When CJ got a text from Roman, she was preparing for the worst. But she smiled at the sight of him and Dean posing for a selfie at a gas station. She knew that Dean had been traveling on his own and, as much as it bothered and worried her, never requested that he find a travel buddy. The fact that he was with Roman, whether it was permanent or not, was a relief to her because he wasn't alone and was with somebody they both trusted.
But the gas station was one near the airport and she smiled, knowing that it was just a matter of minutes before Dean would get to feel their baby kick for the first time. She hadn't seen Roman in a couple months so she was also excited to see the large Samoan who was a member of the Ambrose-Copeland family.
"Daddy's on his way home, Olive." She spoke softly, giving her stomach a loving pat before going back to making her sandwich. She wasn't really sure what all was in it, since she had just been putting things in that sounded good at the moment. She tentatively took a bite, thinking about what her sandwich was lacking as she chewed. "What's missing?"
"I'm home!" Dean called and she smiled.
"Babe, come try this and tell me what's missing!" CJ called and it wasn't long before she felt the familiar pair of arms around her waist and she raised the sandwich to his lips. It was silent between them while he chewed, neither noticing Roman leaning in the doorway and watching them with a smile on his face. A year ago, he never would've been able to picture Dean living in a massive house with a woman and expecting a child, let alone tasting whatever her cravings came up with just to make her happy. But here he was watching it happen.
"Nutella?" Dean asked, tilting his head when CJ shook her head.
"There's already Nutella on there."
"Really? Put more on."
"There's so many calories in Nutella, no thank you." CJ stated, looking back at Dean as he took another bite.
"It needs mustard. Not a lot, but just enough to taste it." He decided, a look of realization crossing her face.
"You're so right." She agreed, smiling when he went to the fridge to get it.
"What all is in that sandwich?" Dean asked as he tossed her the mustard bottle and she shrugged. "It's fucking great."
"I'm actually not sure. I just kind of pulled things that sounded good out of the fridge and called it a day. I'll see if I can recreate it for you later."
"No need, we're having pizza for dinner. You don't mind, right?"
"Not at all." CJ assured, pulling her boyfriend down so she could kiss his cheek before she spotted Roman in the doorway. "It's good to see you, Roman."
"It's good to see you, too, Christina." The Samoan greeted, smiling when she hugged him. "You're glowing, babygirl."
"Really? Thank you." She spoke with a smile as she stepped back. "You're looking dapper, Mr. Reigns."
"Thank you. How's house life?"
"Mr. Ambrose over here spoiled me with this, I'm telling you. Dean," she turned to look at her boyfriend to see that he was still eating her sandwich. "did you show Roman around?"
"My concern was you." The blonde spoke with a full mouth, hesitantly lifting up the top piece of bread before deciding that he didn't want to know what was in it because them he feared it wouldn't taste good anymore.
"Such a man." She sighed with a smile before taking Roman's arm and pulling him out of the kitchen. He followed behind her, listening to the small pregnant woman ramble about the house and how she feels in it. He could tell that she was holding back, though. She was always holding back.
"I bet it's weird, transitioning from an apartment to a house."
"Yeah." She breathed, leaning against the doorframe to the master bedroom. "It was harder when he wasn't here, even though he calls whenever he's free."
"I actually have to ask you something about him." Roman stated quietly, pulling CJ into the nursery and leaving the door open just a crack. She waited expectantly for him to speak, small frown gracing her features for the first time since he and Dean had been there. "Has he ever brought up his fear of you leaving him?"
"Once, and I told him that the only reason I'd ever leave is if he told me to go and meant it." She stated, subconsciously rubbing her stomach. "Did something happen?"
"No." Roman lied, not needing to tell CJ that her boyfriend had what he would call a nervous breakdown. "I was just thinking about everything and yeah. No biggie."
Dean had heard their little conversation and was relieved to hear that Roman wasn't going to tell her about their chat in the locker room. CJ had enough things to worry about, and she definitely didn't need to be worrying about his ability to care for himself on the road.
So the blonde knocked twice on the nursery door, made a joke about how the threesome couldn't start unless he was there, and entered the room. Things weren't tense or awkward when he pulled CJ into his side and kissed her head before they all left the nursery and Roman went to get his bags from the living room. He could sense that CJ didn't believe Roman, but was glad that she wasn't pushing on it just yet.
"Feel your daughter." She said out of nowhere, stopping on the stairs and reaching for his hand. It took her a minute to properly position it but when she did he felt the tiniest of thumps against his hand. It was the first time he had ever felt a baby kick and the fact that it was his daughter's kick that he was feeling made it all the more real to him that he was going to be a dad in a couple months. "Cool, right?"
"So fucking cool." Dean breathed, keeping his hand there and smiling as they walked down the stairs. "It's so real."
"It's like she knows when you're home because she's a lot calmer than she was twenty minutes ago." CJ commented and Dean instantly dropped to his knees, pulling her shirt up and pressing a kiss to her skin. His hands lovingly caressed her stomach, CJ watching with tears in her eyes as he began to speak.
"Hey princess, it's your daddy." He started with an introduction, knowing that their baby probably didn't give a shit about who he was, he felt immense pride in calling himself her daddy. "I know I'm not home as often as other daddies, but that doesn't mean that I love you or your mommy any less. I just have a cooler job than those other schmucks and it's how I bought this house. Don't you ever forget how much I love you, because I'll probably remind you every day from here on out." He finished his speech by kissing her stomach again before looking up at his crying girlfriend. His immediate thought was that he did something wrong, but the way she hugged him when he stood up was enough to tell him that she wasn't mad at him.
"So..." CJ started when the guys came down from the nursery for a break. Dean's jeans now had pink paint splattered on him and he had pulled off his shirt so she got a bit distracted.
"So...?" Dean mimicked before taking a drink of his beer.
"How ambitious are you guys feeling today?"
"Whatever you want done, we'll get done." Roman assured, smiling when Dean nodded.
"Bathrooms and the living room?"
"Dining room, too." CJ stated, fearing a negative reaction for her last minute decision out of Dean.
"That's fine. Is it all earth tones like we talked about?" Dean asked, looking over at CJ as she drank her water.
"The upstairs hall bathroom is more of a soft yellow. But the rest is earth tones."
"You two all domesticated is probably the most adorable thing I've seen." Roman chuckled, making Dean and CJ exchange a glance at each other before laughing themselves. Both had to admit that the fought domestication for a really long time before this and now that they were "domesticated" life was a bit funny.
The doorbell rang and Dean gave CJ's ass a loving tap before going to answer the the door, leaving her and Roman to chat about the different paint colors she and Dean had picked out. A loud yell and thud had both on their feet and rushing to see that Seth had Dean on the floor and the two were throwing punches. CJ didn't know what to do but Roman quickly pulled Seth off of Dean, giving her a space to slide between the two men.
"You son of a bitch." Dean growled, not even feeling CJ's hands on his chest. He was too pissed off that Seth had the nerve to find out where they lived and attack him in his own home. "I'll kill you."
"I'd like to see you try, bitch!" Seth taunted, CJ looking back at the man she once loved before going back to Dean.
"Roman shut the front door. Dean go upstairs." She instructed and Roman was quick to oblige, but Dean wasn't so willing.
"I want that fuck out of our house."
The pissed off blonde demanded and she nodded. She could understand Dean being upset about Seth and being attacked in their home, but she really needed Dean to calm down.
"And he will be! Just go upstairs and calm down before you do something that you'll regret." She requested, pushing him back towards the stairs. Seth was still struggling against Roman, but the Samoan had a tight grip on him so all he could do was yell about it. Dean just swatted her hands away and stormed up the stairs, the sound of their bedroom door slamming following soon after. She ignored how hurt she was by his actions and turned to Seth, who was still struggling in Roman's grasp. "Why are you here?"
"To bring you home. What the fuck does it look like?"
"In case you haven't noticed, Seth, I am home. I could call the police and have you arrested for attacking Dean."
"You love me too much to do that."
"I don't love you at all. Not like this. Now get out." She demanded, nodding at Roman to let him go. She wasn't surprised when Seth came closer, but swatted his hand away when he tried to touch her bump.
"I overreacted, CJ. Just give me a chance to-"
"I'm tired of giving you chances, Seth!" She cut him off, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. But she would t give him the satisfaction of seeing that he had an affect on her. "Just accept the fact that I don't want to be with you and move on."
"That could be my baby. I'm not moving on."
"You said it yourself that she wasn't and then you told me not to call again. You shut the door, not me!"
"I want to open it!"
"NO!" She shouted, pushing Seth away from her. "Now get out!"
With that Seth stared at her before backing out, seeing that he obviously had a negative affect on all of this.
"We're not done."
"Yes we are." Roman stated, obscuring Seth's view of CJ since she was crying and he knew that she didn't like it when people saw her cry. "Get the hell out before I throw your ass out."
"Why can't you side with me for once?"
"Why can't you let her be happy for once?" Roman asked before slamming the door in his face. "How did you want the downstairs bathroom painted?"
"It's on the counter. Thank you, Roman."
"Don't mention it. Go check on Dean." He suggested and she nodded.
"Alright."
The walk up the stairs was made intentionally long by the blonde. She was wiping her tears away and trying to make it look like she hadn't been crying. Coming to a stop in front of their bedroom door, she knocked twice before entering the room and saw Dean sitting cross legged on the floor. He only looked up at her and she shut the door behind her, opting to sit on the bed rather than the floor.
"He's gone?" Dean asked quietly and she nodded, not looking over at him.
"Yep. Did he hurt you?"
"He landed a couple good hits, but I'll be alright in the end." She heard him stand and felt the bed sink beside her, meaning that he was sitting by her. "I'm sorry that I pushed you away."
"You were pissed. It's alright."
"It's not alright." Dean argued, looking ahead just like she was. "I could've hurt the baby, even worse, I could've hurt you. I never want to hurt you, Christina."
"But you didn't, and you've seen the error in your ways, so that makes it alright now." She reasoned, looking up at him to see that his nose was bleeding a bit. "Let's get you cleaned up."
"You don't have-"
"Yes I do." She cut him off as she slid off of their bed, standing in front of him and taking his hands in hers. "Come on, daddy."
By the time CJ was done cleaning up Dean, Roman had already had the small bathroom painted and even put in the little decorative touches that were in a bag in the cabinet under the sink. He was certain that most if this planning was all CJ and the fact that Dean was giving her what she wanted and not being an ass about it proved a lot to the Samoan.
Dean Ambrose was house broken by a woman, after years of saying that he'd probably die alone and was fine with that. The fact that his little brother wasn't alone made Roman smile, and the fact that he found a woman that wasn't afraid to put him in his place was even better. They'd have a beautiful family and he couldn't wait to see what their baby looked like. In his head he pictured CJ's looks and Dean's attitude, which would be bad news for CJ because dealing with one Dean had to be tiring enough but two? Roman knew that he'd be exhausted before lunch if he had to deal with two Deans. But if anybody could do it, it was CJ.
I appreciate Jericho for coming back and wrestling on Raw and not just showing up to talk and build up for the pay per view. I just hope battleground isn't as bad as it was last year.
Thank you to Sammie94, TaijiaK, ChelleLew, angelsdee327, UntilNeverDawns, and Sarcastic Nightmare for reviewing the last chapter!