Wednesday 30th October

"How on Earth have you managed to horde so much garbage?"

''I don't like throwing things away."

"Obviously."

Alexa shook her head, shooting Vickie a mock glare as she finished packing the box in front of her. With Raw and Smackdown both being in Florida, she had decided to use the opportunity to finish packing up all her stuff. She thought it was a bit strange that Vickie had immediately offered to lend her a hand, but hadn't wanted to turn it down. Especially since Jon was going to be busy going through what was left of his belongings over at his apartment and wouldn't be around to help her.

"How's Shaul doing?" Alexa glanced across the living room, meeting the other woman's gaze with a guilty look. "I haven't really spoken to her for a while, I feel awful."

"Don't be ridiculous, she knows how busy you are." Vickie waved her off with a smile. "And she's doing really well, did you know she's been dating Matt?"

''Matt? Rehwoldt?"

''Yeah, he's been really good for her. What with the eating disorder and everything, I... It's been hard, you know? I'm glad things are finally getting better for her. I hope things stay that way."

"I know." Alexa replied softly, knowing how much the younger woman's troubles had affected her mother. "She's tough, she'll be just fine."

''She takes after her Dad in that respect."

''No, she takes after you. You're the toughest person I know, Vick."

"You think so?"

"I know so. After Eddie passed, you managed to keep it together when anybody else would've fallen apart. Those girls are so lucky to have you and I know that Eddie would be so fucking proud of you."

"Thank you, Lex." Vickie paused, and took a deep ragged breath. "I think there's something I have to tell you..."

"What-"

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Alexa's head swung toward the front door and she shook her head with a smirk. "That's probably Jon."

Missing the look of apprehension on Vickie's face, she rose to her feet, almost tripping over the collection of boxes in the middle of the room as she headed towards the door.

"I told you to take the key, you-" Alexa's tirade was cut short as she yanked the door open, revealing a face that she hadn't seen in almost fifteen years. "-idiot..."

"Alexandra."

Hearing her name said like that again shook Alexa out of her momentary trance. She briefly wondered if she should correct her, to establish that she wasn't 'Alexandra' anymore. But the shock of actually having her mother standing in front of her after all that time won out, the words just slipping from her mouth. "What the fuck?"

A tight smile appeared on the woman's face, but before she could respond, Vickie appeared, planting a supportive hand on the younger woman's shoulder.

"Amanda."

''Vickie." She nodded curtly. "Thank you for inviting me."

Alexa's mouth dropped open, her eyes darting between the pair before settling on the woman beside her. "You?'' She looked into Vickie's eyes, trying to find some indication that she was kidding. But all she saw was seriousness and a hint of something else, guilt? "You invited her here?"

''I did." Vickie admitted, stepping back and gently pulling Alexa with her to give Amanda space to move past them. "Let's not do this here, come inside."

Alexa darted forward, her hand angrily slamming against the door frame and using her arm to block off the entrance before she could enter. "No! She's not coming inside. No."

"Alexandra, please-"

Alexa felt her head start to spin; all she could hear was the sound of blood pounding in her ears as she tried to get her head around what was happening. ''I said no! This is my fucking house, you're not welcome here!"

Vickie sighed. ''Lex-"

"Hey!"

The three women started at the sudden interruption, Alexa immediately calming down as she recognized the voice of her boyfriend.

Jon made his way up the path, his pace increasing as soon as he met Alexa's eyes and saw the panic there. "What's going on?" He asked, turned to look at the stranger on the doorstep. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Amanda." She replied quietly. "Alexandra's mom."

"You are not my fucking Mom." Alexa hissed, her arm dropping to her side before she stepped around Vickie and stormed back inside the house.

Her loud footsteps pounded against the stairs for a few seconds before the sound of a door slamming echoed through the house, leaving the trio standing in awkward silence.

It took Jon almost thirty minutes to convince Alexa to leave the bedroom, the woman finally making her way into the living room where her 'mother' was sitting in one of the chairs that still remained. Closely followed by her boyfriend, she padded across the room and dropped down into the chair opposite.

"I'm going to take Vickie with me while I go grab some more boxes from my place." Jon leaned over the back of her chair, speaking softly into her ear as he place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Call me if you need me, alright."

Alexa nodded, managing to muster up a small smile as he gave her shoulder one last squeeze before heading towards the door, Vickie trailing along behind him silently. The door closed with a soft click behind them and Alexa finally looked up, meeting the gaze of the woman who had caused her so much pain.

All the courage that she'd built up the previous month had vanished, the shock of her mother's sudden arrival catching her completely off guard. The pair sat in an awkward silence for what felt like forever until Amanda finally broke it.

"Are you going to just stare at me, or are we actually going to talk?"

''Oh, I'm sorry I'm not exactly chatty fucking Cathy." She snapped back. "I didn't wake up this morning expecting my so-called Mother to appear on my doorstep after fifteen fucking years."

"You turned up on my doorstep first, remember."

"I... did Vickie tell you?"

"No. Simon... he mentioned I'd had a visitor and as soon as he described her, I knew it was you." Amanda replied softly. "I've never known anyone with the same colour eyes as you... Why did you leave?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I realized what a mistake it was so I bounced."

"You should have stayed."

"Why? So I could look at more photos of your perfect new family some more?"

Realization dawned in the older woman's eyes. "You left when you couldn't see any photos of you?"

The question was met by silence, which only served to confirm her suspicion.

"I'm sorry." Amanda released a sigh, glancing down at her hands as she wrung them anxiously. "Simon, he... he didn't know about you. Not until after your visit. It was him who convinced me that I needed to see you."

"This just gets better and better." A loud snort left Alexa's lips, the woman shaking her head in disbelief. "You didn't tell your husband that you had a daughter? Actually, that's probably a good idea, considering that you pretty much abandoned said daughter."

"I didn't tell him because I was ashamed. I love him and I didn't want him to think that I was an awful person." She admitted. "Which is what I feel like."

"Did he?" At her confused expression, Alexa elaborated. "Simon. Did he think you were an awful person when you told him?"

"At first... Until I explained. He couldn't quite wrap his head around it, still can't, but he knows I had my reasons. That's when he told me I had to come and make amends with you, so we can all move on."

"I think we're way past making amends."

"Look, this has been a long time coming and you know it, or you wouldn't have tried to make contact with me in the first place."

Alexa remained silent for a moment, her mind trying to come up with the right words to explain herself, but she couldn't. Instead she settled on the easiest ones to make herself understood. "I just wanted to know why."

"Does it really matter why?"

"Of course it fucking matters!" She hissed angrily, temper rising quickly. "Do you have any idea how much you screwed me up? I've gone through my entire life just assuming people didn't want me, that nobody would love me. Because if my own mom couldn't do that, how could I expect anybody else to? I deserve to know why. You owe me that much."

If Amanda was taken aback by the sudden outburst, she didn't show it. Instead she waited until the other woman had settled down before speaking. "I don't even know where to start...''

''The beginning usually helps."

''I... I never really wanted kids, you know... even when I met Vito. I loved him so much and I know deep down he wanted a family, but he went along with what I wanted. We were happy, for a while, until I started to feel like he resented me, for not giving him the family he wanted..." Amanda paused, taking a moment to gather herself before meeting her daughter's steely gaze. "I had an affair. Well, I say affair, it was just once. One time. He... I didn't tell him, not until..."

Alexa swallowed heavily, feeling her heart pounding as she tried to wrap her head around what she'd just heard, not even daring to think about where this was heading as she waited for the woman to continue.

"When I found out I was pregnant, I was going to have an abortion. I had it all booked and everything but he convinced me not to, even though he knew you weren't...'' Her mouth snapped shut and she inhaled sharply.

''W-What are you saying?'' Alexa stammered, needing to hear the words despite already knowing.

"Vito wasn't your biological father."

A/N : I'm back. Again. Sooooo sorry this has taken so long, and that it's so short. But I'm slowly getting back into it again. Thanks to everyone for (hopefully) sticking around! 3