The Fighting Series Boxset

by Ash, Nikki

  I can see it in his face that he wants answers but dammit I have made it to Christmas Eve and I am not going to give in now. After he gave me back my credit card I was able to book the flights and hotel, and purchase the Disney theme park tickets. I even had overnighted matching shirts that have our names on them: Mommy, Daddy, and Bella, and for the surprise I had put on mine below my name an arrow pointing down that reads, “Plus baby”.

  Everybody came over for Christmas Eve dinner and I have to say it was a bit awkward. I don’t know what has happened between Bentley and Kayla, since neither of them are talking, but man their emotions are flying high. It probably doesn’t help that Bentley brought a guest.

  After everyone left Bella set out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer along with a note telling Santa to fly safe. Now the three of us are sitting in Bella’s room while Cooper reads The Grinch That Stole Christmas to her. I had asked Cooper about the swing-set she wants and he said he has it covered. I haven’t seen anything in the backyard but if he says he has it covered, I trust him. When he’s finished reading the book we both give her kisses and tell her we will see her in the morning.

  We go downstairs and begin setting out all the presents we have kept hidden in the gym. I am pretty sure there’s double the number of gifts here than I bought. It’s Cooper’s first Christmas with Bella so I choose let it go.

  I am kind of shocked about one thing so I decide to bring it up. “You know, I thought for sure you would have had that puppy under this tree but I am pretty sure I don’t hear any barking.”

  He just chuckles and shakes his head. What is he up to?

  * * *

  Cooper

  Oh boy, if only this woman knew what I have been up to these last few days. She’s not the only one who can keep secrets. When she decided, she wasn’t going to talk to me I had two options: Freak the fuck out and assume the worst or go all in. I chose the latter. If she has any intention of leaving me, I am going to make it hard as hell for her. I meant it when I said I am going to fight for this second chance, and if I go down at least I will go down swinging, knowing I have done everything in my power to show her how much I love her. So, this is the part where I should tell you everything but… Nah. You will have to wait to find out like the rest of them.

  * * *

  Liz

  “Mommy! Daddy! Santa came!” Cooper and I finished putting the presents out at almost two in the morning. Of course, I never learned of where the swing-set or puppy is, or if there is even one. Sneaky bastard.

  “What time is it? I don’t even think the sun is up.” Cooper moans and places a pillow over his face before throwing it to the side and getting up.

  “It doesn’t matter what time a child normally wakes up. On Christmas, their brain wakes them up before five always.”

  We make our way down the stairs and Cooper puts some coffee on and makes Bella a hot chocolate. We sit on the couch while she opens up her stocking first, and she is in heaven! There are new nail polishes, and candy, and tons of Barbie accessories.

  Once she is done with her stocking she moves onto her presents. She gets excited about every single one and thanks us for the ones that have our names on them. I don’t think there is a single toy this child didn’t get for Christmas, thanks to Cooper.

  When she gets to her last present her smiles falters for a second. I don’t care how good of a kid you have, when they realize they didn’t get the couple items they asked for they are going to be sad. It doesn’t make them spoiled; it makes them human. She opens the present and says thank you to the both of us.

  Cooper looks way too happy with himself when he asks if she had a good Christmas. Bella says yes and then he tells her he has one more gift but it’s for all of us and it’s not here. I can see she gets her hopes up but she doesn’t mention it or ask.

  “Before we get to your gift for all of us, I have one for all of us as well,” I say.

  I pull a box from the back of the tree and hand it to Cooper and Bella to open. He smiles as she tears apart the wrapping paper and shakes the top off. Nestled inside are the three shirts I ordered. I made sure to put mine on the bottom.

  Bella pulls them out and attempts to read them. She is not a great reader yet but she is definitely improving. “Bella,” she reads the first one. It has a picture of a Minnie mouse with a crown under her name. She doesn’t understand it yet but I think Cooper does because his smile widens.

  Next, she reads Cooper’s shirt. “Daddy.” This one has a mickey mouse on the front as well.

  And finally, she reads mine. “Mommy. And there’s an arrow pointing down. It says pl…us plus b.a.by. Plus, baby?”

  Cooper whips his head around back to me and with wide eyes asks, “Are you pregnant?”

  * * *

  Cooper

  It killed me to watch Bella open all her gifts knowing the only three she asked for aren’t under the tree. I was able to take care of two of them but the baby part is unfortunately out of my control.

  Liz telling us she has a gift for us definitely peaks my curiosity. This is the happiest I have seen her so it must be good. Bella opens the box and begins reading the name on the shirts. I see Bella’s shirt with her name on it and Minnie Mouse and I know right away we are going to Disney. Not only am I excited to experience this with my two girls but also it now makes sense why she was using her credit card and looking up hotels. Although, hopefully she has better sense than to book one of those nasty motels that were up on her page. She pulls out my shirt next which has daddy written on it with a mickey mouse under it.

  Bella gets to her mom’s shirt and she’s struggling to read it but we both let her sound it out. “…plus, baby?”

  Putting all the pieces together I go into shock.

  “Are you pregnant?”

  Excitedly, Liz nods her head, and Bella starts going nuts singing that she is going to have a baby brother or sister.

  Grabbing her by her waist I give her a kiss then I move down to her belly and lift her shirt. It’s too soon for there to be a bump but I still have to kiss it. I look up with blurry eyes from the unshed tears and say thank you. This woman has just made me the happiest man in the world.

  I stand up and ask how far along she is. She laughs and says, “I’ll be nine weeks on the thirtieth. I suspected I was pregnant on Thanksgiving and had it confirmed the day we returned. I thought it would be fun to surprise you for Christmas along with a family trip for just the three of us but I didn’t realize keeping a secret from you for a month would be so difficult.”

  Damn, now it all makes sense. The secret phone call and outing by herself, the way she has been up and down with her emotions, and going out of her way not to talk to me about her credit card. I am so glad I chose to have trust in us instead of flipping out. Now it’s my turn to give them my present, and with a baby coming, it makes the present even better.

  “Ok, you two get dressed. We are leaving in fifteen minutes.” They both look at me like I am stupid. Yeah, I know they will never get out the door in fifteen minutes but I still keep saying it in hopes they will one day get ready in under an hour. Please let this baby be a boy.

  An hour later we are in my SUV driving towards the surprise and I text everybody to meet me there. This is more like four surprises in one. We pull up to the gated community and I pull my resident card out to swipe so I can be let in. It’s a temporary one until we get our barcode decals. I look over at Liz and she looks utterly confused.

  * * *

  Liz

  When we pull up to a beautiful gated community I think maybe we are going to visit someone but then Cooper pulls out what looks like a resident pass and I am back to square one. We drive down a few roads until we get to a massive house on the left and Cooper turns into the driveway. Parked along the road are our friends’ vehicles. Maybe there’s a Christmas party going on here?

  We all get out and Cooper takes a key out of his pocket to unlock the door. When he opens the door the cutest
brown and black little puppy comes barreling down the hall and straight into Bella’s arms. She scoops her up and looks at her father with hope in her eyes. “Is she mine?”

  “Yes, Princess she’s yours. Merry Christmas.” He kisses her on her forehead.

  “Does she have a name?”

  “She’s yours, so you can pick the name.”

  She thinks about it and when she figures out the name she wants her entire faces lights up. “I know! I want to name her Princess!”

  “But that’s what I call you.”

  Bella pouts but thinks of another name. “Ok, how about Elsa?!”

  We both laugh. “Elsa, it is!”

  “Can I bring her home with me? Why wasn’t she at my home?”

  “This is her home, Bella. Do you like this house?” Bella looks around and I do as well. The home is gorgeous. We are only standing in the foyer but even from here I can see the spacious living room and the beautiful staircase that leads to the upstairs. Off to the side is what looks like a beautiful kitchen with a separate dining room. The floors are all hardwood, and the home is empty but it’s still stunning.

  “Yes, I like this house. But why does she have to stay here? I want her with me.”

  Cooper looks at me as he answers Bella’s question. “I bought this home for all of us. I was hoping we could all live here together as a family. I didn’t know about the baby but now it’s even more perfect. I figured it would give us more room to grow as a family. It’s empty so we can furnish it together.”

  He gets down on one knee and my breath hitches. I look around realizing we aren’t alone, which makes sense because all of our friends’ cars were parked along the road when we pulled up. But now that I am looking I see that my parents and brother are also here as well as Lauren, Cooper’s mom.

  Turning my attention back to Cooper I see he is holding up a tiny box with a sparkly ring nestled inside of it.

  “Lizbeth, when we met five years ago in Miami at that club it was lust at first sight.” Everybody laughs and I can feel the tears coming. “When I walked away from you, it was the hardest thing I ever chose to do. The only thing I can think of is that everything happens for a reason and maybe it just wasn’t our time yet. Seeing you that night at my fight, I knew we were meant to be together. It took me a couple tries but I finally came around. You have been so patient with me. Even when I didn’t deserve a second chance you still gave it to me, and when I didn’t have enough trust and belief in us, you did for the both of us. When I felt weak in this relationship you held me up with your strength. You are an amazing mother to Bella and you are going to be just as amazing to this new baby. I want to spend the rest of our life reminding you why you will never regret giving me that second chance. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes!” is all I can say before he is back on his feet putting the beautiful ring on my finger. I don’t know much about rings but it has one big princess cut diamond in the center with smaller clusters of diamonds around the edges, and it fits me perfectly.

  Cooper cups my chin and kisses me softly. “Thank you, baby girl. You have made me the happiest man in the world.”

  Everyone watching us takes that as their cue to come over and congratulate us. “Oh, sweetheart. I am so happy for you. A new home, an engagement, and a baby on the way! This is quite the Christmas for you. Congratulations,” My mom says as she hugs me.

  Everybody takes turns hugging us and when Kayla gets over to me we hug extra hard. “Please tell me you have changed your mind,” I say quietly so only she can hear.

  She pulls me away but stays looking into my eyes. I already know the answer before she gives it. “No, Liz. I am still leaving tomorrow but I will visit often and I will definitely be back before the baby is here. I just need to go. Please understand that.”

  “Ok but please know I am only a phone call and a plane ride away. Does Cooper know you are quitting?”

  “Yes, I told him yesterday. He said he doesn’t need two weeks’ notice, so I am flying out tomorrow night.”

  We hug again and then I watch Kayla slip out the door. I look over at Bentley and see him watching her leave as well. He is showing no emotions but I know he cares. And if I am honest, I hate him a little bit right now because I believe whatever is going on with them is the reason she is leaving me.

  Cooper announces there is one more present and asks for everybody to join us in the backyard. When we walk out the backdoors Bella goes running straight to the swing-set. I don’t even think you can call it that, though. The word swing set doesn’t even begin to do this thing justice. It is an enormous pink and purple princess castle with a rock wall, swings, a slide, and of course attached to the end is the cutest little picnic table and benches.

  “Look mommy, daddy. Santa brought me my swing set just like I asked! He must have known this was going to be our new house.”

  Cooper holds me in his arms and nuzzles his face into my hair. We just stand like this for a while just letting it all soak in. It may have taken a little longer to get here but I wouldn’t trade our journey for anything because every step we took led us to this moment right here, right now, with our friends and family. And these people mean everything to me.

  Epilogue

  Cooper

  Two months later…

  I am standing in the center of the octagon at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in my hometown city of Las Vegas. My eye is swollen so it’s hard to see, and I am pretty sure I have at least two fractured ribs, but it’s all worth it because at this very moment the referee has my hand up in the air announcing me the new UFC Champion. They hand me my belt and it feels damn good to know I have finally made it to where I wanted to be.

  The crowd is going crazy, chanting my name. I have worked my entire life for this moment, but more importantly it signifies the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new chapter.

  “Tell us, Rage, now that you are the new UFC Middleweight Champion, what’s next?”

  I knew this question was coming. There have been rumors flying and tons of speculation as to what I am going to do next. People want to know if I am going to fight to defend the title, or if I am going to retire as the champion. The UFC has offered me a healthy contract to stay on board and nobody knows what my decision is except my fiancé.

  Looking out at the crowd I see my entire world sitting in the first row closest to the octagon. Liz wasn’t thrilled about letting Bella come to the fight but our daughter is less like a princess and more like a warrior than Liz cares to admit. She loves watching these fights, and I would bet money that one day she becomes the UFC Champion in the Women’s Bantamweight Division. Liz is looking at me through shiny eyes clapping and Bella is screaming at the top of her lungs for me. I crook my fingers at them to come up here and join me.

  When they get up to me Liz gives me a soft kiss on my lips afraid to hurt me as Bella grabs the microphone.

  “My daddy is retiring,” She says clearly so everybody can hear. The crowd boos and she gets mad. She continues speaking. “That’s not nice. My mommy is having a baby and my daddy is going to work at the gym and train me to be a UFC Champion just like him.” And… the crowd goes nuts.

  I throw my head back in laughter at my crazy daughter and then take the microphone from her. “My little girl is correct. I am honored to be the new UFC Champion. I want to thank everybody who has supported me over the last fifteen years…” I go on to name my friends and family, my trainer, the gym, the UFC, and when I am finally done I walk hand in hand with my fiancé and daughter out of the octagon for the last time.

  Today isn’t just a great day because of my win; today is also my daughter’s fifth birthday. Earlier in the week we had a huge party for her. She wanted a doghouse built for her puppy and we all know whatever Bella wants, Bella gets. Sitting in the backyard in matching colors to her princess play set is a doghouse fit for a puppy princess.

  It’s also Valentine’s Day, so this morning when the girls woke up I made sure to have lots of
chocolates and stuffed toys for them along with breakfast in bed. I bought Liz a charm bracelet that has the same boxing gloves as the one on her necklace. It also contains a heart charm with Bella’s birthstone. She cried her eyes out when I put in on, not that it surprised me. The woman cries over everything these days. She is sixteen weeks pregnant and is due July eighteenth. I have been going to her doctor appointments with her and even got to hear the heartbeat and see the baby in an ultrasound. A-maz-ing. One thing I have noticed is the further along she gets the hornier she gets. I might just have to keep her knocked up the next few years.

  “Everybody ready to party?” Bentley yells as we get off the plane in Palm Beach, and everybody gives a Hell yeah. We decided there was no better way to celebrate Caleb and my win than to go to the place where Bella and I first met, Miami.

  We drop Bella off with her parents and head South. Liz is a bit upset because Kayla is in Florida but is refusing to join us. I am definitely not getting into the middle of all that drama. I am about to spend the weekend with my woman at the resort we spent together five and a half years ago. Life can’t get much better than this.

  * * *

  Liz

  We get to the resort, check in, and head right to our room. Everybody wants to go out but Cooper isn’t having it, so he told them all they can go without us.

  We walk into the room that looks identical to the one from five years ago and Cooper leads me straight to the bed. He takes my shirt off and reaches behind me to take my bra off so I am lying in the center of the bed with only shorts on. Of course, those don’t stay on for long. He removes my shorts and panties and leaning over me runs his eyes down my body.

  “Like what you see?” I tease.

  He takes his hands and rubs them over my belly. It’s not big yet but there’s definitely a visible bump that you can see. If you didn’t know me you might think I was just bloated but to those who know I am pregnant can tell it’s from the baby growing in me.