A/N Sorry for the lack of updates this week. Unfortunately I've been busy again and don't seem to have as much time to write.
Hopefully you'll enjoy the update.
"Ally, are you up?" Randy said knocking on her bedroom door. It was unlike her not to be, but he usually heard her milling around before his alarm clock sounded. "I'm making breakfast if you want any."
He heard a slight murmur of acknowledgement and smirked to himself. When Randy looked at his daughter he so often saw traits which reminded him of Sam that he often wondered how much of himself had actually made it into her DNA. Then he reminded himself of her love of wrestling and little moments like this, she couldn't get up every morning.
He met John at the top of the staircase, his arms full of dirty clothes and bed sheets.
"Morning," he said with a smile, giving John a soft kiss before taking some of his load. "Fancy anything specific for breakfast?"
"Something filling," John said walking ahead, Randy could already see his mind racing as he thought of what was needed to be done for the day. "You still okay to come along when I collect mom from the airport?"
"Yeah, of course," Randy said catching up with John at the door to the laundry room. "I can't wait to see her. It's been a while."
John murmured his response and Randy went into the kitchen to start breakfast, trying to decide what to do. If John wanted something filling the best thing to do would be to have a fry up. As he was taking out the bacon from the fridge, John came out of the laundry room and ducked under Randy's arm to stand in front of him, grabbing a bottle of cola from the fridge.
"You could have just asked," Randy said smirking.
"Yeah, I could have, but then I wouldn't be able to do this," John said before turning around and wrapping an arm around Randy's waist, sliding his hand under Randy's shirt to feel the skin beneath.
"Smooth," he said with a smile. "Now what are you going to do?"
"Maybe something along the lines of this," John said leaning up and pushing their lips together. Randy was content for it to become more, and he parted his lips for John to slide his tongue in. The longer the kiss went on, the hungrier John became, kicking the fridge door closed he started backing Randy up toward the counter.
Randy cupped John's face and started leading the kiss, calming his partner down since they didn't have the time to get into anything more. John was still on a high from his impromptu play session upstairs. The pair both happened to wake early and so Randy let John enjoy himself before they got up.
He pushed his tongue slowly against John's, holding his head still for the slow exploration. John's hands ran further up Randy's back as he moaned from the sensation of Randy's kiss.
"You do realise this is a kitchen don't you?"
Randy pulled away from John's lips and lowered his head. Ever since his minor outburst at her boyfriend, Alanna had started to pull away from him again. It seemed like every time they took a step forward something would happen to make them go back to that awkward relationship which existed since she moved to Florida with them.
And he hated it. Hated with everything in him, and he wished, somehow, they could get back to being as close as they once were.
Randy couldn't help but feel a lot of the tension was because of her boyfriend, who he despised. Alanna could do so much better than him. Granted anyone he met would never be any good for his daughter, that was his right as the father, but even John didn't like the guy. Randy knew it, even if John hadn't said anything. He was too busy trying to keep the peace before he took the brunt of Alanna's insecurities again.
"Alanna…"
"I don't want to hear the spiel, dad, I've heard it," she complained grabbing some fruit from the bowl. "I've got to get used to it. My feelings don't count for anything."
"Ally, cut-"
"Don't call me that, John. I'm not five years old anymore," she bit shaking her head. "I'm out. Brad and I are meeting everyone."
"What about breakfast?" Randy called as she headed to the front door.
"I'll get something on the way," she cried back.
"What time are you going to be back? John's mom is coming in today," Randy tried to get her to stop.
"After school."
"What time Alanna?"
His answer came in the form of the front door slamming closed. He was getting sick of her tantrums. He knew it was a lot to grow up with, your dad being gay, but she knew about it from a young age. They didn't flaunt it, and tended to keep the public displays to a minimum.
Randy struggled to know how to handle his daughter when she acted like this. If he tried to sit down and talk to her, she threw it back in his face or shut down and wouldn't respond at all. He didn't like raising his voice with her and the few times he had, she turned back into his little girl from all those years ago. Big, watery, eyes and that just caused him to take her into his arms and apologise. Something Sam always used to tell him off about.
"Ran, honey, are you okay?" John asked, his hand smoothing against Randy's back.
Randy, blinked and came back to his senses when he realised he'd gone into his own thoughts.
"I'm fine," he said plastering a smile on his face. He wasn't really, and he knew John knew that, but he didn't want to rehash the topic every time it reared its head. "Fry up filling enough for you?"
"Anything you make will be perfect," John said brushing a reassuring kiss on Randy's lips.
Randy didn't let him move far away as he prepared breakfast, and when John realised, he took a seat at the island and watched him cook, talking about his plans for his mom. It had been a long time since she'd visited the house and since she was starting to get on a bit, John wanted to make sure she had everything she needed.
He'd tidied out one of the guest bedrooms, making sure it didn't appear as though Cody had claimed it as his own. Neither Randy nor John worried, but if his mom was staying, he didn't want her putting up with Cody's comics lying around. If it weren't further to walk, he'd have put her in the room Ted used, but at least it gave him a chance to clear it up.
They ate their food outside in the sun, John hoping it would cheer Randy up. He didn't like to see him so blue. He would rather he find a way to let it out than bottle it up inside but John didn't want to persist. After washing the dishes and tidying them away, John made a couple of phone calls to his gyms before declaring a week's break from work.
As he went back downstairs, he found Randy in the den and when he was just about to speak, he heard Randy talking on the phone. John hadn't heard the house phone go so he presumed Randy made the call and after listening for a while, John soon established he was talking to his own mom. He just hoped the talk did him some good.
It wasn't long before the pair was on the way into Tampa to collect John's mom. Randy offered to drive so John could talk with his mom on the way home and catch up with each other. But for John, it was Randy he wanted to talk to, get his lover to open up to him. There was no harm in trying to keep the peace, John often took that stance, but Randy had to know he needed to talk about the issue, with John at the very least.
"Why don't you go in and get her, I'll stay in the car," Randy said pulling into the pick-up lane. "Save paying the fees for the car park."
"Yeah, because we can't afford the fees," John said laughing, hoping to get at least a sly grin. But there was nothing, his eyes stared straight ahead, not even blinking at the comment. John frowned at Randy and took hold of his hand, squeezing gently.
"I won't be long," he said before exiting the car.
He jogged into the airport and made his way to the arrivals area and within a matter of minutes, he saw his mom coming through the gate, someone kindly carrying her bag for her. He almost ran over to meet her, bulldozing through a crowd of people, and enveloped her in a hug, careful not to hurt her in his excitement. He realised it had been too long since they'd seen each other. He took her bags from the attendant and thanked the young man for helping her.
Trailing the case behind him, he slowly led her toward the exit.
"Where's Randy? I thought he was coming with you," she said looking around.
"He's in the car, we parked in the pick-up lane so he couldn't leave the car," John explained, a frown creasing his forehead as he spoke.
"What's the matter, John?"
"Things are a bit tense at home. Alanna is coping too well with Randy and me dating," John explained. "It isn't helping that Ally is dating someone Randy doesn't approve of either."
"And it's causing problems with you and Randy?"
"Not exactly," John said. "Randy goes into a flunk when he and Alanna butt heads, and it just so happened, they did exactly that this morning."
"What happened?" his mom asked.
"She caught us kissing in the kitchen," John said with a sheepish smile.
Carol gave him a knowing look, telling him she'd been there. John reckoned she would have been on both sides of the fence as well. Everyone at some stage catches their parents kissing. As a teenager, it isn't a nice experience. But with Alanna, it was rooted deeper than that. John was pretty sure she resented Randy for leaving her in St Louis while he moved to Florida. The fact that Randy moved in with his gay lover didn't help and so as a teenager she fixated on that point.
When they exited the airport, Randy was leant against the car waiting for them and if he wasn't with his mom, John would have whistled at him. Reluctantly, John simply let the breath be taken from his lungs. Randy in a bad mood, meant his posture changed and it reminded him of what he looked like when he portrayed a heel before they retired.
As they got closer, Randy, thankfully, smiled and kissed Carol on the side of the cheek, opening the door of the car for her. Once she was settled he went back to the trunk of the car as John loaded the suitcase.
"You looked serious when you were coming over, everything alright?" Randy said concern obvious in his eyes, if not his tone.
"All's fine, you're just a little hot looking today," John said beaming at Randy, his fingers playing at the hem of Randy's shirt.
John spotted the hint of a smile begin but it disappeared before it took hold and Randy brushed his hand away, telling him to get in the car. They both got in and Randy drove them home as John and Carol caught up on his brothers and their families. John and Carol tried to get Randy into the conversation but he barely responded and when he did it was only short answers.
When they reached the house, Randy took Carol through to the family room and he made them a drink while John went upstairs to unpack her case. Randy smiled inwardly, remembering John's plans; he wasn't going to let his mom do a thing and had roped Randy into treating her to anything she could want. Randy knew that in a couple of days, Carol's stubborn ways would demand to do something to help. She hated sitting around doing nothing.
"Randy, you've been quiet since I got here," Carol said gaining his attention. "What's wrong?"
"You mean John didn't tell you," Randy mused with a smile. He knew his lover too well to know he'd told his mom about this morning's incident.
"He gave me the run down, Alanna caught you kissing, overreacted. Caused you to go into this auto responsive behaviour," she said giving him a mother's stern look.
Randy didn't respond to her comment. He didn't want to burden anyone with his problems. He was already going to make it up to John later, knowing his downbeat mood was upsetting his partner.
"It's nothing, Ally and I haven't been seeing eye-to-eye since she moved in with us," Randy said shrugging, trying to blow off the situation.
"Because of your relationship with John," Carol prompted. Randy gave her a small smile, knowing he wasn't going to get away with not talking. Taking a deep breath he regaled her with everything which happened when she first moved.
"… and he's a bad influence. Her attitude toward school has changed since she started hanging out with him," he explained. "She loved school. She hates even talking about it now. I don't like him or these friends of hers."
"Randy, let me tell you something," Carol said with a stern tone. "When I first met you. I didn't like you. You had a destructive nature about you."
"I love you too, ma."
"Shut up. You may have turned on the charm, but I knew what you were like. I hated that John was friends with you. I didn't want him being dragged into any of that business with the drugs," she said pointing her finger at him. "But I kept my mouth shut. Unlike his father."
"I remember, thankfully I changed his mind," Randy said.
"Eventually," she said with a grimace. "I knew I couldn't tell John who his friends should be. I could only help him through anything that did happen. Which, may I remind you, it did. When your daughter was born you seemed to turn a corner."
"Ma, just cause we're disagreeing doesn-"
"I didn't say for one second you were going to go back on the drugs, so don't interrupt me," she warned. "Now when John came home and told me about you. After I picked myself up from the shock of finding out he was gay, I still didn't say anything. I didn't like him dating you, the bad boy, any more than you like Alanna dating this Brad."
"What's your point? Other than you don't like me," Randy said feeling put off that Carol thought like that about him. He always felt they got along.
"You have to trust your daughter like I trusted John," Carol said sympathetically. "If I'd have said something, John and I would have fallen out and it would have come between the two of you as well. Turns out, the parent isn't always right. Kids don't always talk to their parents, Randy. I knew what I knew about you because of the internet. The first time I spent time with you and John I could tell you were different. I could also plainly see how much you cared for John."
"I love him," Randy said with a smile. "I love him more as every day passes."
"Good," Carol said taking his hand.
"So, I have to trust that Alanna will make the right choice and knows what she's doing?"
"Yes. I'm not saying it's going to be an easy ride mind you, she's a teenager after all," Carol laughed.
Randy hugged Carol, grateful for the advice.
"You like me now though, right?" Randy said pulling back from the hub, concerned that he would have to convince her by the end of the week he wasn't a negative influence on John.
"Dear lord, why do I even bother?" she said rolling her eyes.
As the day went on, Randy made everyone something to eat for dinner and they all spent time together as Carol relaxed into her surroundings. Florida was a far cry different from Massachusetts, the weather especially. They moved outside as it cooled slightly and John continued to pester over her, making sure she had everything she wanted, checking if he could get her anything from the shop.
Eventually, Randy pulled him down into the patio sofa next to him, his pampering getting more on his nerves than Carol's. Carol sent him a thankful gaze, not wishing to tell her son he needed to relax. She may be getting on in age but she was still able to do things for herself.
Evening approached and as Randy was making the dinner, he continuously checked his watch. Alanna was more than an hour late and he was worried. John and Carol could see the tension building up in him and told him to ring her on her cell phone. As he attempted to ring her, he heard the front door open, followed by a gaggle of laughter.
When she walked into the kitchen, her jaw almost hit the floor as his temper hit the roof. Alanna was dressed entirely differently to how she left that morning. Her jeans were gone and replaced by a short skirt which he should be grateful wasn't as short as the other girls were wearing. She'd also replaced her trainers with high heels and the t-shirt she'd been wearing with a cropped polo neck top.
"Have you had your lip pierced?" Randy asked, trying to keep calm at the sight of his daughter.
"Yeah, you like?" Alanna asked smiling.
"What I'd like is for you to tell me how you paid for it, and those clothes for that matter," Randy said.
"I borrowed your credit card," Alanna said with a shrug.
"Excuse me," Randy said, disbelieving at what his daughter said. "Borrowing insinuates you asked. You didn't."
"I needed clothes, it's no biggie," Alanna said. "Hey, Mrs Cena."
Randy turned to notice that John and Carol had come in from outside and he didn't want to have an argument in front of everyone.
"Girls, I think you should leave, Alanna and I need to have a chat," Randy said, rubbing his eyes.
"Whatever," Alanna said. "If the girls are going so am I."
"Alanna, you aren't going anywhere," Randy called after her, still trying to remain in control, but it was too late, she was already walking away from him. "ALANNA."
"Dad, chill. I'm going out with the girls. I'll be back later," she said leaving the house as though nothing was wrong.
Randy couldn't move for disbelief. He desperately wanted to go after Alanna and get her to come back in the house. He wanted to sit down with her and get her to tell him exactly what her problem was because he didn't believe for one second it was solely down to his sexuality or how he didn't like Brad. Maybe it was a combination of both those things, added to it her mother's lies about he and John.
He heard John moving across the kitchen to comfort him but he didn't want sympathy or a shoulder to cry on. He just needed to know how to sort things out with his daughter. When he felt John's hand on his shoulder, he stepped away, shaking his head and walked to the stairs.
"I need some time alone," Randy said quietly, knowing John would hear him. "Can you sort out dinner?"
"Yeah, of course, honey," John said, just as quietly as Randy.
The older man wanted to run to him, hold him in his arms and let him release all of his emotions, but Randy wasn't like that. He held it in, letting it eat away at him until he couldn't take anymore. John was concerned about what would happen when he did hit his tolerance level.
He went back in to the kitchen and tried to work out what was left to do on the dinner. Of course it would help if he knew what Randy had been cooking. He opened the oven and saw something in there. Just as he was pulling the dish out to take a look, he felt a strong pair of arms circle round and engulf him.
"I'm sorry, darling," he murmured in John's ear, placing a kiss on John's neck. "I shouldn't have walked away like that."
"You need time, it's understandable," John said leaning back into Randy's hold.
"You're my partner, I should be talking to you about it," Randy said, kissing him again, nipping lightly on his skin.
"And you would have, when you were ready to," John said turning into Randy's arms, reminiscent of how he did first thing. "Now, how do I finish this dinner?"
Randy chuckled at the question and rested his head on John's shoulder, squeezing him tight. He hated how things with Alanna would affect John and him. Randy loved him with all his heart and the last thing he wanted was for things to come between them. It wasn't because of Alanna; he would never say that; it was his own fault for always bottling up his emotions.
"I'm going to make this up to you, I promise," Randy said with a sly smile.
"Answer the question," John said pulling Randy's hands away from him as they skimmed down his body.
Randy laughed again and closed the door to the oven, before leading John back to the counter and pinning him against it, an evil look in his eyes.
"You leave it to cook and take it out when the timer goes," Randy mused, claiming John's lips.
He took it slow, indulging John in his romantic side, capturing one lip and then the other before pushing his tongue in, teasing John with his actions. John eventually had enough of the playful kisses and pulled Randy closer to him and Randy treated him to the kind of kiss John loved more than anything.
Their tongues tangled as Randy held John's head still, exploring his lover even though he knew every inch of his body better than he knew his own. John came to his senses and pushed Randy away, whimpering slightly at his own actions.
"My mom is right out there," John said and Randy felt the weight of John's guilty conscience. He kissed John lightly once more, whispering promises of being alone when they go to bed, and then the pair went back to what they'd been doing before Alanna's arrival.
John laid the table and helped Randy dish up when the food was ready, plating up a meal for Alanna as well, in case she was hungry when she got home. The three of them passed small talk as they ate and then Carol started telling them stories of John's nieces and nephews in Massachusetts.
Randy suggested inviting them down at some stage so John could spend time with them all as well as heading up to the Boston area during one of the school holidays. Since John's dad died, he didn't go up as much as he should do and Randy wanted to encourage it. He had a lot of memories up there and he shouldn't forget them.
They cleared away as Carol settled in front of the television watching one of her favourite programmes and then joined her once the kitchen was tidy. Randy went back to continuously watching the time; anxious at how much longer Alanna was going to stay out.
A couple of hours passed and Carol excused herself to bed, leaving John and Randy downstairs, at least once John was sure his mom didn't need anything else. Randy quickly sent Alanna a text, telling her politely that she needed to come home. He wanted to try and fix things with her and figured a polite request was better than anything at this stage.
When she did get home, Randy was straight up and taking her into the den where they could have a word in private.
"Ally, I need to know what's going on with you," he said sitting across from her. "I thought we'd moved on from the disagreements."
"No, you moved on," she snapped. "I played nice when you were hurt but I'm not okay with anything. I don't believe what you said about mom lying; and when I told Brad about it-"
"Come on, Ally, he doesn't have a clue about what happened," Randy interrupting her, getting annoyed at her lack of belief in him.
"Right, because you don't like him," Alanna said. "I could tell right away, you don't like him, and you don't like my friends."
"Because they're a bad influence," Randy cried. "The girl I know would never have taken my credit card without asking. I get that you're not comfortable with my relationship but I can't change who I love. I tried, when I was with your mom."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alanna bellowed. "Mom didn't try to chang-"
"I'm not saying she did, stop jumping to conclusions. I meant, I was trying to tell myself I was straight, when deep down I knew I was gay," he tried to explain.
"This isn't about you and John, or you cheating on mom for that matter," Alanna said getting up from where she sat. She walked to the door and opened it to go through before stopping. "You're both as bad as one another."
Randy wasn't sure he heard her correctly at first and when he tried to stop her, for the third time that day she walked away, ignoring him. He fell back into the seat, rubbing his eyes both from exhaustion and the fear that tears would start to fall. He heard familiar footsteps shuffling into the room and kneeling beside him.
"Honey?"
"Darling, I'm so tired from this," Randy murmured, still hiding his eyes from John.
"Come on, scoot over," John said, tapping the side of Randy's legs.
Randy did as instructed and John slipped in next to him, wrapping his arms tightly around his body. Randy curled into John, finding comfort in his presence. How could he ever not have this man in his life?
They didn't talk, didn't need to in fact, John simply held Randy, trailing his fingers along his muscular arms. Randy needed to lose himself for a moment and John always allowed him to do so. If it helped him distress, John would do anything for Randy.
"Johnny, darling," Randy spoke after an age of peaceful silence.
"Yeah, honey."
"Did you think of me as the bad boy type?"
"I was still thinking that when I saw you resting against the car at the airport," John admitted, reminding Randy of their interaction earlier in the day.
"That's just because of the way I appeared," Randy said. "What about as a person?"
"You've never been the bad boy," John said with a serious tone. "Through everything, the drugs, the bad attitude, it was never who you were. Just the way you reacted to everything going on with your career. Why are you asking?"
"I was talking with your mom about Ally earlier, she made a comment about you being friends with a bad boy, and how she reacted when you told her we were dating," Randy explained.
"She didn't react badly, she supported our decision, at least after the initial shock," John said confused.
"She said she never mentioned it because she didn't want to cause problems, said she trusted you to make the right decision," Randy mentioned starting to feel sleepy, cuddling into John even more.
"Woah, woah, wake up honey," John said making Randy sit up. "She thought I'd eventually leave you?"
"No, she said that she trusted you knew what you were doing and if you chose to be with me that I couldn't be all bad. Then she spent time with both of us, I worked my inevitable charm, and she realised I loved you. Well her words were cared for, but same difference," Randy said.
"Okay, I'm not going to hash this out tonight, but when you've had coffee tomorrow morning, care to explain this again," John requested.
"I promise, darling, now can we go to bed, I'm tired," Randy said standing and pulling John up.
John smiled and took the lead, pulling Randy along behind him.
"So, do you still think of me as a bad boy?" Randy asked, causing John to stop half way up the stairs and turn around.
"Stop saying bad boy," John chastised, pulling Randy closer before whispering. "It's turning me on."
"Answer the question," Randy said stepping closer until there wasn't an inch of skin between them.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Please review :)