Cuts Heal In Time (CM Punk)

Chapter 55: Big 23

August 8th, 2012

"Happy birthday!" Jade screamed in Bella's ear to wake her up. She did this every year, and it never failed.

Bella shot up, rubbing her eyes, "Happy half birthday!"

"I can't believe my little baby is already 23."

"Only took me 6 months to catch up to you."

"Give me 6 months and I'll be back on top," she winked causing Bella to sleepily chuckle, "Now come on. I made us breakfast."

"Aw shucks. You must really like me."

"I really do, now get up!" Jade grabbed Bella's hand and practically pulled her down the stairs.

"What time is it Jade? It feels earlier than normal."

"That's because it's 6 in the morning!"

"You're ridiculous. What could we possibly need to be up this early for?"

"I have big plans for you lady."

"Like what?" Bella asked curiously as she took a seat at the island table between their kitchen and living room.

"I was going to surprise you, but we both hate surprises," Jade said with a little too much energy for 6 in the morning, "First, the reason I got you up so early is I got you a hair appointment in 45 minutes. After that, we're going shopping. After that, we're doing lunch with the boyfriends. Then we're all going to hang out here to have the screening for your ESPN special at 4. After that we have dinner. After that, party!"

"Wow. Jam packed day," Bella reacted while taking a bite of her pancake.

"Oh you have no idea," Jade winked, "Now it's time for the birthday selfie!"

They took a selfie every year for both their birthdays where they recreated a picture from when they were 11 on Jade's birthday. It had become a tradition for the two girls. After snapping the picture, Jade was quick to post it on twitter.

@jjpeterson28: Happy happy birthday to my person and other half @wwebellaf ! 23 never looked so good (except for me let's be real)!!!!!

She attached the picture of the two of them much to the dismay of Bella

@jjpeterson28: Also! Catch my girl on ESPN at 4PM eastern #bellafury #bellafurynbt 

"Now," Jade grinned, "Let's go get your hair done. I'll drive!"

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"Wow," Bella smiled to herself in the mirror of the hair salon. She had gotten a treatment to restore her curls. She hadn't seen her hair look this healthy in years, "this looks great."

Bella's birth mom was a lot of things: selfish, insane, an addict, but there was one thing she was actually good at and that was doing Bella's hair. Bella was mixed. Her mother was black, and her father, who she had never actually met, was white. She hated to admit it, but she really did resemble her mother, especially with the curly mop on top of her head. 

And only her mother really knew how to tame her natural hair. When she moved in with the Petersons, they loved and cared for her like she was their own, but they didn't know how to work with Bella's naturally curly hair, so as she got older, she just began to straighten it. She straightened it during middle school and during her short tenure in high school (before she dropped out to go to Japan), so her curl pattern was beyond messed up by the time she gave up the flattening iron. 

Her hair was damaged, but it looked okay to her. It still was a bit wavy but mostly straight. Add on the copious amounts of hair dye she had used over the years to maintain her signature rose gold look, she never thought she'd see her curls again.