Chapter 56: Grocery Trip

Amanda's POV

"Mm . . . Is it morning already?" I grumble as I slowly open my eyes to see the sunlight pouring into our room through our window. Randy was still asleep, his bare chest pressing into my back as he kept his arm around me in a secure hold like I was the old stuffed snake toy he used to sleep with for most of the early part of his life. . . . He still becomes a little embarrassed whenever someone among our group of friends mentions good ol' Charlie. "Great . . . It's over too soon once again."

"What's over too soon once again?" I hear Randy mumble into my neck sleepily as I reach for my phone on the nearby counter. I guess he wasn't so asleep after all.

"Sleep . . . It's like you put your head down one minute during the middle of the night and the next time you wake up, it's morning," I tell him glumly as I look through my unread emails, the most recent one instantly getting my attention. "Well what do you know . . . They've done it! They finally did it!"

"Just ten seconds ago, you were complaining about how sleep goes by so quick, and now you're sounding excited because of an email you received talking about some people doing something," Randy grumbly responds as I feel his hand rub my belly. "Who did it and what have they done? Who are you talking about baby?"

"I'm talking about the writers," I say with a smirk as I turn around in his grip so that we were now face-to-face and chest-to-chest. "They finally set a date for our return to on-screen television."

"Oh really now?" Randy asks me, now as wide awake as me as he listens to my words. "When do we finally return to the storylines?"

"The night of the Fastlane pay-per-view . . . You know, the event that's replacing the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view this year," I say with a smirk as I read through the email sent to me by Steph. "It says here that you're going to attack the Authority after they win their six-man tag team match, dealing RKO's to J&J and Kane. You try to get Rollins next, who's supposed to be your main target, but Show pulls him out of harm's way before you could deal him a blow."

"Appearing out of nowhere to deal RKOs to my unsuspecting enemies definitely sounds like my style," Randy tells me as a thoughtful look comes across his face. "But how exactly do you work your way back into the picture?"

"I'm going to appear out of nowhere the same time that you do, but I'll just be observing from the sidelines while you have all the fun, just like I always do when I escort you to the ring for your matches these days," I say as I narrow my eyes at the message. "No fair . . ."

"Sorry babe . . . Better luck next time," Randy tells me with a cheeky smile as he pecks my forehead. "I'm just glad to know when I'm finally returning to the ring after all this time. I don't want to sit on my ass and get fat. I want to wrestle!"

"You do know that you're going to have to wait till late February to return right?" I ask with a smirk as I put my phone back on the counter, which helps to bring down Randy's happy mood just a bit.

"I know. It'll be a long wait, but it'll be worth it in the end," he tells me as pecks me again. "Do I have anything else to look forward to on the night of WWE Fastlane?"

"The only other thing you have to look forward to is the post pay-per-view interview you have to do, but it's going to be rather short." I tell him with a small shrug.

"How short?"

"To put it simply, before it even starts, you're going to look disappointed and a little distant because you couldn't get Rollins like you wanted to. One of the backstage interviewers will ask you just one question, something along the lines of do you believe you accomplished what you wanted to do tonight or something like that," I explain to him as I think it over. "You're just going to tell the interviewer no, and then you'll walk away."

"Just like that?" Randy asks me curiously as he raised an eyebrow.

"Just like that . . ." I tell him with a chuckle as I sit up. "After that, you just call it a night. Steph also mentioned in the email that we will be opening Raw, well mostly you because you will be doing most of the talking, the night after the pay-per-view, and you will be tag teaming with Seth for the main event, but she didn't go into specific details so we're going to have to talk to her about that . . . You're fine with what the creative writers have planned for our return right? Steph wrote in her email that the creative writers are still opened to any ideas, so if you want something changed, now's the time to do it."

"I'm fine with what they already have planned for us . . . As long as I can dish out some RKOs to my storyline enemies, I'm completely fine with what the writers have decided to go with," he tells me as he nods his head for emphasis. "And now, to celebrate our soon coming return to TV, how about a little early morning make-out session to start our day?"

"That does sound like a fantastic idea, and I would definitely take you up on your suggestion . . ." I say with a grin as I quickly turn my attention to our closed door. "If it wasn't for your Peeping Tom of a brother listening in from behind the door that is . . ."

"NATE!" Randy yells at the door. "SHOW YOURSELF YOU EAVESDROPPER!"

"Randy, lower your voice!" I tell him as I bring a hand to his mouth to shut him up, just as Nate opened the door with an apologetic look on his face. "You could have woken up the girls with the way you're shouting!"

"Don't worry 'Manda. I placed the girls' noise canceling headphones on their ears before I started eavesdropping because I knew Randy would start yelling at me as soon as you two found me out," says Nate as he shakes his head. "Big bro is just that predictable."

"I'll show you predictable . . ." grumbles the still pissed looking Viper as he starts to get out of bed, but I clamp my hands down on his shoulders to keep him at bay.

"Nate, why were you eavesdropping, again?" I ask with an eyebrow raised as I can feel Randy's stare on me. "You better have a good answer or else I'll let the Viper loose on you."

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you guys," he tells us as he shakes his head. "I was going to the bathroom when I overheard you guys talking about your upcoming return to television, and I couldn't help but listen in to get the details."

"That doesn't help your case one bit in my eyes . . ." mumbles Randy as he tries to pry my hands off his shoulders. "Let me go 'Manda. I want to teach my brother a lesson in respecting one's privacy."

"You can do that later," I tell him as I shake my head. "It's too early in the morning for you two to be fighting. Besides, there's not enough space inside the bus for fighting in the first place and do you really want our girls waking up to see their father and their uncle fighting with each other? I think not Mr."

"Why do you have to make such good points?" Randy tells me with a small groan as I finally release my hold on his shoulders.

"Hey, someone has to stop you from almost destroying your brother," I say with a smirk on my face. "And I doubt Hal is willing to do it, and the twins obviously can't do it . . ."

". . . And again Ms. K.O. uses her words to stop the Viper," says Nate as he shakes his head. "How does she do it?"

"Years of practice," I say with a smirk as I shake my head. "Your brother has a tendency to get us into situations where I have to talk or 'persuade' our way out of it. Isn't that right Randy?"

"Don't mention it. . ." he grumbles for an answer as he tries to get out of bed, but I climb onto his lap before he could even move another inch. "Are you serious 'Manda?"

"What?" I ask as I shoot him an innocent look. "You may still be thinking about hurting your brother. I'm just playing it safe."

"By sitting on my lap in order to stop me from moving any further?" he asks me with an eyebrow raised.

"Well yeah . . ." I say with a small shake of my head as I quickly think it over. "And so far, it's working Randy. You did stop moving as soon as I started to sit on your lap."

"Yeah, well, not anymore . . ." he tells me with a smirk as he quickly shoves me off his lap and runs after his brother. I know that they're not going to get far, so I take my time changing out of my clothes before walking out of the room to see Randy pinning Nate to the door by his head with one hand while twisting his brother's arm behind his back with the other. Hal was leaning against the counter looking on at the scene with a smirk on his face and a cup of coffee in hand.

"I figured this was going to happen . . ." I say with a shake of my head as I walk over to the crib to see if the girls were awake yet.

"They do tend to make things interesting when they're together . . ." Hal says with a smirk as he shakes his head. "You guys are planning to go to the store today right?"

"That's the plan . . ." I say with a smirk as I look down at the crib to see that both the girls were now awake, and judging from their grumbling bellies, they were both hungry. ". . . And no, don't ask us to buy you a pack of Red Bull. If you want one so bad, buy it yourself."

"Fine . . . You don't got to be mean about it," mumbles Hal as he shakes his head. "I've parked us in the back lot of the arena hosting SmackDown. There's a grocery store about three blocks down the street on your left once you step out of the lot via the main entrance, so if you're going to the store, that's probably the closest one to try."

"Thanks Hal," I say with a smirk as I take off Gabi's headphones and pick up her up in my arms. "Babe, I'm going to breastfeed the girls now. We'll go to the store afterward okay?"

"Fine with me," Randy calls back as he turns to me with a smirk on his face. "I'll just stay out here with Nate and Hal."

"Aw . . . but I'll miss the boobs!" I hear Nate call out as I walk into the bedroom with Gabi cradled close to my shoulder, soon followed by a loud slap and Nate's loud yell and consequent whining, and Hal's laughter.

"Don't be complaining Nate," I hear Randy grumble. "You obviously know that there is no way I'm going to let you see 'Manda's boobs. That's my business, not yours."

"Protective as always . . ." I say with a smirk as I close the door behind me before looking down as Gabi. ". . . Your father is always in protective mode, even when the 'threat' is his own flesh and blood."

Normal POV; 1 hour later

"So, when are you going to start feeding Dani and Gabi pureed food?" Nate asked Amanda as she pushed the girls' stroller along the bread aisle while Randy held the grocery basket, which already held a lot of items inside already like some fruit, protein bars, and formula for the girls.

"They're still too young for pureed food," said Amanda as she shook her head. "They're almost two months old now, and babies their age can only handle either breast milk or formula. I'm not going to start them on pureed food till they're at least four months old."

"Why four months old?" Nate asked her curiously as Randy plucked a loaf of whole wheat bread from off the shelf.

"Because that's the age doctors, both supernatural and human, recommend as the benchmark to start a baby on pureed food, no matter what kind of species they are," Amanda answered him with a small shrug as Randy plucked a pack of bagels from off the shelf. "Besides, the girls' digestive tracts are still developing so they wouldn't be able to handle the pureed food anyway."

"Huh, that would explain why I upchucked the pureed bananas dad fed me when I was three months old," mumbled Randy as he shook his head. "My stomach couldn't handle it because it wasn't fully prepared for it in the first place."

"Dad gave you pureed food before you were fully ready for it?" Nate asked him with an eyebrow raised as Amanda looked at him unsurely.

"Yep . . . Mom was at the store and I became hungry while she was gone, so dad decided to feed me some pureed bananas that was among the pureed stash they were planning to feed me when I was finally past the four month threshold," explained the Viper as a thoughtful look came across his face. "I managed to eat the whole tin of the stuff, but I ended up spitting it out and upchucking it minutes later because I couldn't handle it. Mom was not too happy when she found out . . . well, that's what Dad said. I was a baby back then, so my memory of the event is basically nonexistent now."

"Uh huh . . ." mumbled Amanda as she shook her head. "All I'm going to say now is that our girls won't have the pleasure of eating pureed food till they're ready for it. We don't want what happen to Randy when he was three months old happen to the twins now do we . . . We'll probably start them on it around late-February or early March, if my calculations are correct."

"Ah baby food . . ." mumbled Nate as they exited the aisle. "First it is breast milk and formula, then pureed foods, then bite sized solid food, and then finally regular solid food. Ah . . . you gotta wonder who's going to be the messier twin during meal time."

"That's going to be Gabi for sure . . ." said Amanda as she looked at the smiling twin before her. Dani had already fallen asleep minutes ago. "She already figured out how to cry out for my attention when she's hungry. It wouldn't surprise me if I end up cleaning mac and cheese off her face months later."

"Being a messy baby at meal time sounds like someone else I know . . ." said Randy as a small smirk came across his face. He turned to see Nate scowling at him, which only made his smirk grow even bigger. "Oh come on Nate. You know as well as I do that you were quite the mess maker when you were a baby. Mom and Dad even have video evidence of you in action."

"I know . . . I've seen the tapes too you know . . ." grumbled the middle sibling as he crossed his arms.

"It's good to know that you know . . ." said Randy as he looked into their grocery basket. "Crap, I just realized that we didn't get anything from the dairy & frozen food aisle."

"Don't worry . . . I already know what items we still need from that section so I'll get them," said Nate as he started to jog to the far end of the store. "I'll see you guys at the cashier!"

"Don't get anything none of us will like!" Randy calls out to him as Nate quickens his pace and disappears behind a freezer filled with ice cream products.

"C'mon, let's go to the cashier. He'll probably get back by the time the cashier has already rung up most of the stuff we already gathered." said Amanda as she began walking in the direction toward the cashiers.

"You may be right on that account . . ." said the Viper as they stopped at the first empty cashier they saw. "But still, Nate could pick up something we all may not like if he's not too careful."

"Well . . . I guess we'll just have to wait until Nate comes back to see what he gets," said Amanda with a smirk as Randy started to place the items onto the small conveyor belt. He managed to empty all of the items onto the conveyor belt before Nate returned with his bounty, a small grin already on his face as he placed the stuff he gathered onto the belt.

"Huh, all of the stuff you picked out is reasonable enough. Nice one Nate . . ." said Amanda with a smirk as she looked at the items the cashier was ringing up before facing the middle Orton sibling, now noticing the grin on his face. "Uh . . . Why are you smiling Nate?"

"Oh . . . No reason," said Nate as he shook his head. "I just bumped into one heck of a woman at the dairy aisle, that's all . . ."

"Oh no . . . please don't tell me you got bit by the premature love-" said Randy as he suddenly sniffed the air around his brother, a small scowl growing on his face as he turned in the direction that his brother just came from. "Uh Nate, mind describing this woman you just met for us, by any chance?"

"She's tall and has thick raven colored hair that's cut into a chic bob that just reaches past her angular jawline," said Nate as Amanda paid the cashier the amount they owed for the groceries. "She has these beautiful hazel eyes and has a very voluptuous body, and she has probably one of the most beautiful British accents I've ever heard."

"Uh . . . Did you manage to ask for her name?" Amanda asked Nate suspiciously as she watched the two Orton men pick up their bags.

"Of course I did . . ." said Nate with a grin as the three made their way to the exit. "Her name is Annaliese."

At the mention of the name Annaliese, Amanda and Randy shot each other a quick glance of contempt, which didn't go unnoticed by Nate, who shot the both of them a quick glance of curiosity as the three walked out of the store.

"Okay, why did you look at each other like that just now?" Nate asked suspiciously as the three made their way up the street.

"Uh Nate, remember what we told you about the Annaliese that came over from the U.K. to travel with the roster till after WrestleMania?" asked Randy as he shot his brother a knowing look.

"Yeah . . . what about her?" asked Nate as they reached an intersection. And that's when realization dawned on him. "Oh . . . the Annaliese I just described matches the description of the Annaliese you guys were talking about yesterday right?"

"It matches to a tee bro . . ." answered Randy as the trio quickly crossed the street.

"And speaking of the succubus herself . . ." said Amanda as she looked over her shoulder behind her. The Orton boys turned around to see Annaliese waving at them from across the street, a small smile dotting her face as she crossed the street with her purse and grocery bag in the other hand.

"Hello again Nate!" exclaimed the succubus in that British accent of hers. "I didn't know you knew Randy and Amanda here."

"Uh yeah . . . Actually, Randy here is my older brother," said Nate as he pointed to the Viper while shooting Annaliese a suspicious glance. ". . . And I have known Amanda for all my life."

"I can definitely see the family resemblance . . ." said Annaliese as she gave each Orton a long look, which the Anaconda inwardly rolled her eyes at. "So, I bet your brother here has told you all about me huh?"

"Oh he has . . ." said Nate as shook his head. "He's told me all about your flirtatious ways and how you were on a flirting frenzy last night."

"Oh . . . I hope he didn't miss any details . . ." said Annaliese as she shot the Viper a playful look.

"Don't flatter yourself Annaliese," grumbled Randy as he shook his head. "I have said it at least once already, and I'll say it again I'm taken."

"Yeah, you made it perfectly clear already . . . unfortunately," Annaliese complained as she looked at 'Manda, who was busier with Dani and Gabi than with anything else at the moment. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop."

"Of course it's not . . ." grumbled Randy as he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "No matter what I say, you're going to continue with your flirtatious ways."

"That's the plan . . ." said Annaliese as she shook her head. "So Nate, do you always travel with your brother and his mate?"

"Nope, I'm just going to be traveling with them until the roster visits Vegas," said Nate as he shook his head. "I'm just traveling with them because their helping me prepare for a UFC tryout in a few months."

"A UFC tryout huh?" asked Annaliese as she raised an eyebrow in genuine shock. "So, you're an MMA fighter huh?"

"That's right . . ." said Nate as a smirk came across his face. "I wanted to get into the wrestling business at first, but Randy was already making a name for himself in the biz and I didn't want to be known as the Legend Killer's little brother, so MMA was the best thing for me."

"You didn't want to play second fiddle to me huh?" said Randy as Amanda started to make her way down the street, pushing the stroller forward as she left the conversation.

"Of course not! I wanted to be my own man!" said Nate as he shot his brother a small grin. "Now, shouldn't you be following your missus back to the bus? I'll join you two in just a minute."

"Fine, but be careful . . ." said Randy as he shot Annaliese a narrow eyed look before jogging o catch up with his runaway Anaconda. He managed to reach her before she reached the next street corner. "Where were you running off to missy?"

"I was heading back to our bus. I figured you two could handle yourselves around Annaliese," said Amanda as she shot him a small smirk. "Well, you I know can handle yourself around Annaliese. I'm not sure about Nate on the other hand. Are you sure that it was a good idea to leave Nate alone with her?"

"It probably wasn't . . ." said Randy as he shook his head. "But hopefully he'll get himself out of it."

"And get out of it, I have . . ." said Nate as he jogged over to the two. "I'm fine by the way. Thanks for asking."

"Well that was quick . . ." said Randy as he looked at his brother in slight shock. "What happened?"

"Uh . . . let's just say I convinced Annaliese to not bother you guys for a while." said Nate as the group crossed the street.

"How in the world did you manage to get her to do that?" Amanda asked him in slight shock as they crossed the street.

"Simple," said Nate as he shook his head. "I asked her out on a date."

"You WHAT?" Randy asked his brother in shock as he turned to him with disbelief in his eyes.

"I asked her to go out with me for lunch today," said Nate as he shook his head. "I figured that the only way to get her mind off of the other guys on the WWE roster was to have her focus on one certain guy, and luckily for you guys, I volunteered as tribute."

"You're willing to be the sacrificial lamb, just for the other wrestlers' benefit," said Amanda as she looked at Nate in shock. "That is a commendable thing for you to do Nate."

"Heck yes it is . . ." said Nate as he turned his attention back on his brother. "But you still owe me big time bro."

"You can consider me helping you prepare for your tryout for UFC my repayment to you bro," said Randy as he shook his head. "And speaking of preparing for your tryout, we're starting today brother."

"Alright, but can we do it after my lunch date with Annaliese?" asked Nate as they spotted the arena in the near distance.

"Fine, but we're starting your training as soon as you get back." said Randy as he shot his brother a serious stare.

"Yes, drill sergeant . . ." mumbled Nate as he shook his head, but then he slightly paled when he saw the mischievous smirk come across his brother's face. "I just gave him an idea didn't I?"

"Oh yes . . ." said Amanda as she shook her head. "Yes you did Private."

"Oh great . . ." said Nate as he lolled his head back. ". . . I'm doomed!"

Please review!