A little Romance [a Roman Reigns story]

35 More than a little romance

~ 2 years later ~

I was gently awakened as Roman's fingers drew small circles on the skin on my stomach. A smile formed on my lips as I turned my head in his direction. With a sigh, I opened my eyes and looked into the warm, dark orbs. The look in them warmed my insides and I felt the butterflies flutter in my stomach.

"Good morning, baby girl!" murmured Roman in his sexy morning voice.

He leaned in to give me a good morning kiss. I lifted my hand and placed it tenderly against his cheek.

"Good morning Superman. How did you sleep?" I asked as I turned on my side to get a better look at him.

"Very well. What about you? Are you nervous?" he wanted to know.

"Not really. It's far less nerve-wracking the second time around. I'm more excited about the other thing." I replied and started playing with his hair.

"So do I. But still, I would understand if you were nervous. It's a huge accomplishment. And I firmly believe the second cookbook will be as big a success as the first," Roman said.

"We'll see how it goes. It's not a big deal. It's not like I've made a literary breakthrough. It's just a cookbook, Ro." I replied, lowering my gaze.

For today we had planned a small party with family and friends to celebrate the release of my second work. Although 'small' was not a thing with us. After all, we were a pretty big family.

"Baby girl, listen to me. It's a big fucking deal. You worked your ass off to write these books. All the recipe testing and tweaking. And you've been basically doing it all on the side. You took care of Mason and the house and our family. And yet you still had enough time to visit me with our son as often as you could. Don't diminish your accomplishments," he explained as he lifted my chin with his index finger, making me look at him.

"Do you know how much I love you?" I asked.

"Oh I think I have a pretty good idea." he smirked before leaning in to kiss me.

Roman's arms wrapped around my hips and he pulled me tightly against his hard chest. My arms wound themselves around his neck. Quickly the kiss deepened as we lay nestled so close together in our bed.

But then I suddenly heard a noise and pulled back. Confused, I looked around to find out where the noise had come from.

"What's going on?" wanted Roman to know.

"I heard something. I think Mason is up," I replied.

"Are you sure? I didn't hear any-" he began, but then the door, which wasn't quite closed, suddenly opened and in walked a grinning little guy.

With quick steps he came over to us and started pulling at the covers. Roman reached over and helped Mason onto the bed. Immediately he crawled between us. Mason gave me his prettiest smile before giving me a big smooch on the nose.

"Good morning, MJ." I said laughing.

"It looks like someone climbed out of his bed," I said to his father.

"Yeah. That was the first time, wasn't it?" he replied.

"Yes. I think it's time for the big boy bed. I don't ever want him to get stuck and hurt himself potentially," I said.

"It's good that we already have it here. I will set it up tomorrow. We already have enough to do today. Have you picked up the water balloons yet?" he wanted to know.

"Of course. They're in the car along with the canvas. Mason is going to have such a blast with it." I replied, rubbing my little man's back.

"Blast what?" asked Mason, looking at me with his big eyes.

"Mason is going to help Mommy and Daddy find out if you are having a little sister or brother today," I explained to him.

"Baby boy." he said with confidence.

He always said that when we talked about the little something that was on the way. I wasn't sure he understood fully, but Mason was sure he had a brother coming.

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"Damn! Baby girl, look at you!" Roman gasped when he saw what I was dressed in for the party.

It was the dress I had worn on our first date. It still fit, though of course it was much tighter now. But I loved it because it perfectly showed off my baby bump.

"Do you remember?" I asked.

"Like it was yesterday." he said softly, taking my hands gently in his.

"Come on guys!" Mason squeaked suddenly, spoiling the beautiful moment.

But my mind still wandered back to that day. Sometimes I wondered what my life would be like today if I had chickened out of the blind date. I wasn't sure where I would be today, but I was convinced that I wouldn't be married to the hottest man on the planet and expecting my second baby with him.

I knew that nothing in life happened without a reason. Even if we recognize the reason only much later. Deep inside me, I knew what I was destined to start wrestling, because it would help me find my true calling. And the love of my life. The father of my children. The person who made me as happy and complete as nothing else ever could or would.

I loved my life and my family. A path had been revealed to me that I would not have believed was for me before. But once Roman came into my life, my view of my life and my future had changed drastically. As it turned out, wrestling was not my fulfillment. On the contrary, it sucked more strength than I was willing to give.

However, with this man by my side, I was ready to put my health, mental and physical, first and take a different path. As it turned out, it was a fantastic decision.

Roman gave me another kiss. First on the lips, then on the forehead while he gently stroked my bump. Mason, meanwhile, was getting a little impatient and started tugging at his daddy's pants. Then Roman bent down to lift Mason into his strong arms.

And so together we made our way to the location where the party for my book and the reveal of our baby's gender would take place.

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"Alright, MJ. You throw the water balloons as hard as you can against the canvas. If blue paint comes out, you get a brother. If it's pink paint, you get a sister. Okay?" explained Roman to our Superboy as he squatted down next to him.

Mason listened intently to his daddy before taking one of the balloons. Roman and I also took one balloon each.

"On three, Mason. One.... two.... three!" I counted and then we threw the balloons at the canvas.

The paint spread over it and the guests standing behind us started cheering. I threw my arms around my husband's neck and hugged him tightly until we heard Mason ask us something.

"Where's blue?" he asked, confused, staring at the bright pink canvas.

"Sweetie, you're getting a sister. That's why it's pink." I explained to him and had to laugh because his lower lip was trembling slightly.

"Awww, baby. Don't be sad." I comforted my boy and gently lifted him up.

He put his little head against my neck and sniffled softly. Roman was immediately at our side, stroking MJ's back.

"Maybe next time it will be a brother for you, buddy boy." said Roman to him.

Immediately Mason raised his head and looked at his father expectantly. A grin appeared on his face as if someone had turned on a light. He reached out to Roman and he quickly took him into his arms. Both of my men were so cute.

"Next time, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, well... If I'm lucky." he winked at me.

"I'm sure you will be, Superman." I replied, wrapping my family in my arms.

Roman leaned down and kissed me. There was so much love in that kiss. A love that I was so grateful for. A love that had quickly become more than a little romance. A love that was real.