The training schedule for recruits at the WWE Performance Centre was gruelling to say the least. It had been nearly six months since they had moved to Florida, and they hadn't been given more than one day a week off in that entire period. Sonya felt absolutely burned out, and she missed her family like she never had before. She was sure that every one of the other nine people in her group felt the same way, too. Mandy definitely did. She had broken down a couple of times recently, struggling badly with going so long without seeing her dad, who she was particularly close to.

At the end of every week's final training session, Hunter Helmsley would address the group of trainees, assuming he wasn't away elsewhere on business. On this particular Friday, he began by calling for everyone's attention, asking them to come over to the ring in centre of the main hall. His use of the word everyone also included the coaches, who went and stood with him while the trainees began to assemble in a group in front of him.

"Alright, gather round. This won't take long," Hunter said in a relaxed manner.

Standing next to Mandy, Sonya stood there dripping with sweat, breathing heavily. She had been nearing the end of her stint of a particularly punishing drill session that Coach Purrazzo had been putting her through, after doing the same with Mandy and Dakota. Purrazzo certainly didn't go easy on her trainees, but she knew how to get the most out of people.

Often, Hunter would start his address with a bit of humour. This time was no exception. "Sonya, shall we give you a minute?" he said, drawing laughter from everyone.

"I'm good," Sonya said, sharing in the humour as she wiped sweat from her forehead.

Hunter moved on to talking about the week's training. It was all fairly standard stuff until he said, "I've got some news that I know you're all going to like. I've decided to give you next week off. Take a vacation, go home and see your families, do whatever you want. Report back here for training a week on Monday. Okay everyone, have fun." He made a hand gesture to dismiss the group of trainees.

"Oh my god, Son," Mandy said, covering her mouth and nose with her hands. Her eyes were filling with tears. "I get to go home and see my dad. I can't believe it. I've missed him so much."

Sonya pulled her into a hug. By now, every member of the group thought of them as best friends who were very close. It was an assumption that had been made, and Sonya and Mandy had done nothing to counter it. It meant that the sight of them hugging in an emotional moment was nothing out of the ordinary.

"I know you have," Sonya said delicately. "But now you can go and see him. Get a flight booked as soon as we get back to the apartment. He'll be delighted to see you. You should make it a surprise, too. Imagine how happy he will be if you show up unannounced."

Mandy pulled back and looked at her with wide eyes, loving the idea. "Yes! Yes, I have to do that." She paused for a second. "Son, will you come with me? I really want you to meet my dad, and I want him to meet you. I know you want to see your family, but this would mean the world to me."

Naturally, Sonya wanted to see her own parents while the chance was there. With them living in separate states these days, it would have been hard enough to fit much quality time with both of them into a week long vacation even without going to Westchester County with Mandy. But on the other hand, she knew full well how much Mandy's dad meant to her. She was the ultimate daddy's girl. Sonya wanted to make her happy, and she did want to meet Frank, Mandy's dad. They had spoken on the phone several times, and had gotten along very well from minute one.

As they followed the rest of the group in the direction of the locker rooms, Sonya made a decision. A compromise seemed to be the best way to go. "I'd love to come with you and meet your dad. But at the same time, I've been looking forward to seeing my mom and my sisters. I'm thinking we could fly up and spend a few days at your dad's place, then we could drive down to my mom's and stay there a few days before heading back here. I'd have to go and see my dad next time we get to have a vacation."

Mandy thought about it for a moment. Her heart had been set on a spending as much time with her dad as she could, but at the same time she knew it wasn't all about her. Sonya deserved to get time with her family, and was as excited to introduce Mandy to them as Mandy was to do the same with her. "Alright, it's a plan," she said. "You know I've been looking forward to meeting your mom and your sisters. It'll be a great time."

"Awesome, I can't wait," Sonya said as they approached the locker room. "When we get back to the apartment, we'll look at booking flights. Hey, it'll be our first vacation together."

That final thought gave Mandy a reason to get even more excited while they got undressed and hit the showers.

Less than an hour later, Sonya and Mandy were in their apartment, snuggled together on the couch, eating a light dinner that Mandy had prepared for them. Between them, propped on their legs, was Mandy's laptop. They were using it to browse airline websites for flights to New York, hoping to find a cheap last minute deal for the next morning.

"Hey, look!" Sonya exclaimed. "There's a flight tonight, and seats are going cheap. We could get that one if you wanted to?"

"Let's do it!" Mandy said excitedly. "We'll have to be quick, though, if we're going to make it."

Setting her plate aside, Sonya moved the laptop over to Mandy's lap and got up. "You put the flights on your card, I'll start packing some things for us. I'll transfer you money for my share later."

While Sonya rushed through to fetch their travel cases from the spare bedroom that they used for storage, Mandy started the process of purchasing the flights. "Sonya?" she called out.

"What?" came the reply from the direction of the bedrooms.

"I'd like to tell my dad that we're dating," Mandy called.

"How will he take it if we do?"

"Honestly? Knowing my dad, he would figure it out even if we didn't tell him. He's always been able to read me like a book."

"Okay, but I asked how you think he would take it?" Sonya called. "I know you've told me he was supportive when you came out."

"He was. Surprised, but supportive."

Sonya knew that both she and Mandy had been lucky in that regard. Some people had serious, even irreconcilable problems with the families or friends when coming out. Being gay simply wasn't something that some narrow-minded people could understand or come to terms with. Sonya had been helped further by the fact that one of her sisters was also gay.

Pulling the two travel cases out of the store room, Sonya left them in the hallway for a moment while she walked back towards the living room. She stood at the end of the hallway, smiling at Mandy. "Then we'll tell him," she said.

Mandy gave the mouse pad on the laptop an emphatic finger tap. "Flights are bought. Now we'd better make sure we catch them." She got up and walked over to Sonya, giving her a peck on the lips. "I'll be delighted to tell my dad that you're my girlfriend."

"And I'll be proud to be introduced as your girlfriend. Just remember to call me Sonya, not Daria."

"Oh, is Daria coming as well?" Mandy asked, immediately excited.

"Depends if there's a discreet time and place for her to show up," Sonya said coyly.

"I'll see what I can do," Mandy promised.

"Then I'll pack accordingly," Sonya said in her Daria voice, causing Mandy to quiver in delight.

Sonya reverted to speaking normally. "Come on, we'd better get on with it if we're going to make that flight."

It was nearly midnight by the time Sonya and Mandy arrived at Mandy's father's house.

"Here we are," Mandy said, slowing the car and indicating to make a left turn into a driveway. There were lights on in a couple of the upstairs windows of the house in question.

Sonya noticed that a hedgerow separated what looked like a modest two storey home from a row of several stores. The closest store to the house had its sign lit up, displaying the name 'Frank's Deli'. "That's your dad's deli, right next to the house?" she asked, although the answer was obvious.

"Yeah," Mandy smiled as she pulled into the driveway, driving as quietly as possible. "It's a short commute to work for him every morning."

Sonya laughed. "That's an understatement. I can't wait to have a look at the Deli tomorrow."

"Remember you said that. He'll have us working if we give him half the chance," Mandy warned her as she killed the engine and turned off the headlights.

"Really? I'd be up for that," Sonya said.

"Wait, seriously?" Mandy asked, turning to look at her.

"Yeah, seriously. I think it would be fun. You told me you liked working there, and us doing it together would be an experience."

"Honestly, I'd love it if we did," Mandy said, looking at Sonya with such a happy expression on her face.

"Then we will, assuming your dad doesn't find me too useless."

"You can't be too useless to package meat up for customers," Mandy said with a chuckle. "Let's go in and surprise my dad. I'll use my key so that we don't have to ring the bell. We'll really surprise him."

"So long as he doesn't come downstairs and shoot us, thinking we're robbing him."

"Good point. Maybe I'll call out to him once we're in," Mandy said. "Come on, let's go."

Being as quiet as they could, Sonya and Mandy got out of the car and approached the front door. Mandy inserted her key into the lock and turned it, still being as quiet as she could. She pushed the unlocked door open, and at that moment the hallway light inside was turned on. They clearly hadn't been as sneaky as they had hoped.

"Who is it?" Sonya heard a familiar deep voice call out from inside. There was no aggression in the tone, since Frank had heard the door being opened with a key. It was clear that this was no burglary.

"Dad, it's me," Mandy said, rushing inside.

Sonya was quick to follow, wanting to see Frank's reaction to his daughter's surprise visit.

"Amanda!" Frank cried, shocked and delighted to see her. They were already embracing each other tightly, standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Oh my god. Sweetheart, I had no idea you were coming."

"Neither did I until this afternoon," Mandy replied. "I missed you so much."

Sonya closed the door and stood near it, feeling emotional upon seeing how much it meant to Mandy and Frank to see each other again after so long. Frank wasn't what she expected Mandy's dad to look like. He was slightly shorter than her, was overweight, and had thinning black hair. He had what Sonya would have described as a genial appearance, especially dressed in a grey pyjama set. Looking over Mandy's shoulder, he set eyes on Sonya.

"You must be Sonya," Frank said.

Mandy moved aside, turning to gesture and smile in Sonya's direction. "Yes, sorry. Dad, this is Sonya. Son, this is my dad."

"Hi, Frank," Sonya said, stepping forward with a warm smile on her face. She received a bearhug that most professional wrestlers would have approved of, along with a very Italian peck on each cheek in greeting.

"Great to meet you at last," Frank said, a huge, infectious smile on his face. "You don't look how I pictured you when we've spoken on the phone. You look Italian, unless I'm mistaken in my old age."

"You should get Instagram or something, dad," Mandy said. "Then you'd know how people look before you meet them."

"I don't do phones or computers, you know that," he replied.

"You don't look old aged, and you're not mistaken," Sonya said. "I'm half Italian, just like Mandy."

"A real charmer," Frank said, laughing. "Definitely Italian."

"She's no Italian, she can't even cook," Mandy said playfully.

"Traitor!" Sonya said, feigning anger, making Frank and Mandy laugh.

"Speaking of food, would you like me to make you anything?" Frank offered. "If you had said you were coming, I'd have waited up for you and made sure I had a spread ready for when you got here."

"We're fine, dad," Mandy said after looking to Sonya for confirmation. "We just need a hand with our cases and a bed to sleep in." Immediately, she realised what she had said, as did Sonya and Frank.

"A bed to sleep in?" he asked, emphasising the singularity of the request and inviting her to elaborate.

Meanwhile, Sonya stood there with wide eyes and a nervous grimace on her face, looking at Mandy.

"Well, that's that cat out of the bag," Mandy said. "Dad, Sonya and I are dating."

"I suspected as much, hearing how you talk about each other and how you act with each other on the phone," Frank said. "You seem very happy, in fact you're glowing. That's all I need to know. Sonya, I need you to make sure it stays that way."

"You have a promise on that," Sonya assured him.

Mandy gave her dad a peck on the check, expressing her gratitude for his openness and acceptance. "We are very happy. In fact, I'm the happiest I've ever been. Sonya and I really are soulmates. We go everywhere together, we do everything together. So much so that she's already said she's willing to work in the Deli tomorrow."

"Oh, is she now?" Frank said, eyeing Sonya up as a potential staff member. "In that case, I had better make sure I feed you both well for breakfast."

"We're going to go back to Orlando with a few pounds to work off," Mandy promised Sonya.

"Bring it on," she said eagerly.

A/N: Many thanks to those who left a review on the previous chapter.

We skipped some time at the start of this chapter, and we're going to do the same against next time. I'm sure everyone has been waiting for the point where Sonya and Mandy graduate to the NXT roster and can start working televised matches, so that's where we're heading.

With that in mind, the question for this chapter is what do you think they're going to be given to do on their TV debut?