THE COOL DAD

by Rebel8954

"Oh, God, I haven't laughed that hard since Kevin…your dog, not Owens…nearly peed on Hunter's ridiculously expensive shoes." Dean grabbed some napkins and rubbed his face. Despite himself, Roman chuckled. "That wasn't Kevin's fault," Seth defended his dog. "You said you'd take him for a walk."

THE COOL DAD

Seth: 'SOS…HELP…MAYDAY MAYDAY!'

Seth: 'Really, guys, I need help. Seriously. I'm not joking.'

Seth: 'I know how the schedules are and I really really really hate to ask you to take time away from your families but I really really really need my brothers right now.'

Seth: 'If you can't make it to me I'll meet you guys somewhere. Anywhere.'

Roman Reigns stared in bemusement at the string of texts Seth had sent to both himself and Dean. He'd seen Seth just before the Survivor Series PPV and thought he'd looked stressed. But with the baby coming soon, Roman hadn't thought much more about it.

He felt his phone vibrate with an incoming call and chuckled when the name flashed on his display. Answering it, he leaned back in his recliner and got comfortable. "Guess you got saw the texts."

"What the hell's gotten into him?" Dean Ambrose growled. "Something happen at work? He's not gonna be gone that long, is he? Or is Creative screwing around again? And what was that bullshit at Survivor Series? Deliberately letting Sheamus kick his head in? Has he developed some damn martyr complex?"

Roman managed not to laugh at his brother's rant. "As far as I know, he's not going to be away that long. Who knows about Creative? And I've no idea why he did that at Survivor Series. I tried to find him after the show, but he'd already left." He heard Dean hum under his breath.

"Think something's wrong with Becky? Or the baby?"

"Hope not. Galina's been talking with Becky; and if that was the case, she would've told me," Roman firmly answered. "In fact, she's packing right now to go to Iowa for the baby shower."

"Yeah, so's Renee," Dean answered. "Oh, good grief, Rollins is texting again."

Roman pulled up his message app to see another couple of texts from their brother.

Seth: 'Guys? Are you there?'

Seth: 'Please please please! I need you guys.'

"Oh, hell, Roman, he's begging. Now I'm gettin' worried."

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose. He did not need both his brothers freaking out at the same time. "Let's reply to the texts and get him settled down. Guess I'll see you in Iowa when the ladies fly in for the baby shower."

"See ya then."

Roman: 'Seth calm down. Just talked with Dean and we'll come to you. We'll be there day after tomorrow. In the early evening.'

Roman hesitated then decided a little white lie was appropriate to calm Seth down.

Roman: 'Galina and Renee are coming to the baby shower so we'd decided to fly in with them and surprise you. Get you out of the house while the baby shower's going on. Trust me…you don't want to be there for that.'

Seth: 'Thank you thank you thank you. I owe you guys big for this.'

Dean: 'You owe us big for a lot of things, Rollins. But not this.'

Seth: 'The wrestling school is shut down for the holidays so we can go there. Meet me at home and we can stop at the coffee shop on the way to the school.'

Dean: 'Meet us at the school. We'll drop off the wives then head over there. I'm not getting in the middle of that hen party. And if you're smart, you'll head out when the first ones get there. That'll probably be the other Four Horsewomen.'

Roman shook his head at Dean's comment. No way Galina was going to know about Dean's opinion of the baby shower get-together.

Roman:'We'll pick up pizza and wings and meet you there. We'll call when we're on the way.'

Dean: 'And beer. We'll bring the beer.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey, guys, c'mon in." Seth held the door open so his brothers could get inside the school.

Roman grinned as he walked in carrying two pizza boxes and three smaller boxes of wings and sauces. Dean followed on his heels carrying a case of beer.

"I set up some tables over close to the ring," Seth said as he closed and locked the door behind them. "Got coffee set up with some juices and waters."

Behind Seth's back, Dean exchanged a glance with Roman. "He looks awful," Dean hissed as they walked towards the tables. "Think something's wrong with him? Sick or something?"

Roman hushed him as Seth approached. He set the boxes down on the table and gave Seth a quick hug. "Any problems getting out of the house?"

Seth snorted. "Mom practically shoved me out the front door." He stepped back. "Plates. Napkins. Let me go grab some from the kitchen."

Dean waited until Seth disappeared into the back of the building. "He's fussing, Roman. That's not a good sign," he muttered as he slung his jacket over the middle rope of the ring.

Roman nodded. "And his left eye is doing that twitchy thing. That only happens when he's majorly stressed."

"Swear to God, Roman, if Creative's fucking around with him…" Dean saw Seth coming back and left the threat hanging in the air.

"Dean, open the case of beer. There's a cooler by that other table with ice in it. We need to get the beer cold," Seth suggested.

Although the beer was still cold from the cool room at the liquor store, Dean broke open the case and shoved a handful of beers into the ice.

"Umm…we should eat while its hot." Seth reached for one of the pizza boxes.

Roman saw the look on Dean's face and knew the other man was both aggravated and worried enough to start throttling Seth if he didn't get some answers and get them now. To prevent the anticipated mayhem, he put his hands on Seth's shoulders and gently sat him down in one of the chairs. "We can reheat it. Your mom made sure the kitchen back there has an oven as well as a microwave."

"Yeah yeah okay." Seth rubbed his hands over his face as the other two sat down. "I…you guys don't know how I appreciate this."

Dean put a hand on Seth's arm. "Seth, are you okay? Sick or something? Or something wrong with Becky or the baby?" he gently asked.

Seth immediately shook his head. "No, nothing like that."

Dean released the breath he'd been half-holding. "Scared the shit out me, Rollins," he muttered as he sat back in his chair.

"Seth, take a deep breath," Roman advised.

Seth rubbed his face with his hands again. "I'm in so much trouble, guys. So much trouble."

"The school? The coffee shop? Some other business thing you've got going on with that land you bought?" Roman asked.

Seth shook his head again. "No, that's all going great."

Roman glanced at Dean and saw the same thought running through the other man's mind. 'Surely Seth wasn't stupid enough to hook up with some ring rat and get her pregnant.' He shook his head. "Seth, we need to stop guessing here. So, take a couple more deep breaths and tell us."

Dean's blue eyes widened when he saw Seth's hands shaking. "Hey." He put a hand on Seth's arm again and gently squeezed it. "Like Roman said. Deep breaths."

Seth nodded and took those deep breaths. "I…I don't know if I can do this Daddy thing without screwing up this kid so bad."

Dean blinked twice then looked at Roman then back at Seth. "What makes you think that?"

Seth started bouncing in agitation, reminding Dean of Seth's little dog when the animal got pissed off. "Seriously, Dean? You know how many days we're on the road! Being a Dad is a full-time job! How can I do that and still wrestle?"

"So, you're saying I'm not a good Dad?"

Dean's eyes grew wide as he gave Roman a side glance.

"What? No! You're a great Dad, Roman!"

"Am I? I'm on the road as much as you," Roman calmly pointed out. "Just like my Dad was on the road all the time. I look at my daughter and realize just how much of her life I've missed. She's close to being a teenager and forming her own opinions about stuff. And I wonder how all that came about because I wasn't there to see it happen. And the boys? Older twins are in pre-school and looking at kindergarten next year. One day I left home, and they're in diapers and crawling. I come home, and they're potty-trained and running around the back yard. I've been able to spend a little more time with the younger twins, but I know that's gonna change."

Dean sat back with a serious look on his face and listened closely to his older brother.

"But you're gonna be a good Dad, Seth Rollins," Roman firmly stated. "Know how I know that?"

Seth shook his head.

"Because you're a good man." Roman gestured around them. "You've built this place. And the coffee shop. And you've got land for whatever you're planning to do with it. Whether you know it or not, you've been planning for being a Dad for a long time."

"I get that, Roman, I do," Seth agreed. "It's just…it's just…I want to be the Cool Dad!"

Both Seth and Roman stared at their brother who burst into loud laughter. They watched as Dean nearly rolled out of his chair as he held onto his stomach and loudly roared.

Roman saw Seth getting more and more pissed when Dean put his head down on the table, his shoulders shaking as he continued to laugh. He tried hard not to smile, but it had been a long time since he'd seen Dean relaxed enough to totally let go like this.

"And just what is so damned funny, if I may ask?" Seth snarked.

Roman reached out and pulled Dean upright by the back of his t-shirt. He wasn't surprised to see tears on the other man's cheeks.

"Oh, God, I haven't laughed that hard since Kevin…your dog, not Owens…nearly peed on Hunter's ridiculously expensive shoes." Dean grabbed some napkins and rubbed his face.

Despite himself, Roman chuckled.

"That wasn't Kevin's fault," Seth defended his dog. "You said you'd take him for a walk."

"Not my fault Hunter stopped me just to talk about some bullshit nonsense," Dean pointed out. "Look, it's cute and all that you want to be the Cool Dad. But you're not gonna be the Cool Dad."

"Oh, really?" Seth defiantly demanded.

"Yeah, really," Dean calmly nodded. "You're gonna be the dad who makes sure your kid eats right and exercises daily. You're gonna be the dad who makes sure the food is nutritional and explain what cheat days are. You're gonna be the dad who encourages the kid to find out what sport or activity is best and roll with the punches when the kid tries eight or nine things before figuring out which one is best. You're not gonna push wrestling just because you're in the business, and you're not gonna try and discourage the kid either. You're gonna be the Responsible Dad."

"Isn't that what Roman is?" Seth demanded.

"No, it's not."

"Excuse me?" Roman demanded, leaning towards Dean.

Dean pointed his finger at his older brother. "You are the Protective Dad. God help the poor kid who finally screws up the nerve to ask your daughter to her first dance. You'll be standing at the front door wearing gym shorts and a muscle shirt, tribal tattoos on full display, muscles bulging and in a deep voice tell the kid to step inside for a little talk."

Roman glared at his youngest brother when Seth began snickering.

"You're the dad who makes sure your daughter knows to stay away from the smooth-talking bad boys and exactly where to hit them when they can't take a hint from the reply of 'fuck off asshole'. You're the dad who's gonna make sure your boys can protect themselves from girls with hidden agendas. You're the dad who's gonna make sure they always buckle their seatbelts, do their homework and stay in school, wear sunblock, and don't crank up the volume on their headphones and blast their little eardrums. You, Roman Reigns, are the Protective Dad."

Dean stared at both Seth and Roman. "And there's nothing wrong with being either of the Responsible Dad or the Protective Dad…as long as you don't go overboard with it."

"And I guess you're going to be the Cool Uncle," Seth snorted.

Dean smirked as he nodded in agreement. "I'll be the Cool Uncle with the sympathetic shoulder the girls come to cry on about how their dads don't like or understand their boyfriends. And I'll be the Cool Uncle who takes the boys on their first trip to a strip club."

"The hell you will," Roman growled.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Better with me in Vegas than with the Usos out in California."

"But I want to be the Cool Dad," Seth whined.

"Well, you're not." Dean smiled and leaned back in his chair. "That's gonna be me."

Seth snorted. "Yeah…right…you're gon…" His voice trailed off when he saw Roman staring in surprise at Dean.

"Dean…you're going to be the Cool Dad?" Roman quietly asked.

"Yep," Dean nodded.

"Like…in the near future?" Roman continued.

Dean casually stared up at the ceiling and innocently nodded. "In months."

Seth let out a loud whoop and dove across the table towards Dean, sending them both crashing onto the floor.

"You're gonna be a Dad!" Seth screeched. "Deano's gonna be a Daddy!"

Roman grinned as the two rolled around on the floor, both laughing in joy. Then he got up.

"Seth, get off him, you idiot. He's got a title defense in a few days. Don't break his ribs." Roman reached down to disentangle them.

Only to be brought down to the floor by both his brothers grabbing on his arms.

Dean grinned as they rough-housed on the floor. Damn straight he was going to be the Cool Dad.