Chapter 8

Corey sat in the backyard of his mother's house in Phoenix, relaxing and enjoying his time off. They had watched Raw together last night, and Corey had almost burst of pride when Joelle had won her match to enter the semi finals for the WWE Womans Championship. She had promised to call him as soon as she'd get back to the hotel, but she hadn't. Corey assumed she had just been tired and had decided against calling her back.

Sighing Corey entered the kitchen and was greeted with the delicious smell of Sue's homemade apple pie.

" That smells good." Corey drooled. Sue laughed. " You keep your hands of it, big boy, at least till I'm done with the coffee." Corey groaned and tried to steal a little piece of cake but Sue slapped his hand. " I said no."

Trina entered the kitchen carrying the groceries she had bought earlier.

" Darling, can you gimme a hand?"

" Sure." Corey took the bags from her and started to put the contents in the fridge.

The sound of the phone cut the silence and Trina reached over the counter to pick up.

"Johnson… oh hello… yes he's here… he's already waiting impatiently for your call…."

Corey knew it was Joelle on the other end of the line and tried to snatch the receiver out of his mother's hand but she ducked out of the way and continued to chat with Joelle.

Sue watched mother and son for a few minutes before interfering.

" Trina, give the poor boy the phone already, I swear his head is so red, it's gonna explode."

Sue chuckled. Trina grimaced and passed the receiver.

" Hey baby." Corey greeted.

" Hey, I'm so sorry I didn't call yesterday, I was worn out."

" Thought so. Congrats on your match, who are you facing next week?"

" Selma. That's gonna be tough. But enough of me, how are you?"

" Much better, I'm getting coddled here." Corey grinned. " Sue made pie. God, I love pie."

Joelle was quiet for a few seconds then burst out laughing and was soon joined by Sue and Trina. Corey looked at the object in his hand puzzled, then realized what was going on and turned beet red. " No..uh..I mean…"

" I know what you mean." Joelle said between her laughter. " Hey you start to sound like Hunter. Bad influence."

Corey laughed nervously. " Yeah..ah..Hunter..hehe..how is he anyway? He's still with you, right?"

" Yupp. He's doing..well…you know what he's doing all the time. Oh wait, he's coming, I'll pass you."

" Hey Kid."

"Hey Hunt." Trina's head snapped up.

" How's it going? I heard you love pie. You have no idea how MUCH I love pie." He laughed.

Corey blushed and grinned. " Horny old dog."

" Hey, I give my best. Uhm…C..is your Mom around?"

Corey raised his brows. " Yeah, why?"

" Can I talk to her for a minute?"

" Uh…sure.."

Corey held the receiver out to Trina. "Hunter wants to talk to you." Trina and Sue exchanged a knowing look and Trina grabbed the phone and left the kitchen.

Corey followed his mother with his eyes, wondering what she and Hunter had to talk about.

" Hey CJ, you want some of my pie now?" Sue asked, hoping to pull his focus away from the phone call that was being made in the living room.

Corey eyes lit up. " Hell yeah." And he plopped down at the table and dug in his cake.

Trina returned 20 minutes later and passed the phone to Corey. "Joelle." She mouthed.

" Hey."

" Hey honey. Listen, uh, we have to go get ready, our flight leaves in 2 hours, we have one more house show, but we'll come to Phoenix sunday around noon, so we can spend the whole day together. Sounds good?"

" Sounds perfect. I'll see you then. I miss you already. " Corey said.

" I miss you too. See you Sunday. Bye babe."

" Bye." Corey hung up and looked expectantly at Sue.

"I love pie." He grinned and they all laughed.

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The days flew by and before Corey knew it it was Sunday and he and his mother were on their way to the airport to pick up Joelle who would stay at their house along with Chris and Bobby.

Corey shifted impatiently in his seat and Trina laughed.

" Can't wait to see her again?"

" No, it's been two weeks, besides I miss my friends."

Trina nodded and sped down the highway. Another 10 minutes and they arrived at their destination. Corey jumped out of the car as soon as it came to halt and hurried inside with Trina walking behind him, still laughing.

Corey glanced around excitedly and spotted his friends immediately when they came through the gate.

" There they are." He said and pointed towards the gate. Chris was the first one to notice him and dropped his luggage. Trina took one step aside which turned out to be a good thing when Corey caught Chris who came running towards him in a bear hug.

The two men hugged and laughed and were soon joined by Bobby in a family hug.

Breaking away Corey looked up and saw Joelle struggling with hers and the guys luggage.

" That's no way to treat a lady." She shouted laughing. Chris immediately went over and took his and Bobby's bag from her.

When she reached the group Joelle placed her bag in one of the empty seats in the waiting area and smiled at Corey who rushed to her side and pulled her in his arms. They stood like this for a few minutes and when they pulled away their lips locked in a sweet kiss.

" I missed you terribly." Corey whispered in her ear.

" I missed you too, honey." Joelle whispered back.

Corey took Joelle's hand and introduced her and the guys to Trina, and to his big relief the two women immediately connected.

The group exited the airport and Trina loaded the luggage in Sue's big red Pickup Truck.

Bobby took the seat next to Trina and Chris, Corey and Joelle made themselves comfortable in the back.

" That is very nice of you to take us in, Mrs. Johnson." Chris said.

Trina smiled. " One, it's Miss, and two, anything for my darling's friends. Besides, I thought you guys might like my aunt's cooking."

" Homecooked food." Bobby drooled, and they all laughed.

They arrived at the Johnson's home 30 minutes later with Sue already waiting on the front porch.

" Welcome. You must be hungry. I made some steaks and fries and a salad if you like."

Bobby looked at her with big eyes. " I'll have to come visit you more often, C." Sue laughed and ushered the group inside to coddle them with her cooking.

Lunch was taken in the backyard, and the guys dug in the food as if there was no tomorrow.

" This is heaven." Bobby exclaimed, his mouth full of fries, and Chris and Joelle nodded in agreement.

" I'm glad you like it." Sue smiled.

" Like? What? I love it!" Bobby shouted, small pieces of fries falling out of his mouth.

After lunch Sue clapped her hands and stood up. " Okay, who wants a dessert?"

" Dessert? There's more?" Chris asked, his eyes lightening up.

" Well, I made a chocolate cake. But if you don't want it…"

" We want it." Bobby yelled, gesturing wildly.

Sue chuckled and made her way back into the house only to return a few minutes later with a huge chocolate cake and plates.

Bobby looked like a child on Christmas eve and dug into the cake, soon followed by Chris.

" And you?" Sue turned to Joelle.

Joelle smiled and shook her head. " I'm about to burst. This was great, but I need to hold my weight."

" You look beautiful the way you are." Corey said and took her hand.

Joelle blushed and rewarded him with a quick kiss.

" Aaaaaaaawww cute." Sue and Trina exclaimed in union.

The next hours were spent talking until Trina had the, in Corey's eyes horrible, idea to show his friends his baby photos.

The guys laughed and giggled at Corey's fist attempts to walk, his fist tooth, his first bath, and Corey got more and more embarassed with every passing minute. But then something caught his attention, a little photo book he had never seen before. He picked it up and flipped through the pages.

The pictures showed Corey, only a few months old, with – Hunter. Corey was confused. Until now he had thought he had only met Hunter at the age of 11, but obviously Hunter and his mother had known each other for far longer. And with each picture he saw, Corey got more and more confused.

He started to look at the pictures from the beginning, and gasped. There was his mother as a teenager hugging a girl that looked like a miniature of – Jordan Waltman. The next picture showed her, Jordan and a miniature of – Brandon. And so it went on and on, his mother with Jordan and Brandon, his mother with Jay – and lots of pictures of his mother wrapped in the huge arms of Hunter.

Coming back to the baby pictures, Corey caught glimpse of the last picture in the little book.

It showed him, maybe 6 or 7 months old, sitting on Hunter's lap, and on top of the site was written one single word.

Daddy.

Corey was shocked. What was that supposed to mean? His father was dead, that's what he was told his whole life. Or was it just a mistake? No he couldn't be…

A thousand questions entered his mind, and he knew the answer to none of them.

" Earth to Corey." Trina chuckled. Corey looked up, and the conversations died down at the look on his face.

" Corey, what's wrong?" Trina asked confused.

Corey's heart was racing and he found it hard to breathe. He jumped up and threw the photo book in his mother's direction.

" What the hell is that?" he shouted.

Trina picked up the book and flipped through the pages. She gasped and showed Sue what her son had found. Sue's expression changed and she shot a helpless look at Trina.

Corey noticed the silent exchange. " What? What is that? Were you hiding this from me?"

" Corey…I…" Trina started but Corey cut her off.

" Look at the last picture." He demanded. Trina and Sue obeyed and looked in horror at what Corey had discovered.

" What does that mean? Daddy? My father is dead, that's not funny!" he shouted and ran back into the house.

Trina hid her face behind her hands. She had to think of something. The truth could never be told, Corey would never forgive her.

Joelle stood up and followed Corey in the house.

" Corey?" she shouted softly. " Where are you?"

She heard muffled sounds from upstairs and slowly followed them.

Reaching the top she looked around and saw Corey sitting in a far corner, his arms around his knees, his head resting on his arms. She slowly approached him and placed her hand on his neck.

" Hey.."

" Did you see that?" Corey asked quietly without looking up.

" I did, and I understand how you feel, but I'm sure it's not what it seems to be."

" What is she hiding from me?"

" Maybe she wasn't exactly hiding it…"

Corey looked up and Joelle could see he had been crying.

" She knows Brandon, and Jordan. She also knows Hunter and Jay, better than she told me. Think about it, she was obviously friends with them, then she ended up here, and Brandon and Jordan hate me for some reason. Isn't that odd? I think it is…."

" Yeah. Maybe it's a little weird, but I'm sure there have to be some logical reasons…"

" There are." Corey and Joelle looked up to see Trina and Sue standing in front of them.

" I'll leave you alone." Joelle said and made her way back downstairs. When they heard the backdoor close Corey broke the silence.

" What does that mean?"

" Let's go to your room, your mother will tell you." Sue proposed.

Corey nodded and followed the two women to his room where he closed the door behind him.

He plopped down on his bed and looked expectantly from Sue to his mother who had taken their seats on the sofa across from him.

Trina took a deep breath and started. She told him how she met Jordan and her family, what great friends they became, and how she ended up 'living' with them. She also talked about her departure, but never told him the real reason, she told him she found out she was pregnant and left because the baby's, his, father was Jordan's boyfriend from that time. And his father was indeed dead, he died in the car accident she told him about, when he was coming down to visit his son.

" And about the picture, I wrote 'Daddy' over it because Hunter was like a father to me over the years. " Trina finished.

" But why didn't you tell me?" Corey asked.

" I didn't find it important. I'm sorry darling, I should have told you from the beginning."

Corey nodded, reliefed to know the truth now. So Jordan didn't like him because he was the product of the unfaithfulness of her boyfriend. Understandable. But Brandon? Maybe he didn't like his sister getting hurt and put part of the guilt on Corey. Yes, that's got to be it, Corey thought. But still, it wasn't so much of his fault.

" I'm glad you told me, now I know why they're avoiding me." Corey said quietly.

" I'm so sorry Baby, forgive me?"

Corey thought about it, but smiled and hugged his mother.

Behind them Sue breathed a sigh of relief that Corey bought their story.

" Are we cool?" Trina smiled.

Corey nodded. "We're cool."

When they entered the backyard again Corey went straight back to the table and sat down next to Joelle.

" Everything okay?" she asked concerned.

" Yeah, you were right, there was a reason for all of this." And he told his friends what was going on.

Chris nodded. " Now I see what's the deal with Jordan. But Brandon's reaction to you is still a little weird. I mean, you didn't exactly do something to him."

" Maybe he's just a little overprotective of his sister." Bobby pointed out and they all nodded in agreement.

Night came and the group argued over the sleeping arrangements. Corey would take his room and was given permission to share it with Joelle under the condition that nothing would happen and they both agreed. It was too early for that anyways. Chris would take Trina's room with Bobby and Trina would share Sue's room.

When Joelle was finished changing it was Corey's turn in the bathroom. When he returned Joelle had already slid under the covers and smiled.

" I have to warn you, I'll take the whole blanket during the night."

Corey grinned. " You wont, unless you wanna fight for it."

He settled himself next to Joelle and they both fell asleep with Corey holding the woman of his dreams in his arms.

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Word had spread that Corey and a few WWE superstars were around and after lunch Corey met up with some old high school friends, taking Joelle with him who soon became the center of attention for Corey's male friends, and Corey had to admit that he felt a little jealous seeing Joelle talk and laugh with the boys. But every now and then she would return to him and steal little kisses, so he relaxed.

" Man, you got yourself one hot chick there." Brian, an old classmate, exclaimed.

" She sure is." Corey said proudly. " Hey are you guys coming to the show tonight?"

" Are you kidding? We wouldn't miss this for the world." Brian beamed.

" Cool. Maybe I can manage to bring you backstage."

" Are you serious? Damn, I'm so glad you're my buddy." Brian said exitedly and Corey laughed. " I'd love to meet that Felicity girl, she's one hot momma."

Joelle heard the last statement. " I can introduce you, we're friends."

Brian grinned broadly and nodded. Joelle's cellphone rang and she picked up.

" Hello?…. yeah...no…what???….HUNTER….. you're so nasty….ok hang on…" she laughed and passed the phone to Corey.

" Yeah?"

" Hey Kid." Hunter said, still laughing. " Just wanted to tell you about some last minute changes for tonight. You have a singles match with Chris."

" Oh great. They couldn't wait till the last possible minute could they." Corey replied sarcastically.

" That's how it works Kid. But anyways, listen, I have something to take care of, I gotta run."

" That something wouldn't happen to be your wife, right?" Corey said laughing as he heard giggling in the background.

" Uh..nevermind.. hey hands off the merchandise…" he shouted. " Hear that, Kid, I'm busy, see ya later."

" Yeah, bye." Corey hang up and shook his head.

" How can anyone be so horny?" he laughed as he handed Joelle her phone.

" I take it I don't wanna know what's happening there right now?" she asked chuckling.

" Think so. Anyways, I have a singles match tonight with Chris."

" Oh wonderful, and they waited until today to tell you?" Joelle shook her head.

" Yeah, kinda sucks. But what the hell, I'm in my hometown, we'll all be cool."

They hung out for a little longer then returned back home to grab their stuff and head to the arena.

When they arrived there a huge crowd was already gathered around, and when Corey stepped out of the car he was greeted with a thunderous ovation and loud cheers. He waved at the crowd and entered the building.

" Wow, they love you." Joelle exclaimed.

After finding the locker room area and saying their 'laters' they went their separate ways to change and get ready.

Morgan entered the locker room and tapped Corey on the shoulder.

" Hey C, there are some dudes in the hallway, friends of you or something like that."

Corey nodded and exited the locker room, already completely dressed in his wrestling gear, and stepped in the hallway where Brian and a few others were waiting.

" Whoa pal, you're huge." He exclaimed amazed.

Corey laughed. " Where are you seated?"

" Front row of course. This is so amazing, I mean, just..wow."

The group started to walk slowly towards catering, chatting and joking around.

Arriving there Corey rolled his eyes and laughed at the sight before them. A tall blonde guy with a pony tail had his back to them, and small female hands had found their way somewhere down his pants, and Corey knew without seeing their faces that there was only one man walking on Gods green earth who would have the nerve to make out with his wife in public like that.

" Get a room." Corey laughed. Hunter slowly turned, a broad grin on his face. " I didn't start this, she did." Jay turned with him, but despite seeing the group standing before her she made no attempts to remove her hands. Unlike Corey who was used to that kind of behavior Brian and the others cleared their throats nervously and tried to look away.

Finally Jay pulled her hands out of her husbands pants and walked over to them.

" Hey Kid. " she greeted and hugged him.

" Hey Jay. How's it going?"

" Nothing's going and it's your fault. I could have gotten any if it hadn't been for you and your friends." Hunter pouted after joing them and wrapping his huge arms around his wife's small waist.

" Oh my god it's Triple H." Judy, another old classmate of Corey, gasped, recognising him.

" Uh huh, and who would you happen to be?" Hunter asked grinning.

" I..I'm..J..Jj..Judy." she answered shyly.

" Why hello Judy." Hunter said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it, causing Judy to blush deeply. " I'll never wash that hand again." She mumbled to herself, but lucky her it was loud enough for everybody to hear and her friends started teasing her mercilessly.

" Hey baby." came a female voice from behind the group and Corey turned to see his mother coming towards them. " You ready to kick some ass?" Trina grinned.

"I sure am." Corey grinned back.

" Hey Jay." Trina said quietly.

" Trina." Jay greeted back, and unusual coldness in her voice and Corey wondered.

Trina turned to Hunter but avoided eye contact and Corey wondered even more.

" Hey Hunt." she greeted, her gaze on her hands. Hunter stared at her for a brief moment then looked away. " Trin." Was all he said.

Corey looked from his mother to Jay to Hunter confused. His mother had told him their history, yes, but this was just strange, and Corey got the feeling there was more to the story, something his mother didn't tell him, something had happened that made these three people act pretty uncomfortable around each other. And it couldn't be because of what happened with Jordan's boyfriend from like 20 years ago.

" What's this here? Silence of the lamb?" came another voice and Corey was somehow reliefed to see Sue. Even Jay's face lit up as she hugged her long time friend.

" Hey, long time no see. How's it going?" Sue asked her smiling.

Jay grinned. " Always the same, being married to that horny old dog."

Sue turned to Hunter and shook her head. " You'll never change, will ya?"

Hunter laughed deeply. " Nope." and kissed her on the cheek.

They chatted for a little longer until it was time for the show to start. Shane had allowed that the visitors could watch the matches backstage. So Hunter, Jay, Sue, Trina, Corey and his friends settled in the room that had been prepared for them.

The first match of the evening was Joelle vs. Selma for the spot in the finals for the WWE Womans Championship, and it was a tough match with both divas giving everything they had.

In the end Joelle won after nailing Selma with her Tornado DDT, which meant she would face 'Poison' Ivy at Bad Blood in two weeks.

" You better pray for your girl, Ivy's a hellcat, she'll tear Joelle in half." Jay pointed out to Corey. He nodded, Jay was right. Ivy was like a second Chyna, only a lot meaner, but he had faith in Joelle.

The group chatted during the following matches until it was time for the next match that was Brandon aka. Justice Helmsley vs. the World Heavyweight Champion Cameron Hickenbottom for the championship belt, and it was Brandon's night. He dominated Cameron from the second the bell rang during the whole match. HBK's son had no chance.

Hunter jumped from his seat on the couch and settled himself on the floor, his face only inches away from the screen. In the ring Brandon went for his finishing move, but dropped Cameron in the last second. He looked directly in the camera and pounded his fist against his heart, then pointed to the camera. He kicked Cameron hard in the guts, pushed his head between his legs and hooked his arms under Camerons. Brandon shot one last look at the camera and yelled " This is for you, Dad" and nailed the champion with a thunderous Pedigree. The cover, 1-2-3, and Ruby Diamond announced Brandon as the winner of the match and new World Heavyweight Champion.

Jay broke into tears, and Hunter jumped up and burst through the door. Seconds later he appeared on the screen on top of the ramp to a thunderous ovation. Brandon knelt in the ring crying, holding his first championship belt above his head, but upon seeing his father he slid out of the ring and jumped in Hunter's arms, and they embraced tightly in the middle of the ramp.

When they returned together Jay had stopped crying and hugged her son tightly, repeating over and over again how proud she was of him.

A stagehand came through the door. " Corey, 15 minutes." Corey nodded and stood up, instructing the stagehand to escort his friends and family to their seats for they would of course watch his match from ringside.

After hugging and lots of 'good lucks' Corey made his way to the gorilla position where Chris was already waiting.

" Ready to tear the house down?" he asked.

" Let's roll." Corey grinned when Chris' entrance music hit.

' Straight to hell' blasted through the speakers, and when Corey stepped through the curtain the Phoenix' crowd went wild. Corey took a second to take everything in this crowd was giving him, and he pounded his fist against his chest and pointed around the whole arena.

He walked down the ramp and around the ring high-fiving his friends and hugging his mother and Sue, then jumped over the ropes and waited for the ref to ring the bell.

The ref instructed them to have a clean match, then rang the bell, and CJ and Chris locked up.

Corey got right into the match from the very beginning, the audience cheering with every punch and every move he hit on Chris. It was a hard fight, but being in his hometown Corey was supposed to win which he did after driving Chris to the mat with his sitdown powerbomb.

The crowd roared in approval as the ref raised Corey's arm in victory, and glancing to his left he saw his family and friends on their feet cheering loudly.

Exhausted Corey made his way to the back and was greeted with a big kiss by Joelle.

" Amazing performance, baby."

" Thanks, I can give that compliment back." Corey smiled and kissed her again.

Soon Trina, Sue and the rest were brought backstage again to congratulate Corey and Joelle on their wins.

" Let's go celebrate." Brian proposed and everyone agreed.

Loud giggling caught the groups attention, and looking around they saw Hunter walking down the hallway, or at least he tried, cause both of his grandchildren were wrapped around his legs, sitting on his feet.

" What's you Mommy feeding you girls, you're weighting a ton." He shouted laughing.

Corey grinned. " Hey Grandpa."

" Don't remind me…" Hunter chuckled.

" Hey, you coming celebrating with us?" Joelle asked.

" Nope, I gotta fly back home tomorrow, we're watching the twins, Jordan and Nathan have 10th wedding anniversary."

"Nathan's having a blast, Jordan's exactly like her father." Trina chuckled, not thinking of what she was saying.

Hunter stared at her, not knowing that Corey knew about their history.

" I told him." Trina said, and Hunter's jaw almost dropped to the floor.

" Yeah, I know that my father was Jordan's boyfriend from her teenage days and that's why she and Brandon don't like me." Corey explained.

Hunter looked at Trina who gestured with her eyes to play along, and he caught the hint.

" Oh..uh..yeah…"

" You could have told me, you knew the whole time." Corey said.

" Uh..well.. it wasn't my place to tell you." Hunter asnwered, reliefed that Corey had bought the story Trina obviously had told him.

" Anyways, how have you been?" Trina asked, changing the topic.

" Pretty good, no more broken noses, my wife hasn't had any more bad days." Hunter joked and Trina had to stiffle a laugh remembering the conversation in the doctor's office many years ago.

" What broken noses?" Corey asked curiously.

" Nothing, old story, VERY old story." Trina said and Hunter nodded.

" Aaaw tell me." Corey pouted.

" No way." Trina said seriously.

" I can tell you when I had to go shopping with your mother and Jordan, oh man, what an odyssey. Remember that, in Hartford?" Hunter tried to change the topic and Trina burst out laughing.

" Yes..yes..oh my god…that ugly little dog in the car before us…" she said between fits of laughter.

" That little drooling sucker…" Hunter joined in, unable to hold back the laughter anymore.

"What's so funny." Turning they saw Jordan standing before them, watching them suspiciously.

Trina's laughter immediately died down at the sight of her former best friend, and Jordan glared at her with cold eyes.

" Uh oh." Hunter mumbled.

" Now look who we have here, the betrayer." Jordan said in a deadly voice.

" Listen, I don't want to argue with you now okay? And will you just get over it? That was a long time ago." Trina said quietly.

"Just get over it? JUST GET OVER IT? I'll NEVER get over it, I trusted you with my life and what did I get in return? I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU, NEVER!" Jordan yelled.

" DO WE HAVE TO DISCUSS THAT IN FRONT OF THE KIDS? I DON'T THINK SO!" Trina yelled back and stomped down the hallway.

" YEAH, JUST RUN AWAY, THAT'S WHAT YOU CAN DO BEST!" Jordan shouted and stomped in the opposite direction.

" Whoa.." Hunter said, shaking his head.

" They'll calm down soon, just let them be." Sue reassured Corey who stared after the two women. There sure was a lot of bad blood between them, but Corey couldn't loose the feeling that there was something else, something no one dared to speak out.

And Corey made a promise to himself that he would find out what.