Chapter 20—Telling Reby

A/N: Special thanks to GHOST303 for reviewing! I really appreciate it.

[days later]

Over the last few days, Randy had been spending a lot of time with Michael and Reby. He tried his best to have one-on-one time with Reby every day. He loved that little girl with all his heart; he saw so much of himself in her. He was grateful for the chance to be a father.

Today, Randy agreed to help Liz set up her office while the kids were in school. He and Teddy helped her move some furniture; Teddy had other plans for the day so he had to leave early. Liz had a part of the office she wanted painted, so Randy was painting it for her.

Liz showed him what she wanted done. "I got some paint and primer because I didn't know if the paint already had primer in it. Just this room though, I'm going to use colored lights for the other ones," she said.

Randy nodded. "Anything else?" he asked.

"Nope. That's all. Thank you so much for helping me. I really appreciate it," she said.

He smiled. "No problem. I wasn't doing anything today anyway," he said.

Liz smiled. "Well, I'll be in my office if you need me," she said.

Randy nodded and read the primer and paint cans.

Almost two hours had passed when Randy came out of the room. "All done," he announced to Liz.

"Awesome!" she said. "Just in time, too. I need to go by the store to get some stuff for dinner tonight. Would you like to come over?" she asked.

"Yeah. Sure; I'd love to," he said. "Right now, though, I'm headed home to get a shower and sneak in a nap,"

Liz stood from her desk and hugged him. "Thanks again," she said before pecking his lips. "Enjoy the rest of your day," she said.

"I will. What time do I need to be at your place for dinner?" he asked.

She thought for a moment. "5:00 is good," she said.

Randy nodded. "I'll see you then," And with that, Randy was gone. Liz left right after him; she kept an eye on the digital clock in the car. It was almost noon; she was really cutting it close to being late. She got there on time; it was exactly noon when she pulled up. When she got into the building, she saw Reby sitting alone in a corner crying. Liz looked around for a teacher; she couldn't figure out why her daughter had been crying with no one trying to console her.

"Hey, princess. What's wrong?" Liz asked as she picked up the four year old. Before Reby could answer, her teacher showed up.

"Hello, Miss Caro. I don't know how to address this without upsetting you, but Rebecca has become increasingly violent with the other students lately," the older lady said.

Liz frowned and rubbed small circles into her crying daughter's back. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, yesterday, she pushed a student into the mud during recess. When I asked her about it she said that it was an accident. Then today, she hit the same student and cut off a chunk of the girl's hair," she explained.

Liz was shocked; she had never seen Reby be violent at home. "Did you ever think that maybe the other little girl said something hurtful to my daughter?" she asked.

The teacher nodded. "I asked and the little girl said that she never said anything to Reby," she said.

Liz scoffed. "Yeah, because 4 year olds are always honest when they get into trouble," she said.

"Um… the other student is an 8 year old," the teacher said.

Liz's eyes nearly jumped out of her skull. "So you're telling me that my 4 year old has been attacking a girl twice her age?" she asked.

The teacher nodded. "Yes, Miss Caro. We're asking that Reby stays home for the rest of the week," she said.

Liz sighed. "Okay. Can I have her folder, then?" she asked referring to the folder each student took home every Friday. It contained newsletters for the following week, behavior reports, and other information.

"Of course. I'll be right back," the teacher said.

Liz nodded and put Reby on her feet; she tried her best to squat to Reby's level in her tight pencil skirt. "Rebecca? Why did you hurt that girl in school today?" she asked.

Reby stood silently and folded her arms. Liz couldn't help but smile at her daughter's attitude. "Goodness. You're just like your daddy," Liz said under her breath.

"I don't have a daddy," Reby said sadly.

Liz's smile disappeared; she never mentioned Reby or Michael's father before. "Who told you that?" she asked.

Reby turned around and pointed to a girl who was being examined by her own mother. Liz narrowed her eyes when she saw who the child's mother was. It was the same lady Liz kicked out of her house for being rude at Michael's birthday party.

"Stay here, baby," Liz said to Reby. Reby nodded and sat on the floor.

Liz marched over to the woman. "I need to speak to you," she demanded.

"And I need to talk to you," the woman said. "You're bastard kid needs to keep her dirty little hands off of my daughter," she said.

"Well, your daughter has been picking on mine and will not tolerate it. I don't know what you discuss with your children, but to tell them that Reby doesn't have a father is low; even for you. You know good and well that Reby has a father. Even if you didn't know, it still wouldn't be your place to discuss it," she said.

The lady scoffed. "I can tell my kids anything I want to. I'm a grown ass woman," she said.

Liz shook her head. "Honey, when you have to tell somebody that you're a grown woman, you're only proving that you're not. A grown woman doesn't need to announce how grown she is; she acts like a grown woman,"

The other mother stammered with a reply. "Just keep your kids away from mine," she said.

"No. You need to teach your kids manners; teach them not to be such shitty people. I'd hate to see them grow up like you," Liz said as she walked away. While Liz's back was turned, the woman hit Liz in the back of her head with her purse.

Liz turned around; instincts and wrestling training told her to beat the woman down. Instead, Liz wrestled the lady to the ground and put her in a sleeper hold until she passed out. By then, people were pulling Liz off the woman.

"Calm down," Liz said when people said the lady was dead. "She'll be fine in about 2 minutes,"

People watched as Liz straightened her clothes. No one approached her, but when her victim woke up, the school principal told her that she would have to withdraw her daughter because of the bulling. Liz smiled at the news and waited for Michael's class to come out. When he came out, Michael ran to his mother and the family left.

Once at home, Liz put Michael and Reby down for a nap and changed out of her work clothes into some running shorts and a t-shirt. She had to catch up on some business before she had to start on dinner; she was working in her home office. When she finished her work; she looked over Reby's folder. She had an exemplary behavior record, she was doing well in her simple math and reading classes; Liz was so proud. There was also a newsletter included in Reby's folder. Liz sighed as she read it. Father/Daughter Day: next Wednesday. Come enjoy a day of fun at the Father/Daughter Carnival. Show your little girl how much you care by getting involved.

She put the newsletter in the folder and tucked the folder away. She and Randy hadn't even talked about telling Reby about her father, but Liz knew that Reby had to know.

"Mommy?"

Liz looked up and saw Reby rubbing her eyes. "Hey, sweetie. Come here," she said as she stretched out her arms. Reby walked to Liz and climbed into her lap. "What's wrong?" Liz asked as Reby cuddled into Liz's body.

"Why come I don't have a daddy?" Reby asked.

Liz sighed. "You do have a daddy, baby. Everybody has a daddy," she said.

Reby sniffled. "Everybody but me," she said sadly.

"Hey. Look at me, Rebecca," Reby looked up; Liz wiped the tears from her face. "You have a daddy and he loves you very much. Don't be sad, okay?" she said.

Reby nodded. "Can I have a snack?" she asked.

Liz nodded. "Yeah. Let's go get you some grapes," she said. Reby clung to her mother as they went to the kitchen. Liz sat the girl on the counter so she could rinse off grapes from the refrigerator. She put them in a bowl and gave it to Reby. "You wanna watch TV?" Liz asked. Reby nodded. Liz sat her in front of the TV in the lounge and left to call Randy.

Hey, babe, what's up?

Randy…

Whoa. What's wrong? Why are you crying?

Can you come over right now? We really need to talk.

Of course. I'll be there in five minutes.

Okay. Thank you.

Liz took a shaky breath and hung up. She went upstairs and checked on Michael; he was still sleeping so she went back to the lounge with Reby. Liz smiled when she saw Reby laughing at the cartoon she was watching.

Minutes later, the doorbell rang. Liz let Randy in and took him to her home office.

"What's up?" he asked as he closed the office door behind him.

Liz sighed. "Reby has been fighting at school these last few days. I just heard about it today when I picked her up," she said.

Randy frowned. "Why?" he asked.

"Remember that lady I kicked out Saturday?" she asked. He nodded. "Well somehow, her 8 year old daughter heard something about Reby not having a father and the girl has been picking on Reby. Apparently, Reby pushed the girl at recess on Monday, kicked her yesterday, and today Reby punched the girl in the face and cut off some of her hair," Liz explained.

He tried not to laugh. "I know it's not funny, babe, but Reby is half that girl's age," Randy pointed out.

Liz nodded. "I know. But the reason I asked you to come by is because Reby is upset. She thinks she doesn't have a father. I think we need to tell her tonight," she said.

Randy nodded. "Okay. How are we going to do this?" he asked.

[hours later]

Randy, Liz, Reby, and Michael had all finished dinner; they sat down for a movie in the lounge. When the movie was over, Liz took Michael upstairs for his bath; Randy took that opportunity to talk to Reby.

"So, how was school, baby girl?" he asked.

"I got in trouble," she said sadly.

He nodded. "You mommy told me. What happened?" he asked.

"A girl told me that I don't have a daddy and I got mad cause she was being mean," she said.

Randy took a deep breath. "Do you think you have a daddy?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. Because daddies and mommies live together. There is no daddy here. That's how I know I don't have one,"

Randy was near tears but he suppressed them. "Can I tell you a story?" he asked. Reby nodded. "Okay. Come here," he said with open arms. Reby crawled into his lap; Randy held her close.

"A long time ago, I really liked your mommy. I like liked her. I didn't tell her though because I was scared that she didn't like me back. She like liked somebody else so she became his girlfriend. But later on, that man hurt your mommy's feelings. So Cupid, the angel of love, brought her a baby to make her feel better. It was a boy so she named him Michael Keith Caro," he said.

Reby was still listening intently to the story. "Then, I told your mommy that I liked her and she liked be back. I was so happy because that was a really big secret for me. Me and your mommy fell in love really, really fast because we already liked each other a whole lot. A bad man told your mommy that I hurt her feelings so she got mad at me and didn't want to be my girlfriend anymore. Do you know what happened next?" he asked.

"That angel brought her another baby to make her feel better?" she asked.

Randy nodded. "Yep. This time it was a girl, so she named the baby Rebecca Marie Caro," he said.

Reby gasped. "That's me!" she said excitedly.

"Well what do you know? It is you," Randy smiled at how adorable Reby was to know that part of the story was about her. Anyway, I your mommy and I didn't talk to each other for a long time until last week. That's when she told me that I'm your daddy," he wrapped up the story.

Her eyes lit up. "You're my daddy?!" she asked

Randy laughed and nodded. "Yeah. And you're my daughter," he said.

Reby frowned. "But you and my mommy don't live together. Mommies and daddies are supposed to live together," she said.

"Do you want him to stay the night here, Reby?" Liz asked from the corner she was hiding in.

Reby nodded. Liz and Randy smiled. "Okay. I'll stay the night and then you and I can go to the park. How does that sound?" he asked.

She nodded excitedly. "That sounds like fun!" she said. Reby hugged Randy tightly. "I love you, daddy," she said.

Both Randy's and Liz's eyes watered with tears. "I love you, too, baby girl," Randy said as he hugged his daughter.

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW Also, Please check out "Confessions of a Green Rookie" by Ghost303! The story is amazing. Randy Orton/OC Rated M. I've read it in it's entirety already because the writer was gracious enough to email me updates as she wrote it. It's fabulous. Trust me, you don't want to miss out on such a great story.