"Love"
defnition; an intense feeling of deep affection

***

(A/N; please make sure to read my note at the bottom to prevent any confusion)

SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2020
ORLANDO, FLORIDA

WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
6:30 AM

SASHA

"Damn, where is she?" I questioned as I was sitting in my lunge, stretching as I waited for Pamela. Since the both of us didn't have anything planned today, Pam and I decided to get more practice inside of the ring. Our rivalry came sooner before we knew it; We had been partners in crime for such a long time, I honestly forgot what it was like for her to be my rival. It was going to be weird at first for me, but it was nothing new. I mean--it's WWE, we were always on and off. This time though, we wanted to make it even better, hence the reason why we were here.

It was a quiet day at the performance center. I was the only one there actually, other than a couple of the NXT superstars training to get ready for their show tomorrow. Meanwhile, I was still waiting for Pam. This was unlike her to show up this late, I hope everything was okay.

I got up, stretching out my arms a little bit more and leaned against the ropes. Then, I heard someone say from the door that leads into the offices, "See you on Friday, Joe."

Please tell me it's not the Joe I think it is. I snapped my head to where the voice came from, and there he was. His hair was pulled back into a neat bun, and he was wearing a white tap out shirt with black basketball shorts. It looked like he just left some type of meeting, however it also looked like he had just finished working out. My mouth slightly watered; He looked so hot. The minute he came into the room, I could already feel a drastic change in the temperature.

That, or it was probably just me freaking my own self out over not wanting to make a fool out of myself. It was no doubt that I had strong feelings for him, but I felt so stupid. Why do I keep doing this to myself? I'm married to a man I don't even love, meanwhile I've fallen for one of my best friends that I know I probably would never have a chance with. It hurt like a bitch but that was my reality.

I slowly turned around, pulling my mask back up, hoping he wouldn't notice me. That was until I heard, "Mercedes?"

Shit, don't be nervous. I turned around, walking across the ring to meet him halfway and put my arms on the ropes. I shyly smiled, "Hey, Joe."

"Damn, I barely even recognized you." His eyes slightly widened but then he chuckled right after. He had a faint smile on his face, "Your hair looks beautiful."

I blushed, looking down at the brown strands of hair that were laying on my shoulders. Well, that was probably the reason why he didn't recognize me at first. It didn't matter though.

"Thanks." I smiled more cheekily than I wanted to, not being able to hide it, "What are you doing here?"

"Maybe I'm here to see you." Joe shrugged playfully with a smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes, jokingly waving him off. Damn, if I knew any better, it felt like he was flirting with me. My eyes briefly looked at the other wrestlers in the other rings, and I got an idea.

"Oh really?" I stepped farther back into the ring and put my arms up in a challenging way, "Then come on, let's fight."

Joe blankly started at me in disbelief before he broke out into a laugh, shaking his head. Then, he pointed at himself and looked around a little, "Me?"

"Yeah, come on! I wanted to practice some moves anyway." I jumped up and down, getting my body warmed up. He shrugged, made his way over to the steel steps, "I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into."

"I've wrestled men before, your not any different." I giggled, sliding off my jacket, revealing my blue Nikey top. Joe stretched his arms a little bit, causing the shirt to showcase his abs for two seconds before he stopped.

"We'll see about that," He challenged back with a smirk on his face. Damn, even the smallest things he does can do things to you. Maybe he was right, I had no idea what I just gotten myself into, how did I even have the courage to ask him to wrestle? I couldn't comprehend that at all, but I had to enjoy this. I had to make sure I didn't mess up in front of him.

We circled around the ring a couple times, getting into the groove of things. He looked incredibly sexy when he was in the zone, and I had a hard time focusing on my next move because before I knew it, he successfully had a firm hold around my waist that locked me in place. I sighed, throwing my head back. Great start, Mercedes.

"Give up?" He whispered into my ear, sending shivers down my spine. I bit my lip, turning my head to look at him slightly before looking away. His arms that were around my waist dropped and his hands fell to my stomach, trying to tickle me. I squealed, with a huge smile on my face and took the opportunity to lock his arm behind his back.

"Nice try, chief." I whispered back to him, tightening my grip to get a reaction out of him. Joe doesn't seemed fazed, but he chuckles.

"Chief?" He questioned, undoing the hold I had on my arm and backed me up with his strength into the corner, "I think you just gave me another trademark idea." Joe smirks, and I roll my eyes playfully, pushing him away forcefully and I took the opportunity to get on the top rope while he was on the ground.

"You better credit me!" I shout out to him before I jump off, doing a cross body, but he ends up catching me again, however we still fell to the ground.

We both laughed hysterically, noticing that we obviously couldn't take each other seriously when it came wrestling one-on-one. Thank goodness intergender wrestling wasn't a huge thing, however, at the same time I wish it was just for that reason. If could get Joe alone in the ring, I would die. I put my hands on Joe's chest, pushing myself up fully.

"Wow, you suck." I tease him, "I totally won that."

"Oh, please. If this was a real match I would've kicked your ass." He teases back, poking my cheek and my side, making me giggle. I grabbed his hand, making him stop.

"I'll come back later," I heard an amused voice say from the left. My head snapped to see Pamela with a surprised, yet excited small smile on her face. It's like she's been waiting to catch me in the act all this time. I opened my mouth to quickly say something, but I looked down to see that I was currently on top of Joe, straddling him. Yeah, there was no way out of this. I cleared my throat, quickly hoping off of him.

"No! Stay." I nervously chuckle as Joe got himself off of the floor. Pamela grinned but tried her best to hide it, failing terribly.

"What's up, Ro." She nodded at him. Joe chuckled, nodding back, "Hey, Bayley."

"You guys can finish what you were doing if you want-"

"It's okay, we were just playing around." Joe says, not wanting to hold her up any longer. I turned my head to look at him and he looked down at me with a soft grin on his face, "I'll talk to you later." He whispers.

I smile at him, nodding in agreement. He then leaves the ring, and Pamela waves goodbye to him until we were by ourselves.

Long story short, we didn't do too much wrestling after that. I ended up telling her everything, from the secret I kept from her about us being friends, to me having feelings for him now. I didn't leave one single detail out; Part of me was guilty for keeping this from her all this time, I mean, she was like a sister to me, but like I said before, I was hesitant because of the reasons I explained previously. Especially now, she was way too excited.

"Wait, hold on. So have you guys ever kissed?" She asks. I stare at her for two seconds before I lower my head, admitting to that in guilt. It was something that I didn't mention at all either, mainly because I was serious about never bringing it up. When me and Roman filmed the super bowl commerical together, we did kiss but it was on accident. I'd never do that purposely, especially then. However, things were different now.

"Shut up, you did?!" Pamela exclaimed, I quickly shushed her.

"It was on accident." I sharply whispered, "And it was months ago. I didn't mean to do it and neither did he, we were just friends."

"But you like him more than a friend." She corrects me with a smirk on her face. I sigh heavily, with a groan.

"I know," I frowned. I had gotten myself into a tough situation that I wasn't sure how to get out of. I had strong feelings towards Joe but I was still married to someone who I didn't love. If I could call it off, I would, but it wasn't that easy.

"Just divorce him, Mercedes." Pamela says bluntly with a sigh. "It's obvious you're not happy with him anymore, and it's even more obvious that Joe would treat you better. Come on, it's clear he likes you back. Tell him how you feel." She boosts, clearly forgetting that he had a wife. Well, it was nothing new, no matter who we were married to, she always thought that we would've end up together one day. It was so weird now, seeing how accurate she was. However, I wasn't confident.

"I'm scared," I admit. I wrap my arms around my legs as we sit down in the ring, "I don't want to make things awkward or ruin the friendship that we do have. Besides, have I told you about his wife?"

She shook her head, and her facial expression was enough to tell me to continue. I looked around, making sure no one would hear but they were too engaged in what they were doing anyway.

"When he took a break, a little before SummerSlam, his wife actually passed away in a car crash." I broke the news to her and Pamela gasped, covering her mouth in shock.

"Are you serious?" She asked in disbelief, and I nodded.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Only his close family and friends know. Trinity told me, and he actually doesn't know that I know. I guess I just don't want tell him anything because he's more than likely still hurting from her passing. He probably doesn't want a relationship right now, and I wouldn't be mad at him. That's really hard." I explain.

"It is.." She agrees, then looks back up at me. "Then what are you going to do?"

I shrug, and look down, feeling a little disappointed, "I'm not going to say anything, it isn't the right time."

"What about Sarath?" She questions, hinting that this could've been way easier if he wasn't in the picture. I sighed, brushing my hair out of my face. Before I could speak, Pamela gasped a tiny bit before asking, "Jeez, what happened to you're face?"

Shit. Hurry up, come up with something, Mercedes. My makeup must've come off when I was rough-housing with Joe, or even when I brushed my hair. Whenever when I was in public or at work, that was something that I never forgot to put on since I knew I would get asked so much questions.

"Wrestling, duh." I shrug my shoulders with a sarcastic tone to my voice. Pamela raised her eyebrow, staring at me unconvinced, but I could tell she didn't want to dwell on it too much. Afterwards, she just nodded her head and got up.

"Well come one, you got more wrestling to do. I didn't drive here for nothing." She hopped on her feet, getting her body warmed up. I playfully rolled my eyes and asked, "Where were you anyway?"

"I forgot to get more gas, okay?" She stressed, throwing her head back in fustration. I laughed, shaking my head. I wasn't surprised though, Pamela always had issues with her car, or driving period.

I then got myself up off of the floor, and me and Pamela began to train.

➰

ROMAN

SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2020
TAMPA, FLORIDA
5:30 PM

"Daddy I don't wanna' go to Tina's, I wanna be with you." My five year old son, Gio, whines as his arm are wrapped around my leg as I try to grab my wrestling related clothing and other attire from my closet. I sigh, reminding him for the hundredth time.

"Daddy has to go to work," I drop my hand to run my fingers through his hair comfortingly as I continued to search through my rack.

"Can I come with you?" He asks. I chuckle, and briefly look down at him before I look away.

"When it's safe, but right now you need to go put your shoes on." I drop my clothes into the suitcase next to me as he continues to hold onto my leg.

Then I heard my phone ring from my pocket, I pull it out and see the caller ID say 'Cede💞'

My stressed facial expression slowly turned into a relieved one as soon as I saw her name. I licked my lips and dropped my left hand to lightly pant Gio on his back, "Tell your brother and sister it's almost time to go."

Gio finally dropped his arms from my leg and walked out of the room in a disappointed manner, knowing he couldn't go with me. That was one of the many downfalls of being the only parent and working, I hated leaving them, even if it was just for a night. However, it was something I had to do in order to keep being able to provide for them.

I cleared my throat and answered the phone, "Hey, Mercedes."

"Hey, J." Her angelic voice replied, and I could see picture her smiling through the phone, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, just getting ready for SmackDown tonight. Are you coming?" I ask, holding the phone to my hear with my shoulder as I zip my suitcase.

"Nope, I have the day off." She says in a sad tone sarcastically, "Bayley almost broke my neck remember? I'm recovering."

I roll my eyes playfully, chuckling to myself as I took my suitcase out of the closet and sat down on the edge of the bed with the phone still in my hand, "Oh really?"

"Yeah, you punk." She shoots back with a giggle which made me smile, "But anyways, I'm not booked for tonight. So I'm just at home."

I sighed to myself, and my excitement slowly started to fade. Since the company still maintained certain restrictions due to covid, if you weren't booked then you weren't allowed to come to work. Unless it was a pay-per-view event, or if you were invited by the boss himself for a specific reason, you had to stay home. Which I understood, but, damn. I really wanted to see her.

"Oh.." I trailed off. Then, quickly try to brighten up my tone, "Well I'm glad you're getting some time to relax."

"Thanks, but that's actually one of the reasons why I wanted to call you." She starts off, "Vince called me early this morning and gave me more details about our storyline."

Nerves instantly shoot through my spine and I bite my lip, not sure if I wanted to know the details. Not because I was completely against it, I was just more afraid of the aftermath. I mean, I haven't even told her that I have feelings for her, or that I lost my wife. I haven't told anyone that except for a few people, so being in a storyline was a little risky.

"Yeah?" I said, hesitantly waiting for her to continue.

"I'd never thought he would say this but, he's actually giving us the freedom to put the whole thing together." She says in disbelief, I furrow my eyebrows, leaning back on the matress.

"Are you sure about that? The whole thing?" I ask.

"That's what he said. Now I honestly think he will make some changes because it's Vince, but the only condition he gave was our storyline has to start sometime during Survivor Series season."

Well, fuck. This was about to be even harder than I expected it to be. Vince never gave anyone the this much freedom to control their own storyline, so this was going to be a lot of pressure. We couldn't screw this up, and by the looks of it, I guess we had to do it. We didn't have a choice.

"I don't know, Cede." I mutter, sounding unsure. I stare at the ceiling and asked with concern, "Are you comfortable with this?"

"I mean, yes." She admits, with a shy expression. I bit my lip, due to her response making me happy on the inside, "I just haven't told Sarath yet."

I rolled my eyes, due to the jealously I felt. She is still married, I tried to remind myself. I just couldn't help it since I did like her a lot, not to mention, after the things she had told me about him made me question whether she truly loved him. I could give her more than he can, that's a fact.

"What about you?" She asks, breaking the silence. I didn't even realize that I was off in my own thoughts for that long. I shrugged, figuring that I should just come clean with her. Not only so it could make sense, but I knew I could trust her.

"I actually need to tell you something." I start off, sighing since I hated talking about it, "It's about-"

"You're wife?" She finished off my sentence. I slightly raised my eyebrow, how did she know what I was going to say?

"Yes.." I trail off. I sit back up and adjust my seating, "Wait, how did you know?"

Mercedes stayed quiet for a little before she replied, "I know what happened, Joe."

"Who told you?" I immediately question, trying my best not to get upset. I wasn't mad at her, I was just upset at who might've told. To be honest, I felt a little embarrassed. I try my best to put on a brave face but I could tell that Mercedes probably noticed, and saw right through me. I never wanted to look weak or vulnerable.

"It doesn't matter, J. I just feel bad that you have to do a storyline like this when you're still hurting. I can tell you are, how come you didn't tell me?" She says with guilt shown within her voice. I sighed, I had a feeling that she noticed. I started to feel a guilty myself, I hated that she felt bad for something she had no control over. I didn't even tell her to begin with, but at the same time I just never wanted anyone to take pity on me. It was hard overall, but I'm honestly healing from it. I don't feel so broken like I did months ago.

"The main reason why I didn't say anything to you or anyone else is because I didn't want to be seen differently, you know? It was already so tough, and I hated talking about it." I explained, "But honestly? I feel so much better than I did before. You shouldn't feel bad, or worry about me. It's not your fault."

"I know, I just really feel guilty at the fact that I wasn't there for you when you were going through such a rough time." She apologizes regardless, even though I understood her situation, "I'm really sorry."

"Don't be," I reassured. "You know, maybe this won't be so bad. At least we're getting the chance to work on it on our own."

Mercedes stayed quiet for a little bit and then added, "I'm just happy that it's you, if it was any other guy I would've probably dropped out regardless of what Vince said." She chuckled.

I smirked to myself, looking down, feeling a little tingly inside by her comment. Nevermind, this was going to be hard. There was no way I was going to contain my feelings for her this whole time we did this storyline. Then, I got an idea.

"Hey, are you free tomorrow?"

"Yeah, why?" She replied.

"I was thinking, maybe you should come over tomorrow so we could get a head start on it." I suggested, slightly licking my lips, "Only if you want-"

"Sure," She cut me off. I widened my eyes a little at how fast she replied, that was quick. I nervously chuckled, damn, I wanted her so bad. By the looks of it, hopefully the feeling was mutual, but I didn't want to overthink it.

"What time?"

"3?" I asked, "Also my knucklehead children are going to most likely be here as well, I usually pick them up from my mom's house in the morning. So if you want to say no-"

"It's okay," She laughed. "I don't mind, I know you have a football team over there. Besides, I love kids."

Just wait until you carry one of my kids, I thought. I laughed along with her, and as soon as I got ready to reply, I got interuppted.

"Dad, the twins are crying again." JoJo sighed, then she raised her eyebrow, "Who are you talking to?"

I put the phone down, covering the speaker, "Nun' ya business." I quickly put the phone back onto my ear.

"Hey, it's about time for me to go. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'll be there." She says, and I could sense a smile through the phone, "Talk to you later."

"Alright." I say my goodbyes to her and hang up the phone. JoJo leans against the door with her arms crossed, "Was that a girl?"

"Yes, JoJo." I sighed, already getting tired of her questions and decided to be honest with her, "You remember Sasha, right?"

"Sasha?" She says in an confused tone, then once she realized who I was talking about, she widened her eyes a little bit, "Oh. You mean Sasha Banks?"

"What other Sasha would I be talking about?" I shake my head in amusement, "Remember you begged me to give her the card you made her when I had the tag match?"

"Not really," She shrugs. "I'm not really into wrestling anymore, it's boring now."

"Oh so I'm boring?" I dramatically take offense to what she said, and she couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Well.." She trailed off. I chuckled, rolling my eyes.

"Whatever, anyways. She's actually going to be coming over tommorow, we have to work on a new storyline together for work. I really need you, and your brothers to be on your best behavior." I stress, getting up to grab my suitcase. JoJo stayed quiet for a second as I got my stuff together, I turned my head around to make sure she was listening.

She nodded with a faint smile on her face and stood up from the wall, "Okay."

"Alright, come on. I'm already late." With my suitcase in hand, I walk out of the room to calm the twins down and get them together. JoJo stood at the door for a little bit before following behind me.

➰

SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2020
TAMPA, FLORIDA
3:25 PM

SASHA

"Shut up, so you guys are actually doing a storyline?" Pamela gasped on the phone. I had her on speaker as I drove to Joe's house.

"That's what the boss said," I nervously grip the wheel.

"Oh, this is gonna' be good." She says in excitement and laughs hysterically, I roll my eyes in amusement.

"Did you tell Sarath?" She asked, and I stayed quiet, knowing that I haven't yet. Pamela sighed, "Come on, Mercedes. This is ridiculous, just divorce him already. Do I need to talk to him?"

"No." I sternly answer quickly, turning into the neighborhood. I lay my head back against the seat, this was ridiculous, she was right. This could've been set and done already if you just told somebody or asked for help. Why can't you speak up for yourself, for God's sake?

"Listen, it's more complicated than you think." I explain as I pull up in front of Joe's house. After I parked the car, I turned the engine off and looked at his house in awe. Damn, his house was huge. It was like a mansion, I couldn't believe it.

"Hello?" Pamela interupts my thoughts, and I didn't realize that she was talking the entire time. I picked up my phone from the cup holder and held it to my ear, taking her off speaker.

"Hey, I'mma call you back." I reassure, and we said our goodbyes, hanging up. I take the keys out of the ignition, getting out of the car and walked up to the door. I took a deep breath, trying my best to stay calm and not be nervous. Don't say something stupid, Mercedes. I ringed the doorbell, and waited for a second before the door opened, revealing a young, beautiful girl that resembled Joe a whole lot. My eyes widened, wow, she was so grown up.

I actually remember meeting her along with his wife at Wrestlemania back in 2016. She was so little back then, and her reaction to meeting me was so adorable. I also remember the little note she wrote for me, and I never failed to read it over and over whenever I got discouraged over wrestling. It was surreal to see her again after all this time.

"Oh my God, look at you all grown up." I cooed, opening my arms for a hug and she smiled shyly, returning my hug.

"Hey, Sasha." She giggled, I gave her one last squeeze before we both pulled away.

"Please, call me Mercedes." I smile at her sweetly, "How are you?" I asked as she welcomed me inside, and I saw two little boys running around in the living room. Jesus, Joe was right, these kids were crazy. I shook my head in amusement as I watched them and JoJo sighed.

"Getting ready to jump off a cliff." She says in annoyance, nodding towards her brothers. I chuckled and she walked towards the exit of the living room, "I'll go get my dad." She called out to me and I nodded.

I walked to where the kids were playing around, sitting down on the couch and they didn't even realize that I was there since they were busy rough-housing. About a minute later, Joe came downstairs with his daughter following behind him, and he was holding his adorable baby boy in arms. My heart melted at the sight.

"Hey!" Joe warned, giving the twins a serious look for them to stop. They both immediately stopped, and quickly laughed it off after about three seconds. He sighed, shaking his head and his eyes landed on me with a soft smile, "What's up, Cede."

"What's up, poppa bear." I tease, finding it extremely adorable to see him in dad mode. He chuckles, and the twins quickly turn around to look at me. Joe alternated looks between me and the twins, "Oh, Mercedes these are my knucklehead sons. Javain and Gio, hopefully they weren't driving you crazy.

"Not at all." I laugh and wave at the both of them.

"Don't be shy, give her a hug." Joe says, nodding towards me as he set the baby down on his feet so he could walk freely on the carpet.

One of the boys didn't hesitate to walk up to me, giving me a tight squeeze while the other one shyly followed behind him.

"You're so beautiful," One of them complimented. My heart, I couldn't take it. I smiled brightly and pinched his cheek, "Thank you. Wait, less me guess, so you're Gio?"

The other twin gave me a hug with a shy smile on his face while the other shook his head, "I'm Javain, this is Gio."

They looked exactly the same, it was going to be hard to tell them apart. I smiled and poked the side of Gio's stomach, making him giggle, "Nice to meet you, Gio."

Joe watched in silence, with a small smile on his face and while the boys began to make a conversation with me, we made eye contact. He cleared his throat, realizing that I caught him staring at me, "Okay, you two. We need some alone time."

The boys both whined, "Why?" They asked at the same time.

"We have work to do." Joe sighed, "I'm not gonna' ask you again."

Javain and Gio groaned, picking up their toys off of the floor and walked out of the room. Joe watched them leave the room and saw that JoJo was still standing there, looking at me with an unreadable expression on her face, with her arms crossed.

"You too, babygirl." He nodded where the twins were walking, JoJo snapped out of her gaze and her expression was quickly erased with a polite smile.

"It was nice seeing you, Mercedes." She said nicely, and I waved goodbye with a smile before she left the room.

"Wow, she's gotten so big." I say, standing up to give Joe a hug. He gives me a tight squeeze before letting me go, and we both sit down, "And the twins are so cute, where's the other set?"

"Well the one of them is sleeping," He chuckles. "But he's always awake." Joe points to the adorable baby playing with his toys in front of us.

"Is that one Jordan?" I touch my heart, fawning over how cute he was, "He's so adorable."

"How did you know?" He raises his eyebrow, a little surprised as to how I was able to tell which one was which. I've seen them of course in pictures but it was my first time seeing them in person.

"I just took my best guess." I giggled with a shrug, and looked down to see Jordan with his tiny hands on my knees as he stood with an adorable smile on his face.

"What is up? First the twins try to put some game on you and now him?" Joe questions with amusement in his voice, and I pick Jordan up, setting him on my lap.

"Sounds like you're a little jealous." I playfully smirk, not being able to stop myself from flirting a little bit. I didn't even think, it just slipped out. Great.

Joe playfully rolled his eyes and got up, "Trust me, I wouldn't even have to put game on you if I tried."

I slightly raise my eyebrow at his comment, not being able to hold back a smile. Did I hear that right? Yeah, I sure did. Was he playing games with me? Did he know that I liked him? I was sort of caught off guard.

"I'll be right back." He stops in his tracks, turning around to look at me briefly, "Do you want anything?"

I shook my head silently, staring at him with a soft grin and he returned it, leaving the room. I sighed, thanking God that I got to have a short minute by myself. I looked down to the mini version of Joe playing with the strands of my hair. Damn, his genes were ridiculously strong, I could see him in every single one of his kids.

"Please let this go well." I say to myself quietly, praying that it would.

➰

When Joe came back, he had taken his Jordan back up stairs since he had fallen asleep in my arms. It was so quick too, he was out like a light. After that, he had brought down his computer and some other things we could use to write down our ideas for the storyline. We spent a good hour brainstorming, talking about different scenarios and plots. We thought exactly the same and worked so well together that it didn't take so long when trying to put everything together. Of course, we weren't finished but we were off to a good start.

As I wrote down a couple ideas on a piece of paper, Joe exhaled and laid his head against the couch, "Can we take a break?"

"We just started like two hours ago." I bring up, still looking down at the paper. He stays quiet before he brings up an idea.

"We can watch Sailor Moon." He says in a sneaky tone, knowing that it would win me over. My head snaps up, and I looked at him with a bright smile on my face. I was a huge fan of anime, mostly Sailor Moon, and it was my one of my favorite show growing up. Joe knew of that and he never failed to tease me for it but in a playful way.

"Please?" I quickly change my mind, putting down the piece of paper I had on the table and scooted further into the couch. Joe shook his head in amusement and set his computer aside, picking up the remote.

"You're such a nerd." He teases, turning on the TV. I hit his arm harshly and he laughs out loud.

"Shut up." I roll my eyes playfully.

About four minutes later, Sailor Moon was turned on and we spent our breaking watching the first episode. However, the break turned into an hour, then two hours since I couldn't help but click onto the next episode after each one was finished. I was so focused on the show that I didn't even realize if Joe was paying attention or not.

"This is my favorite part." I shake his shoulder, not wanting him to miss it. I didn't sense any movement as I stared at the screen, "Joe?" I shook his shoulder again and turned my head to see him fast asleep. I sighed, and slumped into my seat, bummed at the fact that he was missing my favorite part. However, I didn't mind at all, he was probably just really tired. Poor thing, I thought. I still didn't know how he did it, managing five kids on his own while wrestling was a lot. I had respect for him before, but now, respect isn't even a big enough word to describe it.

I turned my head back towards him, watching as he slept. He looked so cute when he was asleep. I moved some strands of his hair out of his face, and I decided to get a little bit more comfortable, laying my head on his shoulder. Sometime after the episode ended, I felt him stir a little. I looked up at him and his eyes fluttered open, along with his arm naturally finding it's way over my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. I blushed, feeling my heart do all sorts of backflips.

"You sleepy?" He asks tiredly, then yawns. I chuckled, patting his chest gently before sitting up in my seat.

"Says the one who fell asleep." I reply, Joe's eyes open fully and he instantly shuts them again, throwing his head back.

"I'm sorry, I didn't even realize that I fell asleep." He apologized in guilt, which I found adorable. I shake my head, not wanting him to worry.

"It's okay, you're just tired." I reassure him, and I briefly look at my phone, seeing that it was almost seven. I put my phone in my pocket, and leaned forward to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, "Get some sleep, I actually needa' get going.

"You sure you don't need a ride home or anything?"

"I drove here, remember?" I say with a hint of sarcasm in my voice while holding a hand out to help him up.

"Right, I knew that." He says sarcastically as well, and grabs my hand, standing up. Then he follows me as I walked to the door.

As we made a conversation towards the door, a small smile creeped onto my face and I could no longer hold in this secret I've been hiding for awhile. The only friend that I've told is Pamela, but I was too happy about it to not share. A couple of months ago, a casting director had dm'ed me on instagram saying that John Favreua really liked me and he wanted me to talk to me. I couldn't believe it at first, and to be honest I thought it was a joke but all that went through the door when John himself actually face timed me. He was saying how he saw me on Hot Ones, which was a video I was in a couple of years ago, how liked me a lot, and he also wanted to write a role for me in his new show called 'The Mandalorian'.

I was super excited of course but a little hesitant to except it because of my job, but he said whatever time was okay for me he was willing to fit according to my schedule, which says a lot because usually if you weren't able to commit to a role they would find someone else. So I have been literally living the dream as of late.

During the weekdays, I would be filming for the show and whenever it was time for work, I would fly back home. I was extremely nervous when I  went on set for the first time but everyone was so nice and welcoming. Everything at the moment is filmed and the premiere date is suppose sometime in November, but everything is still so surreal to me. I mean, it's Star Wars. I never would've thought I would be in the position I'm in right now, I just felt so blessed.

"Whatchu' smiling for?" Joe asks, leaning against the door frame as I stood a little on the outside.

I gave up on holding back my smile and looked down, "I gotta' tell you something."

I looked back up at him to see a confused look on his face.

"Can you stop looking at me like that?" I laughed, which made him bust out laughing too.

"I'm just waiting for you to say it already." He excuses, sitting up from the door.

"Okay.." I trail off, and then look at him with a straight face, "So, would you believe me if I said I had a part in the Mandalorian?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, "Are you talking about that new Star Wars show that's coming out?"

I nodded, biting my lip from holding back a grin. He stared at me for a little bit and then widened his eyes a little bit, standing up from the door frame, "You're lying."

"Oh, am I?" I quickly pulled up the soon-to-be preview that the director had sent me a week ago, and he featured me. I didn't even get to pause the video because as soon as he saw my face he instantly picked me up, hugging me tightly, making me giggle.

"I'm so proud of you, babygirl." He says into my ear, sending shivers down my spine. Placing a kiss on my cheek, he pulled away from me slightly, "Wait, when? How are you just now telling me this?"

"It was a secret," I chuckle.

"A secret?" He raises his eyebrow a little with a smirk on his face. The longer I stared at him, the more lost I got into his eyes and I could barely focus on what he was saying. I slowly nodded my head, with my arms still wrapped around his neck. I could just kiss him right now if I wanted to.

He shrugs, then brings me a little closer with his arms still wrapped around my waist, "I guess I gotta secret too."

"Which is?"

"This," Joe whispers before grabbing my face gently and placing a soft kiss on my lips. I was a little caught off guard at first, but I immediately melted into the kiss, placing my hands on his wrists. As we kissed, I genuinely felt something that I have never felt before in a long time, and maybe even stronger. It felt so right, like we belonged together all this time. It made me realize so much and made me disregard all of the doubts I've had about admitting my feelings. Nothing mattered anymore, this is what I needed, he was the person that I needed.

"Daddy!" One of the twins yelled from inside of the house, causing the both of us to smile into the kiss and break away slowly. I looked down shyly while Joe rested his forehead against mine.

"I should probably go handle that." Joe suggest, dropping his hands from my face. 

"Yeah.." I trailed off, and I looked back up at him, exchanging an admiring smile while he did the same.

"I'll see you later?" He softly caresses the bottom of my chin as I gaze at him. I nod my head, leaned in close again to peck his lips before interlacing my hand with his.

"Don't keep me waiting." I whispered to him as I slowly pulled away with a settle smirk on my face with our hands gently falling apart. Joe looked me up and down once more before I turned around to walk to my car.

➰

A/N; Sorry about the couple of changes that I made. Basically, I could've sworn that Roman's newborn twins were girls but I watched an interview of his and he said that the both of his twins were boys, which confused me but since I want to make this story as accurate as possible I made some changes. His five year old twins names are Gio and Javain, and his newborn twins names are Jordan and Glynn. Once again, not their actual real names but I decided to make some up since I'm unaware of their real names. Also, I'm going to be making some changes in the previous chapters so everything makes much more sense and doesn't confuse anyone. Hopefully you liked this chapter!

Also, "Tina" means Grandma in Samoan. :)

Serious question, should I continue this story?