Disclaimer: Original characters are my brainchildren. WWE characters belong to WWE and the Sports Entertainers (AKA, Wrestlers) who created them. There is no need for this disclaimer, we all know it. However, I have noticed that when I have a disclaimer, the title centers itself better on the page, because it's not in the way of the drop down menu for FFnet. Thus, the real purpose for this disclaimer.

Special Thanks to: AeonBlue for giving me advice on how to handle Payton and Seth's conversation. You're the best and if we lived closer, I'd come over with the biggest and best bottle of vodka I could afford! And people? Check out her stuff! She's more than just a great writer's helper, she's a fantastic writer herself and you don't want to miss her stuff.

A Little Bit More

There were many days of the month, when Seth wanted to work out but was unable to find the time, but there was only one day where he didn't even plan to try to work out. That was the Sunday of the Month when the PPV was being held, and this time, for Hell in a Cell, was no exception. He also had the intention of sleeping as late as he wanted, but old habits die hard and he still found himself waking up at six in the morning, which had become pretty much his normal time.

Kayla was still asleep, curled up beside him, a small smile playing across her lips as if she was having a good dream. As Seth got out of bed, he made sure the covers were securely around her. He had asked her last night if they should have the room warmer as they slept, worried that their usual colder than normal temperatures weren't good for the baby, but Kayla assured him she still wanted a chilly room.

"I like being able to snuggle under the covers," she said smiling. "And, if I get too cold, I'll snuggle up to you."

"That could lead to you not getting your sleep," he warned her, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Unfortunately, little risk of that," Kayla said, shaking her head. "If there's one effect from being pregnant I've noticed, it's that I am almost always tired. Jessica and Cinnamon said this isn't uncommon, that often in the first trimester, that you're just exhausted. I have the nausea, which isn't a picnic, but fortunately, it's not all the time. Mostly, I'm just sleepy."

"Do you want to go to sleep right now?" Seth asked, unable to keep part of him from hoping she'd say no. He didn't want to push anything, but this was the first chance he'd had for some alone time with her. He wasn't a brute, if she said she needed sleep, he would live with it, but the last time they had sex might have been the night their baby was conceived, which was almost two months ago.

"No," she said, smiling. "I think I can stay awake for a little while longer… if you give me the right… incentive."

He knew a challenge when he heard it and he rose to it admirably.

They had gone out the night before with Roman and Dean's families, and announced to the kids that they were all going to be big brother and sisters, which lead to a lot of questions, mostly from Leah and Neil. Neil, as it turned out, had already suspected, because his friend Samantha, the oldest of three, had made that guess when Neil told her that his mother had been sent home from work for feeling "lightheaded." Neil seemed to have his reservations about being an older brother, but was also a little excited too, telling his parents that he wanted a little brother, but maybe a little sister wouldn't be so bad. Leah seemed to be thrilled with the whole idea, hoping she'd have a baby sister, offering to share her toys, and help her mom take care of her.

Payton, on the other hand, was mostly silent. She had smiled when the news broke, said that she was happy, but Seth knew her too well. He wondered if this "tell all the kids at once" was a good idea. It had seemed like a good idea when the adults discussed it, but now he thought maybe he and Kayla should have broke it to her when the three of them were alone, so Payton would be free to express concerns. However, he also knew that Payton was the type of girl who liked to think about things before speaking. Even if they had told her alone, she likely would have reacted the same way, tried to smile, pretend this was good news, and look for a chance to be alone to think about it and sort out her feelings. Kayla and Seth had decided that maybe it would be better to tell her in the group, knowing she wouldn't feel as much on the spot with two other kids likely wanting to dominate the conversation with questions and opinions.

And dominate, they did, Seth thought, as he pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. Sliding his feet into a pair of slippers, he headed out into the main area of the hotel suite. Off this main area was a small, private balcony with a little glass top table and two chairs. He looked out the glass doors that lead out to the balcony and saw Payton, sitting on one of the chairs in her pajamas, looking out over the city. Even though her back was to him, Seth would have been willing to bet she had that solemn look on her face, the look she wore when she was thinking long and hard.

He opened the door and walked outside, closing the door behind him. "Good morning, Pay-pay," he said, keeping his voice soft as he took the chair across the table from her.

She turned her head in his direction and he saw the circles under her eyes which told him she had not slept nearly as restfully as he had. But she smiled. "Good morning, Da," She looked towards the door, then back to him. "Is Mum awake?"

"Nope, she's sleeping," Seth said. "I guess this pregnancy is making her tired."

Payton nodded. "She naps a lot. And goes to bed pretty early." There was a pause, then she added, "But it's okay, I mean, it's not like she's sleeping all the time. We still talk and stuff and she makes meals and all."

He smiled at her quick defense of Kayla. "It's okay, I guess being tired is normal when you're going through the first part of pregnancy, at least that's what Jessica and Cinnamon have been telling her."

"I guess," she said, giving a tiny shrug. "I was real young when Preston was born, I don't remember if my mom was tired a lot or not."

He nodded. "Speaking of sleep, did you sleep well last night?"

She shrugged again, a noncommittal answer. Seth had some time before he had to start getting prepared for Hell in a Cell, but not as much as he would have liked. He wanted very much to have a long conversation with Payton, one they could ease into slowly, with plenty of time to talk around the situation before getting to the heart of the matter, but he didn't have that luxury.

"How do you feel about being an older sister?" he asked her.

She looked at him, her expression somewhere between bewilderment and indignation. "I already am an older sister."

There was the thing he never felt comfortable about, Preston. Indeed, if you counted Preston, which Payton certainly did, Payton had been an older sister most of her life. The fact that Preston was dead didn't change that, he was still her brother. Kayla and Seth had tried to make sure Payton never felt that she had to give up her brother to be their daughter. She had pictures of him in her room, and a couple of family photo albums on her bookshelf from her early years with her mom and dad, the Caldwells. She still visited her birth mother's grandparents, Kayla had them over for meals and other family events whenever she could. But that didn't mean Seth always felt comfortable bringing Preston up. He never felt it was his place to mention Preston, unless Payton mentioned it first. "Well, yes," he said, hoping he didn't sound like he was scrambling for the right words. "But you're going to become an older sister again. How do you feel about that?"

She looked away from him out over the city again. "Good, I guess," she said, then bit her lower lip.

Even though she wasn't looking at him, he was looking at her. "Payton," he said, keeping his voice neutral, "Since the day we met, we've always been honest with each other, right?" She didn't look at him, she didn't answer with words, but he did see her head dip slightly, nodding, so he continued, "So, I want you to be honest. This is you and me, Payton and her Da, talking. How do you feel about Kayla being pregnant."

She squirmed a little in her chair, then looked at him. "I-I don't completely know," she finally admitted, and he knew she was being honest. "I tell myself to think one thing, and I try to think that one thing, but then other things come around too."

"What do you mean?"

She was biting her lower lip again, and rubbing her index finger over her chin, something she did when she was trying to put her thoughts into words but finding it difficult. "Thoughts are like-like weather."

"Weather?" he asked, trying not to smile. On the surface, he knew that sounded silly, but he also knew Payton was getting somewhere with this, she just needed to find the words. "How is that?"

"Like if it's raining," she said, warming up to the idea. "You look out and you see that it's raining, so you plan to deal with the rain. You tell yourself that rain is good, that flowers need rain, that everything needs water. So, you put on your rain boots and your waterproof jacket and you go outside thinking you can do this, you can do what you need to do in the rain, it's just rain and you've got all your rain clothes on."

"I can see that," Seth said, nodding to encourage her to continue.

"Then, you get outside," she said, "and you start doing what you need to do. And you got this rain thing covered, but then along comes this horrible wind and it feels like it's blowing right through you and it blows your coat open so that the rain starts hitting your clothes and you keep trying to button your coat but you can't, so now you're wet and your cold and you want to just be okay with the rain, you want to keep focusing on just the rain but you aren't prepared for the wind and you can't stop thinking about the wind, either. And the wind makes the rain seem worse than it really is." She paused, sighed and shook her head. "I'm explaining it all wrong, aren't I?"

"No," he said, shaking his own head in disagreement. "I think I get it. You tell yourself to focus on one thing and not another, but you can't help it, other things creep in, like the wind during a rain storm."

"Yeah." Payton nodded too, but did not look happy that Seth had figured it out. She drew up her leg, letting her foot rest on the chair, resting her chin on her knee.

"So, what do you find yourself thinking about that you wish you wouldn't?" Seth asked her.

Payton kept her head on her knee, but turned it so she could look at her Da. "What-what if-" she stopped and swallowed hard, her forehead breaking into lines of worry. "What if the baby gets sick?"

Seth opened his mouth, starting to say that babies did get sick, and that was okay, when he realized that she wasn't asking about the baby getting a cold or an upset tummy, in Payton's world, sick was a little more serious than that. In Payton's world, "sick" was the code word for something that meant this child wouldn't make it to adulthood, probably wouldn't even make it to puberty. He bit back the assurances he was going to make to her, and paused. "You're not talking about colds and flu and those things every kid gets, right?"

"No." She shook her head quickly back and forth to add power to her words. "I'm talking about real sick. Like Preston was real sick. Preston was so sick it killed him. What if the baby is sick like that?"

He wanted to lie to her, he wanted to tell her there was no way the baby would have childhood cancer or any of those illnesses that shortened life. He wanted to tell her that it just wasn't possible, that he and Kayla were healthy and thus their baby would be healthy, but he knew it would be a lie. He had no guarantees. Odd were that the kid wasn't going to have something like that, but odds were just that, odds. In truth, it was a crap shoot. And odds wouldn't mean as much to Payton anyway, because for years, Payton's primary source of outside input was hanging around in hospitals with Preston and with other kids, kids who were either sick themselves, or had a brother or sister who was as sick as Preston was. For years, in Payton's world, sick and dying children were the norm. She might have friends now who didn't have dying siblings, but for years, pretty much everyone she came in contact with, did. "Payton, I can't promise, 100%, that this baby will be healthy," he finally said, the words coming out slowly, carefully as he thought of each one before he spoke it out loud. "I wish I could, but we both know that's impossible. I will tell you that Kayla and I are healthy and that we'll do everything we can to make sure this baby is going to live a long, healthy life."

"I know that," she said, and her voice was almost a whisper, "but sometimes, that isn't enough."

He wanted to go over and wrap his arms around her, but he knew this wasn't the time. Payton was an affectionate child, especially with him and Kayla, but when things were really upsetting her, she would reject comforting until she had things at least somewhat resolved, almost as if she felt affection was a reward she needed to earn, first. "Payton, you're right, sometimes no matter what you do, it isn't enough. I can't guarantee that this child won't get sick. But what I can guarantee is that no matter what, we're a family and we'll handle this as a family. All of us, together."

She studied him and he knew his words weren't what she was hoping for, but he also knew she knew he was being honest. "But..." she said, and her voice trailed off.

Seth thought for a moment, letting silence fill the air between them. Again, Payton had lived a life where dying children were the norm, but it wasn't the norm everywhere, and he wanted to make her see that, that the odds were in their favor, but he didn't know how. Then, he remembered one of the first PPV's where he and Kayla spent a lot of time with Payton, a PPV that Preston had been able to attend, because Preston had just finished up treatment at St. Judes. "Pay-pay," he said, "how many hospitals do you think there are in the United States?"

She bit her lower lip, looking puzzled at the question, then shrugged. "Lots."

"Yeah," he agreed, warming up to the idea. "There are several right in Davenport, even. Not just regular hospitals, but hospitals that specialize in different things. We have special hospitals for women, for general care, all types of things, right?"

Payton nodded, but said nothing.

"Now, with all those hospitals," Seth continued. "All those close by hospitals, your parents didn't go to any of those with Preston, did they. Where did they go?"

"St. Judes," Payton said.

"Right," Seth agreed. "Because they were the best and for some things, they were the only hospital that could help Preston with his type of cancer. So they went all that way."

"Yeah," Payton agreed.

"Well," Seth said, "If kids got sick with cancer like Preston had, all the time, don't you think they would have a lot more of those types of hospitals?"

Payton had been about to rub her index finger across her chin again, but froze as she heard the words, her index finger posed, hovering just over her chin. After almost ten seconds, her head tipped slightly to one side and she did rub her index finger over her chin, but the corners of her mouth turned up, ever so slightly. "I-I never thought of that," she said, her voice coming slow. "But, that's true."

Seth dared to smile at her. "So, you are right, Payton, things happen and kids get sick, but not all kids. Not even most kids. So, I'm betting the odds are that your future brother or sister will be just fine. And if it does turn out that something is wrong, we'll deal with it, as a family, all of us."

Payton slowly nodded and if she didn't look happy, she did look a little relieved, which Seth was grateful for. He often worried that Payton got used to holding weight on her young shoulders from such an early age, that she didn't know how to just let it go, and just realize that it was a child's job to let their parents worry about such things. "So, is that the only thing on your mind about this?" he carefully asked her.

She sighed, shrugged and then nodded. "Yeah."

"Nah," Seth said, shaking his head.

She looked at him, her expression caught between amusement and indignation. "Yes!" she insisted.

"Nah," he shook his head again. "I think there's something else on your mind." He kept his voice light, teasing, gentle, hoping this would put her at ease, that whatever she said was okay. "So, you might as well tell me."

"What if I don't want to?" she asked, the beginning of a grin on her face, which Seth found made his heart soar. He loved it when she was happy, adored it when she smiled.

"Well," Seth said, pretending to give this great thought. "Then I might have to… tickle you."

Her eyes widened. "You wouldn't!"

"I would!"

Not too many people knew that Payton Rollins was ticklish, that seemed to be something she kept quiet, and indeed, Seth's finding out had been an accident. They had been watching television together, The Lion King, if he remembered correctly, one of her favorite movies, and she was slumped on the couch. Her t-shirt had ridden up slightly, exposing her belly, which was slightly rounded at the time, on the verge of a significant growth spurt. Unable to resist the sight of that cute, round little belly, Seth had leaned over and poked her. The giggle fit that started had given her away, and for the next few minutes he had tickled her, making her laugh hysterically, until The Lion King was forgotten. Kayla had finally put a stop to the tickle party by making popcorn and hot chocolate.

Payton wasn't the type of child who loved being tickled all the time, so tickling, and threats there of, were not given lightly. Seth slowly rose from his chair and moved around the table to her. "There's only one way to avoid the tickle monster," he said solemnly, "tell me what's on your mind."

"Never!" Payton protested. She scrunched down in her chair as if to protect herself, but her grin had widened and her eyes were sparkling.

He leaned over and tickled her gently, but persistently, making her shriek with laughter. Eventually, he pulled her out of the chair and sat in it himself, pulling her onto his lap, still tickling her. After a bit though, she turned and twisted in his lap, burying her face in his shoulder. Her shoulders were shaking and for a moment, Seth thought she was still laughing from the tickling, but then he heard a sob. He stopped tickling her. "Payton, what's wrong?"

She sobbed harder for a few seconds, her face buried into his shirt. "I'm afraid I won't fit in, anymore," she finally said, half speaking, half wailing.

He shifted her in his arms, so she was sitting across his lap. There was a napkin sitting on the table, from a late night snack of apples the night before. He picked it up and handed it to her. She took it and wiped her eyes. "I'm afraid I won't fit in anymore," she repeated.

"Fit in where?" Seth asked, although he had a pretty good idea what she meant.

"The family," Payton said, sniffling. "I'm sorry, I know I'm being a baby, and it's wrong, but I can't help it. It's like the wind, I keep thinking about it."

"The family?" Seth continuing to play dumb, although he was sure he knew exactly what Payton meant. "You mean our family? The Rollins? Me, Kayla, you and the baby? How are you not going to fit in? Payton, you made us a family."

She wiped her nose with the napkin and looked at him. "No, you and Kayla were a couple before I came around."

"Yes," Seth agreed, "We were a couple, but we weren't a family. We talked about getting married, but we never seemed to find the time. We both got so wrapped up in planning a wedding, that we kept forgetting the most important part, which wasn't to get married, but to be married."

She looked at him, eyes red rimmed. "So you didn't even know if you wanted to be married?"

He shook his head. "No, we knew, we just kept finding excuses not to." He wrapped his arm tighter around her. She snuggled into him, putting her head on his shoulder. "I'll be honest with you, Payton, until I met you, about the only thing I cared about was being a wrestler. Yes, I knew that someday Kayla and I should get married, I even thought that someday we should have children. But it those things always seemed to be someday, never today."

"What happened?" Payton asked, sniffling and wiping her nose again with the napkin.

"You, happened, Payton," Seth said, turning his head to look at her. "I remember the first time we went to catering together, you held my hand and I was thinking that anyone seeing us, who didn't know who we were might think we were father and daughter. And I liked that."

"You did?" She smiled, the corners of her mouth raising in a small smile.

"Yeah," Seth said. "And the more I got to know you, the more I realized that I wanted someday to happen sooner than I thought. I realized that I not only wanted to be a husband and a father, but I realized I'd do pretty good at it." He paused to think for a moment, while Payton snuggled further into him, resting her head on his shoulder, her tears drying. "And… when it happened that you needed a family, it never occurred to me or Kayla not to adopt you."

"It didn't?" she asked.

"Nope. I remember being asked what our plans were. And I was surprised because I never thought there was another option. From the moment you lost your old family, as far as I was concerned and as far as Kayla was concerned, you already had a family, us. We never even had to talk about it, we just knew we were going to do everything we could to make you part of our family." He leaned in and kissed the top of her head. "And that's what we did."

"But… I'm not yours," she said. "I mean, I am, but I'm not. I know adoption means I belong to you, just like I was yours by being born," She wiped her eyes again. "But just because it's like that, doesn't mean it is that. I'm not your kid from birth. I have a brother, he's dead, but he's still my brother and this baby won't have a brother named Preston. This baby will have nothing but you and Mum from the start. All their memories… will be of you and Mum. And this baby will be your baby by blood and everything." She stayed on his lap, but she was clearly getting agitated, moving her hands around, rubbing her index finger over her chin. "It'll be your baby. I mean, you could have a girl that looks like both you and Kayla."

"Then she'll be half beautiful," Seth said, thinking the moment needed a little lightening. "The other half?" He brought up his hand and rocked it back and forth. "Not so much."

"Da!" A small giggle escaped her, and she snuggled into him. He was relieved to hear the giggle, but Seth knew she was still worried. "I think you're handsome."

"That's up for debate," he said, wrapping his arm around her again. "But, Payton, seriously, it doesn't matter. Yes, this baby will be our child from the beginning, but that doesn't make him or her more ours than you are."

"I'm afraid it will," she said. "He or she will be yours from the start. They won't know anything but you and Kayla. I know another life."

"That doesn't matter," he said. "Payton, you have to listen to me, because I have to tell you something very important. Are you listening?"

She nodded, but looked away from him, down at her legs.

"No, Payton," Seth said, "you have to look at me for this. Because I have to tell you something, but it's something you can never tell anyone, especially not your future brother or sister. I'm not kidding, Payton, you have to promise me that no matter what happens, you'll never tell them."

She turned her head to look at him, her expression equal mixtures of puzzled and curious. "What?"she asked, looking into his eyes.

"Do you promise?"

She brought her hand down and crossed her index finger over her chest. "Cross my heart, hope to die."

He smiled at the childhood promise. "Payton, remember the wedding? When the three of us danced together and Kayla said that what came next was for us to live happily ever after?"

She nodded. "And I told her that was for fairy tales. And then she said that didn't mean we should ever stop trying."

"Right." Seth smiled at the memory. "We talked too, about how we were going to adopt you. Do you remember that?" When she nodded again, he continued. "I was thinking at that moment, that the odds were that Kayla and I would have other kids. We even mentioned that. And we talked about being chosen family. What is it we said about chosen family?"

"That chosen family never wants to see you hurting or unhappy," she repeated, almost as if it were a vow, her eyes closing as she said it.

"That's right," Seth agreed. "And we chose you, Payton. Kayla and I both did, but I chose you first. And when we were dancing together, I realized something. I realized that if Kayla and I had kids, which I figured we would, that I would love those kids with all my heart and soul."

"Yeah," Payton didn't stop looking at him, but he could hear the hurt in her voice.

"But," he continued. "I also knew that no matter how much I loved them, you'd always be my favorite. Not by much, but still, my favorite." Her expression changed to a mixture of caution, but he saw a glint in her eyes that indicated happiness. She wants to believe, he thought. And she should believe. Because it's true.

"R-really?" she stammered. When he nodded, she did grin. "Wh-why?"

He smiled. "Because I chose you." He wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her into a tight hug. "Payton, I didn't just love you because we're family, we made a family because we love each other. That's the difference. Your future brother and sister, I will love them from the start, but I'm stuck with them. With you, I wanted you to be my daughter. You wanted me to be your da and Kayla to be your mum. And Kayla and I wanted to be your parents. That's the difference. We picked each other. To me, that's a stronger bond than anything. Do you believe me, Payton?"

She was looking at him, and he could see the light shining in her eyes, her pretty eyes that ranged from deep brown to gold. And she nodded. "I think what you're trying to say is… that no matter how much you love the kids you and Mum have, you're going to love me, just a little bit more."

"Exactly!" He hugged her even tighter, kissing the top of her hair as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him back, tightly. "Hey, I have an idea."

"What?"

"I think Kayla would like the chance to sleep in," Seth said, "And I'd like to let her. But, I'm also pretty hungry, so how about we go to the restaurant downstairs and get ourselves some breakfast."

Payton grinned, then looked serious. "But Mum might want breakfast when she wakes up."

"That's fine," Seth said. "I'll leave her a note. If she wakes up and wants us to bring her something from the restaurant, she can text me. Or, if she wants, she can order something from room service."

"That works," Payton said, tipping her head to one side. "Should we call Uncle Dean or Uncle Roman an' see if they're up and want to join us?"

Seth stood up, holding her as he rose from the chair, then putting her down. "No," he said, shaking his head. "I think this is father and daughter only time."

She grinned. "I like that. Father-daughter time." Then she opened the door and ran inside to her bedroom to get dressed.

The End

Authors Notes: Yep, it's been awhile, hasn't it? I'm sorry this took me so long to write and publish, but that expression "It never rains it just pours" has been the story of my life. First, I came down with a sinus infection that I am still trying to get over. The infection seems to be gone, but the cold lingers and I get tired quickly.

Then, if that wasn't enough, the company I work for was sold and it was up in the air for awhile, if I and others would be able to keep our jobs. This lead into one of the most complicated job applications I've ever had to do. It seemed like everything I did, I had to redo for reasons that were ridiculous. Such as, I live in a town that has "North" in front of it. I have always abbreviated it as N. That caused a rejection in their computer system and I had to do everything all over again.

But, as clouds get dark, they eventually clear. For now at least, I have a job with the new company. Things are still settling, so I don't know what the future holds, but for now, I have a job. And, while I still feel like I could sleep half the day away, I don't feel as bad as I did two weeks ago. Every day, I'm getting a little better. So, I hope and pray the worst is behind me.

I am going to try to write more often. There are some issues I still have to work through as my job is in the busiest time of the year and it doesn't seem like the company being sold is going to lighten up the load any, and in fact, may make it worse. I can't complain, because it brings more money into the house, but it does cut into my writing time. So, just know that I haven't abandoned my little wrestling world, it just might take me longer to visit.

Thank you to everyone who read this far. I really appreciate it. Double thanks to anyone who has followed/favored this story. Triple thanks to anyone who takes the time to leave me a review. Encouragement is what keeps me going.

Until Next Time
Peace Out
Willow