Chapter Sixty Six:
Jon's leg bounced wildly as Brooklyn pulled up in front of the airport. Today was the day he was heading to Tampa to meet his dad. To say he was nervous would be an understatement.
"Here we are." She said softly. Jon looked at the airport and shook his head before turning back to her.
"No. I changed my mind." Brooklyn smiled and cupped his cheek.
"Jon, you're going. Even if I have to drag you on the plane."
"Then that would mean you're coming with me." Brooklyn and Jon made the decision that Brook and the babies would stay in Hartford while he traveled to Tampa for the day.
"Jon, we all ready decided me and the babies would stay here. Its only for the day." Jon sighed.
"I know. I'm just nervous." Brooklyn nodded.
"I know and you have every right to be. But its only for the day. You'll be back by tonight with me and the babies and with hopefully a new relationship with your dad. Did you call Lauren?" He nodded and played with her hand.
"Yea she said she'd pick me up and we'd head over there together. Ashley coming?" Brooklyn nodded.
"Yea and Nick is here I guess. They said they would head over after we got home and Sarah and Colby said they'd come over too."
"Are they dating?" He asked, referring to Ashley and Nick.
"God no. Ashley could do better." Jon laughed and shook his head. Looking down at the time on the radio.
"I guess I should get out." Brooklyn nodded and pecked his lips before they got out. She opened the back of the car and he grabbed his bag before she closed it.
"Got everything you need? Ticket, phone?" Jon laughed and nodded.
"Okay, call me when you land and when you're done and when you're on your way home." Jon chuckled again. Looks like he wasn't the only one who was nervous.
"I will Brook. Promise." He walked around the car and opened the door behind the passenger's seat. He saw J.J and Amelia were wide awake in their car seats. This was gonna be the hardest part. Even though he was going to be gone for just a day, it was going to feel like a lifetime.
"Okay babies, daddy's gonna be gone for the day but I'll be back by tonight. If you can hold out on bedtime so I can see you, that would be amazing." Brooklyn giggled softly as she watched them.
"Be good for mommy okay. Daddy's gonna miss you guys." He lent in and kissed J.J's cheek.
"Bye big man. I love you." J.J squealed as Jon lent over his car seat and kissed Mia's head.
"Bye my little princess. I love you." Amelia squealed like her brother. Jon chuckled and kissed them each one more time before getting out of the car. He turned back to Brook.
"I guess I should head in." Brooklyn nodded.
"I love you." Jon said, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"I love you too. Open mind, remember that." Jon nodded.
"I know. I love you."
"I love you too." They kissed passionately before he grabbed his bag and headed inside. Brooklyn watched him until she couldn't see him anymore. Sighing, she turned back around and looked at the babies.
"Ready to go home and see your aunts and uncles babies?" The babies cooed, making her smile. She kissed their cheeks before shutting the door and getting in the front, driving her and her babies back home.
/*/
"Ow!"
"Serves you right." Brooklyn giggled as Nick rubbed his arm where Ashley pinched him. After she got home, everyone came over and after hanging out, they decided to head out and get some lunch.
"I thought J.J and Amelia were the only kids here." Nick and Ashley rolled their eyes at Sarah.
"Blame Nick, he started it." Colby, Brook, and Sarah laughed. Brooklyn looked down at the chairs next to her that housed the twins car seats, the little babies fast asleep.
"So Brook, has Jon texted yet?" Brooklyn pushed the home button on her phone, her screen illuminating and showing she had no texts. She shook her head and looked at her friends.
"Not yet. He should be landing soon though. It was a three hour flight."
"Is he nervous?" Ashley asked. Before he had left, Brooklyn asked Jon if she could let Ashley and Nick know. She knew they could be trusted and Jon agreed.
"Yea I mean, he hasn't seen him in twenty five years."
"That's just crazy his mom would do all this to him."
"Have you met his mother?"
"She's crazy." Colby added, getting a nod from Brooklyn.
"And what about the sister?"
"She is so sweet. She's picking Jon up and going with him when he visit's their dad."
"Well at least he's not gonna be alone." Sarah said as she sipped her water. Brook nodded.
"Good, I don't want him alone. I almost wish we went with him."
"There's no point in taking the twins on an unnecessary plane ride. Especially since he's coming back tonight." Brooklyn nodded.
"I know I just want to be there for him."
"You've been there for him a lot Brook." Brooklyn just nodded again.
"Alright enough sad talk about how much Jon and Brooklyn are meant for each other. What are we doing today?" They all rolled their eyes at Nick.
"You're an ass." Ashley commented. Nick just shrugged.
"Well, we could have a pool day. Its nice out."
"Nice? Its hot as hell? Is it usually this hot here in late April?" Sarah and Brook nodded.
"I'm so down with a pool day. Ooh, we should go shopping for new swim suits." Nick and Colby groaned.
"Hey we never said you two had to go. You can watch the babies." Brooklyn shook her head.
"No they can't." Sarah and Ashley laughed.
"Okay so we settled on a pool day. I say we eat then head shopping. Boys if you don't want to go, then why don't you go to the grocery store and get some food. We can cook out too."
"Anything to get out of girl shopping." Colby said, making Sarah hit him in the chest.
"Ow." He pouted and rubbed where she hit. After they finished eating, Ashley, Sarah, the babies, and Brook all got in her car while Nick and Colby headed to the store.
As they were driving, Brooklyn's phone started ringing. Grabbing it quickly, she saw it was Jon.
"About time." She muttered, making Sarah who was sitting next to her, laugh. She answered the call and put it on speaker.
"Hey babe."
"Hey baby. I just landed and got my bags. How is everything?"
Brooklyn smiled.
"Its good. We just finished lunch." She held the phone out.
"Hey Jon." Ashley and Sarah both said. She heard Jon chuckle.
"Hey guys. Taking care of my girl and babies?"
They laughed.
"Yea. We're gonna go to the mall and buy some new bikini's for out pool day." They heard Jon groan.
"I want pictures."
Sarah and Ashley rolled their eyes as Brooklyn laughed.
"We'll see. Lauren there yet?"
"No not yet. She said she'd be here in like five minutes though."
Brooklyn nodded as she pulled into the mall parking lot.
"Do you know what you're gonna say yet?" She heard Jon sigh as they all got out. She took the phone off speaker and held it to her ear with her shoulder as she got the stroller out.
"Not yet. I was planning on just seeing what comes out of my mouth."
Brooklyn shook her head as Sarah and Ashley brought the still sleeping babies over and laid them in the stroller.
"That's not always good, Jon. Maybe you should think about some things. Maybe you can ask him what he's like or see if you guys are interested in the same things." The girls threw their purses in the underneath compartment of the stroller. Brooklyn locked her car before they headed for the entrance.
"Yea maybe. Maybe we'll be more alike than I think. Lauren did say we used to wrestle all the time."
Brooklyn smiled.
"See, there's one thing. I know it's gonna be weird and hard at first but give it some time. You have to remember, he didn't see you for twenty five years either."
"I know, I know. God I wish you were here. I'm nervous." He mumbled.
Brooklyn just gave a sad smile.
"I know and you have every right to be. But don't let that hold you back from getting answers."
"I won't. Lauren should be here soon so I'll let you go. Have fun shopping and please send me pictures. I could use them."
"I will I promise. I love you."
"I love you too."
She made a kissy noise over the phone before hanging up and placing in the cup holder.
"He nervous?" Ashley asked as they walked further into the mall. Brooklyn nodded.
"Yea. Its understandable. I don't know what I would do if I was meeting my dad for the first time in twenty five years."
"I bet you'd still give him a headache." Brooklyn laughed.
"Probably. I just hope it goes well for him. The last thing I want is for him to be disappointed or hurt. He's already been through so much." The girls nodded.
"He'll be fine Brook. Come on, lets go find you a bathing suit so he has something good to look forward to." Brooklyn smiled and laughed, shaking her head.
/*/
Jon stood by the baggage claim, looking around for Lauren. He had just hung up with Brook when he got a text from Lauren telling him she was here.
"Looking for me?" He heard from behind him. Turning around, he smiled seeing Lauren standing there.
"Yea. I thought I was lost." Lauren laughed as they hugged.
"Nope you're good. So, ya nervous?" She asked as they made their way through the airport and to Lauren's car. He nodded.
"Does he know I'm coming?" Lauren shook her head as she opened the trunk so he could but his bag inside.
"No all I told him was that I was coming over. I'm gonna warn you, he has all the baby pictures of us hanging up." Jon's eyes widened as they got in the car and buckled up before Lauren started driving.
"Really?" She nodded, pushing a piece of her long, now light red, hair out of her face.
"I uh, guess it could be worse."
Lauren laughed.
"Even if it was pictures of you butt ass naked as a baby?"
Jon's eyes bulged.
"No. Tell me there isn't."
Lauren gave a dimple popping smirk that was identical to her older brother's as she was mentally conflicted. She didn't know if she wanted to tease him or put him out of his misery. She had the decision to end his misery so he wouldn't be even more nervous about going.
"No there's not. But I'm sure there's some somewhere. Imagine if your fan girls saw them." She teased.
Jon face palmed, his cheeks flushing.
"Oh God. They'd have a field day. They're freaking insane. How do you know about them?"
Lauren smiled as she continued to drive.
"Well like I said before, I watch wrestling and I am active on social media. I've seen some of their posts about you."
Jon groaned. He had seen some of these posts thanks to Brooklyn or Colby. Most were delusional, some were disgusting, and some were just plain crazy."
"I'm sorry you have to see those."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it comes with your job."
"You have no idea." She laughed again and he shook his head. A comfortable silence fell between them as Lauren continued to drive. Jon couldn't help but start tapping his fingers on his jeans as his nerves kicked in. Lauren saw his fingers flying out of the corner of her eye.
"You okay?" She looked over concerned before looking back at the road.
"Yea just nervous. Not everyday you meet your dad after twenty five years." Lauren nodded. Not wanting to stress himself out anymore, he decided to change the subject.
"You dyed your hair." Lauren smiled and nodded.
"I did. Wanted a change. It was supposed to be a darker red but my hair pulls light colors." Jon nodded.
"I like it." His words were sincere. Lauren smiled again.
"Thank you. Kind of looks like yours now. Although, your hair is weird. In every picture I've ever seen, it was always looking different." She giggled as Jon smiled and shook his head.
"You sound like Brooklyn. She told me she wanted to dye my hair so it was one color. And thank you for not sending the make up samples you told her about. She already has enough." Lauren laughed again.
"Jokes on you big bro. The box of stuff is in the back. You can take it home with you." Jon groaned.
"Great, thanks." Lauren laughed.
"Speaking of, how are my sister in and law and niece and nephew?" Jon smiled.
"They're good. Our friends are over there with them hanging out." Lauren nodded.
"And J.J and Amelia?"
"They're good. I'm actually able to go near Brook a little more now and I haven't gotten peed on in a while." Lauren smiled and shook her head.
"You probably just jinxed yourself."
"Probably. I was scared last week. We were at Fastlane and I helped Brook change them before I went out. I was waiting on baited breath hoping J.J held off. Thank god he did." Lauren laughed.
"You did good on Sunday. To bad you didn't get the title."
"I know. I wasn't very happy."
"I bet but you'll always get another chance. I'm sure they have something big set up for you." Jon let out a little laugh.
"Now you really sound like Brooklyn."
"Good thing or bad thing?"
"Good thing. Its like having her here with me." The siblings shared a smile. Five minutes later, Lauren pulled in front of a house. Jon looked out as his heart started racing. He saw it was a fairly normal sized house.
"Ready?" Jon looked over at his sister.
"As I'll ever be." Lauren gave a small smile and squeezed his hand.
"You'll be fine, Jon. I promise. Come on." She got out and shut the door. Jon took a deep breath and quickly looked down at his phone, a picture of a smiling Brook and the babies looking back at him. Nodding his head slightly, he unbuckled and stepped out before shutting the door. Lauren gave him an encouraging smile before leading him up the little pathway to the front of the house.
He swore his heart was going to jump out of his chest when Lauren rang the doorbell. His head whipped up when he heard the door open.
"Lauren! Hi sweetie." Jon's eyes widened when he saw a man, maybe in his late sixties, standing there. Jon saw he was around the same height as him, had the same blue eyes and curly hair except his dad's was completely white.
"Hi dad. This a good time?" Their dad nodded, not even noticing the man behind his daughter.
"Of course its always a good time." Lauren smiled.
"Good because I bought a friend." Moving out of the way, the two men's eyes locked. Like Jon's, Joe's eyes widened. He didn't even have to ask who it was he knew. What kind of father doesn't know his own son.
"J-Jonny?" Jon swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded.
"Hi dad."
/*/
Brooklyn checked the time on her phone for the hundredth time. She couldn't help but feel anxious as she wondered how Jon was doing in Tampa. Despite always being the calm one, she was a nervous wreck. So many scenarios circled her mind. Her stomach twisted in knots as she thought about the possibilities. What if his dad was crazy? What if she had gotten it wrong and Lauren had lied? Brooklyn bit her lip as she got lost in her thoughts. She tried to calm herself down. Her instincts had never been wrong before and she didn't expect them to fail her now. At least she hoped.
Groaning softly she closed her eyes.
"Brook?" She was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't even hear her name being called.
"Earth to Brooklyn."
She stayed in her own little worry bubble until she felt something hit her, which made her jump. Snapping out of it, she looked down and saw one of Moxley's foam ball toys laying on the ground next to her sun lounger. She looked at Colby and Sarah, who were sat on the sun lounger next to hers with the twins.
"Who just threw Mox's ball at me?"
Sarah and Colby looked at her and shrugged.
"It wasn't me." Sarah answered honestly as she tickled Amelia's hand.
Brooklyn turned her attention to Colby. It was definitely something the architect would do. Colby seeing the look on her face, raised an eyebrow.
"Don't look at me like that, Good. I'm innocent, right J.J?"
The little baby cooed at his uncle making him smile.
"See?" Brooklyn smiled and cast her eyes to the pool where Ashley and Nick were.
"It wasn't me. I'm not juvenile." Ashley said simply.
Brooklyn shook her head. That only left one more person.
Nick sat on the edge of the pool with his legs dangling in the water while he whistled.
"You're dead, Nicholas." The other three laughed.
"Hey, it got your attention, didn't it?" Brooklyn rolled her eyes and laid back down on her chair, smiling as she watched her babies.
"Still no word from Jon?" Brooklyn sighed and shook her head.
"No. What if I was wrong? What if his dad does turn out to be crazy?"
"Brook, we all know you're instincts are always spot on. Don't worry so much."
"I'm trying, I can't help it. Baby me." Colby and Sarah laughed before laying the babies on her. Brooklyn held them as they laid their heads on her chest and cooed at each other. She kissed both their foreheads, keeping them as close as possible.
"I know what will cheer you up." Sarah said, pulling Brooklyn's attention to her. Brooklyn raised an eyebrow.
"What?" She asked hesitantly. Sarah rolled her eyes.
"What's with the tone? Seriously, I don't know why I bother." Everyone chuckled which made Sarah roll her eyes again.
"I'm sorry Sar but with all the time you spend with the Sell Out here, you could have turned into him." Colby scowled.
"I resent that." Brooklyn giggled and looked back at her best friend.
"What was your idea, Sarah?"
"Well since I know that you won't relax and you want to be there for Jon, why don't you take a picture of you and the twins and send it to him to let him know that even though you're not there physically, you there spiritually."
Brooklyn thought about it for a minute before she broke out into a smile.
"That's a really good idea."
Sarah smiled in accomplishment. She took Brooklyn's phone and snapped a picture of her and the babies while they laid in the chair.
"Perfect." Brooklyn smiled and took the phone back looking at the picture. It would give him a good look at her new bathing suit as well as the smiles on the twins faces.
"Thank you Sarah." She smiled and nodded as Colby pulled her to him.
"Pretty and smart. Who knew." Sarah laughed.
"You should have." Colby chuckled and pressed his forehead to hers.
"You look very pretty in that bikini. No scratch that, you look very sexy." Sarah blushed as his eyes raked over the purple bikini she had bought just hours before.
"Thank you. You look very sexy yourself." She murmured, snaking her arms around his waist as resting them on his butt, giving a little squeeze. Colby jumped slightly, making her giggle.
"Getting frisky are we?" Sarah scrunched her face up.
"Don't say that word. I don't like it." Colby chuckled and pushed some hair out of her face before leaning down and capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. They heard a click sound go off, making them pull apart.
"What was that?" Brooklyn shrugged as she carefully sat up with the babies still cuddled to her chest. Turning around they saw Nick holding his phone up. His eyes were a little wide as they scowled at him.
"Nicholas, did you take a picture of us?" Nick shook his head.
"No." He said unconvincingly.
"Yes he did." Ashley said as she stood up and walked over, taking J.J from Brooklyn. Nick groaned.
"Ashley!" Ashley smirked.
"Shouldn't be a dick head then." He rolled his eyes and looked at the couple.
"Yes I took a picture of you guys. Gotta give the fans what they want. Now say cheese." He raised his phone to take another picture when Sarah lunged for him. Colby, Brooklyn, and Ashley all laughed as Nick ran and Sarah chased after him.
"Get him babe!" Colby cheered.
"Brook this is your house, make her stop!"
"I'm good." Nick just huffed. As he was running, he dropped his phone.
"Damn it." He turned around to get it but yelled when he was suddenly pushed into the pool. Ashley, Brooklyn, and Colby all started laughing as Sarah stood by the edge of the pool, smirking. She bent down and gabbed his phone, unlocking it as Nick surfaced.
"I took a picture of you and you throw me in the pool?"
"Yup." She popped the "p" as she got into his pictures. She sent the one of her and Colby to her phone before deleting it off of Nick's.
"Serves your right." Nick rolled his eyes and swam over to walk up the stairs. Sarah met him and handed him his phone back.
"Nick, there is a reason we don't post a lot of pictures together besides on my private account."
"Yea. The last thing I want is for crazy fans to verbally attack her because we're together." Nick nodded.
"You're right, I'm sorry."
"Hey, then why do you insist on taking pictures of Jon and I?"
"Because I know you can handle it and its funny to watch you guys get mad." Brooklyn rolled her eyes.
"Take her for a minute." Ashley nodded and held both babies Brooklyn turned and stalked towards Colby.
"What are you doing?"
"You look like you could use a dip in the pool, Colbs. Allow me to help." She grit out before he started running, Brooklyn chasing after him. The others laughed and shook their heads.
/*/
Jon sat across his father on the couch. It was an awkward silence between the two, the only noise in the house being some clinging of glasses coming from the kitchen where Lauren was getting drinks.
Jon's fingers tapped at a mile a minute on his leg. His eyes traveled around the living room, seeing multiple frames hanging up. Lauren was right, their father really did have all the pictures hanging up. A small smile formed on his face when he saw one when he was a little baby. He looked exactly like J.J. Well, J.J looked exactly like him.
"You were six months there." Jon almost jumped, not expecting him to talk. Looking back at his dad, he raised an eyebrow. Joseph chuckled and pointed at the picture.
"I saw you looking. You were six months old there. And there," he pointed to the one next to it. "Was on your first birthday. We didn't even finish singing before you bashed your face in the cake." He laughed fondly at the memory. Jon gave a small smile.
"I'll uh, take your word for it." Joseph nodded and they both looked up as Lauren came back in the room, three glasses filled with iced tea.
"Thank you honey." Lauren smiled at their dad before handing Jon his glass and sitting down next to him. It was an awkward silence again before Joseph spoke up.
"I'm uh sure you have a lot of questions." Jon looked at him and nodded, pushing some of his curls out of his face.
"Fire away." He gave a warm smile. He had been waiting twenty five years for this day and he was trying to make Jon as comfortable as possible but Joe was just as scared and nervous.
"Why um, why did you leave?" Joseph sighed.
"You were just four. Just started pre-school. I was working at the local movie theater, that being the only job I could get apparently with my record but I got a call from your school saying you were still there. Your mother should have picked you up but they couldn't get a hold of her. So I left work and went and got you before taking you home. As soon as we walked in, all we heard was crying. Your mother, the great woman she is, was passed out drunk on the couch while Lauren sat in front of her screaming and crying." He stopped and took a deep breath before continuing.
"I put you in your room and went back out to wake her up. We got into this huge fight. All I remember is yelling I'm done. I grabbed Lauren and went to grab you when she stopped me. Yelling that she wasn't going to let me take both kids. I tried again she threatened me with the police. Lauren was crying and screaming I had to get her out of there so we left. I tried Jonny, I tried really hard to go back and get you whenever I could."
"Yea I know, Lauren told me what happened." Joseph nodded and wiped his eyes.
"I went back when you were around fourteen but you weren't there. I thought the worse. I tried to get your mom to tell me where you were but she didn't even know. Then again I don't even think she knew her own name." Jon nodded.
"I was living with my best friend Sami. His family took me in." Joe nodded.
"I'm happy you got out of there. I'll tell you Jon, the biggest regret in my life was not trying harder to get you. You shouldn't have had to live with that woman."
"I agree with you there." He mumbled, taking a sip of his drink.
"I'm lucky I don't remember her." Lauren said, making both men nod.
"Yes you are Lauren. I thought she'd change when I left, that it would sober her up but it didn't, did it?" Jon shook his head.
"Made her worse if anything." Joe nodded, his eyes dropping.
"I can never apologize enough Jon. I really can't. I'm just hoping with you coming here, this can be a fresh start."
Jon was just silent as he took everything in. All the words ran through his head and he couldn't lie, he felt some resentment in his heart but he didn't want to hold it against his dad or Lauren. This was why he was here, for a fresh start.
"Yea I uh, I'd like that." Lauren smiled as did Joe.
It was silent for a few more minutes before Joe spoke again.
"So Lauren says that you like the Bengals and Flyers." Jon smiled and nodded.
"Like I told her, gotta represent the hometown."
Jon chuckled.
"That's my boy." Jon felt his heart tighten at his words but it wasn't in sadness, more like it was something he had longed to hear.
Over the next hour, Lauren, Jon, and their dad continued talking and Jon was able to find out much more about him. He was shocked to see how similar they were. They both liked the same music, favorite beer and food. Both hated the winter much to the dismay of Lauren. They were truly bonding.
"You guys are weird. There is nothing wrong with the snow."
"Yes there is." They both said, making her laugh. She was happy to see that they were getting along. It was like they were a normal family.
Jon jumped slightly when he felt his leg vibrate. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone. Unlocking the screen, he smiled seeing a text from Brooklyn. Opening the message, he was greeted with a picture of her laying down on one of the lounge chairs outside with the twins. The photo had the caption "We Miss You Daddy! XOXO."
Lauren immediately picked up on the expression on her brother's face.
"Is that Brook?" Jon smiled and nodded, quickly typing a message back.
"Whose Brook?" Joseph asked, interested.
After he pushed send, Jon returned his gaze back to his father.
"Brooklyn. She is my wife."
Joseph smiled.
"Wife? Congratulations! How long have you two been married?"
"Almost a year. We have twins too."
Joseph felt his heart clench. He had not only missed out on twenty five years of Jon's life, but missed out on meeting his daughter in law and grandchildren.
"You'd love her dad. She's so sweet and balances Jon perfectly." Jon rolled his eyes as Joe chuckled softly.
"Do you have a picture?" Jon nodded and pulled up his wallpaper on his phone and handed it over to his dad.
"This is them."
"Hold on, I'm old and need my glasses." Jon and Lauren laughed as Joe lowered the glasses that were on his head to his eyes. He smiled when he saw the picture.
"She's beautiful, Jon. So are the babies. You have a beautiful family." Jon smiled.
"I know." Joe chuckled and handed his phone back to him.
"How old are the babies? And what are their names?"
"They're two months and their names are J.J and Amelia." Joe smiled.
"Congratulations, Jon. Has your mom ever met them?" Jon shook his head.
"Only Brooklyn. We uh actually got a restraining order against her." Joe's eyes widened.
"Really? What happened?"
"She went batshit crazy." Lauren said, pushing her hair out of her face. Joe looked at his son for clarification.
"When Brooklyn was pregnant, we found out mom was dating one of Brooklyn's uncles. We had already warned her to stay away from us but she never told her boyfriend she knew us and he brought her to England. It wasn't pretty. Then, at Brooklyn's baby shower, we told them we didn't want her there but the uncle brought her anyway. Shit hit the fan and Brooklyn ended up in the hospital."
Joseph's eyes widened.
"Oh my. Was she okay?" Jon sucked on his teeth and nodded.
"Thankfully. We ended up contacting Sarah, who is Brooklyn's best friend and a lawyer and she out a restraining order in motion for us. Then in January, her uncle confronted her back stage at a show in Hartford. He ended up causing her to go into early labor. Thankfully the twins were okay."
Joseph shook his head. He never thought Kim would go that far but then again, you never knew what she would do.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Jon. Your mother never was good at knowing when to stop. Did you ever get the restraining order?"
"Yup and we haven't heard from them since."
"I kind of wish I knew her so I could see how crazy she actually was." Joe shook his head at his daughter.
"No you don't Lauren. She wasn't right in the head and the years of drinking had a lot to do with it. I'm sure your brother here can tell you how much of a problem she can be."
"Trust me Lauren, you're lucky you never knew here. She didn't ever try to find you?" Lauren shook her head.
"Nope. Though I'd like to see her face when she realizes her twenty five year lie has finally ended." Joe and Jon smiled at her.
"Okay enough about her. What more can you tell me about this wife of yours? She must be pretty special. When you were little you used to tell me girls had cooties and you were never gonna be with one." Jon chuckled, his cheeks heating with a little embarrassment.
"She just gave me the love I felt I never had. I didn't know you, Kim was to drunk. Its like she gave me a new life. She gave me a family. I love her more than anything."
"I can tell by the way you talk about her. I knew she was the one when I saw you guys together." Lauren and Jon furrowed their eyebrows. Jon's heart started to race a little.
'Please don't tell me I have another stalker parent.' He thought.
"What are you talking about dad?" Lauren asked. Joe chuckled and got up, grabbing a photo album from underneath the coffee table. He handed it over to Jon.
Jon hesitantly took it and saw his name was on the front. Opening the cover, he saw picture after picture of him throughout his career. Each title he held, each match he participated in was here in this book.
"You watched me?" He looked up before looking back down, seeing pictures of when he was pulled up to the main roster.
"Of course I did. You were living your dream. All you ever talked about when you were younger was wrestling. I had to stop you from trying to wrestle Lauren on multiple occasions." Lauren and Jon laughed as he continued flipping pages. He got to the second to last page, seeing a signed autograph photo of himself.
"Did you buy this?" Joe smiled and nodded.
"Then how did you get it?"
"By waiting in line for two hours." Jon's eyes widened. He had met his dad and he didn't even know it?"
"When?" Lauren was just as shocked as Jon.
"I wanna say it was around May of last year. I had decided I wanted to meet you and I decided to go to the signing but when I saw you, I got so nervous I almost left. I knew you were at work and I couldn't spring that on you there. When it was my turn, you smiled, shook my hand and signed the picture. I think I told you it was for my grandson."
Joe chuckled at the memory.
"I can't believe you saw him, dad."
"Me either. I thought I had finally grown some balls to talk to you but that went out the window as soon as I got a glimpse of you. Sitting next to a girl I now know is Brooklyn and you were smiling and laughing. I didn't want to ruin that."
Jon shook his head.
"Wow. I uh, don't even know what to say."
"Neither did I." Jon couldn't help but laugh. He and his dad also had the same sense of humor.
"How long are you here for, Jon?" Jon looked at the clock, seeing it was almost four o'clock.
"My plane leaves at five. I should get there a little after four so I guess I'm leaving soon. But I should probably talk about the other reason I came. Wrestlemania is coming up and we get tickets to give to family or friends and I was wondering if you two would like to go? I'm willing to pay for a room and flight." Lauren and Joe both smiled.
"I'd love to." Lauren beamed. She had always dreamed about going to Wrestlemania and now she was!
"Dad?" Jon asked, the words still feeling weird as he spoke them. He really did have his dad back. Joe looked at his son and smiled.
"Count me in. Maybe I can meet those beautiful babies and gorgeous daughter in law. But I won't have you pay." Jon shook his head.
"Its my treat though."
"What about this," Lauren started, knowing her father was stubborn and assuming Jon was the same. That was the Good family trait.
"Why don't we pay for the plane and you can pay for our room?" Joe nodded.
"I'm good with that. Jon?" Jon nodded.
"Fine by me. As soon as I get your tickets, I will mail them." Lauren and Joe both smiled.
"Thank you for inviting us."
"You guys are my family and I think this would be good for us. Spending a week together, family bonding or whatever normal families do." Joe and Lauren laughed.
"We're not normal." Lauren and Jon laughed at their dad.
"Touche dad." Joe laughed and shook his head.
"Well, I guess we should get going huh?" Jon nodded at his sister. They both stood as did their dad. Jon and Joe just looked at each other for a few seconds before Joe moved to hug him. Jon tensed for a second before hugging back.
Lauren felt tears form in her eyes and shook her head, wiping them away.
"I am so sorry Jon. I hope this is a new start for us." Jon pulled back and nodded.
"I know and it is. I'd like to get to know you more and have the dad I never knew or had before." Joe smiled and nodded.
"Okay, lets go before I start crying more. Bye dad." Lauren hugged their dad.
"Bye sweetie. Bye Jon, call Lauren when you land so we know you got back safe." Jon chuckled but the serious look on his fathers face made him stop.
"Will do. Bye dad."
"Bye Jonny, take care." They hugged once more before he and Lauren left. When they got in the car, Jon let out a long breath.
"So what did you think?" Lauren asked as she started the car. Jon looked over at her.
"It was a relief. I didn't know what to expect but I'm glad we seem to get along." Lauren smiled.
"I knew you guys would. You act the same." Jon laughed.
"You got me there. Thank you for coming with me. I don't know if we would have said as much without you." Lauren smiled.
"That's what family is for, right?" Jon shared her smile and nodded.
/*/
Brooklyn hummed a random tune as she cleaned up in the living room. The twins were down for the night, their long day resulting in them going to sleep early. Thank god Sarah had offered to stay back and help because she didn't know how she would have handled it herself.
Her head whipped up to the door when she heard the jingling of keys. She smiled wide as Jon came walking through the door.
"Hey!" She beamed. Jon smiled and set his bag by the door before walking into the living room.
"How was-hmm!" Her words were cut off when he caught her lips in a passionate kiss. Her eyes fluttered shut as she looped her arms around his neck and kissed back. Jon moaned and pushed her lips open with his tongue. He had missed her more than he probably should from just being away for a day.
When their lungs screamed at them for their abuse, they pulled away breathing harshly.
"Hello to you too." Jon chuckled and kissed her head.
"Hi darlin. I missed you." Brooklyn smiled.
"I missed you too. Did you like the picture I sent though?" Jon nodded as they moved to sit on the couch.
"I set it as my new background. You're gonna have to model that bikini for me later." Brooklyn smiled as he looked around.
"The babies asleep?" Brook nodded and Jon sighed.
"They tried but they had a long day. You should have seen them when we went in the pool. They smiled the whole time." Jon smiled.
"How did you manage to get them down for the night?"
"Sarah stayed and helped but it didn't work from the start. So I put one of your shirts on and that seemed to do the trick." Jon chuckled and ran his hand up and down her smooth leg that was on show thanks to the short, black, cotton shorts she was wearing.
"So, how did it go?" She smiled.
"It was awkward at first. We kind of broke the ice when he saw me staring at one of my baby pictures he had hanging on the wall. Then we kind of went from there. He explained why he left, what happened that day. He said it was a big regret of his for leaving. We both agreed to a fresh start and we just talked about random stuff from there. We both like the Flyers and Bengals, we hate winter." Brooklyn rolled her eyes.
"Weirdos." Jon laughed.
"What else?" She asked, smiling. She was happy to see Jon was happy. It made her earlier worries disappear.
"He met me once before." Brooklyn furrowed her eyebrows.
"Huh?" Jon chuckled.
"He came to a signing before. Had a picture and everything. He said he wanted to come see me and talk but when he saw me, he got cold feet. Instead he just got my autograph and left. I showed him the picture you sent me. He said he can't wait to meet you guys. He was surprised I got married." Brooklyn laughed.
"Why?"
"Because when I was younger I told him girls had cooties and I never wanted to be around one." Brooklyn laughed and shook her head.
"He followed me through my whole career. I swear he had every picture from every moment in my career." Brooklyn smiled.
"Did you ask about Wrestlemania or did you wanna take it slow?" Jon shook his head.
"No I asked. They said they'd love to go. We agreed they would pay for their flights and I'd pay for their hotel."
"We'd pay for their hotel. They're my family too." Jon smiled.
"I just can't believe it. I finally have my dad in my life." Brooklyn smiled and laced their hands together.
"I'm happy you're happy." Jon smiled as she kissed him softly again. He just started to kiss back when she pulled away.
"What is that in your ear?" Jon raised his hand and felt she was talking about his earring.
"My earring. I thought I lost it but I found it in my bag. I don't know how it got there." Brooklyn just hummed. Jon saw the look on her face and smirked.
"Did you hide my earring on me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Jon laughed.
"Like I believe that." Brooklyn rolled her eyes and stood up, walking over to the stairs.
"Oi, where you going? We haven't seen each other all day." Brooklyn smirked and turned back to him.
"I was gonna go put my bikini on and take a dip in the hot tub. Care to join?" Jon nodded eagerly as he jumped up and followed her up the stairs.
"Don't think I didn't forget about the earring." Brooklyn just hummed and pulled her shirt off, tossing it at him. He growled and she giggled as they got to the top of the stairs. Just as Jon was gonna say something, they heard a cry come from the nursery.
"That sounds like J.J."
"I'll get him. You go change." Brooklyn smiled and kissed his cheek before heading to their room. Jon walked to the nursery, walking in and over to the crib that housed his crying son.
"Hey little man. What's the matter?" He picked J.J up, smiling when he heard J.J stop crying.
"Daddy missed you and Mia today. Did you have fun with mommy and your crazy aunts and uncles?" J.J cooed, making him chuckle as he sat down in the rocking chair. He rocked back and forth gently.
"Daddy had a crazy day too ya know. He met his daddy today and hung out with aunt Lauren." J.J looked up at him.
"He was so scared but turns out it wasn't so bad. We got along good and daddy got to see pictures of himself when he was a baby. Spoiler alert kid, you're gonna look a lot like me as you get older. Your sister got lucky, she's gonna look like mommy but you got my genes. But who knows, that probably won't be all bad huh. Anyway, I think you guys and mommy would like my dad. His name is Joe, like uncle Joe but this one isn't as muscular and doesn't have as good as hair." He got another little smile. Jon laughed.
"He and daddy like a lot of the same things. I guess this means you and Amelia have a new grandpa. How do you feel about that?" J.J gurlged, making him smile.
"I'm gonna take that as an 'I like it daddy.'" He laughed and shook his head, bending down to kiss his forehead. He rocked them in silence for a few minutes. He saw J.J's eyes were growing heavier
After a few more rocks, J.J was sound asleep. Carefully getting up, he laid J.J down in his crib and covered him with his blanket.
"Good night babies, daddy loves you both so much."