~*~*~Red~*~*~
Wolfslair Gym
The secret was out. Well, it wasn’t really a secret but the announcement was made that Bella Madison was one of the newest members of Wolfslair. She had waited for the fallout considering the hell that Levi recently raised but nothing came. One less battle right now.
Instead, she has been in the hands of Alicia Lukas inside the Wolfslair: New York gym helping her prepare for the battles that lay ahead of her. If ANYONE could show her what it really took to be a World Champion, it would be this woman.
“You did great today.” the praise coming from the woman herself as Bella worked on unlacing her wrestling shoes, “Take the next couple of days to relax, and we’ll get back to it on Friday morning.”
Bella laughs, “Yeah, relax...you have met my family, right?”
Alicia looks deadpan at her shaking her head, “I don’t understand why you insisted on hosting Thanksgiving. You have enough on your plate right now as is. You sure you’re not a sadist?”
“Sometimes I wonder. But I decided to do it because it’s the first one since Mal and I got married and I thought, at the time, cause the whole building is finally done to just invite mom, Nick and Aaron over with the possibility of Alanah and Jack with the babies showing up later with Mal and Lanah’s mom too,” Bella says tossing things aside, “THANKFULLY, mom has been more than willing to help and I got some of the stress taken off. But it’s just a lot to deal with.”
Alicia places her hand on her hip and with the tilt of the head says, “And what did Mal say about all this?”
Bella doesn’t answer right away before she just sighs in defeat, and mumbles, “That I’m a damned fool but he’ll gladly be there for all the food.”
Laughter breaks out, “Spoken like the bastard we all know.”
Bella laughs herself, grabbing up her bag and standing up, “Just thankful that his cast came off before the holidays which means he can get his ass back in the gym on a full-time basis and maybe Oscar can be less grouchy around the parentals.”
Alicia gives that look on her face and wraps her arm around the shoulders of her student, “I wouldn’t bet on it. Just remember, training Friday morning...and I will bump your ass off hungover or not!”
Bella just hangs her head for a moment, before smirking at her, “I wouldn’t expect any less.”
~*~*~F is for Family~*~*~
O’Connell Home
“Hey babe, could you come in here and help out a bit? I got my hands full and the potatoes are ready to be mashed up.” Bella’s voice rang out from the kitchen of the O’Connell home. Bella thought it’d be nice to be the one to host Thanksgiving this year. First year her and Mal would celebrate as a married couple and therefore a full blown family get together was called for.
She really needed to stop thinking that these things would go perfectly. She’d kick Norman Rockwell in the sack, if it was possible.
“I HELP!” pipped up the littlest voice in the room over the noise. Followed by the patterning of his toddler feet of his 3 foot stature, flew in her baby brother Aaron. His dirty blonde hair was a bit out of control due to him playing with Luka just a moment before.
Bella couldn’t help but laugh at him running right to her and wrapping his arms around her leg, “Well you weren’t exactly WHO I had in mind,” she says looking up as Mal walks in and looks down, “I think you have a volunteer to help.”
“Mal, I help you!” he says looking up with a toothy grin, “Mash tatos!”
Mal just looks up at Bella with a ‘Please don’t make me do this’ look on his face, but he groans when he knows he won’t win, “Well, I appreciate the enthusiasm rugrat, but I’m not sure if you’d be much help.”
“MASH!” he barks out with a growl.
“What in the world is going on in here?” a voice from behind Mal pops in, the voice belonging to Bella’s mom, Laura, “I hear him screaming like the Hulk.”
“He wants to help Mal with the potatoes but we’re not sure if he really can.”
“Oh he absolutely can, you just gotta make sure he keeps him in control or it’s a giant mess.” she states looking at them both, “I could help if he doesn’t think he can handle it.”
“I didn’t say that...” Mal barks a bit.
Bella puts her hand up and one on Mal’s shoulder to stop him, “Mom, no. You are a guest in our house and already did enough with the side dishes you brought.” Bella hands Mal the pot with the masher, “Mal, let him help you. You should be ok.”
If you can hear Morgan Freeman at this point saying something along the lines of “It indeed was NOT ok.” you’d be right.
Between Aaron thinking he was Bruce Banner, Mal trying his best to wrangle him and Luka being her wild self, the potatoes were about 35% less what was originally made. Which turned into Aaron getting a bath and a change of clothes, Mal getting a shower and into an even grumpier version of himself, and Bella and her mother killing a bottle of red merlot wine. And after dinner, them thankful for the annual L-tryptophan doing it’s work and the boys falling asleep in the living room with a football game.
Mother and Daughter found themselves at the dinning room table, with their wine glasses, “So, how's the training at Wolfslair going?”
“It’s been amazing. Working with Alicia has been educational to say the least.” Bella says sipping at her glass, “You sure things have been quiet?”
“Like the dead. I think Levi coming face to face with Alex last week has been a tad humbling for him,” Laura says with a slight shrug, “Either way, I want you to be a sponge with everything Alicia will show you. She kicked MY ass back in the day. If anyone can get you truly ready for the likes of Amber Ryan, it's her.”
“She’s been there, done that, got the t-shirt and it was a best seller. All I know is these next few weeks are going to fly by and before I know it, I’m going to be standing across the ring from my biggest challenge to date then.” Bella says sitting back. She points to herself towards her chest, “I just...I want her to look at me as an actual viable threat to her title. I mean, she’s a champion for a reason so looking beyond her challenger isn’t her forte but listening to her last week, daring the Bombshell roster to step up...I felt almos short changed in a way.”
Laura tilts her head with her eyes squinting, “Like you think she’s not taking you seriously?”
“Exactly like that.” Bella says with a shrug, “I mean I get it. Only title I’ve won in SCW has been with Mal and everytime I went for the Roulette it just wasn’t enough.”
“That may be, but you know damn well when you are motivated enough you have this amazing ability to perform above and beyond anything that was expected.” Laura tips her glass, “You, my dear, have the potential to even out perform me. You just need to find something to bring it all together.”
“Well, considering on Sunday I get Seleana Zdunich...” Bella says with a quirk in her eyebrow, “I know she’s going to be out for my head after the match at MSG. She has been thirsting to get back to the main event so much but it’s like she has no real direction with it. Who knows, maybe I’ll be her direction but I can’t slip up now. Not when I have so much momentum going into the 19th.”
Mother looks at her daughter before draining the rest of her wine, she takes a breath while setting her glass down, “Well stay focused with that mindset. You are the one to beat right now without a title.”
Bella groans, rubbing her face for a moment before swiping her hair from her face, “No pressure or anything.”
“Psh, you’re your mother’s daughter. We thrive off of pressure.” Laura says with a wink and a wriggle of her eyebrows.
“Ohkay, you’re cut off.” she says reaching for the bottle, before looking inside it, “...which would be a thing to say but it appears we have killed this one.”
“Opps! I guess that’s a clue to wake up Nick and get him and the boy home.” the girls stand up from their chairs and mother hugs daughter, “Just trust me, kid, you have all the right tools. Just gotta put it all together.”
With a deep breath she nods, “Starting with Seleana.”
“Oh you started it already with MSG, Seleana is just a part of the path.” Laura touches Bella’s face, “Remember to drink water. I’ll check in on ya later, okay? And...take it easy on the grouchy one there.”
“No promises. I should let him sleep there all night.” she says glaring at her sleeping husband, who has Aaron curled up with him. That never fails, 3 years in a row.
~*~*~No One Else~*~*~
Back to the Wolfslair Gym
Bella sits in the center of the room, back in her workout gear. Her long blonde hair pulled back tightly and sweat dripping off the tip of her nose like she’s just been through one hell of a workout, “Seleana, this feels oddly familiar, doesn’t it? The few times we have been in this ring together but now the tide has sort of changed.” she looks up, her clear blue eyes shining brightly, “I have that one thing you wanted, a return to glory sits with me and the road to Las Vegas. Course first we have to make a stop at Stanford where we get to face one another yet again. But somehow I have found this about being just a regular one on one. I feel that target on me, Seleana. Suddenly I need to be made an example of by former champs. Am I right?”
“I have had to grow so much in such a short period of time. I wanted so much and I just needed something to really just connect the dots. But I also need to make a point.” she reaches down and grabs a towel, wiping her face, “You see, last week I sat there and I heard Amber beg for women to step up. Suddenly, there was Bea, suddenly there were a few others that was like “Oh hey, what about me?” when they just dipped their toe in the water that is this division. Don’t worry ladies. I had a couple years before I even had a sniff and let me tell you something, this pressure. It is GLORIOUS.”
A laugh crosses her lips, “Maybe that’s something that is missing with you Seleana. You can’t seem to embrace the beautiful pressure. Instead, you’ve cracked and found yourself here against me and hoping that just a possible win will get you back. But just like MSG, I’m afraid that it won’t be that easy.” she sits back and catches her breath, “Instead, I’m going to use you to make a point. And I hate the term “Stepping stool” but sometimes it’s appropriate. You want to use me to step up into glory that has been avoiding you like Christian avoids Candy. I want to use you to step up into that spotlight. I have 3 weeks this Sunday to prepare myself. I would consider it an honor to learn from you and that’s what I’m going to take away from this.”
“And then who knows, maybe we’ll get a Christmas miracle after all.” Bella stands up and looks dead ahead, “And no one else is going to take that Bombshell away from her. No one BUT ME!”
