August 1, 2017
St. Catherine's
Pittsburg, PA
My leg is shaking in the front seat so badly while we drive to the church.
"Babe calm down. We're gonna do fine." I groan.
"I know. But I just want things to go right."
"They will." He takes my hand. "They will. We are good parents." I sigh and nod. We pull into the parking lot and go inside the church. "We're here to see Sister Robinson?"
"Yes. She's expecting you. Right this way." she leads us to an office and knocks on the door.
"Come in." the voice behind the door says. The lady opens it. "Mr. and Mrs. Anoa'i?" we nod. "Come in, come in and have a seat." We do as she says and the door closes behind us. "I'm very glad the both of you decided to do this."
"We wouldn't miss this." Joe says.
"I'm just going to get right to it. Here at St. Catherine's we always want to make sure that we place our children in the best homes with the best families. We do the interview like we are doing now, we do a meeting with you and the child and with myself or one of the other nuns observing, we do another meeting with just you and the child alone, background checks and home visits where the child can meet your family." She pulls out a notebook and a pen. "I've already done some checking of my own, but I'd like to hear from the two of you, tell me about yourselves, your families, how did you two meet?"
"We met back in 2010." Joe says. "At a bar. I was just finishing up a match and a friend and I went to grab a drink when I saw her at the end of the bar and fell in love."
"He came over to talk to me and I rejected him 3 different times." Sister Robinson's eyebrows furrow.
"Why?"
"I thought he was one of those guys that just wanted sex and I didn't want that. But when we ended up at the same New Year's party, he plead his case, I agreed to go out with him and the rest is history." She smiles.
"Tell me about your family Joseph."
"I am the youngest of 5, I have three sisters and 1 brother, who just recently passed away."
"I read about that. I'm sorry for your loss. And your parents?"
"Both still alive, they divorced when I was young."
"And you Malaika?"
"I am the youngest of three. I have an older brother and sister. My parents are divorced as well but they are in the process of getting back together."
"Good, good." She jots some notes down. "And your family life together?"
"Together we have a daughter, Anjali she's one year old and I have a 9 year old daughter Joelle from a previous relationship."
"And both you and Joelle's mother get along Malaika?"
"We hit a rough patch—"
"I cheated." Joe says bluntly. "On Malaika with Joelle's mother, Galina." I'm literally not breathing.
"I see..."
"We were separated for a little bit." I say.
"But I didn't accept divorce as an option." Joe continued.
"So we decided to work things out." I'm not telling her about the Colby thing. "I forgave Galina to start off the New Year right and we are very civil with each other. She is a big help while we're on the road." She continues to ask questions about our marriage, she looks deeper into our families so I had to bring up my sister's issues, she asked about our work schedules and I told her about the deal Joe and I have about having a baby and me quitting and staying home.
"I think I have everything I need now. The next step would be to plan a visit for you to spend some time with Mark while being observed and we will take things from there." She closes her notebook. "I'm liking what I'm hearing and the two of you sound like a beautiful couple. I am very pleased." I take a sigh of relief. "When is best for the two of you to come here to see Mark?" Joe pulls out his phone to check our schedule.
"We can do next Wednesday." Joe says. "Because after that, we're busy for the next three weeks because of SummerSlam." She checks her calendar.
"Next Wednesday is good. I will call the hospital and then I will get you a time to give you enough time to buy plane tickets and get your other affairs in order."
"Thank you." I say. We say our goodbyes and leave the church to go back to the hotel and go home tomorrow.
"That went well." Joe says in the hotel room.
"Yeah..."
"What's wrong babe?" I sigh.
"We're so busy these next couple of months... Between No Mercy, Survivor Series, TLC and 2 Europe tours, we may not get him this year."
"Why are you rushing it Laika?" I sigh. "I know you want this, I do too but we can't rush it. We waited for God to give him to us and now he's here. We don't want to rush what He has planned."
"Ok baby." He kisses my head. "Now about my birthday gift..." he chuckles.
"I already called and made the arrangements. As soon as we get to Florida tomorrow we're going straight over."
"I'm excited."
X
August 2, 2017
Tampa, FL
We touch down in Florida and drop our bags off at home
"Let's go." Joe says. "We'll take your car." We leave the house and get in my car. "I need you to put this over your eyes." He hands me a blindfold.
"Ok... I guess." I take the blindfold and cover my eyes. We drive along for about another 15 minutes before he completely stops.
"I'll come get you." I hear his door open and close and then my door opens. "Give me your hand." I put out my hand and he takes it and helps me out the car. He closes my door and helps me walk a couple feet. "Almost there... And stop. You can take off your blindfold in 1... 2... 3!" I take off the blindfold and we're standing in a car lot and there's an SUV in front of me.
(A/N: Just imagine this last picture with all black chairs)
"NO MY GOSH YOU DIDN'T! Baby!"
"Happy birthday baby." Joe says.
"You got me a Mercedes!" he nods in content. "I've wanted one for so long!"
"I know. And I got one that seats 7. With all the kids we have coming our way, they won't all fit in my Range Rover."
"It's beautiful and it's blue! It's so pretty I don't wanna touch it."
"I'm glad you like it."
"Like it? Baby, I love it." I move up closer to my husband. "Anjali and Boo are with my parents, we have an empty house... and you bought me a new car for my birthday..."
"And this means?"
"This means that when we get home we're gonna do things that you only see in pornos. I'm gonna do things with my body that will make you drool. By the end of the day, we're gonna need a new mattress because we're going to bury each other in the one we have." I can feel my husband getting harder and harder the more I speak.
"Uh—I—uh h—have to um go sign some—uh papers a—and then we can—um head home." He rushes inside the car dealership, leaving me to marvel at my new car.
~
"Holy shit babe... a move your leg to the left a little... yep right there... Just a little more—fuck, fuck, fuck!"
"You good fam?" I say breathlessly and he nods. I untangle myself and lay down next to him.
"Goddamn baby. I think I have a cramp." I laugh, out of breath. "I think I need a water break..." he groans and rolls to his side, facing me. "It was like a game of Twister in here. The handstand was beautiful... and your legs on the headboard was a work of art."
"Thanks babe. Seriously. Thank you so much. But you can calm it down on the gifts for a while, you're spoiling me too much."
"But that's what good husbands do. They spoil their wives."
"I know but that's enough spoiling for now. I'll be happy with a gift card and some flowers next year."
"You sure?" he asks. I nod.
"I'm sure my love. We gotta save money for all our kids." I say. My husband sighs.
"Yeah... all of them..."
"Having second thoughts?" I ask.
"God no. I'm just... I don't know. I'm excited but scared to death at the same time."
"Me too. But Anjali is just fine so we can't be that bad."
"I'm not scared of the actual child, just me getting too overwhelmed." I furrow my eyebrows.
"Why would you get overwhelmed?" he looks at the ceiling and pauses.
"I want to have a big family but I'm afraid about not being able to support them. To support you when you step down. I'm afraid about being away all the time that the kids will resent me from being away, I'm afraid of Joelle feeling like I'm giving more love and attention to the other kids just because she doesn't live in our house."
"Wow, babe that's a lot."
"Yeah. A lot goes on in here." He points to his head.
"I know you're the man of the house and all, but you don't have to always worry about being the sole source of income. I have a college degree as well and I could get a job someplace else to keep us up."
"Yeah, I guess."
"And being away from us, the kids won't resent you. You don't see how happy Joelle and Anjali get when they see you on TV. The smile that spreads across their faces is a beautiful thing. Anjali understands that you can't be here all the time and if she didn't like it, she wouldn't hold her tongue or her expressions." He chuckles. "But with Joelle, that's something that you'll have to talk to her about. But I know she would love having more younger siblings."
"But—"
"No more buts." I turn him towards me. "We'll work this out. These issues are NOTHING compared to what we went through earlier this year."
"You're right." He takes a deep breath. "We are strong."
"Yes!"
"We are great!"
"Hell yeah!"
"And we can do this. We are Anoa'is and we can do anything."
"You damn right we can!"
"Like go another round." I do a double take. "Oh come on, you know you want to..."
"The handstand?"
"The handstand."
X
August 18, 2017
New York
The interview with Mark at the hospital went amazing. And we wanted to see Mark one more time before the craziness at our job starts so she let us bring Mark to Summerslam weekend so he can meet the girls.
We found out so much about him. His favorite color is blue, he loves music, cheese and pizza He loves Disney movies and he loves WWE of course. He's been watching it since he came into the hospital and he's been hooked ever since. And... I'm rambling and I need to stop.
Joe, Joelle, Anjali and myself land at the airport and we're waiting for Sister Robinson and Mark. This will be the first time the girls are meeting him and I really hope it goes well, especially with Anjali. She will let him know if she doesn't like him right away.
I check my phone for the time.
"You're worrying." Joe says.
"Am not."
"They will be here. Just don't worry and be patient." He looks up. "See? There they are." He points and I see them walking towards us, looking for us. Joe and I raise our arms to get their attention. Mark sees us and comes running over with his bag.
"You made it." I say pulling him into a hug. We greet Sister Robinson and now comes the moment of truth. "Mark this is Joelle..."
"Hi." He says happily. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too." she smiles. "They talk about you a lot. I feel like I know you already."
"We don't talk that much..." Joe says.
"Yeah. Ok dad. Sure."
"And this is Anjali." Joe puts Anjali on the chair. "Anjali can you say hi to Mark?" Anjali stares at him for a few seconds before she grabs his hand and holds it and breaks into a smile. "Thank God." I say under my breath. The 6 of us get into the rental car and head over to the hotel. We all check in and go into our rooms. Sister Robinson and Mark are a floor below us.
"What time is the show?" Joe asks me.
"8. So I was thinking we rest for a bit and then eat at the Hard Rock Café and then walk over to the theatre."
"How far is it?"
"About a 7 minute walk." I look over at Anjali who's sleeping on the bed with Joelle. "I hope Anjali can make it through the show."
"She's a good girl. She'll be fine. As long as she's occupied. And she doesn't get scared easily. She's very strong."
~
We just picked Mark up and we're in the taxi on our way to the restaurant. When we find someplace to get seated, Joe puts the highchair next to him for Anjali and I sit down next to Mark. Anjali get mad and damn near pushes me out of my seat.
"What?" I ask her.
"I sit there." She points at my seat.
"You want to sit next to Mark?" she nods. "Why didn't you just say that? You didn't have to push me."
"Sorry mommy. I sit wif Mark." I move my chair over and Joe pulls the highchair next to Mark. We order our food and sit and eat, having a good time before we go walk to the theatre to see Cats.
"Joe is doing a signing session tomorrow so we can come back here and do some shopping. How does that sound?" I ask Mark.
"That sounds great! Can we go to the Disney Store?"
"Of course. I need another stuffed animal anyway."
~
Mark absolutely loved the show. I kept looking at him the whole time and his eyes were lit up. He was literally at the edge of his seat. After the show, we hit the merch table. I got a shirt, Joelle wanted a shirt and a headband with cat ears on it, Mark got a shirt and Anjali wanted the cat stuffed animal.
"That was so awesome!" Mark says in the cab on the way back to the hotel. "The music and the singing and the dancing! I loved it all!" I smile.
"I'm glad you liked it."
"I think that's what I want to do. I want to be on Broadway."
"Really?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Yeah. I love wrestling but that's not for me. I love music and that was a really great show. I want to see more."
"Well hopefully one day we can do that because I love theatre too."
"What was the first one you saw?" he asks me.
"Annie. It's about an orphan who gets adopted by a billionaire."
"Oh. That's like me!"
"Well we're not billionaires." I chuckle. "But yeah... in a way."
"I'd like to see that one too." he says with a smile.
X
August 20, 2017
Summerslam
Brooklyn, NY
Tonight is the great Summerslam. Mark has been having a ball this weekend. Being with all the Superstars, seeing what life is like backstage, he's really loving it. Joelle is helping with Carmella's makeup while I'm getting mine done and Mark and Anjali are playing with toys. I'm not staying out with Joe during his match unlike Paul. I'm just walking him out there and coming right back so I don't have a lot of makeup on tonight. Anjali is really enjoying Mark's company. It would have really sucked if Anjali didn't like him.
"You ok Mark?" I ask him. He looks at me, smiles and nods.
"Hey baby." Joe comes over as Lindy does my eye shadow. I open the eye that's not being worked on and look at my husband.
"Hey babes."
"I'm heading over to catering. Want me to take the kids?" he asks.
"Sure."
"Come on kids." He picks up the toys, puts them in the bag and puts it near me. "Let's go get some food." He picks up Anjali and takes Mark's hand. "You want anything babe?"
"I'll get something when I'm done."
"JoJo?"
"I'll get food with Laika." She says. I watch the three of them leave.
"Who's the kid?" Lindy whispers.
"A possible adoption."
"Seriously? How—What?"
"We found him at the Children's Hospital and it just went from there."
"That's great! I hope you get him. He's a nice kid. If you need a reference or something, just let me know. And I'll keep this between us."
"Thank you.
Joe's POV:
I'm watching Mark and Anjali eat their food. Mark is such a great freaking kid. I don't want to lose him.
"This food is good." Mark says as he eats. "Any food is better than hospital food." I chuckle.
"That's true. I hate hospital food."
"When did you go to the hospital?"
"A couple years ago. I had to have surgery. I was only in there for a couple days, but I hated the food. I can't imagine eating it as long as you have."
"You kind of get used to it. It's not all bad. But something's are the worst." Anjali taps Mark on his arm.
"Fruit?" She slides her bowl of fruit towards him. He smiles and takes a piece of pineapple.
"Thanks." He says.
~
Malaika's POV:
After I get my hair and makeup done, Joelle and I go to catering.
"What do you think of Mark?" I ask Joelle.
"He's a cool kid. I like him a lot."
"I'm glad."
"You really want him don't you?" She asks me. I nod. "He'll fit right into the family."
"I just pray nothing happens and we won't get him."
"You will. You worry too much."
"You sound like your father."
~
Seth and Dean towel themselves after an interview after becoming the new Tag Team Champions and of course we're all waiting for them to congratulate them.
"GROUP PICTURE!" I say. Nia is standing by to take the picture. Dean takes Anjali and has Renee by his side, Seth takes Joelle, the twins hold up their title with Trin and Joe and I are on opposite sides of the group. "Come on Mark. Get in the picture."
"No. Um, that's ok. It's a family picture." He says.
"How about the next picture ok?" he nods and stands next to Nia. We all fix ourselves and get ready to take the picture.
"Ok." Nia says. 1, 2, 3!" We all smile and she takes the picture.
"Mark go with Joe. The men have the babies today." Mark runs over and jumps into Joe's arms. We take one good one and one crazy one before Nia hands me back my phone.
"Dee is Champion." Anjali says.
"Are you happy for Dean?" I ask her and she nods furiously and wraps her arms around his neck.
"How's it going with Mark?"
"It looks so far so good. But it all depends on what the nuns think." We look over at him interacting happily with the twins. "I don't want to put my heart in it too much... but he's such a cool kid."
"Don't worry. You'll get him." he assures me.
"I hope so. I really do..."
X
August 28, 2017
Monday Night Raw
Memphis, TN
Joe and John are shooting off a really kick ass promo for their No Mercy contract signing. It is going SUPER well until Cena crosses the line... and this is how it happened...
Author's POV:
Malaika is shooting off at John about how great Joe is and how his relationship with Nikki is nothing compared to hers and Joe's, how Joe is a better man than John. And then John says the unforgivable.
"You know it's funny how your husband called me a fake ass bitch when you two are actually the fake ones. You talk all this trash about how great he is, but if I remember correctly, weren't you the one that was going to divorce him?" Malaika can feel the anger boil up inside her like a volcano.
"What did you say?" she seethes into the mic. Cena realized that as soon as he said it, he made a mistake. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" She throws her mic to the side and lunges herself at Cena, kicking and screaming, but Joe is holding her back. "You son of a bitch! Let me go! You stupid son of a bitch!"
"Let them fight! Let them fight!" the crowd chants.
"Not out here." Joe whispers in her ear. Malaika composes herself but she's still mad as fuck. She's shaking.
~
Malaika's POV:
The tag team match is over and Joe and I are going backstage.
"Malaika..." Dogg says. I immediately raise my hand to stop him.
"Please. Don't."
"Laika..." Dean begins.
"Please. I need a minute." I rush to the women's bathroom, shut the door and lock it. I take a deep sigh before crouching down and crying. Just when I thought we were past this. And now it's happening all over again. The whole fucking world knows that we had issues. Clearly big issues if we were going to get a divorce. And people are going to keep digging until they find out. And if they do find out... that's gonna be bad. If they don't hate him now, they'll hate him if it gets out.
There's a knock on the door.
"Malaika?" I get up and wipe my eyes.
"Yeah, Renee?"
"Mark says that Steph wants to talk to you." Shit. I get myself together, unlock the door and open it.
"Thanks Renee." She smiles and leaves Mark and I. "Are they mad?"
"Not at you."
"Thank God." He hands me his phone. "Hey Steph."
"I'm so sorry about this."
"It's not your fault."
"How are you?"
"Still seething." I sigh. "I—I can't do this Steph. I can't even look at him right now. It just makes me want to repeat what happened at Battleground." I sigh. "I can't believe this is happening."
"I think you should take some time off."
"Like what? A leave of absence?"
"Yes."
"For how long?" I ask.
"Until No Mercy." I think about it.
"I'll do it. I'll take the time off. Thank you."
"You and Joe stay strong." She hangs up and I hand the phone back to Mark.
"Well?" he asks.
"Leave of absence until No Mercy."
"And you're ok with that?" I nod.
"It's what's best."
"Hang in there." He assures me. I go to the locker room and check my phone.
10 missed calls: Trin
7 missed calls: Queen Charlotte
5 missed calls: Sohan
4 missed calls: Galina
iMessage:
Trinity:
10:12 THAT SON OF A BITCH
10:12 HE'S DEAD!
10:13 HE'S GONNA FEEL THIS GLOW WHEN I PUT MY FOOT IN HIS ASS!
10:14 NIKKI IS LUCKY SHE'S NOT HERE OR ELSE SHE'LL GET AN EAR FULL!!
10:15 I'm so sorry sweetie. Please call me.
10:17 I just want to know that you're ok.
10:18 Well obviously you're not ok. I know you're pissed.
10:19 Just please call me back.
The door to the locker room opens and Renee is standing there.
"Please call Trinity. She's killing me." I chuckle and dial her number.
"Renee?" she turns around. "Please stay." She smiles and walks further into the room.
"Thank God!" Trinity says. "I'm here with Charlotte."
"What the hell is going on?" Char asks.
"I don't even know." I say shaking my head.
"Who's with you?" Trinity asks.
"Renee." Renee says. "Colby and Dean are with Joe."
"The twins are calling him now." Trinity says. "We're so sorry about this." I mentally roll my eyes.
"Have you heard from Nikki?" Charlotte asks.
"No." I say. "She's staying quiet. How the fuck does something like this happen? Why was that even on his mind in the first place?"
"He gets caught in the moment." Renee says. "But he took it too far."
"My parents haven't even called yet. That's how I know they're pissed." I run my fingers through my hair. "What if the orphanage watched that? I swear if I lose my kid over this petty bullshit I'm gonna beat his ass."
"They wouldn't take him away over something small like this." Charlotte says. "That's on John. Not you guys."
"So what are you doing now?" Trinity asks.
"I am taking a leave of absence until No Mercy. It was Steph's idea. I need it. I can't stand to be anywhere near him right now. I need a couple weeks."
"Well no matter what, we love you." Trinity says.
"Yeah. We really do." Charlotte agrees.
"Thanks guys. I love you too." we say our goodbyes and hang up. Renee and I gather our things together in the locker room and open the door to see Joe, Colby and Dean standing there.
"You ready?" Joe asks me and I nod.
"How are you not mad?" I ask my husband.
"Oh I'm mad. I'm just controlling my anger. Because I know if I let it get out, it would be bad. For all of us. And besides you're expressing enough anger for both of us." he kisses my head. "We'll get through this, just like we always do."
"Malaika..." Cena says, I hear his voice and all that anger floods back again.
"What?!" I shoot around. "What could you possibly say that could make up for what you just did? The answer is nothing. There is nothing you could say. You don't know how to draw the line. You get caught up in the moment, and you don't know how to draw the line. Get your head out of your goddamn ass and out of the moment, because what you just did was ridiculous. We were past this shit and now it's back and all over national TV. Joelle is going back to school and this is the shit she has to hear now thanks to you. So thank you. Thank you for putting a hurtle in my marriage and in my family."
"I didn't mean to—"
"Oh fuck you. Fuck you." I get closer to him. "You're done with this family." I say in a low tone. "You're done."
X
Holy. Shit.
Alrighty readers my senior year of college starts tomorrow so the chapters will probably start coming out every Raw PPV or so.
I went to the Raw after Summerslam and it was AMAZING, I loved every minute of it. And I know that people were very butt hurt about the whole beach ball thing but you had to be there. It was so funny to watch how long the beach ball would stay around before someone took it.
Say what you want about it, but I liked it.
I was thinking about putting Malaika in the Championship picture but I'm not exactly sure. I have a lot planned for this book and I'm trying to get through as much as I can. When I graduate college, and I have to start looking for a job, I'm not sure if I will be able to be on Wattpad as much. But I love to write so I do hope so.
Malaika and Joe are getting closer to having a chance at getting Mark and I am so excited.
I knew that Brock wasn't going to lose at SS. They have to keep him around for the drama.
QOTC 1: What do you guys honestly think of Mark?
QOTC 2: Joe's gift for Malaika was A1. Is she right to ask him to tone it down a bit?
QOTC 3: What did you guys think of Cena and Roman's promo? I thought it was great.
I don't know the process of adopting a child in Mark's case so if anyone knows any information, please let me know.
Gifs of the Chapter:
Until next time: Everyone needs to see Cats before it closes and Ben Platt in Dear Even Hansen before he leaves and Sebastian Stan is fine as hell.