Lazy day: YRM check-in
Summary: Rhea and Jey tried to have a nice relaxing morning together but that doesn’t last long when Jimmy and Naomi come banging on their door with bad news
Warnings: Some fluff and a lot of angst. Enjoy 😉
AN: Today is the anniversary of YRM so I figured why not return to them the way we did last time 🤭🖤
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Rhea was lying on the couch with her head in Jey’s lap, petting Bella while he played GTA. The police sirens blasted through the small speaker in the light blue controller.
They haven’t seen each other as much as they would both love to, with Rhea being on SmackDown and him still on Raw.
But Wednesdays were the exception, so they were having a lazy day. Light workout, then Waffle House for breakfast, and now they were just relaxing on the couch together until they felt like doing otherwise.
“Why are you hiding under a bridge?” Rhea looked up from her book that Naomi recommended, seeing a car that was holding on by a prayer, under a bridge.
“I shot some folks on the street so the cops are chasin’ me, gonna lay low, let it die down.”
“You just shot some random people?” Her face scrunched up below him, “They were in my way.” He shrugged casually, taking a quick glance down at her, seeing the soft smile on her lips.
Before she could ask another question, a heavy-handed knock landed on their door, making them both jump.
“What the fuck?” She barely got her words out before she was pushed off of his lap, left lying confused and worried on the couch as Jey marched towards the front door, Bella following close behind him.
Rhea pulled herself up, pushing her hair out of her face, confused at who could be at their door so early in the morning and banging on it.
The way Jey sucked his teeth could be heard all throughout the house, and the sound of the front door slamming a second later.
“Don’t be bangin’ on my fuckin’ door like yo’ the damn police.” He said, frustratedly walking back into the living room with Jimmy and Naomi behind him, “I get one day to spend with my fiancée, and here yo’ ass come botherin’ me. I see yo’ every Sunday.”
He plopped back down on the couch next to Rhea with a huff, throwing his arm across the back.
Jimmy and Naomi sat down together on the farthest side of the couch. Bella started to beg for attention from the familiar faces, only getting head scratches from Jimmy.
The married couple looked at each other with the same look of frustration Jey had. God, they really were twins when upset. Just who pissed off Jimmy?
“Everything alright? Is everything good with the baby?” Rhea leaned forward past Jey, her worry becoming contagious instantly, “Yeah, everything good, sis?”
“No, no, everything’s fine with y’all’s nephew," Naomi said, rubbing her big belly with a smile.
“Ok, then what’s wrong?” She asked, and they both looked at each other, avoiding her question, which made Jey repeat it, getting annoyedly concerned.
“Everything alright, Uce?”
“You ain’t- umm, you ain’t checked your phone today?”
Jimmy stuttered over his words, scratching the spot behind his ear.
“No, we've been chillin’ all morning. Taking a break from all the noise, why?” Jey set his forgotten controller on the coffee table with a thump. “Ma’ good?”
They were practically playing 20 questions with them, and that seemed to be their closest guess so far.
Jimmy shifted in his seat, glancing over at his wife, Naomi, elbowing him in the ribs, mumbling “Tell them,” as she could see the growing confusion in the room, their silences to Jey’s question causing even more.
“Jon? What the fuck is wrong?!” Jey snapped.
He didn’t mean to shout, but he was scared. If Jimmy dragged himself and Nai out of the house, it must be important, and nobody was saying anything. He needed some fucking answers.
“It’s dad…”
Jimmy said softly to Jey’s frustration that immediately faded with his twin’s response. “What?”
Rhea slipped her hand into his, preparation for the worst. Jey gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to figure out what in the world his brother was talking about.
“Is he okay? What happened?” She spoke up, shifting forward in her seat, looking towards Naomi, who looked like all she wanted to do was give her a big hug and apologize for whatever was happening. “Naomi, what is it? Tell us?” A nervous chuckle escaped her lips.
“He dropped an episode of his podcast this morning,” she started cautiously. Jimmy hung his head and kept an eye on his brother at the same time.
“We didn’t even know until a clip of it was blowing up on Twitter… of him talking about how his son is getting married.”
You could hear a pen drop in the thick silence that floated around in the tension-filled air.
Rhea’s own chest felt tighter, not wanting to believe another fucking person popped them out of their bubble. Their beautiful, happy, quiet, personal bubble.
She felt Jey’s grip around her hand get stronger, looking blankly at the couple in front of them. “He said what?”
Jimmy cleared his throat before looking up at him, “He said you're getting married. He didn’t say her name, but our fans aren’t idiots, they know y’all are together—“
“And now they know we're getting married.”
The words left a bad taste in her mouth, the tight feeling traveling up to her throat, causing her to excuse herself with a trembling voice. Pulling her hand out of his strong grip.
“Rhea!” He called out after her, hopping up off the couch as quickly as he could. “Again, Jey. Again!” She started making her way towards the stairs. “We’re getting fucking marriaged and he told everyone! EVERYONE!”
Her broken screams that echoed around the house held emotions. The hurt, angry ones that boiled through her blood. Jey went after her, or well, tried to before his brother and Naomi stopped him.
“Give her a minute, Uce.”
“I’ll go check on her. Watch him.” She whispered the end of her words for only her husband to hear as she started waddling upstairs.
Jey shoved his twin’s hand off his chest, walking around the couch, running his fingers through the front of his hair, letting out a loud sigh.
“I know," Jimmy said, answering the unsaid question Jey sighed out. “Pops is always trippin’, and then wondering why we don’t talk to him like Solo does.”
Jimmy leaned over the back of the couch, walking his twin, trying to pace out his thoughts.
It was no secret they didn’t mess with their Dad as the rest of their siblings did. There had just been too many broken promises over all the years, and it was just expected from him at this point.
Besides holidays and the occasional visit, all for the happiness of their mom, they didn’t see him. Maybe a call here and there, but they never reached out first, always Rikishi.
Jey held his head in his hands, trying to figure out what he was going to do now, but only one thing came to his mind.
“Come on, let’s go.” Jey grabbed his keys off the table, where he had left them last night, marching towards the door. Jimmy followed not too far behind him; there was no need to ask him where.
The front door slammed, shaking the whole frame of the house, leaving Rhea and Naomi upstairs alone.
“Things we’re going so good, Nai, so bloody good and then Rikishi goes and fucking tells the whole world like he supports the shit?!”
Rhea was walking back and forth in front of the bed that Naomi was sitting on, holding her belly, thinking about how she told Jimmy to watch Jey, not encourage his crazy, and definitely not to let him leave the house.
“As if he’s happy for us and hasn't had something to say about our engagement ever since we told him! Fuck off!”
She slapped her hands against her thighs, looking at Naomi, who completely understood why she was upset, her and Jimmy going through their own struggles with Rikishi during their wedding.
“He’s an ass, Rhea, everyone knows it, they all just don’t say it as the boys do," Naomi said, hoping to calm the storm inside of the Australian woman. “Don’t let him ruin your wedding. It’s still yours, and you guys can still tell everyone whenever you're ready, too.”
She grabbed Rhea’s hand, leaning her to sit by her on the bed.
She was exhausted, not only was she trying to plan a wedding during mania season tiring, but every corner they turned just had something else waiting for them.
“I just wanted to live in our happy little bubble until we were ready.”
Rhea said “we," but then she meant “me”. She appreciated her privacy, and so did Jey, but when it came to their relationship, she really loved her privacy. The world didn’t need to know everything as soon as it happened. But none of that mattered anyway after Rikishi got on his podcast and opened his mouth about a thing he didn’t even support.
“You still can, Babe, you don’t have to confirm anything until y’all want to. Something else will happen, and everybody will move on.”
“I fucking hope so, there’s already way too much going on right now.”
With Jey’s constant panic attacks and his struggles with Roman, them being apart half the days out of the week since she won Elimination Chamber, and her feud with Jade and practically the entire IWC, maybe this would buy her a week of good praise from the “fans”.
Jey’s foot was tapping against the floorboards of the car’s interior, his fingernails digging into his thighs. He didn’t want to do anything crazy, but at the same time, his dad couldn’t just keep disrespecting him and Rhea’s relationship like this. He wanted to be cool, but then he remembered Rhea was crying when he left and all that cool and calm shit when flying out the door.
Jimmy pulled into the driveway slowly, the car jerking as it rolled over the cracks in the pavement. He turned to his twin while shifting it into park.
“Yo’ what we doin’? What’s the plan?” Jimmy was down for whatever his twin was, but he needed to know if he had to tell Naomi to have some bail money ready or not.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged because he didn’t have a plan. He just knew one thing. This was over.
He got out of the car and slammed the door behind him, giving Jimmy zero time to react and follow.
Jey marched up to the front door of his dad’s house. It was wrapped in sage siding and light colored bricks, half-dead green and dirty concrete led him up towards the white door, mirroring the way his brother had earlier in the morning.
It didn’t take long for the door to open. Rikishi started there with his morning coffee in his hand, looking dumbfounded at two of his kids standing on his porch.
Before he could even open his mouth, Jey pushed his way inside the house, Jimmy following and shutting the door behind them both.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jey started, his voice louder than he thought it would be when he opened his mouth.
“I gave yo’ one simple fuckin’ rule and yo’ couldn’t keep that shit to yourself for a few months!”
Rikishi could see the rage in his second-oldest son's eyes staring down at him, truly yelling at him that. Sending him back to a time when they were both younger.
“Joshua-“
“Nah, I don’t want to hear one of your fucking excuses," Jey put his hand up in front of his father's face, “You knew that shit would hurt us, hurt her. And still posted it anyway. Why did you do that?!”
He didn’t know he wanted the answer until the words fell out of his mouth; maybe it was because Rhea was involved, and he just wanted to know how someone could hurt the woman he loved when they claimed to love him.
Rikishi was at a loss for words, his gaze flicking towards his other son, who was holding his arms against his chest with one of his hands wrapped around his wrist like he was trying to intimidate him.
“We were just talking, Joshua. It was filmed weeks ago, I forgot I said it.”
The older man spoke as if he didn’t even believe the lies that were coming from his big mouth. Jey could hear how it gently shook as their dad rambled on about how it wasn’t “his fault” that it got out.
Just more excuses.
He looked back at his twin, who he guessed had read his mind and took a step forward, feeling the same anger he did bubbling in his chest; Rhea was his sister, married or not, that was his sister, and he’ll be damned if someone hurt her and his brother.
“Pops, do you even hear yourself right now?” He gestured to his own ear with a confused, eyes scrunched halfway closed expression. “You knew you weren’t supposed to tell anybody, and you went and told the whole world, and now you're blaming everybody else?” His confused expression turned even worse, staring at his father, placing a hand on his twin’s shoulder, holding him tight.
“We were talking about life, I forgot we were filming. I didn’t know that part was in there; I thought they would cut it in the final draft.”
His hands moved around nervously, trying to explain the situation, but Jey was over it.
He blew out an exhausted breath, pulling himself away from between the two men, laughing with no humor behind it.
Jey dragged his hands over his face, exhaling into them, feeling like he wanted to bang his head into a wall or someone else’s. But he didn’t do either because he wasn’t in the ring, and that was the deal.
But his mind was stuck on one single thing his dad said that made his blood run hot.
“Talkin’ ‘bout fuckin’ life? YOU AIN'T IN OUR FUCKIN’ LIFE!”
Jey slammed his hand into his own chest, emphasizing that it was his life. Closing all the space between them. “You don’t like Rhea so why the fuck were you talkin’ about her?! Talkin’ about our wedding like yo’ even comin’.”
He was eye to eye with his father, that rage still inside him slipping out. Jimmy put his hand on his twin’s chest, just holding him there. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to punch his dad a few times in his life, but Jey would actually be crazy enough to do it, especially right now with Roman’s poisonous claws back in him.
“You’re my son, Joshua, I can’t be proud that my son’s getting married?”
“No. Not when it’s not true.”
That was the calmest he had sounded all morning because it was the truest thing he said all morning.
But calm was just as bad.
“Take it down.”
“It’s been up all morning, Joshua, I can’t just—“
“I said take it down, I wasn’t asking.”
“Joshua, I'm your father, and I will not be disrespected in my own damn house.”
Rikishi raised his voice for the first time, and it did nothing but make Jey look over at his brother with a look that said, “he’s not serious”.
“You want respect in your house? Fine.” He shrugged, sniffing a little bit, “But you're not my father and don’t try to act like one now, not when you haven’t done a fatherly thing in my entire life.”
He knew that one hurt, but it was just the truth, and sometimes the truth had to hurt. Maybe Rikishi needed to hurt a little bit to get what he was saying.
“I gave you a roof over all your heads, always had full bellies. I gave all of you everything I could. I tried to be there, Joshua, you never let me.”
Jimmy could feel his twin’s skin burning with anger under his shirt, as a sick grin curled onto his face, one Jimmy had seen so many times before and knew exactly what it meant.
“Yo, calm down,” He shoved his brother back gently, “Fightin’ ‘bout old shit isn’t gonna help, Rhea, Uce,” He reminded his easily distracted little brother while they were here; his voice a whisper.
Jey didn’t want to hear that; he wanted to talk about all the shit he didn’t do until his mom dared to try to replace him with someone better.
Jimmy turned around, keeping a hand on his chest to face their dad.
“This isn’t a debate, Pops. Take the episode down, re-edit it, we don’t give a fuck, just get rid of the part about Rhea and the wedding because you ruined that for her. Do you not get that? You took that away from them, told the whole world before they could. Do you not see how wrong that is?”
Jimmy was trying to bring logic and reason back into this, but Rikishi still wasn’t seeming to understand it. Good to see exactly where Jey got his hard-headness from, that’s why they always fought so much, because they were so alike in so many ways, and Jey hated that he was like his father, because he tried so hard not to be.
“Fine, if you want me to take it down, I will.” He sounded annoyed that they would even ask him to do such a thing. “We just don’t understand why you're getting married so fast, son. It's been three years, you can’t know you want to spend the rest of your lives with someone in three years. Your mother and I—“
“You and Ma’ didn’t work out because you couldn’t keep it in your fucking pants on the road while she took care of YOUR damn kids!” Jey snapped.
He couldn’t play this game anymore. He came here for one thing, and he was gonna get it,
or lord help them all.
“I don’t give a single fuck what you and Ma’ think about us getting married, we’re doing it, end of discussion.”
“Joshua, we just don’t want you to make the same mistakes as we did when we were dumb and in love.”
Jimmy thought his twin was going to roll his eyes out of his head and onto the floor. Jey turned his body all the way around in a circle, rubbing his hands over his beard.
“Even the rest of the family doesn’t think Rhea’s a good fit for the family.”
“Why? Because she doesn’t like being in the kitchen with all the aunties that talk ‘bout her behind her back, or that she didn’t go to church, or because she’s not Laila?”
Rikishi and their family love Laila. She was the perfect woman; she went to church every Sunday, had no problem helping out in the kitchen, had a good heart and carried herself high. When he was away on the road, she would go and spend time with his family. She was the perfect woman by all means… until she wasn’t.
And then he found the truly perfect, most beautiful, intelligent, loving woman who made his whole world brighter even on the darkest of days.
And he didn’t care if his family loved her because the people closest to him loved her, and most importantly, he loved her.
“That’s not what I meant, Joshua,” Rikishi lifted his finger pointing at the sky, “Just Laila was a good girl, she made you happy, we all saw it. Now, if you were marrying her, then this conversation would be different, but you're not; you want to marry Rhea.”
“And what’s the problem with that, huh?” Jey whipped his body back around, getting back in Rikishi's face, “Just say it, whatever it is, just fucking say it.”
Rikishi opened his mouth, carefully choosing his words before saying.
“I don’t think she’s good enough for you.” The twins scoffed at the absurd notion, but Rikishi continued, “She’s too different, she doesn't fit, I mean, she’s a good wrestler, a kind woman, but your wife? Come on now Joshua, don’t be stupid.” He said firmly, “If this was just some random fling, side piece, then I wouldn’t care, but she’s not wife material or mother material for that matter; I’ve heard all the locker room talk, Joshua, she’s good, I’ll give her that, but not that good to be in the spots she’s in.”
“Oh shit," Jimmy mumbled under his breath, already knowing that was coming because he felt the same rage inside of himself at their dad’s disgusting comments on Rhea’s succession.
His fist clenched down by his side, he couldn’t believe he said that about her, or even thought about Rhea like that.
“We’re done.”
Jey’s voice was hard, leaving no room to argue. He gave his father so much leeway because of their mother, but he had crossed too many lines too many times. Rikishi had the audacity to ask what he meant, so he spelled it out for him.
“We’re done. You don’t get to disrespect my wife and expect nothing to happen! She does nothing but try for this family, and in return, she gets shit on for it, so I’m done. I won’t let you continue to disrespect our relationship like this. You don’t support the wedding, great then we won’t send you an invitation, don’t worry about it.” Jey moved closer, shoving his finger in his dad’s chest, as rage took over his body that he couldn’t control.
“I don’t fucking need you there, I never needed you. But when your grandkids ask why they don’t know their grandpa, that’s on you, not us, because we both tried, Rhea tried her hardest to please you and you didn’t want to give even a fucking little back.”
Rikishi kept a stone-cold face, but his eyes were filled with regret almost immediately, looking into Jey's glassy ones; he didn’t know why there were tears in his eyes. This wasn’t shocking to him, but it hurt a lot more than he expected.
Jimmy grabbed his shoulder, gently pulling him away, whispering, “Let's go," to him, not acknowledging his father’s presence, just walking out of the house.
——
The car ride back was completely silent, not even the radio was playing. You could hear a pin drop. Neither of them said anything until pulling up into their driveway, Jimmy putting it in park before looking up at his twin.
“You did the right thing, Uce, you givin’ him chance after chance, this is on him, not you.”
Jey stared out the window at the unmoving landscape, rubbing a hand over his mouth. “Jey?” He grasped his shoulder, leaning forward, trying to see his face. “You alright? Jey?”
“I’m good.. I’m good, Man, just-just hang on.”
Jey brought his head down by his knees, running his fingers through his hair, making sure to take a couple of deep breaths. He felt Jimmy’s hand fall down his back; he didn’t know what to do but knew Jey needed physical reassurance that he was here.
Jey didn’t hate his father. If something happened to him today, he would be devastated, but their relationship was strained, too much had happened when he was younger that he couldn’t forget and his time in the bloodline only made it worse. And as his dad used to tell him all the time, the phone works both ways, and Rikishi never picked it up unless he wanted something.
So he didn’t hate his dad, and there was definitely love lost. But there were some good times. Just like there was with Roman.
“You gotta protect your peace, Rhea’s peace too.”
“What am I supposed to do about ‘Ma?” He turned his head to the side, looking up at him with his big eyes that always told whoever was looking into them what he was thinking.
Jimmy didn’t know what to say, or well, he did, but knew Jey wasn’t going to like it.
“You know what you have to do, Uce, she’s gonna defend him like she always does.” His hand moved up Jey’s back to the back of his neck, causing him to lift his head up a little more. “You don’t have to do it today, but you have to do it. Gotta cut both of them off.”
He nodded his head, his eyes flickering around the car, looking anywhere but at his brother as he sighed heavily.
Jey sat back up, fixing his hair the best he could without a mirror in front of him and opened the passenger door, walking towards the front door.
Rhea and Naomi were still upstairs, now lying in bed under the covers, sharing a bag of chocolate-covered banana Trü Frü while watching Love Island.
“I’m telling you y’all’s nephew loves some messy reality TV."
Rhea had her head leaning on Naomi’s shoulder, opening her mouth despite the sweet fruit inside it.
“You're raising him right.”
She was still upset by her engagement being announced without her consent, but there was nothing she could do about it, so she was eating crap food and watching crap TV with her second sister.
They both heard two sets of heavy-footed footsteps coming up the stairs towards them.
The twins walked through the open doorway. Jey left his brother's side and immediately rushed over to her on the bed, sitting on the edge next to her legs.
“Hey, Babygirl, how you feelin’?”
She leaned her head up and off of Naomi, looking at him; her eyes were still bloodshot from crying, but she wasn’t yelling anymore, so that was a good sign.
“I’m sure other women would be ecstatic to have their engagement in the news.”
Rhea brought her knees up to her chest, looking at him with a small smile, but he could see she was still devastated by what had happened.
“I know, and I handled it. We wouldn’t have to worry about shit like that anymore. I promise.”
He reached out his hand grabbing hers off the bed, holding it gently. His thumb was rubbing the back of her hand. “What did you do?”
Rhea knew Jey, “handled it” could mean a lot of things and all of the things that came to her mind, she didn’t want to know about it. Especially with how he told Roman to “handle it” a few weeks ago.
“I told him to take it down; it’s still out there, I can’t do anything about that, but he did take it down. And then I told him we’re done.”
Rhea’s eyes went completely wide, looking at him with a shocked expression. “What?”
Naomi looked at her husband, who just quietly nodded to confirm what his twin was saying.
“You- you did what?” Rhea stumbled over her words, her grip tightening around his hand. “He can’t keep talking about us, ‘bout you. Not if he’s gonna disrespect us every single time he does it, so I’m done with him. It’s not like we need his money or anything, so I’m fucking done.”
Rhea didn’t know what to say; she was tongue-tied, shocked, still sad, but also a little angry that it had to come to this point, where Jey had to cut ties.
But most of all, she felt loved.
So loved her heart hurt again, but with a different type of ache this time. An overwhelming feeling of love.
“Jey… wh- what about your mum?”
Jey let his head fall forward with a heavy sigh that made Rhea realize that it wasn’t an easy decision like it was with his father.
“I’ll deal with that later, but right now I’m focused on you. You okay?”
He squeezed her hand, gently pulling her shiny eyes to him. He used his other hand to brush her hair out of her face.
“Yeah, just not how I thought our engagement would go, and now everybody has an opinion on us, it’s just- it’s not what I wanted, not this soon. I already get dumb questions from your family, wondering if I’m pregnant, and now the whole bloody internet is thinking the exact same thing. It’s just so bloody hard.”
Rhea dropped her forehead against her knees, feeling Jey drop her hand to rub the side of her leg. She could feel the bed shift under her, but didn’t move, feeling tears starting to stick to her bottom lashes.
“I know, Babygirl, it’s not how I envision it all either, but we’re gonna get through it, and we'll have the most amazing wedding, and then we'll disappear on a warm sunny beach somewhere for a week or two, ok?” He tapped on her left leg, urging her to lift her head but she didn’t.
He whispered her name as he moved closer to her, running his fingers through her long hair that flowed out the back of her head. “Rhea, what do you want to do? You want to push it farther? Move it closer? Go fucking elope in Australia? What do you want?”
That made her lift her head up to reveal her wet face that Jey immediately started wiping away with his thumb. Rhea had thought about all of those options herself since the engagement; she loved Jey and wanted to marry him but she didn’t know how or where or even when.
“I wish we were just normal people that didn’t have the media breathing down our necks every single second.”
She spoke in a weak and tired voice. Tired of all the stressors in her life that just kept piling up.
“Me too, I just want to disappear for a few months and not think or worry about anything or anyone.”
Jey moved up right next to her, and the side of her right knee was touching the side of his back. Taking her hand back into his.
“What do you want, Rhea?”
He asked her again.
Jey wanted her to have the best wedding, life, anything she could dream of having; he would make sure it was the best. But he couldn’t do that if she didn’t tell him what she dreamed of.
Rhea stiffened and wiped the leftover tears off her face before answering him, “I want to have a big, gorgeous wedding with all our friends and families there, and wear a big, poofy dress while you cry your eyes out because I’m just so bloody beautiful.”
Jey chuckled, making her smile just a little.
“Then we’ll do that and we won’t let anyone ruin it for us, okay?” He leaned forward pressing a kiss to the top of her head, “I got you, you know I do.”
He kept his face pressed into her hair as his arms
wrapped around her torso, forcing her to put her knees down. “Fuck anybody who thinks they got a opinion on our relationship. We don’t have to explain ourselves to anybody, this is me and you, okay?”
Jey kissed her head again before pulling back, “Okay?” He repeated himself, holding the side of her face gently.
“I don’t deserve you.”
“Yes, you do, of course you do.”
Jey could see the light in her bright blue eyes.
“Why is planning a wedding so bloody hard?” Rhea sighed, leaning back against the headboard.
“I don’t know, Mama, but it will all be worth it.”
“So worth it.” Rhea finally smiled, a genuine smile at the thought of their wedding and being married to the most wonderful man in the world.
Jey leaned forward, raised himself off the edge of the bed, pressing a soft kiss on her lips, “It’s all gonna be okay, Mama, we’re gonna figure all this wedding shit out, Mania too, everything will be fine, I promise.”
Jey’s promises always made her smile, made her feel calmer before he vowed to fix whatever was troubling her.
Rhea wiped her face with the collar of her shirt, not wanting to get up and get a tissue. She felt a little ridiculous and laughed at herself, causing Jey to laugh.
“Where did Nai and Jimmy go?” She asked, finally noticing that she and Jey were alone on their bed. “Just downstairs to give us a moment alone.”
“Ok," Rhea answered before crawling around him, tossing her legs off the side of the bed and standing up.
She couldn’t let them leave without a goodbye, and she needed to thank Jimmy for helping Jey and her.
They both walked down the stairs, seeing Naomi sitting on the couch while Jimmy held and petted Bella next to her. Talking in a hushed whisper.
Both were unaware of their presence until Jey stepped on a creaky step, making them turn their heads.
“Hey, girl, you feelin’ ok? Jimmy catches me up.” Naomi started to stand up, but Rhea stopped her. “Yeah, I’m okay, just so over all the drama.” She walked around the couch, meeting Naomi on the other side, pulling her into a loving hug. “Girl, me too.”
Jey walked up to his brother, leaning forward on his arms across the back of it, “Why didn’t you tell me planning a wedding was so damn hard?” He asked, and Jimmy sucked his teeth, saying, “I did, you don’t like to listen," which Jey scoffed at.
His attention was pulled by a hand on his forearm, the hand attached to a charitable-looking Naomi.
“You did the right thing, Jey, even if you don’t think it is right now, it is. He had no fuckin’ right to talk about Rhea like that, he’s sick in the head for listening to the virgins on Twitter who wish they could have a woman as great and kind as Rhea.”
Naomi ended her small rant by putting her hand on her belly, feeling the baby moving as she felt herself getting worked up. “Ok, I’m done. Your nephew also seems to be upset.”
Jey leaned farther over the back of the couch, pressing his hand against his sis’s belly, “Good, that’s his auntie, he should be mad.”
They all laughed, baby Uso kicking some more under Jey’s palm. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt a baby kick other than these last few months with Naomi, but he was counting down the days to that year and a half.
“Ay, maybe one of us will finally be a football star instead of a wrestler.” He joked, making Naomi say, “Oh, he’s gonna be kicking some type of ball with these strong ass legs.”
Rhea was sitting behind Naomi with her legs tucked under her, looking past her fiancé and Naomi to Jimmy, who was sitting with his legs spread wide on the couch.
“What did he say about me?” She asked Jimmy, knowing either Naomi or Jey would tell her if she asked.
“He said a lot of shit, nothin’ you ain’t heard before but that doesn’t make it okay or true.” He shrugged his shoulders dismissively, “He doesn't know you, and it’s looking like he’ll never know you as we do.”
“Aw, how sad.” Jey chimed in mockingly, still holding a hand to Naomi’s belly. “Just another name we don’t have to add to the guest list.”
“God, I need to check the guest list, see who’s on it and who isn’t.” Rhea ran his hand over her forehead, letting out a loud sigh. This wedding planning was kicking her ass. Who thought double-checking lists was fun? Santa Claus?
“You guys talk like you don’t have a wedding planner.” Naomi laughed because that would be ridiculous. Jimmy joined in, but Rhea and Jey weren’t.
They had shared a panicked look, both of them awkwardly laughing for another reason than the happily married couple.
Naomi notices the shift in their body language, Jey turning his head so he wouldn’t have to look in her judgmental eyes.
“Uce.”
“What?” He responds with a mumble, a guilty expression flooding his face. “We've been busy.” Rhea added, “We were going to, but then Chamber happened, and we got busy and just forgot.” She admitted sheepishly. A small smile crept across Jey’s lips; Rhea didn’t get nervous and awkward often, and it was adorable when she did.
“Well, no wonder everything’s been so hard, you guys need to get a wedding planner to help y’all out.”
“Yeah, stupid.” Jimmy added, slapping his twin upside the head, making him groan out in pain before mushing
his brother’s face, saying, “Fuck off.”
Naomi scoffed at the twins, shifting her body to look back at Rhea, “I’ll send you a few planners, you should ask Maxxine too, since she just had hers. Ooh, and B, she’s really good at things like that. She loves weddings.”
Rhea couldn’t remember the last time she talked to Bianca; maybe once or twice since Mania, Bianca’s been out for the whole year, and she’s just been so busy with Iyo and now Jade. She was over their feud and hoped Bianca had gotten over it, too. If she could forgive Naomi, she could forgive her, right?
“Thanks, Nai, I don’t know what I would do without you or Jimmy.” She added, knowing he would get upset if he wasn’t included. Rhea rolled her eyes at it every time.
“That’s what family’s for, Sis, as soon as Nai saw it, we knew we had to rush over here so, Uce, would’ve done somethin’ real crazy. You don’t know that side is him.” The oldest Uso said, pointing at her.
“And she’s not gonna, I’m a changed man now.” Jey lifted his hand to his chest like he was swearing on the bible.
“Oh, ok.” Both Naomi and Jimmy laughed knowing that wasn’t true in the slightest. “Whatever, Man. We really appreciate y’all for lettin’ us know ‘bout Pops, know y’all busy keeping’ my nephew safe and shit, but thanks for coming over here and keepin’ Rhea company while me and Jim handled it.”
He went to hug Naomi while she was sitting down, but she held up her hand to stop him before he could. Naomi grabbed her belly as she pushed up off the couch, Jimmy racing to help her stand up.
“I wouldn’t want to spend my morning with anyone else. I hate not seeing you guys every week.”
Being stuck at home was really taking its toll on Naomi, and they all could see it.
“We miss you too, Nai. Steph’s just keeping that title warm for you.” Rhea said, pulling Naomi into a tight hug like they weren’t going to call each other tonight like they always did. “I love you.”
“I love you too, thank you again.”
Jey moved around the couch, walking past his twin, going straight to Naomi, giving her a hug too. “Love you, Sis, let me know if there’s anything else my nephew needs or you.” He kissed her on the forehead before turning around, dapping up his brother. “Thanks, Uce.”
“No problem, we've got you. Remember, you don’t need them; this is y’all’s wedding, do whatever you want.” Jimmy pulled him closer to him by their interlocked hands so his mouth was closer to Jey’s ear, whispering.
“If you need money, I got you. It's not a problem, just let me know, and we got you.”
Jey nodded his head, wanting to say something, but didn't, going against his own pride and accepting the offer.
Jimmy let go of his hand, looking towards Rhea. “Miss seeing your ass around on Mondays."
“I miss seeing you guys. I have to carry all of my own luggage; it's horrible, I was so spoiled having you both.” She laughed, embracing him. “You still spoiled, you got Priest, don’t lie.”
They walked Naomi and Jimmy out, saying more goodbyes and longer hugs before returning back to their couch to continue their lazy day.
Jey plopped down onto the long sofa, lying on his back, calling Rhea over to him, who had no problem lying down on top of him like a soft bed.
“Mmm, I’m exhausted, and it’s only ten o'clock.” She mumbled against his chest as Jey’s arms lazily wrapped around her. “I’m tired too, hopefully when we wake up the day will be better.”
“Let’s hope.” Rhea grabbed the blanket from off the back of the couch, throwing it over both of them as she lay in the space between his legs with her head resting on his chest.
As Rhea settled into him, humming softly at the sound of his heartbeat in her ears. Jey dug his phone out of his pocket, opening it and going into his contacts. His finger was hovering over his mother’s name.
He knew he needed to do it for Rhea. He already had at least ten missed calls from her in the last few hours; at this point, she had talked to their dad and knew his side of the story. The worst possible side, and he hated how she always seemed to take their dad’s side.
But he still couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“Jey? What’s wrong?”
She whispered, tiredly brushing her fingertips against his arm, making sure she got his attention.
“Got to cut off my mom too, but I just can’t do it.”
He admitted with a small trembling in his voice as Rhea felt his grip on her tighten. Rhea lifted her head, starting up at him with a tender gaze. “Hand it to me.”
“Rhea—“ He began to argue, but Rhea shut him down immediately. “Jey, the best part about us getting married is that we get to be there for each other. You were there for me, so let me be here for you.”
She reached her hand out for his phone.
He pressed it in her hand almost instantly, trusting her to hold some of the weight that he hated to put onto others, even when they offered.
It was fast. Like a lightning strike. You were waiting for it, but still you jumped. He watched her do it, but his stomach hurt when he saw the gray contact.
Rhea picked herself off of him for a moment, setting his phone on the coffee table next to hers. “No more phones for the day, I just want to sleep and need some good, bad food. In that order.”
“I can get down with that, Mama.” He chuckled, Rhea, feeling it as she lay back down on top of him. “And thank you.” He whispered against her hair with a gentle kiss. “You can thank me with some food later when we wake up. I love you.”
“I love you too, Mama, I promise you we’re gonna have the most beautiful wedding ever if I have anything to do with it, and I do.”
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I had this cooking way before Rikishi revealed Naomi had her baby but it funnily fits
Also I know both check-ins have been mostly Jey centric but the next one will be focused on Rhea 🖤 (whenever that will be)
