Chapter 21
Steve arched an eyebrow when he seen Mark walk out of a room with Nicoya's daughter. Nodding to them both and continuing on his way. He waited until he heard the little chatterbox's voice fade away before turning around and knocking on Nicoya's hotel room door. Keeping out of sight incase she tried to close the door on him when she opened it. Nicoya looked up at the hotel room door when she heard a knock on it, figuring Mark forgot something. He didn't have a key card after all as she stood up and walked over, after saving her work on her laptop. She opened the door and frowned when she didn't see anyone. Her eyes widened when Steve stepped in her vision and swallowed hard, wondering what he wanted.
"Hello, Mr. Williams, what can I do for you?" She asked hesitantly, wondering how he knew what room she was in, and tried not to act nervous.
"Well Coya," Steve began conversationally, placing his foot in the door so she couldn't close it on him. "For starters, you could tell me just when, or if even, you ever had plans on introducin' me to my niece?"
Nicoya's midnight blue eyes widened in shock as her hand began shaking violently on the door, staring back at her brother, and couldn't move. She couldn't think. Breathe. Nothing was coming and no words were sounding from her mouth. How in the HELL did he find out?! What in God's name was she supposed to say now?
Steve caught her when she started to sway, gently backing her into the room, and closed the door behind him. "Calm down, Coya." He advised, nudging her back down onto the bed. "I made some phone calls, includin' one to yer mom." He informed her, almost honest, blunt and straight to the point about everything in his life. "Why didn't you say somethin'? That day in the cafeteria for instance?"
Her head was spinning as she blinked several times, trying to get the shock to wear off, and sighed heavily as her head finally lowered. "I never expected you to find out. It's been twenty years since we last seen each other, Steve. I didn't want you to find out." She finally said in a low, quiet voice, sighing heavily and raked a hand through her black hair.
Steve ran a hand over his bald head, looking slightly confused, and replied, "Coya, twenty years or forty, it don't matter. We're still family now ain't we?"
"I don't know what we are, Steve. I don't trust a lot of men around my daughter or me for that matter. I've been through a lot in the past twenty years and I don't want to confuse my little girl with this. I have enough on my plate right now." She sighed heavily, knowing she probably sounded like a bitch, but the fact of the matter was that Steve was the LAST person she wanted to deal with. John was trying to take her little girl away from her and she was still conflicted about Mark. Nicoya felt like shooting her head off with a shotgun.
Steve held up his hands, stepping away, an indefinable emotion in his blue eyes. "Right, sorry, didn't mean to waltz in and mess up things fer ya, Nicoya." He apologized, sounding truly hurt. "I shoulda stopped and thought bout Alyssa. That is her name, ain't it?"
"Yeah, that's your niece's name." She answered, sighing, and finally felt the tears well up in her eyes. "I didn't know how you'd take finding out that your stepsister worked for the same company as you did, Steve. I mean the last time I seen you was when I was just a little girl and you were fifteen. I didn't even think you'd remember me to be quite honest, especially after our parent's divorce." She started crying, her brain feeling like it was going to explode.
"Fifteen, rowdy as Hell, moody over our parent's decisions in life…" Steve shrugged awkwardly, naming off a few of Nicoya's characteristics. "Coya, we were both kids back then and I'm sorry fer not recognizin' ya, but you've grown up from that little beanpole with knobby knees and a scrawny neck." His tone was light, playful, looking around and finally snagging a couple tissues, holding them out to her. "Why would I mind if ya worked for the same company as me, honey? Not like I got a claim on it…well…you know what I mean." He did have a claim on it. The WWE was his stomping grounds and he only shared territory with one other person. Mark.
"Thanks." She whispered softly, taking the tissues from him, and blew her nose before wiping her tears away, sighing heavily. "I don't know. I figured that you'd get mad or something. I know it sounds stupid, but I was scared. We haven't seen each other in so long, but I can't deny that it's really great seeing you again. You've changed considerably." She smiled softly back at him and actually reached out, stroking his face with her hand, and pulled her hand away as she blew her nose again. "I was wrong. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry 'bout it, Coya. Water under the bridge, over, however the Hell they say it." Steve waved her words away dismissively. "Look, if ya want me to back off and stay outta yer and Alyssa's lives, keep things the way they are, then I'll do it."
"No, I don't want that, Steve." She sniffled a little, looking up into his blue eyes, and stood up, wrapping her arms around her brother's neck, and buried her face in it as she began crying. Twenty years. It'd been twenty years since she'd last seen Steve and couldn't believe he wasn't angry with her for joining the WWE. She'd seen him in the hallways as her co-worker, but as far as being her brother, it'd been twenty long years. She finally pulled back, smiling back at him, and wiped her tears away as she took a deep breath. "I want you to meet Alyssa when she returns with Mark. They went to the workout room, but in the meantime, we could catch up if you want?" She suggested, having the rest of the morning to catch up with her brother.
"Sounds wonderful, honey." Steve flashed a genuine smile, taking her hand and guiding her back down onto the bed, sitting besides her. "First off, I gotta know. Is Mark Alyssa's dad?" He didn't think so. She looked nothing like him, but Mark did play the role perfectly from what he'd observed.
"Unfortunately no." Nicoya answered, letting out a shaky breath, and raked a hand through her black hair. "Her father is a moron that I wasted eight years of my life, which is how old Alyssa is, pining for. I finally told him to shove it up his ass when I caught him and Torrie Wilson at RAW about a year ago fucking in his dressing room." She explained, remorse dripping in her voice, and more tears stung her eyes as she sighed deeply at the memory. "She's the only good thing that came out of those eight years."
"Damn, that's harsh." Steve murmured, the wheels of his mind already turning. Alyssa had blue eyes he'd noticed before. Though he was fairly certain they weren't from Nicoya. Different shades. Then he got to thinking about Whorrie, which was Torrie's nickname backstage. The woman would fuck anything that had a dick attached to it. That woman had gotten around a lot though there was always one asshole she seemed to wind up back with. "It ain't Cena is it?" He asked suddenly, feeling sick to his stomach.
Her eyes closed as the tears spilled down her cheeks and dropped her head forward, letting him know the answer, and sniffled a little. "I regret having her with him, but I don't regret having her, if that makes any sense. I wish to God she didn't have his blood running through her veins, but she does, which is where she gets her mouth from. The worst part is that John knows that's his daughter and he's going to try to take her away from me. I haven't even told Mark yet." She started crying harder, burying her face in her hands.
Steve wrapped his arms around Nicoya, pulling her against him. "Honey that man ain't goin' to get Alyssa. It'll be a cold day in Hell first." He assured her. "How can he take her? On what grounds?"
"I kept her from him for eight years. I never told him because of how he treated me. He used to hit me and abuse me, even before I had her. We were together not even a month before I got pregnant because he refused to use protection and I had forgotten to take my birth control." She explained solemnly, rubbing her arms up and down, and sighed heavily. "I have a protection order against him that went into effect by the courts if he ever did find out about her because I showed them everything John had done to me. I took pictures of the abuse and they concluded they didn't want a little girl being raised by an abusive father. I have full custody over her right now, but he's got a lot of money." She started crying again, not believing the mess she got herself into.
Steve knew full well that money could buy a lot of things, including normally well meaning lawyers and judges. "Hell honey, I got money. Mark has money. Yer one of the highest paid non-wrestling employees, you should have a stash by now, darlin'. Hell, if not, you really think anyone would let that slime take yer angel from ya? Hell no!"
"I just really hope I don't lose her. She's the most important thing in my life." She stated, meaning every word, even though her and Mark were together. She was still having conflictions with that and sighed as she raked her hands through her hair. "And on top of that, Mark and I are together now. I don't want my daughter's heart broken." She sniffled and leaned against him as he held her close. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to dump all of this on you, but if you're going to be apart of our lives, you need to know everything that's going on right now."
Steve nodded, glad she'd dumped this on him because he had every intention of having a little chat with Cena. Then a serious sit down with Mark. "From knowing the man for many, many years Coya, I can tell you Mark wouldn't ever hurt you, not intentionally. He seems to love Alyssa and from the looks of things, he cares about ya. If he proves me wrong though, I'll kill him for you." That was a serious offer. "As for Cena, we'll get that handled straightaway, you got a lawyer?"
"No, I haven't even thought about that. All of this happened in the past forty-eight hours. Last night was Mark. The previous night was John. I was going to call my lawyer this morning and see what can be done and if this has to go to trial." She sniffled a little as she explained, sighing heavily, and closed her eyes as more tears spilled down her cheeks. "I don't know what's going to happen with Mark and I right now. I'm just trying to take it a day at a time, but I do care a great deal for him and I know he loves Alyssa like she was his own. It's obvious, especially when I overhear my daughter telling her dolls she wishes Mark was her father."
"Wow…" Steve wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to react to that. Being new at this uncle business. Though, he felt his heartstrings being pulled in sympathy towards Alyssa. "I'll tell ya what honey, I'll give my lawyer a call, have him see what can be done." He offered gently. "He's a damned good one and he owes me a favor anyways. Got him and his family tickets to a pay-per-view a few months back." He stroked her back soothingly. "And with Mark, all ya can do is take it one day at a time."
"Thanks…bro." She cracked a small smile at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. She couldn't believe how stupid she'd been in not telling Steve about her working for the same company as him. It was fear more than anything else and she was actually glad he'd gone snooping around. "I bet my mother was shocked to hear from you." She laughed, suddenly picturing her mother's face.
"Like you wouldn't believe." Steve agreed, grinning at the memory, and could still hear her voice in his mind. "I thought she had a heart attack when she got on the phone. Her husband sounds a bit like an ass though." He commented with a frown, remember how he'd been greeted before reluctantly being allowed to speak to his step-mother.
"Yeah, Terry is a very jealous man when he wants to be. He probably thought you were another one of my mother's 'lovers'." She rolled her eyes, hating her mother's new husband, and sighed deeply. "I really wish her and Scott would've worked out." Scott was Steve's father and he'd been an absolute sweetheart to Nicoya. One of the many reasons why it broke her little heart when her mother divorced him. "How is he anyway?"
"Good. He's doin' real good. Divorced again and stayin' that way he says. She was a…well, she wasn't a nice woman, let's just put it at that." Steve replied, his blue eyes darkening for a minute. He started to say something, but the door opened and in walked Mark and Alyssa, both freshly showered.
"She insisted on showerin' in the women's locker room after her workout." Mark explained, shaking his head down at the angel.
"I got to lift weights and everything! They were sooo heavy." Alyssa said eagerly, looking proud of herself as she grinned. Mark held up two fingers behind her back, mouthing the word pounds. "Um Mom…" Alyssa was now staring at Steve curiously, wondering what he was doing there.
"Yes sweetheart?" Nicoya asked her daughter, wiping the rest of her tears away since they never fully stopped. She knew her daughter was confused as she sniffled a little and blew her nose as she leaned against her brother, sighing raggedly. It'd been an emotional rollercoaster for her over the past few days. That was for sure.
"Uhhhh…" Alyssa glanced up at Mark, who just shrugged his shoulders down at her, and then went back to looking at her mother and Steve. "What's he doing here? Why're you crying? What's going on?" The questions fired back to back, causing Nicoya to shake her head, having expected it from her daughter. Mark sat down on the couch, pulling the munchkin in his lap, wrapping his arms around her soothingly. He was curious about all that himself, especially seeing Nicoya crying.
"Alyssa, I'd like you to meet your Uncle Steve." Nicoya announced, wiping the rest of her tears away, and cleared her throat loudly. "Steve, meet your niece, Alyssa Marie Harris." She announced proudly, a smile on her face and looked over at Mark, hoping he understood what was going on now.