"Just what do you all find so funny?" I looked around and shook my head. This of course set them all into peals of laughter. Steve pulled me into his lap on the only empty chair left on the porch.
Taker looked at him and I groaned when I heard the question, "So, Austin, did you find out who that cat belongs too? I heard we had a new pet."
Austin, true to his personality, took the teasing in stride. "Absolutely man, that kitty is absolutely and totally MINE. And I'll kill anyone that tries to take her from me."
All the girls responded with an "Awww. How sweet."
I groaned and buried my face in Austin's shoulder to hide the blush that had just suffused my face. I could feel him laughing while he held me. The phone started ringing in the Kitchen and I hopped up off Austin's lap so he could go grab the cordless off the wall. He came back out, still on the phone.
"Yeah man, what's up?, Uh huh. Yeah, they're all staying here, why? Oh, I see. Well hang on let me see." He put the phone on hold and looked at us.
"Apparently they threw together an impromptu visitation at the children's ward in the hospital. Our presence has been requested, anyone interested?"
"Sure, why not." Taker was the first to respond, and after Austin relayed the answer over the phone, we headed in the house to get ready to go. Twenty minutes later we were loaded into vehicles and headed to the hospital.
When we pulled up in the garage, we were met by security and taken to the physicians lounge on the children's floor. We walked in and were surprised to see the members of the recently re-formed DX waiting. I noticed a very beautiful woman sitting on the couch just inside the door.
"Since the MEN in this room seem to have forgotten their manners," she gave a pointed look at Triple H, "I guess I'll introduce myself. My name is Leah, and I coordinate DX for the WWF."
Triple H looked at her and grinned, "What, I figured you handle me so well, why not let you handle your own introductions."
She just gave him a look that said 'I'll deal with you later', and turned back to our conversation. "So, I heard you got hired on to work with the Rattlesnake. How are you holding up?"
I laughed, "Fine thanks, he's not really as bad as everyone thinks. Once you get him under control."
She found that endlessly funny, and we both collapsed on the couch laughing when Austin turned and leveled me with a look that said, 'you'll pay for that later.' The guys headed out the door, and started with the room nearest the lounge. I sat with Leah, talking about work and asking for advice and opinions on the best way to handle the scheduling and travel arrangements that were required.
We had been there for about twenty minutes, when I heard Storm talking to me with laughter in her voice. "Lashana, you have got to come down here…you'll hate me if you miss this.
Where are you?"
"We are in the play room at the end of the hall., hurry up."
"Leah, how bout we head down the hall and make sure the guys are not getting into too much trouble."
"Probably a good idea. The Outlaws are such little boys when you give them the opportunity, there's no telling what they are up to."
We headed in the direction of the room. I heard Storm and Kane talking to each other, and had to struggle to suppress my laughter.
Storm chuckled, "Kane, Taker you all look so cute down there. I wish I had a camera."
"I swear to the gods that if you ever repeat this story to anyone, I'll never forgive you."
I walked into the room and stopped, my mouth open and stared. Sitting in the middle of the floor, surrounded by kids sat the Wrestlers of the WWF. Storm, Jakx and Icey were playing dolls on the couch with a couple of the little girls in the room. Kane was sitting on the floor playing building blocks with a boy, DX were playing cars, Taker was on hand and knees giving pony rides, but nothing stunned me more than the fact that the Toughest SOB in the WWF was sitting at a table, playing tea party in the corner with two little girls. They both were wearing scarves on their heads, so I assumed that they were victims of leukemia. I felt a surge of emotion, watching him play with them, and walked over behind him.
I put my hand on his shoulder, and he looked up at me. I heard him groan when he saw me, and realized that he was hoping he could do this without getting caught. I smiled at him and kissed him on top of the head. One of the little girls looked at me and smiled. I walked over next to her and squatted down.
"Hi sugar, whats your name?"
"Joy. And this is Sarah," She introduced me to her friend sitting across the table from her. "What's your name?"
"My name is Lashana. Do you mind if I join you for tea?"
The little girl named Sara smiled, "You can come sit by me, if you'd like."
I walked over and sat in the chair next to Sara and smiled at her. Austin was watching me with that half cocked grin of his and I looked up at him and smiled. Joy poured me some 'tea', and I sat and sipped while I watched the happenings around the room.
After about thirty minutes, I could tell that the kids were getting tired. The nurses came in and told the kids that it was time to head back to their rooms, and after some moans and groans, and a round of hugs and kisses for everyone, they headed out and back to their rooms. Each of the guys had grabbed one or two of the kids, and carried them back to their rooms, but Sara and Joy had evaded capture. They walked over and tugged on my pant leg. I looked down and smiled, "what can I do for you two ladies."
They giggled at being called ladies and blushed, they crooked their fingers for me to bend down to them and when I leaned down, the little one named Joy whispered in my ear. I smiled at the sweet request of the two little girls, called Leah over and told her what they wanted. She walked over to Triple H and I walked over to Austin and delivered the request. They both grinned ear to ear, and turned to the little girls who were watching with wide eyes. They looked at each other, and simultaneously each grabbed one of the little girls and scooped them up in their arms. The little girls giggled and wrapped their arms around the necks of the big men carrying them and willingly were taken back to their rooms.
I smiled at the scene, stunned again at the sweet nature of the man that I had fallen in love with less than a week ago. Leah chuckled as they ran out of the room with them.
"Those are two little girls after my own heart. What better way to go back to bed than to be carried by two unbelievably strong and handsome men."
I looked over at her and smiled, "None that I can think of. I think we'd better go find them before they fall head over heals for those two, assuming its not too late already."
We walked into the hallway, at just about the same time as Austin and Triple H came out of the girls room. I smiled at Austin and he smiled back, met me halfway and put his arm around my shoulders. I lay my head on his shoulder and put my arm around his waist. "That was the sweetest thing I think I've ever seen you do. That little girl is obviously in love with you."
He smiled, "She is a sweet thing isn't she. It's a shame that she is sick. I wish there was more that I could do for these kids than just come and play with them."
"Ya know, babe, sometimes that's the best thing for them. It gives them the opportunity to forget, for a little while anyway, that they are sick. Those little girls will remember this afternoon for a long long time. You did a good thing today, and although I didn't think it was possible, I love you more now, than ever."
He stopped in the hall and kissed me. It was a short, but oh so sweet kiss, and it melted my heart. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight against him. "Lashana, I don't know what I did to deserve you, but what ever it was, I hope you plan to stay, because I will follow you to the ends of the earth to bring you back if you ever leave me."
I leaned back and looked him in the eye. "There is no way that I would ever voluntarily leave you, so that is something that you don't have to worry about." I stood up on my tippy toes and kissed him back. "We need to get moving hun, everyone is going to be waiting for us in the garage."
When we turned around, we saw Leah and Triple H still waiting for us at the end of the hall. I saw the glint in Triple H's eyes, just before he opened his mouth. "Well, Austin, that is just THE cutest thing I think I ever saw" Leah smacked him in the shoulder, and he yelped.
Austin smiled and winked at me, "Careful son, your woman didn't seem to like that too much. Would hate for that little think to have to take you down right here in the hallway"
Leah and I chuckled as Triple H gave Steve a dirty look and the proceeded to "make up" with Leah. By the time we got back out to the garage, everyone was gathered around the vehicles. Taker looked over, and with a "Well, its about time you all made it out of there. We were starting to think you had gotten lost in the children's ward."
Hunter looked at him and said, "Not lost, but your boy over there got side tracked by a certain dark haired girl. Seems he can't keep his hands off her."
Jim laughed at that, "Yeah, Helmsly, we've noticed that! It's pretty disgusting the way they carry on."
Storm, Jakx and I all looked at him, standing there with his arms wrapped around Icey, momentarily stunned. I burst out laughing, "Jim, I can not believe, you of all people, would say something like that, considering the fact that you are never more than 3 steps away from Icey if you can help it." He squeezed her tight and winked at her. She laughed, and the rest of us joined her.
"Whose up for a drink?" Austin said, still laughing.
"I was thinking more along the lines of food. I'm hungry." Was the response the girls, Taker and I heard. And we all looked at Kane and laughed even harder.
"A drink sounds like fun, baby, but I think we need to get Kane some dinner first. He's lookin pretty hungry over there."
He looked at me, and smiled. "All right, dinner first, then a drink." He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "then you and I will have some dessert."
I felt a chill of anticipation run down my spine, and looked at the others, "Ok, then. Let's get this show on the road." We decided to go to dinner at a little bar and grill down the road. Hunter and Leah were herding the rest of DX toward their vehicles and we hopped in ours and headed to the restaurant.
Dinner was wonderful and we had some very animated conversations, discussing the up coming Pay Per view event and the different matches. I knew that Kane was due to take on Triple H for the title, and that Taker was due to go up against the Rock to end their current feud, and that Austin would be involved in a grudge match with BA Billy Gunn. After dinner, the guys headed back to play some pool, and the girls sat around the table listening to the Jukebox and laughing with each other. I was really enjoying the conversation, but it was getting hot in the building.
"Girls, I think I'm gonna take a walk outside and get a breath of fresh air. It's a little warm in here."
Storm looked at me, "Lashana, is that really a good idea? Maybe you should get Austin to go with you."
I looked over and he was deeply embroiled in a game of pool against Jesse James, and I didn't want to spoil his fun, "Naw, Storm, I'll be fine. I'm just going out the front door. If there's a problem I'll let you all know." With that I got up and headed out the door.
I had been sitting on the bench in front of the bar for about 10 minutes when I felt strong arms wrapping around me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Austin, smiling down at me. "I was wondering where you went to. I turned around in the middle of my game and you were gone. You had me worried there for a minute."
"I'm sorry honey, it was just getting a little warm in there and I needed some fresh air. You looked like you were having so much fun, I didn't want to disturb you."
He picked me up and settled me on his lap, and pulled me against his chest. He buried his face in my hair and breathed deeply. "Mmmm, you always smell so good."
I laughed, "that's my hairspray your smelling honey."
"I don't care what it is, it smells unbelievable. Do me a favor, don't ever disappear on me like that again. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."
I put my head on his shoulder, tucked in against the crook of his neck and smiled, "Nothing is going to happen to me, but I'm glad to know you missed me."
The door to the bar opened and Jesse poked his head out. "Man you gonna stay out there all night and flirt with your girl or you gonna come in here and let the D-O-double G teach you how we play pool in the Dawg House?"
I looked at him and shook my head, "Jesse, you find you a partner, cause me and my man are gonna kick your little puppy dog tail all over that pool table." Austin laughed and shrugged at Jesse. "You heard her man, go get one of them girls in there to play, lets have some fun."
We spent the rest of the night playing pool. Each of the girls taking turns teaming up with one of the guys. I was drinking draft beer, and my glass seemed to be bottomless. It was nearing two in the morning when I walked over to Austin, and stood between his knees. He put his hands on my hips and smiled at me. I leaned down and placed a little kiss on his cheek and whispered in his ear, "Baby, didn't you promise me dessert." Then I kissed him, shocking him all the way to his toes.
He pulled back and looked at me. "Lashana, are you drunk?"
"Well, my teeth are a little numb, but I'm ok. I would like another beer though." I reached for my still full glass and smiled. "I really like this glass," I leaned over and whispered in his ear, "I think its magical."
He chuckled, "Why's that darlin?"
"Cause it's always full..." Right about that time, my favorite slow song came on the juke box and I put the beer down on the table. "Come dance with me baby." I took his hand and dragged him out onto the dance floor. He was laughing the whole way. He put his arms around me, and held me close. I put my head on his chest and closed my eyes. It felt so good to be held in his strong arms and I felt completely safe and secure.
I opened my eyes and leaned back to look at him, unfortunately I did it just a little too fast and the room started to spin. I lost my balance and would have fallen straight on my tail if Austin hadn't been holding me up. He pulled me against him and laughed, "woah there, doll, I think we need to have a seat."
"Don't call me that!" He felt me tense up against him, stopped cold and looked at me.
"Don't call you what? What's the matter."
"Don't call me doll, Scotty used to call me that. I don't like him, he was mean to me." Austin looked a little puzzled. I had never told him about Scotty. "What do you mean, he was mean to you."
"I don't want to talk about him, he's not nice. You, however," I put my nose to his, "are very, very nice." I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. He laughed and picked me up. "Ok, honey. I think its time I took you home."
"Mmmm, that's a good idea. Home is a good place to be. Let me just say g'night to everyone." He put me down, then steadied me on my feet. I walked over to where Jakx and Taker were sitting and put one arm around each of their shoulders. "Austin's takin me home, he thinks im drunk."
"He's wrong, Lashana, your not drunk, your blitzed! How much did you have to drink?"
"I dunno Kaney-waney! My glass was magical and just kep fillin isself up!"
Storm struggled to suppress a giggle, "Oh, goddess Lashana, you're gonna pay for this one in the morning."
I started to walk to where DX was standing with Leah to say good bye and stumbled slightly. Triple H and Billy Gunn reached out to steady me, and I ended up knocking all three of us to the floor. Leah and Austin saw the fray and were laughing so hard they were nearly in tears. He walked over to the pile up on the floor, reached down and scooped me up in his arms. I was giggling, and wrapped my arms around his neck. Leah went to help Triple H up and Taker gave Billy a hand while everybody else was laughing, watching the fiasco.
Taker looked at Austin, "Hey man, you gonna be able to handle her o.k.?"
Austin grinned, "Yeah, I think I can handle it. I'll leave the door open for you, stay and enjoy yourselves."
He carried me out the door, and on the way to the truck, I started nibbling on his ear. He growled at me and told me to behave myself. I chuckled and whispered in his ear, "baby, I don't know how to tell you this, but I think I might have had just a teensy weensy bit too much ta drink t'night."
I felt the rumbling laugh in his chest, "Ya think so, huh? Well, you just relax, we'll get you home and in bed safe and sound."
"Okey dokey." I put my head down on his shoulder and started nibbling again, placing little tiny kissed down his neck. "Woman, you best behave. You are entirely too drunk to finish anything you start tonight." He set my feet on the ground next to the truck, helped me stay upright while he unlocked the door , picked me up and set me in the truck.
I leaned my head back on the seat while he walked around and got in the other side. Once he was in and set, I lay my head down in his lap and was out cold before we left the parking lot.
We pulled up in the drive way of his house and when he started moving me to get out of the truck I woke up. "Mmmm, we're home."
"Yeah, baby, we're home. You just cuddle up here and I'll get you in bed."
"Your bed or mine?" Then I giggled at my own, unintended joke.
He shook his head and started in the house, up the stairs and walked past the room I had been using and straight into his own. He plopped me down in the middle of his huge, california king size bed and headed back out the door. I, in my drunken state, assumed he was leaving me there all by my self, and pulled my knees up under my chin and started crying. He came back moments later, carrying my robe and slippers and saw the tears.
He dropped the stuff he was carrying in the chair in the corner and sat on the bed, pulling me into his arms. "Lashana? What's the matter honey."
"I thought you were gonna make me sleep in here all by myself. I don't wanna sleep alone, I wanna sleep with you." He shook his head again, and smiled. "Baby, there is now way on the face of the earth that I would ever leave you here alone."
I perked up and smiled, "Really, honey, promise?"
"Yeah, I promise. Now, lets get you out of these clothes and into the bed." He sat me on the side of the bed and pulled off my boots, undid my jeans and pulled them off me. He tucked me under the covers and then went to the bathroom to wash up. He crawled into bed, thinking I was asleep, and pulled me into his arms. I turned over in his arms, and started kissing his neck and throat. He pulled back and looked at me.
"Lashana, baby, I thought you were asleep."
"Nope, I believe I was promised dessert. And I'm not sleepin till I get my dessert." My hands had been roaming his body during this time and he finally groaned and surrendered to my demands.
************
I reached out for Austin in my sleep and realized he was no longer in bed. When I opened my eyes, the sun blinded me coming in the window in his bedroom. I groaned, turned over and pulled the blanket over my eyes. Austin chuckled and crawled into the bed next to me and pulled the blankets back down.
"Mornin baby, how are you feeling this morning?"
I peaked at him through half closed eyes and grumbled, "I feel like he*l. Somebody turn the da*n sun off, it's killin me."
He laughed, and I groaned at the sound. He slid off the edge of the bed and pulled the blinds on the window to block the sun and curled up next to me. I opened my eyes, and put my hands on my head. "Oh, jeez. Now I remember why I don't get blitzed very often."
I noticed he was wearing his jeans, "How long have you been up, anyway?"
"Just a little while. You looked so peaceful sleeping there, I didn't want to wake you up. Are you hungry?"
I groaned, the mere mention of food making me nauseous. "How bout some orange juice. I don't think eating something right now would be a good idea."
He chuckled, "One orange juice, coming right up."
He headed out the door and down to the kitchen, and I lay back down, pulling the covers back over my head. I knew this was going to be a very long day. We had to be at the arena at 3:30, and I had noticed that it was already going on 12:00N when I woke up. I heard Steve whistling as he headed back up the stairs, and he came in and chuckled at the position I was in on the bed, covered from head to toe.
He pulled back the blanket and I peaked at him. He held up a bottle of ibuprofen and a large glass of orange juice.
"Oh, my knight in shining armor. The all mighty ibuprofen to the rescue." I popped two of the little pills and drank some of the orange juice. I was seriously regretting that 'magical' glass the night before. Steve climbed in bed next to me and pulled me against him. I snuggled down and sighed.
"Baby, I need to ask you about something."
I looked up at Austin, curious at the serious tone in his voice, "What is it?"
"Well, last night, while we were dancing, do you remember what you said?"
"You mean after you called me doll?" I knew what was coming, and I cursed my big mouth. I really wasn't' sure what I was going to tell him.
"Yeah, you said something about some guy named Scotty being mean to you. Tell me what you were talking about, please."
I took a deep breath, and looked at him. It was truly amazing to me how much I had grown to love him in such a short amount of time. "Scotty is a long story, and I'm not really sure where to start."
"Just start at the beginning. Who was he?"
"Up until I met you, I thought he was the man I was going to spend my life with. We had been together for quite a whileand probably would have been engaged within the year if this stuff with Kane and Taker hadn't come up. I thought he was sweet and kind and loved me unconditionally."
"You thought? What changed your mind?" I could tell he was thrown a little by what I had told him. No man wants to believe that he is not the first love in a woman's life, but he wanted to hear the rest of the story.
"Well, he broke one of my three golden rules of relationships the last time I saw him."
"Three golden rules? What are they?"
"Don't lie, don't cheat and don't hit. Plain and simple, if any of these are broken, that's it, no second chances." I felt his arms tighten around me and I knew what was coming.
"Which one did he break? Or do I really need to ask?"
I sighed and looked at him, "He tried to hit me, and probably would have if Taker had not been there to stop him."
"That Sonofabi*ch. If I ever get my hands on him I'll kill him. What exactly happened." I relayed the story to him and by the time I had finished he had worked himself up into a frenzy.
"Honey, look. It's over now and I have no intention of seeing him again, so there is no point in getting yourself all worked up." I looked at him and smiled. "Besides which, you fussin and yellin is not doing my headache any good."
He kissed me and squeezed me tight. "Lashana, I want you to look at me."
I looked up at him and saw the serious look on his face. "What's the matter baby?"
He grinned. "Nothings the matter. I just want to make sure you believe me when I tell you this. There is no way, under any circumstances that I would EVER do anything to hurt you. I love you more than life itself and will do what ever I have to do to make sure that you are safe and happy for the rest of your life."
I looked at him, and felt the tears welling up in my eyes. Never had anyone ever said anything like that to me, and I finally knew what it was like to be truly and unconditionally loved. "I love you too. I don't think I ever truly knew what love was until I met you." He leaned over and kissed me, quickly and lightly. When he pulled back, he winked and me and smiled.
"All right babe, you need to get your tail up out of this bed and into the shower. We have about an hour and a half before we have to leave to head to the stadium."
I groaned, and he laughed. I slid out of the bed and very slowly made my way to the bathroom for a hot shower. My head was pounding, and I knew that I would suffer for the rest of the evening, thanks to my overindulgence the previous night. "Oh well, you played, now you get to pay."
************
Austin and I headed downstairs, and could hear the other couples waiting in the living room. They looked up as we entered the room and Taker laughed when he saw the sunglasses I was wearing.
"What's the matter Lashana, a little too bright in here for you?" Everyone in the room laughed and I cringed at the sound.
"Oh, that's very funny, Taker. Ya know, that glass wasn't really magical last night, which means that ON of YOU had to have been filling it up all night….so who DO I have to thank for this hangover???"
They all looked at each other and it was obvious that they were covering for someone. "All right, spit it out…who was it?"
Austin found the entire situation comical, and when I heard him laugh, I turned and looked at him. He looked a little too guilty for me to believe he was innocent. "Oh, you didn't…" He could no longer contain himself and busted out laughing.
"I'm sorry baby, but you were having so much fun, and you looked so cute when you told me that the glass was magical." I could tell looking at him that he was not in the least bit sorry, but he looked so cute trying to convince me that I couldn't help but laugh. That, of course, I regretted almost immediately.
"You gonna make it today, Lashana?" I looked at Kane and grimaced. "That really echo's in my head when I'm hung over…can't you whisper or something when you do that? I guess I don't really have much of a choice but to make it today…since the love of my life needs me to make sure he is where he needs to be, when he needs to be there."
We all piled into the vehicles and headed to the arena. We got settled in our dressing rooms and were sitting around, chatting about the upcoming matches, when my pendant started to glow. I put my hand over it and looked at Kane.
"Kane, Taker, He's here somewhere. I thought he wasn't scheduled to wrestle until Thursday night in Arizona. Why is he here?"
Austin looked over , noticed the pendant's glow and wrapped his arms around me. "Lashana, what's going on? Is that fang-toothed SOB here?"
"Yea, he's here somewhere. Although from the schedules I've seen he's not supposed to be on till Thursday. My guess is he's here to start trouble."
Jakx looked at me, "So, what do we do about it?"
Taker looked at me, "We wait and watch and see when he makes his move. He knows he's outnumbered, so he won't try anything directly. Everyone needs to watch they're backs. Especially Austin…he saw you two together the other night."
I looked at Austin, concern written on my face. "Lashana, that little night crawler is not going to mess with me. He knows full well and good that I will stomp him into tomorrow."
"Austin, you forget. You are not dealing with just any other wrestler. Gangrel has similar abilities to mine, and I don't like the idea of him running around here not knowing where or when he's going to pop up. Just promise me you'll watch your back tonight?"
"I promise. You just need to relax and take care of yourself, I don't want to have to worry about you getting jumped while I'm in the ring." He looked at Kane and Taker, "She's the one that Gangrel is here for, so I think it would be a good idea for someone to be with her at all times. He's not as likely to attack her if she's not along."
Kane tilted his head to the side and looked at Austin, then nodded his head once in agreement. The show had started, and we all turned to watch through monitors in the room.