Rose & Thorn: Becky/Dean

Chapter 4

Everything was changing. Between the wrestlers who had been released and those who had opted not to renew their contracts, the landscape of the locker rooms could feel almost unrecognizable at times. Then AEW started up and changed things again and wrestling, which had never been the most stable of careers, seemed to grow wilder by the day. People were holding multiple championships across various promotions and countries, and wrestlers who had been underutilized or underappreciated in one company were finding much-deserved success in others.

Becky loved wrestling more than almost anything else in her life and part of her loved the sudden renaissance. It made her position in WWE scary and uncertain, but that was part of the thrill. She had made it to the top once; could she do it again elsewhere if she had to? She hoped she was never forced to find out—if it was her own decision, that was another matter entirely—but the prospect of so many possibilities was exciting. So many of her friends weren't with WWE any longer, but she was delighted to see them thriving elsewhere. The roster shuffles had put a dent in her sex life, though, since Dean—Jon now, back to his indie Moxley moniker—was in AEW, and she hadn't found a replacement partner at Rose & Thorn that quite got her the way he had.

"Hey, Auntie Becks!" Renee, six months pregnant and glowing with happiness, stepped out onto the balcony and hugged Becky. She and Jon had invited a bunch of their closest WWE friends to their place in Las Vegas when an event was held there, and Becky felt awkwardly out of place. Renee was a dear friend and Jon, regardless of their Rose & Thorn past, was a good friend too—but she had the sneaking suspicion that her nights with him at the club might have overlapped with the beginning of his relationship with Renee. It was his responsibility to disclose that, of course, but it didn't make her feel any less guilty. "Want to join me for a virgin cocktail?" Renee made a face as she held up a glass filled with a bright yellow drink. "The guys are all getting into the good stuff, so you can if you want to, of course...."

Becky smiled and hugged her friend, not quite sure what angle to take. Renee had invited her to feel her belly earlier, but she didn't want to assume it was an ongoing offer. "I'll have what you're having," she replied, following Renee back into the kitchen. Jon and his Shield brothers were laughing uproariously in the living room and she heard something about the Bears, so she assumed they were mocking Seth's favourite football team. Everyone else had already left, and Becky was regretting not grabbing a ride back to the hotel with Naomi and Jimmy when she had the chance. "And then I should get a cab so you can get some rest." She gave Renee's bump a tentative pat. "You must be exhausted."

Renee shook her head. "Not too much. Honestly, you guys have been distracting Jon all day, so that helps. He's got that big match coming up in Japan and he's all hyped about it, and it's exhausting." She hooked an arm around Becky's elbow and steered her down the hall, waving at Jon as they went. He gave her a quick nod before continuing his scathing analysis of the Bears. As soon as they got to the nursery, Renee breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't know why I find this room so calming. I mean, we're probably moving to Ohio next year, so I don't know why I bothered putting so much energy into it, but I just feel better that I did something right." Shaking her head, she sat in the rocking chair stationed by the crib. "Do you want kids, Becks?"

"Eventually, yeah." Becky glanced around at the decor and smiled. Everything was soft and adorable and soothing, and it was virtually impossible to stay anxious when surrounded by such cuteness. "I don't know if I want to try while I'm still wrestling or wait until I retire, though. Obviously age is a factor, and I kind of need someone to be the dad," she added with a laugh.

"Don't ever read the parenting books," Renee advised. "They're such bullshit. They'll just make you an insecure mess. It's not worth it." She motioned to a large bean bag chair that Becky assumed was one of Jon's contributions to the room. "Sit. I love it, but I can't heave myself out of it anymore."