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Roman parked his car in the school's parking lot early Friday morning to meet up with the team to head to Lousiana for a football game against Louisiana State University, followed by a game with Florida State on Sunday. Katrina had the weekend off and came along with him to drive the car back home instead of leaving it unattended for the weekend in an empty parking lot.
Getting out of the car, Katrina walked up to him and waited until he finished getting his bags out of the back of his black, Tahoe SUV. She had on a light sweater and her long chestnut brown hair was in a ponytail. Being four months pregnant, they were being careful to not do anything harmful to both mother and child.
"What's wrong?" Asked Katrina when she saw that he wasn't as happy as he usually was and with his sunglasses on with clouds in the sky. Roman shook his head and told her that he was fine but she prided herself in knowing her husband well enough to know when he's not happy. Cupping his face with her hands, his arms automatically wrapped around her.
"I wanna stay with you and the baby." Roman whispered sadly. "After hearing the heartbeat again yesterday and seeing it on the sonagram...I just want to stay."
Katrina took off his sunglasses and held them in her hands while her arms remained around his neck. Roman's hands moved to her waist and then to her growing tummy as he softly rubbed it. She knew that he wasn't going to let her get on the ride all the way to Louisiana and back with her being pregnant and she understood why, causing in her not bothering to ask him to let her go with them.
"Kick some ass in the next two games and come home to us." She told him softly.
"I'll always come home to you." Roman told her.
They shared a few kisses before Roman held her hand, intertwining their fingers together as they walked to the bus that was there. They all greeted their coach when they saw him and as he put his bag with everyone else's.
"Guys, this is my wife." Said Roman as he walked back up to her and held her. "Katrina, this is my team."
She smiled and greeted everybody that was there and continued to talk to them for a while. Roman noticed some of them failing at peeling their eyes off of her, causing a low growl to form in Roman's throat.
"I know she's beautiful, guys." Said Roman. "But try anything with her that I don't like and they'll be issues between you and I that will be the opposite of beautiful."
"Be nice." Said Katrina in a soft voice and saw a smile on his face, telling her that he was only joking around with them even though she knew he was serious about the whole having a problem with someone if they tried anything with her part. She smiled along with him but pouted when the driver said that it was time to get going. After Roman took attendance, they got on the bus one by one while Roman lingered outside with Katrina. "Be safe and good luck on your games this weekend."
Roman nodded. "I will and thanks baby." He replied with a kiss and looked into her eyes. "God, I love you so much."
She blushed deeply with the way he had said those words and smiled. "I love you, too. Now go, before you're late."
They shared a few kisses before she shooed him away. Katrina walked back to Roman's car and turned it on, hearing the engine purr. Sitting in the front of the bus, Roman saw when Katrina pulled his car in front of the bus and drove off carefully. He hadn't left the state yet, let alone on the highway, and he was already wanting to come back home to her and their unborn child.
A month later...
"How are you today, Katrina?" Asked Dr. Brooks when she walked into the room.
She smiled, seeing her doctor. Roman had the day off and with a home games looming this weekend, he was able to stay home and go with Katrina to her five month appointment to find out the gender of the baby.
"I'm doing okay." Katrina replied. "Just nervous."
"We'll check to see if everything is okay and see what's changed from our previous appointment." Said the doctor. "Let's check for the sonagram." Said Dr. Brooks. Putting jelly on Katrina's tummy, she began to check for the baby and smiled when she saw the baby on the screen. Roman and Katrina couldn't see much because the screen wasn't facing them as much as it usually did. "Everything looks perfectly fine. The baby is developing perfectly fine and it seems to be completely healthy."
The doctor turned the screen to the side for the couple to see. They smiled seeing how much the baby has grown since the last time that they laid eyes on it. The baby seemed to be sleeping, but it was okay. Roman and Katrina were just happy to see it.
"Would you like to know the gender?" Asked Dr. Brooks.
Katrina and Roman grinned as they nodded and said 'yes'. The doctor moved around her stomach as she looked at the screen while making a few clicking noises with the keys on the keyboard, trying to get a better view of the baby.
With a smile on her face, she turned to Katrina and Roman to tell them the news. "Congratulations, it's going to be a little boy."
Their heart swelled with joy as they found out what they were having. Roman leaned down to give Katrina a kiss with the biggest grin still plastered on his face. Katrina kept his lips against hers to keep sharing kisses.
"Let's try the heartbeat now." She said as she began to move around the monitor to check for the baby's heart. A few seconds later, she found it. "Normal, regular and strong. He's doing perfectly fine, he's strong and healthy."
0.0
"We need to start looking for the paint for his room." Said Katrina as they got into Roman's car after her appointment. "I got like a little checklist for things we need to get. We already have a few packs of pampers but we're obviously going to need more, that rocking chair that my grandfather and dad are putting together and the two car seats for your car and mine."
"Are you thinking about getting blue for his room?" Asked Roman as he began to drive, but smiled already knowing what she was going to say.
Katrina looked up from the checklist before responding. "Of course I wanna get blue. This is our little boy. I want blue for his room."
Roman reached his hand out and held on to her hand while they drove, looking around for a place for where they could find some paint before finally stopping at Home Depot. After much looking around, they found a perfect shade of blue for their son's room.
"When do you want to start painting?" Asked Roman. "I was thinking about maybe this weekend. We can try to get Dean and Derek to help us out a bit if I have to keep a lot of my attention on the team and the game this weekend. It's only one game, but still. I don't want you doing any of that by yourself."
Katrina nodded. "In the meantime, we can start looking for clothes and a crib and just a whole bunch of other things."
He looked at his excited wife with a big grin on his face. Roman hoped that their son would turn out a bit like his mother. There were four months left until their son would be welcomed into this world and he knew that he couldn't wait until he held his child in his arms. During a time when he thought that he would never have any kids for obvious reasons, he was now truly blessed.
"Roman, I want ice cream." Katrina said with innocence in her voice and a small pout, pulling him out of his thoughts as he grabbed her purse and her hand before walking back out to the parking lot.
"We'll go to that diner you like to get some lunch and then we'll get some ice cream." He responded to her, knowing that it was one of her cravings. When they got there, they ordered the usual and Katrina snuggled closer to Roman to be in the comfort of his arms.
They saw Dean and Renee walk in a few minute later and greeted them as they sat down at the booth next to theirs. Roman was happy to see his brother finally happy with someone like Renee after so many years of trying to hide from commitment with someone. Dean was really a great guy, but he's been through so much in his life, that it made it hard for people to truly see how he really is behind the character that he puts on.
"Dean." Said Roman after he heard a break in his conversation with Renee. "Wanna help out this weekend on painting the baby's room?"
He smiled. "Yeah, sounds good. Just let me know what time to be there."
"Have you found out what you're having?" Asked Renee.
"We're having a boy." Katrina said with a big smile on her face. "We already got the paint for his room."
They both congratulated them and talked a little more as Dean and Renee were shown the sonagram pictures.
"He's going to be a mama's boy." Said Dean. Roman looked up at him with a shine in his eye. "Katrina has you wrapped around her finger and there's no doubt that this little boy is going to love her as much you do her."
"I'm excited." Roman replied. "I'm actually looking forward to this more than I was before."
A few days later...
Dean and Roman greeted each other as he entered Roman's house. Katrina had to do a few things for work so she would be out of the house for a few hours. The two best friends took this opportunity to spend some much needed guy time with Roman's game not being until the next day.
They got started on the room after covering up the carpet and any places that they didn't want the paint to run off too. They talked about random guy things as well as listening to music to help get them maintain their attention and not get distracted like they always seemed to do when they were together. Ever since they met a few years ago, they've been inseperable and those that saw them together just knew that they were good together. Roman and Dean understood each other and and played well off of each other.
"Wanna get some lunch?" Asked Roman when he looked at his watch and saw that it was a little after 12 noon.
"Yeah, sure." Replied Dean. "Wanna order something from that Chinese restaurant that we like?"
Roman agreed and they both put the brushes down and put the lid back on the can of paint to look at the menu that Roman kept in the kitchen. They ended up ordering their usual and became lazy while they waited.
"I have some good news." Said Dean suddenly. Roman lifted his head up off the head of the couch and looked up at him. "I'm opening up my own wrestling school, here in Florida."
Roman smiled. "You're serious?"
Dean nodded and grinned. "I know I've always talked about doing something outside of wrestling, but I've never done anything. I've gotten everything that I needed to get and everything's almost done with the construction. We just have to finish a few more things."
"Congratulations, man." Said Roman as they gave each other a manly hug. "I'm proud of you and I can't wait to see this place. That explains why you've been so busy lately."
The dirty blonde man chuckled. "I've always wanted to do something with wrestling, even if it wasn't me, myself, in the ring every week. I love wrestling, it's what helped me get out of the crappy situation I was in. I was also thinking that you could be a part of this journey with me."
"How?" Asked Roman, thinking about different ways that he could a part of this.
"You could be the guy who helps them out with their workout routines." Replied Dean. "I know that you have work and your football team that you have to juggle along with everything else you got going on, but it can be once or twice a week. I'll get someone to be there when you won't be able to. You don't have to if you don't want to. I'll understand if you don't."
Roman thought about the offer that Dean was presenting to him. How could he deny this opportunity? This was his best friend and he wanted to be a part of this amazing journey for him. "Absolutely. Now, I won't be able to be there every single day, but I'll be there even if it's just once or twice a week. I'ma be there."
Dean grew a genuine smile on his face. "Thanks, man. I appreciate it."
The doorbell rang a few minutes later and they both pitched in with what they had to pay. After closing the door, they quickly went to the kitchen and got some cups for the soda and some extra napkins in case. After sitting down and pouring themselves some soda, Dean noticed that Roman had something on his mind.
"What's in that head of yours, big guy?" He asked.
Roman thought for a moment before responding. "Promise me you won't get mad about it because I know how you may still feel about it."
Dean looked at him curiously. "What is it?"
"I was thinking about Seth." Roman replied. He saw the look that Dean had made and quickly responded again. "I didn't see him but it's just one of those things where you don't see someone for a while but they just happen to cross your mind anyways."
"Like what it would have been like these days if we were still on good terms with him." Dean said quietly as he ate an eggroll.
Roman nodded, agreeing with him. "Things would have probably been different if we still were."
"Things definitely would have been different." Said Dean. "We may have stayed in Georgia a little longer and you and Janelle would have probably stayed together a little longer as well. How much longer...who knows because with the way that things were going between you two, if things didn't change, the relationship would have ended but it would have lasted a little longer than what it did. Who knows if we would even have the things we have now."
"I think that it's true when people say that things happen for a reason." Said Roman eating some of his rice. "As fucked up as what they did was, if it wasn't for that, we wouldn't be where we are today. I wouldn't be married with a son on the way."
"And I wouldn't be with Renee and opening up my own wrestling school." Added Dean. "I knew that as long as I was in Georgia, I would never be able to do something like that. I needed a change and moving here to Florida was what inspired me to make that change."
They sat quietly for a while, eating their food and drinking soda until Dean spoke up again, thinking about what to say. "A part of me understands why that crossed your mind because as much as I don't like Seth, I have to admit that there has been literally one or two occasions where I'm sitting there and that pops into my head."
Dean drank some soda and thought for a moment. "But the other part of me gets upset when that happened because I remembered everything that happened. Roman...we considered Seth a brother because it's like you said before it all went wrong, we skipped the friendship part and went straight to being brothers. We went straight to having such a strong bond and anybody that knew us when we were still on good terms with Seth, knew that bond and how much it mattered to us. We thought we were invincible because of it, thinking that nobody and nothing could ever break what we had."
"He would be bugging you every now and then about finally having a girlfriend." Said Roman.
He nodded. "Since the day that we met, all I've ever done was the whole sex thing with girls. I've never wanted to commit because I was afraid of getting hurt. I still am. Renee makes me happy though and I'm actually falling more and more in love with her. It scares me because it's been so long since I've felt like that towards anyone that I almost forgot what it feels like.I'm not saying that marriage is in the cards anytime soon. That's something I'm not ready for just yet. But who knows?"
"Damn, she really is a good influence on you." Said Roman as he chuckled on the grin that Dean gave him.
"I got a good girl." He responded softly.
A/N: I decided to add Dean and Roman into this chapter because I wanted to show them together and for people to see how good friends they are. Also I've been thinking about what gender to go with when it comes to what Katrina and Roman will have. The more comfortable route would have been to go with a girl because in reality, he has a beautiful daughter. But I wanted to try something different in this story with his firstborn being a boy. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter :)