Flames

"Roux-ined", part 1

"Did Bianca send you a thank-you text for wearing that gear tonight?" Rhea's laugh rang out as Becky rounded the corner. The six-woman tag match that pitted her, Doudrop, and Nikki against Rhea, Liv, and Bianca had ended almost half an hour ago, but Becky had a post-match interview to do and then Medical wanted to make sure she wasn't too badly hurt. "It really frames the welts nicely." Rhea squeezed one eye shut and made L-frames with her hands the way many photographers did when lining up a shot.

"Your turn's coming," Becky fired back with a grin, rubbing her abdomen gingerly. "It'll really make your tattoos pop, I'm sure. Can't beat black and red together." She was about to keep walking to the locker room when she noticed her daughter spinning in circles with Liv. "Roux! What's she doing here?" she asked Liv, glancing around. Seth was nowhere to be seen, so Roux should have been with the nanny.

Rhea ran over and scooped Roux up into a faux power slam, making her giggle madly. "Seth had to go talk to Vince about something," she answered, "so he left his little shadow with us."

Roux squirmed until Rhea set her down, and then she dashed over to her mother, tapping her leg. "Mama! Mama, look!" Then she hurried back over to Rhea and waved Liv over as well.

Liv tilted her head back and laughed. "Oh, yeah, Mama's going to love this. Sorry, Becks. But she's too cute! We couldn't resist."

Becky narrowed her eyes, leaning back against the wall. "Couldn't resist what?" She knew she was smiling, though. Some environments weren't kid friendly, and not everyone wanted to watch their language around a young child, but luckily nearly everyone backstage loved having Roux hang around. That would likely change as she got older and more able to get in trouble, but for now, it was a delight watching the other wrestlers play with her. Roux's laugh had a way of lifting people's spirits.

"You know, just teaching her some moves." Rhea's impish grin spread slowly across her face as she leaned down to Roux's level. "Ready, Roux?"

"Yeah!" Roux hopped around happily, flailing her arms in excitement. "Let's go!" Then she waved wildly to get Becky's attention. "Mama! Look!"

"I'm watching, sweetheart." Becky wrapped her arms around her abdomen. In her excitement, Roux hadn't noticed the welts yet, and Becky didn't want to dim her enthusiasm for whatever Rhea had taught her. "Has Dada seen it?"

"Not yet," Rhea replied, subtly repositioning Roux so the little girl was on her left-hand side, "but I'm sure she's got enough energy left to show him too. Ready, Roux? One... two... THREE!" Then she raised her right leg high in her trademark entrance stomp.

Liv and Roux's versions looked more like high-energy bunny hops, and Roux was beaming. "Mama see?" she asked, running back over to Becky.

"Mama saw." Becky kissed Roux's cheek and hugged her. "You were awesome! You'll have to show Dada later."

Roux nodded proudly as she stepped back, ready to run back to Rhea and Liv for another stomp, but then she saw the marks criss-crossing Becky's abdomen. "Mama owie?" She tried stretching her arm up to touch the welts, but they were too high up for her to reach.

Sighing, Becky knelt so Roux could see the wounds for herself. She and Seth were both trying to avoid getting bloodied in matches in case Roux saw, but they knew anything could happen at any time. "Mama has owies," she confirmed, "but the doctor looked at them and said they'll be okay." She smiled as Roux traced the lines very gently. When she glanced up, she saw Seth approaching. "Look, Roux! Do you see who I see?"

"DADA!" Roux abandoned her careful examination of Becky's welts and ran over to Seth, who picked her up and pretended to nibble on her cheek.

"He's really good with her," Rhea remarked quietly, moving over to Becky's side. "I've heard that a lot of wrestling dads were pretty shitty back in the day, but he just melts when she's around."