Three o'clock the next afternoon and Colby was standing at my front door ready to head to Chicago for the indy show. I invited him in to meet Sophia and I think Sophia almost dropped Tynan when she saw him. It was no secret that wrestling was a normal thing in our household. Every Monday night after the kids had been put to bed we would sit down and watch Monday Night Raw. "Sophia, this is Colby." I tell her as I lead Colby through the house and in to the kitchen.
"It's lovely to meet you Colby." She propped Tynan on to her hip and stuck out her hand to shake his.
"It's great to meet you too, hey Ty." Colby smiled at Tynan and Tynan gurgled some baby gibberish and reached out for him. I smiled and watch Colby take Tynan from Sophia.
"You're doing so well on the TV; you were my son's favorite wrestler!" Sophia started to babble and I let out a loud laugh, Declan had pretty much insisted that if I went to a wrestling school I should go to Black & Brave because and I quote: 'Seth Rollins is a ninja. I like him.'
"Well I gotta say I think he won the lottery with you for a mom and Georgia for a wife." He chuckled.
"Tynan James Gimson don't you dare pull Colby's hair!" I narrow my eyes at me son who currently has a firm grasp on Colby's blonde streak and looks as though he's about to yank. And let me tell you, he's pretty darn strong for a baby. Colby glanced at Tynan and Tynan looked at Colby and then over to me and instantly let go. "You're welcome, that kid is stronger than me." I laughed as Colby looked at me like I was super woman or something.
After having a chat with Sophia about what we were going to do while we were in Chicago we hopped in to Colby's swanky looking BMW and started on our way to Chicago. "Sophia is nice." Colby chuckled as he merged on to the freeway.
"She's great. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her." I mumble.
"What do you mean you wouldn't be here?" Colby frowns.
"Nothing awful, I promise. I just meant that I wouldn't have been able to come to Illinois if she hadn't come with me. Raising one kid is hard enough and I've got two of them." I explain and glance at Colby curiously. After a bit of discussion the day before we had decided that it would be easier to stay over night in Chicago and come home in the morning so we had booked two rooms at the same hotel.
"Ok I feel better now. I thought you meant you were depressed." He grumbles with a frown.
I had had a long time to think about this, Declan had been diagnosed before I met him. I couldn't be depressed that Declan was gone because he had given me so much to remember him by. My children were apart of him, my mother-in-law who was like my best friend, the memories of my short time with him would stay with me for the rest of my life. "How could I be depressed when he's given me so much to remember him by? I have two precious little people because of him. Not a day goes by when I don't think about him, every time I wake up in the morning and see Tynan and Isla I see him. Every time I see Sophia, I see him. He's gone but I'll never ever be depressed that he's gone because there is not a day that goes by that I don't think about him or that I'm reminded of him when I see the twins or Sophia. I miss him, but he's still here." I smile stupidly because a lot of people thought that my outlook was stupid but I thought it was comforting, knowing that Declan was apart of my children.
"I love that your outlook is so positive." He smiles brightly at me. "Did your husband, sorry I don't know his name, wrestle too?" He asks with a curious glance before looking back at the road.
"Declan." I tell him. "He didn't wrestle, but he loved watching. When I met him in college he was already sick." I tell him. I feel weird because I don't think that I've ever known someone for a week and then just spilled my guts about my husband who died. I feel weird but then oddly enough I feel better because I'm talking about it with someone other than Sophia. I think the reason I can tell Colby all these things is because I'm comfortable with him. I hadn't even thought of talking about this stuff with Marek or Lara.
"It's nice seeing you smile. You don't smile that much in class." He says observantly and I nod my head. "You're a strong woman." He concludes.
When we get to Chicago we check in to the hotel and then go and find something to eat. The more time I spend with Colby the more comfortable I feel. It's been seven months since I spent a long period of time alone with a man, didn't matter if it was romantic or just as friends the fact was I was kind of uncomfortable around men in general. It was six o'clock by the time we turned up the venue where the indy show was being set up and there was still two hours before the show even started.
"I'll be right back." I lean over to Colby to tell him I'll be right back because I've just spotted somebody that I used to wrestle with.
"Georgia Gimson!" She had also spotted me and started to move towards me. She pulled me in to a tight hug and I hugged her back.
"How are you Anna?" I ask her as I hug her back tightly.
"I'm just fantastic, how are you? You here with Rollins?" She cocks an eyebrow at me and I look over my shoulder to see Colby looking at us curiously.
"I am he invited me." I laugh and then turn back to look at her. She looks amazing and completely different from the last time I saw her at Declan's funeral. She had lost a lot of weight, not that she was fat but she had slimmed down a lot and she was skinny and muscled. Her natural dirty brown hair had been dyed dark brown and she had taken someone's advice and gotten a spray tan. "You look great Anna!" I smile at her.
"Why thank you! I've been working hard! But how the heck do you know Seth Rollins?" She cocks an eyebrow and I smile as she hooks her arm with mine and leads me out of the backstage area in the room where there is row after row of uncomfortable looking chairs for the show tonight.
"I'm training at Black & Brave." I tell her.
"What for? Georgie you have more experience than me!" She looks at me stupidly like she actually doesn't understand why I'm going to wrestling school.
"I'm sick of being a valet, I'm sick of distracting the ref. I wanna be with a company that has more than one female wrestler. I'm doing this to put it on my resume." I explain to her and she slowly nods in agreement.
"You're doing the right thing, bet you taught Rollins a thing or two huh?" She winks and nudges me with her elbow and I roll my eyes. This chick is worse than Lara when it comes to men. "I kid! Speaking of kids, how are those precious little bundles of yours?" She asks with a wide grin and I instantly smile back at her.
"They're really great. Tynan has just learnt how to pull himself up on things and Isla is not too far away from the same. I'll have toddlers and a full night of sleep in no time." I grin at her and she laughs. She had met the twins at Declan's funeral.
"How sweet, I just love those photos that you have on Facebook. How are you coping?" She asks with a sad smile.
"I'm doing ok, it's been rough. Especially moving to Illinois but things are getting better. I have Declan's mom living with me; she looks after the twins while I'm training." I tell her.
Once upon a time Anna and I had been best friends, but me getting married and having children had not exactly torn us apart but distanced us. I wasn't at local shows anymore, she was moving around to keep up with the indie's scene and the only way we had really kept in touch was messaging each other on Facebook. "I've missed you so much Georgie!" Anna hugged me from the side.
"Ladies!" I looked up when Colby sat next to me and draped his arm over my shoulder casually.
"Hello! I'm Anna!" Anna leaned forward and stuck out her hand to Colby.
"Pleasure, Anna." Colby smiled. "You two obviously know each other." He says casually.
"Sure do! We used to wrestle each other." Anna says with a bright smile and then glances at me and my awkwardness because Colby has his arm over my shoulder.
After Colby and Anna had a chat Colby pulled me away to meet one of the owners of the company. We talked right up until the show started and Colby seemed to think it was looking good for and that I might get a call after the weekend to come in and show them what I could do.
The show was amazing and the minute the show was over Colby got mobbed by fans who were more than a little surprised that he was at a local wrestling show. It took ages for him to sign autographs and take photos with the crowd so I jumped over the barricade and walked out the back with Anna who had come to get me. "That was pretty wild." Anna giggles as she leads me through the back of the venue and out to the parking lot to wait with me.
"Sure was." I nod in response.
"So how did the chat with the boss go?" She asks with a tilt of the head. We're currently leaning against Colby's car waiting for him to re-appear.
"It went ok, Colby did most of the talking I just stood there and listened. He thinks I should get a call sometime after the weekend." I tell her.
"Awesome, it would be amazing if we could work together again."
"That would pretty cool."
We waited for about forty minutes just catching up and finally Colby reappeared. "Sorry." He smiled as he unlocked the car. I said goodbye to Anna and we were off back to the hotel to get some rest before we got up early in the morning to make the two hour trip back home.
"Hey you don't wanna go for a drink do you?" He asks as we walk in to the lobby of the hotel and pass the bar.
"I'm kind of tired, go ahead though. I'll see you in the morning." I tell him with a smile and head over to the elevator.