Chapter 19: How to Save a Life

"Hello" a very groggy John Cena answered his cell phone.

"Hi it's me listen up because I'm only going to say this once meet me in the diner we used to go to when we were in Jersey in about 10 minutes and don't be late" Ashley hung up the phone before John could even utter a word.

It was a blistering cold morning and John could see the tiny white clouds as he exhaled. The icy wind nipped at his face causing him to pull the hood of his sweatshirt closer to his face in an ill attempt to try to stay warm. He sighed in relief as he entered the heavenly warmth of the diner. True to her word she was there waiting for him. She donned a pair of sunglasses and her hair was pulled back into a tight bun. He could tell even before he sat down that this was not a personal get together, she had an agenda and she was dragging him into it.

"What's this all about?" he asked taking off his coat and having a seat across from her.

She sipped her coffee and looked him over for a few moments as if to almost see if she should even bother talking to him or not.

"You and I we are not friends" she started off by saying "but we do need each other if we are going to keep our son with us"

"I don't want to loose him anymore than you do believe me" he replied reaching out and taking her hand into his own. He caressed the back of her hand with his thumb as a sign that he was there for her.

"I've lost too much time with him already" he said.

She looked away almost guiltily "I'm not going to apologize for doing what I thought was best for my son"

She took her hand from his and removed her sunglasses, he could see now that her eyes were completely bloodshot indicating that she wasn't sleeping and she had probably been crying a lot.

"We won't loose him Ash" he tried to assure her.

"Easy for you to say John ... you can just go out and have another kid but I can't ... Phinnigan is my whole world, he's the only thing in my life that makes sense"

"Do you really think it would be just that easy" he shook his head disgusted "if I lost Phinnigan again it would kill me. You may not think so but I love my son more than anything else in the world and I don't give a damn what genetics say that's my little boy"

Ashley could see John's eyes were starting to get a little watery. Could she really have been wrong all this time. She was starting to get the feeling that she had misjudged him all this time.

"After Kelly had the miscarriage it really got me thinking"

Ashley who had been quietly drinking her coffee started choking in surprise. John looked startled as he reached over the table to pat her back a little to try and help her breathing return to normal. After a minute Ashley seemed to be breathing better.

"You ok?" John asked the red faced woman.

"Randy never told you did he?" Ashley asked already knowing the answer.

"Told me what?"

"Kelly was never pregnant" Ashley told him "she only said she was so she could get me out of the picture"

"That's not even remotely funny"

"It's not a joke John ... I would never make up something like this I swear" this time it was her who went to take his hand.

"How could no one tell me this..." John was so confused. He couldn't believe that he was sitting there with Ashley just now finding out that Kelly had played him for a fool all that time and no one had the decency to tell him about it.

"Randy overheard Kelly talking to Melina a while back and she admitted the whole thing and then Randy told me and well I beat the everliving shit out of her" she told him not proud of her actions.

"Wait ... you are the reason she left aren't you"

"Guilty as charged" Ashley reached into her pocket and pulled out the tape recorder she had used to record Kelly's confession. She slid it across the table to him and all he could do was stare at it.

"I gotta go" he stood up and threw his jacket on. He picked up the tape recorder and put in into his pocket.

"Wait ... John what about Phinnigan?" Ashley called to his retreating form.

He didn't utter another word he just got into his car and took off like a bat out of hell. Ashley was going to kill Randy the next time she saw him.

"Well this can't be good" she said to herself throwing some money on the table before leaving the diner herself.