-Chapter 24-

Emma and Jenna watched the show from the front row tonight. She got some curious looks from a few other people in attendance; she was used to it, so she just ignored them and tried to get Jenna situated. Emma had been to multiple shows that Punk had performed in, but this would be the first one that Jenna would be old enough to remember. She smiled as she saw her daughter's cute little face light up at the sound of her dad's music start to play and he made his way down to the ring. "Mama? Why are all the people booing daddy?" Jenna asked with a confused look on her face as she tugged at her mother's sleeve. "That's not nice!"

Emma smiled a little; Jenna was too little to understand professional wrestling and the storylines that went along with it yet. Someday, when she was older, Punk would have to explain it to her just like he had to Jack. "Daddy is playing the bad guy."

"But he's not a bad guy!" the little girl insisted.

"I know that, Jenners. But that's just the part that daddy plays," Emma tried to reassure her little one. "You'll understand one day."

"Daddy is a good man," Jenna said with determination as she watched her father stand on the top rope and taunt the crowd. "They shouldn't boo him. They should be clapping for him like I am!," she said sternly as she stood on her chair and cheered loudly for her dad. Punk caught Jenna's eye before he picked up the microphone and gave her a wink.

He can be, Emma thought to herself, suddenly feeling bad about picking a fight with him right before the show tonight. They had been through so much during the past six months—she did the unthinkable and instead of pushing the divorce through, he wanted to try and work it out. What did she do to deserve a man like him, to love her unconditionally after everything she did? She would just have to make it up to him later tonight after the show.

.

.

"Daddy! That was so much fun!" Jenna trilled as she held tightly onto her dad's hand as Emma followed behind them as they walked backstage to Punk's dressing room. He had been acting cool towards her ever since their big fight earlier in the evening. He barely acknowledged her when she caught up with him backstage.

"It was? What was your favorite part, Jenners?" he asked his youngest with amusement shining in his hazel eyes. It was an amazing feeling seeing the excitement in his kids' eyes when they got to come to a show and see what he did every night.

"When I got to see John Cena!" she exclaimed, a wide smile on her little mouth. Emma held back a giggle at the look on disbelief on Punk's face.

"Didn't you like it when daddy came out," Punk asked quietly, trying hard to keep his frustration and disappointment to himself.

"Well, that was ok, but John Cena is so much fun!"

"Huh," he said quietly as they approached his dressing room. He opened the door and Jenna skipped inside. "What was mommy's favorite part?" he asked quietly as he reached for Emma.

"When this straight edge guy with short hair and a beard came out to the ring…." Emma said coyly, biting her bottom lip, trying hard to avoid Punk's eyes.

"Oh, yeah?" he whispered in a husky voice as his arms wrapped around her waist and he started to pull her closer to him.

Emma ran her fingers slowly up and down her husband's strong arms, tracing the outlines of his tattoos. "Yeah….he was really good looking…..he had all these tattoos…..and I couldn't stop hanging onto every work that he said tonight…" she trailed off as she lifted her blue eyes to finally look at him. When her eyes met his, she saw how his hazel eyes were glazed over with lust for her right now.

"Good looking, huh?" he whispered as he pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and leaned down so his face was hovering above hers. He was just about to cover her sweet mouth with his own, when an annoying, but familiar voice, called out his name.

"Punk! There you are!" Punk let out a sigh of immense frustration and looked up to see a smiling Beth staring him down. She pretended to not see Emma. "We're all going out for something to eat at Waffle House. Are you coming?" she said as she stood next to Emma, batting her eyes at Punk. Emma held in a scream and turned to face Beth.

"Hello, Beth," Emma growled quietly.

The smile on Beth's face waivered momentarily as she finally acknowledged Punk's wife; with a fake, and noticeably forced, smile on her face Beth turned her attention to Emma. "Oh, Emma. I didn't know you were here tonight…..I thought for sure that you and Scott would have had plans tonight. You know, because, isn't that what always happened once Punk went out of town?" Beth said sweetly.

Emma's blood boiled. Her face turned bright red and she looked at her husband. Was he going to say something to make this stop? Beth kept on, "What's the matter, Emma? Why is your face so red? Oops…didn't Punk know that Scott stopped over before Punk's flight even took off? Scott was telling me all about it. Girl, that man is in love with you. But you already knew that, didn't you. You must have, considering that you were planning on running away with him after you took Punk for all his money?" she asked innocently.

Something in Emma snapped. Without even realizing what was happening, Emma lunged at Beth with enough force to knock her to the ground. With her left hand, she grabbed Beth's hair and slammed her head onto the floor. Beth tried to fight back, but Emma got a few good slaps in to Beth's face, before Punk hooked his arms under his wife's and pulled her off of Beth. "Emmy! What the fuck?" he growled in her ear. Breathing hard, Emma turned to stare at her husband—he was pissed. She never had been able to stand that look of disappointment on his face; she looked away from him and saw that a few other divas were helping Beth up from the floor. Apparently, Emma's little outburst had caused some attention, because there was a small crowed forming around Beth. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Punk growled in her ear as he held onto her arm as if to restrain her in case she decided to go after Beth. "These are the people that I work with every day; the fucking talent guy is here tonight. I know we're having problems with her and Scott right now, but shit, Emmy, you can't just attack her like this. You're going to get me suspended and then what," he quickly whispered in her ear. She stared at him—was he mad at her, or just worried about getting in trouble?

"Are….are you mad at me right now? Are you that worried about your job? Is your job more important than me?" Emma whispered back.

Punk's mouth opened to respond, but he was cut off by Beth, who interrupted the spat that was happening between Punk and Emma right now. While rubbing her jawline, "Punk, you are an idiot. A complete fool. What kind of man just accepts and then ignores the fact that his wife cheated on him?" she demanded to know. "I'll tell you what kind of man, a weak man. You do realize that if she hadn't come with you this week, she'd probably be laying underneath Colton right now, don't you? She's a slut, Punk. She's weak. She doesn't care about you; she just wants your money," Beth was saying quickly as she moved closer to Punk, her blue eyes were starting to glaze over a little bit, as if the words were just falling out of her mouth without her really thinking about them. "You deserve better than her, Punk. You deserve someone who is strong, who is going to stand by you through everything, who would never think about leaving you. You need someone who understands the business and loves it just as much as you do," her words were coming quickly and more softly now. Emma was in shock; she noticed that Jenna had come over to the partially opened door and was wondering why this tall woman was standing to close to her father. Emma walked over and placed her hands over Jenna's ears so she didn't have to hear this nonsense out of Beth's mouth. "Make her stop," she whispered to Punk.

Punk looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. He couldn't find the words to make Beth stop talking right now. "Admit it, Punk. You've thought of leaving her. You've thought of just giving her the divorce and walking away from everything—from the house, the responsibilities, those kids….You miss being able to come and go as you please, don't you? You miss the excitement of the chase of a new woman. You don't like waking up next to Emma and all of her drama anymore, do you? It's ok. You can admit it now. You can admit what you told me. You don't need to be stuck like this anymore….." Beth reached out and touched a stunned Punk's arm. He looked down at her big hand on his arm and then looked back at his wife of almost ten years, tears shining in her pretty blue eyes, hands still over his youngest child's ears. "Please make her stop," she whispered.

Jenna looked up at her mom who was starting to cry, and then she looked at her dad who still had a dazed look on his face. What was going on? Jack said mommy and daddy were going to live together again. Why was this tall lady making her mom cry and her dad act so weird?