Title: Ride Of Your Life
Author: Adrian Jade
Summary: One day you wake up and realize that everything you thought mattered to you doesn't. John Cena has a girlfriend who he thinks he loves and a best friend who he knows he will always love. What happens when on a random pit stop to a Walmart they find something that could change all of their lives. John needs to choose where his heart belongs.
Disclaimer: I own all the people that you don't recognize. Everyone else own themselves and their characters belong to the WWE.
Ashley pushed Phinnigan's stroller through the back entrance of the Air Canada Center. She looked at the sleeping baby and couldn't help but smile. Randy followed her carrying his sleeping son and finally John and Kelly lagged behind walking leisurely while holding each other's hand. Ashley wanted to vomit at the sickening sight.
"Hey guys I'll meet up with you later I'm going to go see my dad" Ashley said.
"You taking Phinnigan with you?" John asked.
"Yeah better to tell dad now rather than having him find out on his own later" she replied.
"Hey Ashley if you want ... later on maybe we could go shopping or something" Kelly suggested.
"Umm ... yeah sure" Ashley said scratching the back of her head.
"Ash I'll walk with ya and you can help me figure out what to tell my parents" Randy said shifting Dean a little on his shoulder. They began to walk away from John and Kelly.
"You are just on a role" Ashley said "getting busted for smoking weed backstage at a Smackdown event, getting 60 days suspension and having to spend 4 weeks in anger management ... now you adopting a kids you really are on a frickin role"
"Well at least I wasn't addicted to Vicatin for a year ... and who was it who stole $ 7,000 from their father to feed their habit until their father literally threw them into rehab"
"Could you say it any louder I don't think the whole backstage area heard you" Ashley snapped irritably.
"Well don't play the 'who screwed up more' game with me because you loose every time"
"Why the hell is Kelly being nice to me because it is freaking me out?" Ashley asked.
"Yeah ... I have no idea" Randy said "is it cold in here cause hell just froze over big time"
"Yeah no kiddin"
"Ashley" both Randy and Ashley turned around when they heard Stephanie McMahon-Levesque's voice coming from behind them.
"What's up Steph?" Ashley asked her good friend and boss.
"Creative staff meeting in an hour" Steph announced.
"Can you watch Phin?" Ashley asked Randy.
"He has a daddy leave him with John" Randy said.
"I'll remember that when you need me to watch Dean" Ashley remarked.
"Ok I'm confused" Stephanie said.
"Ashley and John adopted a baby boy" Randy announced.
"Ok even more confused isn't John dating my pain in the ass cousin?" Stephanie asked. She liked Kelly about as much as Ashley did.
"Basically what it comes down to is I can't have children but wanted one so I convinced John to pretend to be my fiancée so that it would look better having two parents instead of one but apparently they will let anyone adopt because Randy has a son now" Ashley explained.
"Umm ... yeah" Steph replied stepping closer to the stroller to get a better look at the baby.
"He's beautiful Ash congratulations maybe now John will come to his senses and dump Kelly and finally get with you"
"Steph you have a better chance of a house falling on Kelly" Ashley said looking up to the Heavens hopefully "... me and John just don't make a good couple"
"You and John are a couple in every way except for the actual sex part" Steph said.
"She has a point Ash" Randy took it upon himself to enter the conversation.
"Don't you have a phone call to make" Ashley commented.
"Don't be bitter because we are right" Randy said.
"What are you two smoking because I want some ... me and John are just friends we tried the whole dating thing and it didn't work"
"When did you and John date?" Stephanie asked.
"While Ashley was still in collage and John was working at a gym in California" Randy filled Stephanie in.
"Well I'm going to leave you two ladies to gossip because I have to go find my dad" Ashley said.
"You mind taking Dean with ya?" Randy asked "just in case my parents start yelling I don't want to worry him"
"Sure hand him over" Ashley said.
Randy passed Dean to her and she steadied herself so she could push the stroller with one hand and support the sleeping little boy with the other. Ashley wanted to chuckle to herself ... what a sight she must have been to her fellow co-workers. She found her father's locker room and opened up the door. Chris Benoit was on the phone when his daughter walked into his locker room, he looked at her strangely as she gently placed a sleeping little boy on his couch before moving towards the stroller that she had pushed into the room. She removed a little baby boy and took the hat he was wearing off before having a seat with him on the other end of the couch.
"Dean ... I'll call you back" Chris said snapping his phone shut.
"Care to explain this" he gestured from Dean to Phinnigan.
"Dad I'd like you to meet your grandson Phinnigan William Joshua Cena"
"How do I have a grandson with the last name Cena and why do I have a feeling that I will want to kill John ... he didn't get some poor girl pregnant and she didn't want the baby so she gave it to him but he wanted nothing to do with it so he handed the baby off to you did he because I'll slam that god damn idiot's head into a wall"
"No dad John and I adopted a baby" Ashley said rationally.
"I'm sorry you and John did what?" Chris asked not really sure that he had heard Ashley right the first time.
"We adopted a baby" Ashley repeated.
"WHO THE HELL WOULD GIVE YOU TWO A BABY!" Chris yelled.
Dean woke up with a start and began crying. Phinnigan began to cry as well.
"It's ok Dean the mean old man didn't mean to scare you" Ashley said taking Dean into the lap as she tried to calm both him and Phinnigan down. She glared at Chris. Finally when both boys were asleep she laid Dean back down and returned Phinnigan to his stroller.
"Who's the boy?" Chris asked.
"Randy's son Dean" Ashley answered taking bottle supplies out of Phinnigan's diaper bag.
"Man they will give a kid to anyone won't they" Chris remarked.
"I said the same exact thing" Ashley said.
"So where did this sudden need to have a baby come about?" Chris asked.
"We found Phinnigan in a parking lot, someone left him there to die and then I found out that they were putting him in an orphanage and I guess I just felt like he needed to be with me ... nobody should have to go through what I went through"
A saddened look crossed Chris's features. Ashley slipped up and regretted it the moment she finished her sentence. For a minute she had forgotten who she was talking to. She knew Chris felt guilty for leaving his children at that place and they all had forgiven him completely.
"Dad I'm sorry I didn't mean to mention that place"
"It's ok and I regret everyday that I left you and your brothers at that horrible home I have no idea what I was thinking"
"You weren't in the right mind dad ... me and Connor and Keegan we know that"
"I was wrong for leaving you and your brothers in that place and if you felt that because of that you needed to adopt a baby although I find it a little sudden I will support you because I love you and I know that you have some comprehension of what you are doing"
"Your faith in me is astounding" she rolled her eyes.
"Watch it because you are not to old for me to ground you"
"Oh yes ground me to my hotel room with the room service, Pay Per View cable, and my PS2 ... yeah that is real punishment"
He playfully grabbed Ashley's ear, not hard enough to cause actual pain but hard enough to be uncomfortable.
"Let go of my ear" Ashley said.
"Are you going to be nice"
"Christopher Michael Benoit let go of my ear now" Ashley commanded.
"Ashley Fiona Benoit try being respectful of your father"
Ashley threw her elbow up and it almost connected with Chris's jaw if he hadn't moved away just in time.
"Hey you almost took off my head!"
"Got you to let go of my ear didn't it" Ashley smirked triumphantly.
"Auntie" Dean said rubbing his eyes.
"What's up sweetie?" Ashley asked.
"I gotta go potty" Dean said.
"Ok come on I'll take you" Ashley picked Dean up and carried him into the bathroom.
Chris looked at the baby that his daughter and her best friend adopted. He was so small but Chris could sense a strength about him. Phinnigan looked so peaceful sleeping but then again most babies did. His skin was a pale pink color and Chris could see a hint of light brown hair. Just by looking at him he knew this cute was going to be handsome when he got older. He just hoped that the kid didn't need shock therapy before he turned 5 because growing up with Ashley and John as his parents was going to be an adventure ... he just hoped that Phinnigan didn't end up living with him because his mother was in jail for killing his father's current girlfriend but he didn't put that one past Ashley.
Dean came running out of the bathroom and stopped short. Ashley almost collided with him.
"I know who you are ... you're Chris Benoit"
"Dean this is my dad" Ashley said.
"Your dad is Chris Benoit ... wow if Jimmy and Greg could see me now" Dean grinned brightly.
"I have a creative meeting in a little bit can you keep an eye on these two for a little while?"
"It's been a long time since I've been around young children" Chris pointed out "are you sure you you want to leave them with me"
"I trust you and besides if you have trouble Randy and John are down the hall but go to Randy first because I'd rather not have Kelly anywhere near Phinnigan"
"Auntie where is daddy?" Dean asked.
"He'll be down to pick you up in a little while honey" she said having a seat next to him on the couch "you are going to stay here with my dad till then and I know you will behave"
Ashley gently placed a hand on the back of Dean's head as she began "helping" him nod his head.
"Yes Auntie whatever you say goes" she said.
Dean giggled "Yes Auntie whatever you say goes"
"I'm going to feed Phin and then I'm off to save people from evil doers" she placed her hands on her hips and tried her best to look like Superman.
"Remind me why people gave you a baby again" Ashley stuck out her tongue at her father but she knew he was just kidding around with her. Ashley fed the baby and left. Chris was holding Phinnigan while Dean was sprawled out on the floor coloring.
"Chris I'm bored"
"What do you want to do?" Chris asked the young boy.
"I wanna meet wrestlers ... can you take me to meet The Undertaker and Batista ... they are my favorites" Dean began jumping up and down.
"I guess we can do that but you have to hold my hand the entire time ok"
"Yay!" Dean exclaimed.
Chris put Phinnigan into his carriage and took Dean's small hand in his own as he tried to navigate the halls using only one hand to steer the carriage.
"Who am I gonna meet first?" Dean asked.
"We'll try catering first most of the wrestlers hand out there"
"Cool ... I wanna meet The Undertaker and Batista and DX and Ken Kennedy and The Hardy Boyz and Kane and Chavo Guerrero so I can tell him that he is being mean to Rey Mysterio ... oooh I wanna meet him too and I wanna meet Chris Masters and Mr. McMahon ..." Dean continued to ramble on while Chris attempted to keep up with what he was saying but it was impossible because he was talking way too fast.
"Dean take a breath" Chris told him.
"Are we there yet?" Dean asked.
Chris gritted his teeth it had been so long since he had had a little child around he had forgotten how annoying they were.
"No Dean it'll still be a couple of minutes"
"My legs are starting to hurt" Dean whined.
'I'm going to kill this kid' Chris thought as he picked the small boy up.
They finally reached catering and much to Chris's annoyance nobody was there.
"I hate children" Chris mumbled to himself.
Chris brought both boys back to his locker room. Dean stood there with his arms crossed.
"We didn't get to see anyone ... I wanna meet Batista and The Undertaker" Dean stamped his foot on the ground.
Chris's hard blue eyes met Dean's brown ones. He understood that Dean had spent most of his short life in an orphanage that didn't have the funds or the time to attend to all of Dean's needs and now that he was getting anything he wanted when he wanted it of course it would only be natural for him to test his new found boundaries. But it was still really annoying and Chris could only take so much of it.
Dean began rubbing his eyes and Chris knew what was going to happen next. He also began to sniffle.
"Oh hell no don't even think about starting the fake crying this because I raised 3 kids ... it doesn't work on me"
Dean's eyes got as wide as silver dollars and he stopped sniffling and stood there barely breathing. Chris just shook his head.
"You would think I was about to hit you or something" Chris said cracking a smile "give me about 10 minutes and then we'll go find Batista and The Undertaker ok"
2 Hours Later ...
"Steph that had to be the most boring meeting I have ever had to sit through" Ashley said "no offense I thought it was never gonna end"
"We had some important issues to discuss" Stephanie said seriously, but both Stephanie and Ashley burst into hysterical laughter.
"Hey girls" Kelly said cheerfully walking towards Stephanie and Ashley "what's so funny?"
"Nothing really we were just being weirdos" Stephanie replied.
"So Ashley I was thinking we could go shopping or maybe go to a spa or something like that" Kelly said excitedly.
"Ummm ... shopping is ok I guess" Ashley said.
"Stephanie would you like to join us?" Kelly asked.
"I'd love to but I promised I'd relieve Paul from his baby sitting duty after the meeting so another time" Stephanie said.
"Ok then let me just grab my purse and we'll leave" Kelly said before leaving to get her purse.
"Please don't leave me alone with her" Ashley begged.
"You'll be fine" Stephanie said "and who knows maybe you'll actually become friends"
"Yeah and maybe it'll rain blood in Germany ... ain't likely to happen"
"Have fun" Stephanie said beginning to walk away.
"I hate you" Ashley yelled.
"I know you do"
"Ready?" Kelly asked putting a hand on Ashley's shoulder.
"Yeah" Ashley shrugged her hand away and began walking.
"So if you don't mind me asking why did you and John break up ... I've tried asking him but he doesn't like talking about it?" Kelly asked carefully.
Ashley opened her mouth to say something and Kelly thought she was going to yell at her but Ashley closed her mouth and sat there thinking. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the seat.
"John and I were two young people who were so caught up in ourselves that we couldn't really make a relationship work so I ended it before we ended up hating each other forever" Ashley replied honestly.
"So do you love him?" she asked.
"I believe what you want to know is if I am in love with him and the answer is no I'm not ... I love John but not in the way you think I do, he's my best friend and the first guy that I ever really fell in love with but times change I don't feel that way about John anymore so you have nothing to worry about" Ashley said with her eyes still closed.
"I wish I could believe you" Kelly mumbled to herself.
Later that day ...
Ashley wouldn't admit this to anyone but she was actually having a fun time with Kelly/ It hadn't been easy at first but once Kelly had explained that she didn't want to fight with Ashley anymore did Ashley put her guards down just a little. She still didn't trust Kelly completely but she was willing to try if Kelly was willing to meet her halfway. The drive home was a pleasant one both women sat chatting away as if they had been friends for years ... they shared stories they had about John doing stupid things and laughed at his expense. Kelly parked the car and both women got out and went to the trunk to collect their bags.
"You know I had fun today" Kelly said earnestly.
"Yeah me too"
"When John first told me about the baby I was really pissed but then when he told me that you couldn't have any kids on your own and about how you were abused as a teen I began to feel bad so I thought maybe she could use a friend to talk to"
Ashley's normally light grey eyes darkened as the rage set in. Although she looked calm on the outside internally she was anything but. She couldn't believe that John had betrayed her like that, she had entrusted him with a secret that she hadn't told anyone else and he turned around and told the one person who Ashley detested the most.
"I have to go" Ashley said running as fast as she could into the building.
She kept running till she couldn't run anymore and collapsed in a dark corner of an abandoned hallway. She brought her knees up to her chest and cried until she couldn't cry anymore. Then she just sat there and thought about things but eventually she began to cry again. She couldn't believe John had betrayed her after everything they had been through.
John just happened to be walking by when he heard someone crying. He was about to continue walking when he thought he recognized the sound of the sobs. He kept walking closer till he found Ashley sitting with her head down crying.
"Oh my god Ash what happened" John asked crounching down next to her.
At the sound of John's voice the tears stopped, Ashley literally felt her heart hardening. She looked into John's eyes, she could see the concern that he had for her. He went to hug her but she pushed him away and stood up. He stood up as well, before he even had a chance to get any words out Ashley punched him hard in the face. He swore he could taste blood.
"What the hell was that for?" he asked shocked that she had punched him.
"We are through John I never want to talk to you again ... I can't believe you ... I told you something that I have never told anyone and you go around and tell Kelly" she screamed at him.
He stood there rubbing his jaw but he didn't even bother denying it because that would only infuriate Ashley even more.
"I'm sorry" he finally said.
"Sorry doesn't cut it John from now on I want you to stay away from me and my son" Ashley walked pushed past him.
"Come on Ash don't be like that" John called after her but she was to angry to even hear him.
"Damn it" John yelled before punching the wall next to him.
He was too heart broken to even realize that he had just broken 3 bones in his fist. Ashley grabbed Phinnigan and left the arena. It would be a long journey back to her home in Greenwood, Connecticut but it would give her a lot of time to think about what happens next.