Billion Dollar Birthday

By "Sexy Boy" and Kumquat Queen

Summary: Stephanie is alone on her birthday. Can a visit cheer her up. Shamelessly fluffy.

Stephanie sighed as she looked at the pitiful sight in front of her: A single-person cake with three candles on it. She was in her locker room after the RAW taping, and she was all alone on her birthday.

"Happy birthday to me..." she gave a derisive snort. "Yeah, right." Her mother had called her earlier, but no one else had even seemed to notice her. Her father had been too busy trying to get one up on Steve Austin to notice, Shane was being his usual selfish self and Hunter, well...

Maybe it was for the best. She had already set the divorce mechanisms into motion. In a few days, she'd announce to the world that she was pregnant, despite this being almost impossible, as it had been weeks since she and Hunter had slept in the same bed. Hunter, though, would be overjoyed. Then, she'd get the tape to her mother. She knew Linda would be hard to convince, as this would be placing Stephanie in a lot of danger, but it was better this way.

But, rather than dwell on her future misery, it was better that she should focus on her current one. She thought of her last happy birthday. It was when she was turning seventeen. Her mother, father, and brother had all been home, and she'd gotten a beautiful sapphire necklace from Vince.

Not anymore. The next year had been strikingly different. Her parents were away, and Shane hadn't even remembered. And every year since had been worse, and now here she was: Alone, depressed, and pitiful.

"Depressed much, Princess?" a voice called from the door. She knew who it was though, even without looking up.

"What do you want, Jericho?" She was SO not in the mood for this right now. Usually, she enjoyed their little tiffs, but not tonight. Not when she was alone and depressed on her birthday while nobody even cared, with a family too busy to even look at her and a husband who was probably in some cheap slut's bed.

"Well, I heard from a wee bird that it was your birthday, so I decided to come and...cheer you up," he said with a grin.

She sighed. "Then you're the only one. My mother is the only one who realizes it's even my birthday. My father and brother are too busy to spare little Stephie a moment of their precious time, and my ever so loving husband is more than likely giving five dollars to some bleached-blonde, plastic crack-whore on a street corner somewhere. My one gift today consisted of getting a moonsault courtesy of my good friend Lita, and I could swallow a bottle of sleeping pills, and the only one who'd notice would be you, because you'd wonder where me, a filthy, dirty, trashbag ho, went off to and left you with no one to focus your insults on. Talk about a Billion Dollar Brithday..."

All of Y2J's snide jokes about how the indy guys wouldn't want her because she was aged went out the window. Never had he seen the youngest McMahon so utterly...hopeless. The normally fiery young woman had been replaced by a melancholy black hole of misery."Um...well, if it helps, you'll never be completely alone. I mean, where else would we get our new guys from the indies?" Ok, not as smooth as planned.

Although this did seem to cheer Stephanie up a bit. "Yeah, I suppose I should think of the company. After all, you singing skills won't be good for paying the bills, will they?"

"Ouch! And the bitch is back!" He looked at Stephanie with look of both admiration and amusement.

She smiled. "You have no idea."

He returned the smile. "Well, I seem to have done my duty here. Say..."

"What?" she asked, "What is it?"

"Well, I was going to invite you back to my room. I rented a bunch of stupid old movies. But then I remembered that anteater you call a husband, and the fact that we hate each other."

Steph thought for a moment. Hunter would be wanting to know where she had been...but to hell with Hunter. He pranced off often enough. No need for him to know every aspect of her life. And besides, Jericho was a pretty nice guy when he wanted to be. "Well, maybe a cease-fire would be in order. I'd be happy to mock cheap knock-off's for tonight. Even if it IS with you." She playfully stuck out her tongue.

"Excellent. But just don't try to cop a feel."

She laughed. "At YOU? Yeah. Right."

So they left, and Stephanie thought that maybe this wouldn't be such a bad night after all.