When Adam came down the stairs at five in the morning he wasn't surprised to see CJ sitting at the table, but he was surprised to see that she hadn't started the coffee yet. So he elected to ignore his daughter for the time being, which was easy to do since she was laying her head in her arms on the table, since he knew that whatever issue she was having could wait the couple minutes for their coffee to brew. It was always easier to talk through things with her when he was eating or drinking something so he had bit more thinking time for a solution to her problem.
CJ looked up when she smelled coffee, quickly wiping away whatever evidence there was of her crying before Adam turned around and smiled at her. Neither said anything when he sat down beside her, both opting to look ahead of them while drinking their coffee.
"Thank you." She mumbled, glancing up at him to see that he was mid-drink.
"You're welcome." He murmured, looking dead ahead for a moment before looking down at her. "Did you maybe want to talk about it?"
"Dean wants to open up to me."
"You don't do that already?" Adam asked, setting his mug down and watching as she held hers.
"We do. But he wants to talk to me about his past. I know that he said that if I don't want to talk about mine then I don't have to, but it's only fair right?"
"True. But if you're not ready then he'll understand. But I've got a question for you." Adam stated before bringing his mug back to his lips for another drink. She looked on in curiosity, wondering what he could possibly ask. "Is it because you're not ready, or are you still afraid that he's going to use whatever information to screw you over?"
"I know that Dean would never do that. It's not a trust issue, it's completely me."
"Make sure he completely understands that. Because if he doesn't and you keeping avoiding talking about the past, he's going to start thinking its a lack-of-trust thing." Adam reasoned, watching as she nodded her understanding. It was silent between the father-daughter pair after that, Adam enjoying the silence before Christmas Eve chaos began and CJ was mulling over the pros and cons of telling Dean about her past.
Telling him would probably be a huge load off her chest and give him a better understanding of her personality, but he could also think that she was too mentally disconnected. She wasn't like most who just let their emotions flow, she was a bottler- a volcano, even. She let it all build up and, even with her tiny temper tantrums every blue moon, she exploded and it was bad every time.
"You didn't sleep last night, did you?" Adam broke the silence, looking over to see CJ shaking her head.
"Not at all. Too busy reliving everything while Dean slept like a baby."
"Christina Jeanette, you need to tell somebody when that shit happens. You know it isn't good." Adam scolded, pinching the bridge of his nose. Sometimes she was just too much.
"I'm sorry, okay? I panicked and it's not like I can ask you to cuddle with me."
"I get that. And no you cannot, because you're damn near thirty and have Ambrose for that."
Dean woke up to see that his girlfriend wasn't in bed with him and frowned slightly. But he soon remembered that he had two months with her and smiled before getting out of bed. He adjusted the drawstring of his pajama pants on his way out of their bedroom, slipping into the nursery to check on Olivia. His Princess was wide awake but occupied by her monkey and the mobile so she wasn't fussing. Her attention shifted to her father when he reached in and gently poked her nose. A little giggle passed through her lips, bringing a grin onto Dean's face while he picked her up.
"Good morning, Princess." He greeted, kissing her nose while he walked over to the changing table on the other side of the room. He made quick work of changing her diaper and spent a minute blowing raspberries on her stomach and relishing in the huge amount of joy fatherhood brought to him.
He was always going to regret the day CJ told him she was pregnant because he put a fear in place for her that he'd leave at any time just because things wouldn't go his way. He knew he'd never be able to take that day back, but he wished that he could. He knew that whatever abandonment issues she had weren't his fault, but he certainly made it worse by walking out when he did. She needed him most in that moment, and he had failed her and their daughter. He'd never forgive himself for that.
"Let's go see what Mommy's doing." He suggested as he fixed her onesie and sleep pants. He gave her monkey back before lifting her onto his shoulder, not at all surprised when she dropped the monkey and opted for gnawing on his shoulder to the best of her ability. Not much grossed him out, so he didn't mind the warm saliva on his bare skin as he carried her down the stairs. He knew that CJ would've at least made a face had it been her, but it would've been that cute little nose scrunch that she did.
"...and I dunno how to tell him all that, Adam. I trust him with my life but I just don't think I can relive all of that." Hearing his girlfriend made him stop in his tracks, genuinely curious as to what she was talking about and why she sounded like she was crying. "I don't want him to think that I don't trust him with this stuff. But I just- fuck."
"Explain that to him, kiddo. He will understand, I'm sure of it."
Dean didn't know how to go into the kitchen now. He didn't want them to know he was eavesdropping, but this information was something that he needed to address as soon as humanly possible. He also wasn't sure how to casually enter the kitchen after standing and listening in that one spot for as long as he had been. So he decided to head back upstairs, but bumped into Beth. The older woman looked at him curiously, Lyric clapping as loud as she could once she spotted Dean.
"I wasn't here." He whispered before walking into the kitchen and making a beeline for the coffee pot. "Good morning."
"Good morning." Adam spoke, watching cautiously as CJ stood and headed to the kitchen. He didn't think she'd be able to be near Dean with everything weighing on her mind, and she proved it when she gently pulled Olivia away from him and carried the infant to the table. But despite everything going through her mind all at once, she smiled down at her baby and cooed to her softly while Dean made his way to the table.
"I don't want to cook breakfast." Beth announced as she put Lyric in her high chair and everyone exchanged a glance.
"I'm not cooking." Judith stated as she got herself a cup of coffee and CJ felt Dean's hand on her knee.
"Let's go out? It's Vegas, there's gotta be somewhere open even of its Christmas Eve." CJ suggested, looking to her boyfriend for some sort of confirmation.
"I know a place. I spent my Christmas there last year." Dean informed, ignoring the looks he got from the Copeland family. "Are we getting dressed?"
"Nah, just because we're famous doesn't mean we can't have breakfast in our pajamas in public." Adam stated, finishing his coffee and drinking the rest of CJ's. "I'd put on a shirt, though."
"Yeah. I'll bring your socks and stuff down, babe." Dean stated as he stood, kissing CJ's forehead.
"Get socks for Olive, too." She requested and Dean nodded his acknowledgement before heading up the stairs. "One of these days we'll do the official social media acknowledgment of our daughter."
"What did Seth want?" Beth asked and CJ shrugged, stopping Olivia from pulling on her hair.
"He says that he doesn't care because as far as everybody outside of us is concerned, she's not his kid."
"How are you going to have him around so he isn't left out of child activities?" Adam asked, not enjoying the fact that his daughter had enough heart to include Seth after what he put her through. Twenty four percent of his DNA just wasn't enough to claim paternity rights in his opinion. CJ was just too nice about this subject.
"He said he wants to be with us on birthdays and 'important stuff like that', but I have no fucking idea what he means by that."
"Language." Judith scolded just as Dean came back wearing a white tshirt with the stuff CJ requested in his hands. "But maybe he means birthdays and firsts?"
"I don't want Seth around that much." Dean commented, handing CJ Olivia's socks and booties. "Maybe birthdays and he can pop up every few months, but I don't want to feel like she's about to say her first word and have Seth stay with us until she finally does. Screw that."
"That is a valid point." CJ commented, reaching for her socks but getting her hand smacked by Dean. "Let me do it."
"Nah, I got it. But we'll work out the Sethgistics."
"Sethgistics?" CJ, Beth, Adam, and Judith asked in unison, looking to the dishwater blonde with almost the same questioning look on their faces.
"Seth logistics. Sethgistics." Dean clarified, speaking slowly as everyone but CJ stood to get ready. He waited until they left the dining room to kneel and slide CJ's socks onto her feet, taking a second to ghost his fingers along her soles since he knew she was ticklish. She tried her best to control the way her foot jerked and was proud of herself when she did, before focusing on putting the little socks on the feet of the baby who loved kicking her feet.
Chris Jericho was a man on a mission.
He had learned the hard way that if you wanted something done right, then you had to do it yourself. He didn't want the world knowing that he despised his oldest daughter and wanted her career to end, but the end result was so much more rewarding and made up for whatever heat he may get for his actions. Ending her career was so worth it to him. It always would be.
He hated how Adam and Jay had groomed her into a wrestler almost better than he was. He hated that Adam had taken her in, in the first place. Adam had no right to interfere, especially when she deserved to rot in the foster care system. Her mother was a whore and he knew that CJ would end up being just like her mother. A whore. This is why he didn't want responsibility over her. She didn't deserve to be cared for. It was a miracle that she had Ambrose for as long as he'll stick around.
Because this time he wasn't going to end her career physically.
He was going to destroy her mentally and emotionally and make her lose everything she ever had.
Her confidence.
Her self respect.
Her boyfriend.
Her little family.
Her little world was going to crumble around her and he'd be there. Watching it all. Laughing at how pathetic she was. She'd have absolutely nothing to comfort her as she fell off that high horse Adam placed her on. Then and only then would Chris be "proud" of his daughter.
Bray Wyatt and the whole ruse orchestrated by Regal had failed and CJ was making her return. But he'd ruin her on the road. Ruin. It was such a pretty word.
It was a shame, really. She was talented in the ring. If only she wasn't such a whore and disgrace to him. It'd be a good day when he officially ended her, then he'd have yet another reason to smile.
Smiling never hurt anything, right?
But what sucked this time was that he had no help. Last time he had help the job didn't get finished, so he was going at it alone and working slow to get to the finish line. Playing her like a fiddle until Payback in June. Because he was getting revenge for her ruining his life.
Hunter had called and was interested in them becoming a tag team upon her return and, naturally, he said yes. Slowly earning her trust back so he can pull the rug from underneath her and ruin her life like she ruined his.
It was all just a slow-moving plan.
Happy Monday! Here's a new chapter for everyone suffering from a case of the Mondays like I am.
Thank you to UntilNeverDawns, Sarcastic Nightmare, ArtisticLullaby, CarolReigns, ChelleLew, and ItReignsJustice-619 for reviewing the last chapter!