February 24
Orlando, Florida
All in all, Malachi would say that he and his siblings had done pretty damn well for themselves.
Coming from poor working-class roots in Waterford, the O’Connell siblings had struggled through most of their lives, especially after the death of their father and their mother unable to work due to a disability. That wasn’t to say that they didn’t grow up happy and loved, because their mother made sure to fill their home with smiles and laughter, especially after their father’s passing. But they certainly had no advantages in their lives, and appreciated any little good fortunes they received.
And now here they sat in the backyard of Lachlan’s luxurious Orlando home, bought and paid for with the earnings from his and Sierra’s successful wrestling careers. Malachi thought of his own newly renovated townhome back in Manhattan - a gift from Bella’s uncle Mike, but the work they put into it hadn’t been cheap by any means. And their younger sister Alanah, who had her own beautiful home with a large plot of land in upstate New York. Never in his wildest dreams could Malachi have predicted that all three of their lives would end up like this, but he wasn’t about to complain. After everything the three of them had gone through, it was about damn time.
Before he and Bella flew out to Reno for Sunday’s SCW show, he suggested that they take a slight detour down to Orlando to visit with Lachlan and Sierra. Bella had enthusiastically agreed, and he didn’t have to be a mind reader to know that she was dying to meet and cuddle baby Cruz. So after checking with Lach - who said they were more than welcome to visit - Bella and Mal flew down on Friday morning. It was now just after lunch, and everyone was out in the backyard. Sierra and Bella were seated across from the men, Bella cuddling Cruz and babbling away to him in baby talk while also chatting with Sierra. Lachlan’s two girls Jade and Olivia were splashing around in the pool with Lachlan keeping an eye on them while simultaneously holding a conversation with Mal.
“I gotta say, you look like absolute shit,” Mal joked, nudging his brother in the side. “Fatherhood’s really kicking your ass, bro.”
Lachlan rolled his eyes, giving a wry grin. “Yeah well…this is what you have to look forward to. Feedings every two hours, endless diaper changes, spit-up everywhere…” His gaze traveled over to Bella holding Cruz, and his gaze softened. “But it’s absolutely worth every moment. When I see that little boy in my arms, nothing else matters. It’s like the whole world stops.”
Mal smiled as well, watching his wife gush over the little one. “I bet.” His face took on a curious look at this point, turning to his older brother. “Tell me something…when you found out Sierra was pregnant for the first time, did you feel like you were gonna hurl?”
“No. But I did pass out in the middle of the doctor’s office.”
Mal, who had been in the middle of taking a sip of his drink, spat it out in comedic fashion. Sierra and Bella looked up at him with startled expressions, while Lachlan couldn’t hold back his laughter. Grabbing a napkin, Mal wiped up his face and legs that had gotten caught in the liquid crossfire. “You’re shitting me! Like full-on hit-the-floor fainted?”
Lachlan nodded. “Yep. Had a knot on the back of my head for a week. Sierra’s mum still teases me about it to this day.”
“I mean, I would too.”
“That’s why I never told you about it.” Lachlan glanced over at his brother. “Why do you ask, though?”
Mal gave a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. “Just making conversation.”
Lach raised an eyebrow, a knowing smirk crossing his face. “Did you upchuck in the doctor’s office at Bella’s appointment?”
“Hell no!”
Bella, who had given Cruz back to Sierra for a moment so she could grab a snack from the table, overheard the brothers talking. “No, but he did blubber like a baby.”
Mal narrowed his eyes at her, while she batted her eyelashes innocently. Lachlan reached over and pinched Mal’s cheek. “Aww, my wittle baby brother does have a heart!”
Swatting his hand away, Mal glared at the two of them. “This better not end up all over social media.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll protect your ‘big bad grr scary tough guy’ persona,” Bella said, patting his other cheek as she walked back to Sierra with a plate full of snacks.
Before Mal could make a smart-ass remark, he and Lach were approached by two dripping wet little girls with mischievous smiles on their faces. “Daddy, Uncle Mal! Come play with us!” Jade said, tugging on Lach’s hand.
Olivia reached out to do the same to Mal, giving him her best puppy-eyed look. “Yeah, come on Uncle Mal! Come swimming!”
The brothers glanced at each other before shrugging and standing up, stripping off their T-shirts and joining the girls in the pool. They played a few rounds of Marco Polo, caught the girls as they took turns jumping off the diving board into the deeper end of the pool, and batted around a big inflatable ball.
“Hey girls, check out this trick!” Mal said as he lifted himself out of the pool. He walked over to where a big inflatable chair was floating, and he executed a perfect backflip from the deck to the chair in a seated position.
“Oh my gosh, that was so cool!” Jade said, while Olivia enthusiastically clapped her hands. They played together for a while longer before Sierra told them all that dinner was just about ready. All four of them got out of the pool and dried off with towels before heading into the house and lounging in the living room until dinner was ready. At one point, Mal was sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone when Olivia scrambled up beside him, resting her head on his chest and looking at the screen. “Whatcha lookin’ at, Uncle Mal?”
“Just some sports stuff. Checking on my favourite football teams.”
“No, that’s called soccer,” she said with a sassy little smirk.
He gave her a playful glare and started tickling her. “Where I come from, it’s called football, you silly bean!”
Olivia giggled wildly, trying to get away from him. “No, Uncle Mal! Stop!” She managed to squirm away and ran into the kitchen. Mal watched her run with a warm smile on his face, and he glanced to the side into the dining room to see Bella leaning against the doorframe, staring at him with a smile on her own face. He got up off the couch and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her. “How you feeling?”
She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling his face down so she could give him a sweet, lingering kiss. “The happiest I’ve been in a long time.” She gave him a sly little smirk. “Would it be strange of me to hope that our little one is a girl?”
He gave her a quizzical look. “Why would that be strange?”
“Well, most people just hope that they have a healthy baby, no matter what gender. And don’t get me wrong, I’ll be happy with either a boy or a girl. But watching you with the girls today…I think you would be an amazing girl dad.”
He smiled at her, kissing her nose. “Well, I don’t care what we have. As long as it’s healthy.”
“I know, me too.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “But just think of the fun our little girl could have putting bows and ribbons in your hair…”
“...oh good Lord.”
—---
The scene opened up inside of the Orlando branch of the Wolfslair gym, and while this may have normally been a setting for a Lachlan Kane promo video, instead the viewers are greeted by the sight of his younger brother Malachi dressed in loose black shorts and sneakers. His hands are taped up and he is going to town on a freestanding punching bag. Not only with hard rights and lefts from his fists, but every so often he would strike out with his feet, kicking the bag so hard that it would almost topple over. After a few moments he paused his workout, glancing towards the camera that was steadily coming closer. He picked up a towel from a nearby bench and wiped away the sweat pouring from his forehead before slinging it around his shoulders.
“I know, this is probably about the last place anyone would have expected me to be, right? But since I’m down in Orlando anyways, my brother graciously offered up the use of the Wolfslair gym for me to keep up my workout in anticipation of my upcoming match this Sunday.” He gave a small salute. “Cheers, bro. I will admit, this place is pretty state of the art. Might have to get a few of these pieces of equipment for my own home gym.”
He walked over to the side of the room, picking up a water bottle and taking a long drink before speaking again. “See, this match has me in a bit of a predicament. Normally, I’d be sitting here and verbally eviscerating my opponent, as I’ve been known to do in the past. Granted, I did say I was trying to be a little less abrasive this year as I ascend the ranks in SCW…although Troll deserved every last drop of the venom I spewed at him.” A snarky smirk spread across his face. “Maybe after the beating I laid on him and the bollocking he got from his missus afterwards, he’ll do some serious reconsidering of trying to make something of himself in the wrestling world. But, back to the match at hand. See, while I’d be more than happy to publicly humiliate yet another brainless twit who wants to step to me, I find myself hesitating a bit this week. Because if I’m being completely honest…I actually kind of like Carter.”
You could almost hear the record scratch and collective gasp from an imaginary audience as Malachi spoke that last sentence. He chuckled and raised a hand, scratching at his beard. “I know. Shocker of the year, right? Malachi actually admits he likes someone outside of his family. It may not really look like it with the way he and I needle each other on Twitter, or that whole…betting pool business.” He at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed here, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly. “Which I now fully admit was probably in pretty poor taste. I just thought we were having a bit of a laugh, but as it turns out not everyone was in on the joke. So, let me just go on the record right now and say…I’m sorry.”
If there were truly a live studio audience watching Malachi film this promo, they all probably would have fainted from the shock of hearing him utter that sentence. However, the cocky smirk reappeared on his face in the next instant. “And now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I’m ready to get down to the matter at hand. That being how I’m going to walk into Reno and beat the holy hell out of HBC.”
He leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. “For the record, it’s nothing personal mate. After all, I did just say that I actually like you. You and I are actually more alike than people might think. Both of us don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks of us, and we live our lives as our authentic selves. Granted, you tend to be a bit more…flamboyant than me, but the fact remains. You don’t let anyone else’s opinion shape who you are or how you act. And believe me, you’ve shown that to not only me, but the entire world dozens of times over both on social media in the ring. Not to mention that you actually have talent, and the fans just seem to gravitate towards you naturally. You’ve got all the hallmarks of a huge star in the making, and honestly I really hope you do go far in your career.”
His face morphed into a look of serious determination. Not his usual angry sneer, just an intense focus as his blue eyes narrowed slightly. “But after learning that I’ve got a chance at my first singles title here in SCW, the biggest fire has now been lit under my ass. I’ve got all the motivation in the world to get my hand raised in this match, because I plan on becoming the SCW Roulette champion in a few weeks’ time. And if I go walking into that match undefeated so far in 2023…well, that’s just gonna boost my confidence straight to the moon. I know you’ve got your own big match coming up against Austin James Mercer, and I know that you’re probably just as motivated as I am to pull out a win on Sunday night to try and get that competitive edge.” One corner of his lips turned up in a half-smile. “Shit, this is going to be one hell of a match, I think. Almost a shame it’s so early in the show. I have a feeling we’re going to set the bar pretty damn high for the rest of them to follow.”
He pushed off from the wall, walking back over to the punching bag as he dropped the towel from around his neck onto the floor. “I have no doubt in my mind that this is going to be the toughest match since my SCW return, and in all honesty I’m looking forward to it. Hell, I’m actually kind of excited for it. Because when I get my hand raised up and go 3-0 in 2023 heading into Blaze of Glory, there’s going to be no stopping me. You’re looking at your next SCW Roulette Champion right here.”
He turned back to the punching bag, but just before he resumed his workout, he glanced over his shoulder. “But first things first. Carter, let’s do what we do best out there. See you in Reno.”
With a final cocky smirk, he turns back to the punching bag and resumes his workout as the camera slowly backs away and fades to black.
