Okay. Time for a disclaimer. I own none of the talented wonderful men in this story. If I did... Well I wouldn't just be writing about it that's for sure! I'm honestly not sure where it's headed but I feel it might be a more realistic story. Probably will be a slow-burn for the main couple, if I'm able to resist. At this point, until things are more written out, it's an OC/? story. It will either be with Seth, Roman, or Dean, but it'll be determined for sure at a later time. I'd like to know though if you guys like it enough for me to continue, because I'm unsure of it myself.
Authors note: I just love writing up feels and making myself sad.
Random note: OH MY GOD! Roman and Dean are both champs! Yasssss!
"Mama?"
Leecie looked up from her check book and saw Rose frowning, tears on the verge off falling, holding her hands behind her back.
"What's wrong baby?" Leecie asked, wondering if she needed to rush over and hug her daughter or brace herself.
"I'm sorry mama. I didn't mean to break it!"
Then the tears burst forth as the small figure ran full tilt at her mom, bringing forth a picture frame. Leecie took it in confusion until she saw the glass was cracked over the very first photo her and Chuck ever had done with Rose. There was a photography service at the hospital and they caught the moment that Rose was placed in her arms.
"Baby, it's okay," Leecie murmured, pulling the young girl into her arms tightly, "You know I won't be mad if you apologize and tell me right away when there's an accident. How did it even happen?"
Rose squirmed slightly as she spoke.
"I just wanted to see daddy smiling when he looks at me. I- I haven't seen his smile in a long long time."
God give her strength because she really wanted to fucking kill Chuck for doing this to Rose. He was a selfish prick. How does a person want nothing to do with a child that loves them with everything they have?
"I know sweetie, I wish I could make him come back but I can't," Leecie whispered, "But remember what Roman said?"
Rose sniffled and pulled back, eyes twinkling just the tiniest bit at the mention of Roman's name.
"I have you, and that's all I need."
"Exactly. I promise you I will never leave you Rose, unless it's something beyond my control like death. You know that right?"
Rose nodded and Leecie pulled her into another hug, kissing the sweet smelling red curls that brought so much happiness into her life.
"You are the most important person in my life forever and always Rose, don't ever forget that," Leecie said as Rose untangled herself again.
"Love you mommy," Rose said meekly, "Thank you for not being mad at me."
Leecie simply ran her hand up and down Rose's arm in a soothing gesture then said, "Go play some more, then we'll order Chinese for dinner. Sound good?"
"Can we get Crab Ragoo?" Rose asked, twiddling her fingers with a little smile on her freckled face.
Leecie returned the smile and said, "Yes, we can get crab Rangoon."
Rose ran off with a cheer, rambling about her barbies and GI Joes going to eat healthy rabbit food as she went back into her room. Leecie released a sigh and righted herself at the table again, returning to the abysmal ledger that was her finances. Sure, she made a decent paycheck at her job, but that almost wasn't enough to pay rent, electric, internet, phone, gas, car payment, car insurance. She wanted to smack herself in the head in hopes of the dwindling numbers being a case of bad eyesight, but alas her register was correct. It was the 17th. She still had six days until her next check, which came in December 23rd, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to afford many presents and pay all her bills at the same time. That trip back in November, while it had been a dream come true, had set her back over four hundred for gas, snacks, and the car maintenance once she got back. Disregarding her mounting anxiety and depression, she called the local Chinese place and ordered dinner. Another eighteen dollars gone, twenty if you counted tip. This was why she needed that fucking child support. She had sent out the papers through the DFS but he had yet to sign them. She didn't want to push; she just wasn't a confrontational person. And yet, it wasn't fair for Rose to suffer in any way because he was a selfish prick. Apparently she stewed in her thoughts for a while because a knock at the door tore her from her thoughts and she jumped up, grabbing a twenty from her wallet before answering.
"I have large order of chicken fried rice, crab rangoon, two egg rolls, and two sprites. That'll be eighteen exactly," the young man said, flashing her a smile.
She took the bags and handed the money over.
"Keep the change," she said, returning his smile.
"Thank you ma'am."
He hesitated and before she closed the door, he called out, "Leecie Adams?"
She caught the door and shot him a confused look.
"Yes?"
"Did you go to high school here in town?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied cautiously.
"I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Blake. We had Latin club together. I was two grades below you, but uh, we teamed up a couple times," he said, his cheeks and neck flushing as he glanced down awkwardly.
She looked over him closely. The black hair with one dark red streak in the bangs, the pierced lip and ears, and those bright blue eyes.
"Holy- I mean, whoa! Yeah, I remember you! Blake the Drake! You always drew the most amazing dragons," she gasped as it finally registered in her mind.
This guy had been just as shy as she had been, but it was rather endearing on him.
"Right! Thank god. I thought for a second I was just a weirdo for remembering you," he murmured with a chuckle, "How have you been? It's been, what, almost six years?"
"Yep," she agreed, "I'm doing pretty well. How about yourself?"
"Mm, surviving. Hey, how's Chuck doing?"
Leecie grimaced and said, "Wouldn't know. We separated a while ago."
"Mama! Is it here?!"
Leecie turned and smiled at Rose, handing over the pack of crab Rangoons and her soda.
"Here, go get set up at the table and I'll bring the rest in a minutes."
She turned back to Blake and saw the surprise written on his face.
"Got pregnant a few months after graduation," she explained.
He bit his pierced lip, the action drawing her gaze in interest, and said, "You're a single mom then?"
"Yep, that's my job title now, along with dental assistant and college student," she said with a chuckle and blush.
"That's gotta be hard. Wow. I knew you were pretty awesome back then but apparently it continued on," he said.
He grinned and she swooned slightly. He still had the dimples... like Dean almost. Thinking about Dean made her think about Roman and the fact she still hadn't called or texted him.
"Hey, would you want to go to lunch or coffee with me sometime?" he asked, pulling her from her thoughts.
Wait, did he just ask her out? She noticed the blush on his face and realized that yes, yes he did.
"Sure," she said before she could stop herself.
"Really?! Awesome! How about Saturday? Are you off Saturday?"
"Actually, a school day works best because I don't have a baby sitter usually on hand. Would Friday be okay?" she offered.
He nodded and said, "I can swing by about eleven?"
"Sounds great," she assured him.
He gave a little wave and a hopped of the stoop, flashing her one last grin before jumping into his car. Leecie returned to the kitchen and cleared her area of the table and sat down.
"Mommy?"
The elder red head looked down at her daughter who seemed to be in deep thought.
"What sweetie?" Leecie replied.
"Are you really going to eat lunch with that guy?" Rose asked.
Leecie's brow furrowed in confusion and she turned to see her daughter fully.
"I might be, why?" she said.
"I really, really think you and Roman or Dean should be together. They make you smile and laugh and be happy. I like you happy mama," Rose explained, looking up with the sweetest doe eyed expression, "And they make me happy too."
"Oh honey, I know. They do make me happy, but they're both with someone. It wouldn't be fair to Roman's wife or Renee if I tried to take them away. You're still best friends with Ava right?"
Rose nodded.
"It'd be like someone coming along and asking Ava to be their best friend but she'd never really get to see you anymore. Except it'd be a whole lot worse because Roman and Galina are married and have Joelle together."
Rose fiddled with her fork but said nothing else on the subject so Leecie started plating the fried rice and egg rolls.
"Mama?"
"Hmm?" Leecie replied, mouth now full of rice and chicken.
"Is that what Vanessa did to you with Daddy? She took him away and that's why he can't come around?" she asked.
Leecie almost choked as she gasped, and quickly she swallowed her food, chasing it with Sprite as she looked over Rose. It was incredible how observant and smart she was, especially for being only five and a half. Swallowing back a cocktail of emotions, she nodded to Rose.
"Yeah, honey, just like that," she admitted.
"Oh... please don't take them then mama. I don't want anyone to hurt like you do."
Deep breaths, Leecie told herself.
"You're incredible, you know that Rose? You're so smart and kind and beautiful, baby."
Rose smiled and said, "Thank you mama. So are you."
…
"It's too late. He's probably sleeping," she told herself, but she brought up the messenger app anyway.
'Hey Roman, it's Leecie. Hope I'm not gonna wake you or bother you. It's almost eleven so I'm not sure if you're up or not. I just wanted to finally text you and give you my number because I'm an idiot and realized I hadn't yet. Hope you and Dean are well.'
She sent it before she could change her mind and fell back on the bed, heart pounding as she stared up at the ceiling fan with nervous energy flitting through her body. What if he wasn't serious about her texting him? What if he gave her a fake number to make her feel better? What if- Her phone dinged and she jumped up, opening the text quickly.
'Hey baby girl. I was wondering when you were gonna talk to me. Thought maybe you'd decided you were too good for us or something. :p'
"Oh my god. Oh my god. He texted back! Fuck, what do I say?!" she rambled to herself.
Her thumbs shook as she typed a reply.
'Me? Too good for you two? Uh, you do realize you two are the famous ones right? Lol'
Leecie let out a relieve sigh that her text hadn't seemed too weird, and even came off maybe slightly flirty.
'Famous, yeah, I suppose you're right there. But it always does the ego some damage when a beautiful woman doesn't text a man you know? Famous or not.'
She had to snort but the smile on her face was as wide as it could be.
'You need glasses Roman. But thank you. So how are things going? Raw and Smackdown are as action packed as always.'
Actually, she still loved the WWE and the superstars, but honestly she felt creative was doing a shitty job. This whole rivalry thing was fine, yeah, but... it just needed something. Dean and Kevin were having a wonderful feud so far like she had imagined. The popcorn thing had cracked her up like no other and she legitimately cried when Dean won the title. The League of Nations and Roman's family rivalry was what was lacking something. Roman and Sheamus together had electric fights when they got to duke it out, but too often there was interference or something would happen to discredit the strength of the fight. Now that Roman had won the title and beat the legitmate hell out of Triple H and McMahon, she hoped it would go forward to a better place. Her phone dinged again and she opened it eagerly.
'Don't lie to me Leecie. I know things are growing stale. Creative is barely willing to move and do anything different, but hopefully we are making progress here'.
Biting her lip, she decided to be completely honest.
'I love the WWE no matter what, and of course all of it's talent. But Creative is lacking. But the thing is, there are so many big names out right now. Seth, Cena, Nikki Bella, Cesaro and Orton being out has to limit what they can do. Especially Seth. It looked like you guys were gearing up for an amazing feud. I'll stick it out just like any other time they have a slow go of the story lines. It's happened quite a few times over the years. But it would help if you guys could up the rating sometimes. This PG bullshit is stupid. I watched during the Attitude era and it was epic! No mental scarring here lol... Sorry I just wrote like a paragraph there...'
She sent her reply and waited anxiously. Her over zealous reply could be annoying. She knew that and yet couldn't stop herself. Fingers combed through her red locks as she stared at her home screen picture of her and Rose at the park on her birthday. Leecie had to smile. The resemblance between the two was amazing. The message notification popped up and she felt nerves swell up again.
'I knew u weren't just in it for the sweaty men! Nice to see a fan who knows that things aren't always perfect'
Leecie's eyebrows flew up in confusion, but her phone ringing brought her back down to earth with an anxiety filled punch. She answered it and took a deep breath.
"Sorry about that. Dean stole my phone," Roman grumbled over the phone.
"Hey! Not my fault you left it lying at my side. You know I'm nosy!" Dean yelled in the background.
A laugh bubbled out of her throat as she listened to them bicker.
"Tell Dean I said I thought I made that point at Survivor Series."
Roman relayed the message and Dean yelled back, "Yeah, well, people can fake good when they want to."
A smart ass reply came to her head and she decided to just relay it. Fuck the anxiety.
"That many people have to fake it with him huh?" she said.
Roman's belly laugh filtered through the phone which made butterflies storm her belly with warm sensations.
"Dude, you just got burned big time!"
"Wha? Give me the fucking phone."
There was a scrambling noise and suddenly Dean's husky voice filled the phone.
"You talkin' shit over there firecracker?"
Her breath caught for a second and she bit her lip as forbidden lust swarmed her body.
"Uh, maybe?" she said with a light chuckle.
"Well, I'm waiting," he snapped, "What's got giggles here laughing up a lung?"
God damn that voice. It was ten times hotter over the phone.
"Just wondering how many people had to fake it for you to apparently recognize it so easily?" she replied, grinning ear to ear.
There was a silence then a short chuckle.
"Oh trust me sweetheart, no one fakes it with me," he said lowly.
She fought back the desire to moan and replied, "Well you thought I was faking, so you obviously don't know when someone is."
Where was this person coming from? Leecie had never been one to tease so easily. Not to say she wasn't loving it, because she was.
"Well, the screams and scratch marks on my back are usually a damn good sign. Why? You wanna test your theory?"
Suddenly there was another scrambling noise and Dean cursed, then there was a smacking noise. Leecie could only sit there in disbelief. Had he actually implied...? No way. He was teasing. Just as she was. She didn't actually believe he ever had even one person fake it. Hell, she was turned on just by his voice and now her body was humming with his more recent jest.
"Back the fuck off Jon," Roman snapped, before he voice came closer to the phone, "Sorry about him baby girl. He's like a dog in heat when it comes to women."
"Only with hot ones!" Dean yelled before there was a door slam.
Her face felt as if it were on fire as she thought about his words.
"He sure likes teasing people, doesn't he?" she asked curiously.
"Mmm, yeah well I don't think he was teasing," Roman grumbled, "Thinks only with his fucking dick. Anyway, enough about him and me. How are things going your way? Rose excited for Christmas?"
He wasn't teasing?! Nope. He was. Roman was wrong. She couldn't even allow herself to think Dean wasn't teasing, that he would seriously sleep with her.
"Leecie?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, she's excited as hell. But sadly most of her gifts are gonna come my mom and dad because work cut my hours back, trying to save money around Christmas and shit. I filed a complaint but they don't give a damn," Leecie sighed, "Almost considering selling some crack or something."
Her laugh came out short and light, but she was almost being honest. She had toyed with the idea but threw it out because she couldn't do that while being a mom. It wasn't healthy or safe.
"Really Leecie?"
"I was joking," she assured him, "I'm not stupid."
"Yeah, I know that. But I also know people will do dumb things when they think they need to. Isn't asshole helping?" Roman asked.
She frowned and started plucking at her blanket, not wanting to divulge much.
"No, but it's no big. I got her three toys and some coloring books so she has some things any-"
"Why isn't he helping?" Roman cut her off, "Did you ever send the child support papers?"
"Yes," she replied.
"So what happened?" he pushed.
She rolled over and heaved a sigh, feeling uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.
"I don't want to start anything. My luck he'd be pissed and try to take her or something in retaliation," she whispered, "He's like that."
There was a pause and then a sigh.
"In what court system would a dead beat asshole like him win custody? You've raised her, you work, there'd be no reason for them to transfer custody," he said.
"I just don't want to disrupt the mild peace in my life."
"Leecie, you need to. For Rose. You have to know that," he insisted.
Of course she knew! She thought about it everyday how it wasn't fair, but the chance that something bad could happen kept her fearful of doing anything.
"Baby girl, promise me you'll go after child support more aggressively," he muttered.
"I- After Christmas," she said gently, "Now, back to you guys. Congrats on title wins to both of you. How does it feel to be World Heavyweight Champion?"
He started energetically going on about the exhilarating feelings he was having because of it and she listened on happily, glad to have easily changed the subject.
