Dave

Like Jamie asked I stayed with her, holding her close as she slept. It took her ages to finally relax and actually fall asleep though it was far from peaceful, the young woman kept tossing and turning, clearly she was distressed from the day's earlier events. She looked so young and innocent when she was sleeping, she didn't deserve anything bad to ever happen to her and I wished that I could take away all of her hurt, ensuring that no one could ever possibly hurt her or Eli ever again. When I woke the next morning there was an empty space where Jamie had been sleeping when I'd fallen asleep myself. As I began to wake up I recognised the sound of the shower and relaxed a little knowing that Jamie hadn't freaked out and bolted.

Things seemed to go back to normal after that night, during each Smackdown I would look after Eli and afterwards Jamie would join us for dinner then we'd go back to their room and put Eli to bed before sitting up talking, on occasion we'd fall asleep together, which lead to many a question from the ever inquisitive Eli. Two weeks after our 'date' Jamie got promoted to ring side photographer and I was able to go on to and see her work.

About a month and a half after the Booker incident it was time for Summerslam, and the man was due to make his return in a main event match against me for the title, there was no way Vince would let him win but I had been forced to promise not to work stiff . Jamie and I had both been in the room when Vince conducted a phone conference with Booker and Sharmell listing the conditions of Booker's return and a explaining a new contract that he would have to sign the morning before our Summerslam match. This contract simply stated that he was to remain a certain distance from any females, bar his wife, during work hours and a certain distance away from Jamie at all times. There were a couple of other conditions but the distance factor was the biggest, however if he broke any condition in the contract both he and Sharmell would be fired on the spot and depending on the severity, would be charged. Vince also wanted to ensure Jamie's safety by having her backstage whenever Booker was in the ring. Jamie however would have nothing to do with that idea and after a lot of arguing Vince finally agreed to let the woman do her job.

Pay per view weeks meant we were on the road more than normal; we have our usual Smackdown taping and weekly house shows not to mention appearances and signings, but on top of that we had Summerslam promotions to attend, thus we only got two nights off so I took the opportunity to invite Jamie and her son to stay with me. Knowing that asking Jamie in front of her son would be disastrous, I realised that I had to ask her in private. So I spoke to the Brothers of Destruction, well more accurately I spoke to Mark, about looking after Eli so that I could take Jamie out for dinner. The Brothers looked after the boy whenever I had a match or promo and had become quite protective of their 'little Phenom', especially after the Booker incident, so they were more than happy to take the young boy for the evening. It always made me laugh that two of the toughest, most respected men on the roster became the biggest softies when kids were around. I dropped Eli off 10 minutes before my match, they were going to take him back to Jamie's room and put him down for the night, staying with him until his mother and I returned from dinner. I gave Eli a hug and prepared to head for the gorilla position but not until I once again got asked,

"How the hell does I Win work?" I Win was a favourite game of Eli's and most young children, I guess getting beaten up for a living will occasionally lead you to block out the obvious. The game is called 'I Win' whoever starts the game or says 'I Win' is going to win it, I thought that was clear.

My match was pretty standard and I headed back through the curtain after winning and showered before making my way to the photography office to pick up Jamie, I had called her on the way to my match asking that if I organised a sitter for Eli would she have dinner with me, luckily she agreed. However when I said goodbye to Eli I had forgotten that Jamie wouldn't leave the arena without saying her own goodbye to her son. So after collecting Jamie we had to go via the locker room of the Brothers of Destruction only to discover that they were in fact still struggling to figure out 'I win', while the young boy dozed in front of the TV monitor. I watched as Jamie gently woke her son and explained what would be happening before kissing him goodbye and making him promise that he would be a good boy. We didn't spend much time saying goodbye as it was clear the boy just wanted to go back to sleep, he was tired. After Jamie said goodbye she gave Mark her room key and we headed for the parking lot where the rental we were sharing was. I'd given Mark, Eli's car seat earlier so we didn't have to worry about that however Jamie gave me a slight knowing look when she saw that it was gone.

As we reached the car we both had to stop, attempting to find the keys, joking around about how we couldn't remember which one of us had them. Jamie and I acted a lot like a married couple though we weren't technically dating, after all there was no kissing and no sex. But we spent time together, we would spend the night and I was more and more certain that I was in love with the young woman and her son. I'd never felt this way about anyone before and it was scary but I was slowly beginning to deal with it.

Finally Jamie found the keys and tossed them to me, making it clear that she wanted me to drive. I wasn't surprised that she was happy to hand over the reins as I knew how tired she was; Eli had kept her up most the night before with a nightmare. I drove to a nearby Denny's knowing that it would still be open and had edible food. I asked about Jamie's interest in photography and we talked about what we did in our spare time as we looked at the menu, eventually we ordered; T-bone steak for me and Chicken Strips for her.

"Summer Slam is next week"

"Yea,"

"Are you going to go home for those two nights?" I asked, trying to seem casual when my heart was beating so fast it wasn't funny; I nearly thought I was actually having a heart attack.

"No, Eli and I never been to Washington D.C so we're going to go early and do some sight seeing, what about you?" She asked tiredly,

"Since I live in Washington D.C I'll be heading home and staying there until we change towns"

"Oh crap that's right! I totally forgot you lived there," Jamie sighed shaking her head as she rested it against her hand; she was slightly out of it and extremely tired.

"Sorry, I'm exhausted"

"That's cool; I promise I won't keep you out late. Anyway I wanted to invite you and Eli to stay at my house until we head to New York," I asked as the waiter

"That's like a week"

"I am quite aware of this"

"You want me and Eli to stay with you for a week?"

"Yea, I'd love to spend more time with you guys"

"You'd get sick of us"

"Jamie, I don't think I could EVER get sick of you two, please come stay with me."

"Are you sure that you have room?"

"You, Eli, your parents, all four of them, my daughters and I could all stay in the house and there would still be room. It's a big house; I got it before I meant Angie and had to keep it, after all my girl's helped to pick it."

"I don't know, I wouldn't want to intrude"

"Trust me you wouldn't be, I'd love some company for a change"

"Only if you're certain," she muttered pushing the rest of her food away.

"Absolutely, are you okay?" I said finishing my meal,

"Yea just tired, Eli and I would love to stay with you. Man, I feel so bad, I should be awake and talking but I can barely hold my head up I don't know what is with me tonight." I called for the check and paid before directing Jamie to the car, she was tired and I didn't blame her. Exhaustion like Jamie was showing was quite common in both superstars and crew, especially during their first six months on the road. By the time we'd reached the hotel Jamie was sound asleep beside me, not wanting to wake the sleeping woman I gently picked her up and carried her into the hotel, not worried about fans as it was quite late. As I stepped in the elevator, with Jamie still in my arms, Sandman got in with me.

"Jim," I nodded,

"Dave, hey is that the new Smackdown photographer?"

"Yep and before you ask it is not what you think"

"Aha, I've heard rumours about you two,"

"Well you shouldn't always believe what you hear"

"I'll keep that in mind; anyway this is my floor… Oh and Dave? They're meant to pass out drunk AFTER sex not before it," Sandman smirked exiting the lift, the doors closed before I had a chance to respond yet I couldn't help shaking my head at the man's comment. While I didn't know Jim that well we were always able to tease at each other in a good hearted way. There was only twice that I'd ever seen Jim act like his drunken character, Sandman, as he was usually a nice laid back guy who in reality wasn't all that interested in alcohol.

Once I was alone with the sleeping Jamie I could help but notice how sweet and innocent she looked, her arms were wrapped around my neck and she had instinctively snuggled against my chest. As we spent more time in the elevator I found the need to control myself, my heart began to beat faster and my breath kept catching. The young woman was truly breathtaking and I had to do everything in my power to control myself so I wouldn't wake her or have to put her down. Luckily Jamie's room was only a few floors above Sandman's so I wasn't alone with the woman for too long. We reached Jamie's room and I was forced to kick the door as a means of knocking, surprisingly the woman barely stirred. Aside from raising his eyebrows Mark didn't say a word when he opened the door to find me with Jamie asleep in my arms. I placed Jamie on her bed but she remained snuggled against me, not willing to let go, so I sat down with her.

"How was Eli?"

"Good he fell asleep in the car and hasn't woken up yet."

"The two were up all night last night so I'm not surprised. Thanks for looking after the little tyke"

"No problem, I'm going to head off now, I want to talk to Sara and hopefully the kids before they head to bed. Looks like you're set for the night"

"Ah, I'll move her eventually. Give my love to Sara and the kids" I smiled at the man and watched as he left. I knew I'd end up spending the night sharing right where I was, while it is no lie that I enjoyed being cuddled by the young woman, this was the most peaceful sleep I'd ever seen her have and I didn't dare do anything that could possibly ruin it. I looked across and saw Eli sleeping peacefully on the trundle bed and wondered what he was dreaming; perhaps he was on a rocket to the moon, or exploring the deepest depths of the ocean, or maybe he was dreaming of being in a wrestling ring, whatever it was I hoped that it was good. He looked so peaceful and I wished him only the best.

Eventually I drifted off to sleep with Jamie still curled up beside me, I felt so warm with her in my arms and once again found myself wishing that she was mine and I could fall asleep with her every night and wake up with her every morning.

A/N: Short I know, but writer's block sucks!! Reading back over this chapter I realise that it begins and ends with Jamie curled up asleep with Dave. Thanks for the reviews keep them up