Hey everyone! This is my first attempt ever at a wrestling fanfic, so please let me know how I'm doing, 'k? I've had this idea rattling around in my head for a while, so any feedback that you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I want this to be fun to write, but if no one's reading it, then what's the point? Anyways, here goes!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything WWE or brand-name related.

There's two angels sitting on my shoulder; all they ever do is disagree One sits on the side of rhyme and reason, the other on the reckless side of me.

Chapter 1:

"10 minutes everyone!" The shouts echoed across the banquet hall, as people rushed around frantically putting up the finishing touches on decorations and posters. Streamers hung from the ceiling in waves, and color was splashed all over the walls. The Make-a-Wish Foundation always tried its best to make the venue inviting for children and welcoming for their families. Today was no exception, and they were going to have a special guest of honor - John Cena, and he was scheduled to arrive any minute. Finally the superstar had a couple of days to participate in another event, and grant even more wishes for children who adored him.

Right on time, John Cena walked through the doors into the hall and was promptly greeted by Martha, the event organizer. With a brisk handshake and greeting, he was quickly whisked into the room. A scene of laughter and rushing bodies greeted him. It stopped briefly when the volunteers and workers saw him, but he was used to being a show stopper. After all, he was John Cena, the face of the WWE.

Within a few minutes, he was updated on the children he would be meeting, the schedule for the day, and any other information Martha deemed it necessary that he know. She had been doing this for years, and knew exactly how to keep the function running as a well-oiled machine. Just as the last details were added and paper work sorted the day started, and John was surrounded by photographers and their cameras, workers, families, children, laughter, screaming and shouting. The time flew quickly; Martha was an expert organizer and everything went off without a hitch. He loved the look on the faces of children who had asked to see him as their wish, and the opportunity to talk to them and learn their stories. Sometimes being in the WWE was exhausting, but at moments like this, he was proud to call himself a superstar and he was thankful for the ability to make a difference in these children's lives.

After a long morning (that seemed to last only an hour), the last of the guests were cleared out, and lunch was brought in for the volunteers. Without fail, John was quickly surrounded by a number of the female workers and volunteers, offering him food and drink and unsuccessfully trying to surreptitiously flirt with him. After rejecting the seventh offer of a refill on his drink, and if he would like another homemade cookie, his mind began to wander away from the discussions around him. However, in the midst of their small-chat and giggles, the talk quickly turned to gossip.

"It's such a shame about what happened to Linda; she loves working on these events." The brunette with perfectly styled waves shook her head and sipped her coffee. Her name was something that began with a P... Patty, maybe? John couldn't remember. He was only half-listening anyway.

"And she's such an expert at them. Been doing this for years." This speaker was blond with a ponytail.

"I've warned her about being careful about those stairs up to her house. They're awfully steep, even for someone half her age." Another blond. This one with a plunging neckline that could only be attributed to a volunteer out to catch some attention. She certainly hadn't worn that for the children, it was only barely appropriate for them. This one's name was Cindy, he remembered hers. She had been following him around most of the day.

"What's really surprising," (this was Patty again) "is who they got to replace her. Jessie hasn't been volunteering with us for very long, and she's never done an event before. Though I suppose she does need the distraction..."

"Oh, but Jessie is such a sweetheart!" A new one this time, with bobbed black hair and black-rimmed glasses interrupted reproachfully. "It's really not her fault that she's in the situation she is now."

Cena looked idly over to where they were glancing. Another young woman was sitting behind a table writing some paperwork. She had long auburn hair pinned back into a ponytail. He couldn't tell much more; she was looking down and her face was obscured.

Cindy noticed him looking. "Oh, you're looking at Jessie?" She was cooing slightly, and it made him uncomfortable. Women had been coming on to him for a long time, but ever since word of his filing for divorce had hit the news, it had only gotten worse. It didn't matter that he and Liz were trying now to work out their problems. It seemed like ever since doubt had been cast on their marriage, all women took that as a sign it could be broken.

"She's one of the newest volunteers. She has quite a tragic story herself, you know! We think that's why she's chosen to work with these specific children." Cindy seemed to be quite pleased with herself, at having John Cena's complete attention. "She just joined a couple of months ago, right after her fiancé passed. And if that tragedy wasn't enough, would you know it, she's pregnant with his baby."

"Why is this woman talking about her business like this?" was the only thing running through John's mind, but he nodded and made the appropriate response, or at least he thought he did. He looked up again, and his baby-blue eyes met a pair of hazel ones. That girl was looking right at him. She must have noticed the embarrassment on his face, because she looked a little confused. Until... she noticed the women standing around him. Then, the confusion turned into something resembling exasperation. He saw her push the chair back, stand up, and walk towards them.

He noticed the other women fall awkwardly quiet for a moment, as they noticed her. And one by one, they each tittered something about having things to do, and then scattered. His thoughts were interrupted by a calm "Hello."

He was being confronted by the slim redhead that the women were talking about a few minutes ago. Well... she was slim, except for the bump that was beginning to show beneath her clothes. He would guess that she was, perhaps, 5 months pregnant? But again, his thoughts were interrupted by the woman holding out a small hand. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Jessie Evans."

John stretched out a huge one, that easily engulfed hers. "John Cena." He paused, and then continued. "So... you're a new volunteer, then?"

Jessie smiled cheerfully. "Yup! One of the regulars managed to fall up some stairs and break her hip, so they called me in as a replacement." She paused. "On second thought, I probably shouldn't sound so happy about that. It's a such a shame, or something like that." (John couldn't help thinking that she really wasn't sorry at all.) Her voice suddenly switched back to cheerful again. "I've only been involved with Make a Wish for 2 months, so it was quite a shock when I was called in. Though I'm sure you've heard something about that already."

"What gives you that impression?"

She laughed. "Cindy and Paula" (That was her name. Paula. Not Patty.) "are notoriously some of the biggest gossipers among the volunteers. They also have quite stiff ideas about how things should be done. You should hear what they say about Martha." A sly smile graced her face. "Or were you not listening that closely to what they were saying?"

He looked at her in surprise. "Were you watching us?"

It was her turn to look surprised, and then a little repentant. "Yeah, I suppose I was." She shrugged. "It's hard not to pay attention to the famous John Cena when he's in a room. Besides, you're a delight to watch when you're with children. You're quite good with them."

"Lots of practice. You'll pick it up quickly the more you do it." He unconsciously glanced again at her belly, and then internally berated himself. She hadn't actually told him that she was expecting, and here he was, talking about her pregnancy which, if the other women were correct, wasn't an ideal situation.

"Oh, so they told you about that, as well?" Jessie put her hands on her hips and frowned slightly. "They certainly don't waste any time, do they?" Just as quickly as the shadow came, it passed from her face. "Well, it's true, I assume that I'll pick it up as I go along. I hope so though, or I'm going to be a lousy mother." She laughed at herself. "There are already so many ways a kid can go wrong. I'm the perfect example!" Jessie grinned, then glanced down at a silver watch on her wrist.

"Oh, god, I'm keeping you. If I'm remembering right, Martha said you needed to be out of here by 2, and it's already a quarter 'till." She looked back up at him, flashed a bright smile, and stuck out her hand again. "It was a pleasure to meet you John Cena," she said. "I've been a fan of WWE for a while, so meeting you was quite a nice surprise."

John nodded, shook her hand again, being careful not to squeeze her slim fingers engulfed in his big ones. "It has been. I'm sorry I can't chat any longer, my schedule is full today." He had training he needed to do, as well as work on some paperwork, check in to his hotel, get dinner, and sleep. Tomorrow was another house show, and he needed to have everything ready. He was catching a flight early to meet up with the other superstars, but he was alone in this city for the night, and really had no one to keep him company. Things weren't going well with Liz at home; the "patch" for their marriage really wasn't holding up, and the two of them were fighting constantly. It would be nice to have some companionship for dinner, at least...

And right then, before he knew what he was saying, WWE superstar John Cena asked Jessie Evans if she would like to go to dinner with him.

Jessie's response was stunned silence for a moment, which turned to skepticism, which then turned into a look of bemusement. "Well, I mean... I'm not sure that... I would love to, but... it'd be a little strange... especially since I'm a volunteer..."

John smiled as he watched her fumble for an answer. Jessie seemed sweet, but she was also probably about 10 his junior. Too big of an age gap for his taste and, if he was going to be honest with himself, he'd about had it with relationships for a while. "Just as some company?" He tilted his head slightly, and gave her the full force of a John Cena smile.

Jessie sighed. How could she say no to that? "Oh, I suppose. It's not like I have anything else going on..." That second part was an afterthought.

John grinned. "Great. I'll get you at 6:30?"

At that, Jessie shook her head. "You're going to be busy all day, right? How about I pick you up and decide where we go. Let a native make that decision."

John looked surprised at first, and then shrugged. "Fine with me. I'm staying at the Hilton. Just ask for me at the desk, and I'll have them call my room."

"Great! 6:30 it is." Jessie smiled again. "Oh, by the way. Try not to worry about the looks those women are shooting you right now." Her smiled widened. "I'm sure they'll get over the disappointment soon enough."

John looked over a circle of women who were staring at them in disbelief. A not-so-quiet whisper reached his ears, as someone hissed, "He asked the pregnant girl out for dinner? It must be a pity date..." before someone else shushed her. John looked back at Jessie.

"I think you should be the one not worrying about their looks," he said. She must have heard the voice as well. "I think it'd be more upsetting to you than to me."

"Nah." The redhead snorted. "The jealousy of neglected housewives doesn't really bother me. And those are the most notorious gossips in this part of the organization. Really, they're only happy when there's something new and juicy to talk about. Today that happens to be me. Quite frankly, they should be paying me for the entertainment I'm providing them." She paused thoughtfully. "Besides, being pregnant makes people treat you really differently anyway. I seem to be getting lots of huge smiles from other women these days, and every once in a while someone sticks their ear to my stomach. You'd think that having a baby automatically signs you up for some weird club where it's acceptable to just shove your face against someone..." Jessie made a face. "It's upsetting."

John laughed. "Thankfully I'll never know. See you later tonight, then?"

"Yup! 7 o'clock sharp!" Jessie held up 7 fingers.

"Wait..." John was confused.

"Kidding! I know it's 6:30. You're running late, you know, you'd better head out. Bye!" And with that, she turned around, plopped herself back behind the table she was at earlier, and went back to working on paperwork.

John smiled inwardly as he left the convention center. At least dinner wouldn't be quiet anymore. He smiled at the other women as he left, and followed Jessie's advice, completely ignoring the affronted looks they were shooting him.

Jessie tapped her fingers impatiently on the steering-wheel as she waited for the light to turn green. She wasn't running late, in fact she was early, but she was nervous. She had managed to laugh off the meeting and the invitation to dinner for the rest of the work day, but now that she was alone and it was almost 6:30, anxiety was starting to bubble up. To amuse herself, she imagined what her friends would say - but all she could come up with was their lecturing her on how anxiety was bad for the baby.

She glanced down at her stomach. "Miracle of life, huh..." she mused to herself quietly. If anything, having a baby was like getting a second job. Dieting, sleeping well, doctor's appointments, classes, avoiding stress... She might as well have taken up a sport. Except, instead of gaining muscle, she was gaining baby. It was times like these that she wondered why on earth she had ever agreed to have sex with someone in the first place.

But, her musing had done the trick. She had reached the Hilton at precisely 6:30, and had managed to distract herself from her nerves. Hopping out of her car, she walked inside the doors into the lobby. The doors whirred open softly in front of her, and she stepped on to the carpet. As she walked towards the front desk she looked around curiously. The lobby was covered beautiful tile and then lush carpet further on, with a fireplace and sofas surrounding it. "Ritzy place" was her first thought.

Reaching the desk, she smiled kindly at the man sitting behind it - who eyed the redhead standing in jeans and a sweater in front of him with skepticism.

"May I help you?"

"Jessie Evans?" She said her name like a question. "I'm here to pick up Mr. John Cena." The receptionist looked down at his desk.

"Ah, I see that you're expected. One moment please, Mrs. Evans." He picked up the receiver and dialed the number to John's room.

Jessie sighed inwardly. She wasn't a Mrs. Evans by any means. She was still very solidly a Ms. Evans. Though either of those titles struck her as weird. She was very informal, even opting to neglect her given name Jessica in favor of the more relaxed "Jessie."

After a minute, she heard footsteps behind her and turned around. "Mr. Cena! It's nice to see you again so soon."

"John," John found himself saying as he approached Jessie. "People rarely call me Mr. Cena."

He smiled at his dinner date for the evening, and took the opportunity to actually examine her. Jessie was wearing a nice pair of blue jeans, flat, soft brown knee-high boots, and a deep green sweater which complimented her auburn hair. If he could sum up her outfit in one word, it would be... comfortable. She looked very comfortable. He was glad that he hadn't decided to dress up; he was also wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket.

Jessie smiled brightly. "John it is! Well, let's go." She started walking, assuming that he would follow. "We're just headed off to a local restaurant, so we won't be going far. I figured I'd try to expose you to some local culture without immersing you enough that you get scared. Columbus can be a strange place. Growing all that corn does things to people."

John followed her out through the hotel doors and to the car parked in front of them. It was a teal Subaru Outback, and it beeped twice as she hit the button to unlock it. John opened up the passenger side and slid in, pushing the seat back as far as it would go to accommodate his size. At least he could fit in this vehicle; in the smaller ones, it was a struggle. He often felt unbearably cramped.

Jessie hopped in, started the engine, and pulled out of the carport and onto the road. John made some small talk with her, but the silence that fell between them at times was more comfortable than awkward. After about ten minutes, he saw Jessie flip on the turn signal and pull into a what looked to be a bar, named the Whey Pat. She parked the car, and then turned to him.

"We're here! This place has the best nachos in town. Seriously, they're god-like." Jessie opened the door to get out of her car, but paused for a moment and put a hand over her stomach. A flash of pain had shot through her belly, but she ignored it. Pregnancy did strange things to the body, and after craving peanut butter and nutella on chili for an entire month, she could accept that she would really never understand why her body reacted the way it did. It was just a passing thing anyway, nothing to be concerned about.

Without noticing anything, John followed her out of the car. "Nachos, huh? Sounds good to me. But will you let me buy you a drink? Just as a thank you for the ride and choosing the place to eat, of course." As soon as the words left his mouth he felt like an idiot. Of course she couldn't drink, she was pregnant. Any second now she was going to have to awkwardly explain... His thoughts were interrupted by a light smack on his shoulder.

"Sure, I'd love a drink." Jessie was grinning at him. "Root beer is my favorite."

Three hours later, John Cena was back in his hotel room at the Hilton, and just hanging up on a very tearful Liz. He'd told her about the dinner out with Jessie, and the already tense conversation had just gotten worse. The conversation about dinner led to Liz's bringing up old accusations of when she'd suspected him of being unfaithful, and then led to harsh words being said. By the end of the conversation his wife was crying, and he was feeling aggravated and tired. This was just the sort of thing he hadn't been able to deal with before; her severe insecurity and her refusal to believe him when he promised that he'd been faithful to her. She seemed determined to think the worst of him, and of course it didn't help that WWE divas were extremely beautiful women. Most of their conversations ended in fights these days, and even when they didn't, he wasn't happier having heard from her. He just felt emotionally drained, which could only distract him in the ring.

John found his thoughts wandering as he climbed into the shower. After remembering the events of the day, his thoughts turned to Jessie. At dinner he'd gotten to know her quite a bit more; and had enjoyed every minute of it. Her cheerful disposition and easy-going manner were what attracted him to her. She hadn't flirted with him and she hadn't treated him as anything more than a human being, which is what he needed right now. He just needed someone to spend time with and relax around, without feeling pressured one way or another. He didn't want to feel like he was betraying Liz by spending time with another woman, but at the same time, he didn't want to even think about Liz at all. Really, meeting Jessie had been a blessing. She had been just the thing he needed after a busy and stressful day. Or, really, a busy and stressful last 2 months.

As the hot water poured over his tired body, he ruefully also thought that it was, sadly, a good thing he was leaving Columbus in the morning. If he wasn't careful, he would end up spending much more time with Jessie Evans than he should, and that would really get people talking. Liz's already heavy suspicions would turn into more serious accusations, and if the media got wind of it... It would be a publicity nightmare for the WWE, and for Jessie as well. From what he'd gathered, the woman had her own problems - he didn't need to be one of them. Meeting her had been one of the highlights of his trip, and he would be sure to look her up again if he was ever in the area. He wanted to keep her friendship if he could, but it was definitely time for him to go. He could easily chalk the past evening up to loneliness... But if he was being honest with himself, he really wanted to see her again. Soon.

End of Chapter 1.

Well, there's the first part everybody! I hope that you enjoyed it and, as I said, feedback is really welcome. Thanks!