A huge thanks to Hanna for this idea…
Dave was awoken by the shrill ringing of his house phone, the noise causing him to jump slightly. He glanced down, not surprised to see Lilian dead to the world, curled up against his side, a content look on her face as she slept.
He glanced at the clock, frowning when he saw the time. 6:15 AM. Fumbling for the phone, he grabbed it and muttered, "Hello?"
"Dave…"
"Mom? What's wrong?" He was now fully awake and sitting up, the moan in his mother's voice alarming him.
"Dave. I think I have the flu," the elder Batista managed to groan.
Dave closed his eyes, unaware of the fact that Lilian was now awake as well. "Shit. Are you okay?"
"I have the flu, David. I feel like crap." Dave nearly smirked at the irritated tone in his mother's voice at the response. God, she reminded him of Lilian sometimes…
"Do you need anything?"
"I have an appointment at 9:00. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it on my own. I can barely stand."
"Okay. I'll take you," Dave replied, sitting up.
"I also don't think I'll be able to take Sophia for the weekend."
Dave blew a breath through his teeth, closing his eyes briefly. He knew that was coming, but still…
"Of course not, Mom. You aren't up to it."
"You're not mad?"
"Mom. Of course not. You've been nothing but a huge help for both Lilian and I. I think you're allowed to have something come up."
"Can Lilian's parents take her for the weekend?"
"They're in Hawaii right now."
"Dahlia and Matthew?"
"Not enough time to get her down to South Carolina." He heard his mom sigh, and he quickly added, "Mom. Don't worry about it. We'll figure out something."
"Okay."
"Look, I'll be over at eight to take you to the doctor's. Can you be ready?"
"Mm hmm."
Even as his mother murmured, Dave could sense she was falling asleep. I guess I'll be there a little sooner, Dave thought wryly.
"I'll see you soon, Mom." She didn't reply, and Dave hung up the phone. He glanced down, not surprised to see Lilian's intense green eyes staring up at him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
Lilian's eyes fluttered shut as Dave stood up, stretching. "What's wrong?" she asked tiredly.
"Mom thinks she has the flu."
Lilian stifled a groan at this, rolling over so she was laying on her back. Dave couldn't help but laugh to himself at her pajamas… a pair of plaid pink fleece pants and a matching solid pink top that read 'Queen.' "Is she okay?"
"She sounds miserable."
"Yeah, I bet," Lilian said softly, flopping an arm over her face. "What are we going to do about Sophia?"
"Yeah, I was wondering that too. Your parents and Dahlia and my brothers are all out of the question. Why don't you wait until I get back, then we'll ask Mr. and Mrs. Andrews? They love Sophia," Dave suggested, referring to their elderly neighbors.
"Oh, Dave, I love the Andrews but Mrs. Andrews just had hip surgery and Mr. Andrews is still recovering from pneumonia. I'd hate to shove a running one year old at them," Lilian replied. Seeing him open his mouth again, she quickly intervened, "And don't even suggest giving her to Kaitlyn for the weekend. Every time I see that girl she looks like she's been drinking."
Dave shook his head, knowing that Lilian was right about their twenty-two year old college student neighbor. He tugged on a shirt, leaving his pajama pants on the floor. "Well, look. We may have to take her to the show with us. Is that okay with you?"
"It'll have to do, Dave," Lilian replied sleepily. "We both have no personal time left."
"Okay," Dave said, bending down to kiss his wife on the forehead. He pulled the covers up to her chin as he did so, making sure to grab his cell phone and keys.
"Love you," Lilian murmured.
"Love you too. I'll call you when I get Mom home to let you know what's going on."
"Okay… and Dave?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't leave your pants on the floor. You know I hate that."
With a smirk, he bent down, picking up the garment. Thinking, he glanced between the hamper and Lilian. With a grin, he threw them at his wife, taking off out of the bedroom.
He didn't, however, miss her yell of indignation as they hit her square in the face.
"How's my little angel doing?" Lilian cooed as she carried Sophia into the arena, the one year old looking around with wide eyes.
"Big!" Sophia said, looking around.
"Yes, sweetie, it is big," Dave replied with a chuckle. "See where Momma and Daddy work? Well, one of the places, that is."
"Wok!" Sophia replied gleefully, holding her arms out for Dave. "Dada!"
"Oof. Kiddo, you're getting too heavy," Lilian groaned as she handed her daughter off to Dave, rolling her neck slightly.
"Well, you're the one who keeps feeding her those Soap-uh-pie-la-las," Dave replied.
Lilian shook her head, putting her hands on her hips as she playfully glared at her husband. "David. That's not how you say it. It's So-"
Lilian didn't finish her sentence however, because an excited squeal broke her concentration. "Lilian Anne Batista! You did not tell me you were bringing the little one with you!" Trish said excitedly, dropping her bags and running to the couple.
"It was a last minute thing," Lilian explained with a laugh when Trish snatched Sophia from Dave, the little girl giggling as Trish spun her in a circle before hugging her to her chest.
"Oh, how's my little doll baby?" Trish cooed, kissing Sophia's cheek.
"Tiss!" Sophia squealed.
"Oh! She knows my name!" Trish exclaimed.
"Actually, 'Tiss' means 'Kiss,'" Dave explained proudly, jumping slightly at the glare that was sent his way by both blondes. "What?"
"It can mean whatever Trish wants," Lilian defended her friend playfully. "In the meantime, we all have meetings to get to. So, uh, who's gonna watch Sophia?"
"I don't know," Dave replied, realizing that the pre-Raw meetings were about to begin and they didn't have anyone to baby sit during that time.
As if right on cue, Stephanie rounded the corner, a confused look on her face as she looked over some papers. The youngest McMahon looked up, a smile spreading on her face when she saw Sophia. "Hey, there, Princess," Stephanie said softly, affectionately tickling Sophia. "What are you doing here?"
"Long story short, my mom has the flu and we couldn't find a sitter," Dave explained. "And now, all of us need to get to meetings and uh… we don't know what to do with Sophia."
"Have no fear, Godmom is here," Stephanie said without hesitation, holding her arms out for the baby. Trish handed her over, watching as Stephanie shifted the girl to her hip. "Who wants to work on the script for the World Heavyweight Championship anyways?" Stephanie cooed to Sophia.
"Uh, considering the World Heavyweight Champion is right here, I'd suggest you," Trish said playfully, gesturing to Dave with a cock of her head.
Stephanie opened her mouth to retort, only to be cut off when Sophia squealed, "Tiss!" To emphasize her point, she puckered her lips and closed her eyes.
"See, I told you it meant kiss!" Dave exclaimed, pointing his finger at Lilian.
"David," she began, only to be cut off by Stephanie.
"Uh, as much as I know you two love to prove each other wrong, the meetings start in five minutes. So you three need to scat. Leave your stuff here. I'll make sure it gets to your locker rooms."
"Okay," Lilian said wistfully, kissing Sophia on the forehead. "I love you, baby. Be good for Stephanie." She kissed her daughter again, then added, "Oh, Steph, if she-"
"Oh, for God's sake, Lilian," Trish exclaimed, mocking exasperation as she grabbed Lilian's hand and pulled her away. "We won't be gone more than an hour. Calm down."
"Okay, okay," she agreed with a small laugh. "I'm coming."
But neither of them missed the fact that Dave lingered for a few more moments, pressing a kiss to his daughter's forehead before lumbering off to his meeting.
"Ooh! Let's take a picture of her dressed as Kane!" Torrie giggled, pawing through the props box and finding a child sized Kane mask.
She handed it off to Molly, who shook her head. "You know, guys, Dave and Lilian will kill us if they find out we've been dressing their daughter up as wrestlers," the older diva said with a sigh, nonetheless pulling the mask over Sophia's head, the youngest Batista looking up at her with a curious look.
"Eh, it'll be fine," Trish said with a shrug, pawing through the box as well. "What they won't know won't hurt them," she added, giggling as she pulled out a shirt. "Oh, my God. It's a miniature Randy Orton t-shirt!"
"Look at that! It's adorable!" Stacy giggled. "She'll look adorable in that!"
"One of these days Lilian will see these pictures and I don't want to be within fifty miles," Christy Hemme chimed in, shaking her head. "I think anyone within those fifty miles will have permanent hearing loss."
"Eh, it'll be fine," Lita replied with a shrug. "But I don't think this is what Lilian had in mind when she asked us to watch Sophia during the last match and dark match."
"Admit it, Red. You're having a ball," Trish said, snapping a picture of Sophia in the Kane mask. "And this picture is so cute!"
She showed the picture to Molly, who smiled. "That is cute," Molly agreed. "Though it is kind of creepy that the props department has a child sized Kane mask."
"Yeah, I'm not sure about that one," Trish replied, flipping through the pictures. "Oh, my God, you guys. Look at these. They are so adorable."
All of the divas crowded around Trish squealing at the pictures.
They were so busy looking that no one noticed Sophia shimmied off the chair and made her way to the door, pushing it open and walking into the hallway.
About a minute later, Stacy glanced back at where Sophia had been sitting. She did a double take, however, when she realized that Sophia wasn't there. "Guys!" the tall blonde called urgently. "Where's Sophia?"
The laughter stopped immediately as six sets of eyes diverted to where Sophia had been seated.
"Oh, God. Now we're really going to die," Molly moaned, placing a hand on her forehead.
"Okay, everyone. Calm down," Trish ordered, though her voice held a note of panic in it. "She's only one. She couldn't have gotten too far."
"That's the key, Trish!" Christy said. "She's only one! That means she gets into everything!"
"Okay, okay, everyone," Lita said calmly when all the divas began talking. "Arguing isn't going to help. How about we split up and meet at the gorilla in ten minutes. Hopefully one of us will have the little one and we won't have to explain to Dave and Lilian why their daughter ran away at the tender age of one. Most kids wait till they are teenagers to do that."
"Okay," the girls agreed, setting off out the door.
Ten minutes later, the girls all appeared at the gorilla, breathless as they looked hopefully at each other, six faces falling when they realized that none of them had Sophia.
"Oh, Lord. We're really going to die," Christy cried.
"Look, she'll show up," Stacy said. "We'll arrange a search with the guys and agents and hopefully find her before Dave and Lilian get back here."
"What about Dave and Lilian?"
All of the girls shrieked at Lilian's voice, turning as the blonde and her husband stepped out from behind the curtain. "Lilian!" Trish sputtered, walking quickly over to her friend. "What are you doing back here?"
Lilian raised an eyebrow as she looked at her obviously distressed friend. "Uh… the show's over Trish. That means I get to go home too."
"Of course," Trish laughed, a little too forcefully. "That was a good show! Wasn't it? What was your favorite part?"
Lilian frowned at Trish, glancing back at Dave, who too had a confused look on his face. "I don't know. Now spill."
"Spill? Spill what? I don't have a drink." Trish laughed loudly, nervously.
"Trish," Lilian said, placing her hands on her hips and giving her friend her patented angry Latina look. "What's going on?"
Trish sighed, shaking her head. "Look, Lilian. Don't get mad. We… uh, we…"
"Trish!" Lilian exclaimed. "Spill it!"
"We… we kinda lost Sophia," Trish said in a rush, closing her eyes and waiting for the verbal tirade.
There was complete silence for a few moments, then Trish dared to open her eyes. She was surprised to see Lilian and Dave smiling. Then, they began laughing.
"Trish, what are you talking about? Mr. McMahon is standing right there, holding her," Dave said, shaking his head.
Trish and the other divas spun around, shocked to see the chairman holding Sophia, who was still donning the Kane mask.
"Good joke, guys," Lilian added, wiping her eyes. "I don't get where the Kane mask comes in, but okay. Good one."
Vince walked up to the group, holding Sophia. "Hey ladies. I found this little one wand-"
"Oh, look at the time!" Trish cut in, taking Sophia from the chairman and gently tugging the mask off. "The little one needs to go to bed. It's been a long day."
"For who? Her or us?" Stacy muttered, shaking her head at the close call.
Trish handed Sophia off to Lilian, who accepted her with a shake of the head. "You guys kill me."
"And you'd really be killing us if you knew what just happened," Molly murmured.
"What was that?" Dave asked.
"Oh, nothing."
Vince looked between his employees, shaking his head. "All of you drive me nuts sometimes," he said with a slight smile. "Have a good night. I'll see everyone later."
However, as he turned to walk away, a little voice cut through the air, causing Vince to turn around again.
"Tiss!"
End Part 5.5
End The First Year
Next in the Series: Where We Are Now