Chapter 58: The Serpentine Engagement Begins

Amanda's POV; the next day

"I can't believe it . . . it finally happened," I hear my inner me say to me from somewhere on my left. "The Viper has finally grown some balls and proposed to you. Thank the heavens yes, he finally freaking proposed to you after all this time dragging his heels in the sand because he wasn't 'ready for another marriage'. Ready my ass is more like it . . ."

"Yes, he finally proposed to me after all this time. I get it Ana," I say tiredly as I shake my head. "And do you have to sound so crass about it?"

"Considering I'm supposed to be the more vulgar version of you, yes, I have to sound crass about it. I'm kinda crass about everything, if you haven't noticed," she tells me cheekily as she walks over to the couch, which Nala was currently resting on, her head being propped up by one of the armrests. "I'm just glad Randy finally proposed to you after all this time. I was starting to think that you two would stay in the boyfriend-girlfriend stage for all eternity or something."

"I guess he decided to wait no longer," I say with a smirk as I turned around and walked further into the living room. "At least now he doesn't have to worry about our family and friends berating him over proposing to me. It was starting to drive him a little nuts, to tell you the truth."

"Yes, thank the heavens for that," the Anaconda tells me with a grin as she shakes her head. "Now that you two finally gotten through the proposal, you can move on to the next situation: TELLING the family and friends about the proposal!"

"Oh yes . . . That will certainly be a hurdle that Randy and I must overcome before it starts to fall on our faces," I say sarcastically as I gave Nala a pat on her head, which she quickly responds to by letting out a small hiss of content. "And speaking of Randy, I'm going to go back to him and the real world. It should be morning already."

"Suit yourself real me," Ana tells me with a smirk before I close my eyes. "But we are not through with this conversation."

"Of course we're not. We'll talk later." I say with a smirk as I let out a deep breath. I open my eyes to see the sun shining in through the bedroom window, completely silent except for the slow heartbeats and breathing sounds all around me. I raise my head up and turn toward the crib just off to the left of the bed to see Dani and Gabi still sound asleep, both of their heads turned toward the other. I turn to the man right next to me to see that even he was still asleep, a grin dotting his slumbering face as he held me in his arms in a loose grip.

"Aw, you are so cute when you grin in your sleep," I say with a smirk as I bring a hand to his stubble ridden cheek. "I wonder what the reason for that grin could be . . ."

"Maybe it's the fact that the most amazing woman in the world agreed to marry little ol' me last night." he tells me sleepily as he starts to let one eye open.

"The most amazing woman in the world huh . . ." I say with a smirk as he slowly sits up. "Now who in the world could that be? I hope it's not some random woman you met while you were jogging through the Orlando streets my dear. That would make me very unhappy . . ."

"Don't worry love. It's definitely not some random woman I met while I was jogging the streets of good ol' Orlando, Florida. . . . To tell you the truth, the answer is actually quite obvious, considering the fact that I'm looking at her," he tells me with that mischievous smirk of his as he pecks my lips. "Good morning baby."

"Morning sweetheart," I say with a chuckle as he pulls me in closer to his body. "Did you have a good night's rest?"

"Of course I did . . . I was sleeping with you in my arms after all," he tells me as I rest my head on his shoulder. "Did you sleep well 'Manda?"

"Like a baby . . ." I say with a chuckle as I pat his chest, my eyes going straight to the ring on my finger. "So, care to tell me how exactly you did it?"

"Do what?" he asks me innocently as his eyes also go to my ring. "What are you talking about 'Manda? I have no idea what you mean."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Ran," I say with a childish pout on my face as he begins to play around with my hair. "I had absolutely no clue you were planning to propose to me yesterday night, and I am always known to be suspicious of something when something seems a little off. However, you did nothing to throw me into a bout of suspicion these past few weeks . . . . So, how'd you do it?"

"We both know that you aren't really a fan of tacky things or clichés right," he tells me with a smirk as he pecks my forehead. I shake my head yes, signaling for him to continue. "Well, we both know that I don't like tacky things and clichés either, and what's tackier and more cliché than proposing on the most lovey-dovey day of the year . . ."

"You knew I would never suspect you to actually propose to me on Valentine's Day . . ." I say as I slowly put the pieces together. "Since, that would just be too tacky a thing for you to do, and too tacky a thing for me to expect."

"Which made it the perfect day to propose to you in a way that would truly surprise you," he tells me in a superior tone of voice. "See, the Viper here has a few tricks up his tattooed sleeves after all."

"I never said I doubted you," I argue back as I shake my head at him. "I'm just saying that you can be quite mischievous and sneaky when you want to be."

"And don't you dare forget it . . ." he tells me with a smirk as he pecks me on the forehead. "Do you want to know the reasoning behind why I bought this particular ring?"

"It has crossed my mind a couple of times . . ." I say with a smirk as Randy pulls me onto his lap. "Care to enlighten me?"

"Well . . . I knew I wanted to get you a ring that had both diamonds and sapphires in it. I was absolutely dead set on it," he tells me with a smirk as I rest my head in the crook of his neck. "The diamonds are supposed to show that you are both beautiful and tough and well, you can't go wrong with a diamond engagement ring. . ."

"And what's the meaning behind the sapphires hmm?" I ask curiously as I look at my ring.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asks me with a smirk as I raise an eyebrow at him. "The sapphires match your eyes. One of the most amazing things about you is your eyes after all."

"Oh you're so sweet . . ." I tell him as I kiss the side of his neck. "How did you manage to get the right size though?"

"I simply just took one of your rings from your jewelry stash and carried it with me while I was out ring hunting," he tells me with a smirk. "I always made sure I returned the ring before you had a chance to notice it's disappearance in order to avoid suspicion."

"Smart move Mr. Viper," I say with a chuckle as I slide out of his lap. "So, how are we going to break our good news to our family and friends hmm?"

"Hmm . . . that is a good question . . ." I hear Randy say as I leave the bed. "And since we have a lot of family and friends between ourselves, it's going to take us a while to notify everyone our good news."

"Well, one thing's for sure, we can definitely cross one person off our list of people we need to notify," I say with a shake of my head as I hear a certain somebody's thoughts starting to run rampant just behind our door. I jog over to it and open the door to find Nate right behind it with a big ol' grin on his face, his eyes going straight to the engagement ring on my left ring finger. "Good morning Nate."

"Good morning soon to be sister-in-law!" he practically exclaims in a know-it-all tone of voice as he steps into the bedroom. His eyes go straight to Randy, who's still sitting on the bed with an expectant look on his face. "You know I'm going to say it dear brother, and you know it's been a long time coming, since I've mentioned it, and annoyed you with it, time and time again . . ."

"Go ahead . . . say it," said Randy in a challenging tone of voice as he swung his feet out of the bed and onto the floor. "But let me warn you now: As soon as you say what I definitely know what you're going to say out of your mouth, I'm going to chase you and beat the crap out of you until you regret ever saying those words I know you're going to say."

"I'll take my chances, dear brother of mine . . ." says Nate as a big grin stretches across his face. "Randy: I. Told. You. So!"

"That's it!" exclaims the Viper as he jumps off the bed. His eyes are strictly set on Nate as he chases his brother, both of them running out of the room and into the living room. I peak my head out of the bedroom doorway just in time to see Randy tackle his brother to the ground, both of them crashing onto the tiled floor with a loud thud, just as a few repetitive thuds emanated from the door. "Babe, can you get the door? I'm a little busy here."

"Sure thing . . ." I say with a shrug as I walk over to the door. I open it to reveal Monica on the other side, her face looking quite sleepy as she leaned against the doorframe. "Hey sis . . . You look very sleepy for someone who's usually more awake than this at this time of day."

"I should look sleepy. Well, I should be looking sleepier than you to be exact . . ." she tells me with a slow shrug as I let her walk into the room. "I look like this right now because I Skyped with Wade for the past four hours straight before coming here. . . . He sends his greetings from Mumbai, by the way."

"Ah . . . you got to love a good romance when the couple is separated by very different time zones," I say with a smirk as I cross my arms. "It definitely makes the relationship that much more interesting."

"So, do you mind telling me why you're so awake this morning," she asks me curiously as she finally notices the two grown men grappling on the floor. "And do you mind also telling me why the Orton boys are fighting again?"

"Nate got on Randy's nerves again, simple as that, and as for why I'm so awake this early in the morning . . ." I tell her simply as I hold up my left hand to reveal my ring. "I think this engagement ring can speak for itself."

"Oh my goodness . . ." she tells me in a whisper as her eyes widened as far as they could go. "You're engaged?! You're finally engaged?!"

"Yes . . . Randy and I are finally engaged," I say with a shake of my head as Randy drags Nate up onto his feet by his shirt collar. "Randy proposed to me last night while we were out at dinner."

"It took you two long enough!" my sister instantly exclaims as she pulls me into her arms, giving me a bone crushing hug that only a werewolf could muster.

"That's what I've been saying!" says Nate as he practically rips himself away from his brother's hold. "I've been saying for months now that these two will eventually get married, and now that 'Manda here has that ring on her finger, it's finally going to happen."

"We're not going to hear the end of this for a long while huh Nate . . .?" Randy grumbles as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Not by a long shot!" says Nate as he looks at his brother with a pearly white grin.

"Have you told anybody else yet?" my sister asks me curiously as Randy walks back into our bedroom, grumbling something about annoying brothers along the way.

"Nope . . . You and Nate here are the only ones that know about the engagement right now," I say with a shrug. "When is Mason supposed to get here again?"

"He said that he'll be here within another hour and a half give or take," Monica tells me with a smirk as she shakes her head, just as Randy walked back into the room dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants. "You're going to go work out now Ran?"

"That's the plan. The guys and I agreed that we would meet up down in the gym for a post-Valentine's Day workout this morning," says Randy as he quickly puts on his sneakers. "Are you coming along Nate?"

"Hell yes I am!" the younger Orton exclaims excitedly as he ran back to his room. "I want to be there when you announce your engagement to the guys."

"If you're going to announce our engagement to the boys, then I guess that leaves me to tell the news to the other Divas," I say with a smirk as I turn to Monica. "Monica, do you mind helping me round the girls up?"

"I can have them all in this room within twenty minutes," she tells me with a smirk as she takes out her phone.

"Then that only leaves me twenty minutes to get out of here before I'm swarmed by women getting over their Valentine's Day highs," says Randy as he jumps back onto his feet. "Let's go Nate!"

"Coming!" exclaims Nate as he runs out the room with his sneakers in hand.

"You guys did brush your teeth right?" I ask out of the blue as Randy walks over to the door. "We don't need you two to contaminate the gym with your stinky Orton morning breath alright?"

"Yes honey, I did brush my teeth this morning," Randy tells me in a playful whine as he pulls me into his arms. "So you don't have to worry about me contaminating the gym with my bad morning breath. I don't know about Nate though . . ."

"Yes I brushed my teeth," Nate tells us rather bluntly as he walks over to us. "Now let your fiancée go Randy. We have to go pump some iron remember?"

"Alright . . . but first this," Randy quickly says before picking my chin up and softly kissing me on the lips. However, before either of us could go even further with it, Nate pulls Randy away from me and my lips by his shirt collar, doing the same thing his brother did to him minutes prior. "Must you ruin my fun Nate?"

"You've done it to me, and it's only fair that I do it to you in return," Nate tells him as he opens the door and walks out the suite, pulling Randy away from me as we went. "We'll see you girls later?"

"Bye baby!" Randy quickly tells me with a wave as he closes the door, leaving me with my sister and the twins. After shaking my head and letting out the breath I held in since the kiss started, I turned around to see Monica smirking at me as she put her phone back into her pocket.

"The girls are on their way. They'll be here in a few minutes." she tells me with a strong nod of her head as we hear Gabi starting to cry from the bedroom.

"Good . . . Hopefully I can feed the twins before they get here," I say with a smirk as we hear a knocking sound come from the door. ". . . Or maybe not."

Normal POV

Randy and Nate made their way down to the hotel lobby via the stairs, practically racing each other at a human pace until they reached the gym. They entered the huge room to see their friends gathered around the long rack of weights at the back of the room, all of them already conversing with each other about their plans from yesterday.

"Hey Randy! Nate!" called John, being the first to notice the St. Louis natives' arrival. "How was your Valentine's Day?"

"I got dumped," Nate told the group bluntly as he picked up a 50 lb. weight. "So I suggest you prepare for Annaliese's flirtatious ways to rear its ugly head again because I have a feeling she'll be right back at it come Monday."

"What happened exactly?" asked Cody as he raised an eyebrow. "I thought you two were getting along great."

"We were, but then Annaliese feared that her succubus ways and her flirty habits would just interfere with the relationship too much. She didn't want to hurt me in the long term, so she dumped me, plain and simple," explained Nate as he picked up a second 50 lb. weight. "The relationship was fun while it lasted though . . ."

"She dumped you on Valentine's Day man . . ." said Edge as he shook his head. "Couldn't she have waited till after yesterday to tell you she wanted to end the relationship?"

"I guess she couldn't wait any longer." said Nate as he did a small shrug. "So, now that you've all heard my bad news, it's time to move on to some good news, Randy's good news to be precise."

"Randy got some hanky-panky yesterday? That's nothing new . . ." said Edge as he shook his head, his comment earning him a slap to his shoulder from the Viper himself. "C'mon, it's true though."

"It wasn't that you idiot . . ." said Randy as he shook his head. "The actual good news is that I asked 'Manda to marry me yesterday . . . and she said yes."

"FINALLY!" all the superstars exclaimed in relief as they threw their heads back, which only made the Viper shake his head in response while Nate just smirked at the scene before them.

"Lad it took you long enough," said Sheamus as he pat him on the back. "I got to be honest, I was starting to worry that you didn't have the stones to propose to 'Manda."

"Trust me when I say this, if Wade was here he would probably say this in response to your news," said Ted as he shook his head. "Aw shit lad! You finally grew the blood balls and proposed to your missus. What took you so damn long!?"

"Huh . . . that is something I can imagine Wade saying if he was here," said Randy as he picked up a couple of 75 lb. weights. "By the way Ted, that was a creepy good impression of Wade and his accent."

"Thank you! I've been working on my British accent actually . . ." said Ted as he re-tied his sneakers.

"Why?" asked Cody as he raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"I don't know . . . Just something for me to do to past the time . . ." Ted told him simply as he did a small shrug.

"Was 'Manda genuinely surprised by the proposal?" asked John as he turned to the Viper, who was now in the middle of doing some bicep curls. "Psychics tend to be some of the hardest people to catch off guard."

"You're telling me . . ." said Randy as he turned to the Massachusetts native. "And to answer your first question Johnny Boy: yes I managed to catch Amanda off guard with the proposal. She had no idea about it, and she even ended up crying when I did."

"The Anaconda cried?" asked Kofi as he looked at him with disbelief in his eyes. "Damn, your proposal must have been good if you managed to get Amanda to cry. . . . Isn't she known for not being much of a crier?"

"Yeah . . . Amanda is a tough cookie. She barely cries unless there's a good reason for it . . ." said Randy as he a thoughtful look came across his face. "And yesterday night, the tears were definitely flowing."

"Did you take a photo of it?" Edge asked him suddenly as he put his weights back down on the rack. Randy only stared at him in disbelief. "What? Catching the Anaconda crying is as rare as catching the Undertaker wearing pink. It has to be seen to be believed!"

"Trust me. She cried. End of story . . ." said Randy as he went back to his workout. "Anything else you want to ask me, or can I go back to my workout now?"

"I have a question for ya?" said Cody as he did a few trunk twists. "Who are you going to pick as your best man?"

"Don't put me on your list of considerations bro," said Nate as he Randy grimaced after listening to Cody's question. "I was your best man for your wedding with Sam, and I think one time as best man is enough for me, but if you need someone to plan your bachelor party, well you can put my name on the top of the list."

"Nate, it's usually the best man's job to plan the groom's bachelor party," said John as he looked at him with a blunt glint in his eye. "If you don't want to be your brother's best man, than you can't plan his bachelor party."

"What? Is that how it usually works?" asked Nate as he looked at the Cenation leader in shock. "Well in that case: Randy, forget what I said about not putting me into consideration to be your best man."

"Wow . . . and my choice pool gets bigger and bigger with each passing second," grumbled Randy as he shook his head. "And guys, I have not started thinking about who I want as my best man yet. I just got engaged yesterday alright?"

"Fine . . . you're right," said Edge as he shook his head. "We shouldn't be asking you the best man question so soon . . . but if you want epic bachelor party, you know who to turn to."

"Stop advertising yourself Edge!" said John as he smacked him in the arm.

"I'm not advertising myself," Edge argued back as he went on the defensive. "I'm just giving Randy some incentive, that's all."

"It sounded like you were advertising yourself to me laddie . . ." said Sheamus as he shook his head, earning him a sharp look from the Canadian werewolf. ". . . But that's just my viewpoint."

"You guys aren't going to make picking a best man easy for me are you?' asked the Viper as he put his weights back on the rack. Everyone shook their heads no. ". . . I figured as much."

Randy's POV; An hour & a half later

"Those guys will badger me to no end until I pick a best man from the lot of them," I say with a shake of my head as I stepped out the elevator and into the hallway. "But I got to admit, it's going to be hard to pick a best man from the lot of them."

I start thinking over my options as I make my way to the suite, fishing in my pocket for my keycard so that I could open the door. I take my card out just as I reached the door, but before I can swipe it through the lock, the door opens up to reveal Monica and Mason, the latter currently at the reigns at my twins' stroller.

"Ah . . . there's our soon to be brother-in-law," Mason greets me with a smile as we shake hands. "Had fun working out?"

"Yeah, except for the moments when the guys tried to subtly suggest themselves as the best candidate for the position as my best man . . ." I tell them as I step into the hallway. I peer into the stroller to see Dani and Gabi sitting inside, both of them wide awake as their eyes landed on me. "Uh . . . care to explain to me where you two are taking my daughters?"

"I figured it wouldn't hurt if Dani and Gabi spent the rest of the morning with their maternal aunt and uncle," Monica tells me with a smirk as she hikes the strap of the girls' baby bag higher on her shoulder. "Don't worry; we're not going to go far. We'll be in my suite down the hallway if you need us."

"That's good to know . . ." I say as I step into the suite to see it virtually empty. "I see the other Divas cleared out before I got here."

"They cleared out a good while ago," Monica tells me with a small shrug. "They were all going on a group jog when I called them down so that Amanda could share the engagement news within them, and I believe you still have some more people to tell the news to right?"

"Yeah . . . I guess 'Manda and I are going to be spending the rest of the morning calling up the family to tell them the good news," I say with a chuckle as I lean against the doorframe. "Now that I think about it, it's probably a good thing you guys are going to be looking after the girls for a while."

"Thank goodness for aunts and uncles huh?" asks Mason as he shakes his head. "And speaking of uncles: where's Nate?"

"He went out for a jog . . ." I say with a shrug as I grab hold of the doorknob. "I'll see you guys later."

"We'll be back with the girls after lunch . . ." Monica tells me with a smirk as I close the door. I sent her once last smirk before shutting the door, my head now pressing against the frame as I think about all those calls 'Manda and I will have to make. The sound of heels hitting the floor from somewhere behind me instantly gets my attention, so I turn to see the reason behind it . . . and I definitely liked what I saw. . .

. . . If any other guy saw their beautiful fiancée emerging from their bedroom wearing a sexy set of lingerie with a pair of sky high heels to boot, they would have loved it too. . . I know I do.

"Babe, why are you wearing that beautiful outfit right now?" I ask her as I can't help but let the smile come across my face.

"Well . . . I realized that we never really got to properly celebrate our engagement yesterday," she tells me as she slowly walks over to me, her eyes looking all innocent as she eyed me up and down. "So, I figured that before we start on the long and arduous task of sharing our good news with the rest of our families, we'd help each other loosen up a bit."

"Uh . . . okay," I say with a smirk as she wraps her arms around my neck, just as I wrap my arms around her waist. "Wait, what about breakfast?"

"What sounds better to you hmm?" she asks me in that teasing voice of hers as she presses her forehead onto mine. "Bacon and eggs, or me in bed? It's your choice Mr. Viper?"

"I see . . ." I tell her as I think about her options. And when I say think about it, I mean making an instant decision and quickly lifting her up and onto me, her legs instinctively wrapping around my waist as that mischievous grin of hers spreads across her face. Oh I love that grin. "I guess I can skip bacon and eggs just this once."

And with that, I rush us back into our bedroom, ready to get the real celebration started.

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