Seize The Day

Stephanie’s P.O.V.

“No Stephy-kins! You can’t leave me!” Jimmy yelled as he hugged me really tightly.

“Jim…can’t…breathe…” I muffled.

He let me go but kept me at arm’s length. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, Slim Jim!” I told him.

I moved on to Johnny. “Peace out Johnny.” I did the peace symbol before quickly moving onto Zacky.

“Jerk!” I heard him say. I laughed.

“Bye Stephanie, I’m really going to miss you baby girl.” Zacky told me as he pulled me into a hug.

I hugged him back tightly. “I’m going to miss you too, Z.” I felt tears start to brim my eyes.

I walked over to Brian and he was really teary eyed. I could tell he was fighting really hard not to cry. I couldn’t help but let the tears escape anymore. I hugged him and we stayed like that in silence for some time.

“Don’t go, Princess.” He begged me.

“Bri…I have to.” I looked up at him with sorry eyes. He looked really sad. Aside from Matt, I had gotten the most attached to Brian the whole time I was here. It was definitely hard to be saying goodbye to him, even if it was just for a week. “Call me everyday okay?”

He nodded. “Don’t forget about me alright?”

I laughed. “There’s no way I could ever forget Synyster Fucking Gates!” I told him.

We hugged again and Matt picked up my bags.

“Come on, Steph, you don’t wanna miss your flight.” He said gently.

I said bye to the guys again and followed Matt to the docking gates.

“I’m gonna miss you, Steph.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“Me too, Matt, but it’s only gonna be for a week right?” I asked hopefully.

He nodded. They called my flight over the intercom and I sighed.

“I got you something.” He said before pulling out a white box from his back pocket.

“Oh Matt! You shouldn’t have!” I told him.

He opened the box and revealed the most beautiful crystal heart necklace I’ve ever seen.

“Just a little something to keep me in your thoughts.” He smiled.

I felt more tears escape my eyes. I turned around so that he could put it on me. “I love it. Thank you.” I hugged him and he hugged me back tightly.

“One week.” He whispered in my ear. “And we’ll see each other again.”

Stephanie's P.O.V.

I'm gonna chase this whiskey with Patrón,
I wanna girl on my lap and a jägerbomb;
I'm comin' in hot, you heard me
And I'ma make it rain on the girl who serves me
I drink a fifth of vodka till it’s gone
And if it feels so good then it can't be wrong
I'm comin' in hot, you heard me
And we be taking shots and if not you nerdy

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and picked up my phone from my night table. It was my best friend Isabelle’s ringtone so I was excited to see what she said.

Isabelle: Hey girly! I heard you’re back in town! Coffee at 9?
Stephanie: Sounds like a plan, doll! See you there!

I got up and went to the shower. My body was so tense from the flight and it felt amazing when the hot water hit my body. After my shower, I threw on my clothes, did my hair and makeup and grabbed my keys from the table.

It wasn’t a far walk from my condo to Starbucks and as soon as I walked in, I was attacked by Isabelle.

“Oh my god, Steph! I fucking missed you! You look fabulous!” she said everything in one breath.

I laughed and hugged her tightly. “I missed you too, Izzy! How’re things with you?”

We sat at our regular table in the back. “I got a promotion at work! I’m a photographer now!”

Belle works for People magazine and it’s always been her dream to become a photographer for them. I was so proud of her!

We caught up with everything we had missed while I was gone.

*********

“Happy birthday, Romeo!” My little nephew ran up to me and I picked him up to hug him. “How’s my favorite man?”

He giggled as I tickled his tummy. “I’m good, auntie Nee-Nee! I missed you so much!”

I laughed and put him back on the ground. “How much did you miss me?”

He stretched his arms out really wide. “I missed you this much!”

“I missed you this much!” I also stretched my arms out as wide as I could.

“Whoa, auntie! That’s a lot!”

“I know, baby! Oh! Guess who I brought with me?” he looked at me expectantly. I waved in Ted and Cody. When Romeo saw them, he went crazy and attacked them in hugs.

“Uncle Ted! Uncle Cody!”

“Hey little guy!” they both hugged him.

“Alright guys, we have to get home to get this little man ready for his birthday party!” Dalina said as she mussed Romeo’s hair.

Cody grabbed my bags and carried them Dalina’s car for me.

“Thank you, Cody.” I told him.

He smiled down at me. “Don’t thank me. I’m just being the gentleman your brother isn’t.” he teased Ted.

Ted stuck his tongue out at Cody and we both laughed.

We got to Dalina’s house and Romeo immediately pulled me to his room to show me all of his toys.

“And this one’s my favorite one!” He held up a little blonde action figure. After taking a closer look I realized it was my action figure.

I smiled and held back tears.

“There’s better wrestlers than her. I thought Randy was your favorite.” I told him. I was honestly honored that he would think so highly of me. I met so many fans every day, but it was completely different when it was coming from your only nephew.

“Not anymore.” He picked up the action figure and just looked at her. “Sometimes, when mommy and daddy are fighting, I come in here, put on the CD you gave me and talk to her. It’s like if you’re here again, it stops me from crying because I want to be as strong as you are.”

The tears were threatening to escape, but I kept them away. “You think too highly of me, baby.”

He shook his head, disagreeing with me.

“Do mommy and daddy fight a lot?” I asked, already expecting the answer.

He nodded his head this time and continued playing with my action figure. “But it’s okay, cause now that you’re here, you’ll make everything better, won’t you auntie Nee-Nee?”

“Romeo! We have to get you dressed! You can play with your auntie and uncle later, okay?” Dalina said before I could reply.

I went to my guest room and burst into tears. He was too young to have to go through this. And what do I do if he asks me that question again?

Once I got myself calmed down, I got dressed in a nice outfit for his party and grabbed the present I bought him before I came.

We had just finished cutting the cake and Cody was taking a picture of Dalina, Ted, Romeo and I.

“Look at the happy family.” A very drunk Rafael said.

“What’re you doing here, Rafael?” Dalina asked in a careful voice.

“I’m here for my kid’s party!” he threw his hands in the air, spilling his beer in the process. He pulled her to him, roughly. “How about a kiss sweet heart?”

She jerked in his arms. “Stop!”

“Let her go!” I commanded him as I pulled her out of his grasp. I positioned myself so that Dalina and Romeo were behind me. Ted and Cody stood on either side of me, but a little in front, creating a wall between him and my sister.

“Stephanie! How nice to see you again! How long has it been since you completely abandoned your family? 2 years?” I winced as he said that. “2 whole years that Romeo, your ‘favorite’ nephew cried for his auntie Nee-Nee. Everyday asking when she was going to come back and visit him.” He smirked. I tried to keep him from seeing how much this was affecting me. “You deserve the Aunt of the year award.”

“Rafael, just go home.” Dalina told him.

He laughed bitterly. “Nah, I have a right to be here. It’s my house. It’s my kid’s party. You can’t kick me out.” He looked at Ted and Cody from head to toe. “And who are these guys? You whoring around now, Dalina?”

“Hey man, back off.” Ted warned him, calmly.

“No!” he nearly yelled. “And I suggest you shut your fucking mouth before I shut it for you.”

“You guys. He’s not worth it. Don’t let him upset you.” I told them. They looked ready to kill. I made my face gentle and turned to Romeo. “You want to take your friends inside and show them your toys?”

He silently nodded and went.

“Cody, can you go with them?” Dalina asked.

He looked between Rafael and us. I gave him an encouragingly smile.

He hesitantly left inside to make sure the kids were fine.

“Hey! Why’s he going with my kid?” Rafael asked.

“Rafael, I’ll give you 5 seconds to turn around and go home before I do something I won’t regret.” I warned him.

He smirked at me and took a step closer to me, causing Ted to step closer to him. I put a hand on Ted, telling his to stop. “You think I’m scared of you, Stephanie? You think just because you’re a wrestler, I’m going to cower in fear?” he laughed bitterly. “You’re nothing. Absolutely, pathetic. Just like you’re whore of a sister.” He spat the word.

Before Ted could step in, I threw a punch hit my target. I felt and heard a crack and knew I broke his nose.

“Stephanie!” Dalina yelled worried. Ted held back Rafael who was trying to get to me and Dalina was holding me back. I was seeing red.

“Don’t ever talk about my sister!” I seethed. Ted got him to leave and Dalina pulled me and made me sit with her on some lawn chairs.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes while I calmed my anger. I looked down at my knuckles which were starting to turn red.

“Thank you.” Dalina said quietly.

I looked up at her and she was fiddling with her fingers. I smiled at her and grabbed her hand. “Anytime, sis.”

I looked out the window and saw Dalina’s new house. I paid the taxi driver and got out. I took a deep breath to clear away the memories from last year.

“Auntie Nee-Nee!” Romeo yelled as he ran out the door and to me.

“Hey Romeo!” I picked him up and continued walking to the house.

“Hey, little sis.”

“Hey, big sis.”

Stephanie’s P.O.V.

“So, how’ve you been?” I asked Dalina.

She shrugged. “Rafael hasn’t bugged me in a while. Romeo asked for you all the time. He kept asking when auntie Nee-Nee was coming back.”

I smiled, but my heart panged a little. “Vince wanted me to stay longer and hold off on the whole leaving thing. He wanted to extract this scene out as long as he could.” I sighed.

“So…do you have a boyfriend?” she asked like a little teenager. These were the things I missed about having my sister around. In the WWE, I really only talked to the guys so there was never any time for girl talk.

I laughed. “Umm… Not exactly.” I told her honestly.

She gasped. “But there is a guy?” I looked down at my fingers and started chipping at my nails. “Tell me, Steph! Is he cute? What does he do? Where’d you meet him?” she said in one breath.

“Lucy! Calm down! You sound like a 40 year old mom talking to her 15 year old daughter!” we both laughed.

“No, really. Tell me, I want to know who this poor guy is.” She joked.

I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at her. “Well, for starters, yes he’s cute. He has these amazing dimples that you just want to poke! He’s 6’1” and VERY muscular! He’s covered in tattoos and has his ears gauged. I met him at Starbucks-”

“I like him already!” she interrupted me. Dalina shared my intense obsession for Starbucks.

“He’s super sweet and funny. He’s got an amazing voice that makes you want to melt into a puddle. He’s very protective and such a sweet talker.” I told her. I felt a huge smile on my face as I told her about Matt.

“And how long have you been seeing him?”

“About 2 weeks.” I told her.

“And what happens now? Are you guys ever going to see each other again?”

“Yeah, him and the guys live here in Huntington Beach actually. They’re coming in 3 days.”

“What’s his name?”

“It’s Matt. Matt Sanders.” I smiled. “I actually think you’ll take a liking to one of his friends. He’s a real cutie and very flirty! I actually became really close with him in particular. He became a really good friend of mine.”

“Steph, you know I don’t want anything romantic.” She warned me.

“I didn’t say that. I just said you’d like him!” I defended myself. She kept her glare on me before shrugging it off. “Anyways, where are my babies?”

She laughed and I followed her outside to the back yard. As soon as she opened the door my Siberian husky attacked me.

“Bartho!” I yelled. I knelt down to his level and he started licking my face like a maniac. I heard high pitched barking and saw Corny running towards me. “Hi hunny!” I picked up my tiny Pomeranian and hugged her while she licked my face too. I pet Lucy’s dog Seth on the head and walked back inside. The dog’s followed us and as soon as I sat on the couch, Corny jumped on my lap so that I could pet her.

“Where’s Juju?” I asked of my guinea pig.

She laughed. “In Romeo’s room. He’s grown quite attached to that little rat thing. He’s gonna be so sad when he has to give her back.” She told me.

I laughed. At least now I know what to get him for Christmas!