Powerful Impact [a Roman Reigns story]

3 Single mom

Larissa POV

With a deep sigh, I washed my hands before lifting my eyes to look in the mirror. As expected, I looked completely exhausted. But then there were the tears in my eyes. The unmistakable glistening that should have been tears of joy. But they weren't.

I tried to take a deep breath, but I could not. Fear of failure rose in me as so often in the last months. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of my daughter. I had a little daughter who needed me. And I had promised myself that I would be strong for Clementine. No matter how much strength it would cost me. Because she deserved only the best.

Quickly I washed my face before I went back into the room. The sight that presented itself to me almost brought tears to my eyes again. If only... I thought.

Roman was sitting there in one of the chairs holding my little girl in his arms. Softly he talked to Clem while she held onto his index finger. It was adorable and heart wrenching at the same time.

"Aren't you a precious girl? Oh you're pretty strong. Such a powerful grip. I'm sure you won't take any crap, huh? A mighty little woman like your mommy seems to be. Don't worry... I'm sure you two will make a good team," he said softly.

And as if she understood every word, Clementine looked up at him.

"Okay Miss Clementine... We should let the nice man go. We've caused him enough trouble today." I eventually said as I walked up to the two of them.

Carefully, with slightly trembling hands, I took my baby back into my arms. Slowly I rocked her back and forth while looking into her tiny, perfect face. It was fortunate that at least for the moment she didn't look like her father...or rather, creator. Because I wasn't sure I could have handled that.

"It's okay... Really! Don't worry about it. It's not every day you get the chance to be a hero." Roman said with a deep chuckle as he stood up.

"That's true. And again. I'm so grateful to you. Um... could you maybe give me your number? Then I can let you know when your shirt is cleaned." I replied, unable to stop the soft sniffles.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked us placing his large hand on my upper arm.

"I have to be..." I said in a breaking voice as I now began to cry.

"It's all okay. You can do this. I'm sure you're stronger than you think. Take a deep breath." Roman replied as he gently took me in his arms so as not to smush the baby.

Just at that moment the door opened. It was my mom and she looked at us suspiciously.

"Am I interrupting something? I just wanted to meet my granddaughter," she said as she looked Roman up and down.

"Hi mom. Um... I'm sorry... I um...this is Roman. He helped Clementine into the world." I replied as I broke away from the hug and walked over to my mom to put the little girl in her arms.

"What? What do you mean? What happened?" she asked.

"Later... Roman, thanks again for today. I have here somewhere... ah, here... please write down your number and I promise I'll get back to you soon." I then said and spotted what I was looking for. A piece of paper and a pen.

"It was nice to meet you, Mrs..." he began without knowing how to finish the sentence.

"Wilder, Cindy Wilder. Hope to see you again Roman." Mom replied, smiling at him.

"Likewise. Take care of yourself, Larissa. Bye little Clem.. Be nice to your mommy." said Roman and then left.

"Okay spill..." mom said barely as the door closed again.

I carefully sat down on the bed and began to tell her everything that had happened since I called her to tell her I was in labor.

She listened attentively. Her eyes wandered back and forth between me and the baby. Her brow was furrowed and I knew she had a lot on her mind. Fortunately, she kept most of it to herself. Well... except for the one thing I hope she kept to herself.

"I called Brad and told him the baby was on the way." she finally confessed.

"Why would you do that? Mom, he's had almost 9 months to show interest in this pregnancy and the baby. And nothing! Not a word. Not once did he ask how we were doing. Why would that suddenly change now?" I replied.

"Well... I thought it might wake him up. After all, she is his daughter. He has the right to know her." she said.

"True, but that's my business. We'll go see him eventually. But right now I honestly have enough other things to worry about," I replied, holding out my arms so she could give me my daughter.

She gave me Clementine without saying another word. Although she would have liked to. She wanted nothing more than for me and Clem to have a man in our lives. All this time she had hoped and probably prayed that Brad would come back. But I had given up that hope a long time ago. And right now I couldn't imagine ever having a man in my life again.

I was a mom now. We only existed in a package. And I couldn't imagine that there were a lot of men out there who wanted to date single mom.