Flames

Knows Her Colours, part 1

"Look." With a quick apology, Becky grabbed a sheet off the stack of Missing posters from someone who was heading to the prop department. "May I?"

The man nodded quickly. "Of course."

Becky noted that he hurried off before she could take extras, but nowadays it seemed like WWE always ordered more than they needed. I could send one to Ma, she thought with a laugh. She held the paper up beside her face and grinned. "What do you think? Good likeness?"

"Nothing compares to the real thing," Seth replied, leaning in for a kiss. "But at least it's not a Wanted poster. Because we're not sharing Mama—right, Roux?"

Roux shook her head so vigorously her whole body took part and she almost dropped her book. Becky had just filmed a quick video with her as part of the feud with Trish, but Roux had decided she was going to keep the book with her. Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser had offered to teach her the names of the colours in other languages, but Becky suggested doing that another day. "Nope. Mama's ours."

"Aw. Thank you, sweet girl." Becky crouched down and kissed her daughter's cheek, then booped her nose as she stood. "Roux. Remember what I told you about Auntie Trish?"

Roux's nod was more sombre this time. "She's going to say mean things."

"That's right. But it's just part of the story," Becky added. "She doesn't mean them. She loves you very much. You know that, right?"

"I know." Roux pointed up to her ponytail. "She did my hair!" Still smiling, she hugged her book to her chest. "And I know my colours!" she declared proudly, pointing to Becky's pants. "Black!" Then she shifted her attention to Becky's shoes. "Yellow. Blue...."

"Good thing Auntie Trinity's not here tonight," Seth remarked, "or else this could take a while." Calling her Trinity in a work setting was going to take a while to get used to, but they couldn't wait to start showing Roux current matches with one of her favourite aunties, even if it was with a different company. "Let's see. I'm wearing...."

Becky paused to see what Roux would say. The dark blue was pretty easy, but she wasn't sure what her daughter would think of the bright teal. Thankfully that was when Trish rounded the corner, waving. "Hey, happy family! Everyone ready to go?"

Roux nodded. "I know my colours," she proclaimed again. Pointing at Trish's shirt, jeans, and boots in order, she added, "White, blue, black!"

Trish just grinned, crouching down to hug Roux. "Of course you do, smart girl! But you know why I'm going to lie out there, right?"

"Because it's a story." Then Roux giggled, her laugh uncannily like her father's. "And so Mama can beat you up."

Trish laughed too. "Well, she's gonna try, I'll give her that much." She kissed Roux's cheek before standing up. "Becky, you got a minute?"

"Sure." She kissed Roux and Seth goodbye and followed Trish to her guest locker room. "For what it's worth," she chuckled, "I didn't tell her to say that."

"No worries," Trish said with a smile. "I remember those days. When they're babies, you don't really think about what you're saying around them and then all of a sudden they're copying you and you think Oh shit!" She motioned for Becky to sit down on the small couch. "So you think she's going to be okay with it?"

Becky nodded. "I think so. We keep telling her it's just a story, and she knows you love her, so...."

Trish grabbed two bottles of water from her cooler and handed one to Becky as she joined her on the couch. "And you? How are you with it, Mama Bear?"

Becky's first instinct was to laugh it off, but she knew Trish was being serious and she appreciated that her opponent was being so considerate. "I'm okay. I think. I mean, we've talked over what you're going to say and how far you can go, and I know you'll honour that. It's not like she's in school yet where the other kids could tease her."

"Not like my kids." Trish took a moment to think about that. "It's something we all have to consider with how we're presented on TV." Then she laughed. "I'm sure I'm confusing the hell out of people who follow me on Twitter for Canada's Got Talent news and now they're getting this random wrestling feud."

"They'll learn to appreciate your multitudes." Becky took a small sip of water before recapping the bottle and rolling it between her palms. "I know it's so different for us—Seth and me. We've both heard stories from wrestlers' kids—Randy, Cody, Charlotte." She expected her ex-best friend's name to make her heart twist a bit, but that particular pain wasn't as sharp now. "And there were always the ones about their dads not being there for birthdays and whatever. I'm glad it's not as bad anymore. It doesn't mean it's easy," she admitted with a chuckle. "But at least there are more ways to try making it work now."

"Plus there are so many cuties backstage now!" Trish gushed, making them both laugh. "Seriously. Even when it's Roux and Quill, I'm surprised anyone gets any work done here at all."

"I don't know if Corey and Carmella will be bringing their little one," Becky began, "but at least they know they're welcome to. It's definitely better than the days when the guys just used to drink."

Trish barely hid her grimace. "Those days can stay long gone." Setting her bottle aside, she turned to face Becky and grabbed her hands. "So you're really sure you're okay with all of this? I know what Creative's said, but if you're not comfortable or if Seth's not...."

Becky shook her head. She had taken her fair share of shots during the start of her run as The Man: Charlotte's surgeries, John Cena's love life, Ronda Rousey's acting ability. If she balked when the tables turned, it would just be ammunition to use against her. "We're good. We're all good. Like I said, maybe once she's in school, things will be different, but for now, I think this is pretty mild."

"I don't know. The preschoolers can be pretty vicious if you don't know your blue from your purple," Trish quipped, rising to her feet. "Come on. Let's make sure they haven't changed anything on us at the last minute."

Tapping her water bottle against her thigh, Becky stood and followed Trish to Creative. When it came to spots with Hall of Famers, Creative didn't typically change too much, but the women's division hadn't exactly been given a lot of spotlight lately so it wouldn't hurt to check in. As Becky walked, she almost laughed as she thought about how empty her left hand felt, how cold her left side was. She was so used to having Roux with her backstage that it was instinct to point out a familiar face or start to ask her daughter what she liked best about someone's gear. "Sorry," she said when she started lagging behind. Becky hurried to catch up with Trish and smiled. "I'm used to being a chaperone."

Trish just smiled. "Roux's a very special little girl. Very lucky."

"Thankfully everyone backstage seems to love her. It makes all this a lot easier." Becky gestured to the backstage hustle and bustle. Coming back after pregnancy had been hard enough; this last break, though far shorter, was almost more difficult because it was so tempting to stay at home with Roux, playing and reading stories and helping her learn. She and Seth had more than enough money to be comfortable off one income, so finances weren't a concern. The itch to wrestle—to compete, to perform—was still too strong to ignore, but Becky knew there would eventually come a day when those scales tipped in favour of home.

"They love you too." Trish bumped her hip against Becky's. "And I do too. Just not out in the ring," she added with a wink. "Ready to go do this thing?"

Becky had to laugh. "Hey, if you're that eager to get your ass kicked," she grinned, holding open the door for Trish, "who am I to say no?"