Disclaimer Seth Rollins, and the various other superstars mentioned in this story are the property of the WWE and/or the actors / sports entertainers / superstars that portray them. This story is intended as tribute only and is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

Original characters are the property of myself, and only children of my own imagination. Any resemblance to any real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

The Girl Who Lives
Part Twenty-Four

The courts did not appoint a guardian ad litem for Payton, which Bethany considered a bonus, and so Seth and Kayla did as well, but that didn't stop the investigations. More talks with social workers, more talks with court appointed psychologists.

"Why?" Seth almost demanded of Bethany when he was talking to her on the phone after picking up Payton from one of her appointments with the court psychologist. She had sobbed all the way home, unable to talk to either Seth or Kayla, instead running to her room and locking the door.

At first Seth had tried calling into her, but Payton refused to respond. Finally, frustrated and afraid, he had climbed up one of the porch pillars, and onto the back porch roof, which was right under her bathroom window. The window was unlocked and he raised the screen and opened it calling out to her, "Payton!"

Silence. He looked at the window. It was a small window, probably a little less than half of normal size, only big enough to let in some light and air, he wasn't sure he could get through it at all. "Payton!" he called again, "Payton, I want to talk to you!"

Just as he was about to climb down, get the ladder and try one of her bedroom windows, she came into the bathroom and stared at him. "What are you doing?" she asked, looking shocked.

"I want to talk to you!" he said, feeling suddenly stupid that he had gone to all this bother. "I was knocking on your door and you wouldn't answer."

Her face was swollen with tears, her hair a mess, but she smiled. It was a weak, watery smile, but it was still a smile. "You climbed on the roof to talk to me?"

"Yes!" he said, nodding. "Pay, I'm worried about you."

"Why didn't you bust open the door?" she asked him, then added, "You're strong."

"Uh... because they're pretty solid doors," Seth said, thinking quickly because now that she said it, he wondered the same thing, why didn't he bust open the door? Or at least threaten to if she didn't open up. "I didn't want to hurt my shoulder. Pay, will you talk to me?"

"On the roof?" she asked, "Because you're not going to fit in that window."

"No, how about if I climb down from the roof. Will you talk to me, then? Please?"

"Okay." She sounded a little hesitant, but more surprised than upset.

They sat in the backyard together, on the flagstone patio at the outdoor table, Kayla joining them. In a strained voice, Payton told them she was scared the courts wouldn't let her be adopted by Seth and Kayla because she had accidentally told the doctor that her parents didn't love her like they did Preston.

"Did you feel that was the truth," Seth asked carefully. They avoided discussing that elephant in the room, the obvious favoritism shown to Preston over Payton, never disagreeing with Payton when she mentioned it, but never agreeing either. Seth wondered if they would avoid this all their lives. How do you agree with a child that her parents didn't love her as much as they loved your dead brother? That your parents might have killed themselves rather than face a life with you as their only child?

Payton nodded, looking miserable. "It is the truth," she insisted stubbornly.

"Then you did the right thing," Seth said. "We told you that you are to be honest with the doctor, that's all we want you to do." Kayla nodded in agreement with him.

"No," Payton said, shaking her head. "I should have lied because of the paper!"

"What paper?" Kayla asked, her voice gentle.

"The one my parent signed." Payton's voice had taken on a whining tone that Seth knew was because she was frustrated at not having the words she wanted to explain this. "The one that said you an' Uncle Seth could take care of me!"

"What does the paper have to do with this?" Seth asked, although part of him was afraid he knew what she meant. The paper giving Kayla and Seth temporary custody of Payton had been a huge factor in the courts granting them, at least temporary custody of Payton. They hadn't deliberately told her that, but it had been mentioned to her and she must have understood more than they gave her credit for.

"They said the paper was like Mom and Dad's... bill," Payton said.

"Will?" Kayla suggested instead.

"Yeah, will." Payton nodded. "That Mom and Dad felt that what was best for me was to be with you! But I told the doctor that they didn't love me like they loved Preston. I'm scared the doctor is gonna think they didn't want what was best for me, that they gave you custody of me because they didn't love me." She burst into tears and buried her head in her arms. "I'm sick of this!" she wailed. "I don't like this! I just wanna live with both of you and be normal! I don't like all this attention!"

Seth had gone over to where she was sitting and gathered her in his arms, then sat back down, holding her, just letting her cry, knowing there was nothing he could say right now to help, all he could do was hold her. Kayla leaned over and patted her on the back, letting her sob.

But when the tears were spent and she had calmed down enough to help Kayla with dinner, Seth had stayed on the patio and called Bethany, not caring that it was evening, not caring that she had said he should only call her personal cell phone if it was an emergency. This was an emergency, damn it.

"Yes, Seth," she said as she answered, obviously seeing who it was on the caller ID. She had his "Fake name" number he used, but she knew it was him. "Is everything okay?"

"No," he said, telling himself to stay calm, that this wasn't Bethany's fault. "Everything is not okay. Payton was in hysterics today after her appointment with the court psychiatrist. Apparently, she told him that her parents didn't love her as much as they loved Preston, which is the truth, but she's terrified the courts will now think her parents only allowed Kayla and I to have custody of her because they didn't want what was best for her."

"Poor kid," Bethany said, her voice soft and sympathetic. Seth could hear the sounds of water running in the background and the sound of cutlery clinking together and figured out she was washing the dishes. "Is she okay now?"

"Yes, I guess," Seth said. "But Bethany, why? Why does she have to go to this doctor? No matter how many times we tell her it's okay, she can't do anything wrong as long as she's honest, she isn't buying it. She's terrified she'll say something wrong and that will get her removed from us." A dead brown leaf from a nearby tree blew onto the table. Seth grabbed it and crunched it in his hand, enjoying the feeling of it breaking into tiny fragments. "The courts are supposed to be looking out for her best interest, so tell me, how can her being stressed out and crying be in her best interest? We've been through this for the foster parenting. Why do we have to go through it again for the adoption? And why are the questions for Payton more upsetting?"

Bethany sighed. "The problem is that you becoming foster parents was just about making sure you had a stable home to bring a child into." Seth could hear her walking across a hard surface floor and knew she was leaving the kitchen. "Now what needs to be determined is if Payton is the child you should have. Will it be in Payton's best interest and yours, that she becomes your daughter." She paused for a moment, and Seth heard what sounded like someone saying "Marf!" and Bethany made one of those clicking noises with her tongue and teeth. "Sorry," she finally said. "Beauregard jumped in my lap."

"Beauregard?" Seth repeated.

"My cat," Bethany explained. "Anyway, the courts want to make sure you and Payton are the right fit. Because yes, this might be stressful, but the courts worry that you giving her up or her having to be removed from your custody because you can't handle her would be far worse. They want to make sure this will be permanent."

"We're not giving her up!" Seth protested, his voice louder than he knew it should be. "She's our daughter. Maybe all this crap is the legal way, but Kayla and I accepted her as our daughter a long time ago. This is just... stupid formality for the sake of red tape!"

"I know it seems that way," Bethany said, and Seth could hear a faint rumbling, which he realized was likely Beauregard's purring. "But, again, this is all supposed to be in everyone's best interests."

"Really?" Seth asked, wiping his hands on his jeans to get rid of the leaf bits still clinging to his palms. "It's in Payton's best interests to be scared that anything she says will result in her being removed from the home and the people she loves? Is it in her best interests for her to cry and lock herself in her room after one of these visits to the doctor?" Before he could stop himself, he added, "is it in Payton's best interests for me to climb onto the roof to see if I could crawl through her bathroom window to make sure she was all right."

"I know-" Bethany began, then stopped. "Wait a moment, what was that last one?"

Seth sighed knowing he'd been caught. "Was it in Payton's best interests that I climbed on the roof to see if I could go through her bathroom window to get to her," he muttered, then added, "I didn't actually do it, I called to her and she came to the window and we talked and she agreed to talk with Kayla and I on the patio."

"Why didn't you tell her she had until the count of ten to open the door or you would break it down?" Bethany asked and Seth could hear the amusement in her voice. Even the cat's rumbling seemed to sound louder as if he were chucking over this too.

"That's what she said," Seth mumbled. "I didn't think, I was worried. Was it the wrong thing to do?"

"Maybe," Bethany said. "But, I don't think you meant it wrong, I think you were worried. In the future? Make sure she can't lock her door. Tell her you will always respect her privacy and never enter without knocking and waiting for her reply to say it's all right, but unless she's got a lock you can quickly work around, don't let her lock her door. What if there was a fire and she was sound asleep?"

"Oh, crap," Seth groaned. "We never fixed that, it wasn't on your list. Shit, if she tells the doctor about this, does that mean I'm in trouble? I mean, I listened at the window first to make sure she wasn't using bathroom or anything like that. Then, I called to her."

"No," Bethany said, giggling. "I think you'll be fine on that. I mean, I wouldn't brag about it, but I think we can chalk this one up to over concerned parenting."

"And stress," Seth admitted. "Look, Bethany, I'm trying to be cool about all of this, but it's taking its toll. I want the state to conclude that Kayla and I are the best parents for her, but all of this checking and double checking is stressing Payton out too. That's not good. She's a pretty intuitive kid, she knows all of this talking to people and going to doctors is because they aren't sure she belongs with us. She is in desperate need of security right now."

"I know," Bethany said, her voice warm with sympathy.

"No, I don't think you do know," Seth said, hearing his voice rising and forcing himself to dial it back. "Payton was a kid who got the bare scraps of attention. She didn't lie to her doctor, her parents did love her brother a whole lot more than her. Here's the problem, Bethany, when she was living with her parents who couldn't even be bothered to comb her hair, who let her wander around freely in children's hospitals, nobody questioned if she belonged with them. Nobody, except maybe her grandparents thought that she deserved more, but they weren't in the position to give it. Now that she's actually with two people who love her and care about her, who are really being parents to her, suddenly she's the focus of attention to make sure this is a good home. What's the message they're sending her, Bethany? Because from where I see it, it wouldn't be hard to think that a bad home is acceptable, but maybe Kayla and I are too good for her."

Bethany was silent for a few seconds, then he heard a soft sigh. "You could be right. Let me see what I can do. I won't promise anything, but I'll see if we can at least get it so Payton doesn't have to go to the court ordered doctor. Is she still seeing Dr. Graves?"

"Yes," Seth said. "Not as often though, we all decided that she doesn't need to spend several days a week in a doctor's office. But if the court doctor stops, we'll increase the visits to Dr. Graves. Payton likes her and she knows that she's seeing her because of Preston dying. She doesn't associate her with the adoption. Honestly, Bethany, we're doing the best we can for Payton. The courts seem to be doing their best to make it hard on her."

"I got you," Bethany said. "Let me see what I can do."

Two days later, she told them that the courts had enough information about Payton, and the court ordered psychiatrist felt that she no longer needed to visit him, as long as she was still going to see Dr. Graves. It was a small victory, but a victory none-the-less. Another battle, or at least a skirmish won. Of course, Seth and Kayla still had to go, but they did their best to minimize the significance to Payton, who wasn't completely convinced, but at least had more confidence that Seth and Kayla wouldn't say "the wrong things."

Seth wasn't too sure about that. He still felt a lot of times like the doctor was trying to trick Kayla and him into confessing they would be terrible parents. So, when the day came, almost a year after her parents had died, when Bethany called to let him know what date they would go to court, he was concerned. "What do you think is going to happen?"

"I think it's too early to start calling her Payton Rollins, but if you want to pass out pink banded cigars or pink pencils when the adoption is final, you might want to order those," Bethany said. "I have a copy of the psychiatrist's findings. A lot of it I'm not going to bother telling you, but I will tell you that under recommendations, he feels that in the case of Payton, you and Kayla are her best chances at having a normal, happy life. That both you and Kayla have gone a long way already in undoing the damage of growing up in a stressful environment. And even that this adoption should take place as soon as possible for Payton's emotional well-being."

Seth felt stunned. "He really said that?"

"Yup." He could hear the smile in Bethany's voice. "I think the court hearing will be just a formality. The only thing that might end up a little stressful for Payton is the judge may want to talk to her."

"That's fine," Seth said, feeling a weight lifting off of him.

"Alone," Bethany continued. "Like in his chambers."

"Oh." Seth felt his heart freeze for a moment, then asked, "Why? I mean, if she had any worries about us as parents, she's had plenty of alone time with people to express them. Her case worker, the doctor, so on and so forth. And we've always told her to be honest with them."

"Our judge is Devin Knight, and he's known for wanting to talk to children alone before approving adoption, if the child is old enough," Bethany explained. "He's a nice guy and he wants to make sure that this is what's best for the child. I can't really blame him. I pulled some strings to get him, because I think he's the best one for this case. He really does only want what is best for the child. I can't really blame him for wanting to talk to Payton himself, just to make absolutely sure. Judges feel terrible when adoptions don't work out."

"Pay-Pay!" Seth called up the stairs, using one of Payton's favorite pet names, "C'mon little girl, get the lead out and let's go!"

"Coming!" came the girl's voice followed by the sound of her bedroom door shutting.

"She takes after you, you know," Seth said, turning to look at Kayla, who looked lovely in a black skirt and pale lavender blouse. "A natural beauty who feels she doesn't look presentable unless she spends half an hour getting ready.

"Sometime natural beauty needs a little help," Kayla said, smiling.

"Do I look okay?" Payton called out as she came to the top of the stairs.

Seth looked up at her. She was wearing a light blue dress with a matching headband to pull her hair out of her face. "You look wonderful, Pay-pay," he said, smiling. In the year and a half or so she had lived with them, she had put on four inches and a little under twenty pounds, which her doctor said was fine and actually needed for her height. She still was a slender child, but her waist now curved in a bit, and her hips swelled out, her body beginning to show the signs that sooner, rather than later, she would become a young lady.

But for right now, she was still a cute little girl. "Hugs?" Seth asked. She nodded, jumped down the stairs and into his arms, where he swung her around once and put her on the ground. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, then frowned. "Is it going to be okay?" she asked.

Seth and Kayla exchanged glances. "It should be," Kayla said, only a bit hesitantly. "Everything is supposed to be set."

Seth wasn't surprised at Payton's worries, he had more than a few himself on this day. I didn't matter that this was supposed to be a formality. There were too many times in the last year that "formalities" turned out to be "problems" instead. Seth and Kayla spent a lot of time before the final court date prepping Kayla and reassuring her that if the judge did wish to talk to her, it would be just fine. But they both knew she was worried. Even now, the morning they were headed for court, she looked both relieved that this would soon be over, and still worried about what would happen.

The drive over to the courthouse was quiet, the three of them lost in their own thoughts and afraid to say something. A couple of times Kayla tried to bring up something trivial, like where they might go for dinner that night (providing it was to be a celebration) but her attempts fell flat and soon she too, was staring out the window, only breaking her gaze to look in the visor mirror to make sure Payton was all right.

Seth smiled when he saw her glancing, but said nothing. He did the same thing when he was a passenger, or even as a driver when Kayla wasn't with him, make those quick glances to the back seat to make sure Payton was okay. We're parents, he told himself, Let's just hope Judge Knight agrees.

End Part Twenty-four

Author's Notes: One more chapter to go.

Special Thanks To:

Torrie: You were reviewer 600! I normally don't keep track since they don't number reviews, but I noticed today you were the last person to review and I have 600 reviews. It wasn't hard to do the math!

No spoilers on the end.

Zipper: No tower! Noooooo! Well, maybe it's not that bad. I got to eat a lot of pizza.

I know what you're saying about this place too. Trust me, I read you loud and clear, Zip and you're right.

Parvati: I hope you ended up doing better on your exams than you thought you did.

Angela: Thank you. I do know that being a social worker can be one of the most stressful jobs ever, especially when you work for the government. People can be awesome, but people suck too. And usually by the time a child is in the system, there has been a lot of suck in his/her life. I don't fault Gina, but I can see from Seth and Kayla's POV it would be easier if she wasn't so jaded by the system.

I don't want to do any spoilers, but I think Bethany is wise in the ways of family court. And things do look really optimistic at this point.

I'm hoping in my next story, I'll be able to focus a bit on the women as well as the kids, give a little more insight into them. As well as the guys too, and maybe give a chance to show how all three cope with family life.

I'm glad you think I had the brotherhood down. That's the part that I really hate to mess up. But I figure Seth is so on edge to this, he didn't recognize that Dean was busting on him. Everyone else saw it!

Emilee J: Yes, Seth is lucky he has his brothers, but Dean might be driving him nuts with his joking around too. And nope, I'm not just handing Payton over easily. Any time you involve the government, things can take a very long time and just be doing the same things over and over again. I was trying to show in this chapter how frustrating it was for everyone.

To Everyone who F/F this story: Thank you. If that's all you can do to show appreciation, that's fine. F/F is better than nothing. I just hope all of you who started with this, will finish with it too.

To Everyone Who Reviewed: Thank you. One more chapter to go and this tale will be told. It won't be the end of the adventures of Kayla/Seth/Payton or Cinnamon/Dean/Neil or Jessica/Roman/Leah, but this part will be over. You guys have been so wonderful, so encouraging with your reviews and kind words (at least most of you) that I don't know what to say, but thank you, from the bottom of my heart.