Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, other than Ember and Paisley.
Rated: T
Warning(s): Slash, Past Mpreg, Spoilers for WrestleMania 33, etc.
Almost three years after his final match in the WWE, some found it hard to believe that CM Punk had laced up his boots for the final time. It was not unusual for superstars to have 'false' retirements, after all. And his departure had been so sudden and unexplained...
He hadn't been subjected to a formal dressing down in the middle of the ring, followed by a half-growled, half-shouted 'you're fired!' - the typical method for disposing of employees that had become a 'liability' to the business. He hadn't lost his job as a stipulation in a match, or made a heartfelt speech to the WWE Universe about what performing for them had meant to him. He'd just left. And that was that.
And now he was back. Only this time, he was on the opposite side of the security wall.
How in the hell had Jeff managed to convince him to fly two and a half hours with two children under the age of three? He wasn't sure what was worse - the sympathetic glances from the woman across the aisle as Paisley screamed for an hour straight, or the gentleman behind him mumbling under his breath about how first class was supposed to be relaxing because all of the screaming children were back in coach.
Now, much to his annoyance, his six-month-old daughter slept peacefully, swaddled tight to his chest and suckling softly on her purple and black camouflage binky. Ember, almost three, was clutching tightly to his pant leg and stopping every three seconds to 'ooo' and 'ahh' at something only a toddler would find fascinating. And each time, Phil had to stop and wait it out - he'd always encouraged her to be curious and ask questions, and now that had come back to bite him in the ass.
"Mommy," she pulled hard on his shorts, and Phil silently thanked Jeebus that he'd worn a belt - Ember had accidentally 'exposed' Jeff on more than one occasion. "Mommy, what that?" She was pointing at a concession stand, this one serving popcorn with so much butter it leaked through the bag.
"That's one of the places where people can go to buy snacks while they watch the show." Phil said, "It's called a consession stand."
"Oh." She nodded, as if commiting this fact to memory. "And that?"
"That's where you go to buy merchandise."
Excitement glistened in her bright green eyes, "Can we buy some of Daddy's merchandise? Can we? Can we? Please?" Ember began jumping up and down excitedly, still gripping the fabric of Phil's shorts. The momentum was sure to wake Paisley, which was the last thing that he wanted.
"Emmy," he placed a hand on her head, smoothing it over her thick blonde curls and causing her to go still almost immediately, "Daddy just returned to the WWE after a very long time - he might not have all that much merchandise yet. And if he does, it might not fit you."
Ember seemed to consider this for a moment, before smiling brightly, "But you could still wear it!"
"Why are you so obsessed with getting one of Daddy's t-shirts all of a sudden? You don't even like to wear clothes ninety-nine percent of the time."
His daughter looked at him as though he'd suddenly acquired a second head, "We here to support Daddy, silly. So we wear Daddy shirts!"
He had to admit, the kid had a valid point. Though Jeff would never admit it, he was nervous about his re-debut into the WWE Universe. He, not unlike Phil, had not left the company on the best of terms. To be able to be given such an amazing second chance was as gratifying as it was nerve-wracking. Which was why Jeff had called him three days ago, at two o' clock in the morning, begging him to come to WrestleMania.
Jeff knew it would be a hard sell to get Phil to even consider coming within one-hundred miles of that stadium - his unplanned, but not unwelcome, pregnancy had opened the door to a new life outside of the public sphere. Unlike Jeff, he didn't see this as some sort of homecoming. This was like the nightmare where you show up to prom in your underwear, or your mother walks in on you and your partner having sex at a family get-together. Essentially, it was just super awkward and uncomfortable.
But tonight wasn't about him. Not only was he moderately concerned that Jeff would have a full-out panic attack and forfeit the match before he even stepped into the squared circle, he wanted to be the first person Jeff saw once he and Matt were crowned the new tag team champions. He wanted Ember to see her Daddy perform in all of his spectacular glory... But most of all, he wanted to see the light come back into Jeff's beautiful green eyes when he realized there was no need to be afraid.
So Phil bought the shirts - Ember was over the moon when the cashier pulled out a youth t-shirt that looked like it could've been a dress on the tiny toddler - and helped Ember to put hers on. His took a bit more manuevering, what with Paisley still asleep, but he managed. "There - is that better?"
"Much!" She poked idly at her shirt, "We look like real Hardys now!"
It was so cute, Phil couldn't resist taking a picture. He put it on Twitter with the hashtags #TheHardyzReturn and #DaddysLittlestFan. "How could anyone ever doubt you were a Hardy? You look just like your Daddy!" Phil teased.
"Nuhuh." She shook her head fiercely. "Last time Daddy had purple hair. My hair yellow. Purple and yellow not same, Mommy."
Phil laughed, "Honey, Daddy's hair is naturally blond. The purple will wash out in a couple of weeks."
But Ember was far from finished, "And Daddy's got extra holes in his ears!"
That took Phil a minute, until he realized that she was talking about his gauges. The spacers Jeff currently wore were large enough to fit an average highlighter through - the resulting hole much larger than Ember's piercings. Phil poked one of her silver hoops, "So do you. They're just smaller."
"And you both have drawings." Ember said, looking forlornly at her own bare skin. "And I don't have none."
"It's 'I don't have any', Emmy." Phil couldn't help it - the bad grammar was raising his blood pressure one misspoken sentence at a time. "And none of that matters. I can see that you have your Daddy's eyes - they're a dark, forresty green - his almost white-blonde hair, his smile..."
"I wanna look like Mommy, too!" Ember exclaimed suddenly.
Phil nodded, "You do. You have my mouth - and it never seems to stop moving." He began to usher her over to the concession stand so that they could grab some last minute snacks before the show. "In fact, your facial structure is fairly similar to my own."
"Who is little sister gonna look like?" Ember said, taking the bag of popcorn and cradling it against her chest.
"I don't know." Phil said with a shrug, "She seems to take after Daddy, too. But she has my hair."
Phil knew it was awful, but he hoped that that would end this round of twenty questions. Thankfully, Ember was mostly silent as he lead the way down to their seats. They were incredibly close to the ring - about a stone's throw away from Michelle McCool and her daughter. Paisley began to stir as he settled Ember in her seat, and he grabbed the bottle he'd warmed just a few minutes earlier, popped the binky from her mouth, and proceeded to tease the nipple against her lips till she suckled.
The few fans that recognized him thankfully kept their distance. Emmy didn't take well to strangers (another reason why he didn't come to any live events or tapings while Jeff was still with TNA) and she was behaving so well, he didn't want to jinx it. He intended to stay only until Jeff's match concluded, and that was providing that the girls could keep it together that long...
"...the winners of this match, and new tag team champions - Jeff and Matt, the Hardy Boyz!" Jeff had an exhausted, yet triumphant smile on his face as the referee raised one hand and he hoisted the belt into the air with the other. Talk about a perfect homecoming.
Well, there was one thing that would make it even better...
Sliding out of the ring, he approached the security wall and leaned against it, beconing to the little girl in an oversized t-shirt that had been watching intently for the last half-hour. She slid from her seat and shuffled over, letting out a surprised but happy yelp when Jeff hoisted her into the air and squeezed for all he was worth. The crowd seemed to breathe a collective 'aww' when he pressed a kiss to her tousled curls and she burrowed down into his side, making herself comfortable.
And then Jeff was climbing over the barricade, child still held tightly in his arms. He squatted down in front of Phil's seat, his body screaming for mercy as muscles that had already been pushed to their limit were stretched and flexed one more time. A tattooed hand stroked over Paisley's face, her dark green eyes studying him intently... eventually, she gave a soft coo of recognition, and Jeff pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.
"You're such a sap." Phil grumbled, but there was no real malice in his tone.
"Thank you for coming." Jeff whispered. He looked, and sounded, as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "All of you. I... I really needed this."
Phil was silent for a moment, considering. Then, he offered, "Where else would we be, except right here, doing what family is meant to do? Supporting one another."
"Now whose the sap?" Jeff asked, laughing.
Before Phil could answer, Jeff leaned in and covered those sinful lips with his own. The Charismatic Enigma tasted of sweat and blood, and Phil had never tasted anything so wonderfully addicting in his entire life. It reminded him of the days when storyline feuds melted into passionate hate sex, rendering Phil practically unable to walk and Jeff a battered, bloody mess. Of how Jeff's eventual departure from WWE had turned the sex into something more...
He vaguely registered the flash of a bulb in his peripheral vision, and he knew that pictures of their little family, huddled together in the afterglow of a spectacular match, would be all over the internet tomorrow. But Jeff didn't care. He and Phil had been in a civil partnership since 2011, and had been married since 2015. Pictures of them kissing were old news, and they posted cute pictures of the kids all the time.
"Can I hold the belt, Daddy?" Ember was eyeing the title belt resting on Jeff's shoulder with envy. At Jeff's nod, she began to make grabby hands until she was adjusted on Jeff's knee and the belt, almost as heavy as she was, drapped carefully over her lap. "Pretty."
"So," Jeff asked, twirling a blonde curl around his finger, "How was my first match back in WWE? Did it live up to the hype?"
Phil very briefly considered screwing with him, but tossed the idea aside when he saw the raw vulnerability reflected in Jeff's dark green eyes. "It was wonderful, as usual. I'm not sure why you wanted us here, except to cause a disturbance ring side a la our screaming six-month-old."
"You make me smile." Jeff said simply.
Phil raised an eyebrow, "That has to be the fucking cheesiest thing you've ever said. You are definitely the sappy one in this relationship, my friend."
"Philly..." Jeff started, pressing his forehead against Phil's, "I've been stressing about this return for months. You heard how I was on the phone. I can promise you that that man would not have won the championship tonight." He said. "But when I saw you and the girls tonight, I just... mellowed out. And smiled."
"So what're you planning on doing when you get like this again and I can't pull together a last minute trip to state-of-the-week?" Phil asked.
Jeff pouted, "Why do you have to make me think about such a depressing future? Can't we just enjoy the fact that you're here now?" He asked. And then, a few seconds later, he shrugged, "I guess Skype will have to make do for all those lonely nights away from my favorite people in the whole wide world."
It would be so cold and impersonal, interacting with his family through a computer screen. He wouldn't be able to put face paint on Ember, or let her paint his nails in all the garish shades of pink that her Aunt Reby would buy her. He wouldn't be able to rock Paisley to sleep or take late-night diaper duty so that Phil could catch some extra sleep because, while he'd never admit it out loud (he certainly didn't have a death wish), the younger definitely needed it.
He wouldn't be able to hold Phil as he slept, to caress and kiss and love the beautiful being that had given him everything he'd ever wanted and so much more. He couldn't kiss those plump lips, or run his fingers over the slight swell of his abdomen that had never really gone away after their second baby, or make love to him, slow and sweet, as the first rays of light came in through the windows and for once, both babies remained blissfully lost in their respective dreamlands.
Phil smiled softly, almost remorsefully, and pressed a gentle kiss to Jeff's lips. "I'd fly out to be with you all the time, if I could. It's a little difficult with the kids, but..." he shifted Paisley's weight once again, "We'll find something that works, okay? No matter what, you won't just be completely cut off from us - I promise."
Jeff looked at him with so much love and adoration that it physically hurt. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you? Because I do. So fucking much."
"Way to ruin the moment." But Phil was laughing, so he wasn't too terribly upset. "And I love you too, idiot."