To The Stars - 7. April, 2018

Friday, April 6th

"Daddy, Jimmy's over there!" Nina pointed with the hand her father wasn't holding. He rolled his eyes, and Audrey laughed with him.

"Don't beat him up too badly, okay marshmallow?" Diego sighed, and Nina took off to challenge big bad Jimmy Vause to a street fight in her father's name. "Careful Jimmy, my girl's going to thump you into the ground!" She was beginning to understand that wrestling was a show and not real life - which was good because Daddy tended to set a horrible example on TV when he was portraying a villain - but she loved to pretend. Nina was proving to be a popular attraction backstage. While Diego was never shy about having children, it was the first time most of the locker room family saw any them in the flesh, instead of only in pictures on Diego's social media. Irina Sokolov once went as far as to accuse him of taking a picture with a young fan and passing it off as Nina.

"You know she beat up some kid in on the playground yesterday?" Audrey brought it up with him, and Diego frowned at her lovely hazelnut coloured eyes - eyes their daughter shared. She got her mother's eyes, petite figure, the delicate ears and full lips, but Diego had been considerate enough to grant her his smooth, dark complexion and curly black hair. It wasn't a secret to either of them that Nina would grow up to be the most beautiful woman in the world. She'd been blessed with Audrey's soft, feminine features, but unfortunately, she inherited her father's hotheaded, reckless streak.

"Another one?" Diego snickered in amusement, watching Jimmy, in his benevolence, pretend to be beaten black and blue by the pummeling of the little girl's fists. She was small, but she was fierce, and Diego had received from her a few punches to the groin that legitimately took him to the ground.

"Yes, a boy nearly two years older than her," Audrey's eyes twinkled at her ex-boyfriend. "I'm not sure what to do about her, Diego. I really think this wrestling culture isn't perfect for her."

"She beat up an older kid? A boy? That's awesome!" Diego laughed and punched the air in exaggerated celebration, and Audrey found her vengeance on him by twisting his ear with her long fingers, making him cry out.

"You're supposed to be disappointed!" She scolded him playfully. "At least you could pretend for my benefit, you manchild. At least I'd appreciate it if you didn't encourage her to go and beat up on strangers!"

"Oh come on, that's different," Diego smirked at her, pointing at an uncomfortable Jimmy, who was by now on the floor pretending to tap out to keep Nina satisfied. "Marshmallow, he's had enough, I think. Come back to Daddy." Nina didn't waste much time in ditching Jimmy on the floor to return to Diego. She raised her arms and flexed her fingers, the signal she'd used since she was sixteen months old, and he couldn't resist picking her up like she wanted, kissing her on the cheek. He didn't look at Audrey - he knew she'd be giving him the evil eye. She always told him he spoiled their little girl too much, but he didn't agree with her.

"Have you been a bad girl on the playground again?" He asked her, sitting down with Audrey at one of the tables.

"You can't be mad at me!" Nina insisted defiantly, letting her father snuggle her on his lap. He made a face at Audrey when she pinched her lips together and shook her head.

"Why's that, little Nina?" Diego asked.

"It's my birthday!" Nina reminded him, a happy and cheeky grin on her little face. Diego laughed. She had to remind someone at least every ten minutes.

"Alright, so you're six now," Audrey broke in, presumably to bring a little order into Diego's decidedly lax discipline. "That means no more fighting, doesn't it Dad?"

"Why did you hit this kid, hey Nina?" Diego asked, deciding that perhaps he should bring it up with his daughter rather than leaving it for her mother to deal with. He hated having to tell Nina off. It was something he preferred to delegate to the more strict Audrey, who was tired of having to play the bad cop between them. Still, the sweet-natured but assertive woman was starting to pressure him to take a more active role in parenting rather than just being the fun dad. The Superhero.

"He said you were a fag!" Nina revealed, and the word struck dread in Diego's heart. Audrey was appalled at her daughter's language.

"You watch your language, Nina," Audrey scolded her, but the redness was already flooding Diego's face. Anger? Indignance? Embarrassment? He wasn't sure. "Just because a boy says that on the playground, it doesn't mean you can say that. It's not a nice word."

"But that's why I hit him!" Nina defended herself, and Diego was a little ashamed at how much pride he had in his little girl. He hoped she knocked the rest of the little bastard's baby teeth out.

"Daddy's the champion," Audrey argued, taking her daughter's hand in her own. "People might say some mean things about him, but we don't hit them, do we Dad?"

"No, marshmallow," Diego rocked her on his knee. "We don't hit people. When I do it on TV, it's just pretending. We don't hit people to hurt them."

"Okay," she started to sulk, clearly expecting Diego to be on her side. I am, little darling. She shouldn't be discouraged from standing up for the people she loves, but Audrey was starting to put her foot down. The last thing he needed was for their relationship to turn out like the one he shared with Zoey, or worse, the one he didn't share at all with Marisol.

"Lance?" She suddenly squirmed right off his lap and went running, in spite of her parents' shock and protests. It was Lance indeed, wearing very tall stilettos and his typical skin-tight pants and a crop top that made sure everyone could see the dancer's body he had. Diego immediately rolled his eyes and Audrey started giggling next to him.

"What can I say? She adores him!" Audrey put a comforting hand on Diego's shoulder, likely sensing her friend's animosity building.

"Why?" Diego asked angrily. "Why would anyone adore him?"

"Oh, stop," Audrey combed her short brown hair back with her fingers. "She thinks he's fantastic, alright? He's always in your corner and he's always helping you win. She loves him because he loves you - on screen, at least," she added after seeing a flash of confusion and fury in Diego's dark eyes. He'd expected Lance to shake the girl off his leg and continue strutting to god knows where, but to his surprise, he knelt down and actively engaged with her. For some reason, that was so much worse. Nina was chatting and gushing, and it was like she had some weird, stupid crush on him. On Lovecraft. Nope. He might have corrupted Diego's friends, but his family was off limits. "Don't make a scene," Audrey warned him suddenly, putting her hand on his arm. "Just let it go, alright?"

"Why would I make a scene?"

"He threatens you," Audrey said bluntly, and Diego scoffed.

"I think you're full of something," the Brazilian sneered, watching Lance and Nina giggle together. "Threatened? How could you figure that?"

"Because our little girl thinks the world of him," Audrey started to list things on her fingers. "He gets the lion's share of the love from the crowd and all your friends like him. He's also a very girly gay man, and I know what you think of that. Don't try to hoodwink me, Diego. I know you inside and out."

"Don't be filthy," Diego muttered with a sly smile, and Audrey laughed at him. "... Do you think there's something that I have to work on, Audrey?"

"You'll have to be more specific," Audrey shrugged. "You're mediocre in a lot of ways."

"Thank you very much. Every day you remind me I dodged a bullet when we split up," Diego quipped, to a warm laugh from Audrey. He liked her. He always did like Audrey, but he never did love her. She didn't love him either, not the way people in a committed relationship should. Still, she was the best mother Nina could ask for and for that, Diego would always love Audrey in a unique way. If only she'd been the mother of his other kids as well. Four Ninas couldn't be worse than the twins from hell.

"What do you mean, Diego? Don't chicken out on me now. What are you trying to say?" Audrey asked him, nudging him with her knee.

"Do you think there's something wrong with me?" Diego asked, his dark eyes falling to the championship belt he had in front of him on the table. "Why is he such a big problem for me? I can't stand the sight of him, and... I know it's for a lot of reasons, but..."

"I'm not surprised," Audrey lowered her voice, just in case someone happened to come past. "I don't know what's going on in that head of yours, though. I wish I had some answers, but I don't. I'm curious though. You and I have always disagreed on things like this before, you know. Homosexuals. Effeminate men and masculine women, and the whole gender spectrum come to think of it. You've never apologised for your opinions of... well, people like Lance, at least never when we've ever talked about it."

"Evening," Lance chirped, popping up beside them with Nina holding his hand. The sight made the hair on Diego's neck stand up. "I found this kid, would you happen to know her?"

"Well, goodness me, I've never seen her before in my life," Audrey teased the little girl, reaching across and shaking Lance's hand. "I'm Audrey. Would you like to keep Nina? I can always have another daughter."

"Can I go to England with Lance?" Nina seemed to think Audrey was serious, and Diego wasn't happy.

"Don't be silly," he snapped, and Audrey pursed her lips.

"Sorry, Nina. After those thirty-seven hours I went through to bring you into this world, I'm afraid I'm not ready to let you go with Lance after all. Not for at least twelve years," she licked her thumb and reached across to rub off something Nina had gotten on her face. She was always filthy.

"You didn't tell me you were bringing your family backstage tonight!" Lance gushed, gingerly kneeling down so that he was the same height as Diego's little girl.

"Nina's six today," Audrey answered for him after a short pause. "She doesn't get to come and see Daddy perform in person very often, but we made a special exception for today!"

"Hey, Lance..." Nina added, beginning on a long tangent to the eagerly listening boy.

She liked Lance. She loved his hair and his clothes and his eyes and his dancing, and when she grew up, she wanted to be just like him. Why? Diego could barely comprehend why anyone would willingly be like Lance Lovecraft. Nina was six, so he could understand. In thirty minutes, she could confess her ambition to be an astronaut, the women's wrestling champion and also a zookeeper. Still, those words began to worry him. He remembered the way some asshat shoved Lance over at the last pay-per-view simply because he didn't like the way he looked. He didn't want Nina to ever go through something like that. No. Being a salmon and swimming upstream was never going to end well. Lance may not have deserved to be attacked, but by being unrepentant in the way he chose to present himself, he opened up that danger to himself. If someone is attacked by a shark when they go swimming and then decides to continue swimming while knowing the risks, that's their fault. Nina wasn't going to make those mistakes. He'd make sure of it.

"Aw you're such a doll," Lance beamed, heaving himself up back to his feet. "I have a brother your age! He doesn't like wrestling very much, though."

"Your brother is a loser!" Nina declared, much to the amusement from everyone. Audrey, trying ever so hard to be the mature mother figure she was supposed to be, was desperate not to laugh and set a bad example for Nina. Diego didn't bother with diplomacy and giggled. Lance smiled at her.

"So I was wondering..." Lance approached Diego carefully, his white contacts making him appear suspiciously like a vampire. Not a real vampire. One of those glittery heart-throbs from that stupid Twilight series. "Can I introduce Nina to the others? Would you like to come?"

"Sure," Diego shrugged, and Audrey looked surprised at him. He'd elected to remain away from the members of the group that arrived early - Rachel, although she treated Nina like a little sister when she visited, did not like children and did not like Audrey. Rachel will live, Diego thought. Lance towered over most of the people backstage when he was wearing these prostitute shoes - he usually stood less than an inch shorter than Diego was, but he would nearly give giant Jimmy a run for his money tonight. Lance and Nina giggled and talked about school, her birthday and her stupid brother and sister. Jillian and Julian, that is. She didn't know she had a big brother. Troy. Marisol took him to Mexico long before Nina was born.

"He seems like a perfect sweetheart to me," Audrey whispered to him, the two walking several paces behind them. "What is your problem, Diego? It's the way he looks, isn't it?"

Diego didn't answer. There was no way of being honest about it without coming across like a total jerk, and he'd done enough of that in the last six months. Any more and Gloria and Sean would be likely to bash Diego's skull in with his championship belt. The annoying bit is that he's got me snookered, Diego thought to himself. Lance knows what I think of him and he's moving in on my friends and family anyway. What's worse is that he knows I stabbed Sean in the back. He knows his way around the locker room politics. Eventually, he's going to tell Sean about what I did. He sighed, running his hand through his growing hair. It needed a trim. I don't hate him only for the ridiculous Harley Quinn routine. I hate him because he's moving in on my territory. I hate him because he's a show pony who doesn't respect the wrestling culture. I hate him because he outplayed me.

Nina did precisely what Diego expected of her when she saw Sean and Rachel together. She dropped Lance like a sack of potatoes and made a mad dash towards Rachel. She loved Rachel, but it was apparent from the nervous glance the beautiful woman made to the adults that she wasn't ready to return the favour. Sean was at most times both unimpressive and handsome simultaneously. He looked like a total geek, and it was no wonder that Nina didn't recognise him at all. Without the feathers, the body paint and the traditional garments that Waya wore in the ring, Sean appeared as though he were the teenage son - or flat-chested daughter - of one of the backstage crew. Lance interrupted Sean's crossword to strike up a conversation, and to Diego's sadness, Sean readily spoke to his once enemy, now friend. It didn't seem fair. Lance won Sean over so quickly with his charm and his accent alone. If Diego tried to interrupt Sean during his crossword, the young man would have told him to go away. It was almost as if Lance was doing it all just to punish and spite Diego.

"You're staring," Audrey gave Diego a nudge, pulling him out of his trance-like state. "People might notice."

"What? Notice what?" He looked at her suspiciously.

"I'm just saying you used to stare at me like that," Audrey's voice was barely higher than a whisper. She didn't want anyone to overhear her. "You're supposed to be looking at Rachel like that, not the Indian guy."

"His name is Sean, and he doesn't like being called Indian. He's Cherokee," Diego immediately corrected her. "And I wasn't staring at him!"

"Sorry, I didn't know," Audrey gave a half-shrug. "But you were. Deny it if you want, but I could see it with my own eyes, and that means Rachel could have as well." Oh no. Did she? Was I gawking at him? He felt himself blush, averting his eyes from Lance and Sean to see Rachel putting on a big smile for Nina. They needed to take some of the sugar from their daughter's diet. She was all over the place tonight. It was cute for the first few minutes but now she was becoming a terror. "You know you can talk to me about these things, Diego, don't you? You can trust me," Audrey continued to poke at him, and he was rapidly losing patience. He didn't want to think or talk about these things. Why would he? He was already getting a reputation as a queer, according to Nina. No question it was his association with the touch-feely Lance while they were on camera together.

"There's nothing to talk about," Diego felt a modicum of regret as he turned her down. She'd understand, he knew she would, but he was scared of saying it out loud. Those kinds of things destroyed his sister's life. Luiza. Whatever happened to her? He didn't know. After years of being caught in the middle of the fight between his parents and Luiza, witnessing for years her depression, misery and suicide attempts, he watched her leave when he was twelve and she was seventeen. Luiza never spoke to any of them ever again. Not even the baby brother she loved more than anyone. Audrey must have seen him clouding up.

"If you ever change your mind, you know where I am," she squeezed him gently on his arm, and he already felt better. Rachel's eye caught the affection, and Diego knew he was going to be grilled about it later. At least it almost to guarantee that his girlfriend was going to put out tonight. When Rachel got jealous, she liked to remind Diego why he chose her in the first place - when they did bother to get intimate, it blew both their minds. It's possibly the only thing we're good at, Diego thought. They were ships that sailed different routes alright, but that didn't mean it wasn't terrific when they docked at the same port once in a while.

"Cute kid!" Michelle pointed at Nina, playing with Rachel on the sofa. Where the hell did she come from? "This is Nina?"

"Yeah, that's her," Diego turned to give Michelle a half-hug, and the short, sturdy woman was happy to reciprocate. Good, she's happy today.

"Terrific! Send her back to me in fifteen years, and I'll make a superstar out of her," Michelle commented with a gravelly titter, before turning her attention to Audrey. "I'm Michelle. I'm the boss."

"Audrey, I'm the ex-girlfriend," the fair-skinned woman responded with a nervous smile and was given the courtesy handshake and kiss on the cheek by Michelle's wrinkled lips. "It is okay for us to be here, isn't it?"

"Oh," Michelle waved her off and shook her head. "As long as you keep a leash on the kid and she doesn't get in the way. I am here to talk about business though, is now a good enough time?"

"You're the boss," Diego shrugged, and Michelle slapped him on the back.

"Good, you're learning!" She laughed hoarsely, then coughed. Audrey gave a weak smile and left. She hadn't been asked to leave, but Audrey clearly wasn't a fan of Michelle. It wasn't an uncommon thing. Michelle was an acquired taste - vivid and brash and painfully uncouth by nature. "I'm proud of you, Silva. I really am. You're taking off, kid! We've been trying to get this to happen for years, and now you've finally broken through!"

"Thanks, 'Chelle," Diego blushed and grinned.

"Thanks nothing - I haven't finished yet," Michelle warned him, and Diego exhaled nervously. He should have known. She always did this, but he never learned his lesson. If Michelle hunted someone down, it wasn't all too rarely to give them a pat on the back. She had bad news to break.

"Bring it then, what am I doing wrong?" Diego asked, bracing himself for the worst. A lot of things went through his head. She's taking the title from you already. She knows you went over her head to steal the main event from your friend. She wants you to make out with limp Lance in the ring.

"I wouldn't have said that, but I suppose you could say you're freeloading," Michelle said, loudly chewing gum at the same time. "Now I don't necessarily agree here, but Jerry says that you owe all your recent success to the pom over there," she pointed. Lance was speaking in his stupid phoney accent, and Sean was lapping it up. Disgusting.

"How does he figure that?" Diego was perhaps too defensive in the way he responded. "I do all the hard work. Lance cross-dresses and dances like a hooker in heat and he gets paid more than most of the real wrestlers."

"You watch your tone," Michelle waved a stubby finger at him and frowned. "You might be the one holding our belt right now, but you're still expendable as far as the Blooms go, kid. I'm happy for you, but if I had it my way, Foxy would be the one with the belt, not you. He's over with the crowd, and he's a damn good worker, and before you talk trash about your little English buddy, I'm gonna remind you that he's the reason you're still in a job." The tongue-lashing turned Diego bright red, and he realised he was wasn't off the thin ice just yet. Even if the company trusted him to be the face of the men's locker room at this moment in time, that didn't secure his place on the roster. Michelle could easily replace him. Sean would be high up on the priority list, as Ollie would be when he returned. Jimmy Vause wasn't off the list either - he was a solid champion in and out of the ring and Michelle wouldn't hesitate to go back to a winning formula if Diego couldn't step into his massive shoes.

"Sorry," Diego mumbled, and Michelle continued, the gaze of hers still sending chills down his spine. She was five foot three inches tall, a short woman, but she oozed authority and strength. Nobody messed with her.

"We're investing in Lovecraft," she explained, wary of the eye roll she received. "Good wrestlers throw resumes at us by the thousands - they're easy to come by, but it's rare someone like Lovecraft comes up on our radar. He's a goldmine where microphone skills and working the crowd are concerned, even if he's crap at actually working. The kid works hard to improve, but Jerry wants someone to train with Lovecraft one on one in addition to his current schedule to get him into wrestling shape, and he thinks that you're the man for the job. I happen to agree."

"No!" Diego immediately shook his head and protested loud enough to get the attention of Lance and Sean, who watched inquisitively. "No way."

"Keep your damn voice down," she angrily hissed at him, grabbing him with her hand and dragging him a dozen paces away. "I know you and Lovecraft don't get along, but this is life, and this is business. If you have to hate him, do it outside the building and away from the cameras, and especially not right in front of him, you twit."

"He knows what I think of him," Diego snapped back at her, folding his arms. "Everyone does. It doesn't make a difference."

"Oh I'm telling you, Silva, I'm this close to firing you and getting little Nina to carry this belt out there tonight because you're acting like you're half her age," Michelle grumbled. "If you agree to train with Lovecraft for two hours once every week, I'll be making sure you get a raise for it. I know doing something for your community and your co-workers who made you the man you are today isn't good enough reason, so maybe money will talk. We're making Lovecraft a similar offer. He learns how to wrestle with you and in return, he teaches you to cut promos, how to commit to your character and how to work with the fans, and he gets a raise as well. You've both got crazy potential in opposite areas and it would be a shame to waste it. When you both improve what you're not good at, we want to separate you eventually and have two top-tier talents to work with instead of having you boys make up two parts of what a single wrestler should be."

"I don't need more money," Diego said, before realising exactly who he sounded like. Oh my god, I really do sound like Jilly right now. Three years old.

"Well, it's your decision, of course, but you're going to have to tell Jerry yourself," Michelle raised her hands in frustration. "I think you're bloody stupid, Silva. The sooner you and Lovecraft both learn to build a bridge, work your crap out and stand on your own two feet, the sooner you can be rid of each other. I hope for your sake you speak to Jerry and Marg with more care than you speak to me. See you out in the ring later, Silva." Michelle bustled off back down the corridor in her long black bell-bottoms and white scarf that almost touched the floor. She looked strangely corporate for someone so... crude.

"Is everything okay?" Sean asked the moment their boss was out of earshot, and Diego shrugged, approaching the boys. The boy he despised and the boy he was falling hard for.

"Hey Lovecraft," Diego hated the taste of the words as they came out. They made him want to gag. "Do you want to learn how to wrestle?"

"I am learning how to wrestle," Lance smiled and made a face that was so irritating that Diego wanted to just hit him in it.

"Jerry and Michelle don't seem to think so," Diego answered in a testy voice. I don't either, for that matter. "So they're offering to pay us if we want to get together once a week and train together before they start setting up for the shows."

"That's going to be a little awkward," Lance twisted his finger in the ends of one of his red locks of hair. "I live in Miami, and you live in Tulsa."

"I live in Columbus. Anyway, that's the deal Michelle's offered me, I have no idea how it's supposed to work," Diego leaned down and rested his elbows on the table, feeling Nina's hands on his leg and obediently picking her up again, kissing her on the cheek.

"I don't want to be rude, Lance," Sean interjected, sounding bitter. "But you need it so badly, and if they're going to pay you for it, why would you say no? Nobody else has ever had an opportunity like that. I would have killed to train with a veteran when I first started! And the money, too! I got peanuts for my rookie year. You should do this."

"I'm just stirring him up, honey!" Lance smirked at Sean, and Diego hugged Nina close to him to remind himself not to swear in front of her. Shut up, Lovecraft. I'm not your honey. "I'll be happy to take that deal. Perhaps you can bring my new number one fan to come and cheer us on!" He beamed up at Nina, who nodded happily. Hah, Diego thought. Over my dead body.

~

Tuesday, April 17th

"Alright little man, you're staying with me," Diego grabbed the squealing, wailing little boy from his tantrum on the floor and brought him on to his lap. Julian wasted no time in spinning around to hide face in his father's armpit - a habit both twins shared that he didn't understand. It wasn't like he didn't shower, but... gross. It was still an armpit. At least it kept the kid away from his bitch of a sister and muffled his crying, even if Diego was rapidly becoming disheartened about what a wimp his son was. Remarkably, both of his daughters were fierce and even aggressive girls, but Julian was placid and meek. At least, he was calm and mild on his own - Jilly was always the instigator of Julian's tantrums. The little bitch couldn't go more than half an hour without pushing his buttons until the boy cried and screamed and waited for Daddy to rescue him. Were they like this with Zoey? Diego didn't even dare to ask her. Zoey would always find a way to make it about Diego being a crap father who didn't deserve their children.

"Will you just stop it?" He snapped at Jilly, who was on her arms and knees on the floor, screaming about how unfair life was. He'd had more than enough of her, almost to the point of wanting to drive her back to her wench mother where they could both whine and moan and yell like the two peas in the bitch pod that they were. "You hit your brother in the head with a book for no reason, so you can stop this nonsense or go to bed early in the naughty room and scream all you want in there."

"He looked at me!" Jilly shrieked, causing Julian to start panicking again, his cries increasing in volume and pitch.

"I didn't!" Julian squealed back, and Diego looked at Rachel and Nina, both of whom were watching in a mixture of horror and awe at the scene they were witnessing. Neither one had dared to make a noise, lest Diego jump down their throats as well.

"Jillian!" Diego yelled at her. Julian immediately went silent in his arm, but Jilly only yelled something unintelligible back at him. Alright, I've had enough of this. "Here, little man, come and cuddle Aunt Rach for a minute," he tried to pass Julian down to the reluctant woman sitting on the couch, but Julian whimpered and clung harder, refusing to be put down. These freaking kids, Diego thought to himself, crying internally.

"Alright Jilly, you're going to the naughty room," Diego was sick of her, and he picked her up with his spare arm, hissing with pain when she responded by tearing at his neck and his hair with her nails and fingers. It wasn't like he wished Zoey got the abortion he wanted in hindsight, but there were times he missed how much easier life was when there were no children.

The spare room doubled as the naughty room, and Jilly was spending a lot of time in there lately. It was intentionally underfurnished while the twins were going through the asshole years, with a double mattress on the floor, made up with sheets, a blanket and some pillows This way, Jilly could scream her tantrum out here without continually upsetting everyone else, notably Julian, and on a lucky day she just went to sleep. While both Nina and Julian found themselves in there once in a while, it was Jilly who had at least two visits every week. Isolating her calmed her down in the short term, but it did nothing to stop the frequency of her tantrums. Zoey seemed to think the twins were perfect little angels while they were with her, so either Diego was too lenient on them, or she was a filthy liar.

Diego switched the lamp on for her and kept the door an inch open, but Jilly repeatedly opened it to make a mad dash for freedom, leaving Diego no choice but to catch her and put her back into the naughty room at least thirty times over a period of forty-five minutes. At one point, Rachel suggested closing the door and locking it from the outside to keep Jilly in there. Diego was both horrified and offended at her remark. He understood that they weren't her children and Jilly was a complete nuisance, but he'd never entertain the idea of locking his daughter in a room by herself, especially when she was in a state like this. Eventually, Jilly was the one who calmed down and even submitted to dozing off in Diego's other arm when her punishment was over, and Rachel was the one having a terrific sulk. She scared him sometimes. He didn't know much about her childhood as she refused to talk about it, but when she spoke of things such as leaving Jilly alone and agitated in a locked room, he knew it couldn't have been a good one.

After a while Julian was dozing happily in Diego's other arm, chewing gently on his fingers and one of his eyes periodically opened to watch Zootopia. Jilly and Nina were both fast asleep, cuddled up to Rachel. The blond girl was still in a mood, but her retreat to iPhone-Narnia land managed to tame her. She hadn't been all too impressed with the choice to watch Zootopia. Diego would never admit it to anybody, but Zootopia was a guilty pleasure of his. He loved that movie and unbeknownst to Rachel it had been his decision to put it on for the family, not the children's.

"Come on, little man," Diego nuzzled Julian's dark hair with his chin, and the kid made a sound of contentment. "It's time for bed, I think."

"Can I sleep with you?" Julian asked, taking his little fingers from his mouth and smearing his wet, saliva coated hand on Diego's arm to cling closer.

"Not tonight, little man. Maybe tomorrow," Diego told him firmly, and while Julian made a tut of disapproval, he seemed to accept that. Diego's resolve wasn't about setting clear boundaries for his son and addressing his recent bout of incessant clinginess; he was just desperate to fool around with Rachel tonight. She was keen, or she wouldn't have stuck around after dinner. He was able to pick Jilly up without stirring her too much and took the pair of them to their beds, tucking them in. He kissed Julian goodnight and generously left the night light plugged in, hoping that would keep Julian appeased and in his damn bed for the night.

"Bedtime, marshmallow," he whispered as he plucked Nina away from Rachel's side, but she wasn't as heavy a sleeper as her sister.

"I'm not ready for bed!" She protested, but Diego had to laugh. She said that as though she hadn't been dead asleep for the last half hour.

"If you go to bed, we'll have pancakes for breakfast," he was ready to bribe her. Nina was his special girl, but he'd always had trouble putting her to bed. Not tonight. He was horny and Rachel was too. Nina was too tired to argue, in spite of her earlier objection, and she was asleep within a minute.

"That was easy," Diego remarked to Rachel, who actually looked up from her phone when he spoke to her. Damn, she is definitely as ready as I am. She wasn't an affectionate, loving person by definition, but she was indeed a beauty. She thought the same about him.

"I was ready for another hour of screaming," Rachel rolled her eyes as she got to her feet. "How does someone so little make such a loud racket?"

"Have you met her mother?" Diego quipped, putting his hands around the small of Rachel's back and bringing her close. "We got off pretty lightly, I think. At least Julian's just a little sissy. Better that than another Jilly! You should see Zoey when--"

"Can we stop talking about the other women you've put it in?" Rachel asked testily, surprising him.

"Yeah, of course," Diego kissed her warmly on the pink lips in front of him. They were unresponsive at first, but eventually, the heat of her boyfriend's affection thawed out the coldness in her, and she returned it in earnest. They were going to have a lot of fun tonight. It was just as he feared - although he managed to lock the door of the master bedroom so he and Rachel could play around and not be interrupted, Julian's timid knocking and whining outside took the elation out of the experience right when Diego and Rachel were approaching the crescendo of their lovemaking.

"Go to bed, Juli!" Diego shouted, briefly pausing and hoping his son was too young to ask or care why his father was so out of breath. "Daddy will see you in a few minutes!" He slowly began to resume, but the blazing fire in Rachel had burned out to a smouldering at best by the interruption, and Julian's continued whining caused her to push Diego away from her. Goddammit, Julian. Again? "Are we finished for the night?" Diego asked Rachel quietly as he reached for his underwear, disappointed. This wasn't the first time Julian ruined sex for them and it surely wasn't going to be the last.

"I am," Rachel pouted, and Diego could feel it in the way she spoke. She was possibly the least aroused person in the world. I swear, Diego cursed, I will make it my mission to interrupt Julian every single freaking time when he's old enough to know what that part of his body does. Every time, alone or with a girl. That kid is not going to have a goddamn orgasm until he moves out of home. It was tough while trying to conceal his painfully erect equipment, but he managed to convince his neurotic, needy son that the only monster that was hiding in his room was Jilly, and she was asleep. He spent some time in the bathroom taking care of the issue that had come up before returning to his girlfriend, who was back in her underwear and one of his shirts when he returned. In spite of his disappointment and sexual frustration, he was glad to see her and snuggled back up to her, cuddling her in his arms. She was responsive to that, which was a good sign at least. Rachel could be such a cold fish a lot of the time, so he enjoyed affection where he could find it.

"I'm sorry, babe," Rachel apologised out of nowhere, right when Diego was ready to fall asleep.

"Mm?" Diego didn't move.

"That kid is the biggest libido killer," Rachel explained with a giggle. "This is why I think we should just keep saving it for the hotels."

"Good idea Rach," Diego nodded, tickling her back with the tiny beginnings of a beard that had grown on his chin in the last day. "If you stopped inviting everyone and their mothers to our hotel room every night, we might actually have time alone to, you know, cash in what we're saving up. Unless you want to get it on in front of Gloria - or you can invite her to join us."

"Why Gloria?" Rachel asked with a snicker. "Why does it have to be a girl? Maybe I want it to be a guy."

"What?" Diego's eyes bugged and he was now awake enough to sit up in the bed. Rachel followed suit, but she still leaned against him, caressing his muscular chest with her long nails. "You want a threesome?"

"Don't you?" Rachel challenged him. "You like the look of Gloria."

"Is this going to become a fight?" Diego asked her, warily. "If it is, tell me now so we can get it over with and go to sleep."

"I... no, Di," she snuggled closer to him, and he happily put his arm around her to pull her in. "I want to talk about these things. I'm not going to be mad if you tell me Gloria's got a nice pair on her. She does, I'll admit it!"

"Alright, I'll be honest. Gloria's a hot piece of ass alright," Diego smiled when he heard Rachel giggling. "She's too much like my mom, though. Or an older sister. I'd never be able to hook up with her. It'd be way too weird."

"What about Pearl?" Rachel asked, and Diego quickly shook his head. "Why? Because she's fat?"

"Hell no," Diego nuzzled her. "I like big girls just fine. Marisol was huge even before she had Troy. It's the hair. I hate it. She looks like a lesbian most of the time. It's a turnoff."

"I like the pixie cut. I think it's cute!" Rachel argued, pinching his nipple and making him hiss in a combination of pain and pleasure.

"Well if you turn dyke, she'll be your stud," Diego giggled, and she slapped him on the chest, but she was laughing as well.

"I'd be the girl," she said. "I don't think Gloria would mind being the man. She's got the muscle for it. What about you? If you turned gay, who would be your bitch?"

"Ahm," Diego nearly started to sweat, picturing Sean's lean, lithe body twisting and rubbing up against his own, imagining for a moment that the woman in his arm was the young boy he'd been having strange thoughts about for some time now. The thoughts had become more frequent and intense since they'd been drunk in the same bed. The memory was foggy, but he was sure they shared a sloppy tongue kiss and Sean actively played with Diego's junk while Rachel spooned him from behind. It was probably just another dream, but... it seemed so real.

"C'mon!" Rachel hopped up and straddled his waist. Blood had flowed to his groin the moment he thought about Sean, but now he was at maximum volume. "Maybe you and Lovecraft?"

"Ugh, don't," Diego warned her, gently starting to grind his hips and enjoying the coy grin on her face. "Not even as a joke. Say that name again and I won't be hard for a month."

"I'm just saying, there's already fanfiction written about you two getting it on," Rachel started laughing, and Diego collapsed back on his pillow, exaggerating a shudder of disgust. "What about Sean? You seem to like him," Rachel teased Diego by running her nails into his ticklish armpits, forcing him to grab her wrists to defend himself.

"Sean's a cool kid," Diego said, stroking the inside of her palms with his thumbs. "I'm not into guys, but if you forced me to choose, it'd be him, I guess. He looks the most like a girl."

"Is that why you lead him on?" Rachel asked him, pausing the affection momentarily.

"Lead him on? What?" Diego asked, genuinely confused. He hadn't been doing any such thing. "You'll have to be more specific than that."

"You're always touching him and he can't keep his hands off you," Rachel pointed out. "Like that night we got drunk in the hotel room and he gave you a full half-naked massage. And you bought him dinner?"

"You sound jealous," Diego grinned, and she scoffed at him.

"I'm not jealous, babe. You can get a massage or have a meal with whoever you like, I'm just saying it's probably not fair on Sean," she explained, leaning down to kiss him gently on the forehead. "He obviously has a thing for you. Why aren't you putting a stop to it?"

"He does not. He's with Oliver," Diego broke in, but Rachel sighed.

"You're such an idiot sometimes. I'm just saying you need to set some boundaries because he's crushing on you, babe. I know it feels nice to have someone fawning over you and that, but don't toy with him, please. He's one of my best friends. Don't hurt him."

"Can I be honest with you?" Diego asked, and Rachel cocked her head.

"I'd hope so, why?" She asked, repositioning herself. She looked like an angel, Diego thought happily. Slim, blue-eyed and blonde-haired with a handful of freckles on her cheeks and full, pink lips.

"I guess I'm just enjoying the attention because... well, we haven't been close in a while, have we?" Diego mentioned, and he felt the breath leaving her. "I still don't think Seano has any crush on me. I know he thinks I'm hot or whatever, but it was nice to feel attractive. I love you Rach, but we've been dead in the water for a while. It was cool to feel like someone wanted me."

"You're so cute," she leaned down and pressed her lips against his, and he kissed her back hungrily. "I'm sorry, babe. I have been dragging my feet, haven't I?"

"Yeah, but I haven't made it easy for you, I guess," Diego admitted, meeting her halfway. "Between kids and being a pretty boring person, you didn't stand a chance to start with."

"Do you think Julian's going to stay in bed this time?" Rachel shifted back and provocatively pressed down on his hardness, causing fireworks to shoot through him.

"If he doesn't, I'm going to handcuff him to it," Diego snickered, grinding his hips against hers.

"One more question, though..." Rachel said, and Diego groaned.

"You're killing me, Rach. What is it?"

"Have you slept with anyone else?" She asked, gently tickling at his belly button with her nails and making him squirm. She loved making him squirm when she was feeling frisky. A nip here, a kiss there, a stroke beyond.

"I thought about it," Diego nodded. "A waitress from the restaurant I went to with Sean was thirsty for it and I got her number, but I decided not to see her."

"I did pretty much the same with Giorgio," she leaned down and began to kiss a trail from his lips to his neck, and slowly down his warm, hard chest.

"If only he could see you now," Diego purred as he watched her disappear below the warm blankets. Clearing the air with her felt even better than the next thirty minutes did.

~

Sunday, April 29th

"Hey," Diego smiled warmly at the young girl shyly holding a poster from the champion's new photoshoot with the title belt, Lance posing by his side like an ever doting trophy wife. It was the one that was for purchase at the front stand, but a small selection of solo pictures of Lance or Diego were available as well. "You look just like my little girl!"

"Say hello!" The girl's father encouraged her, and the girl squeaked out an excited hello for Diego's benefit. He had to laugh at her. Perhaps they looked similar, but Nina would have eaten this girl alive.

"Who am I signing this for?" He asked for what felt like the ten thousandth time that day. "Just you, sweetheart?"

"Haley!" The girl grinned and put her hands on the championship belt. The belt was a huge hit. Everyone wanted to have their picture taken with it. Diego scribbled with his pen on the poster she'd brought to him. 'Haley, reach to the stars! Diego Silva.'

"It's so heavy!" Haley cried out, almost dropping it on the carpeted floor.

"You're a strong girl," Lance giggled from beside him, and happily signed the picture underneath Diego's. 'My best fan! Love, Lance Lovecraft xox.'

The two of them stood behind Haley for her selfie in which she struggled to hold up the Heavyweight Championship belt and then did the same for her father, who produced a picture for the boys to sign for himself. It was sweet, Diego thought. Father and daughter both wrestling fans. It was the same as him and Nina. The day progressed slowly but it wasn't the dreadful monotony that was getting under Diego's skin, it was being trapped at the same table as Lance Lovecraft, who got considerably more attention than him. It came at a price, though. Nobody had a bad word to say to Diego all day long. Some weren't interested in getting a picture or an autograph from him, but that was neither offensive nor surprising. Lance didn't have it so easy. A vast majority of the people who spoke to Lance had a strong opinion about something he did.

"I can't believe they actually let you in a wrestling ring."
"You're so brave and inspirational. You make me feel better about myself."
"You're embarrassing, dude. You make me sick."
"I love your hair and your makeup, but why do you dress like that?"
"Do you have to rub the gay stuff in everyone's face?"

By the end of the four hours, Diego felt he could use a nap, but Lance almost looked like he was completely exhausted, wasting little time in packing up his side of the stall and tying his wild hair back into a small ponytail.

"You know," Diego pointed out, stretching his arms and enjoying the loud cracking of his shoulder joints that came with it. "If you go out of your way to be different, you reap what you sow."

"Really?" Lance blinked stupidly. "Do you think I should stop? Would it be easier if I... you know, assimilated?"

"Of course it would," Diego looked at him suspiciously. "It'd be easier for you, especially in this industry. It's pretty obvious."

"You think so?" Lance but his lip. "I think you might be right. I can't believe nobody pointed that out to me before. I feel like a right knob."

"Huh? Seriously?" Diego frowned, and Lance irritably slapped his hand down on the now empty table with an angry growl.

"No, you pillock!" The red boy hissed at him, and Diego felt his wrists clenching. "I'm not an idiot, thank you very much. Do you think you're the first person to suggest to me that I should be like everybody else? You can insult my style, my way of life, but don't you dare insult my intelligence, you condescending prat!"

"I'm trying to look out for you--" Diego went to defend himself, but Lance was in one hell of a mood, it seemed.

"Oh, shut your cake hole," Lance's accent seemed to change somewhat when he was mad. It sounded more cockney than usual, and it helped confirm Diego's suspicion that the Queen's English that came from his ludicrous cherry-coloured lips was all an act. That was to be expected, after all. Nothing about this fraud was real. He dyed his hair, painted his nails, wore heavy makeup and spoke in a fake accent. That wasn't even mentioning that he was a professional wrestler who had no idea how to wrestle. A professional charlatan.

"If you're so keen to make everything hard on yourself, good luck to you," Diego sneered back at him. "Why are you like this, anyway?"

"What are you getting at?" Lance's white eyes flashed at him.

"I don't get you, Lovecraft. Why are you a clown? Like, what are you trying to prove to everyone? The makeup, the hair and the clothes?" Diego was torn between trying to get real answers from the boy and jeering at him.

"I don't have to answer to you," Lance put his hands indignantly on his hips and huffed. He was so camp that Diego failed to take him seriously. "It's my business how I choose to present myself. Not yours."

"I'm just saying, not everyone wants to see that," Diego shrugged. He thought that was the right thing to say, but Lance flared up.

"Then they should look somewhere else!" The boy clipped, his face pulled into an ugly scowl.

"That's unrealistic," Diego laughed, leaning against the wall behind him. It was a warm day, but it was cool inside, and the cold bricks felt nice against the shoulder blades his tanktop left bare. "People tune in to a wrestling show and you hog the camera while you're not wrestling. It's hard to look somewhere else."

"You have a lot of stuff to say to me, don't you?" Lance challenged him, strutting up close. He was wearing men's shoes today, so he didn't tower over the Brazilian like he usually did backstage. "Get it out your system, then. All of it."

"Get out of my face, Lovecraft," Diego hated the attitude the boy showed to him alone, never to anyone else. To everyone else, he was sweet and charismatic. To Diego, he was rude and sassy. "You don't want to hear what I have to say."

"Try me," Lance offered a devious grin. "I'm a big boy. I can take it. There's nothing you can say to me that I haven't heard before. If you can make me cry, I'll even buy you a pint."

"Lovecraft, step off," Diego warned him again, this time using his hands to push Lance away.

"You're such a coward," Lance laughed, a smirk on his red lips. "You've been up on your soapbox preaching crap about me ever since I made it to KADA in the first place. What, you chicken out now because I'm inviting you to actually say something to me? To my face? And not to all of our friends and coworkers behind my back?"

"There's nothing constructive that can come from this conversation, kid," Diego patronised the youngster. "You know what I think of you. You know I can't do anything about it. Why don't we leave it at that?"

"Do you want to hear a story?" Lance folded his arms.

"Will it get you off my back?" Diego asked, and Lance gave the cute nonchalant blink and half-shrug he often did.

"I had the biggest crush on you when I was a teenager," Lance said, smiling at how uncomfortable it made Diego. "Seriously, Diego! I had every one of your posters and I think most of them are still stuck up on my old bedroom wall. You autographed a few of them, one for every event you performed at in London when KADA did its UK tours. I was there every time, watching you, Gloria and the others at Wembley Arena. It was often both my birthday and Christmas present for the year, getting to come and watch in the front rows. You can even see me in the replays, on my dad's shoulders."

"Being a fan doesn't mean you can be a wrestler," Diego pointed out, but Lance played with the base of his ponytail and shrugged at him.

"Why not? I know it was the worst worked match of the year, but I've already main-evented the end of year pay-per-view. That's something you've never done," Lance's lips curled into a smug smirk. Diego wanted to punch the kid in his stupid gargoyle face.

"But you don't deserve those opportunities," Diego insisted, angrily. "You're exploiting the money-grubbing ambitions of the idiots in charge! Being a desperate publicity stunt doesn't make you a wrestler, Lovecraft. In fact, you're actively insulting everything that's important to me by being here."

"Yes, honey, you've made that clear," Lance nodded flippantly. "I worshipped you, I really did. Being a wrestler was all I've ever wanted in the long run, and I finally worked up the courage to commit to it. Then Michelle tells me that I'm going to be your long-term manager. One of my heroes growing up! Diego Silva! I can't even say how happy I was! I should have listened to my dad, though. Meeting your heroes is a terrible idea. I knew it was always going to be hard, but I wasn't prepared for the catty drama and backstage politics. Then I met you, and you were nothing but an egocentric, homophobic bellend."

"I'm not homophobic," Diego retorted. "I hate you because you're exploiting my career for attention. You don't even want to learn how to wrestle! Kid, you are turning everything I've ever worked for into a huge joke. What did you expect? I'd say 'cheers mate,' and we'd fall in love like in your little teenage fantasies?"

"No," Lance sighed heavily, leaning back against the table. "I just thought you'd give me a chance. That's what I want - or what I wanted. I don't care what you think. The locker room gave me the silent treatment for months, but I'm still here. You tried to frame me for sabotaging Sean's career, but I'm still here. The worst part though was when I realised that everything I loved and admired about you was a bleeding lie. I'd do anything to take back all the time I spent thinking you were worthy of my respect. My support. My love! That's my biggest regret - wasting all those years thinking you were someone special. There's nothing special about you, though. You're just like every other twat who's ever told me I'm not good enough. Well tough, because I'm not going anywhere. If you wanted to hurt my feelings and make me miserable, then congratulations, Diego. You did a great job! But if you wanted to break my spirit and crush my dreams, then you bloody failed! Just like everyone before you."

Diego didn't know how to respond to that. Lance wiped his eyes and let out a strange half sob, half laugh, then sniffed.

"I guess I owe you that pint after all," he gave a pained smile and snatched his sunglasses from the desk, putting them over his eyes so nobody could see him holding back the tears no doubt. "I'll see you next Friday. I'm sure you're looking forward to it as much as I am."

"Lance?" Diego said suddenly as the boy walked away.

Lance flinched and hesitated, but he didn't turn around again and slowly walked away. His job was over for the day, and he was free to leave. So he did. Perhaps it was a good thing he didn't stop. Diego called out to him again, but he had no idea what he had intended to say. He was speechless.