Domestic Fallout
The house was quiet in a way that felt louder than any crowd. The hum of the refrigerator, the ticking of the wall clock, even the faint creak of the floorboards carried weight. Alicia sat on the edge of the couch, the Roulette Championship belt resting in her lap like a reminder of something she didn’t know how to carry without guilt.
”Mom… are you going to eat dinner?”
“I’m hungry… aren’t you?” Rory’s small voice pulled her from the haze of the day. She looked up at him and then at Ryan, who was perched on the arm of the couch, elbows on knees, eyes tracking her every movement.
“You’ve been like this all week. You just… sit there with that belt.”
Their plates sat untouched on the coffee table, half-filled with spaghetti and vegetables.
”I’m… not that hungry,” she said softly, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
Austin stepped into the living room from the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel. Marcus toddled along behind him, Maria clinging to his leg. The youngest pair were oblivious to the undercurrents, babbling at each other, filling the space with the kind of noise that both warmed and exhausted her.
”Hey,” Austin said, voice low. He sat down opposite her, watching as Marcus tried to stack a tower of blocks that Maria promptly knocked over. “You okay?”
”I’m fine,” Alicia said, but her words felt empty even to her. She reached for the belt again, thumb tracing the nameplate. “Just… tired, I guess.”
Austin leaned forward, elbows on his knees. His gaze wasn’t accusatory, but it was steady — measured. “I can see it, Ali. You’re here, but you’re not really here. You’re… somewhere else.”
Her jaw tightened. ”I’m thinking about the next match. That’s all.”
”Yeah, but it’s not just the next match, is it?” His eyes flicked toward the belt on the floor. “It’s every match. Every time you step into that ring, I can’t stop imagining… I don’t know, worst-case scenarios. You’ve been reckless before, but this… this is different. You’re the champion now.”
She swallowed, the knot in her throat tightening. ”I know.”
Marcus toppled the block tower again, squealing. Alicia glanced at him, forcing a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. The children sensed tension even when they didn’t understand it, she thought. Rory and Ryan had stopped poking at their plates, their attention now fixed on the silent exchange between the adults.
”You don’t get it,” she said softly, almost to herself. “You’ve seen the cage matches, the injuries. You’ve jumped off things I wouldn’t dream of. You’ve survived… so why does it scare you so much when it’s me?”
”Because I already buried someone I loved once,” Austin said quietly. His tone carried the same weight as weeks ago, but now it hung heavier, layered with the weariness of watching the children in the background, knowing that each risk Alicia took rippled out to affect all of them.
The words landed between them like stones in a still pond. Alicia didn’t respond immediately, only stared at the belt as though it might provide an answer.
”I’m not going to quit,” she finally said. Her voice was firmer, quieter than usual, carrying the certainty of someone who had already made the choice before saying it aloud. “I can’t. It’s part of who I am. I… I can’t pretend it isn’t.”
Austin ran a hand down his face, rubbing at the tension. ”I know you can’t. I just… I don’t want to lose you. Not to the wheel. Not to the rush. Not to something I can’t control.”
The children’s chatter faded into the background as Alicia studied his face. She could see the raw edges of his fear there — the quiet terror that life could hand her over to fate at any moment. For the first time that evening, she felt the full weight of their reality. She wasn’t alone in this. Whatever came next would touch everyone in the house.
”I thought… I thought coming home would be the easy part,” she admitted, finally allowing herself to lean back into the couch. Her gaze drifted to the children, their faces illuminated by the warm glow of the living room light. “But it’s not. It’s… this. It’s being here and feeling like I’m not here. Feeling like I’m… letting you down.”
”You’re not letting me down,” Austin said, kneeling beside the couch now. His hand brushed hers for a moment — light, fleeting, but grounding. “I’m scared, Ali. That’s all. And maybe I’m scared for the wrong reasons, but… the kids see it too. And they love you. They’ll follow your lead, whether you realize it or not.”
The weight of his words hit harder than any championship match ever could. She had been so focused on the thrill of the ring, on reclaiming a piece of herself she thought she’d lost, that she hadn’t considered the ripples it caused at home. Rory and Ryan were old enough to notice changes in her mood. Marcus and Maria were too young to articulate their feelings, but not too young to sense them.
She took a slow, measured breath and leaned against him, letting the warmth of his shoulder anchor her. The belt sat on the floor, shining, untouchable for a moment, as if waiting for her next decision.
”I don’t want to hurt them,” she whispered. “But I also… I can’t stop.”
”Then we do it together,” Austin said simply. “Not because it’s easy, not because it’s safe, but because we face it as a family. You’re not spinning that wheel alone anymore, Ali. Not you, not the kids, not me.”
Alicia nodded slowly, the tension in her chest easing slightly. She bent down to pick up the belt, running her fingers along the nameplate. For a moment, it was just her — just the thrill of victory, the familiarity of the weight in her hands. Then she looked up, and there was Austin, watching, waiting, steady. And beyond him, her sons and the youngest two, playing quietly on the rug, unaware of how pivotal this moment really was.
She exhaled, letting some of the guilt slip away, replaced with a tentative resolve. The wheel would spin. That was inevitable. But maybe, just maybe, the fallout at home wouldn’t break them. Maybe it could be weathered. Maybe it could be survived — together.
The evening stretched into quiet, comfortable silence. Marcus toppled another tower of blocks, Maria clapped her hands and giggled. Rory and Ryan nudged their plates toward the couch, eyes flicking between Alicia and Austin.
”Dinner’s cold,” Alicia said with a soft laugh.
”Better cold than uneaten,” Austin replied.
And for the first time that night, the living room felt less like a storm and more like a harbor. The belt still gleamed, a reminder of chaos and ambition. But here, in this moment, the chaos was tempered by love, patience, and quiet understanding.
Alicia settled back on the couch, the belt across her lap, and allowed herself to simply be. Not perfect. Not fearless. Just here.
And that, she realized, might be enough.
How mundane
”High Stakes indeed.”
Alicia sighs heavily, looking down at her hand. She is slowly rolling a silver ball in her hand — a little bit bigger than a ball bearing, a ball that belongs to a roulette wheel.
”This event, every time it rolls around, is filled to the brim with huge matches that usually lead to huge moments. And here’s the thing, I love professional wrestling. I love everything about it. I fell in love with it when I was a kid. I saw my father on TV. I watched everyone he faced and everyone he beat. I watched everything that happened, and I studied, and I never had a feeling like that before. In fact, watching wrestling was my awakening to the realities of life. It made me realise what I wanted to do. And nothing was going to stop me.”
“Not my mother and her hatred of the business because of my father, not my father‘s words trying to warn me about taking the same path that he did. Not even the broken relationship I had in my youth that left me emotionally and physically destroyed — something I had to claw my way back from and fight my way through. None of that was going to stop me.”
“But the one thing that does stop you, is time.”
“Time makes fools of us all. And I have had an incredible career. Over the last decade, I have done everything I can to cement myself as one of the best of the best. I went to Japan and did everything I could there before coming back to the United States when nobody knew who I was or what I was capable of. I joined Honor Wrestling, I went to the top of that company, I went to the top of WWH. And then I came here, and went straight to the top of the Bombshells division. Every single company I have ever stepped foot in, I have gone to the top and I have done everything I can to be known as a legend. But SCW was the first place that really felt like it was home.”
Alicia pauses and takes a slow and deep breath. A very deliberate one, as she uses it to calm herself down before pushing it out and tilting her head, squeezing the roulette ball in her right palm.
”And when you love something and love a place so much, you struggle to leave. And as I already told you, I love professional wrestling. And I consider this company to be my home. So it’s always been hard to leave. And I tried. Oh Lord, did I try. I wanted to go home and simply be a mother, to be a wife, to enjoy the fruits of my labour and not get thrown around and smashed into the mat anymore. I wanted to simply spend time with my kids, spend time with my husband. I just wanted to live my life. But this business kept calling me back. And what made it worse is that both of my sons are old enough to understand how much I love this. And my husband? Well, everyone knows what kind of man Austin is.”
“He grew up in this business, he loves it just as much as I do. He’ll be back. But in knowing how much he misses it, he pushed me toward coming back once he finally found out just how much I wanted it. And, in five years, I have finally gotten back to being a champion. Five years of being in the wilderness in this company. Five years of attempts and failures. I was on the verge of giving up — giving up everything. It’s hard when you first come into a company and you have so much success, only for it to slip through your fingers time and time again. But luckily, a few months ago, I was able to recapture some of that glory.”
“I became the SCW Roulette Champion. A championship that, when I first stepped foot in this company, I didn’t really care about. The chaos and randomness of this entire division really didn’t sit right with me. But now? Now I thrive on it. I thrive on the chaos. I thrive on the fact that I don’t know what this championship and this division are going to throw at me next. And after winning it, I was able to defend it against Twisted Sister and Bea Barnhart…”
She chuckles and shrugs.
”Now, based off my opinions of my last two opponents, I can’t really stand here and celebrate that, can I? I’m glad that I’m still the Roulette Champion and I’m glad that I was able to overcome not one but two women — but the two women in question shouldn’t have even been in the ring with me. They should not have even had an opportunity at the Roulette Championship. That — that is something I don’t have a problem with this time. See, at High Stakes, I’m stepping into the ring with a woman who knows this division and this championship quite well. A woman who has earned her way into the history books with it.”
“Alexandra Calaway. To be honest, not my favourite person. But unlike certain other women in this company, she is someone who I can respect. A veteran who has done everything she can to become a force in SCW. Much like myself, she is a lover. Much like myself, she has sacrificed everything to be a part of this business. And while she might not exactly be someone I like, I can stand here and tell you she deserves to be in this match.”
“She is a three-time Roulette Champion. Three times. I dare say that means she can write her own contract when it comes to this championship and any opportunities. And this seems like it’s going to be an actual challenge for me. From the outside looking in, I am more accomplished than you, Alexandra. Yes, you are a three-time Roulette Champion, but all of your success has been in this division — a division that has always been looked at as lesser than the World Championship. And I ruled that division with an iron fist. I have done things that you could never imagine.”
“But… that doesn’t mean much right now.”
“See, you are in your comfort zone. The Roulette division is where you have spent the majority of your time in SCW. This is still new to me. I’m doing everything I can to try and hold on to the Roulette Championship and stay as its figurehead. You already know what it’s like to be there. You know what it’s like to stand head and shoulders above everyone else and tell everyone in the division that you are leading them and that you are the best. And that’s what you want to do again. And to do it, all you have to do is beat me. That’s all you have to do. But can you? That’s the question you’re going to have to ask yourself. Are you good enough to beat a woman who is a legend? And that’s not me blowing my own horn — I am a legend. I’m in this company’s Hall of Fame. And I’m back to where I belong. And it’s up to you to try and stop me, Alexandra. Good luck.”
