Chapter 65

Silence reigned until they reached the house and, out of habit, he came around to help Tahlia down, though he didn't let her run inside right away. Instead, Taker held her gently by the arms, staring down at her. "The problem you've always had, Tahlia," He said gravely, pausing to get his thoughts in order. "Is that you assume too much and presume to know my thoughts and feelings." It wasn't the first time she had done it and probably not the last. "You may not wish to talk, but you will hear me." His voice was deepening, darkening. "I am sorry for what I said. You are not pathetic, and I was speaking out of anger." He had regret the words as soon as they had left his lips.

"Taker, I…"

Tahlia could feel the emotions stirring inside of her and the tears formed while staring back at him, seeing the truth and sorrow shining in his eyes. He meant it. He meant what he said and she could see it and feel it down to her bone marrow.

"I-I didn't mean what I said about Gunner either. He's a great kid and you're a great father. There's no excuse for what I said to you, it was out of line and I regretted it the moment the words came out of my mouth." She took a deep shaky breath, raising her eyes to meet his again and let a single tear slip down her cheek. "But it doesn't change the fact I walked out on you and him. I ran away like a coward and you deserve better than that. You both do."

Reaching out, Taker caught the tear with one finger, staring at it for a moment before bending down. He kissed away the next tear and the tear after that, feeling her starting to tremble against him. "Let Gunner and I make that call, Tahlia…" He whispered against her cheek. "Please." When she hesitated, he groaned, moving his head to rest against hers. "I'm tired of pretending, Tahlia. I'm tired of pretending I don't love you anymore."

Her heart completely opened up at his words and Tahlia pinched her arm to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She'd had a dream similar to this one before and it always ended with him walking away from her, telling her to leave like she did the first time. This wasn't a dream. Smiling through tears, Tahlia buried her face in his chest, gripping his shirt with trembling hands and couldn't stop crying.

"I never stopped loving you, Mark." She whispered, not trusting her voice at the moment and felt his arms wrap around her, his nose burying in her hair. "I n-never meant to hurt you…or Gunner…I'm so sorry…"

"Thank GOD!" Gunner had been spying from behind the curtain, along with Amanda and Sam while Abrianna was down for a nap. He came running out the front door and tossed himself into the hug. "Finally!"

"Shit, we're busted." Sam said, smiling sheepishly when Mark shot him a dark look and waved before pulling the curtain closed.

"Yeah, finally." Taker echoed, shaking his head and kissed the top of Tahlia's head, holding his family close.

Watery laughter came from Tahlia as she wrapped her arm around Gunner and looked up at Taker before looking down at him, knowing they both accepted her fully into the family. Sam and Amanda did too. Pulling away from Taker, she squatted down to be eyelevel with Gunner and cupped his face in her soft hands, staring into his eyes. She blinked when Gunner tossed his arms around her neck, hugging her tightly and immediately returned the strong embrace, closing her eyes as silent tears flowed.

"Thank you for giving me another chance, sweetie."

"Honey, come away from the window…"

Smiling, Amanda did, letting out a happy sigh. "Now that that's taken care… 3 months and they're married."

"Honey, maybe you shouldn't plan out their future…"

"Sam, they're perfect for each other. I'm just making… an educated guess. I don't think either of them are going to let each other go now."

Later that night, after Gunner, Amanda, Sam and the baby were sleeping, Tahlia walked into the bathroom to the door that connected Taker's room to it and chewed her bottom lip. She missed him so much and just wanted to be in his arms, pressing her forehead against the wood. Nearly jumping out of her skin when the door swung open, Tahlia clutched her chest and was glad she hadn't let out a scream. Taker had just scared the hell out of her!

"You too huh?" He couldn't keep the smirk off his lips, especially after seeing the look on her face and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her gently into his room. Taker kicked the bathroom door shut behind them and guided Tahlia to his bed. He didn't even care about sex, he just wanted to be with her, hold her.

Her heart was pounding for a completely different reason now. Tahlia had never been in his bedroom since he had the 'no sleeping together' rule the last time she came here. If they were going to work on their relationship and get back to where they were, sleeping separately wasn't an option anymore. It seemed Taker had the same mindset as he pulled her into his big king-sized bed and into his waiting strong arms. She smiled, not caring about sex right now either and caressed his face with the back of her hand while they laid side-by-side with his arm around her waist tightly.

"I've missed you. That's why I was planning on sneaking into bed with you." Then she did the one thing she'd been craving to do for the past year and softly kissed him.

"I missed you too, darlin'." He whispered back, once the kiss was broken, sighing in contentment as the feeling of her back in his arms washed over him.

Taker had learned some very valuable lessons from this… such as to reign in his mouth when he was having a fit of rage, especially with her. He never wanted to hurt her that way again, beating her physically would have been kinder. Lowering her eyes from him, Tahlia caressed his upper chest, neck and arm with her fingertips, burning to her memory every contour and detail of him. She'd also learned a lesson from this; walking away wasn't the answer, no matter how tough the road was. If one truly loved another, they stuck it out together, through the good and bad times. For better or worse…she'd been nearly engaged to him and that would've been in their wedding vows had she stuck around long enough for Gunner to see the light. Eventually he did, but it cost her and Taker a year of anguish they could've been happy together.

"I haven't been…with anyone else." Her amber eyes rose to meet soft emerald. "I just thought you should know that." How could she be with another man besides him? It wasn't possible or realistic.

Warmth blossomed in his chest at her words and he practically purred, feeling a bit… arrogant, as well as pleased. "Me either." He replied, feathering kisses along her face.

She had ruined him for other women… totally and completely and he was alright with it. Tahlia was it for him, the only one he wanted and now that the world was falling back into its proper place, Taker had no intentions of losing her again. Not to anyone or anything. Her mind started wandering as silence settled between them again. What would happen now that they were back together? She had her place in New York and he loved in Texas. Once she was healed, she would return to the WWF and exact her revenge on the Faction.

Her professional life was set in stone, but what about personal. How would they make a relationship work with her living across the country? Tahlia didn't mind Texas now that she gave it a chance, but it was too soon to talk about moving in with Taker and his family. A lot of questions and obstacles still stood in their way, but at least they were on the right path of full reconciliation.

"You said you wanted to talk earlier in the truck. Was it just to tell me you didn't mean what you said or was there other things on your mind?" She asked softly, breaking the silence between them and rubbed her nose against his.

"Mostly that darlin'." He admitted, rolling and adjusting until he was on his back with her cradled in the crook of his arm, her freshly sprung from the sling arm resting on her side, so it didn't get crushed. He'd be damned if he accidentally hurt her and set her recovery back even more. And now – now that it was out of the way, his mind was turning to their future. "I just wanted to talk about what had happened… and if we could get past it. Then decide where we go from there." Well, they had done two out of three so far.

"So, where do we go from here?" Tahlia stroked his chest affectionately, looking up at him and enjoyed the darkness surrounding them besides the moon outside shining through the window. It was their only light. "I mean, yeah we're together again and it's great – it's what I want, but I also…" How did she word this without causing an argument? "I live in New York. And you live here in Texas."

He had this tight-knit group of people and Tahlia didn't know if they would accept her outside of Amanda, Sam and Gunner. The baby really didn't count at the moment, though she'd gone to Tahlia a few times, or tried. Due to her sling, she wasn't able to hold Abrianna.

"And I'm not sleeping in a different room than you. We're not teenagers sneaking around our parents; we're adults and I want to be with you every night, sleeping in the same bed like this." That was one stipulation she would not budge on.

His eyes were closed, but he nodded, listening. "You don't make the rules around here, wench, I do." Taker muttered, cursing under his breath when she pinched his nipple a little too viciously. "Alright, darlin'…. I'm just teasing." He peeked down at her, smirking. "I wasn't planning on not sharing rooms. If you're worried about how we're going to do this all, what with us living on different sides of the states, we'll figure it out. We don't need to rush, Tahlia, we got all the time in the world."

Time flew by over the past year they were apart, so Tahlia didn't believe that comment. However, she didn't argue with him and leaned up to brush her mouth against his softly, tenderly. "Admit it, you felt like a teenager sneaking his girlfriend into his room just a little while ago." She smirked at his eye roll and pinched his side, emanating a growl from him. Sitting up, Tahlia turned to look down at him and tossed one leg over his waist until she straddled him, staring down into his eyes with the moon reflecting off her back. "And you're wrong about making the rules around here; we both know damn well Amanda makes the rules, Calaway."

"She likes to think she does." He argued, his hands moving to her hips, kneading them. "But we all know, I pay the bills and the checks, so I make the rules." His green eyes darted towards the door, just in case she had heard that. Amanda did tend to rule with an iron fist when he wasn't around. "Mind you, darlin', she's been like that since she was a little girl, always… bossing us boys around." He still owed her… she had revealed his cake decorating secret. Taker made a mental note to get her before he left for the road again.

"So she's the one who made you decorate that cake for Abriana's party, eh?"

Amber eyes twinkled down at him, sheer amusement in them. He growled, sitting upright much like he did whenever he was knocked down in the ring and her legs instantly went around his waist. Tahlia tried to keep her giggling at a minimum, but the dark perturbed look on his face sent her in a fit.

"Who taught you how to do that anyway? The roses were perfect, maybe you should switch professions and go into cake decorating."

"You ever tell anyone at work about that and I'll ring your beautiful neck," He threatened, moving his hands to his throat, squeezing playfully before letting them move back down to her sides, caressing her through her pajamas. "And no, she didn't make me. It's just…" Taker sighed, inwardly groaning because his secret was out! "Gunner didn't care much for the store-bought stuff when he was little, right? So… I started making him cakes, but then they always came out looking stupid, so…" His eyes narrowed, staring at her intently, waiting for the laughter because it was about to come. "So… I took some classes at the community center and now – now I'm the one who does the cake baking and decorating, and I'm not going into cake decorating as a profession. You're out of your mind, woman."

He was telling the truth. This man, the big bad Lord of Darkness, the Phenom, the Deadman, the Undertaker, had actually gone to a community center to learn how to decorate cakes. All for his son. No laughter came from her lips, just admiration for how great of a father he actually was. Jodie would've been proud because Tahlia sure as hell was.

"Your secret is safe with me, Deadman. I won't tell a soul." She'd kept his secret from all of the Ministry regarding Gunner, even after they split. Bradshaw had tried prying the truth out of her, but she never budged once, not even when they were thirteen sheets to the wind in a bar with her crying. "I expect you to bake me a cake on my birthday though and I want it decorated." Her voice had dropped a little to that haunting tone, her mouth exploring his muscular neck and felt his hands tighten a little on her sides. "And I want chocolate frosting too."

"White chocolate maybe, I don't like decorating brown frosted cakes." He growled, fairly certain she was trying to test his resolve to not have sex right out the gate.

It wasn't that he didn't want too; the erection now straining his bottoms was a testament to how much he did, but Taker wanted to do things right this time around with Tahlia. Their relationship before had been physical, aggressive, and borderline insane. That was all well and fine, but there was also a time and place for patience and going slow.

"Fuck…"

"Ugh, I don't like white chocolate though."

Tahlia smirked at his discomfort and pushed him back down on the bed, hovering over him slowly, methodically kissing him. She could tell he was fighting the urge not to rip her clothes off and pound her into the mattress. Her problem was the same as his, her body aching and burning for him. She hadn't had sex in over a year and it had not only grated on her nerves, but her sanity.

"Milk chocolate is much better." Tahlia murmured against his mouth, hearing him groan and stifled a giggle by chewing her bottom lip.

She wondered how long he'd be able to hold back and resist before throwing caution to wind…how far she could push him. It could be fun to find out instead of jumping right into bed together. Of course, she also saw a lot of cold showers in her near future. Maybe pushing Taker to the brink of insanity would have a hell of a reward at the end.

"Strawberries too, don't forget those…"

"I got your strawberries right here, darlin'." He grunted, though they were probably more like blueberries by now. Cold showers and jerking it off only went so far and she was purposefully teasing him. Growling, Taker gently but firmly removed her off of him and planted her on the bed. "Enough. You're going to drive me insane, woman." And then he'd wind up pounding her until they were both blind.

"Yeah well, you've driven me insane for the past year, so turnabout is fair play." Tahlia remarked, sticking her tongue out at him and couldn't believe he was trying to take things slow with her.

This wasn't the same man who kidnapped her and made her one of his loyal minions. Taker had changed in a lot of ways and Tahlia didn't know if she liked it or not. It was different, especially since he had an insatiable sexual appetite. Maybe it was due to the fact they were in Texas with his family and he didn't want to show that darker side of him. Deciding she'd teased him enough for one night, Tahlia snuggled against him and felt his arm wrap around her shoulders, both of them falling asleep.