Flames

Back in Vegas, part 1

"My little alien." Seth held Roux close to his chest, careful not to dislodge the protective headphones covering her ears; the crowd noise wasn't too bad where they were, but once they got closer to Gorilla, it could be harmful toher ears. She would be nine months old in a few weeks and he still couldn't believe she had been out in the world for that long; sometimes he still expected to see Becky's rounded belly. Instead Roux was there in his arms, squirming, wanting to be down on the floor so she could crawl. "Those headphones are almost bigger than your head."

"Poor Roux." Seth glanced up to see Roman approaching, laughing as he smiled. "What are you doing to my niece, you monster?" Gently ruffling her hair, Roman kissed Roux's head and narrowly avoided being hit by her happily flailing hand.

"That's my cue." Seth turned his daughter around and held her out for Roman to hold. Whenever Roux decided she wanted to move or be held by someone else, he'd quickly discovered it was best to let her have her way; he had lost track of how many times he had accidentally been smacked in the face simply because she was determined to move. "Why don't we let Uncle Roman get beat up for a while?"

"This slander, honestly." Roman cradled Roux to his chest like a pro, of course, and she snuggled in easily. "My niece would never do such a thing. Really, Roux, I think you need to fire this fool. Wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours."

"Who's been released now?" Becky strode in, drinking from a bottle of water. "Did they honestly release someone right at SummerSlam?"

Seth shook his head and pulled her close for a kiss. "No. Roman's just goofing around and trying to get our daughter to fire me, that's all."

"Well, you have been slacking off on diaper duty...." Leaning up against Seth, Becky watched Roux tug at Roman's shirt. "You make her look so small."

"Just wait until you see Omos with her," Roman replied with a chuckle. "Then she looks like a doll." Then he kissed Becky's head and passed Roux to her. "I'm sure she wants some mama time before you head out to the ring."

Becky smiled down at her daughter. "Who's this?" she cooed. "I've barely gotten to see you since we got here!" Her presence at SummerSlam had been a closely guarded secret, so everyone backstage was delighted to see her—and even happier to see how Roux was growing. "Well, at least we're not on back to back," she said, glancing up at Seth. "This way we can watch each other's matches with her."

Seth saw the hesitation creeping into the set of her shoulders and he hated it. Sasha wasn't able to fight Bianca as scheduled, so Vince had decided to push Becky's return up by several weeks. Becky didn't mind that so much, but she wasn't as fond of the plan that would have her beat Bianca for the SmackDown Women's Championship in under a minute. "You're going to be great," he assured Becky, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "And Bianca knows it's not your idea." The light caught his wedding ring and he glanced away so Roman wouldn't see him grinning like an idiot. It had been almost two months since they got married and even though he couldn't wear his ring as often as he liked, the sight of it never failed to make him smile. He had a wife and a daughter and his life could not have been more different than it was a year ago.

"You two will have a great feud," Roman chimed in. "People love Bianca, so you might actually get them to boo you this time. I don't know who thought the audience would see Charlotte as the face in your feud." He reached over and tapped Roux's nose. "I'm a little surprised you got Vince to agree to a heel turn, actually, but I guess that's the power of The Man."

"And don't you forget it," Becky warned with a laugh, "or else we'll see who the real head of the table is." Then she kissed Roux's head and held her back out to Roman. "I just need my hands free for a moment," she explained before grabbing Seth's shoulders and kissing him.