Chapter 29: Destined Forever

Ashley had just finished putting Faith down for her nap and took a moment to enjoy the peace and quiet of the afternoon. Then it hit her why was it so quiet. She knew somewhere there was a 2 year old who was being way too quiet for her liking. Phinnigan was a typical boy his age, he screamed and threw things and made more noise than any adult could make. But ever since they had brought Faith home Phinnigan's behavior had been all the more trying. He was jealous that he wasn't the only baby anymore and although Ashley and John did everything they could to reassure him that he was still just as important he didn't like sharing his parents with another baby. Especially his mommy, if Ashley happened to be holding Faith, Phinnigan would come over and crawl into her lap also. He hit his baby sister and tried to bite her every chance he got. He also enjoyed stealing her binkie and hiding it. Phinnigan was no longer allowed to have his binkie so he figured if he couldn't have one neither could his sister. When John was home things weren't as bad because each parent could take a child but when it was just Ashley and the kids things hit the fan. Ashley thanked the lord for Dean, he was like an angel sent from Heaven he really was he would keep Phinnigan entertained for hours so Ashley could have a break. She had become very fond of having Dean around and was sad every morning when she had to drop him off at school.

Ashley left the room and went in search of the toddler. Phinnigan was in the living room sitting on the floor. He seemed to be watching television but Ashley doubted he wasn't thinking up some way to get into trouble. As soon as she entered the room Phinnigan ran over to the couch and hid something he had been holding underneath it.

"Phinnigan give me what you just hid" Ashley commanded sternly.

"No" Phinnigan stated.

Ashley placed her hands on her hips "Phinnigan I'll give you until the count of 3 and then you'll be going for a time out because you aren't listening to mommy"

"1 ... 2" he took whatever he was hiding out from under the couch cushion and handed it to his mother. He hated being in time out, he was a very active little boy and having to sit still for any amount of time without being able to move made him extremely unhappy.

Ashley's eyes widened as she look at what was now resting in the palm of her hands.

"Phinnigan are these daddy's dog tags?" she asked him already knowing the answer.

"Yes" he replied laughing to himself.

"Phinnigan, Daddy is going to be furious with you once he realizes he doesn't have his dog tags" John had never been a superstitious man by any stretch of the imagination but he had had these dog tags made with the names of his parents and brothers on them and he kissed them before every match believing that if he did so it would help him stay safe in the match.

Ashley closed her eyes and massaged her temples. Now she had the pleasure of calling John and explaining to him what their "angelic" little boy had taken it upon himself to do.

"Little boy you'd better start behaving real soon" she warned him.

He sat down once again and busied himself with his little Hot Wheel race cars Ashley had bought him the other day. She grabbed her cell phone and walked out into the kitchen. She could still see Phinnigan from where she was standing.

Meanwhile with John ...

John found himself working out with some of the guys. Him, Randy, Hunter, Shawn, and Kennedy were all hanging out. Normally John would go to the gym by himself but every once and a great while a group of them would go.

'Touch my body throw me to the floor wrestle me around play with me some more' the sultry voice of Mariah Carey seemed to be coming out of John's pocket.

All the men stopped what they were doing to gaped at John. He grabbed his phone and looked at his caller id. Ashley's cell displayed on the screen.

"Ash sweetie did you change my ring tone?" he asked kinda annoyed.

"No John I just thought it would be cute if I had my very own ring tone" she replied trying to hold back the urge to laugh.

"How nice of you" he replied dryly.

"Oh come on John you know you want to do all those things she mentions in the song to me" she smirked.

"Not right now I don't"

"Anyways I just called to inform you that our son took your dog tags out of your bag and I'm now holding them in my hands which means they aren't with you"

"Great" John sighed "we really need to do something about his behavior"

"Terrible twos" Ashley said.

"Well I guess I'm going to have to wrestle without them tonight then"

"I'll tell you what tonight just before your match starts I'll kiss them for you and let's just hope it works"

"Yeah whatever I gotta go now"

"Ok be safe and tell Randy I said Carrie Underwood"

"What the hell?"

"It's an inside joke"

"Ok whatever"

They hung up and as soon as he put his phone back into his pocket he could hear the guys start to snicker.

"Oh yes let's all laugh now ... like your wives or girlfriends have never changed the ringer on your phone before" he rolled his eyes.

All the guys began to laugh even harder. John just sat there with his arms crossed very annoyed.

"Dude that is so gay" Kennedy practically snorted.

"By the way Randy Ash told me to say Carrie Underwood"

Randy nodded and shook his head while still laughing. Oh Ashley she could be such an ass when she wanted to be. He was going to have to keep his cell phone away from her from now on because there was no way he was going to be the guy with the flaming ring tone.

Back to Ashley ...

Ashley went to put John's dog tags in his dresser that way Phinnigan didn't get the chance to hide or loose them. She opened the top drawer and put the dog tags down. She noticed a velvet ring box and her being nosey as hell couldn't help but pick it up. She opened it up and was awed, tears gathered in her eyes. She took out the ring and looked at it. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she had given it to John.

Flashback

"Ash I can't believe you brought me to Ireland with you" John said.

"Hey Olivia said to bring a date to her wedding so who better than my boyfriend right" Ashley said.

"You know our one month anniversary is in two days" John said.

"Hmm ... then we'd better start looking for gifts then shouldn't we" she replied knowing that both John and herself waited till the last minute to do everything.

"I guess so" he kissed her nose.

"I'll meet you back at the house in an hour ok" she told him walking away.

John had no idea what he was going to get her so he began going into all the little stores this small farming town had. He was hoping something would stand out to him. After 30 minutes he had still found nothing that he thought Ashley would like. He tried one more store, he was just about ready to give up when something caught his eye. He walked over to a small jewelry case to get a better look. It was a ring, the band was intertwined with thin gold and sliver pieces. Two hands were holding onto a heart with a crown on top of it. John had never seen a ring like this before.

"Ya like the claddah do ya young man" the shop owner walked over to him. "funny you happen to be looking as this specific ring, we had a set but someone came in about 20 minutes ago and bought the masculine one"

"The claddah?" John asked confused.

"Don't tell me you don't know the meaning of a claddah ring" the man said "well the way that a Claddagh ring is worn on the hand is usually intended to convey the wearer's romantic availability, or lack thereof. Traditionally, if the ring is on the right hand with the design facing outward and away from the body, this indicates that the person wearing the ring is not in any serious relationship, and may in fact be single and looking for a relationship. When worn on the right hand but with the design facing inward toward the body, this indicates the person wearing the ring is in a relationship, or that "someone has captured their heart". A Claddagh worn on the left hand ring finger, facing outward away from the body, generally indicates that the wearer is engaged. When the ring is on the left hand ring finger and facing inward toward the body, it generally means that the person wearing the ring is married."

"Would you suggest it for a first anniversary present?" he asked.

"Do you really care for the girl?" the store owner asked a question of his own.

"Yes ...Why?"

"Because some people also say when worn on the left hand, facing in, in the usual married way as meaning, the wearer is destined to be with his or her love forever. We Irish folks believe in only selling Claddaghs if the buyers are sure their love is forever call us old fashioned that way"

"I'll take it" John told the man knowing that Ashley would love it.

The man nodded and rand him up. John was very excited to show Ashley what he had picked out. He wondered if she knew what a claddah ring meant. She probably did seeing as how her mother was Irish and probably explained things like that to her a long time ago. They met up at the house once again.

"I can't wait 3 days so do you want to exchange gifts now?" Ashley asked seeming equally as excited as John was.

"Sure" he replied.

They both exchanged the bags containing their gifts and both removed small black velvet ring boxes. Much to the surprise of the other they had purchased the same gift.

"Wow great minds really do think alike huh" John said placing the ring on Ashley's left hand.

"John you realize that you put it on so it looks like we are engaged right" she pointed out.

"Yes I did that for a reason I don't want any other guy to try and steal you away" he grinned. She placed the ring the same way on his left ring finger.

"Destined to be in love forever" he said kissing her.

She placed the ring back into the box and put it back into John's dresser. Smiling she left the room and went to go find her ring.