I was listening to Rascal Flatts earlier this week and got inspired.
space for Dana's comments
Calm before the Storm.
Somewhere in the World...
There were sounds of happiness coming from one of the bungalows on the island.
They felt almost like foreign sounds to Martha Hart. The feelings in general she was experiencing were foreign to Martha. This emotion of complete and perfect happiness.
Yes, Martha had been happy before. Like when a holiday would come up or when a friend would visit or she would visit them. She was especially happy when one of her kids did something good. But all of that had always seemed to be tinged with some kind of bitterness or melancholy. It has been a long time since she had felt so perfectly joyous and content in the feeling.
It seemed appropriate then, that she would be feeling this way with the one person she had last shared it with, her formerly dead husband.
Sighing atop her husband's broad chest, she could hardly believe the turn her life had taken in the last couple of years. From a widow and single mother of two, to the wife of one of the owners of the WWE and the mother of one of WCW's premiere women's wrestlers in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. It almost seemed like a dream, a fantasy that she created in her own mind. If it was, she certainly did not want to wake up!
As if on cue, her husband noticed her sigh and looked down, kissing her forehead lightly.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Owen Hart asked.
Looking into her husband's blue eyes, Martha simply smiled.
"Just thinking about how if these past two years were somehow a dream, then I really really, don't want to wake up," she told her husband.
Owen smiled. It was still hard for him to believe that he was actually here in this moment in time. His wife, was in his arms, Vince and his cronies had been brought to justice, with Vince dying in prison a few months ago (not to mention the irony of now co - owning his company), and his family did not hate him for being gone all these years. Sometimes it seemed too good to be true for Owen and he too, wondered if this was all some sort of elaborate illusion. The past couple of years seemed like the best in Owen's life.
Not to say there were not rough patches. Athena's decision to continue her training after the trial and eventually accept the WCW contract offer still did not sit well with Martha. She still considered the sport too dangerous, especially after hearing of Stephanie McMahon - Helmsley's threats and what Joanie Lauer tried to do to Athena during the trial. However, Owen and Oje choosing to support Athena in her choice forced Martha to reluctantly back down from her previously militant stance. She still did not support it, but Martha realized she could not stop her daughter and truthfully she did not want to widen the estrangement between her and her daughter anymore than had already been created. Both Harts just hoped that nothing bad befell Athena.
Pushing that dark thought out of his head, Owen smiled even wider at his wife.
"Same here," Owen said, "sometimes it's hard to believe it's been two years since everything came to a head."
"And now we're here," his wife finished for him, a contented sigh turning into a satisfied yawn. "It's too bad we're leaving soon. This is the most relaxing vacation I've had in a long time."
"We could always come back next summer, Make it an annual thing."
Martha looked up at Owen with hopeful eyes.
"Promise?"
Owen put a finger on his wife's soft lips. "Remember what I said that first night home? No more broken promises. I intend to keep every one from now on."
Martha suddenly giggled at the memory of what happened the morning after. "I'm sure our poor, traumatized daughter remembers it."
Owen laughed as well.
"Okay, hindsight and all, it probably might have been a good idea to lock the door that night."
"Ahem, I don't think that was foremost on either of our minds at that moment," Martha retorted before kissing her husband passionately.
The ringing of a cellphone interrupted what might have came next.
Both Harts groaned.
"I thought I told you to turn that thing off?!" Martha exclaimed into her husband's chest.
"I thought I had," Owen said, before reluctantly getting up and wrapping a towel around his waist. Although the bungalow they were in was more private than most, there was no telling where a camera might pop up. That fact was driven especially home after Steve and Debra Austin's second honeymoon experience. He flipped open the phone, hoping to be rid of his unexpected interruption quickly.
"Hello," Owen said, listening as the person on the other end of the line greeted in kind. Discovering it was one of his older brothers, he grew annoyed. "Bret, this had better be good."
As Martha listened, she saw her husband's expression go from annoyance to concern to alarm. The string of curses spewed at one point worried her.
As Owen flipped his phone shut, the look on his face caused fear in Martha and his next words did nothing to allay that.
"Joanie Lauer's been released from prison."