Friday: May 27, 2011 11:20 A.M.
I sit on the porch swing with a Gatorade. I had just finished working out and needed a break. Eve joins me outside.
"How was the training?" She asks.
"Good." I say. "I'm a little wore out."
"I can tell."
"How are you?"
"Good."
"That's good."
"What about you?"
"Life is stressful."
She sits next to me. "I know."
I sigh. "I honestly regret having my brother move in here."
"Then why is he still here?"
"Because he's my brother. I have to give him a chance to redeem himself."
"What if he accuses you of making shit up for attention again?"
"Randy and I kick him out."
"What about Camille? She's obviously trying to get between you two."
"I'll find a way to deal with her."
"Rissa," Alanna says to me as I braid her hair for her. "How'd you marry Daddy?"
"Umm…" I say. "I've known your father since we were kids. He's been good to me. We fell in love and got married."
"How did you fall in love with Daddy?"
I laugh. "I don't know how to really put it into words. It just happened." I hoped that my two-year old stepdaughter would accept the answer.
"Okay. Mommy has a boyfriend now. Did you know that?"
"She told me."
"Good. His name is Josh. He's really nice. I hope he marries Mommy like you married Daddy."
"That would be very good."
"Are you going to have kids with Daddy?"
"Umm…we haven't talked about that."
"You should. Maybe not right now, but I want a sister."
I laugh. "Talk to your dad."
"If I have to."
I finish her hair. "You're all done."
She smiles and hugs me. "Thank you!" She kisses my cheek. "I love it."
"Good."
Randy walks in. "Well…look who's in the living room. It's my two favorite girls."
"Daddy!" Alanna says as she runs up to hug him.
He hugs her. "Hey, sweetheart." He kisses her cheek.
Alanna smiles. "Look at my hair! Rissa did it!"
Randy smiles. "I like it. Rissa did a great job."
I smile.
Randy looks at me. "Is my other favorite girl gonna give me some love?"
Alanna runs over and drags me by my arm to Randy.
Randy smiles. "I knew having a small child would get me a little servant as well. She dragged you over here for me."
Alanna gives Randy a dirty look. "I'm not a little servant."
"Are you giving me the Viper Glare?"
"Mhmm."
Randy starts laughing. "You're too cute. You win."
"Girls always win."
"She's right." I mutter.
"Shut up, Rissa." Randy says.
"Make me."
"I can make you."
"Really?"
"Really." Randy kisses me.
Alanna giggles at us. Randy pulls her close to us. She hugs us.
"This is a beautiful family moment." I mumble.
"It sure is."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"This is amazing."
"I know. I wanna do something real fancy for you."
"Like what?"
"You've always wanted to go ballroom dancing. Right?"
"Yeah…"
"We're gonna try that."
"You're amazing."
Randy pours another glass of wine. "I propose a toast. A toast to the most wonderful lady I've ever set my eyes on. She's incredibly smart, incredibly beautiful, and incredibly talented. She's helped me find myself. She's the most amazing woman ever. Marissa Lynn Orton, I love you."
We toast to that. I kiss Randy on the lips. Ryse's phone goes off, signifying that she's received a text. Since our entire group of friends is nosey, we watch her as she checks her phone.
"Oh my god!" She shouts.
"What?" I ask.
"Chris and Morgan are expecting again."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah."
"Awesome!" Ted says.
Ryse receives another text. "They'll find out what the gender is next week."
"Cool!"
I turn to Randy. "Alanna told me earlier that she wants a sister."
"Really?" Randy says. "Tell her to wait a few years."
I laugh. "I told her to ask you."
"I'll tell you when she asks."
"Okay."
"Where's Tyler and Cami?" Cody asks us.
Randy shrugs. "Probably hiding from me and Rissa."
"Are you planning on beating them up or something?"
"If Tyler says Marissa makes shit up to get attention, I might."
"What about Camille?"
"I'll give her a reason to hate me." I say.
"You're a bitch."
"I know."
Randy pours me a glass of wine. "Codes, Rissa is at the point in her life that if you call her a bitch, she'll laugh about it."
"Damn right I will."
Randy hands me the glass. "So…anybody have any stories they wanna tell? Cause we're just sitting around."
Chelle laughs. "Pass me the wine, and I'll think of a story."
"Here." He passes Chelle the wine.
"Well…once upon a time…it was 2004 during the time of the Diva Search. Rissa, John, Randy, and I went out drinking. A lot of shit happens this particular night. I mean crazy shit."
I laugh. "I think I know what night you're speaking of."
Chelle smiles. "Anyway, we end up pretty wasted. Especially, Randy and Rissa. So…Rissa and I had a very evil idea. We were gonna embarrass the shit outta John and Randy. So…we convince them to go sing karaoke."
"Nooooo!" Randy says. "I know where this goes."
I start laughing. "This is great."
Chelle smiles. "So guess what song we picked. Baby Got Back."
"That was the worst night ever." Randy mutters.
"Was it because Marissa gave you a low blow to get the last shot before you?"
"Partially. You also got me drunk enough to sing Baby Got Back."
"Best night ever." I say.
Randy shoots me a look. "Really?"
"Yeah." I shrug and pour another glass. "Man, those were good times."
"Yeah. So was your bar fight with Victoria."
"Did you just go there?"
"I did."
"Wait." Eve says. "You and Victoria has a bar fight?"
"Yeah." I say. "We did."
"Why?"
"We were both drunk and irritable."
"When was this?"
"2007."
"Damn. I missed it."
"Also in 2007," Cody says as he drinks his wine. "On the night of my TV debut, a bunch of wrestlers went to a bar, and the waiter spiked Rissa's drink."
"True." I say. "That was an unpleasant experience."
"Did you drink the spiked drink?" Eve asks.
"No." Randy says for me. "I saw the waiter do it and made Cody tell her. Just on time too."
"Did anything else happen?"
"The waiter tried to grab her and go anyway. I fought him a little. Rissa kicked him in the balls. And I ended up driving her back to the hotel. And as we typically did, we had an argument."
"It was also my birthday." I say.
"That really sucks. I need to get drunk more and have stories." Eve says.
"Good luck. I wanna see this."
"I'm sure you will."