Chapter 53

Around 2 AM, Amanda and Sam were blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby girl by the name of Abrianna Lynn Mathews. She was 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 21 inches long. Amanda had been in labor for nearly 37 hours and finally popped the little girl out, beyond exhausted and so was Sam. She had dark hair and blue eyes, so far, but those could change over the next several months. Tahlia slowly opened her eyes, feeling someone tapping her shoulder and smiled up at Sam, who was dressed head to toe in light blue scrubs.

"Is the baby here?" She asked quietly, not wanting to wake Taker up, unless that was the case and had his head currently resting on her shoulder.

Sam nodded tiredly. "Wake him up, so he can meet his goddaughter."

It was a girl. Tahlia nodded, running her fingers through his hair and saw his beautiful eyes open to look at her. "The baby's here. Sam wants you to go with him to see the baby." She didn't want to give away the sex, winking at Sam and kissed Mark's forehead. "Go on, I'll keep an eye on Gunner."

Gunner had fallen asleep some time ago, on his lap, and he gently moved his son off of him onto the small little couch they had been perched on, arranging those long, gangly limbs into a sort of comfortable position. Sighing, Taker brushed the red hair off Gunner's face before smiling down at Tahlia. "Thank you, darlin'." He leaned over to kiss her forehead, knowing she had spent all this time here, in a place she didn't want to be. It probably reminded her of her own pregnancy and subsequent adopting out of the baby, but she had done it for him regardless.

Nodding, she watched him walk down the hallway with Sam and leaned her head back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. She had no interest in seeing the baby, not knowing Amanda and Sam past what Taker told her about them. No, this wasn't her place and she suddenly missed being on the road, the chaos and physicality. Taker needed a break, but she didn't and she'd dropped her title for this. To sit in a hospital waiting room for over 12 hours, waiting for someone she didn't even know to pop another brat out into the world. That's exactly what she thought of Gunner – a spoiled brat. He didn't like her and she didn't like him – it was obvious and she knew Taker felt the tension between them. It was only a matter of time before everything imploded and Tahlia wasn't sure when her breaking point would hit.

2 months later, it did.

"GODDAMN IT, GUNNER!"

Tahlia was at the end of her rope, staring down at her clothes laid out on the bed…or what was left of them. The little punk had come into her room, which was supposed to be off limits to him and CUT holes in all her clothes! What the hell was his problem?! For 2 months, he'd been nothing short of a piss ant and she was on the verge of strangling the little red-headed prick! Snarling, Tahlia stormed out of her room and bumped right into Taker, amber eyes nothing more than hardened gold.

"Just the man I was looking for! Would you like to see what your demon spawn did to my clothes?" They hadn't had sex since she arrived, so they'd been at each other's throats for the better part of 2 months and it was taking a toll on their relationship.

Instead of biting her head off, Taker merely sighed, nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose as he followed her into the guest room. Tahlia and Gunner did not like each other. He had expected Tahlia to suck it up and be the adult, but… he realized that was not going to happen and he was putting way too high of expectations on her. Gunner was being a little prick and nothing had changed the kid's mind about her. He was hell bent on keeping things the way they had been before Tahlia had come into the picture.

"Shit.." His eyes widened when he seen the clothing. "Darlin', I'm sorry." He was going to beat his son.

"Yeah, so am I."

Tahlia had thought long and hard about this, battling with herself because she loved this man more than anything. However, his son had completely destroyed their relationship and she deserved better than this. Taker would choose his son over her; she knew that risk coming into this and it had taken her a while to realize it, but the harsh reality was he would NEVER accept her into the family. Love wasn't enough for them, not anymore. Tears swelled in her eyes as Tahlia took the ring off her right hand and turned to face him, so much sadness and heartbreak in both of their eyes. It was time to say goodbye.

"This isn't working between us anymore. I love you and I will always love you, but…I can't take anymore, Mark. I'm leaving in the morning and I'll get a hotel room tonight near the airport. I'm going back on the road to wrestle, where I belong, and you need to stay here where you're needed."

If he was honest, he had known it was coming. Tahlia had been patient, as patient as she could be with Gunner's antics. He was coming to the end of his rope himself. Taker had punished Gunner, done everything he could think of. Talked to the boy, enlisted Sam and Amanda to talk to him, and nothing had worked. She was getting snappy; it hadn't started until the past few days or so, but he had known she was finally starting to lose her patience. Her personal belongings being ruined had likely been the final straw.

"All right, darlin'." He said softly, clearing his throat at the sudden emotion that threatened to choke him. "All right." He reached out and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her long, thick hair. "I love you, Tahlia." He whispered heartbrokenly.

They both knew that sometimes love was not enough.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as he whispered those words to her – words that used to make her heart skip a beat. Now, all they did was hurt her because he may have loved her, but not nearly as much as his son. That was the way it should be too. That was what it meant to be a great parent, always putting the kid first. Tahlia understood that and would never want Taker to choose her over Gunner. Looking up into his eyes, she suddenly cupped his face in her hands and brought his mouth down on hers, pouring every ounce of feeling into it. Love, sadness, pain, heartbreak, anger, anguish…all of it.

"Goodbye Taker."

Grabbing her already packed bag, Tahlia walked past him out of the room and downstairs, stopping at the sight of a smug looking Gunner. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, but all she did was walk past him out the front door and slammed it shut. Crying her heart and soul out the entire ride to the hotel in the cab she had called.

Amanda had watched the exchange between Gunner and Tahlia, holding the baby against her, shaking her head. If only the boy would've given her a chance…and now Taker was all alone again except with his son and them. Teary eyed, Amanda locked eyes with Gunner, the smugness leaving the boy's face and shook her head sadly, walking back into the kitchen to check on dinner.

All he could was sit there as she walked out the door, out of his life and when he could no longer hear the vehicle, he knew Tahlia was gone. Taker lowered his head into his hands, eyes clenched shut.

Sam heard the roar of rage and anguish from his place outside. He had seen the cab leaving, trying not to assume, but it was hard not to. The tension had been so unbearable for weeks now and Gunner had seemed to encourage it. Tahlia had left and he knew what that sound from the house was.

It was Taker.

Maybe, just maybe… he had messed up. Gunner had never, ever heard his dad make that kind of sound before.

"Flush, pay up Shaw." Tahlia demanded, waving her fingers at him to pony up the money.

"What the fuck? You're cheatin', Tali! You gotta be!" Bradshaw growled, not believing she'd just taken him to school AGAIN in Texas Hold'em. "How many times we gotta tell you we're sorry for trickin' ya?"

"Sorry's got nothing to do with it. It's called skill, Shaw. You should try it sometime." Tahlia shot back cheekily, holding a cigar in her mouth while Farooq – Ron – shuffled the cards.

"Cheeky broad."

Upon coming back on the road, John and Ron had instantly come to her aid, not wanting anyone to mess with her. She had sent Shane McMahon to a mental institution with her mind game and Vince didn't take too kindly to it. He had taken time off to deal with the family issues, which left Tahlia somewhat vulnerable since she and the Deadman were no longer together. At first, the pain had been unbearable being away from Taker and, often times, Tahlia still cried herself to sleep at night over him. However, time healed all wounds and sooner or later, it would heal her broken heart.

John had offered to take her out on a date, but she'd declined, wanting to focus solely on her career with no man. Friendship was fine though and currently, she was kicking his backside in poker. Tonight marked 6 months since she'd left Taker behind and, although on the outside she appeared to be happy, on the inside she was dead. Her heart only beat to pump blood through her body to keep her alive, but no longer did it thrive with life and the light in her eyes had diminished greatly. All she did was workout, eat, sleep, wrestle, occasionally go out with John and Ron and go onto the next area. Misery followed her wherever she went, but at least she was currently holding the WWF Women's championship again.

Taker had used that time, those 6 months, to get a surgery he had needed done. Tahlia being gone, knowing they were through, it had done something to him, changed something. He knew that the hole in his heart wasn't going to be filled with some miracle cure and time healing all wounds was true. He knew that better than most, but still… time was a slow bitch when she wanted to be. Gunner was… obviously sorry at what he had done when he realized just how badly he had hurt his Dad. Taker had forgiven him, obviously, but… it didn't change the fact that she was gone. He had also let the dye grow out, at Amanda's urging, knowing his hair needed a break from all the black. He was looking forward to returning to work, to the road. He loved his little family and his goddaughter, Abrianna and the little tyke seemed taken with him too, but it was time to get back on the road.

"Mark, I love you, but… you've put on some weight." He hadn't been in the gym as much as he probably should've been.

"I've earned it too, all that testin' those desserts you keep makin'." He snorted, busy packing his bag.

Gunner was sitting on his bed, watching and playing with the baby. "You miss her, Dad?"

He knew who Gunner was talking about and cleared his throat. "I got you, son." Every day.

Judgment Day 2000

Stepping out of the rental vehicle, Tahlia looked up at the building and could feel something in the air…a change. She didn't know what it was, but something big was going down today. From the moment she woke up in her hotel room and driving here, her insides wouldn't stop quaking. Tonight, she had a match for her title against Jacqueline and planned on walking out STILL the Women's champion. That wasn't what had her on edge though. Sliding a hand through her blood red hair – she'd gone back to her natural hair color and foregone the black – Tahlia grabbed her bag from the back and hoisted it over her shoulder, wearing black leggings with a colorful tunic, sunglasses over her eyes.

"Tahlia!"

"Hey Jackie." They bumped fists, becoming good friends throughout their feud for the title. "Ready for tonight?"

"Always, you know I love locking up with you. But tonight, I AM taking that title back."

She smirked, holding the title proudly over her shoulder. "We'll see, sister."

Nobody had known he was coming back save for Linda McMahon. It had all been set up and he, honestly, had been amazed that any member of the McMahon family would be willing to work with him again. Of course, it probably helped that Linda knew what the Undertaker could do when properly motivated and so inclined, like… help put her kid in the nuthouse. He knew Tahlia was kicking ass and taking names; he had been following the shows, getting information from his own sources. Black jeans, blue jean vest, leather duster… and his baby, his Harley. Tonight was gonna be good.

"Daddy's home." He rumbled, staring up at the arena with a smirk.

Lacing up her boots, Tahlia was in the zone and knew she was the match right before the 60-minute Iron Man Match between Triple H and The Rock for the WWF championship. That would be a classic to watch. Whether she liked them or not, they were outstanding athletes who could get it done in the ring. Her eyes caught the small montage with the child talking again – it had been playing repeatedly over the past several weeks, but nobody had a clue what they were about.

Shaking her head, she finished lacing up and stood up, looking in the full-length mirror with her title set on the bench beside her. Her attire was a one-piece black shimmery jumpsuit that had stars cut out on either side. She made sure it covered up the symbol on her hip, which she had contemplated tattooing over, but decided against it. It was a reminder not to get involved with someone she worked with ever again…a reminder of the pain and pleasure she'd endured while being with Taker.

Making himself comfortable in the bar across the street, Taker waited and bided his time with a beer. They were, of course, streaming the pay-per-view so he was able to see Tahlia's match against Jackie. She looked great, that outfit was… interesting and he noted that it also hid her brand. He idly wondered if she had it covered, or the scar tissue worked on since plastic surgery was amazing. She had improved even more in the ring, if that were possible and, as he finished his drink, he felt his heart and gut do a funny lurch. No, he had learned his lesson and that was he couldn't mix it up with coworkers ever again.