Chapter 68: Bus Talk
Amanda's POV
"See Gabi . . . I knew you would enjoy pureed bananas for breakfast . . ." I coo as I gently scoop up a tiny glop of the pasty substance from the corner of her little mouth. She looks at me with a smile on her face as I scoop out the last small spoonful of bananas from the baby bowl in my hand, smirking when she starts to talk her little baby talk at the sight of the new spoonful. "Open wide Gabi . . ."
She obediently opens her mouth as I gently brought the spoon to her lips. She clamps down on the spoon as soon as it safely passes her lips, and another small stream of bananas ends up escaping as I gently pulled the spoon out of her mouth. I quickly wipe away some of the food that was falling down her chin with a small rag before picking her up out of her high chair.
"Now, wasn't your breakfast delicious?" I ask with a smile on my face as I quickly place a barf bib over my shoulder before letting my baby girl rest her head there. "Now, let's get some of that excess air out of your system shall we?"
I start to gently tap Gabi on her back when I hear the bus door opening and then closing with a small thud. I walk over to the bedroom door and peer out to see the Viper slowly walking up the steps with an irritated look on his face. Randy starts grumbling something to himself in a tone so low that I'm not able to hear it before he looks up to see me, his face visibly relaxing as he holds up a white takeout bag in his right hand.
"Hey babe . . . I brought breakfast, just like you wanted me to do . . ." he tells me as he puts the bag down onto the table. "I bought a breakfast sandwich for everyone. And speaking of everyone, where are Nate and Hal?"
"Nate went out for a quick run around the lot and Hal left to go find the nearest store that sells Red Bull," I tell him simply as I lean against the doorframe. "Same old, same old . . ."
"Have the girls had their breakfast yet?" he asks me as he reaches into the bag to take out two of the sandwiches, both of them wrapped up in crinkled aluminum foil.
"I just finished feeding Gabi her breakfast. If you ask me, she's really starting to like pureed bananas . . ." I say with a smirk as Gabi let out a small burp. "There you go Gabi. Just let that air out . . ."
"What about Dani?" Randy asks me with an eyebrow raised as he walks over to me, the slight hint of irritation still showing in his expression as he greeted me with a quick peck to the lips. "Did you feed her yet?"
"She was still asleep when I started feeding Gabi," I say as I walk over to the crib to see that Dani was still asleep, her head turned left as her eyes remained shut. ". . . And she's still asleep now. I guess I'll just have to wait till she wakes up before I can give the girl her breakfast."
"She is starting to become quite the sleepyhead, just like her mother . . ." I hear him say as I hear the door close shut.
"If Dani is acting more like me, then does that mean Gabi will end up acting more like you?" I ask with a smirk on my face as Gabi and I turn our heads to face Randy as he takes a seat on the end of the bed.
"Maybe . . ." he tells me with a smirk, but it's comes across more as a grimace than his usual mischievous smirk.
"Judging from that grimace your displaying on your face, I'm guessing your talk with Rochelle didn't go too well . . ." I say as I walk over and sit right next to him. "What happened?"
"Well, Rochelle is as . . . 'imaginative' as ever," he tells me as he hands me my sandwich before opening his own. "Turns out she left military service about a year after I was discharged because it wasn't fun for her anymore."
"It wasn't fun for her anymore?" I ask with a confused look on my face as Randy takes a big bite out of his bacon, egg, and cheese, practically attacking it with his razor-sharp fangs. "Why do I feel like there's something even more behind that reason?"
"Well, she did say that I was the best piece of eye candy at camp when I was still there, if that gives you any hints . . ." he tells me as soon as he swallows his mouthful of food. I scrunch my eyebrows together at his statement, and then it finally hits me. Randy expression tells me that I guessed right as a sheepish look comes across his face. "See what I mean . . ."
"Yeah, I think I do . . ." I say as I try to get over the idea of another woman lusting after my man. "I don't feel . . . comfortable with it, but I do see what you mean."
"Yeah, sorry about the visual 'Manda . . ." Randy tells me as he wraps his free arm around my waist. "But Rochelle did have a tendency to make her . . . advances known."
"Yeah, I'm starting to dislike your old friend more and more with each sentence you speak about her . . ." I say as I wipe away the drool that was starting to trickle down Gabi's chin. "And the funny thing is, I've never even met her. I usually dislike people after I've met them at least . . . a couple of times, but this . . . this is a little different, even for me."
"You're just feeling a little territorial, that's all . . ." Randy tells me as I put Gabi down beside me back first. "It's a common thing for vampires to feel the way you are feeling right now, especially when they're mated with someone else. It's natural for us to not like it when someone comes too close to what we claim as ours, especially when it comes to our soulmates."
"In other words: I'm feeling a little irritated over the whole idea of Rochelle having a liking to you because my vampire instincts are telling me that she's coming way too close to my property, aka, you," I tell him bluntly as he takes another bite out of his meal. "Well, that's nice to know . . ."
"It's just something that we vampires have to go through in our daily lives, simple as that . . ." Randy tells me with a reassuring look on his face as he swallowed his food. "It's not all that bad 'Manda . . . A vampire's territorial issues is nothing compared to a werewolf's . . . Now those guys have some serious issues when it comes to their territory, from their land to their packs to their mates."
"Huh . . . So, I guess if Lita or my sister was in my position right now, they would be feeling a whole lot more . . . intensely over this whole thing, right?" I ask as I unfold the aluminum foil to free my breakfast.
"Something like that . . ." Randy tells me as he finishes eating before throwing his wrapper into a nearby trash bin.
"So . . . this whole territorial thing . . ." I say as I feel Randy wrap his other arm around me, his lips now coming to rest on my shoulder. "This must have been how you felt when he who will not be named was around trying to take me away from you right?"
"Feeling territorial, no, feeling very protective of you, was exactly how I felt when he will not be named was around . . ." Randy whispers into my ear as I feel his hold on me tighten just a little. "The growing urge to protect you, to keep you safe, would get at me with each passing day, especially when he was around. . . . And now that Rochelle's rearing her ugly head again in my life after all this time, you're feeling the same territorial instinct in regards to me. It can't be helped. It's just natural for us . . ."
"Well, I don't mind it . . ." I say as I pluck a piece of bacon out from my sandwich. "In my opinion, it's only right for mates to be really protective of each other, no matter what the situation could be. It may get . . . annoying and irritating at times, but it's only right. If we're basically stuck with each other for life, we might as well look after each other's backs while we're at it."
"Well that's a nice way of putting it . . ." Randy tells me with a smirk on his face as I offer the piece to him. He bites it out of my hand like a dog taking a doggie treat from its owner. "To be honest, I knew your protective instincts would really kick in one of these days. I just never figured it would happen thanks to someone from way back in my past that I was hoping to never see again for the rest of my existence."
"And speaking of the person from way back in your past, what else happened while you were talking to Rochelle?" I ask as I raise an eyebrow. "I highly doubt that the only reason she called to talk to you was just because she wanted to admit that you were the best looking guy at camp."
"She wants to take control of the West . . ." Randy tells me bluntly as I take another bite out of my food.
"Huh?" I ask with an eyebrow raised.
"She wants to take control to the West," Randy repeats to me as I quickly chow down the rest of my sandwich. "Rochelle wants to take control of the west, as in the entire western section of the good ol' continent of North America, Canada and Mexico included."
"Hmm . . ." I say as I throw my crumpled up wrapper into the trash bin like a basketball player shooting a three-pointer. "If it weren't for Dani and Gabi being in the room with us, I would be saying a few curse words right now describing how stupid and idiotic that idea of her is. She . . . she can't be serious, the entire western section of North America?"
"Trust me . . . when it comes to Rochelle, nothing will stop her from getting her ultimate goal. She has a tendency of being very committed to ideas she puts her mind to. My time in the military is a perfect example of this fact . . ." Randy tells me as he shakes his head. ". . . She even wanted my help in this endeavor."
"So that's why she kept calling you after all these years . . ." I say as I notice Gabi falling asleep from the corner of my eye. "She wanted you to join her in her crazy scheme, even after all the things she put you through."
"That's right, and of course I said no . . ." Randy tells me with a serious look on his face. "There is no way I would turn my back on you, our friends, and our family just so I could help her with her crazy schemes. She could try all the manipulative tricks she wants on me, and I could care less. I'm never helping her. Never have, and never will."
"I'm glad to hear that, but, I guess today's not going to be the last day you hear from her right?" I ask as I bring a hand to his cheek. He shakes his head to give me his answer, a sheepish look slowly spreading across his face. "I figured as much. So, what are you going to do now?"
"Well, I'm not going to let her get away with her plans, that's for sure . . ." he tells me with a smirk as he unwraps his arms from my body. "I may make a few calls to some of the western covens. You know, give them a little heads up that a crazy redhead and her band of followers are trying to take them over so that she could make the West her personal playground."
"Well aren't you just sneaky . . ." I say with a smirk as I pick up the sleeping Gabriella and bring her over to the crib. As soon as I look into it, Dani looks up at me with a sleepy expression on her face, her eyes half open as she lets out a little yawn. "Oh, so you're finally awake you little sleepyhead. Are you ready for your breakfast?"
"According to her grumbling little belly, she is . . ." I hear Randy say as I quickly exchange babies with the crib, the sounds of Daniella's rumbling stomach easily hitting my eardrums. "Don't worry 'Manda, I'll go ready up a tin of pureed bananas for her."
"Thank you . . ." I say as I hear the sudden sounds of feet shuffling coming from behind our closed door. "Uh oh . . . Judging from those footsteps, I'm guessing your secret isn't so secret anymore."
"I think you guessed right," Randy tells me in an annoyed tone of voice as he opens the door to reveal Nate and Monica standing right at our doorstep. Nate looks at us with a guilty expression on his face, while my sister looked completely indifferent to my fiancé's hard stare. "How long have you two eavesdroppers been listening for?"
"Uh . . . do you really want to know the answer to that question?" asks Nate as he scratches the back of his neck, carefully avoiding eye contact with his brother the entire time. "Because I've been eavesdropping for quite a while, to tell you the honest truth."
"Don't look at me with those eyes! I just got here when I spotted Nate pressing his ear against your door in order to hear what you two were talking about in the privacy of your own bedroom," says Monica as she shakes her head. "If anyone's guilty of eavesdropping, it's definitely your brother here."
"Thanks for telling him that Monica," Nate says in a sarcastic tone of voice as he shoots daggers at her. She just shoots him a wolfish grin in return. "Please don't grin like that. You're smugness is not needed."
"Nate, how long have you been spying on us?" I ask as I walk over to stand next to Randy with Dani resting snugly in my arms.
"Well, when I spotted Randy walking out the lot earlier, I got curious to see where he was heading off to, so I followed after him," says Nate as Monica walks toward the front of the bus. "I made sure Randy here had no idea that I was following him, so I stayed back a good distance so that I wouldn't attract his attention. I ended up following him to a café where I saw him talking to this petite woman with a lot of red hair growing out of her head. I don't know who she was, but just the sight of her gave me the chills for some weird reason."
"Nate, be honest . . ." Randy grumbles in a low tone as Monica walks back over to us with an open tin of pureed bananas and a baby-sized spoon for Dani in hand. "How much of the conversation did you hear?"
"Uh . . . All of it," says Nate as I place Dani into the high-chair Gabi previously occupied. Even though my back was turned to the others at the moment, I could easily imagine the wide-eyed look Randy's shooting at his brother right now. "Hey, you were acting pretty suspicious since yesterday after your WrestleMania match, so I figured I get some answers by following you around for a while. I got myself answers alright, answers that I did not expect at all."
"Care to explain yourself Mr. Viper?" Monica asks him as she crosses her arms. "You were acting quite fidgety when I saw you guys leave the arena yesterday, which is strange since you're not one for acting fidgety unless you have something major to hide."
"Let's just say it's not something I'm willing to share with everyone right now . . ." mumbles the Viper as he walks back over to our bed.
"C'mon Randy, you can't keep hiding this secret forever," says Nate as he shakes his head at his brother. "From what I gathered, this Rochelle person is the reason you're not serving in the Marines today! If she's responsible for this, then she's definitely bad news in my book."
"Wait really?" Monica asks as her eyes widen in shock. "Well talk about a bombshell . . . You've been keeping the reason why you were discharged from the Marines to yourself for 16 long years now, and now I'm hearing that the reason you were kicked out was because of a petite red-headed woman that sent a chill down Nate's spine as soon as he saw her. . . Things just keep getting interesting by the minute."
"You two won't stop bugging me about this till I finally tell you the truth about my military past aren't yah?" Randy asks them tiredly. Monica and Nate quickly respond with sharp nods of their heads. "'Manda, you have any thoughts on this?"
"I suggest you tell them already . . ." I tell him as I take the tin of pureed bananas and the baby spoon from Monica's grasp. "Besides, they'll end up finding out for themselves eventually. They can get quite persistent when they want to be."
"Your fiancée's right big bro . . ." says Nate as he shakes his head. "It's usually customary for the younger siblings to get really persistent when they want to find out their older siblings' deep, dark secrets after all."
"Yeah . . . that's nice to know," Randy says in a sarcastic tone of voice as he shakes his head. "C'mon, you two. Let's head to the front of the bus. I'll tell you the full story there."
"We finally get to hear the full story on my brother's mysterious military past. The day has finally come . . ." Nate says in complete relief as he makes his way to the front of the bus, my sister following right after him.
"Good luck babe . . ." I say with a smirk as Randy lets out a deep breath. He shoots me a sheepish look before following after our younger siblings. The entire time I take to feed Dani her breakfast and burp her is the same amount of time Randy needs to tell his story; Nate and Monica staying silent for the entire duration. Once I finish feeding my eldest child, I walk out the bedroom with Dani in my arms just as Randy wraps up his story. I look at their faces to gouge their reactions, and they were definitely mixed. Nate was looking at his brother with his eyes wide and his mouth open so much that he looked like a gaping goldfish. Monica just looked stone-faced as Randy rested his chin in his hands. "Uh . . . I see the talk went well."
"Yeah . . . you can say that again . . ." Randy tells me with a shake of his head as he continues to look at our siblings' faces. "Are you guys okay?"
"I'm still trying to process the info you just laid out for us, but I'll be fine . . ." says Nate as his face finally returns to that of a normal expression. "What about you Monica?"
"I've been processing it," Monica tells us as she shakes her head. "And all I can say is that this Rochelle girl that's decided to come back into your life sounds like a real nutcase Ran. How do you even find people like her?"
"I'm still trying to figure it out myself . . ." says Randy as he takes out a small package from his pocket. It was wrapped in simple dark green paper and looked to be about the size of the average fist. Randy was looking at it tensely and cautuiously, as if he was worrying about what could possibly be inside it.
"That's the package Rochelle gave you before she walked away . . ." Nate says as he eyes the object in his hands, answering the unasked question that was floating around the bus.
"Yeah, it is . . ." says the Viper as I slide into the seat next to him. "She said it would be rude if she didn't get me a gift after all this time since my birthday is only a couple of days away."
"What in the world did she get you?" Monica asks him with an eyebrow raised as he starts to peel away the paper.
"That's what I'm about to find out . . ." Randy tells her simply as he quickly does away with the paper to reveal a small silver box. He slowly lifts up the lid and lets out a sharp gasp as he quickly slams the lid shut, putting the rest of us on high alert. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"What is it?" I ask as Randy shakes his head. "Babe, what is it? What's inside the box?"
"Something from my past, that's all . . ." Randy tells me as he takes out the crumpled object. It was a white hat with a black brim. It's most notable feature was the official emblem of thw U.S. Marines right on it's front. "It's the hat I wore during my time in the military."
"The same one you wore in that photo that hangs in your parents' living room?" I ask curiously as Randy examines the hat. He does one quick nod of his head before placing it on the table. "Why would Rochelle give you an old part of your military uniform?"
"I honestly don't know . . ." mumbles the Viper as I feel his hand on my leg. "I don't know what to make of it, to tell you the truth."
"Maybe she's giving it to you as a calling card . . . You know, something to remember her by," says Nate as he picks up the hat and puts it on his head. "How'd I look?"
"Like someone who just caught kicked out of the military . . ." mumbles Monica as she takes the hat off his head and hands it back to Randy. "It's Randy's hat, not yours."
"I wouldn't exactly call it mine . . ." mumbles the Viper as I notice that Dani had fallen asleep on my shoulder. "I wasn't allowed to keep my uniform once I was discharged."
"Yeah, but that was years ago . . ." mumbles Monica as she shakes her head. "As long as it's not dangerous, it's good in my book. Now, let's move on to something else, like someone's birthday that's coming up in the next couple of days."
"Monica, what have I told you . . ." I say as I start to sound reprimanding. "Randy doesn't want a big party this year, and we're going to repsect that."
"Aww . . . Where's the fun in that?" she asks with a scowl on her face. "Birthdays are meant to be celebrated, and I tend to celebrate big sis. I tend to celebrate big."
"I'm with you on this one Monica . . ." says Nate as he gets up from his seat. "C'mon Monica, let's leave these party poopers to themselves."
"Certainly . . ." she tells him with a smirk as she too gets up. She loops an arm around one of his own and they quickly depart the bus, shutting the door behind them so hard that Dani ends up waking up from her nap.
"And Nate didn't even notice that his breakfast was waiting for him on the table .. ." I say as I take a quick glance at the bag of food in front of us. "I guess it's his loss then . . . Sorry is the door slamming woke you up Dani."
"It could have been worse. She could have woken up crying . . ." Randy tells me as he takes Dani from my arms, the girl getting a little squeamish during the pass before settling nicely on her father's shoulder. "And babe, thanks for standing up for my right to have a small party this year."
"It was no problem . . ." I say with a smirk. "Besides, I already had something else in mind for your birthday this year."
"Like what?" he asks me curiously as I lean forward. I whisper some of my ideas into his ear, each one getting naughtier than the last. I hear Randy suck in a deep breath as I nibble his ear for emphasis before moving back to see his face. He was shooting me the same gaping fish look Nate shot him earlier. It was made even funnier thanks to Dani looking at her father with a curious expression on her face. "Oh . . . that's what you mean you say you have something else in mind."
"That's right . . . Prepare yourself Mr. Viper," I say with a smirk as I get myself out of my seat. "You have been warned."
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