“The More Things Change…”
What a year 2024 has been, a literal emotional roller coaster. And here it was drawing to a dramatic close with Christmas closing in. The Yuletide holiday had always been the favorite of Carter’s, like the vast majority of the world. Fun fact; Christmas was the number one ranked holiday that people around the world celebrated, followed closely by Hannukah, Thanksgiving, Saint Patrick’s Day, New Year’s, Eid al-Fitr, Valentine’s Day, Diwali, Halloween and Chinese New Year rounding out the Top Ten.
Surprisingly Easter did not make the Top 10 Cut but that’s a topic for another time.
But it was Christmas that held that special place in Carter’s heart from his earliest memories, right up to the here and now. From his time as a child to now being an adult, there was just something magical in the air when Christmas time rolled around. The decorations. The lights and tree with colorfully wrapped packages lying beneath. But it extended far beyond that. Carter held a deep respect for family for someone of such a young age, and he loved the time together with his family and loved ones on holidays such as this. But this year, Christmas was going to prove to be something even more special than usual.
This would be the third Christmas that Carter had spent with the man that had become such a vital part of his life. The first time, Miles Kasey had accepted an invitation to spend Christmas with Carter and his family, acknowledging later that it was one of the best Christmases either man had ever enjoyed. It was also the holiday where the bond between the two men’s hearts truly started to form between them.
The second Christmas was when Carter and Miles had acknowledged the love between them and officially became a couple. And what better way to celebrate than by bringing their families together at the most joyous time of the year to celebrate with them? Miles had flown his mother, sister and brother-in-law in from the UK, while Carter brought his mother and grandmother to truly make it a unique family celebrated holiday.
Carter had never thought Christmas could get any more magical but 2024 proved him wrong when he and Miles joined together in marriage and would be celebrating with their families for the first time as husbands. Only… Miles was not entirely in on that particular little nugget of information. This was something that Carter had discovered about Miles over the past three years, and that was the fact Miles was as big a kid as any other adult when it came to Christmas and birthdays. The smile, that sparkle in his eyes… Just watch that video of Miles dancing in his chair with his eyes never leaving his birthday cake… Christmas was no different.
And Carter had learned he would have to work overtime to keep that husband of his from finding out what his presents were before that most magical of mornings.
With those thoughts in mind, that would be where we pick up with our hero of the hour. The condo in the Turnberry Towers had been transformed into one more fitting of the season. Miles had surprisingly put his foot down with his husband, not allowing Carter to put up any Christmas decorations until Thanksgiving had come and gone. And that meant the day after, Carter was turned loose and their home had been gloriously transformed into a winter wonderland. The highlight being the six foot Stitch themed Christmas tree that Miles had surprised him with the previous year.
And Carter Kasey-McKinney was seated at the desk in the little work nook that he had put together for Miles and himself when he had done the condo’s makeover many months ago. When visiting, Bella had referred to it as a “book nook” due to the fact that it had two full, hanging bookshelves lined with ivy against the wall above the ‘love seat’ and lounge chair, with a small, decorative end table in the corner between the two. But it was between the end of the love seat and the picturesque window that overlooked the city five floors below that Carter had set up a ‘workstation,’ complete with desk and a state of the art laptop.
It was where Carter was seated at the moment, carrying on a casual conversation over Whatsapp with his Mother all the way in Seattle. While this was not an unusual occurrence by any means, as Carter was on the phone almost daily with his Mom and Grams, and they video chatted two or three times a week, this time things were different as secrets were being kept and Carter was taking some precautions against a certain someone.
“So everything is arranged?” Joanna McKinney, Carter’s mother, asked from her side of the call. “Airline tickets? What about Ms. Thang?”
“Everything is taken care of on all fronts.” Carter answered. “My only concern was bringing Ms. Thang with us this time. We’ve never taken her on a trip before, let alone flown with her. I’m not sure how she’s going to handle it.”
“There’s nobody who can watch her?” Joanna asked, to which Carter shook his head in answer.
“I didn’t ask.” He said. “I’m pretty sure Aron and Kristjan would have been willing, considering their family is coming in from Iceland like usual. But we’ve spent so much time away from our girl this year with the touring and all. I just wanted…”
“I think I understand, sweetie.” Joanna nodded. Ms. Thang was Carter and Miles’s little fur baby, constantly referring to her as “their little girl” - whose little girl usually depended on what she did and who caught her in the act. “What about the ho-?”
But before she could finish the statement, Carter quickly held a hand up to keep her from finishing the question aloud. Carter cast a glance over his shoulder and in the direction of the kitchen where he saw Miles last.
Carter wore a devilish smile on his face as he said aloud, “I’ll have all the packages sent to Seattle after this weekend is over and we get back home. For now, I hid them up at Kristjan’s place.”
Carter then gazed upward and counted down on his fingers, “Three… two… one…” Before he heard the sound of the front door being quickly shut. Carter just chuckled and shook his head as his mom looked thoroughly confused.
“What was that all about?” She asked.
“Miles has been trying to find out what his Christmas presents were since we went Black Friday shopping.” Carter laughed. “Trust me, nothing has been too sacred for him to find out what I got for him!”
“Is that why he insisted on carrying everyone’s bags on Black Friday?” Joanna asked. “So he could snoop?”
“That’s the only reason he even went with us!” Carter laughed. “Miles doesn’t take to shopping the way I do.”
“And here I thought he was doing it to be a gentleman.” Joanna sighed, to which Carter smiled, “Well, that too. But to answer your question, we’re not doing a hotel. Miles’s sister doesn’t have the room for overnight guests in their house, so I got a vacation rental house for our stay. We’ll just spend the actual holiday with the family at their house.”
“And he still thinks you’re coming to Seattle for Christmas?” Joanna asked with a wisp of a smile, shaking her head at the level of deception her son has engaged in just so he could pull off the surprise of the year for his husband.
“Mm.” Carter nodded. “I’ve been planning this for the last six months. Miles gets proper homesick sometimes, so I thought this would be the best present I could muster up for him. He hasn’t spent Christmas in England for a fair few years.”
“It’ll be a lovely holiday for everyone.” Joanna smiled. “Your Grams and I have never been. We’re both thrilled you thought to include us.”
“Of course I included you two!” Carter acted almost affronted at the idea he might not have. “I know most married couples take turns on which side of the family to spend Christmas with, but I thought to myself… why not just take turns with which side of the pond to spend with everyone together?”
“That’s lovely.” Joanna smiled from her side of the call. “I raised a good kid.”
“Oh do I have a brother or sister you never told me about?” Carter teased when he heard the door to the condo swing open and shut a little harder than normal. “Uh oh…” He quipped but with a knowing smile.
“What’s wrong…?” Joanna started to ask when her son-in-law’s face leaned into the camera, his attention directed at her son and his husband.
“Think you’re funny, hm?” Miles accused, to which Carter turned his bright smile to his husband with a silent nod. Miles nodded, then said, “It wouldn’t have been so awkward if the first thing out of my mouth wasn’t ‘You have something up here that I want!’”
Prompting Carter to practically fall out of the camera shot and his chair in a laughing fit!
Night fell earlier at this time of year and blessedly so in the usual hot weather of Las Vegas transitioning to a surprisingly cold temperature. It was not even six and the sun had descended into the skyline, only to be replaced by the moon and stars. Just another reason why Carter loved the later months of the year. And on this evening, Miles had made a special request of Carter for dinner, that being chili - one of the few dishes Carter could cook successfully. And it was winter so that made it official chili weather.
Pun intended.
So Carter bundled up and headed to the store and on a whim, Miles had surprised him by tagging along under the impression of wanting to get out of the house for a bit. Miles had even hammed it up by patting the grocery cart, daring that husband of his to climb in the basket while he pushed him around to gather the required ingredients. And being the boyish devil that he was, Carter had eagerly agreed with a smile and climbed in.
And for the next thirty minutes, Miles casually pushed his husband around the grocery store with one hand, while Carter checked off every necessary ingredient for his hubby’s dinner. Both men remaining oblivious to the perplexed expressions on the part of both the grocery store employees as well as their fellow shoppers.
Miles took it all in stride, and with good reason. You know what they say about payback… With the groceries paid for and Miles pushing the cart around toward the exit, he casually observed, “So let me guess. The presents were in Seattle the entire time?”
“Haha…” Carter chuckled, his eyes not leaving the screen of his phone. “Yeah.”
The automatic doors slid open and Miles pushed the cart to the outside, saying, “And let me guess. You have no intention of even giving me a hint?”
“Nope!” Was all Carter had to say in answer. Miles just nodded along with him and shrugged his beefy shoulders, “Alright.” And he turned the cart sideways and Carter looked up just in time..
“Miles!” Just in time for Miles to push the cart - Carter included - back into the cart return and lock the safety harness - effectively trapping that husband of his inside with his feet sticking up in the air between cart handles!
MIles just leaned down, his forearm resting on the cart’s handle and he smiled inside at the wide-eyed shock of Carter from between the cart’s mesh bars! Those gorgeous eyes were almost as wide as surprise and shock as his mouth was!
“Miles!” Carter half laughed, half choked. “Miles, cut it out! Let me out!”
“Not so funny now, are you?” Miles laughed at the predicament his husband was found to be in. “What do you have to say now?”
Trapped in a fetal position in the cart, Carter looked around and found himself saying, “Well… I won’t lie and say it’s not a bit of a turn on….”
Miles stood up straight, staring down at the trapped Carter. He turned to this little old woman who was making her way into the store but paused at the comedic site, to which Miles quipped, “I married a pervert!”
To which the sweet, grandmotherly type casually absorbed the trapped Carter, then looked up and shook her finger at miles in a reprimanding way, saying, “ You shouldn't kink shame your husband!” Before she walked through the automatic doors, a surprised and bewildered Miles watched after her.
The camera turned on and the first thing to be seen by the viewership of the SCW Universe was a close up shot of the reigning SCW Internet Champion, Helluva Bottom Carter. But contrary to the norm of the average SCW Superstar (or Bombshell), Carter was not directly facing the camera, ready to proceed with cutting his promo against his most recent challenger. Instead, he was staring vacantly off-camera, a blank expression on his face. Several long moments pass until someone off-camera clears their throat, startling the champion from out of his daze.
Carter does a double take and for the first time, takes note of the camera aimed in his direction.
“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to give me a minute to process this. When the head honchos over at the SCW offices contacted me and told me that I was going to be defending my Internet Championship on the first Climax Control after High Stakes XIV. I thought to myself, ‘Great! Terrific! Maybe they're finally taking me seriously as champion and letting me defend the title more than just once a cycle against some quality, stiff competition!’. And then….”
He looked aside again and shook his forefinger for emphasis.
“Then they told me who I was up against. They told me who was going to challenge me for the Internet championship. I thought maybe I would get to defend against somebody like Aidan Reynolds, or maybe even Kevin Carter. This might be wishful thinking, but a rematch against LJ or even Kris would have been something! But no.”
He shook his head, seemingly unable to comprehend where he was in the grand scheme of things.
“I am actually defending my championship against a man who named himself after a 100 plus year old animated cat?”
He side-eyed the camera and his eyebrows Rose almost to his hairline.
“I mean, seriously? I thought they were joking! I thought it was some colossal prank on the part of Mark and Christian and that my legit Challenger would be announced in due time! But then the lineup was announced officially, and there it was! Right before the main event with the Mixed Tag Team titles up for grabs, I'm stepping inside of the Ring against a glorified jobber. Again!”
He closed his eyes and held up a hand to forestall any responses or protests on the part of the viewers, or more specifically, his opponent.
“No, I know! I am well aware that unlike Justin Smith, Felix has actually managed to walk away with a couple of wins under his belt. Dubious as they are. But still! After everything I've said publicly, after all of my wishes and demands to bring this championship up to a level that it actually deserved to be, do I get a Kevin Carter or J2H? Do I get Eddie Lyons? No! Seemingly everything I stated and asked for went right in one ear and out the other without even acknowledgment on the part of the powers that be! I am actually being made to defend my championship, the title that I busted my ass for to not only earn a shot at but to finally walk away in possession of, against Phoenix the Cat Hernandez!”
Carter shook his head and looked away, his mouth hanging slightly open.
“It's just unbelievable. I look on the other side of the talent pool with the Bombshells and I see Juliana getting to defend her title against top-ranked contenders every time. Maybe they think I can't accomplish the same as she, but how the hell else are we going to find out unless they give me the opportunity to do so! I and the one who is able to defeat Peter Vaughn! I defended against and beat the Hall of Famer Kris Ryans! I even had to bust up my own brother-in-law and perhaps my most physically demanding title match today, and Lyle Kasey Jr! I don't know!”
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, blowing out a breath of air from pursed lips.
“I'm not a promoter or a businessman. Maybe Mark and Christian see something in Felix that I don't. Maybe I'm just thinking too much into this and I'm being a sensitive little diva? Let's find out!”
That being said, Carter stood up from where he was sitting on the patio deck of his condominium home in Las Vegas. He walked casually over to the wall where he had an easel set up. And on the easel was a stack of poster board with names and dates. Carter positioned himself to the left of the easel and with the wave of his hand, directed the viewer's attention toward the content on the poster board.
“June 23rd, Felix the Cat Hernandez made his in-ring debut for Sin City Wrestling in Denver, Colorado. He faced another newcomer to our little family, Jack Daniels.”
Carter closed his eyes and sighed.
“I know, but bear with me. A guy named after an animated cat against a guy named after cheap liquor. And guess what? The first of Felix's nine lives was used up in a loss to Jack Daniels on that day!”
With a flip of the wrist, Carter cast the first poster board aside for the next.
“Now after a debut like that, I can't fathom what got into the heads of the Bookers but Felix return to the ring in a triple threat match against Aidan Reynolds and Justin Smith. July 14th, Ontario California in a match that would decide the next entrant for Summer XXXTreme XII’s traditional Ultimate X match for the roulette championship. And this may come as no great shock to you, but it was not Felix who walked away with his arm raised and a title opportunity on the horizon! That distinction went to good old Aiden Reynolds!”
That poster board was sent flying to the floor.
“But to his credit, and I have to give it to where it's due, Felix still made the lineup at Summer XXXTreme XII against Justin Smith. And I don't think anybody was ready to see Felix kick up his first official victory at the hands of that hardcore badass. I was in the ring with Justin in my first title defense. He may not have the greatest record on paper but we don't wrestle on paper, now do we? Justin is seen in the locker rooms at something of a jobber, so when you get right down to it, Felix didn't really accomplish anything that everybody else in the locker room hadn't. Myself included.”vvvv
Carter than found himself frowning at his own expense.
“Which now that I think about it, doesn't really speak very highly for that first defense of mine. Does it? Oh well”
That card is sent flying, and next up…!
“Now is when things get interesting because on August 25th in Bangkok, Thailand, our resident century old Felix went up against one of the very best that has ever set foot inside of the six-sided ring, that being a Grand Slam Champion and Hall of Famer, Kris Ryans. I almost groaned when this match was announced because you could see the outcome a mile away and my prediction came true, and another of Felix's nine lives was used up with Kris walking away the winner! Big shocker!”
With a flick of his thumb and forefinger, that card is sent fluttering to the floor below.
“Next up, things got a little personal from my perspective because on October 13th right here in Las Vegas, Felix was matched up against my very own brother-in-law, LJ Kasey. Now around that point in time, Lyle and I weren't exactly what you would call the closest? But I'm not going to lie and say watching him walk away the winner at Felix's expense wasn't oddly satisfying.”
Another card gone, another one up front.
“Now is when we have our first of two back to back rematches for our favorite pussy…. Cat! Pussycat! Felix and Justin smith, 111 once again on October 20th in reno! And to nobody's surprise, Felix got his second straight win against Justin. Now in this business, a win is a win. All I'm saying is it would have been nice to see Felix gain a victory over someone who isn't basically seen as locker room cannon fodder. Which brings us to probably the biggest shocker of the year…”
That card is dropped and finally the last one is revealed.
“A rematch against Kris Ryans on November 3rd in Phoenix, Arizona. And I don't mind telling you that the vast majority of the locker room thought the end was inevitable. I mean, why wouldn't we? At that point in time Kris was officially my number one Challenger and my scheduled opponent for High Stakes XIV! So of course Kris what's going to steamroll Felix and walk into his title match against me with some momentum on his side! Only.. “
Carter closed his eyes and held up a finger.
“That isn't what happened, now is it? And probably the biggest upset that I can ever remember having taken place in SCW, Felix got the win. Not Kris. Felix the Cat! I want you all watching now to take a moment and let that sink in. The guy named after a cat that debuted in 1919 picked up a win over one of the greatest superstars to ever grace this promotion! Of course.. “
He closed his eyes with a smile and held up both hands.
“There were extenuating circumstances behind that victory, now wasn't there Felix? I mean we could go on and on about your manager Bea Barnhart once again showing her true colors and distracting the referee, but doing so would also admit the fault in both the official and Kris and allowing the both of them to be distracted. You saw an opening, and you took it. With that magical boombox or whatever the hell it is that you call it, and after clobbering Kris upside of the head with the official none the wiser, the wind was yours! Congratulations! Tainted or not, you defeated my number one Challenger!”
Carter clapped his hands together, but it was painfully clear that the applause was as sarcastic as could be.
“I can only assume it was that one single win that sealed the deal for you to go up against me for the championship. I mean, you pinned the shoulders of Kris Ryans to the map. No matter the circumstances behind it, how could they not justify using that as an excuse to put you up against whomever walked away with the Internet Championship following High Stakes? Well, if that's how it's got to be, I'm going to take a strange sense of satisfaction away from this match, putting you down for the count and using up your remaining lives in the process.”
“So let me make one thing very clear to you, Felix. I am not Justin Smith. I am not even Kris Ryans. I in the reigning and defending Internet Champions of Sin City Wrestling and I will be DAMNED if I am going to lose my championship to you of all people! If you want to fight dirty, well bitch! Bring it! That briefcase of yours isn't so magical that it's going to let you walk away with a championship at my expense! Try to play the same games with me that you did with Kris? And I will shove that briefcase so far up your ass that you'll be able to pick the lock with your teeth! Oh! Speaking of.. that reminds me of something and someone.”
Carter takes a step forward, past the easel and his eyes are directly boring into the camera.
“Beatrice dear. I know that as Felix's manager, you're watching this. So let me tell you right here and now, don't try to play me for the fool. Every time Felix or Bill is in a match, you play the innocent party and try to project your own guilt wanted the opposing side. Everything that you're guilty of doing or bound to do? You accuse the other side of! Then you just play the victim card as if the world were filled with idiots! Well if that's the route you want to go, bring it on! Climb up onto that apron to try to distract the referee! Try to do something to take my attention away from Felix and give him the advantage!”
The patio door of the condominium slid open and out onto the deck stepped none other than Alexandra Calaway. Carter rested his forearm on her shoulder while her own arm draped around his waist. The two friends shared a knowing smile and both looked into the camera.
“I dare you!”
