Into The Deep End - A Roman Reigns Story

58

Girl, I never thought that lovin' you would hurt
(I did everything a good man would to make it work)
Girl, you should have told me you had second thoughts
(Like before I put the down on the house we bought)

Now I'm thinkin' you and me was a mistake
(But then it hits me and I'm missin' all the love we made)
Girl, I know that we've been goin' through some things, yeah
(But the sun is always shinin' even when it rains)

"...Yeah, it's gonna be fun. Bring your family, bring your friends...it'll be great cuz you never know what to expect in a live WWE show...alright, good...thanks buddy, appreciate it. Take care."

Patricia walked into Alma's living room, listening to Joe rounding up his phone interview. She didn't need to see his face to know the perkiness in his voice was fabricated, like he was doing something he didn't really want to do. The tired sigh he breathed out as he dropped his phone on the glass table in front of him and covered his eyes confirmed what she already knew. Her son was miserable, and he'd been this way for the past three days. He hadn't told her anything, and at first she thought it was due to the whole Missy-Andrea crap going on, but she soon deduced that there were now problems between him and Sasha. From the abrupt changes of subject whenever she was brought up, to his constantly running to Alma's house under the guise of visiting his father, and his reluctance to return home afterwards. She thought about leaving him alone to work it out for himself but evidently he wasn't doing too well, so it was time for Mama to come to his rescue.

She took a seat next to him on the couch, returning the smile he gave her when he looked up. A smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "You know, countless number of days on the road," she began, choosing to speak in her husband's native Samoan language. For some unexplained reason, the family as a whole communicated better and more freely when they were not speaking English. "All the non-stop traveling and being gone from home for so long, the court case going on...you think you'd wanna be home, spending time with your girlfriend."

Joe avoided his mother's inquisitive gaze and did his best not to sigh out loud. She'd been giving him that look for days now, and so far he'd ignored her. He wasn't in the mood to be lectured; he sure as hell didn't want to hear her say she told him so. "What? I can't spend time with my parents and my sister and nephews?" he asked, addressing his mother in Samoan as well.

"Come on Leati. We both know this has nothing to do with any of us," Patricia answered calmly. "Not Alma, not Matai or Jake or their dad. This is about Sasha and whatever's going on between you two. You're avoiding her, which is very strange, because you always want to be with her. You're always talking about her. And now all of a sudden, silence. Not a single word. And me or Alma gotta physically push you outta this house every day so you can go home. It's weird. It's obvious that something's up. So come on, tell your Mama what's going on."

"And your Daddy too." Both Patricia and Joe turned in their seats to see Sika hobbling into the living room on his new cane. Joe jumped up and quickly walked over to him. "Pop! You should be in bed," he scolded.

Sika snorted, shrugging away Joe's attempts to assist him. "If I spend one more minute in that bed I'll tear out my own hair and eat it," he answered shortly, brushing past his youngest child to settle down in the recliner next to his wife. "Besides, I've been meaning to talk to you. And since your mother's brought it up, now's as good a time as any. Now you know I don't mind spending quality time with my kids and grandkids and all, especially you since you're so busy these days. I may be an old man but even I know when I'm being used as a distraction. So how about you do as your mother says and tell us what's going on with you and Sasha. Did you two get in a fight?"

Joe returned to his place on the couch, clasping his hands together in his lap and keeping his eyes lowered, feeling both his parents' gazes on him. Now that they had goaded him into it, he knew they wouldn't budge until he talked about it and got it all out of his system. Taking his time, he told them about the incident with Sasha earlier in the week, from the results of the pregnancy test to her reaction and their fight, laying it all out on the table. As always, they listened to him without saying a word, allowing him to vent. He'd hoped he would feel somewhat better by the time he finished but was not surprised when he did not. The heated words he and Sasha had exchanged buzzed around in his head for the last few days, leaving him wondering what had gone wrong between them. He'd thought they were stronger than this. He'd thought they were on the same page, that they'd successfully tackled their problems and smoothed out the creases. Clearly he was wrong. It was bad enough that his manipulative ex-girlfriend was forcing him to defend his reputation. His current relationship was now on the rocks and it was more than he could handle.