Coming Clean (for CaptainL)

[Pegasus]

Jonathan couldn’t even tell where he was as his wife’s thighs prevented him from seeing the pool. He didn’t want to run the risk of dropping her on the floor unprotected so he held her until he could feel his way around with his feet. Brianna had launched the towel over her shoulders and smirked as she was about to end this challenge for good. Brianna swung herself around launching both her husband and herself towards the water with a Hurricarana hoping that her husband hit the water before she did. Jonathan uttered a “Ahhhhh!!!!” before flipping on his back to hit the cold drink below him sinking underneath. Brianna hit the pool a spilt second later meaning her and Astrid had won the challenge! The match was over!

Sheila and William would suffer Astrid’s revenge and felt the cold water pour over them as Will hugged his little buddy to his side. They both were coughing and William held up his hands waving off the splash fight.

“Yield! Yield! We yield! You guys win. Whew, I’m getting too old, haha,” William conceded as he felt his back and slicked back his black hair.

“Urgh…that smarts. Did we win?” Jonathan asked as William had to shake his head.

“You both flew into the pool, but Brianna hit it after you so the girls get this victory,” William replied as he swam over to hug his wife.

Jonathan smirked and went over to help Brianna back up to the surface wiping her eyes and hair. He patted her back for a job well done and had to chuckle a little bit.

“I set up myself for failure on that one,” Jonathan admitted.

[CaptainL]

Jonathan could barely see what was happening around him, and he was afraid to make any sudden moves, lest he drop Brianna to the floor in his confusion. And, in the end, his hesitation would prove his undoing - the Black Tornado spun herself around in place, rolling him off his feet and sending him into the water with a hurricanrana! The two of them landed with a splash, but it would be Jonathan who hit the water first. Brianna and Astrid had won the contest!

"YEAH!! OH YEAH!! WE DID IT!!" Brianna threw her head back with a cheer as she burst up from the water, pumping her fists in the air. Gripped with the thrill of victory, she swam over to Astrid, clapping her hand for a high-five, which the Norsewoman eagerly returned. Brianna had to stop and shake some water off of her hair, catching her breath, but she looked over at the others with a grin as Sheila, Meiyun, and Molly applauded her efforts.

Astrid, then, looked over at William, hugging him tight. Even if his team had lost, he didn't have any hard feelings - though, as Astrid was quick to remind him, there were still consequences for his loss. "I don't want anyone to forget," she said, "this does mean you're cooking dinner tonight!"

Meiyun took that moment to stretch. "Yeah, speaking of which...I am hungry."

"I'll admit, that worked up an appetite," Brianna said, looking back at her husband with a teasing smirk. "Soooo...what's it going to be? You boys have any plans for the menu?"

[Pegasus]

After receiving quick showers and getting dressed back in the clothes they all arrived in, the kitchen would be filled with Jonathan and William preparing some good dishes as they were head cooks for tonight. Jonathan cooked for himself plenty of times so this was pretty much second nature, but William didn’t have the best history knowingly burning things and even gave two of his best friends food poisoning on accident so Jonathan made him server for the night. The dining room would be placed under a nice glass chandelier as the girls were all seated with their utensils and red napkins folded on the table. William started passing out glasses of water as a starting drink for his guests and wife.

“At least I can contribute since Jonathan thinks I’m such a bad cook at the grill,” William teased as he looked back at his friend.

“Taco Tuesday. Emergency Room. Jack and Oscar. Burnt shells. Food poisoning. Need I say more?” Jonathan asked as he sprinkled some seasoning into his creation.

“What the hell, man? That was just one time. I’ve made good stuff in the past,” William replied.

“Like the daughter you never mentioned you had?” Jonathan asked as William felt his blood run cold and his glasses nearly fell off his face.

“What did you just say? What the hell did you just say?!” William asked as he walked right into the kitchen.

“There was no damn tax returns in that folder! You had a daughter you never mentioned!” Jonathan replied as he grabbed the picture that fell at his feet from his jacket pocket.

“Did you steal that? Where did you get it?” William asked as he tried grabbing the picture as Jonathan kept it out of reach.

“Start talking, asshole. You ain’t getting this back till we hear every detail,” Jonathan replied calmly.

“Really? Right now? When we are all being civil?” William asked as he tried looking for an excuse out of here looking at Brianna to back him up against her husband.

“Where did you get the kid from, Will? Was this with Kary? What the hell is going on?” Jonathan asked with a determined glare.

“That was twenty years ago. I don’t know how this stuff came to me. You know she didn’t want me in the kid’s life. You know she was abusive towards me. I couldn’t win,” William replied with a stern tone in his voice that he hardly ever use.

“Twenty fucking years? You left a kid with that psycho for twenty….goddamn….years?” Jonathan asked as William started backing up in anticipation as he started wearing bullets.

“Not by choice. She threatened me with police and….and….I didn’t know what to do at such a young age. That woman ruined every inch of my life!” William replied.

[CaptainL]

Soon enough, everyone was seated at the table. After a long plane ride, and the excitement in the pool, the various guests could agree that it felt good to get off their feet and settle in. Sheila let out a content sigh, folding her hands behind her head and moving to prop her feet up on the table, but Molly leaned in to place a hand on her leg to bid her back. "Hmm? What? C'mooooooonn, I was getting comfy," the Australian protested, looking back toward Molly with a pout.

"For one, it's rude," Molly explained, "and if you keep tipping back like that, you're going to fall over. I know you probably won't get hurt, but I don't know how Astrid would feel about that."

"Either way, though," Meiyun added with a bow, "thank you all very much for cooking for us tonight..." She smiled to Jonathan and William as the man of the house passed out water - but as soon as she heard Jonathan's story, she froze, her face going pale. Suddenly, this didn't bode so well. If William's cooking had been so catastrophic before, she wasn't going to line up to experience it now. "Uhh...is it too late to change our bet?"

Astrid turned to William, prepared to stand up from the table just in case an intervention became necessary. "Will...I really don't mind helping out-" But before she could move a muscle more, Jonathan said something else - something that made her freeze in her tracks.

Her eyes went wide in shock. In all the time she'd known William, he had never mentioned having a daughter. And yet, when Jonathan whipped out the picture, when he talked about the folder in the mail...suddenly, everything made sense. She knew there was more to the letter than she'd been told, but she wasn't quite sure what it was. Now, though, all the pieces fit together. The way William had seemed so transfixed by the message to the point of ignoring everything else, the reason he was so afraid to show anyone - it was something from his past. Something, evidently, that haunted him, and that he'd tried to keep hidden. Until now.

Now, everyone was struck with revelations about William that they would have never imagined before. They didn't know about this daughter; most of them didn't even know about an abusive ex, or any bad decisions he'd made twenty years ago. The girls glanced back and forth at one another across the table, the tension growing with every word, especially as voices rose and insults started flying. No one knew what to say - what could they say, when all of this was so far outside anything they'd ever known, and when it seemed as though a single wrong word could make everything worse?

What was clear, though, was that Jonathan and William - old friends, and long-established tag team partners in their heyday - were at one another's throats, and the sight of it made everyone uneasy. At last, it was Brianna who rose from the table, clapping her hands against its surface to try and get the attention of the two men.

"Stop! Everyone, stop!" she said. It was rare for her to be this assertive, but as a mother, she'd come to learn when she needed to step in. "Both of you! Look...arguing like this isn't going to solve anything. You two are better than this. Just...take a deep breath, and calm down. We can work this out." With a sigh, she turned to William. It was clear there was a lot more at play here than she was privy to, and she wanted to work things out. But she couldn't do that without knowing what she was dealing with. "William...maybe you should tell us the whole story. Start at the beginning."

[Pegasus]

William and Jonathan were brought to Brianna’s attention and she wanted them to stop fighting as the best friends were getting ahead of themselves. Jonathan was pissed that William didn’t even tell him about him having a kid with his ex-girlfriend and that it took him twenty years to finally spill the beans. However, he shouldn’t have yelled at him like that and at least give Will the benefit of the doubt. William looked at Astrid and saw the eye widened expression as his shoulders slumped. If there was anyone he feared failing the most, it was the love of his life. His past kept haunting him and he joined wrestling to get away from it all. It seems 20 years didn’t equal a lifetime away from torment.

“The folder is out in the bus, right?” Jonathan asked as William just nodded sighing in defeat at keeping this a secret.

Jonathan went out to the front foyer grabbing Will’s bus keys and went out the front door. He returned with the folder of personal details and splattered it on the table causing different photos of a small black-haired girl to be revealed. Some photos were cute moments from childhood like her chewing on a toy ring, playing with a German Shepard, her on her first day of fourth grade out in the front yard, and a photo of Will’s daughter with her biological mother, Kary Jenkins. William instinctively grabbed the photo of Kary and his daughter ripping away Kary’s face from the photo as Jonathan got him to calm down rubbing his shoulders.

“Fine, you got me. 20 years ago, I had a girlfriend named Kary Jenkins. We dated off and on, but she was convinced that I was her dream husband and I did have plans to propose in the future. I’m not gonna lie. But….whenever I did the slightest thing wrong…she yelled at me, hit me, just degraded me….when I left the toilet seat up, when I put the meat in the dishwasher by accident, when I bailed her out for drunk driving, when she went to jail for two months after she was arrested in a gambling ring in high school, when she cheated on me twice with two football players, and as you can guess, when I accidentally got her pregnant. Kary hated my guts and didn’t want me in that child’s life. I thought about taking her to court when the baby was born, but….Kary threatened to tell the judge I was abusive towards her which could’ve led to me being arrested falsely. So, I just ran away. Ran away from my kid. I didn’t want to, but….she forced me out. I learned her name was Sarabeth. My mom kept tabs on her going forward until she lost any contact from close relatives keeping an eye on Kary. I know Kary moved to Nevada and is dating an amateur porker player now. Probably gonna try to live off his fame. I don’t even know how this stuff got to this address,” William recounted as he removed his glasses and wiped incoming tears from his eyes.

William then eyed the unopened letter from the folder and grabbed it proceeding to open it. He lifted the letter out of the ripped paper and unfolded it to see it was from a Dr. Isiah Tunil from Nevada. He cleared his throat to gather everyone around and read along.

“Dear Mr. Ashworth, good day, I am Dr. Isiah Tunil and I am the sender of these contents that hopefully find you well. I understand that Ms. Jenkins has refused you custody or even the chance of seeing your daughter for the last two decades, but she visited my office in order to provide hair samples that we have extensively studied in our lab and matched them to you. It seems Ms. Jenkins was unsure of you being the father to her daughter, Sarabeth Jenkins, and wanted to find out for herself. We can confirm that you are indeed Sarabeth’s biological father. We also heard from her that she had been adopted as Ms. Jenkins provided us that information, but we are unsure of her whereabouts or her new surname she acquired upon her adoption. We have worked with the Toledo Police Department in Ohio to acquire more information and found the orphanage Sarabeth took refuge in. It seems she was very fond of another orphan named Jessie Alexander, who we have no known family records for. Upon further investigation, we can trace Sarabeth’s last known location to Japan. An airport allowed police to access their purchased tickets database and found a ticket from Arkansas to Tokyo that landed a few days ago. I also have seen in the mainstream news that you were recently married to a professional wrestler named Astrid Ostberg. Congratulations to you both. I hope she takes the news of being a step-mother well. That’s all I have for you. Take care, Dr. Tunil! ” William read off every sentence as he sat back in his chair.

[CaptainL]

With Brianna speaking up, at last the heated argument between Jonathan and William ground to a halt. But all other activity in the dining room had, too. Everyone stared ahead at William as they waited for him to explain the situation. No one wanted to say a word. Astrid's mouth hung open - she wanted to say something; she wanted to ask her husband why he had kept all of this a secret from her until just now. She had known him perhaps the closest out of everyone save for Jonathan, and yet this was news to her as much as it was to everyone else. But not even she could find it in her to speak up. She couldn't be mad; she couldn't even find it in her to be disappointed. All she felt was an undeniable numbness when this had taken her by surprise.

When William returned from the bus and laid the pictures over the table, the girls leaned in to study them closer. When in conjunction with William's story, it didn't take long for them to figure out exactly what they were seeing. This girl in all the pictures - these pictures from 20 whole years, longer than the youngest of them had even been alive - was William's daughter. They were seeing her whole life play out in front of them. And the whole time, it had been a life without William, and a life that William himself barely knew anything about.

When he began to tell his story, that, too, came as a shock to all of them. Jonathan had known, and Brianna had heard some of the details too, but for the rest of them, this was the first time they had heard Kary's name. And for all of them, it was the first time they knew just how much had gone on. Astrid's mouth still hung open in a gasp, and the color began to drain away from her face as she heard the details. When she heard about all that William had been through, she bit at her lip, the tension rising through her muscles. She had always known William as a strong, loyal person. Maybe a bit scatterbrained at times, sure, but his heart was always in the right place. Nothing seemed to keep him down. She would never have believed he would ever have struggled quite like this - and she would never have expected him to turn his back on his own family like this. If something had affected him quite like this...she could only imagine how bad it was.

Now, William read from the letter, and everyone leaned in closer, hanging off each word with rapt attention. It felt like they were all in the middle of a story that went far beyond everything they could ever imagine - and it was still unfolding. They wanted to know how it would end. And when William mentioned Tokyo, an audible gasp was heard over the table. That was where LAW was headquartered, and where all of them spent most of their time at least for work. Now, that end seemed closer than ever before.

After William was finished reading, everyone paused. Everyone looked to one another, waiting for someone to be the first to break the silence - but for all the thoughts that ran through everyone's heads, no one knew where to begin. At last, it was Molly who spoke up, her voice soft, as though she was worried about disturbing whatever uneasy peace hung over them - but still, something had to be said. "What...do we do now?"

"She's in Tokyo, right?" Sheila said, sitting up straighter with a smile. "Maybe that means we can find her there!"

Meiyun shook her head, however. "She's one person in the largest city in the world. That's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"But she was the one who sent the sample in," Brianna noted. "And she's the one who went to Tokyo. Will...she's looking for you. She wants answers. She's determined to get them."

Finally, Astrid rose from her seat. At last, after all this time, she knew what she had to say. "Look, William...you made a mistake. You shouldn't have run away. We all know that. I mean, she seems like she's done well enough for herself, but...I can only imagine needing to grow up without a father. But...I can't stay mad at you." She let out a sigh, causing her shoulders to slump. "You were young. You made dumb decisions. It happens. There's no need to beat yourself up about it now. However..."

Astrid leaned in a little closer to her husband. "The past doesn't matter any more. But the future does. We know she's out there. We know she's looking for you. This is your chance, Will. If we find her...maybe, at least, we can put her search to rest." Astrid bit her lip - she didn't know how Sarabeth was going to feel. Would she be angry that William left her for so long? Would she understand? There was no way to tell. But, at the very least, they might be able to give her the closure she needed.

[Pegasus]

Jonathan listened to the different topics of conversation before him about how William’s daughter could be in Tokyo and he agreed that finding her in a big city with a massive population would be difficult. However, maybe there was a way to decrease the number of people they had to search through. He turned to his phone and opened up Twitter looking up a quick profile. Jonathan grabbed the photo of Sarabeth chewing on a toy ring and looked up Sarabeth Chummers’s profile looking right at her profile picture. He compared the two pictures and made a startling discovery.

“Look at this photo of the baby and one of the new Young Lioness. The faces are an exact match save for hair color,” Jonathan stated as he put the photo and his phone down on the dining table.

“Wait a minute…..dude, are you saying-?!” William began to say getting up, but Jonathan already nodded with a smile.

“The letter said she was fond of a Jessie Alexander and a woman with that exact name signed up for the Young Lioness Program. I think Sarabeth Chummers is your daughter,” Jonathan announced.

[CaptainL]

Everyone knew what needed to be done next. William might have made a mistake in turning his back on his family, and leaving his daughter wondering where, or who, he was. But now he had a name and a location. Sarabeth had gone her whole life without knowing her father. But maybe after twenty years, she could at least get the closure she'd been waiting for. It was better late than never.

The only issue was finding her. All they knew was that she had moved to Tokyo, and that might as well not have been a lead at all - she could be any one of millions. Without another clue, they would be lost. But it seemed as though Jonathan had stumbled upon just the clue they needed. When he noted all they knew about William's daughter and compared it to one of the new applicants to the Young Lioness Program, everything seemed to line up - even her first name was the same. When Jonathan placed his phone on the table next to the pictures of Sarabeth, everyone leaned over for a closer look. Of course, the amount of time that had passed since the two photos were taken made matters more complicated...but there was an undeniable resemblance, as Molly noted, looking up to the others with a nod. "They do look similar, don't they?"

Astrid chuckled to herself. "Well, it seems this got a lot easier. If we know she's in the Young Lioness Program, it's just a matter of catching her after one of the training classes, yeah? I already have one of those lined up..."

Meiyun jumped up in her seat excitedly; she hopped up and down, unable to keep her energy contained when they were this close to making a breakthrough. "I can't believe it!! I've talked to Sarabeth before, and she seemed pretty cool. I actually know her! Which means..."

"...we'll have no trouble if we decide to pay her a visit," Brianna noted with a nod, finishing her thought for her.

However, they soon all turned to Sheila - who was studying the pictures intently, rubbing her chin as though in a deep contemplation. Blinking a few times, Molly leaned over to her. "Sheila, are...you okay, or..?"

Suddenly stirring back to life, Sheila slammed her fist against the table. "This just doesn't add up!!" she exclaimed in frustration. "They can't be the same person! Sarabeth Jenkins has black hair...but Sarabeth Chummers clearly has green hair! See?" She gestured to both photos...and was met with blank stares from everyone else at the table, who had no words for her leaps of logic.

[Pegasus]

Jonathan also stared at Sheila in dumbfoundedness as he shook his head and pinched his brow trying to let her logic sink in. Yeah, the two girls technically did have different-colored hair, but hair dye did exist and Sarabeth could’ve gotten her hands on a can at any point she felt like. He grabbed the note from the doctor as he read over it and grabbed a red pen from a holder in order to underline the name Jessie Alexander. He then pointed to it as he set the letter on the table.

“As I understand it, Jessie is her best friend presumably and there was a Jessie Alexander that came into the program as well. Now, yeah, some people have the same first and last names, but this is hardly a coincidence,” Jonathan explained.

“I can’t believe I could really get to meet my daughter after all this time. You don’t think she would hate me, right?” William asked his friends.

“That’s not really up for us to decide, but I’m sure if you explain yourself, you might be lucky and surprised,” Jonathan replied.

“I guess you’re somewhat a mom now. Sorry you had to find out this way,” William apologized as he looked at Astrid and scratched the back of his head.

[CaptainL]

Sheila's lapse in logic, perhaps fortunately for her, went uncommented upon by the rest of the dinner guests. Instead, they turned the subject toward Jessie Alexander, and for once, this was something the Australian was able to contribute something useful to. She sat up straighter in her seat, leaning in closer and jittering with excitement. At last, she thought, she had a lead! "Oh, oh!! Yeah, she joined one of my classes just recently!" she cheered. "And I think she said something about getting a room together with Sarabeth, so it seems like they know each other! I betcha that's them!!"

Not even Meiyun could keep herself from being caught up in the excitement - she leaned toward Sheila to swing her a high-five. "Yeah!! We're doing this!! I can't believe we're gonna solve a mystery, this is so cool!"

Watching it all, Astrid chuckled to herself - it never failed to warm her heart to see how eager her students could get over something they were passionate about. Then, she looked toward William. She placed a hand on her husband's back to address his concerns. "We don't know if she's going to be mad or not," she said. "But if we don't say something, she'll still be left hanging. I think it's better for her to know. We'll go from there."

And despite William's hesitations, when Astrid heard she would technically be a mother now, she laughed, giving him a slap on the back. "Well, I can't say I ever expected to find out this way...but it is what it is. Worst comes to worst, I think I can handle it. After all..." She looked back at Sheila and Meiyun with a smile. "I've got plenty of kids of my own back at the dorms."

Molly looked up from the table. "So," she began, "I think we've got our next plan of action. When we get back to Japan, we could look into the Young Lioness dorms. Sheila and Meiyun already have an in there, and if Astrid's teaching, she could connect with Sarabeth pretty easily. Anything else we need to address?" she added, looking back at Jonathan and William.