The Rivals

||Anita||
“What do I do?” I asked quietly. Quinn looked at me for a long time, and then let out a giant sigh, running her hands through her hair.
“If it were me I’d talk to them both and…” She bit her lip.
“Tell them about…” I let my hand flutter over my stomach.
“Yeah. You’ll have to tell them eventually, so I would suggest just getting it over with.” I nodded as I changed into my street clothes. “I’ll go find Paul; will you tell Cody to meet me in the hotel restaurant tomorrow night?” I asked.
“I think I can do that.” She said, smiling softly. I smiled and hugged her, which obviously caught her a little off guard, but she hugged me back.
“Thank you.” I whispered. “For everything.”
“Just think, a few months ago we were at each other’s throats all the time.” She said, chuckling. “I’m going to go find Cody. Good luck with Paul.”
“Thanks.” I watched as she walked out and took a deep breath, grabbing my things and walking off to find Paul.
I caught him just as he was about to get into his rental. “Paul!” I called. He stopped and looked at me, a huge grin lighting up his face. He ran over and hugged me, picking me up and spinning me around. Finally he set me down and looked at me, but when he saw my expression his smile dropped.
“Ani, what’s wrong?”
“I need to talk to you…in private.” I said quietly.
“Okay, I’ll give you a ride back to the hotel and we can talk.” He said, walking me to his car. I just sat down in the passenger’s seat feeling sick. How was I going to tell him? He’d kill Cody if the baby was his, but Cody was so young, I couldn’t let a kid jeopardize his career. Paul could tell something was wrong and took my hand in his as we drove to the hotel. When we got to his room I collapsed on the couch with my face in my hands. “Ani, talk to me.”
“Paul, I’m sorry.” I said, I didn’t know what else to say at this point.
“Ani, what do you have to be-”
“I’m pregnant.” I blurted out. Paul looked at me for a long time, but eventually smiled.
“Ani, that’s great.” He gushed. “This is amazing! We can maybe take some time off and buy a house and-” I shook my head and Paul’s smile dropped again.
“It might not be yours.” I admitted.
“Runnels?” He asked simply. I nodded. “Have you told him yet?” I shook my head. I couldn’t even look at him right now, I was so embarrassed.
“Ani, look at me.” I turned to see his soft brown eyes. “I love you, and I don’t care if it’s Cody’s kid or mine. I’ll be there to help you raise it and we can start a family, like we talked about.”
“Paul, your career-”
“Fuck my career. I would trade all of it in for you, to just see you be happy again, because that’s what you deserve.” He gently laid his hand on my stomach. “Both of you deserve to be happy.” He leaned in and gave me a giant hug. “I love you Ani, never forget that.” I pulled back.
“I have to go. I have to tell Cody too.”
“No.” Paul said simply. “Don’t tell him. He’ll just turn around and tell Eve and Chris and they’ll use it against you. He’ll never have to know. You and I can raise this baby all by ourselves.”
“He’ll know, even if I don’t tell him. He’ll know Paul. Please.” Finally Paul sighed and gave me another hug.
“Alright, do what you have to.” He said quietly. “When can I see you again?”
“Can you give me until Monday? I need to sort all this out.”
“Alright, but if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask. I’m going to be here for you all the way.”
“Okay.” I said quietly, walking out the door. I walked down to the lobby to drive to my hotel when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Cody staring at me. He smiled and just hugged me, holding me like he hadn’t seen me in months.
“Quinn said you needed to talk to me, but I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.” I sighed.
“Come out to my car with me.” I said. I sat down in the driver’s seat and Cody slid in next to me. Just like Paul he could tell something was wrong and took my hands in his.
“Ani, are you okay?” I shook my head and he squeezed my hands gently. “Then talk to me.” He said.
“Cody…” I felt my eyes brim with tears. Cody had such a promising future and a child would destroy it. He’d have to take care of us and people would use it against him and he’d lose everything. He wasn’t like Paul, he was just a kid. We both were just kids. I remembered Paul’s offer about not telling Cody, but Cody would know. I knew it; he was too smart to not put the dates together.
“Ani, please, talk to me. Whatever it is we can get through it together.”
“No we can’t.” I whispered.
“Is it about your nightmares?” He asked quietly. I shook my head, remembering the night I had spent with Cody, I hadn’t had a nightmare for the first time in seven years, it was a miracle and I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to feel safe like that again, but I just couldn’t do this to him. “Ani, please.” I looked into his beautiful blue gray eyes.
I loved Cody’s eyes so much, they almost changed color with his mood, when he was happy they were bright blue, but turned gray like now when he was worried, and then they were almost a greenish blue when he was angry with someone. Right now they were as gray as the sky on a rainy afternoon as I took a deep breath and tried to stop my tears. Then, I don’t know how, but Cody figured it out.
“You’re pregnant aren’t you?” He asked quietly. I nodded and looked back at him. He let out a long sigh. “Is it mine or…” He shuddered at the thought of Paul. “His?” He looked back at me and I just bit my lip.
“I don’t know.” Cody was obviously much less excited then Paul. He put his face in his hands for about ten minutes. I slowly reached over and rubbed his back.
“This is all my fault.” He mumbled into his palms.
“No it’s not-” I started. He shot up and looked at me.
“Yes it is Ani, don’t you dare try to blame yourself. If I hadn’t been in such a damn hurry to get in your pants I would have thought this kind of thing through and none of this would have ever happened and…”
“Cody.” He sighed and looked at me as I pressed my forehead to his. “I’m not going to let this ruin your career. Paul offered to help me raise the baby and as far as we know, it’s his anyway-”
“Who was first?” He asked. I sighed and ran my hands through my hair.
“You.”
“How much later was he?” He asked. I blushed, embarrassed. “Ani, tell me.”
“Two days.”
“Fuck.” He muttered.
“Cody that doesn’t mean it’s yours, it could be Paul’s, and like I said he’s offered to be the full time dad so that you can focus on your career.”
“It’s not about my career. I don’t give a flying fuck if I get fired tomorrow. Besides, you’re the only reason I have a career.”
“Then why-”
“I’m worried about you Ani. What if something goes wrong? Jesus Christ, what if you lose it? You’ve already lost way too much for any one person. And besides…my family doesn’t exactly have the best genes for babies. We’ve had a lot of miscarriages.” I felt my blood run cold. I thought about Kharma and how devastated she had been. No one knew if she’d ever come back. I couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. “Besides, I’ll be damned if I let Paul take you and… our kid,” He touched my stomach gently, “away from me.”
“Cody…I…” He smiled and gently kissed my forehead.
“I love you Ani, and I’m going to make sure that both of you come out of this okay.” He took my hand in his. “Look, I’m thinking about going back to Georgia to see my family while I’m suspended, you should come with me. You can meet my parents and get some fresh air. It’ll be good for you.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?” Cody’s eyes got huge. “You’re not going to keep wrestling are you?” I stayed quiet as Cody continued to wait for an answer. Finally I spoke.
“I can’t leave right before we get the titles Cody-”
“Titles that creative can take away any time they damn well please? No. You’re going to Levesque and you’re going on maternity leave.”
“No I’m not. Quinn promised me three months and that’s how long I’m staying. I’ve worked too hard for this. And I can’t do that to Quinn, me being stupid isn’t a reason for her to lose those titles. It’s not fair.”
“Are those your words or hers?” Cody asked, knowing Quinn would never risk my health like that.
“Three months Cody, it’s not that long.”
“It’s long enough for something to happen. What if Even and Chris find out and beat you with a bat or something? We need to hide you to keep you both safe. I’m not going to let something happen to you!”
“You already have.” I said quietly. He looked at me for a long time. “If the kid is yours that means I was pregnant when Eve attacked me with that pipe. There’s no way a two day old baby could have survived that.” Cody teared up and then looked back into my eyes.
“But there’s a chance isn’t there? Maybe it small enough that it was protected.”
“That’s a million to one shot Cody. I’m sorry.”
“Then I’ll raise Paul’s baby. I don’t care whose it is because I deserve to be in its life just as much as he does.”
“Cody please.”
“I’m not going to lose you Ani! God dammit there is no way I can stand to see you with Paul again. I won’t let you go back to him.” I watched as a tear rolled down Cody’s cheek, followed by another and another until he wiped them away furiously. “I love you Ani, I won’t let him take you from me again.”
“Cody.” I bit my lip as I saw how broken he was over this. He finally collapsed, burying his face into the hollow of my throat, crying. I sat up, holding him as he didn’t let me go. “Cody please, don’t do this.”
“No. I can’t see him hurt you again. You deserve so much better, than both of us.” He said, looking into my eyes and making my heart ache.
“I should go.” I said finally.
“You’re going to pick Paul aren’t you?” He asked. “Because you think that he’ll be a better dad.”
“It’s not that at all Cody. But if he is the father he has a right to see-”
“What about me Ani? I love you with everything I am, doesn’t that give me some sort of right too? And what if it is my kid because it’s tough? I won’t watch you kill it while you fight men who don’t know you’re pregnant. I won’t, I love you too much.”
“Cody, it’s my body and Quinn knows, so we’re being extra careful. Don’t worry.” I tried, brushing his hair with my fingers trying to calm him down.
“I am going to worry, and I’m not leaving until you go on leave. I’m going to help you with this Ani.” I shook my head.
“Cody, you have your whole life ahead of you to meet a girl who you’ll love because you want to, not because you have to.”
“Ani, don’t do this to me. I don’t want anyone else.”
“Cody, I can’t let you throw your life away because of me.”
“What about your life? We’re the same damn age! You have just as much of your life ahead to and I won’t let you spend it with that cheating bastard!” He looked into my eyes and I felt the butterflies again. “I couldn’t protect you once, please, don’t let me fail a second time.” He brushed a piece of hair out of my face and gently pressed his lips to mine. I wanted to kiss him back to badly, to be in his arms and feel safe, but…
I pulled away. “Cody, I need to think about this.” He looked at me and his eyes were gray again. “Give me until Monday; I’ll have made my choice.”
“Ani.” He pressed his lips back to mine. “That’s my closing argument.” He said, smirking at me. “That and the fact that I love you because I want to love you, not because I have to.” He sighed and hopped out of my car as I drove back to the hotel. I looked in the rearview mirror and watched as he stood there, watching me leave, feeling my heartstring tearing one by one. How I got back to the hotel I’ll never know. I wished I had never chosen this profession. Cody and Paul wouldn’t be in all this pain and my parents and Charlie might still be alive if I hadn’t wanted to be a damn wrestler. I sighed and sat down on my bed, touching my stomach.
“We’ve got a long few days ahead of us little buddy.” I said, running my hand over my stomach.
How could I ever choose?