Remind Me [WWE] [Shawn Michaels] {Book 2}

Chapter Nineteen: Because of You

|Kat|

December 31st, 1998

"I need more champagne," I complained from my position at the end of mom's couch.

It was just Steph and I, waiting to ring in the new year. Dad and Paul were on the road, and Mom was in bed already.

The baby monitor on the coffee table let me know Scottie was still fast asleep. Being that she was only about a month old, however, that could change at any moment.

"Haven't you had enough?" Steph asked, pouring more into my glass.

"Not nearly."

I just had a baby. I was in pain, I was exhausted, and the new year had better come before I passed out. Yeah, I needed more to drink.

My year had been a wild ride, with more downs than ups.

Shawn and I broke up. I started an on-screen storyline with Paul. I gave birth to a baby girl. I turned 22. I got a tattoo for my ex.

Wild stuff.

If the new year was going to be anything like the last, I didn't want it. I was hoping to turn over a new leaf. Everything would start going my way soon enough. Sure.

That's what Steph kept trying to tell me, anyway. I didn't know if I could believe it. Everything seemed dreary at the moment.

No matter how many times my family told me things would get better, they hadn't.

I was still lonely and sad. I was still struggling to learn how to be a mom. My own mother was no help. I couldn't even breathe without being told I was doing it wrong.

The best times were when I was alone with Scottie. She was the one good thing to come out of the past year. I could stare at her all day, and that was most of what I did lately. My friends and most of my family were working all the time, so I didn't get a whole lot of socialization.

That was probably why Steph tried so hard to get me out of my room when she came home. I knew she meant well, but all I wanted to do was hang out with my baby in bed.

As much as I loved my new baby girl, being a mom was more than I bargained for. I barely had time to think about myself, when Scottie was awake and crying every few hours.

It was draining me, for sure. If midnight didn't hurry up, I was going back to bed.

"How's Scottie been doing at night?" Steph asked.

"She'll be awake any second now. She needs to eat soon."

Scottie's schedule was the only schedule that mattered to me at the moment. I had no clue what day of the week it was. I hadn't even known it was New Year's Eve until Steph came home.

"3... 2... 1... Happy New Year!" the woman on tv announced.

Just as the ball dropped, Scottie started crying.

I couldn't help but laugh. "She has incredible timing."

I clinked my glass against Steph's and drank my last sip. We said goodnight and I went to go comfort Scottie.

She quieted down almost immediately after I picked her up. "Did you just want to spend New Year's with mommy?" I asked, sitting down on the bed. She was so sweet. No matter the circumstances that caused her to exist, I couldn't imagine life without her. "Happy new year, babygirl. We'll get through this one together."