August 2
Orlando, Florida
“Daddy, daddy, will you tell us a bedtime story?”
Lachlan Kane smiled down at his two daughters, dressed in their pajamas and cuddling their favourite stuffed animals close to them. Olivia was wrapped around his leg, and Jade had her best puppy-dog expression in her big eyes as she stared up at him. “Of course, my little ones. Go give your mum a kiss goodnight and I’ll finish tidying up Jade’s room, OK?”
The two girls scampered off quickly, and Lachlan finished picking up the toys and books scattered around the room. As soon as he had shelved the last book, the girls ran back into the room and jumped onto Jade’s bed, eagerly awaiting their story. He laughed as he sat down in between them, with Olivia immediately crawling into his lap and Jade snuggling up under his arm. “Daddy, I wanna hear one of your stories. You tell the best ones.”
He chuckled to himself and cuddled his girls closer. “As it so happens, I have just the story that you two are going to love. It’s the story of a prince who went away from his kingdom for a while.”
“Was he away fighting dragons?”
“The biggest and scariest dragons in the whole world. He went all across the lands, fighting dragons and collecting lots of treasures.”
“But why did he go away from the kingdom?”
“Because he wanted to prove to his people that he was worthy to not only be their prince, but their king. He wanted to show the people that he was strong, courageous, and wise. But there were lots of others in the kingdom that wanted his place, and they all came forward and they pushed the prince out. They made him feel like he wasn’t worthy enough to lead his own kingdom.”
Jade’s eyes got big, but the expression was tempered by her letting out a big yawn. “Oh no, that’s so sad. What did the prince do?”
“Well, like I said, he decided that he would travel across the land and fight. But he didn’t only fight dragons. He fought all kinds of monsters and creatures, and he helped so many people along the way. These people told the stories of his courageous deeds, and soon enough the word traveled back to his old kingdom. One day, after a long time away, the prince returned to his kingdom, and he declared that he was back to take his rightful place.”
He noticed that the girls had gone still and quiet, and he looked down to see Olivia sound asleep in his lap, and Jade struggling to keep her eyes open with her head nodding forward. He smiled and leaned down to kiss Jade on the forehead. “Alright, I think it’s bedtime now, my wee darling.”
She pouted slightly as Lachlan scooped Olivia into his arms and stood up from the bed. He helped her underneath the covers and she clutched her stuffed unicorn close to her. “But I wanna know what happened to the prince. Did he get his kingdom back?”
“We’ll have to finish that story another time. Now, lie down and have a good sleep, a stóirín.”
She was asleep before he had even left her room. He took Olivia to her own room next door and laid her down and tucked her in, kissing her gently on the forehead. As he walked out of her room and gently closed the door behind him, he turned to see Sierra heading towards him and he smiled. But she just quickly brushed past him and made an immediate beeline for the washroom, closing the door behind her. He stared after her with a puzzled look on his face before shrugging his shoulders and heading to the living room.
—--
Later that evening
As much as he did miss his homeland of Ireland, Lachlan had to admit that they had chosen a beautiful place to live. It helped that between him and Sierra, they had managed to do well enough in their careers to be able to afford a fairly nice home in Orlando and be able to spoil their two daughters, while still able to plan for another child that they hoped would be on the way soon. They were able to help support Sierra’s mother after the death of her father, and her siblings were able to secure jobs with Wolfslair Orlando so that the family was able to remain close together. It was for reasons like this that Lachlan was grateful for his successes in professional wrestling, but there was still some unfinished business in his career…
Sitting in the backyard of his home, these thoughts rolled around in Lachlan’s mind as he relaxed in a lounge chair beside the pool. His fingers laced together and held at the back of his head with one leg resting across his knee, he was a picture of casual cool in black shorts and a plain white T-shirt with dark Ray Bans shielding his eyes from the early evening sunlight.
“There’s a reason that I called myself the Uncrowned Prince of SCW the last time you saw me. Because, if you know anything about my history with this company, you’ll know that I have yet to claim singles gold. Of course, I’ve had many an opportunity, as you all know, but I’ve never reached that pinnacle. But maybe…just maybe…this time around could be different…” A sly smirk curled up the corner of his mouth as he stared off into the distance, watching as the sun slowly began its descent into the horizon.
But then, his face turned back to the camera with a shit-eating grin plastered across it. “Or, I could just be completely bullshitting you all, getting Christian Underwood’s knickers all in a twist with the tease of a full-time return.” He chuckled. “Sorry mate, but I gotta keep you on your toes somehow. Think of it as a…photography tax.” He lowered his sunglasses slightly and winked a blue eye towards the camera before settling the glasses back across the bridge of his nose. "But let’s move on. The actual reason for this little video is due to the fact that I will once again be globetrotting from my home here in Orlando all the way across the world to the beautiful country of India to take part in SCW’s Global Tour. I gotta say, I had such a good time at the last match that when Christian invited me for a second one, I immediately said yes. Barring the travel - which, let’s be honest, it’s not exactly a picnic in the park - the experience has been nothing short of amazing, wonderful and humbling. The people of India have been incredibly generous and welcoming to the entirety of SCW while they’ve been there, and it’s been absolutely lovely to not only see, but experience as well. I don’t know why it’s taken me this long to wrestle there, but I sincerely hope I get more opportunities in the future to return to this wonderful country and perform for everyone.”
The smile fell away slightly as he reached up to push his sunglasses to the top of his head. “But, I gotta get into the real meat and potatoes of this video. I’m not just nipping over to India for shits and giggles, after all. I got myself booked into a match with the Bulldog himself, Bill Barnhart. A former Mixed Tag champ like myself…who actually has done something I haven’t managed and won a singles title.” Lachlan clapped a few times. “Now, I hope you’re not taking that as sarcasm, or as me doubting your abilities in the ring. Anyone who’s seen you in action knows that you’re not called ‘Bulldog’ for no reason. You’re a tough, tenacious son of a gun, and I genuinely do have respect for you. But respect only goes so far. See, I know I’ve said that I’m not really considering a full-time run back in SCW…but that doesn’t mean that I’m not coming to that ring to put on the performance of a lifetime. Every time I step between those ropes - doesn’t matter where I am, or for what reason - I make sure that I give everything I have and then some. There’s a reason why I’m still so beloved in SCW even after so much time away and despite the fact that I may not have a championship record like some of my peers in the company. It’s because the people know that when they come to a show with me on the card, they know they’re getting their money’s worth. They know that when I’m in that ring, I’m giving them pay-per-view event caliber matches, even on a regular card. They know that a match with Lachlan Kane involved is automatically going to be a classic.”
He leaned forward in the lounger, fixing his intense, focused gaze straight on the camera. “Bill, I know I said that I’m not going to underestimate you, and I meant that. But while I know the two of us are going to put on one hell of a match for the people of Bangalore, and I know that you are going to take me to my absolute limits…I hope you’re not holding any delusions of victory. You may have done one thing that I haven’t managed to accomplish in SCW, but that’s just giving me the extra drive and determination I need to put you down. It’s nothing personal, Bill. Just the way the business goes. You know that. I’m coming to India on Sunday night, and I’m coming to blow the absolute roof off of the stadium. And after that…maybe the Uncrowned Prince starts coming for a few crowns.”
With another cheeky wink and a grin to the camera, Lachlan relaxed back in the lounger as the camera panned over to the setting sun, slowly blurring the image before fading out to black.
