Feeling nervous about arriving at the Flair family home was a particularly weird and unpleasant experience for Charlotte. Usually, she would have been delighted to get there and see her dad, the person she was closer to than anyone else in the world.

The reason for the uneasy feeling was of course the fact that Charlotte planned to tell her father about her relationship with Sonya. So far as Ric knew, thanks to a natural assumption he would have made, Sonya was coming with Charlotte to dinner and to stay the night as a guest because they were friends and travel partners. How would he react to the news that they were a lot more than that? That was the question of the day.

If there was one small thing that had gone in Charlotte's favour, it was that Ric's wife was out of town on business. It wasn't that Charlotte disliked her – she didn't, but it was her dad she needed to see, and having the privacy to do so was ideal.

"You okay, Char?" Sonya asked as Charlotte drove slowly up the driveway to the Flair house. The driveway ran past the right end of the house, around to a garage at the rear.

"Nervous as hell," Charlotte admitted. She parked by the little gravel pathway that led to the front door and killed the engine, then looked to Sonya for reassurance.

"It'll be okay, I promise," Sonya said.

"I feel like you can't make that promise," Charlotte said reluctantly.

Sonya gave something between a grimace and a smile. "Alright, I firmly believe it will be okay. I'm here for you no matter what. I love you."

"I love you too."

Ordinarily, Charlotte would have gone in for a kiss. However, the front door of the house opened and her father stepped out, apparently having heard their arrival. There was a big smile on his face, and it raised Charlotte's spirits. The Flair family had been through a hell of a lot in her lifetime, and at no point had she ever doubted that her dad loved her very much. Surely this would be no different?

Getting out of the car, Sonya had a quick look at what she could see of the Flair house. It was impressive to say the least; much bigger than any house she had ever been in. It had two stories and a roof with multiple dormer windows, meaning there were also rooms in the attic. The front garden was huge, and surrounded by trees that gave privacy from the road.

"Charlotte, welcome home," Ric said happily, greeting his daughter first as her side of the car was closest to the house.

"Hi, dad," Charlotte beamed. "You're looking so well!"

"You know your old man," he said as they hugged. "I can take a kicking and keep on ticking."

"You sure can," Charlotte said with a laugh.

Sonya had walked around the car to greet her host. She had to admit, for someone who had been at death's door a matter of months earlier because of complications after bowel surgery, he did look in amazing shape.

Having met Ric a couple of times backstage at WWE events, Sonya was spared the awkwardness of an initial introduction. "Hi, Ric. Thanks for having me," she said warmly.

"Sonya, great to see you. You're most welcome." Ric stepped forward and gave her a peck on the cheek in greeting. It wasn't hard to see how he had been a charmer his entire life.

Charlotte had gone around to the trunk to unload the two travel cases. Sonya and Ric went around to help her.

"You're later that I thought you'd be," Ric commented.

"Yeah," Charlotte said. "The flight was on time, but there was some sort of problem getting to the gate after we landed. We must have sat there for nearly an hour."

"I hate it when that happens. But you're here now," Ric said brightly.

"We're here now," Charlotte echoed happily.

Taking their cases, Charlotte and Sonya followed Ric towards the house.

"I've got a surprise for you, Char," Ric said.

Charlotte glanced at Sonya, thinking that she had a much bigger one for him. Now was not the time, though. "Oh?" she enquired.

"I'm going to cook dinner for us."

Unable to help herself, Charlotte burst out laughing. "Dad, you're going to cook? I'm thirty two years old and I can't remember you ever cooking dinner."

Ric chuckled. "Yeah, well, Meghan has been teaching me. And the two of you are going to be my guinea pigs."

"So long as you call Vince and explain why we can't work because of food poisoning," Sonya chirped, knowing that he had a keen sense of humour.

"You're assuming the food doesn't kill you," Ric said, leading the way into the house. "I'm running behind, though, so we need to go to the store to get ingredients."

"Running behind," Charlotte scoffed, laughing at the blatant lie. "You want us to go with you because you're worried you'll buy all the wrong stuff."

"Possibly," Ric admitted with a laugh. He took Charlotte and Sonya's cases and set them at the bottom of the stairs, ready to go up later. "Would you like a drink first, or...?"

Charlotte looked at Sonya, deferring the decision.

"Why don't we hit the store now? Then we can settle down when we get back."

Plan of action decided, they were soon heading out to buy the groceries Ric needed to make his meal.

During the shopping trip, the conversation flowed comfortably. Sonya felt at ease around Ric, being appropriately welcomed like a friend of his daughter. She just hoped the welcome was still extended once the real nature of the relationship was revealed to him.

When they got back to the house, Sonya joined in helping to unload the groceries in the kitchen, which looked as big as the living room back at her Orlando apartment. She picked up on tension creeping in to Charlotte's mannerisms, knowing that the big moment was approaching. When Charlotte made eye contact, Sonya gave her an encouraging nod, the gesture unseen by Ric.

Charlotte took a long breath and closed her eyes for a second. "Dad," she ventured. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

Her tone made Ric turn and look at her. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Can we, uh, go sit in the living room for a minute?"

"Uh, sure, yeah," Ric said with obvious concern. Leaving a plastic bag of groceries half unpacked, he led the way out of the kitchen and into the living room.

There was a large L-shaped couch positioned opposite a massive TV, with a glass coffee table in front of it. When Charlotte sat down, Sonya took the spot beside her. Her moral support was going to be crucial in the coming conversation.

"I'm looking at serious faces," Ric observed after sitting down on the other part of the L. He leaned forward, elbows on his thighs, chin resting on his hands. "Is everything going okay at work?"

"Uh, yeah, work is fine," Charlotte began hesitantly. It felt like she had rehearsed this moment in her head a million times, yet all of it had now deserted her, leaving her feeling like she was going to have to make it all up as she went along.

"So what's up? You're not sick, are you?"

"No, I'm not sick. The thing is, dad, I've got something to tell you, and I don't know how to do it."

"You can tell me anything, Char. You're my daughter and I love you. I've always said you can call me or come home any time you need to, and I'm here for you. Haven't I always said that?"

Charlotte was clearly struggling. "Yeah, you have. I'm just going to have to cone out and say it, dad. You know how Sonya and I have been dating each other on TV? We're also dating each other, uh, for real."

The words seemed to take a moment register in Ric's head. Or maybe he was trying to decide if it was a rib, Sonya wondered. Although, with the way Charlotte was having obvious trouble opening up, it was fairly apparent that wasn't the case.

Ric looked from Charlotte to Sonya and back again. "You're dating? But you're into... I mean, you like men. You've been married twice, to men."

"I know," Charlotte said, her voice wavering as she feared a negative reaction coming.

Sonya found it hard to keep her mouth shut, but knew it was important to do so. Her input at this point wasn't going to help anything.

"I've been with men, but I've never been truly happy," Charlotte went on. "Neither of my marriages was happy, to say the least. With Sonya, I feel happy, dad. I know it's early days and all..."

"You're serious about this? Both of you? This isn't just some fling or experiment for you?"

The questions had seemed to be directed at both women, and Ric's gaze had fallen on Sonya last. Now it was her turn to speak, and to assure him that she wasn't just playing games with his daughter. It was a reassurance that he had a right to ask for. She wondered if he was aware that she was openly lesbian. She had assumed so heading into the conversation, but she didn't know it for a fact.

"Yes, absolutely we're serious," Sonya assured him respectfully. "Having come out to my parents some years ago, I know how tough this is from both Char's side and yours, Ric. I can't tell you how to take this in, but I can tell you I love your daughter very much."

"And I love Sonya just as much as she loves me," Charlotte said earnestly.

"Right," Ric said slowly, as if he was struggling to take in what he was hearing. To Charlotte's astonishment and horror, he got up to leave the room. "Thanks for telling me. I'm, uh, going to get the dinner started."

"Dad, wait," Charlotte pleaded. She attempted to get up to go after him, but Sonya put a hand on her knee, telling her not to do so.

"Let him go, Char," Sonya said.

Baffled, Charlotte couldn't understand why Sonya was so calm about what had just happened. "He walked out on the conversation," she said, feeling devastated.

Sonya took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Yes, he did. But he wasn't angry. He's processing. You just dropped a huge bomb on him, and it's a hell of a lot to take in. If this had gone badly, he'd be in here shouting right now, or kicking us out of the house. Give him some time. Trust me."

Charlotte felt tears stinging her eyes. At the same time, she had to acknowledge that Sonya knew a lot more about this than she did. If she said this was what things going okay was like, maybe she was right?"

Cuddling up to Sonya, Charlotte rested her head on her shoulder. "This is awful, Son. I feel... I can't even describe how I feel."

Sonya wrapped Charlotte up in her arms and kissed the top of her head. "I know, Queen. I know," she said soothingly. "It's going to be alright."

They sat like that on the couch for almost half an hour. Charlotte found reassurance in Sonya's love and support, and wondered how she would have gotten through if she had broken this news to her dad without her girlfriend there to support her. It would have been hell. But that, of course, was the reason that Sonya had insisted on coming.

"Charlotte, can you come in here?" Ric eventually called through from the kitchen.

Charlotte got up quickly, happy that nothing in his tone indicated that anything harsh might be about to be said.

"Go on," Sonya encouraged with a smile.

Nervously, Charlotte walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. She smelled burning as she walked into the room, and found her father scraping the contents of a pan into the trash. "What happened?" she asked.

"I think we'll order food in," Ric said with a laugh at his own culinary expense. He put the empty pan on a counter top and stepped forward, spreading his arms. "Come here."

Charlotte walked gratefully into his arms and held him tight. "I need to know what you're thinking, dad."

Ric squeezed her affectionately. "I'm thinking you're going to need to give your old man some time for this to sink in. I'm an old fashioned, tired old man. But you're my daughter, and your happiness is one of the things that matters most to me in the world."

"You are not a tired old man," Charlotte said tearfully. This time they were tears of relief.

"I'm definitely old fashioned. So give me some to let this sink in, okay?"

Charlotte pulled back slightly so that she could look him in the eyes. "Okay. I love you, dad."

"I love you too, sweetheart." Ric kissed Charlotte on the forehead, and she knew it was a moment she would remember for the rest of her life.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter!

There we are, my last chapter of 2018. What a year it's been. I'm very grateful to all of you for being a part of it with me. Here's to another great year next year.

I changed the name of Ric's wife as it is against site rules to use real people who are not characters in the relevant fandom in stories.

Ric didn't take the news too badly, but he said he needs some time to come to terms with it. Next time, we'll pick up when he next contacts Charlotte. How do you think it will go?