"I never really thought of myself as a role model, y'know?" CJ commented, trying not to look into the camera but rather at the person behind it. Having a camera crew in her house wasn't exactly what she wanted, but she liked being able to lean against her couch with Bear resting his head in her lap as she talked about herself and her career. "I got in that ring night in and night out because It was what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be. I didn't do it for anybody's approval, or to follow in anybody's footsteps, I did it for me. And now I'm some icon – somebody that little girls around the world aspire to be and that's weird because it's not what I ever thought I'd be, and I'm a mom on top of that? It's a lot to have sitting on your shoulders, but it's also pretty cool in a terrifying way."
The producer nods, and she finds herself hating that she had agreed to this. It was like having a conversation with herself, just looking at another person and that felt unnatural to her.
"And now I have Stephanie McMahon telling me that she wants to kick my ass and take my belt, all because her kids look up to me? Damn." She chuckled, scratching Bear behind his ear as he yawned. "But I suppose that's how it goes, sometimes."
"What makes this match with Stephanie McMahon different from your other title matches?"
"Not a damn thing." She shrugged, scratching Bear behind his ears as he yawned. "She's a catchy headline, sure, but she's no different than any other competitor that I've met in that ring. All she is, is another chapter in the CJ Jericho story."
"What are you thinking about?" Dean asks from where he sits at the edge of the pool. CJ just looks over her sunglasses at him from where she laid on a pool floatie, before letting out a soft sigh and fixing her sunglasses. "Is it SummerSlam?"
"No, it's not that," she responds, stretching her arms a bit before she settles again. "More like what happens after. The travel schedule, y'know?"
"I'm not worried about it anymore, if that's what you're worried about."
"I wasn't worried, just thinking, but why are you not worried?"
"Because you were right. I need to trust you and Seth, and now that we've been through some shit and talked through it and came out stronger, I know I have nothing to worry about."
"Yeah?" Her question comes as she sits up on the floatie, staring to push herself towards the edge where he was sitting. When she's within reach he pulls her in the rest of the way, taking her hand so he can pull her off of the floatie to sit next to him.
"Yeah. Like, nothing is perfect and we know that. But we've been through so much, and you've had plenty of reason and opportunity to leave and yet you're still here amid all the craziness. And you're here because you love me, just like I'm here because I love you. We've got love, and trust, and a whole life that we're planning. I don't have anything to worry about."
"Not that I'm like…surprised or anything but that's really relieving to hear you say out loud."
He can only smile, stealing a kiss before she stands to head back into the house for some water. His request for the sunscreen has her nodding in her way, leaning in to kiss Olivia on her way past where the infant was sitting in the shade in her bouncy chair. This left Dean to think about how they'd lived in this house for almost a year and hadn't really spent an afternoon in the backyard aside from CJ spending time sunbathing with Olivia the one time that ended poorly. That needed to change.
A swing set for Olivia would be nice, maybe a play structure that would get plenty of use once she was walking comfortably. Things he didn't have growing up that he was sure his daughter would love. Maybe after CJ retired in the spring, since she would be home more to actually use the thing.
"You good Ambrose?"
"Just thinking about a play set for Liv, like one with a swing and a slide and all that," he answers honestly, looking up at CJ and accepting the glass of water she handed him. "Or what about a little sandbox?"
"We should get her a little pool, too, so she can splash around with us and Bear."
"You're a genius."
"It's why you're with me," she teases, sitting down beside him and uncapping the sunscreen. It's quiet between them as she starts to rub the lotion into his skin, paying special attention to his shoulders and smiling at the soft groan that leaves him as she works. Dean deserved to relax, since he'd been mentally working overtime trying to piece together logistics for her training leading into SummerSlam and preparation for his own match defending the Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler. She knew they'd be okay after SummerSlam, they just needed to make it to SummerSlam first.
"This is probably the biggest match of my career," she comments, looking down at Bear as he shifted. "There's some debate if the match against Chris Jericho Senior was a bigger deal, since it was a familial grudge match and the first of its kind in over a decade, but this is Stephanie McMahon for the belt I brought back in one of the main events of the second biggest pay-per-view of the year? Either way it's a big deal."
"Any concerns?"
"The only concern is making sure I land a nice one on Steph in front of her kids like she did to me in front of mine. Ideally I'd like to win, of course, but so long as I do actually beat the hell out of her in front of her family I think I'd be okay regardless of the decision." Her response is contradictory at best, but she truly felt like she had nothing to lose in this match. Her belt was minimal when compared to her pride, and she could walk out with her pride intact without the belt on her shoulder, so the belt truly didn't matter. Her preparation for Stephanie would be a bit more intense, but that was because she was going on a mission to destroy her opponent, not necessarily defeat her. There was a difference and she'd explained it to Dean, but Brock completely understood despite Paul looking at them both like they'd grown second heads. "I've got nothing to lose and nothing to be afraid of, which makes me a dangerous opponent under any circumstances. Plus I've got Dean Ambrose, Brock Lesnar, and Paul Heyman in my ear, I've got nothing to worry about."
"What should Stephanie be worrying about?"
"Herself, for starters," CJ answers with a laugh, pushing her hair back. "But she should be concerned that I won't let her break me. She can do what she wants, say what she wants, but I'm not going to break. I've been through worse - my own father tried to ruin my career twice and is the reason I had to have knee surgery, and yet I'm still here and in one piece. If that didn't make me crack, nothing the McMahon family can do can make me break."
"Oh she's obsessed with me," CJ mumbles with a smile, seeing Stephanie's most recent tweet about how important being a mother was to her. So she retweeted it, laughing as she sends it to Seth before standing from her seat as Brock walked into the gym.
"Paul really rented this whole place out?"
"Yeah," she answers the beast, staring to work through her stretches. "Makes me feel loved."
"No Dean or Seth?"
"No, Olive was really fussy so he thought it'd be best to keep her at home and Seth is in Iowa for his parents anniversary." Her explanation has Brock nodding as he starts his own stretches, and she listens as he tells her what they'd be working on. It's all stuff they'd been working on, but there was a question nagging at the back of her mind.
She tries to keep it to herself, thinking that if she had even a shred of doubt then she'd get picked apart. Brock wouldn't be taking time away from his family to train her if he didn't think it was a worthy cause - they wouldn't be here if he thought she couldn't win at SummerSlam. But the question of "what if"lingers, leaving her somewhat distracted and she paid the price for it when her back hit the canvas and she was winded.
"Talk me through it," Brock requests, sitting down in front of her when she sat up. She had to have looked confused, since he continues with: "Your head is somewhere else, talk me through it."
"You know me too well," she mumbles, her complaint light hearted as she smiles up at the beast. "You think I can win this right? Like, you don't think I'm walking into a losing fight?"
"You get bogged down in potentials too easily." His tone is still light, but she can hear the disappointment still. "I don't think you're walking into a losing fight, kid. If you doubt yourself you will, so stop that. Is anybody-"
"No, this is all my own insecurity. I've never had a competitor like her before."
"But you beat your father's ass and he is twice your size. Believe in yourself, CJ."
"You're right, per usual," she sighs, leaning back on her elbows as she processed that. "I dunno Brock, there's just so much going on now it's hard to keep myself straight."
"You've got two weeks to focus solely on Stephanie. After that the rest of it can take over." His instruction has her nodding, knowing that it was really as simple as that. The rest of the drama with Roman, the travel schedule, and anything else that could come up could wait until she had Stephanie McMahon handled.