The house that Brianna and Garrett Kasey shared with Brianna and Miles's mom, Mora, held that perpetual lived in feel that tended to come with having two small and hyperactive children. One just over four years of age, the other just over one year. Toys were scattered around the sitting room, Brianna and Garrett having both given up on trying to put the toys away when their children were just going to get them right back out again. Especially when Grandma was right there to help them in doing so.
So when Miles and Carter showed up during their foray into the United Kingdom for SCW, bringing 16 year old Kevin Chapman with them, everything felt complete. Miles’s family had met Kevin this past Christmas, but to Mora and Brianna, he was more than just the pseudo son to Miles and Carter. He was a young man in desperate need of spoiling and they were two women on a mission.
Mora came out of the kitchen and the second she spotted Kevin, her whole face lit right up.
“Well, there he is!” She said, and before Kevin could even figure out whether he was supposed to shake her hand or just say hello, Mora had already stepped in and hugged him. The teenager looked a little startled, but not in a bad way.
Then Brianna appeared from the other room with Morrigan on her hip and Riley charging around her legs like a cat.
She exclaimed. “Come in before Riley takes somebody out at the knees.”
“I’m not taking people out!” Riley protested with all the dignity a 4-year-old could muster. He then skidded to a stop in front of Kevin and stared up at him. “Hi!”
Kevin didn't miss a beat. Riley reminded him painfully of his own little brothers, prompting him to lean over at the waist and explain right back, “Hi!” Resulting in Riley beaming and wrapping his arms around Kevin's legs.
Within minutes Kevin was being settled onto the sofa with a slice of cake and Mora already cutting him a second since the first obviously wasn't large enough. Mora started asking him questions in that sneaky way moms and grandmas had perfected. Where it sounded casual but she was absolutely gathering information.
By then, Riley was climbing up beside him with a battered toy dinosaur and demanding Kevin admire it properly. Kevin took the dinosaur with complete seriousness and said, “He looks like he’s been through a lot!”
“He fought a shark!” Riley declared.
“Boy I'd sure hate to see what the shark looks like!” Kevin played a lot, causing Riley to laugh.
Soon enough, Mora was back in the kitchen working on dinner and Brianna looked up from her phone and said, “Kevin, are you up for giving me a hand with something?”
Kevin stopped playing with Riley and asked, “What do you need?”
“I need to pop out and pick up a few things before dinner.” She answered, standing up. “Nothing much but I could use someone young and strong to carry it.”
Kevin worked his mouth but nothing came out of it. Leave the house - leave Miles and Carter and ‘hang’ with Miles’s sister? Even if for a short amount of time? Not exactly what the teenager had expected or planned, especially when he barely knew her. He looked toward Carter and Miles, Carter speaking up, “Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine.” Kevin started to stand up, trying to hide his nerves. “I don’t mind.”
From the kitchen Mora called, “Take a proper coat, Kevin. It’ll be colder later.”
“I’ve got one.” Kevin called back, moving to the front of the house to retrieve the coat he had hung up upon entering. Brianna followed him when Miles caught her arm and gently whispered, “Take it easy on him, Bri. All this is still new to him.”
“You worry too much.” She responded with a smile of her own, gripping her twin’s shoulder before moving to join Kevin where he stood. She turned back just long enough to further say, “But I will. Promise.”
Riley forgot all about his battle ravaged dinosaur and climbed down from the sofa to announce that he wanted to come too.
“No, you don’t.” Brianna said, kissing the top of his head. “You want to stay here and annoy your uncles!”
Riley thought about it. “Yeah!” Before he hurried back and proceeded to climb into Carter’s lap and engage in an impromptu wrestling match.
Kevin paused by the door and looked back once, the way he still sometimes did, not asking exactly, just checking. Carter wrestled Riley down before calling to him, “Try not to let her work you too hard!”
Brianna opened the door and looked back over her shoulder. “Honestly, Carter. What do you think I’m going to do?”
Carter grinned. “I probably should have a better answer to that by now.”
Then they were gone.
The house settled back into itself after that. Time passed and the afternoon moved on faster than it had any right, and Brianna still had not returned with Kevin. By early evening, Mora was busy setting the table with Carter’s assistance, while Miles and Garrett were keeping Riley and Morrigan occupied, which mostly meant trying to stop Riley from accidentally teaching his sister bad habits.
Then Mora glanced at the clock.
“They’re taking their time.”
Garrett called from the sitting room, “You sound surprised?”
“I’m not surprised.” Mora said. “I’m judging. Mother’s prerogative.”
Before anyone could add to that, the front door opened. Carter looked toward the hall and froze with a napkin still in his hand.
Kevin came in first, carrying what looked like half a shop. Not two or three bags. Several. He was also wearing a dark green cloak over a cream ruffled shirt with loose sleeves, a brown vest, dark trousers tucked into brand new boots, and some kind of pendant around his neck. And attached to his belt was the unmistakable image of a wooden sword.
For one solid second the entire house went quiet. Then Riley shouted, at top volume, “SWORD!”
Kevin looked somewhere between embarrassed and delighted. “Hi.” He offered, raising a hand in greeting.
Miles stared at him, mouth hanging halfway open. “What … happened?”
Brianna came in behind him carrying bags of her own and looking far too calm for someone who had clearly caused this on purpose. Her cheeks were pink from the chill, British weather and she had that dangerously innocent expression she wore when she knew exactly what she had done.
“Nothing happened!” She declared, playfully affronted at the audacity behind their … suspicions? “We were running my errands when we just so happened to cross a medieval festival at Hampton Court. Purely coincidental.”
“Coincidental my a-” Carter started to say before his mother-in-law wedged a cookie between his lips and halfway down his esophagus.
“She’s learning.” Miles smiled, pausing to take in Kevin’s ensemble and Brianna’s lack of one. Mora came out from the kitchen, took one look at Kevin, and calmly said, “Oh, good. You found something that suited him.”
Miles turned so fast he nearly startled Morrigan. “Mum.”
“What?” Mora said. “The boy deserved a nice afternoon.” Before returning to finish setting up for the evening meal.
“Kevin…” Carter said once he had finally dislodged that cookie from his throat and swallowed the treat. He could not help but laugh gently as he asked, “... What are you wearing?”
Kevin looked down at himself. “Apparently I’m a ranger.”
“A ranger?” Miles repeated, sounding personally betrayed. “Like D&D ranger?”
Brianna started unloading bags onto the side table like this was all perfectly normal. “A medieval ranger, if we’re being specific. Green really suits him.”
Carter stepped forward and took a bag off Kevin before the poor kid dropped one. He looked inside and found sweets, a mug, a little shield-shaped souvenir, and what looked like a guidebook. There was a hoodie in one bag, a scarf in another, and God only knew what else buried underneath.
“Brianna…” Carter started to speak up.
She looked at him with absolute innocence. “Yes?”
Miles had stood up by then, still holding Morrigan, and was staring at his sister like she’d become a problem in human form. “Where did you even take him?”
“Shopping first.” Brianna answered. “Then somewhere more interesting.”
Kevin was trying not to grin and failing. “There was this costume stall. Brianna said if I was trying stuff on I might as well do it properly. Then the boots made the whole thing better and the cloak completed it…”
Brianna interjected, “And by then things might have gotten a little out of hand.” She wrapped an arm around Kevin’s shoulder for a gentle cuddle and beamed. “But it was all worth it!”
Kevin shifted the bags and gave up pretending he wasn’t pleased. “She also got me sweets. And a hoodie. And a bunch of other stuff I said I didn’t need.”
Mora moved in and took two more bags from Kevin. “Put the rest down and go wash your hands, love. Dinner’s nearly ready.”
Kevin did, but he was still smiling. Riley clung to the edge of the cloak and demanded to know if Kevin fought dragons. Miles looked like he’d been ambushed in his own mother’s home. Carter was still standing there with one of the bags in his hand trying to catch up to what had just happened.
Then Brianna looked at him and, finally, let just enough smugness show to make the whole thing click into place.
“What?” She asked. “You and Miles bought my children half a toy shop the last time you were here! I only took Kevin out for a few essentials.”
“A ‘few essentials’?” Carter pointed at Brianna. “You are an absolute menace!”
“Don’t be dramatic!” She waved him off. “The boy needed boots.”
“He needed boots.” Miles repeated. “Did he also need the cloak, the sword, the pendant, the sweets and whatever else is in these bags?”
“Yes.” Brianna said, without hesitation. Without shame.
Carter and Miles shared a quick look before their eyes returned to Kevin as he came back with Riley fresh on his heels, asking all sorts of questions about swords and dragons and how to combine the two. Oo! Dragons who use swords!
“Hey,” Miles started to say. “You have a good time?”
Without pausing, Kevin tucked his hands deep into his pockets and nodded despite himself. “Yeah.” He answered, his eyes straying to Brianna. “I had a really good time.” Earning a smile and a brief one-armed embrace from Brianna.
That was all they needed to hear.
“Sit down before dinner gets cold!” Mora called.
That got everybody moving again. Riley promised Kevin that he could inspect the sword after they ate. Morrigan grabbed for one of the bright bags but was scooped up in her dad’s arms. Miles finally surrendered and took a couple more things from Kevin while muttering about being set up. Brianna strolled past Carter with the unbothered confidence of a woman who had waited for exactly the right moment and absolutely nailed it.
As she passed, Carter said quietly, “This was revenge.”
Brianna looked up at him and smiled. “Took you that long to figure out?”
Then she went into dinner, leaving Carter standing there with a bag of sweets in one hand and the full realization settling in that his sister-in-law had completely turned the tables on him.
“Ryan Keys, let’s quit dancing around it and call this exactly what it is.”
“If Logan Hunter had been man enough to handle his business alone, and if Brooke would’ve kept her plastic Barbie doll nose out of the Roulette Championship match where it did not belong, you would still be the Roulette Champion right now. That is not opinion, that is fact. You got robbed, and everybody with two eyes and a working brain knows it.”
“That’s what makes this one interesting, Ryan. Because when I look across the ring at you, I’m not looking at some two-faced weasel who has to survive off distractions, outside help, and cheap shots. I’m looking at a man who can stand face to face with another man and throw down honestly! I’m looking at a man who doesn’t need weapons to steal a win or his woman to hide behind when things get tough! I’m looking at somebody who knows exactly what it means to fight with pride, to lose with dignity, and to come back swinging anyway!”
“And now look at us! Staffordshire, England! Alton Towers! A King For A Day Qualifier with two men stepping into the ring who know exactly who they are! I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. Hell, I’m not saying it won’t get rough! I’m not saying fists won’t fly, tempers won’t flare, and this whole thing won’t turn into one hell of a fight! But what I am saying is this. Ryan, when that bell rings, I know I am getting the real you. No games. No shortcuts. No coward’s way out. Just the Party Boy and the Pride of SCW throwing everything we’ve got at each other to see who is still standing when the pixie dust settles!”
“And brother, I intend to be the one standing!”
“I intend to walk out of England the winner. I intend to punch my ticket to Japan! I intend to become King! But let me make one thing crystal clear right now, because I know people are going to start running their mouths and making assumptions the second I say it. I’m not chasing that crown for selfish reasons. I’m not doing this so I can override my contract with Alexander Raven and jump the line to get my title back. That would be too easy. That would be convenient. That would be the obvious move. But I’m patient and ‘obvious’ is the last way you could describe the way I think.”
“But everything I do, everything I put my body on the line for, is for the people who stood beside me when I needed them most. It’s for the people who believed in me! It’s for the people who never stopped showing up for me, never stopped riding with me, never stopped loving me when the road got ugly and the weight got heavy! If I become King, then I become King for something bigger than myself! I become King for every person in my corner who helped make me who I am!”
“That’s why this matters, Ryan. Because this is not two men fighting over a bracket spot. This is a legacy! This is respect! This is heart! SCW celebrated when the original Party Boy came back to the six-sided ring, and I celebrated too! Damn right I did! Because men like you paved the way for men like me! Men like you gave this place color, life, energy, and soul! Men like you made it possible for a man like Helluva Bottom Carter to walk in here, be loud, be proud, be larger than life, and know there was a place for him to shine!”
“So please understand me when I say this, Ryan. I respect you. I respect everything that you’ve done. I respect what you mean to this company! I respect the road you carved through SCW! But respect does not mean mercy, and admiration does not mean hesitation!”
“Because now it’s the Party Boy against the Pride of SCW! Now it’s your name and mine in a match that this crowd is going to remember! Now it’s your comeback, your pride, your fire, against my momentum, my purpose, and my hunger!”
“And when it’s all said and done, when the noise dies down, when the people in England have screamed themselves hoarse, when both of us have thrown everything we’ve got into that ring? I am going to look you dead in the eye and show you that the man you helped inspire has grown into a man who can beat you!”
“Ryan, I know you are coming to fight! I know you are coming to prove a point! I know you are coming to remind the world exactly who Ryan Keys is! And I wouldn’t have it any other way! But make no mistake!”
“I’m coming to win!”
“I am coming to survive you, outlast you, and leave England one step closer to Japan and one step closer to becoming King For A Day! And if I have to go through SCW’s original Party Boy in order to do it? Then I will.”
“And I’ll gladly buy you a round for after!”
