Chapter 64

"Sounds like it." Tahlia could tell the loss of Jodie had impacted a lot of people in Taker's life, not just him and Gunner. Amanda and Jodie were like sisters, from the sound of it. She swallowed hard, taking a bite of carrot and continued talking to Gladdis just as Amanda came up, holding Abrianna on her hip.

"Grandma, someone wants to see you." Amanda handed the baby over to her mother, wiping her forehead and sat down. "I see you two have met."

"Yeah, your mother is great to talk to." Tahlia felt more comfortable and stuck her tongue out at Abrianna, who began giggling and cooing. "Does she know peek-a-boo yet?"

"We're trying to get her to do it, but no luck yet." Amanda nodded at Sam waving her over to say hello to Jodie's parents and Gladdis handed her back over to bring her over to them.

"Why don't we go over there and say hello, dear?"

Before Tahlia knew what was happening, she was walking with Gladdis toward Jodie's parents and felt her stomach suddenly clench violently.

Of course they knew about Tahlia. Mark had told them himself, when he had first brought her home. They had thought they'd meet her last year, but… it was never a good time. They took Gunner frequently on his breaks, an active part of their only grandson's life. Also, they were as much a part of Mark's life as he would let them be.

"You must be Tahlia." John reached out his hand and smiled at her, introducing himself. She looked nothing like their Jodi and he found himself rather pleased with her hair. It was different and it suited her. "We've heard a lot about you."

"Gunner says you play basketball." Martha added, sticking out her own hand. "I'm Martha, and this is John. We're Gunner's grandparents and Mark's parent-in-law… does that still work?" She cocked her head, having never given it a thought. "Well, we're his family, a part of it anyway." Her gaze narrowed in on her arm.

"She saved my Dad's life." Gunner announced proudly.

"It's very nice to meet you both." She shook John's hand first and then Martha's, smiling at them both genuinely. Tahlia blushed a little at Gunner's statement and shook her head, ruffling Gunner's hair with her free hand. "Little squirt, no I didn't. It was just an accident, no big deal." It wasn't to her because she loved Taker and had reacted on pure instinct to protect him. "And yes ma'am, I played in school."

"Just like Mark did." Martha pointed out, understanding why he'd taken such a shine to this woman. "And no sweetheart, you saved his career. We know what happened." She would not be told otherwise and cupped Tahlia's face in her hand gently. "Thank you."

Tahlia didn't know what else to say and just nodded.

"So how long until you're healed up?" John asked, gesturing to her arm.

"They said 3 months, but I'm hoping it takes less time than that."

"No need to rush the healing process, dear." Gladdis meant that in more ways than one, embracing Martha and John.

"Yeah." Sam interjected, stepping in with cups of punch balanced precariously in his arms. He began handing them out. "Be like Mark and rush that… he's had problems how many times?"

"I got mouths to feed." Taker said with a wry grin, shrugging his massive shoulders. "Yours included."

"Still as arrogant as ever."

"How on earth do you manage it, dear?" Martha shook her head with a smile. "I hope you put him in his place."

Tahlia raised a brow, looking directly at Mark and came to the conclusion he hadn't informed them they weren't together. Or he had and they still thought of them as a couple. Either way… "Of course I do. He can be stubborn as an ox." She laughed with Martha, who agreed with her and took the punch Sam handed her.

"So what exactly happened? It's your collarbone, right?"

"No sir…"

"Just John, please."

Tahlia smiled in understanding, sipping her punch. "No, it's my shoulder blade. They call it the scapula, but…I just call it the shoulder blade." She didn't want to go into detail on how she'd been injured, reliving it a million times throughout the past week since she'd been brought here.

"Everyone, food is ready!"

Tahlia breathed a silent breath of relief as everyone began venturing back to the barn with her and Taker trailing behind. He had a weird expression on his face and she stopped him with her voice since she still had punch in hand. "Are you okay?" Concern shined in her amber eyes while staring up at him.

"Yeah darlin', I'm fine. You know… they watch wrestling." He confessed, wondering why John and Martha had strung her along like that, then shrugged it off.

He knew why. They were testing her. Seeing how she replied and, from the way they were smiling, Taker guessed they approved of her modesty about the entire situation.

"I'm sorry, they know… they know we split, they…"

He didn't even know how to explain them. They had been hounding him for years to 'move on' and try settling down again, or at least date. They hadn't known he had whored around quite a bit, but Tahlia had long ended those days.

"How about you?"

"They care about you and love you like a son. A blind person can see that, Taker." They were alone, so she was allowed to call him that. How she wanted to reach out to touch him, silently cursing Sam in her head for giving her this damn punch that occupied her only free hand. "And if they know what happened, that's perfectly fine. It was worth it because at least you have your career still and I'll have mine once this heals. It all worked out. So, stop looking glum and put a smile on your face. Don't let what they say and do bug you." She had no idea why they wanted to test her since her and Taker weren't together. They were…she didn't even know how to term it anymore and sighed, heading off toward the barn for some delicious food.

"Okay, these little ones are clamoring for cake, so let's do cake!" Amanda called, gesturing everyone over. When she spotted Tahlia and then Mark, she got a wicked smile on her face. She held up the cake, carefully, showing off how beautiful it was for pictures. In a few minutes, it would be destroyed. "Didn't Mark do a beautiful job decorating this?"

Oh that bitch…

Tahlia hid her surprise very well and nodded, also having an evil streak in her. "Why don't you get a picture with the decorator before slicing it up?" She suggested, gently nudging Taker forward and ignored the dark look he shot her, taking the camera from Amanda while she held it with him. "Say cheese and smile!" Snapping the photo, she handed the camera back to Amanda and shrugged her shoulders at another look he shot her.

"Oh Mark, it's absolutely beautiful!" Martha crowed, beaming from ear to ear. "Jodie would've been so proud of you!"

"Indeed." Gladdis smirked, squeezing Tahlia's good shoulder while Abrianna was slid into her hair chair, which was decorated for her smash cake.

With everyone gathered, the happy birthday song commenced followed by the cake being cut up in small slices for everyone.

Sidling up to Taker, Tahlia smiled serenely at him. "So," She paused, holding her cake with sparkling mischievous amber orbs. "Did you bake it too?" Tahlia did everything in her power not to start laughing when he scowled at her.

"Just you wait, darlin'." He rumbled, gently looping his arm around her, pulling her closer so she was tucked into his side, her bad arm away from his body and minding that shoulder. "I'm going to bake your ass into a cake, frost you, and then eat you all by myself." His voice had gone from playful and joking to a dark husky timbre, filled with promise.

Sam, now manning the camera, made sure to snap a picture of the way those two were looking at each other. He had no idea what was said, but whatever it was had Tahlia's amber eyes pure molten gold and Mark looked… that was a look he never wanted to see on another man.

Tahlia shivered against him, recognizing that voice and what it stood for, her heart pounding a little harder in her chest while staring into his slightly dark forest green orbs. "Tease." She hissed playfully, leaning against him and rested her head against his side, not moving from being in his arms. It felt too good and she wasn't in the mood to question anything while they watched Abrianna dive into her smash cake. If he wanted to bake her, it was already done because her insides were liquified at what he'd said to her. "Just make sure it's chocolate frosting." She winked up at him, giggling softly when he growled in her ear and laughed along with everyone at the mess Abrianna made.

Gunner was smiling broadly as he watched the pair, fist bumping Amanda when he got close enough, then accepted his cake. This might not be as hard as he had anticipated. Everything was already there, those crazy adults just needed a push. And maybe some time alone to discuss whatever it was that had happened, besides him being a jackass.

Nothing ever came of that day, however. Tahlia wasn't sure if it was all for show with Taker or maybe he really didn't want to be with her. She couldn't figure him out and didn't bother trying, focusing on her recovery. He was still attentive and helped her whenever she needed it because of the sling, but the flirting had stopped. Taker had taken a leave of absence from the road, letting Kane and the others deal with the Faction until they could return together. Tahlia spent the next 3 weeks with Gunner and Amanda, getting to know them better.

Playing board games and watching Gunner play basketball outside on the court were some of her highlights along with becoming good friends with Amanda. The only part missing was Taker and Tahlia's heart ached for him, but she would not beg him to come back to her. She'd been humiliated enough ever since jumping in the way of that damn sledgehammer. Before she knew it, a month had passed and the sling was off, her first day without it feeling incredibly weird. Physical therapy would start in a week and she had to go 3 days a week to start out and build herself up to 6 days.

Her arm looked… well, he could tell that she'd need that therapy. The way she held it, as if expecting it to hurt, or maybe it just felt odd. He'd broken a lot of bones over the years, the most painful had been his orbital, but never his shoulder blade. Taker had driven her here since she wasn't cleared to drive just yet.

"Feel better?"

"Weird." She murmured quietly, not speaking much to him lately.

Experimentally rolling her shoulder slowly to test the waters, Tahlia blinked when she didn't feel any pain. It was really healed, but the physical therapy was to gain strength in her shoulder and arm again. Right now, she could feel the difference between both arms and nodded at what the doctor instructed of her.

"You're free to go, Tahlia. Do NOT do anything strenuous or you will set your recovery back."

"Got it, thanks doc."

She'd been to see Doctor Whitmore for the past month and knew he wouldn't steer her wrong. Walking out of the doctors with Taker, she reached with her right arm to open the door and smiled, feeling a sense of worth again that she could do simple menial tasks on her own. On the way back to the ranch, Tahlia turned the radio down to gain Taker's attention and cleared her throat.

"If you want, I can do my physical therapy in New York instead of here. You've done more than enough for me and I don't want to burden you or your family any more than I already have."

"You're fine, besides… Whitmore already referred you to a physical therapist here." Taker knew this was awkward, they had just been kind of… plodding along. "It's up to you, Tahlia." He said after a moment. "Nobody is rushing you out the door, darlin'." Taker flashed her a half smile. "I think Amanda likes having another female in the house. She'd be mighty upset if you left." Not to mention, he would be too.

"Well you'll have to remedy that for her because I'll have to leave eventually."

Revenge was on her mind now that her arm was healed; rubbing her hand up and down the skin, amber eyes flashed for a few seconds before returning to normal. Triple H would regret ever laying eyes on her, along with his whore, once she returned to reclaim HER WWF Women's championship. That had been her main focus since Taker had given her a cold shoulder, which she understood. Too much damage had been done with their spiteful words to each other. The funny thing was her and Gunner got along famously now and he rarely left her alone, always having her doing something with him.

Taker did not miss the flash of anger that flickered across her face, or the way her jaw suddenly set. He knew Tahlia well enough to know that now with that sling off, she was turning her mind back to work, back to what had happened and probably planning revenge because that was just how she operated. It was something he admired about her.

"Don't be thinking you're going back anytime soon." He advised, reaching out to rap on her kneecap to make sure he had her attention. "You have to make sure you're at 100%."

"That's the pot calling the kettle black, Deadman." Tahlia muttered good-naturedly, heaving a sigh because it would be at least another 2 months before she could get back in the ring. "Triple H is dead. Stephanie is dead. The entire Faction WILL get what's coming to them. The fact they went after you just pisses me off even more."

Her blood boiled at the memory of seeing that sledgehammer above Taker's knee, him laying helpless and Triple H had a sick smirk on his face. Stephanie had screamed at her husband to do it, to end his career. She looked over at him curiously, eyebrows drawing together.

"Why are you waiting for me to be 100% before going back to work?" It was a question she'd been wanting to ask him for a while.

Considering that there was actually no need for him to be home any longer, hell he could've left that first week. Amanda would have seen that she was taken care of, or he could've brought someone else in to help. But he hadn't and smirked at the memory of the sponge bath/lotion moments.

"Because darlin', I know you pretty damn well, better than most." He wasn't being arrogant, just stating fact. "And I know how vicious, how vengeful you can be." Taker had seen it before, multiple times and he also knew she needed someone there to keep her in check, to make sure she didn't cross that line. The line nobody ever came back from. "You'll need me then. Just like I'll need you."

"You don't need me, Taker." Tahlia meant that in more ways than one, looking away from him to look out the window. She wished he did. It was all professional between them and she wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to stand being around him without exploding. "Hell if anything, I need you." She also meant that in more ways than just her revenge against the Faction. The sooner her physical therapy started, the better off she'd be and the sooner she could go back to her lonely life.

"Tahlia, I am always going to need you." He confessed after a few minutes of silence ensued, staring straight ahead though he did catch the look on her face from his peripheral. Taker sighed, reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose and turned down the road that led back to the house. "Darlin', maybe we should have a talk… not right now, not in the truck, but sometime real soon." About what had happened and where they could go from this, be it as friends or whatever she wished of him.

Instead of keeping her thoughts to herself, Tahlia voiced them bluntly. "The last time that happened, we ended up screaming at each other, Taker. I don't think that's a good idea."

Being called pathetic had hurt her more than anything, especially when she didn't regret giving her daughter up. Taker was headstrong about being a father, but that didn't mean she wanted to be a mother. Gunner was a sweet kid and she enjoyed spending time with him, but he wasn't her son.

"You made it clear how you feel about me and I've made it clear how I feel about you, so there's really no need to 'talk'." She did the quotation marks with her fingers and couldn't look at him, continuing to rub her sling-free arm.