Chapter 15...

Monday…

Raquel glared at her phone, her face still smushed against her pillow. Someone had called her twice now and they had one more time before she threatened them with severe bodily harm. And she always made good on her threats. Well…almost always.

The phone rang again and she groggily reached for it, knocking it off of the nightstand.

"God damn it," she leaned over to grab it but she couldn't quite reach it. She inched forward a little and just as her fingers brushed it, she slid over the side of the bed, falling onto her back. She grabbed the phone, angrily flipping it open, "Hello?"

"Raquel?"

"No Jesus, what can I do for you my son?" she rolled her eyes. She didn't recognize the male voice on the other end of the conversation but whoever it was, they picked the wrong time to call.

"Well, I was hoping to talk to Raquel," he laughed. "I don't have too many sins to confess right now."

"Who is this?" Raquel asked, still laying on the floor.

"Victor," he answered.

"Victor?" she sat up straight, smoothing her hair a little. Then she frowned, she was on the phone, what was she doing?

"I didn't wake you up, did I?" he asked.

"You did, but I needed to get up anyway," she lied, looking over at the clock. She hadn't planned on getting up for at least another hour.

"I cant talk for too long but I wanted to catch you early to let you know I cant make it to lunch today," he sighed. "I'm stuck on conference calls until about an hour or two before the show starts. I was hoping we could reschedule."

Raquel hated being asked to reschedule. She wasn't fond of being put off for something else but he had a reason she deemed valid so she wasn't going to bitch, "Sure, we can reschedule."

"Great," he said, sounding relieved. "I should get going but we can talk about it tonight at the show."

"Sounds good," Raquel smiled.

"Okay, I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Raquel hung up the phone, climbing back up onto the bed. She set the alarm on her phone to wake her up in an hour and then placed it back on the nightstand. Time for a little extra shut eye.

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Brianna stopped at the red light, singing along to the CD she'd put in. She'd woken up that morning with Heart's 'Bebe Le Strange' stuck in her head and that prompted her to listen to a Heart CD she'd made more than a year before. The current track was Even It Up. She turned it up, singing loudly as she waited for the light to change. She rolled her eyes when her cell phone started ringing. She hated when that happened during one of her favorite songs. No matter what, it was going to interrupt. Either she let it ring and it meddled with the song or she paused her beloved Heart to answer. She opted for the latter, hoping she wasn't being called back to the rehearsal space. She'd been working with Kelis and her dancers since 6 that morning and she really wanted to get back to the hotel and get a quick nap in before she had to go pick up her grandfather.

"Hello?"

"Brianna?"

Brianna smiled when she saw Maya, "Hey kiddo..What's up?"

"Uncle Troy took me to get ice cream," Maya announced excitedly.

"He did?" Brianna feigned surprise. "What kind did you get?"

"Strawberry," Maya answered. "Two scoops. And the lady behind the counter said I was too cute not to have sprinkles."

"I think she's right," Brianna agreed. In Bri's mind, Maya was the cutest, most talented, intelligent child in the world. When she was younger, the last thing she ever thought she would be at 22 was a step-mother. When she was in her early teens, she had proudly proclaimed that she never wanted kids. Then, as she grew older, she changed her tune but she still hadn't wanted kids until, maybe, her late 20's. But now..Brianna wouldn't trade Maya and the responsibility that came with her for anything in the world. She parked her car in the spot reserved for her.

"When are you coming home?" Maya asked.

"I'll be home Thursday morning," Bri said, trying to balance the gym back on her shoulder, the purse hanging around her elbow, her keys, and her phone as she got out of the car.

"Good," Maya said. "I don't have to go on my trip til Monday."

"Trip?" Brianna frowned, her neck beginning to hurt from pressing the phone between her ear and shoulder. "What trip?"

"Daddy said I'm spending the rest of the summer with my grandma," Maya sighed.

"Your grandma?"

She straightened up in surprise, dropping her phone.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, dropping everything else and picking it up.

"What?" Maya asked.

"Nothing sweetie," Brianna said, using her feet to push her bags toward the door and pulling her key out of her pocket. Bri knew she couldn't have been talking about Nick's mother. She rarely ever had anything to do with Nick or Maya. She hated Carla and as far as Mrs. Larranaga was concerned, Maya was nothing but an extension of the daughter in law she despised. And Carla's mother…Well there was no way she was going to stay with Carla's mother.

"Honey, is Daddy around?" Brianna asked

"Mmhmm," Maya answered.

"Can I talk to him for a minute?"

"Okay," Maya answered.

Bri opened the door to the bungalow, tossing her bags inside. She saw that Gia was asleep on the couch so she walked back outside, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Hello?"

"What the hell is going on?" she asked.

"Excuse me?" Nick immediately sounded angry.

"Maya just told me she's spending the rest of the summer with her grandma."

"She is," Nick said. "She's gonna stay with Carla's mom."

"What!" Brianna fumed. "Are you insane?"

Carla's mother was a nice person, she really was. Brianna almost felt bad for her. But she had a hard time feeling bad for someone who made excuses for a person like Carla. She understood that Carla was her daughter but there came a time when she needed to realize that Carla wasn't the same girl she raised. She was a drug addict, plain and simple.

"She's her grandmother Brianna," Nick said. "Why wouldn't I let her stay there?"

"Because that woman thinks Carla is a saint," Brianna said, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to keep her voice down. "She cant admit that her daughter is fucked up and doesn't know how to raise her child. She doesn't understand that there is a reason that we keep Maya away from Carla."

Nick was about to say something but she cut him off.

"Spending the summer with Helen is spending the summer with Carla and you know that," Brianna said. "How could you be so stupid?"

"Do not call me stupid!" Nick yelled.

Brianna tried to keep calm but it was nearly impossible, "Do you remember the last time you let Carla take Maya for a few days?"

Nick was quiet.

"When we came to pick her up she was in a closet, hiding," Brianna said, almost shaking she was so angry. She was holding her phone so tightly she was sure she'd break it. "Carla was nowhere to be found. She left a child alone in a house with no food, the doors unlocked and the windows open Nick. Anything could have happened to her. And now you wanna send Maya to live with her for the rest of the summer? Are you fucking insane!"

"I am not sending her to be with Carla!" Nick yelled.

"Yes you are!" Brianna yelled back. "Do you honestly think Helen wont let Carla see her? How many times has she tried to convince us to give Carla joint custody? How many times has she called us pleading Carla's case even though she knows damn well Carla isn't capable of raising a child?"

"She said she wont let Carla see her," Nick said. Brianna could tell he was gritting her teeth but she didn't care. What right did he have to be angry? She was right, he had to know that.

"And you believe that!" Brianna exclaimed, amazed at him. How could he be so stupid? She felt like pulling her hair out, this made absolutely no sense. She was so frustrated, her eyes were filling with tears.

"Why the hell are you jumping down my throat Brianna?" Nick asked. "You're the one running around Miami with your ex boyfriend."

"What!" Brianna's mouth dropped open. She ran a hand through her hair, clenching her fist. "Don't you dare try to turn this around on me Nick. You don't even know what you're talking about."

"Your mom called," Nick said. "She said that your grandfather mentioned that the two of you were at his house…So is that why you haven't been calling me Bri? Too busy with John?"

"I've been busy with work," Bri insisted. "And I told you, this is not about me and John..This is about you making a decision like this without me. When were you gonna tell me?"

"I don't have to run anything by you Bri," Nick said. "In case you've forgotten..you're not her mother."

Brianna couldn't find her voice. She searched her brain but she couldn't find anything to say to that. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and knew that she was dangerously close to losing complete control of her emotions. Without saying another word, she pulled the phone away from her ear, closing it as she felt the tear roll over her lip. She leaned against the wall and tried to take a deep breath. It was shaky and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to tell herself that she couldn't do this. She couldn't break down.

Her phone began to ring and she slid down to the ground, looking at the display, her vision blurred by tears. She opened the phone, "Hello?"

"Brianna?"

She leaned her head back against the wall behind her when she heard her grandfather's voice.

"Mmhmm," she nodded.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," she sniffed. "I'm fine."

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A few hours later…

"I'm nervous," Raquel looked down at her untouched food. "Is that weird?"

"I think that's normal Raquel," Gia said. "You're gonna be on live TV tonight in front of millions of people."

"Thanks Gi," Raquel glared at her sister. "I feel so much better now."

"Don't be nervous," Rodrigo spoke up, briefly tearing himself away from his meal. "You're gonna be great."

"Thanks," Raquel smiled at the older man. She'd never really been close to either of her real grandfathers but Rodrigo had always treated her like family. She looked over at Brianna. If anyone could truly calm her nerves, it was her. Surprisingly, Brianna didn't seem to be paying attention at all. She was across the table, next to Rodrigo, her head leaning against the wall. She still had her sunglasses on and she was absently lifting the straw out of her lemonade, stirring it around, and then pushing it back into the glass. She'd barely spoke since they sat down and from what Gia and Rodrigo told her when Brianna went back out to the car to get her phone, she'd been very quiet on the ride from Rodrigo's to the restaurant.

"Brianna?" Raquel said.

She didn't respond.

"Bri?"

She looked up after a second, "Hmm?"

"Raquel was telling us she's nervous about the show tonight," Rodrigo explained to his granddaughter.

"Don't be nervous," Brianna offered her sister a smile. "You've been doing this for weeks at house shows and you've been great. You're doing the same thing, just with cameras there. You'll do an amazing job."

"Thanks," Raquel smiled, feeling less uneasy. She was a bit concerned about Brianna though. What was making her so quiet?

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4:00 P.M.

Brianna smiled, shaking hands with Shelton Benjamin. She was pretty sure that between John and Raquel both introducing her around, she'd officially met everyone that she hadn't met the night before. Her hand was a little sore but she supposed that would go away soon enough. Everyone seemed really nice. To her surprise, some of them actually knew who she was. Some knew her from working on So You Think You Can Dance, some from videos, and some of the men just knew her from some magazine spreads. As nice and friendly as everyone was though, she was having a hard time focusing. Her mind kept drifting back to her conversation with Nick. She wasn't sure what was more upsetting. The fact that Nick was letting Maya stay with Helen or what he'd said to her. Thinking about it made the tears spring to her eyes again. Not wanting to make a fool of herself, she slowly slipped away from the group of chatting wrestlers, turning away and walking quickly, once again trying to take deep breaths. This was really not the place for this.

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John noticed Brianna slip away from the group and he did the same. She'd been acting funny since they got to the arena and he wanted to know what was going on. She pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head as she waked and he could see her wiping her thumb under her eyes.

"Bri," he reached out, gently taking her arm.

"Yeah?" she turned around, her eyes misty. A lone tear fell from her eye and John's plan to casually ask how she was doing flew out the window. He couldn't handle seeing her cry.

He wiped the tear away with his thumb, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she forced a laugh, sniffing. "I just uh..there's something in my eye."

"Bri you've never been a good liar," he said, stepping closer to her. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head slowly, "I don't wanna talk about it. It's not important."

She turned to walk away but he followed, "If it makes you cry, it's important."

"I'm not crying," she turned to face him again. "I told you, there's something in my eye."

"I'm looking in your eyes right now," John said. "There's nothing in them but tears."

She looked down, picking at one of her nails.

"Bri, talk to me," he said. "What's going on?"

She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to figure out what to do. Finally she wiped her eyes again, "Can we go outside?"

"Yeah," he nodded, putting an arm around her shoulders as they walked toward the door.

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Jeff walked over to the catering table, picking up a bottle of water. Raquel was at the other end of the table, looking down at nothing in particular.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She looked over at him, confused, "What?"

"You seem a little..I don't know..not yourself," Jeff shrugged.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well," he shrugged again. "You haven't insulted me yet today. It feels a little weird."

Jeff could swear he saw a hint of a smile. He made a mental note to remember this moment of peace between them. He couldn't remember the last one.

"I'm a little too nervous to insult you right now," she said. "I'll catch up later."

Jeff nodded, "Good, as long as you don't wait too long. I've been saving up some come-backs for you."

"Cant wait to hear them," she laughed.

"Hey Jeff!"

Jeff looked up when he saw Shelton Benjamin coming toward them.

"What's up?"

"I thought maybe we should talk about our match," Shelton said.

"Okay, I'll be right there," Jeff said.

Shelton nodded, turning and walking away. Once the other man was gone, Jeff looked over at Raquel again. She was looking down at the table again.

"Hey," he said. "Don't be nervous. If you do half as good a job as you've done on the house shows, you'll be great."

She looked surprised by his comment. Truthfully, he was a little surprised. He wasn't sure why he'd said it but there wasn't much he could do about it now.

She smiled, still looking a little confused, "Thanks."

He shrugged, "No problem."

He turned away, walking off to find Shelton before things got any more awkward.

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"So then he said that and I just…I hung up," Brianna said, tears falling down her face. "I mean I know that he's right, I'm not her mother but.."

"Bri he's not right," John insisted, trying to control his anger. He fumed at the thought of Nick yelling at Brianna. "You have been more of a parent to Maya than either of her real parents."

"He should be thanking you for caring so much, not saying what he said to you," John said.

"What am I supposed to do?" Brianna asked. John could see that it was getting harder and harder for her to control her crying. He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her, making sure she knew he was there for her. She leaned into him, quietly crying against his chest. He ran his hand over her hair, "Once Nick has a little time to think, he's gonna realize you're right."

She pulled away, looking up at him, " What if he doesn't?"

"He will," John wiped her tears again, smiling down at her reassuringly.

She laughed sheepishly, looking down at his now tear-stained shirt, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he laughed. "It'll dry."

"Not just the shirt," she said. "I'm sorry for putting all of this on you."

"Don't apologize," he said. "I lo…I care about you..You can always talk to me."

He prayed she hadn't noticed his slip. Fortunately, she didn't give him any indication that she had.

"Thanks," she said.

"You can cry on my shirt anytime," he laughed.

"I'm gonna hold you to that," she smiled.

"Speaking of shirts," he looked down at the plain black tank top she wore with her short denim skirt. "This isn't working."

"What?" she looked down at herself.

"I got something for you."

10 Minutes Later…

Brianna laughed, looking in the mirror. John had told her she didn't look enough like a wrestling fan so he'd given her a Chain Gang Assault Battalion t-shirt that was only a few inches shorter than her skirt, a chain gang camouflage hat, and a pair of John Cena dog tags.

"Here, put one of these on," John said, opening a pack of wristbands.

"I think this is enough," she said, taking off the hat and running her hands through her long waves before putting it back on. She laughed when she looked at herself in the mirror.

"What?" he stood behind her. "I think you look cute."

"I look like one of your fans," she smiled.

"You better be one of my fans," he laughed, putting his arms around her. Brianna felt her smile widen when she felt his arms. She couldn't think of a more comforting feeling.

"I am," she laughed. "Not sure how good I look in a camo hat though. I'm also not sure how well the camo goes with these pink shoes."

"You look good in anything," he said.

"You're just trying to get me to wear the wristbands," she laughed.

"I might be."

"It's not gonna happen Cena," she said, looking into his eyes in the mirror.

"Fine, fine," he put his hands up and Brianna immediately missed his arms. "But I think they would complete your look."

She laughed, "I bet you do…Maybe next time."

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"Promise?" John smirked.

"Nope," Brianna turned to face him, laughing

"Brat," he said, pushing the brim of the hat down over her eyes.

"Hey!" she squeaked, swinging out. She missed twice before connecting with his shoulder.

"Hey," he laughed, grabbing her arm when she tried to swing again. He leaned down, lifting her up onto his shoulders.

"Cena's goin for the F-U," he said, spinning her around. "Where's he gonna do it? On the couch? On the floor?"

She squealed, laughing and kicking her legs as he spun her around.

"Put me down!" she laughed.

"Oh I will," John laughed. "Just as soon as I decide where."

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Paula heard what almost sounding like screaming coming from the men's locker room. As far as she knew, none of the wrestlers were in there anymore. She'd seen almost everyone near the catering table listening to Brianna's grandfather tell some boring story. She rushed to the door, pushing it open to find John with Brianna up on his shoulders. John stopped turning around in circles when he saw her. He looked surprised, like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Hey," he smiled, not bothering to put the other woman down.

Brianna waved, looking a little out of breath, her hair hanging over her face, "Hey Paula."

"What the hell are you two doing?"

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