Chapter 16: Celebration!

Normal POV

"How do you like your birthday so far, babe?" asked Randy with a smirk as he and his mate walked by the St. Louis Arch after taking in the Cardinals' game that happened earlier in the day.

"It's definitely been an entertaining one," said Amanda with a smirk as she cradled the stuffed Anaconda toy Randy gave her as the second gift of the day. It was a good three feet long and even had a purple bow sown on its head to signify that it was a female. "The stuffed Anaconda has definitely been a highlight . . . but it got me wondering?"

"Wondering about what?" asked Randy as he raised an eyebrow.

"Wondering about your own stuffed animal . . ." asked Amanda as she raised an eyebrow at him. "What happened to that old stuffed snake you used to had? What happened to Charlie?"

"Oh . . . I gave it to my mom for safe keeping," said Randy with a shrug. "As I got older, I realized that I didn't need Charlie with me anymore.

"You realized that huh?" asked Amanda as she let out a skeptical chuckle. "So it took you until wrestling training in the OVW for you to quit Charlie huh?"

"How do you know about that?" Randy asked in complete shock as he looked at her wide eyed.

"John told me about it when you were out on a jog once," said Amanda with a shrug as the two turned the corner. "He even showed me photo evidence of you sleeping with your good old buddy one night."

"That asshole," mumbled Randy as he resisted the urge to ball his hand into a fist. "Remind me to give him a good old punch to the face the next time I see him okay?"

"Alright, but you'll probably owe him one hell of a dental bill once you're done," said Amanda as the two walked into a small park. "He may even make you pay his facial reconstruction surgery bill once you're through with him."

"It's possible . . ." said Randy as he shook his head in agreement. "But it will all be rightfully deserved in the end."

"Uh huh . . ." said Amanda as she adjusted her hold on her plush toy. "You know, I may have to give this little snake away in the end."

"You would give away the toy snake? Your gift?" Randy asked her in slight shock as he raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you know how long it took me to actually find this gift?"

"I guess it took you a while . . ." said Amanda as the two sat down on an empty bench. "But I'm not going to give it away like I'm going to sell it on eBay or Craigslist or something. What I meant is that if the baby ends up being a girl, then this snake here is going to go to her."

"And if it ends up being a boy, like I'm so hoping the fetus will be . . ." asked Randy as he wrapped his arm around his mate's shoulders.

"Then I'll give it to Alanna, or one of my female cousins," Amanda told him. "Then again, I did say I may give the toy away. I'm going to be holding on to the little creature for a while."

"That's what I like to hear," said Randy as he checked his watch. "You think Wade survived the talk with your father?"

"I hope so . . ." said Amanda as she did a small shrug. "Unlike you, Wade has never met my dad. Plus, he's always critical when it comes to sis and me bringing boyfriends home to meet him."

"Tell me about it. Do you have any idea how worried I was when I had to talk to him about you becoming a vampire? The guy easily scares the shit out of me sometimes," said Randy as he shook his head. "Then again . . . Your father is a big boxing fan. He's the reason Monica got into competitive boxing for a number of years. With his bare knuckle background, I'm sure Wade's going to turn out just fine."

"I wonder how Monica's doing with all this . . ." said Amanda as she looked up at the sky. "When it comes to impressing our dad, she worries about it more than me sometimes."

"Isn't that the reason the two of you studied Arabic and Portuguese when we were younger?" asked Randy as he scrunched his eyebrows together. "You would always carry language books with you whenever we went somewhere."

"Yep . . . we even made it into a competition to see who could speak those two languages first," said Amanda with a chuckle as she looked back at the memory. And then her face went all serious. "I won, if you were wondering."

"Of course you did . . ." said Randy as he pecked her on the side of her forehead. "You were always quick to pick up on things."

"You got that right," mumbled Amanda as Randy hugged his mate closer to his body. The sound of thunder instantly got their attention and the two looked up to see the dark gray cloud starting to float high above them. "Well that's convenient . . . and on my birthday too. At least you had better weather on yours Randy."

"Uh huh . . . come on," said Randy as he got back up on his feet. "Let's get out of here before the rain really starts to fall."

Amanda nodded her head and got out of her seat. The two quickly made their way out of the park and all the way back to the Hummer, which was parked right by the restaurant they stopped at for a late lunch. They reached the large vehicle just as the first raindrops began to fall and drove out onto the street. They didn't stop for anything, except for red traffic lights, until they reached home. By that time, it was running cats and dogs.

"St. Louis: The City of the Thunderstorm!" proclaimed Amanda just as a loud boom of thunder echoed throughout the sky. "It seems that crack of thunder agreed with me."

"This is the Midwest for ya babe," said Randy with a smirk as he pulled into the indoor garage and parked right next to the Camaro. "At least we didn't get majorly wet."

"Yes . . . thank goodness for that," said Amanda as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. "Huh . . . Wade's and Monica's scents are fairly recent. They must be back from their family visit."

"Hmm . . . let's go see if Wade's still alive," said Randy with a smirk as he walked over to her. The two decided to bypass the elevator this time around and used the stairs to get up to the loft. "Hello! Are you still alive in there, Wade?"

"Yes I'm still alive!" called Wade from his seat on the couch. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Considering you went to go speak with my hard to impress father, you can't blame us for thinking something bad ended up happening to you while you were there," answered Amanda as the vampires walked into the living room. "Where's my sister?"

"Over here," called Monica as she walked out from the kitchen with the yearbook Sheldon sent them in her hands. "I was just looking through this old thing."

"Why?" asked Randy as he narrowed his eyes at the book.

"Because I wanted to figure out why Sheldon would hold something against you . . ." said Monica as she sat down next to Wade. "And I think I may have found it."

"You think so?" asked Amanda as she quickly sat down next to her sister. "You may have figured it out?"

"Yep . . . but I had to go through the section that chronicled our junior year in order to do it," said Monica as she flipped through a few of the pages. "Check this photo out."

Amanda, Randy, and Wade all crowded around the female werewolf to see the photo. The photo was of Sheldon and a beautiful blonde haired, green eyed girl, both dressed in lab coats in what looked like a chemistry room. Sheldon's arm was wrapped around the girl's shoulder as they sat in front of a table filled with test tubes.

"That's the guy that has a personal vendetta against you Randy?" asked Wade as he pointed to the Sheldon in the photo. "I think I can guess why. . . He looks like a total geek!"

"Yeah, Sheldon doesn't look like that anymore. Trust me," said Amanda as she shook her head. "The girl in the photo, isn't that Tiffany Cornwall?"

"Yep . . ." said Monica as she shook her head. "That's Tiffany alright."

"Who's Tiffany Cornwall?" asked Wade as he raised an eyebrow, utterly confused at who she was.

"Tiffany was one of the brightest students in our class back in high school," said Randy as he crossed his arms. "She was the co-head of the Science Club with Sheldon, as well as the captain of the Girls' Softball Team."

"She also happened to be Sheldon's girlfriend all throughout high school. They just started to talk about cell membranes the first time they met and they were hooked on each other ever since," added Monica as she turned to the yearbook. "The last time me and sis saw her was when she decided to go to college in California, but no one has really heard from her since. . . Uh Randy, when you were still serving in the military, where were you based? I think you were located close to where she went to school right?"

"Yeah I was . . . I was based in California," the Randy mumbled the answer as he looked back on his ole military days. "That wasn't my best year."

"You've said that before . . ." said Monica as she turned to the back of the book. "Hey . . . Sheldon wrote something in the back of the book."

"What did he write?" asked Amanda as she raised an eyebrow.

"Randy . . . I hope you liked looking through these old memories. You took something away from me, and I plan to return the favor, Sheldon." said Monica as she read off the words.

"What the hell did you do to him?" asked Wade as he turned to the Viper.

"I didn't do anything, but I may have an idea what he might be talking about . . ." muttered the Viper as he sat down on the recliner. "It's true Sheldon and Tiffany dated all throughout high school, but they separated when she decided to go to college in California while he went to college in Massachusetts. They figured they wouldn't be able to handle long distance dating, so they split up. It turns out that Tiffany was going to the college that was the closest to the military base I was stationed at. We didn't realize we were practically next door neighbors till we bumped into each other in the produce section of a supermarket a few weeks into September."

"Oh . . . bonding over fruit. You got to love it," said Monica as she let out a small sigh. "What happened next?"

"Well . . . Tiffany and I started hanging out with each other as friends, but then it turned it turned into something more." said Randy as he let out a nervous chuckle.

"You two ended up dating . . ." said Amanda as a look of realization came across her face.

"Yeah . . . we ended up dating for a few months," said Randy as he crossed his arms. "It was Valentine's Day and I decided to surprise her with some flowers at her dorm on campus. Turns out Sheldon had the same idea."

"Uh oh . . . what happened next?" asked Wade as he looked at the Viper sheepishly.

"Well . . . I ended up seeing Sheldon right in front of Tiffany's dorm room when I got there. I asked him why he was here and he told me that he wanted to try to make the long distance relationship work with Tiffany. He asked me why I was there and I told him outright that I had been dating Tiffany for the past few months. Tiffany came back to her dorm from her last class and she instantly went wide eyed when she saw the two of us. She asked for some time to speak with Sheldon alone, so I left the building for a few minutes. About twenty minutes later, Sheldon came out of the building with his flowers still in hand. He told me to treat Tiffany right and then he left. That was the last time I saw him until that event Hunter and Steph tricked us into going to on Sunday."

"So . . . you continued to date Tiffany after that?" asked Amanda as she raised an eyebrow at her mate.

"Yep . . . until I found out she was cheating on me with a guy in her English class about a few weeks later, so I dumped her." said Randy as he did a small shrug.

"This is the second time you told me about a woman who cheated on you with another guy," said Amanda as she raised an eyebrow. "You did not have good luck with women in the early years huh babe?"

"No . . . no I didn't," said Randy as he shook his head. He then checked his watch, noticing that it had now gotten that late in the day. "I'd love to continue this chat about Sheldon, but oh . . . we should be getting ready right now."

"Ready?" asked Monica as Wade gout out of his seat. "Ready for what?"

"Oh . . . you'll see," said Randy as he too, got up. He and Wade then pulled their respective girlfriends up to their feet and guided them toward the hallway. "You girls need to dress in something nice for tonight."

"What have you two been up to?" asked Amanda with a knowing smirk as she raised an eyebrow at him, obviously knowing what the boys were planning, thanks to a certain confession from Batista from a few days ago.

"Oh . . . you'll see . . ." said Randy as he let a smirk come across his face.

Amanda's POV; 45 minutes later

"This dress should do . . ." I say to myself as I looked at my reflection in the bedroom mirror. I was wearing a sleeveless royal blue dress with a sweetheart neckline that stopped mid-thigh. It cinches in right under my bust line and flows out toward the end, a nice dress for a woman who didn't want to constrict their growing stomach too much. With the three inch silver heels I was wearing on my feet, I easily reached Randy's height. "Yep . . . I'm good for tonight."

"Good . . . I didn't want to wait around while you chose another dress," I hear Randy say right behind me as I felt his hands along my waist. "Blue has always been a great color on you, but I think it's missing something."

"Missing something?" I ask him curiously as I turn to him. "What do you suggest?"

"Well . . ." Randy tells me in a whisper as I feel his left hand leave my side. "I was thinking this."

I turn to my left to come face to face with a pair of teardrop sapphire earrings in his hand, displayed in a small blue suede box. I could hear Randy's husky chuckle in my ear as I took the box from his hand, my obviously shocked face showing how surprised I was at Randy's latest gift.

"You have got to be kidding me . . ." I say slightly out of breath as I looked at the box. 'You have got to be freaking kidding me."

"I kid you not babe, and besides. What's the beauty of being rich if you don't spend your wealth a little," Randy tells me with a chuckle as I quickly put the earrings on. "So do you like them? As soon as I spotted them, they instantly reminded me of your eyes and I thought to myself that if I didn't get these for you for your birthday, then I would be making a big mistake."

"Oh . . . you didn't make a big mistake," I say with a chuckle as I pulled him into a hug, my arms easily snaking around his neck. "I love them, thank you babe."

"You're welcome 'Manda." Randy whispers in my ear before I feel his lips on the side of my head.

"Hey you two! Let's go! We're waiting!" I hear my sister call out to us before I hear her footsteps retreat to the living room. I let out a small sigh as I untangle myself from Randy. Before I can fully step away, I lean forward and whisper some . . . kinky stuff into his ear. The smirk on my face grows even bigger when I move back to see Randy's shocked face, and I leave him there to ponder my words, walking into the living room to see Monica and Wade already dressed for the night.

"Where's Randy?" asked Wade as he began to adjust his cuff links.

"Right here . . . let's go," Randy quickly says to us as he walks over to us. He grabs my hand in his and guides me over to the elevator, a playful pout shown on his face. "You are such a tease."

"I do what I can," I say with a smirk as I notice something poke out from his pocket. "Um . . . is that a blindfold you got there?"

"Yep . . ." Randy tells me with a smirk as he takes it out of his pocket. "Turn around . . ."

I comply with his wish, turning around just in time to see Monica outfitted with her own blindfold, courtesy of Wade. Once the pitch black fabric covers my eyes, I feel Randy pull me into the open elevator. He wraps his arm around my waist as we descend down to the garage. Once I hear the familiar ring of the elevator stopping, Randy guides me out the cart and through the place until we reach the Hummer . . . well, I think it is the Hummer.

Normal POV

"Where are you taking us you two?" asked Monica as Wade helped Monica into the backseat of Randy's Hummer. "I feel like we're being kidnapped here."

"It's nothing like that Monica," said Randy as he got into the driver seat after helping Amanda into the front passenger seat. "We're just taking you somewhere special. Just sit tight and relax. We'll be there soon."

"I'll take your word for it . . ." mumbled the werewolf as she leaned he head onto Wade's waiting shoulder. Wade pecked his girlfriend on her forehead as Randy pulled out of his spot and drove them out the place. Once the garage door was closed behind them, Randy drove them onto the street and over to the freeway. They spent the next hour driving in comfortable silence, until they were driving through an area of St. Louis that ran beside the Mississippi River.

"I smell lake water . . ." mumbled Monica as she sniffed the air. "Are we by the Missouri River?"

"Hmm . . . it smells more like the Mississippi River," said Amanda as she too sniffed the air. "Then again, I could be wrong."

"No . . . you're right babe. We're driving right by the Mississippi as we speak," said Randy as he shook his head. "And lucky for you two, we reached our destination."

"We have?" asked Monica as Randy turned the car into a parking lot of an event hall.

"We have . . ." answered Wade as Randy parked the car in a spot that was right next to Kelly's Camry. The Viper cut the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt. He and Wade got out of the car themselves before helping their respective girlfriends out of the large vehicle. They guided them to the sidewalk and over to the staircase that led to the entrance hall, stopping them when they reached the door. Wade and Randy instantly noticed Layla standing down the hallway inside the building just behind the clear glass door. They gave her a thumbs up. She returned them with one of her own before turning the corner and disappearing from view, off to signal the others that the girls of honor were finally there.

"I smell the scents of our friends around here . . ." mumbled Monica as she crossed her arms. "Did you guys plan a party for us?"

"By George she's got it!" said Wade as he shook his head.

"Just try to act surprise you two okay?" asked Randy as he opened up the door.

"We'll try . . ." said Amanda as she slowly walked forward. Wade and Randy guided their women down the hallway and turned the corner before walking into the large room that was hosting the event.

"Can we take these blindfolds off?" asked Monica as she began to reach for the one on her face.

"You can in three . . . two . . . one," said Wade as he and Randy quickly took the blindfolds off their girls.

"SURPRISE!"

The girls looked on in shock at the room before them. All of their family and friends were there in the decorated room. The theme of the room was 'Around the World' and it had different objects decorating the room that you would usually see in different cultures around the world. A long buffet table was filled with food, complete with a three tiered purple frosted cake that had a mini Anaconda and a mini musical note on top in tribute to the twins on-screen characters, the Anaconda, Ms. K.O. and her Spike Slam using sister Siren, respectively.

"Aw . . . you guys . . ." said Monica as tears began to well up in her eyes. "This is crazy, but amazing at the same time."

"Oh great . . . you got my sister crying," as she began to fan her sister's tears away, a big grin coming across her face. "Don't you know how she gets when she cries?"

"Oh we know . . . it's that kind of reaction that we just live for . . ." said Alicia as she stepped forward. "We spent weeks planning this party and that kind of reaction is just something we wanted to see."

"And you two were in on this entire time?" asked Monica as she turned to Wade and Randy.

"We were more so consultants than actually party planners." answered Randy as he shrugged his shoulders.

"If we had them actually help with the party planning, then you would have suspected something was up with them for sure," said Lita as she put her hands on her hips. "With your psychic powers, we didn't want to risk it, so we kept them at an arms' length. We only asked them questions on what you guys may like or not like."

"Very sneaky of you, very sneaky of you indeed." muttered Amanda as Randy came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You can complain about us being sneaky later. First, let's get this party started!" exclaimed Nate as he turned to the DJ booth. "Ted, hit it!"

"On it!" yelled the multi-generation superstar from his spot behind the DJ booth. He played a track that was one of the biggest hits out right now. While some went over to the buffet table, others went over to the dance floor, Monica and Wade included. Before Amanda could make her way over to the buffet table, Randy kept her at bay, keeping his hold on his mate the entire time.

"So . . . what do you think?" asked Randy as he looked around the room. "The others really went all out with this place didn't they?"

"I know right . . . it's amazing," said Amanda as she crossed her arms. "I guess you really did out do me in terms of planning birthdays huh?"

"I can't take all the credit this time around babe . . ." said Randy as he shook his head. "Maybe next year?"

"Uh huh . . ." said Amanda as she turned to a nearby window. "Oh . . . the crescent moon is out tonight."

"I see . . ." said Randy as he too looked out the window. "It's the perfect night for that ritual we've been planning to do."

"Hmm . . . let's do it now." said Amanda as she turned around in his grip.

"Now babe?" asked Randy in slight shock as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah . . . well in another room. You know, keep it between us," said Amanda as she gestured to the door. "It's better if we get it over with now before we forget about it later."

"You make a good point . . . alright, now it is," said Randy as he took her hand in his. "Should we tell them that we are leaving for a bit?"

"I think they'll figure it out on their own. We'll only be gone for a few minutes anyway." said Amanda with a chuckle as she surveyed the room. Randy nodded his head in agreement before guiding her out the room, the two off to complete a prior engagement.

They're off to do the ritual!

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