Cats in the Cradle

(For Shawn)


All her life Samantha had grown up wondering who her father was. Her mother would always give her the same answer. "You don't wanna know him darlin' he's only gonna hurt you in the end." Her mother was gone now, as was her husband, she'd lost both of them in less than a year. Now with nowhere else to go, no one else to turn to, and a young daughter to raise on her own; she began digging to find information about the father she never knew.

After a few months of digging she ended up on the doorstep of a ranch home in San Antonio, Texas. She'd left Hailey with on of the few friends she had back in North Carolina and made the journey on her own. All small bag containing pictures of her mother, and the man she believed to be her father, among the other pieces of information she'd found, sat on the seat of her walker. After a few minutes she took a slow, shaky breath and knocked on the door.

Shawn whistled lightly as he fixed the books on his shelf, preparing one to read later for his studies. He had a lot to atone for, knowing well that he more than lived up to his name "Heartbreak kid" in the past. He often wondered about the people he abandoned, the lives he turned upside down as he attempted to find out who he was through the drugs and wild sex of his youth.

He picked his favorite bible and sat it down on the table by the patio door to take it outside with him when he heard the sound of someone at his door. He frowned a little wondering who that could be. He wasn't so sure, as he wasn't really expecting anyone today. "Hold on! I'm comin'!" He called out and headed down toward his front door.

When he opened it, he found himself face to face with a pretty young woman. He blinked in surprise. "Hi. Uhm... What can I do for you?"

Samantha bit her lip nervously, chewing on the edge for a moment as she thought of how she was going to explain this to him. How are you supposed to tell a stranger that they could be your father. "Well, sir," Samantha began slowly. "I don't mean to intrude, but I have reason to believe that you may be my father."

Shawn cocked his head to the side, then to the other side. He put his hand on his chin and leaned forward looking at Sam. There was definitely some resemblance. He stumbled back in surprise. "O-oh, wow. I wasn't expecting that at all today ah... Where are my manners? Please, come on in. Sit down, uh, anywhere." He blinked and shook his head.

Samantha nodded, pushing her walker inside. She was still very nervous, but not as much so as before. At least he hadn't slammed the door in her face, from the way her mother spoke of him she half expected him to. She looked around for a moment before she took a seat, pulling her walker in front of her.

Shawn sat down on the chair across from her. He looked at her walker, wondering what was wrong, but didn't feel like he had the right to ask a question. He leaned over and propped his arms up on his legs. He ran a hand over the back of his neck, trying to think of something to say. Then it dawned on him. "So... young gal who might be my daughter- do ya have a name?" He smiled. "Mine's Shawn, but ya probably already knew that one."

"Samantha," replied the brunette softly, "Samantha Delessio." she said. "My maiden name is James, my mother's name was Melissa James." she felt like she was rambling on forever, but she had a tendency to do that when she was nervous.

"Samantha- What a pretty name." He nodded and started to concentrate. He thought for a good long while trying to remember her mother, and sighed. "Samantha, I'm sorry but I can't remember at the moment. That was a really dark time in my life, baby girl. Lotsa drugs, booze- I hurt a lotta people, an' I'm still finding out about who I hurt durin' the past. I'm sorry for the pain I know I caused you an' your mom. ...I don't even know if that means anything." He sighed again. "Why don't ya tell me about yourself? Ya came up all this way to meet me, but I'd rather here about you."

"There's really not much to know," Samantha said softly. "I'm just a small town girl, born in Fairmont West Virgina, moved to Salisbury North Carolina when I was five cause momma said the medical care was better there for me," she began. "I met Christopher a few months later, he was seven at the time," she started to tear up at the memory. "We were dating by the time I was thirteen, he asked me to marry him when I was seventeen and a few months later I got pregnant with Hailey." she stopped when her voice began to shake, the wounds from the next part were still very very raw. "He was killed when I was two months along, car accident," She blinked back the tears, running her hand over the engagement ring that hung from the chain on her neck. "The cancer took momma three months later."

Shawn listened to the story and shook his head sadly. "Hey baby girl, don't cry. It'll be alright." He moved over to the couch she was sitting on, wondering if he had the right to hug his daughter and decided he did if only to comfort her. He pulled her into his strong arms and gave her a gentle hug. "I'm sorry ya had it so rough. That's terrible. But... you're a trooper, Samantha. Because ya made it through all a that sadness."

Samantha rested against him, wiping her eyes. "It's not me I worry about, it's Hailey," she said. "I work odd jobs at a local theatre trying to make ends meet, appearing in a show from time to time, but now that they're sure Hailey has CP like I do I can hardly afford her medicine once a month, let alone the surgeries and equipment she'll need," she sighed. "This isn't the life we wanted for her."

"Unfortunately, what we want an' what we get are two different things, baby girl. But don't you worry none, okay?" He pulled back a bit and pulled over the box of tissues. He pulled one out and gently wiped her tears away. "I know I wasn't there for you as a kid, but I want to be there now. You jus' tell me what ya need for my grandbaby and I will do whatever it is that ya need me to. ...Did ya bring pictures? I wanna see pictures." He said looking excited.

Samantha smiled a bit and nodded. "That bag on my walker is full of them," she said. "There are actually a few of you and momma that I found in her album." She grabbed the bag and handed Shawn one of the pictures in question. "Like this one."

Shawn looked at the picture for a long while as he slowly remembered the woman who he had a child with. "Oh... oh wow. There she is." He smiled sadly. "Your momma was so beautiful. I remember that day. It wasn't long before we broke it off. I was such an ass, but- there's not much I can do about what happened in the past. Show me my grandbaby- I wanna see her! Ya have no idea how excited I am."

Samantha chuckled. "I have plenty of those," she said. "Christopher's mother is a professional photographer." She pulled out the most recent of the photos. Hailey was wearing a Disney Belle dress, posed adorably in a tiny throne.

Shawn took the picture and grinned big. "Oh sweet mother a god, she's adorable. Look at that, what a little princess she is!" He said proudly and without asking he reached over and put the picture up against one of his picture frames. "D'aw... When can I meet her? Can I meet her soon? Like... really soon? Sorry, I'm a bad combination of excited and impatient."

Samantha chuckled. "So that's where I got it from," she said. "You can meet her whenever you're ready." she smiled. "I can make arrangements to have her flown out here if you like, I'm sure April will help."

"Yeah, pretty much. That is a 100% Shawn Michaels trait that well... It must be one of those dominant traits." He grinned a little. "Oh! Well- I don't want her life to be interrupted, I can go an' see her! I'm retired so I have a ton of time." He also didn't want Sam to spend the money on a plane ticket either. "I can come whenever it's good for you."

Samantha nodded. "Pretty much anytime is a good time for us," she smiled. "She's a bit of a shy bug but I think she'll be pretty open with you," she said. "Certain people she's pretty open."

"Well I hope so! Plus I gotta buy some toys, and like... I dunno! Stuff! She needs grandpa to granddaughter stuff." He leaned over and grinned at Sam. He whispered "she's going to be SO spoiled" to her like it was a scandalous secret. "But baby girl, I'm bein' rude. Are ya hungry? Do ya want somethin' to drink or anythin' like that?"

Samantha shook her head. "No, thank you for asking," she said, pulling a picture from her bag and staring at it for a moment.

"Oh, alright." Shawn nodded a little and looked down at the picture. "So what's this one, baby girl?"

Samantha shook her head. "Chris and I, his junior prom," Samantha said softly. "He saved up for six months to buy me that dress."

Shawn looked at the picture of his daughter in her prom dress. "It's beautiful. He sounds like he was a good man, baby girl. Especially to do that for you."

"He was," Samantha said softly. She paused for a moment as she thought, before putting the picture back, her finger tracing over the ring again. "I don't see why momma spoke so badly of you."