christina, you may not want to talk but we need to." Dean spoke firmly, looking down at her with a small frown. When she made no effort to get up or argue, he took her hand in his and gave a gentle squeeze. "When are you going to tell Seth?"
"I have to?"
"Yes you have to. It could've been his that was lost, so he has a right to know."
"He's going to hate me." She whispered, looking down at her lap. Dean wasn't having any of her doubts, gently tipping her chin up with two of his fingers.
"No he won't. I'll kick his ass if he tries putting any blame on anybody." He assured, wiping away the tears that had started to roll down her cheeks. "Now or later?"
"What do you suggest?"
"A bad Wade Barrett impersonation. Triple H could give you some pointers." Dean joked, trying his best to get a smile on her face. She gave a small laugh, leaning into him a bit. "But I'd do it while the wound is still fresh, so that way you're not further tormenting yourself."
"I'll call him tomorrow morning."
"Atta girl. I'll be right here if you need me."
"Thank you." She whispered, moving to sit in his lap. He ran his fingers through her ponytail, smiling when she pressed her face into his neck. "I think we've grown closer today."
"Can you not tell Adam or Beth about me crying?"
"Dean, there's nothing wrong with breaking down every once in a while."
"I know, but I just-"
"I won't tell them."
"Thank you." He mumbled into her hair, pressing a kiss to her head. "For that and for letting me cry on your legs."
"Dean, I've cried on your shoulder countless times. We're in this together; whether it be physically, mentally, or emotionally. Alright?" She spoke clearly, lifting her head up from his shoulder to look him in the eye.
"You're right. We're a team." He agreed, kissing her softly. "An amazing team, at that."
"You're god damn right we are. I know we just took a nap, like, a couple hours ago but can we go to bed?"
"Of course, darlin'." Dean stated, effortlessly standing up with her in his arms and carrying her to her bedroom. He took off her clothes and gave her his shirt, opting to stay in his jeans just in case he felt like smoking in the middle of the night. "I think we should start thinking baby shopping."
"Beth and I were going to start planning a baby shower for a couple weeks from now."
"Am I allowed to be there?"
"That's a woman convention. Are you sure you'd want to be there?"
"My baby, too." He mumbled, gently caressing her stomach. "Our little Olivia Addison."
"Olive." Dean couldn't fight the eye roll at her ridiculous nickname for their baby. Out of all things, CJ picked a food. But he would get used to it in time, because that's the kind of guy he was. Adaptable.
"Princess Olive."
"We've got our own little royal family." CJ mumbled, smiling at Dean. He smiled and kissed her forehead, gently pulling the hairtie from her hair.
"I'm not much of a king, but you're definitely my queen."
"You're Sir Dean Ambrose. My knight in shining armor."
"I'll need a trusty steed. Maybe a Great Dane."
"We'll have to buy one when we get that house you were talking about." She suggested, pushing his curls out of his face. "You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, and your hair is almost always hiding them from me these days."
"I do need a haircut, don't I?" Dean asked, running a hand through the blonde curls that had started to get a bit unruly.
"It's getting pretty long. Maybe we can go do that tomorrow."
"Just a trim, though. I don't want to have nothing for you to pull in bed."
"I could never let you cut your hair too short." CJ agreed, turning her head to yawn into her pillow. "What would I play with when we're watching TV?"
"There's always my dick." He suggested with a wink, grinning when she playfully slapped his chest. "I was kidding, your highness. Come cuddle, you've got to get some rest."
"You're right. I love you Dean."
"I love you, too, CJ."
CJ had gone the whole morning without calling Seth. She knew that she had to do it soon, and the way Dean looked over a hair magazine at her sold her on the fact that if she didn't do it soon then he would. Honestly, she wouldn't mind Dean telling Seth instead of her but she knew that Seth would take the news better coming from her than from he man he fought and lost the battle for her affections with.
"Can I dye my hair pink?" Dean asked, looking over at CJ from the magazine in his hands.
"Did you want a new girlfriend?" She asked rhetorically, looking up from Seth's contact information just in time to see Dean's eyes widen in shock and possibly in slight offense.
"I'll take that as a 'no'." He mumbled, going back to his magazine before CJ swatted his feet on the table in the salon's waiting room. "Why couldn't we go to the not-so-posh place across the street?"
"Because this is where I like to go. They don't know we're famous. If they do, they're not making a huge deal about it." She explained, smiling when Dean accepted her explanation with a shrug and turned a page.
"Can I get a mullet?"
"I could've sworn that we agreed on a trim last night."
"Business in the front, party in the back, 'Stina."
"You are like a child." She chided, lightly prodding his shoulder. "How are you wearing a jacket?"
"Is there a problem?"
"It's damn near August."
"The weather is cooling down." He defended himself, shrugging out of his jacket before he stood and helped her to her feet. "Can you tell her what I want?"
"You're damn near thirty."
"Yeah, but you know how to explain it, and-"
"Of course, Dean." CJ assured, taking his hand when her usual hairdresser gestured for them to follow her. "You got Carly. She's really nice."
"Is she?"
"She does my hair."
"Is that why it's always so soft?" Dean asked as he sat down in the chair and CJ nodded.
"So what are we doing here, handsome?" Carly asked, wrapping the drape around Dean's white tshirt covered torso and CJ ran her hands through his hair.
"He wants a trim, but more so in the back than in the front." She started, looking at Dean in the mirror and playing with his hair. "When it's wet he doesn't want it going passed his eyes like it does these days, but maybe just at his eyebrows?"
"So nothing too extravagant? Just around the edges and maybe some evening out?"
"Exactly. What do you think, Dean?"
"Sounds good."
"And, since I'm here, do you think you could take a minute and touch up my eyebrows?" CJ asked and Carly nodded.
"Of course, gorgeous."
"There's nothing wrong with your eyebrows." Dean commented, watching as CJ looked herself in the mirror.
"Oh, honey, I could point out a couple things wrong." She stated, gently kissing his cheek before he followed Carly to get his hair washed. He couldn't believe that she found flaws in her appearance when he told her at least once a day that she was perfect to him. But maybe it was part of the work she put into being perfect for him that he didn't see since he was only home two days a week? It still drove him crazy, though. She shouldn't work so hard for him.
"You know that I think you're the most beautiful woman to walk this earth, right?" Dean asked quietly while he drove, her hand clasped tightly in his while she looked out at the Vegas scenery.
"You've told me a couple times."
"You really don't need to put yourself through the pain of waxing anywhere on your body just for me."
"Dean, you're still hung up on the eyebrows thing? It's been an hour."
"It's bothering me." Dean stated, glancing over at her to see that she was looking at him now. Thank god for sunglasses because he wasn't sure that he wanted to see the look in her eyes right now. Her tone was slightly hostile and, even though he was prepared for mood swings, he didn't want to see her looking at him with anger. "I don't like it when you're in pain."
"Dean, my darling, I've been doing this for years so it's really not that painful for me anymore. If it hurt too bad, I wouldn't keep doing it." CJ assured him, placing her other hand on top of his. "Seth wants me to call him in five minutes."
"We're not going to be home for another thirty. I took the long way."
"Can we actually go neighborhood hunting around Vegas?"
"Future house shopping?" He asked, smiling over at her when she nodded.
"To get a feel for what we want to raise a child in. I don't want to look inside houses, but maybe just drive through neighborhoods."
"We can do that." Dean assured, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Talk to Seth on speaker, so I can jump in if he starts being a dick about it."
"Alright." CJ sighed, to which Dean squeezed her hand again to reinforce that they were in this together. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she did some tapping and turned the radio down before holding her phone up and tapping her feet.
"CJ, what's up?" Seth sounded winded, and Dean figured that he must've just gotten done at CrossFit.
"Seth, hi. Uhm... I've got some bad news."
"Bad how?"
"I-I really don't know how to say this, since I haven't fully come to terms with it myself, but-"
"Not to be rude or anything, but just come out and say it. Please." Seth sounded desperate to know, and Dean wasn't sure how well the younger man would take it. "Did something happen to the-"
"Yeah." CJ cut him off, surprising both herself and Dean. "We...lost one. It's some hella rare case of vanishing twin."
"So this is it, huh? You and Dean are getting your happily ever after now?"
"Seth, no, we-"
"I don't want to hear it, CJ. With my luck when it comes to you, my baby was the one that's gone so congrats. You officially have no reason to call me ever again since you've made it clear that you don't want to be with me." Seth stated before hanging up on her and CJ stared down at her phone in disbelief. Even Dean was surprised that Seth would act that way, but he was glad that he was here to hear what Seth had to say.
"I can't believe him." She whispered, dropping her phone onto her lap and Dean nodded, squeezing her hand. "Now I don't even want to know who her father is."
"You don't?"
"I want nothing to do with Seth Rollins anymore."
"I understand." Dean spoke softly, bringing her hand up to his lips when she wiped at her eyes under her sunglasses. "We're in this together, Christina, and I'm never going to leave you high and dry."
"Should I get the Adam and Beth call out of the way, too?" She asked, looking over at Dean. He wanted to shrug and leave it up to her, but thought better of it because she asked him for a reason.
"I would. I mean, we've already opened up that can of emotions so why not make sure we put it to good use?"
"Why do you say that like its a bad thing?"
"I wasn't supposed to sound bad, I swear." He stated, looking over at her to see a small smile on her face. "That's an expensive looking area to live in."
"Nothing we can't afford, though." She commented as he turned into the neighborhood and she called Beth. Like her previous call with Seth, she put it on speaker but this time it was so Dean could jump in if she got too choked up.
"Hey Chrissie."
"Hi Beth."
"So, what are you having? I know that appointment was yesterday."
"We're having a girl."
"Girls? I bet Dean's excited about that." Beth teased, and both expecting parents looked down briefly.
"Just one girl, Beth."
"Oh, a girl and a boy? You're going to have your hands full."
"Just one baby, Beth." CJ stated, shutting her eyes tightly in an effort to fight her tears as the car stopped. "We lost the other."
"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."
"It's fine. It's nothing we could've controlled and I'm inching my way towards coming to terms with it." CJ spoke softly, finally opening her eyes to see that Dean wasn't in the car and his door was still open as he grabbed a flyer in front of a house that was for sale.
"How did Dean take the news?"
"It hit him hard, but we've been keeping each other steady through it. He got the weekend off so I didn't have to be alone while I processed everything, and I'm really grateful."
"That's good. You two really need to be together right now." Beth said, CJ looking to see that Dean was talking to who she assumed was the owner of the house about the house. "How did Seth take it?"
"Not so well. He automatically assumed that it was his baby who was lost and congratulated me for officially having a reason to never call him again."
"What a dick."
"Oh I know. I was certain that Dean was going to try to strangle him through the phone."
"What are you and Dean up to today?"
"We went and got Dean's hair cut since it was getting really long, and then we decided to go drive around neighborhoods on the outskirts of Vegas, and now Dean is talking to the owner of some house that's for sale."
"You guys are getting a house together?" Beth asked, sounding pretty shocked. "That's a huge step, Chrissie, and-"
"I know. It's not something that we're doing, like, tomorrow. But Dean and I agreed that we want to raise our child in a house, so that's definitely in our future."
"Is it something he suggested? Or something you suggested and he just went with?"
"He actually suggested it." CJ stated, proud smile on her face as Dean shook hands with the man he was talking to and made his way back to the car. "He's so cute."
"He's definitely one of the cuter men I've seen." Beth agreed as Dean got back into the car and CJ smiled at him. "Did you want to tell Adam, or-"
"Can you tell him? I don't think I can emotionally handle saying it again."
"I'll tell him when he gets home. Everything is going to be fine, CJ. I promise." Beth assured and CJ nodded with a smile.
"Thank you. Kiss Lyric for me."
"Definitely. Love you, Chrissie."
"Love you, too." She said softly before Beth hung up and she looked over at Dean as he started driving. "Who were you talking to?"
"The owner of the house. He saw me looking at the flyer and thought he'd introduce himself and tell me about the house. I introduced myself, he had no clue who the fuck I was thank god, I explained that you're pregnant and we wanted to get a house around your due date in the lovely month of December and he was all 'that's when my family is moving up to Idaho' and I was like 'woah' and he started talking about skiing and other shit I know nothing about and yeah."
"Look at you, broadening your horizons and talking about skiing." She teased, lightly pinching his cheek.
"He called me a 'strapping young man'."
"Well your shirt looks like it's cutting off circulation on your biceps and your sexy muscles stretch it out, soo..." She trailed off, turning the radio up while he thought about it.
"You think he was checking me out?" Dean asked, looking over at CJ when he stopped at a red light.
"I think everybody checks you out. You're a fine specimen, Mr. Ambrose." She complimented, smiling when he turned her head so he could kiss her lips. "Hell, I've seen you naked and I still check you out whenever I get the chance."
"It's the Ambooty, ain't it?"
"The Ambooty is very nice." She agreed, smirking at him. "Pretty sure I could bounce a quarter off of that ass."
"I always knew that there was a reason why I loved you so much." Dean joked, taking her hand in his while he drove. He was so glad that the last two phone calls she made didn't have her in a slump and that she was fighting her hardest to not fall into a depressed state over the vanished twin. He hoped that she stayed like this while he was gone, because he really couldn't handle knowing that she was a depressed mess while he couldn't get to her to make her smile. He believed that this was a testament to how strong they were as a couple. They were keeping each other grounded, and that's what mattered. Screw Seth and everybody else, they had each other.
Happy Fourth to my fellow Americans and I hope anybody doing anything with fireworks does so safely. Actually, I hope everything you do Fourth of July related is safe, because almost everything related to this holiday is a huge fire hazard.
Thank you to Sammie94, Guest, TaijiaK, Kdaniels270, ChelleLew, angelsdee327, UntilNeverDawns, Sarcastic Nightmare, and MulishaMaiden for reviewing the last chapter!