Wrestling With Love

by Whitney Shope

  Mila pressed a finger to his lips to silence him.

  “Shhh!”

  Mila slid over a bit, making some room in the bed.

  “Come lay with me.” she said, quietly.

  “Mila baby, you're supposed to just relax and-”

  “And I'm never more relaxed than when I'm in your arms.”

  Trevor slowly stood up and gently laid on the edge of the bed.

  “I won't break Trevor, come here, please.”

  Trevor slid over to her and she nuzzled up to him, laying her head on his chest as Trevor placed an arm around her protectively and started running his fingers through her hair.

  “Mmm, much better!”

  He felt Mila sigh heavily, any remaining tension disappearing from her body.

  “I love you so much Mila...”

  And just before she drifted off to sleep, he heard her say “I love you too Trevor, always.”

  After staying overnight for observation, the hospital and Dr. Miller were satisfied that Mila could safely go home. She was, however, on strict orders of bed rest for 2 weeks in order to properly de-stress her body and keep the aforementioned stress to an absolute bare minimum as much as possible.

  And so, Mila was now home, in her bed. Aunt Ellen was staying to help with things around the house and Uncle Sammy was flying in to go over some formalities with Trevor and help with anything he could while there. Mila had only been home for a few hours when she decided she just couldn't take not knowing all that was happening anymore.

  And so, flanked by Finn, Bayley and the ever-present Trevor she finally asked.

  “Trevor?”

  “Yeah baby?”

  “Is it true? Did... Michael Mileno kill your Mom?”

  Trevor sighed heavily. He didn't want to get into this for a multitude of reasons, but he knew he had to because one; Mila deserved to know, and two, he knew that she would not let it go until he told her.

  So, he did. He told her everything. But her next words surprised him.

  “I'm so sorry honey. But maybe now you can stop blaming yourself.”

  Trevor was in shock. He had always found a way in the last 21 years to blame himself for his mother's death. But he had kept that locked inside, never sharing it with another living soul, and somehow, she had managed to chip away at all of his walls and defenses and see past the mask he wore on a daily basis.

  “How did you-? I, I've never told anyone about feeling like that!”

  “I'm not just anyone Trevor. It's me. I know you. It's in what you say and how you say it sometimes, it's in what you don't say. It's in your body language, your facial expressions. But most of all, it's in your eyes. Sometimes your eyes speak for you without you realizing it.

  Trevor swallowed hard. This was the single most incredible woman he'd ever met. She understood him on a level he sometimes didn't even understand himself.

  “And what are my eyes saying right now?” he asked.

  “That you'd really like to kiss your fiancé!”

  She smiled and for the first time in days, Trevor genuinely smiled back.

  “That's not fair, that statement could be said at any moment of any day!”

  “They're saying you'd really like to kiss your fiancé because for the first time in your life you realize that you did nothing wrong and you really are enough, just as you.” Mila said.

  “You never cease to amaze me babe!”

  Trevor placed a hand on Mila's cheek and slowly leaned in for a gentle kiss.

  “I'm not porcelain Trevor, I won't break. Now kiss me for real!”

  Trevor looked into her eyes and grinned before capturing her lips with his. She parted her lips to allow his tongue in. His hand tangled in her hair; Mila let out a soft moan.

  “Mmm.”

  Trevor pulled back, not wanting to do anything that could jeopardize her health or the baby's.

  “Do you know how scared I was? To think that I almost lost you, lost our daughter because I couldn't get past my own anger, I-”

  “It wasn't your fault Trevor. It was the stress of everything catching up to me. But I'm fine, the jellybean is fine and it's not your fault, okay?”

  “It just feels like it's never going to be over so that we can just live in peace.”

  “I might be able to help with that part!”

  Uncle Sammy appeared in the doorway, lightly knocking.

  “Didn't mean to startle ya, but you weren't answering!”

  “When did you get in?” Trevor asked.

  “About 20 minutes ago.”

  “So, Uncle Sammy, what's up?” Mila asked.

  “I just got a fax from Michael Mileno's lawyer.”

  It'd been one week since Mila got home from the hospital and while she was still on bed rest, she was able to move around the house a bit.

  One particularly beautiful late afternoon, Aunt Ellen was helping her put the finishing touches on the nursery.

  “It's finally together! Just missing one piece...” said Mila.

  “Would you be talking about this?”

  Aunt Ellen reached for a box on the dresser and handed it to Mila to open.

  “It came!!” Mila said excitedly.

  “Yep, it came in the evening yesterday when you were napping.”

  “It's perfect!”

  As Mila handed Aunt Ellen the nail to hang the beautiful letter A made completely of flowers on the wall, she could feel her eyes staring a hole through her.

  “What?” she finally asked.

  “So, have you and Trevor decided which name you're going with?”

  Mila grinned. “Yes, we have!”

  “And?”

  “And you'll have to wait until she's born to find out just like everyone else!”

  “I'm an old woman Mila, that's just cruel!”

  “Love you Aunt Ellen!” Mila said, batting her eyelashes for effect.

  “Yeah yeah, I love you too!”

  Aunt Ellen leaned down so Mila could kiss her cheek before leaving the room to go change.

  “I've been in these pajamas for 2 days now! I can't take it anymore!” she thought.

  It had practically taken an act of Congress to get Trevor to let her take a bath without his supervision, so she was taking this chance to change clothes in peace!

  Trevor and Uncle Sammy had gone to Manhattan for a big meeting with the lawyers of the other investors and the board of directors. Things could end at this meeting if the board, of which Trevor was a key member, voted unanimously to overthrow Mr. Donahue as CEO and instate Trevor. Or it could be dragged out for many more months.

  Mila felt terrible being at home, but Trevor had insisted she stay, and even Dr. Miller agreed at her follow-up visit 2 days prior that it probably wasn't in Mila's or the baby's best interests to be there.

  Just as Mila was making her way downstairs, she heard the doorbell.

  “Mila Christine you get your butt back in that bed!” said Aunt Ellen.

  “I was just going to answer the door.”

  “I'll get the door; you get in the bed!”

  “Ugh! Fine!”

  Mila crawled back into the bed and realized she could hear voices downstairs.

  “What the?”

  Suddenly there was a knock at the bedroom door, followed by Aunt Ellen’s voice.

  “Mila, honey you have guests!”

  “Come on in!”

  The double doors to she and Trevor's bedroom swung open to reveal Britani, Violet, Phoebe and Nicole.

  “You guys!! What is all this?”

  Mila noticed board games, a deck of cards, a couple boxes of popcorn and some sparkling cider.

  “We knew girl's night wouldn't be the same without you!” said Nicole.

  “So, we decided to bring girl's night to you!” Violet said.

  “Yep, wine for us, sparkling cider for the preggo lady!” said Britani.

  “I love you guys!”

  The next 2 hours passed by quickly with games, snacks and l
ots of girl talk. During a particularly intense game of Life, Mila's phone rang.

  “Dude seriously, twins again? I want a do over, let me spin again!” Britani pouted.

  Mila laughed and answered Brit while she was picking up her phone.

  “Uh uh, no way, you're the one who wanted to play this game, so you just take your third set of twins and enjoy it!”

  “Umm, Mila?” Trevor said, sounding totally baffled.

  “Oh crap, baby I'm sorry! Let's just say girl's night has gotten a little crazy!”

  “Oh yeah”, Violet yelled, “board games and popcorn, we're regular rock stars!”

  “You guys are a handful! Babe I just wanted to let you know Uncle Sammy and I are on our way back and see if you wanted anything.”

  “Umm, can I get a -”

  “Chocolate chip milkshake?” Trevor said, finishing her sentence for her.

  “You get me, you just get me!”

  “Yeah yeah, ask the girls what they want!” he replied, laughing.

  After taking ice cream orders, the girls resumed the game. When Trevor and Uncle Sammy appeared in the doorway, ice cream and milkshakes in hand they were practically accosted.

  “Ice cream!!!” Phoebe screamed.

  “Hell yeah!” Violet said.

  Trevor turned to Uncle Sammy.

  “Dear Lord, save yourself Uncle Sammy, I'll take it from here!”

  “Boy, I have a wife and 4 daughters, I've got this!”

  As he made his way over to Mila, milkshake in hand, Uncle Sammy whispered to her.

  “We need to discuss some things when your girls are gone, okay?”

  “Okay, we shouldn't be much longer!”

  An hour and tons of ice cream later, the girls said their goodbyes and Mila, already settled in bed, called Trevor into the room.

  “Yeah babe?”

  Mila stretched her arms out for a hug as Trevor made his way across the room.

  “Uncle Sammy said we need to discuss some things.”

  “Yeah, we do. Let me get him in here.”

  A few minutes later both Uncle Sammy and Aunt Ellen had joined Mila and Trevor, Uncle Sammy carrying a folder of paperwork.

  “So, what's going on?”

  “Well, you remember me saying that I had received a fax from Michael Mileno's lawyer?” Uncle Sammy asked

  “Of course.”

  “It was his signature. The third and final signature we needed in order to bring the matter to the Board of Directors, which is exactly what we did today.”

  Aunt Ellen was losing patience.

  “Samuel if you don't hurry up and get to the point, I swear on all that is good and Holy...”

  “We presented our case before the board and we should get their answer within a week.” Trevor answered.

  “So now we just sit and wait?” asked Mila.

  “Basically, yeah”

  Later that night, Mila and Trevor were lying in bed, watching a "Big Bang Theory " marathon when Mila's phone rang.

  “Who could that be now?” asked Trevor.

  “I don't know- oh, it's Brit!” Mila replied, sliding the green answer button across her screen.

  “Hello?”

  “I was right Mila!”

  “Right about what?”

  “Lucas. When I got home, he, he proposed!”

  “Oh my God you're kidding!? Wait, congratulations are in order here, right?”

  “I said yes!! I'm getting married Mila!”

  For what she could only figure was the first time in their friendship, she heard Britani crying.

  “Oh honey!”

  “No, it's happy tears!” she replied.

  “What the hell is going on?” Trevor asked.

  “Lucas proposed to Britani!”

  “Holy shit, no way! Congrats Brit!” he shouted.

  “Thanks Trev!! Listen Mila, I'm going to go but you were the first person I wanted to tell!”

  “Aww, don't make the pregnant lady cry!”

  “Bye chick, love you!”

  “Love you too hun, congratulations again!”

  Just then, as Mila was hanging up, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

  “Come in!” she yelled.

  “I can't believe it, Brit's getting married!” Trevor said, shaking his head in sheer disbelief.

  “I know, I'm so happy for her!”

  Uncle Sammy rapt his knuckles on their partially open door one more time before entering.

  “Hey kiddos, sorry to bother you, I just need Trevor's signature on a couple things.”

  “No problem Uncle Sammy,” Trevor said.

  As Uncle Sammy laid down the binder he was carrying, a handful of pictures fell out of the top. Mila reached out to tuck them back in when she got a good look at the one photo.

  It was a group shot, presumably at Uncle Sammy's office, but one face kept staring back at her. One face she would still know anywhere.

  “Uncle Sammy when was this?” she asked.

  “Oh, those are pictures from my office Christmas party!”

  “Can, umm, can you tell me who this is?”

  She pointed to the girl in the picture who seemed to be looking right at Mila.

  “Let's see... oh that's my Paralegal Andrea!”

  Mila felt like she'd been punched in the gut.

  “What's her last name?”

  “She's one of these more modern women, she hyphenated her name after she got married. It's Andrea Stevens-Jankowski. Why are you so interested in her, do you know her?”

  Catching on, Trevor looked at Mila, concerned.

  “Babe, you don't think?”

  “She's my sister...”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I t had been 3 days since the revelation that Mila's sister Andrea was Uncle Sammy's Paralegal at his firm back in D.C. She'd shut down any conversation about the matter after she learned the basics. Andrea had been working for Uncle Sammy for about 5 months, and she had, indeed, gotten married just 3 months ago to Mark Jankowski, her high school sweetheart.

  Now officially entering her 32nd week of pregnancy, Mila was feeling more and more anxious about the impending arrival of her baby girl. And more and more tired of her wardrobe choices. She had a doctor's appointment that day and had spent the better part of 45 minutes just trying to decide between the three outfits that were comfortable and not pajamas.

  She was running a hand through her just curled hair, loosening up the curls when Trevor came in the bedroom.

  “What do you think of this outfit, babe?" she asked, twirling around in her jeans, simple white tank top and peach floral caftan cardigan.

  You look beautiful babe, but I need you downstairs.

  “What's going on?”

  She followed Trevor downstairs where Aunt Ellen and Uncle Sammy were sitting at the kitchen table, the kittens happily circling around every stationary object in sight in an attempt to get some of the bacon Aunt Ellen had made.

  “Mila don't you look gorgeous today?”

  “Thanks Aunt Ellen!”

  She walked over and wrapped an arm around Aunt Ellen's shoulders as Trevor sat down next to her, across from Uncle Sammy, who slid a handful of papers in Mila's direction.

  “Just need you to sign on the dotted lines kiddo!”

  “What's this?” she asked.

  Suddenly, Trevor took her hands in his. Looking up at her with a level of intensity in his eyes that sent a chill down her spine.

  “We did it, baby. He's gone.”

  “What?!”

  Mila was trying to wrap her head around just what he was saying.

  “Corporate called this morning to give me the news and congratulate me. You're looking at the new Owner and CEO of Pro Elite Wrestling!” Trevor said with a huge grin.

  “Oh my God baby!! That's amazing!!”

  She grabbed Trevor in a huge hug. Pulling apart, she looked at the papers Uncle Sammy had presented her.

  “But what do you need my signature for?”<
br />
  “Well, my first decision as CEO is that I'll be needing the expertise and knowledge of my beautiful fiancé to help me run things. So, I thought, you should be the co-owner of PEW.”

  “What?! Trevor this is...”

  “Exactly what we both need?”

  “I was going to go with totally freaking insane, but that works too!”

  Everyone laughed before a harsh reality hit Mila.

  “What about Samantha?”

  “I bought out her shares of stock in the company. I let her have 90% of her father's investment firm. The remaining 10% is to go to me to start a savings fund for the baby. I was thinking of dividing up her shares in the company among Britani, Violet and Randall and Phoebe.”

  “Babe that'd be amazing and it would really help the company to have people who truly love wrestling running things!” Mila said.

  “That's exactly why I want you right there with me. I've never seen anyone with so much love and passion for the sport, that wasn't even in the ring! You're knowledgeable, you're passionate, you're creative, you're perfect for it! There's no one else!”

  Mila stared into Trevor's eyes and glanced down at her belly before saying.

  “Where do I sign?”

  ***

  “Everything's looking good! Only about 8 more weeks, give or take, you guys ready?” asked Dr. Miller.

  Mila and Trevor were now looking at each other as if waiting to see who was going to answer first.

  “Umm, excited to meet her, of course!” Trevor said.

  “But also slightly terrified that we're somehow going to screw her up so bad she ends up on one of those TLC Network shows because she hasn't left her trailer in 6 years!” an exasperated Mila said.

  “Otherwise, totally fine!” Trevor said with a grin.

  Dr. Miller couldn’t help but laugh.

  “You sound like every first-time parent I've ever seen! Trust me, you're going to be just fine!”

  “Thanks Dr. Miller!”

  “No problem, I'll have the nurse write you up and I will see you soon!”

  “Bye Dr. Miller, thank you!” said Mila.

  “Yeah, thanks doc!”

  They left the doctor's office and headed for lunch with Violet and Randall. On the way over they decided to invite everyone over for dinner so they could properly announce the company takeover as well as their intentions to divide Samantha's shares among them.

  For what reason, she didn't know, but Mila almost felt bad for Samantha.