Bless my little Disney soul, but listening to my new album has made me very sentimental and I was instantly drawn to one song in particular. After listening to it on repeat, I decided, 'What the hell? Another one-shot!' This song is from Mary Poppins called 'Stay Awake' if you haven't heard it, I suggest you do. It's simply beautiful. (Julie Andrews is god! lol)
"Okay girls, now go to sleep."
"But mommy, I'm not sleepy!" Aurora chirped, bouncing up on her knees on the bed.
"You have to. It's passed your bedtime." Paul stared at his eldest daughter sternly before walking up to her bed, placing a gentle kiss upon her chestnut tresses.
"It's time to go to bed, Sleeping Beauty." He added lightly before ruffling her hair.
"But dad…"
"No 'buts', Aurora." Stephanie walked up behind her husband and reached down to her daughter, brushing loose strands away from her face before kissing her rosy cheek gently. Paul drew the blanket back and Aurora sighed in defeat as she reluctantly crawled underneath them.
Paul turned to find a pair of blue eyes burn into him. Her little arms were crossed over her chest and an angry pout adorned her small features. He sat down next to her on her bed and his face playfully mirrored her expression.
"Why the face, Smurf?"
"I don't wanna' go to bed." Murphy mumbled under her breath, her head ducked down in defiance and her blonde strands shielded her face.
"Bad luck missy," Stephanie knelt down in front of her, brushing her strands from her eyes. "C'mon," She drew the covers back and gestured to her to get in, "In you go."
Both parents couldn't help but chuckle as an angry Murphy got to her feet and all but flung herself onto the bed. Paul arched an eyebrow at his wife, to which his response was an eye roll. That stubborn attitude had to come from somewhere. And it was sure as hell not from him.
Paul chuckled under his breath as he pulled the covers up to Murphy's chin- her angry scowl was replaced with a light frown- Paul bent down to kiss her cheek and Stephanie soon followed the gesture.
"Goodnight girls." Stephanie said softly.
In return, she received soft mumbles from her two gloomy daughters before she and Paul slowly closed the door behind them. Paul walked over to their youngest daughter's room. Last time they checked, Vaughn was out like a light, but it didn't hurt to check once more. Since Aurora and Murphy were somewhat closer, they were adamant in sharing the same room. Vaughn however was content for now to have her own room, though eventually she would want to join with her elder sisters. It never fully registered to Stephanie how fast her kids were growing. It felt like only yesterday she married the man of her dreams, and now, ten years down the line she became the proud mother of three beautiful girls, energetic ones at that.
Both Paul and Stephanie just arrived from Florida after the hectic opening of the New Performance Center. Needless to say, Stephanie was more than proud of her husband. All day she couldn't help but praise him on his achievements. And though Paul wasn't the type of man who expressed his emotions publicly, Stephanie could undeniably see the sheer pride and excitement in his hazel orbs. He had a dream- he took it and ran with it- his passion for the business made him the type of driven man that he is today. And though she enjoyed watching that dream of his come to action, she was just aching to come home and spend time with her babies. They had stayed over at Paul's parents place and had been bursting with energy since then. It would only take a miracle for them to fall asleep.
Finally reaching their room, Stephanie quickly got changed for the night and crawled into bed. Reaching out for the book on the nightstand along with her reading glasses, she sat up, propped against the pillow with her glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.
Paul closed the door behind him and glanced up at the bed. His wife sat there curled up on the bed with a book lightly propped up against her thigh. He let out a loud yawn before making his way to his side of the bed, whipping his t-shirt off and climbing in next to Stephanie.
"Hey, what took you so long?" She removed her glasses and placed them in its case, propping it back onto the bedside table along with her novel.
Paul sighed as he turned on his side to face her. "Vaughn. Apparently, she is not tired at all."
Stephanie giggled softly as she turned off the lamp with one hand, "her as well?" She snuggled into the covers while still facing her husband.
"It's ridiculous right?"
"Yeah," a light smile emerged on her face. "I wonder where they get all that energy from."
Paul smirked slyly before shrugging his shoulders, "Me, of course." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Stephanie smirked back at him, "Oh really now?" She shuffled closer towards him, closing the gap between them. "I distinctly remember you saying that I happen to wear all that 'energy' out of you."
Paul wrapped his arm around her waist and planted his other hand on the side of her head, hovering over her body and pulling her closer to him. "Is that a challenge, Ms Levesque?"
Stephanie giggled slightly as she draped her arms around his neck. "Maybe."
Smiling slightly, he inched his face closer to her, their lips almost touching. "Mmmm, then I guess there's only one way to find out, right?"
Stephanie felt knots of anticipation in the pit of her stomach as his mouth crashed down on hers in a slow, torrid kiss. Paul darted his tongue into her mouth and she moaned in response. His hand travelled down her body until reaching the hem of her dress. Bunching the ivory material around her waist, while his hands slipped underneath her dress, her body burned with his touch.
Paul stretched one leg over her as his hands continued to roam her body while his lips attacked her neck. Stephanie let out a moan of somewhat as his hand ran over her breasts. Paul stilled his movements all of a sudden- he swore he could hear the faintest laughter coming from down the hall.
"Mmm, why did you stop?" Stephanie mumbled somewhat lazily, her eyes remained shut all the while.
Paul turned his head towards the door and gave out a sigh, "I think our little Sleeping Beauties are not doing much sleeping."
"You mean they're awake?"
"No, Steph. You're taking this entirely out of context." He answered sarcastically receiving a slap on the bicep.
"Ha ha, very funny," Stephanie groaned in annoyance and leant her head further back into the pillow. "What are we going to do now, Paul?"
Paul sighed heavily as he fell back onto the bed, beside her. "I don't know. I mean, I thought that story I told them earlier was good enough to put them to sleep."
"Your story?" Stephanie chuckled, turning to face him. "You mean the one about the mermaid falling in love with a Prince on land?" Stephanie asked with a smirk in place.
"Yeah…" Paul's eyes darted from left to right, not sure what point she was trying to make.
"Paul, honey, retelling the story of 'The Little Mermaid' does not make it 'your story.' The kids have watched that movie a thousand times and I'm pretty sure taking a story and passing it off as your own is plagiarism and Disney might take legal action." Stephanie joked.
Paul scoffed in disbelief, "Well, at least I tried. I didn't see you making an attempt."
Stephanie shook her head and simply chuckled. "I'm sorry, honey, but your stories kinda suck."
She smiled at him apologetically and Paul jeered in return. "Like you can do any better!"
"Is that a challenge, Mr Levesque?" Smirking slyly, she was always up for a good challenge.
"Maybe it is..." He responded with the same tone she used earlier. His stare remained serious as he let his lips kiss her softly before pulling back quickly.
"Okay, how about a small wager?"
Stephanie gave him her full attention- the floor was all his. "I'm listening."
"Since you believe my bedtime stories 'kinda suck', why don't we try and find out who can do the better job of putting the kids to bed?"
Stephanie contemplated this idea. The stipulation of this bet was already intriguing. She was always up for a challenge. Not to mention sticking it to her husband. Paul wasn't afraid to gloat whenever he outsmarted her or proved her wrong- his pride and ego were too big for him not to brag- So one-upping him in this little 'wager' of his would be a triumphant victory on her part.
"Sounds interesting. But what prize does the winner receive?" She asked with a wicked smile in place. She seemed confident enough already. Paul knew he was going to win though. Stephanie had failed too many times in the past to get their daughters to sleep, thus the job had been bestowed to him.
Paul pressed his chest up against hers, his mouth slowly travelled towards her ear. "The winner…" He whispered softly, "Gets to do anything they want to the loser." Stephanie struggled to suppress a sigh as his teeth pulled at her lobe. Oh, he so had this in the bag!
A small bang came from down the hall followed by laughter. Shit, this was going to be tough. But she couldn't let Paul's giant ego overthrow her. Hell, if anyone had a bigger ego than Paul, it was Stephanie. She was a McMahon after all, wasn't she?
"Oh, you're so on!" Pushing him off her, Stephanie crawled out of bed and pulled on her pink robe. Paul smirked up at her from the bed before pulling his t-shirt from the floor over his head and following her out of their room and down the hall.
"Okay, rules!" He pulled on Stephanie's arm, forcing her to face him.
"Rules? What rules?" Stephanie's face twisted in confusion.
Paul pinned her to the nearest wall softly, still grasping her forearm. He leant his elbow above her head on the wall before laying out his rules. "Okay, first things first, you cannot cheat your way out by telling the kids about the bet."
Stephanie laughed softly and looked at him strangely, "And how exactly would that be cheating?"
"They will never fall asleep if they knew what we're trying to do. Plus, they might take sides."
Stephanie nodded. Those were some pretty valid points.
"And I don't want you to get offended when they choose me over you." He smiled at her cheekily.
"Next rule." She glared at him but her lips threatened into a sly smile.
"No sabotaging each other to win,"
She nodded in agreement, "Wouldn't dream of it."
"And we both have to keep trying, even if we both fail. There must be a victor."
What was this, some sort of Hunger Games? In response, she shook her head understandingly.
Stephanie bit down on her lip as she felt Paul's palm blatantly travel up her thigh, under her robe. "An-y thing else?"
His fingers toyed with the waistband of her panties, teasing her. "Yeah, be prepared to lose my darling." He whispered softly before detaching himself from her and heading to the girl's room. Stephanie cursed under her breath before following him through the door.
The girls were situated on the carpeted floor, giggling at each other's jokes and making silly noises. Vaughn sat in between her elder sisters, laughing along at the noises they were making. At the sound of the door swinging open they stopped, silence fell upon the threeo as their parents emerged from behind the door, their stern eyes stared back at theirs and they immediately knew they were in big trouble.
"Uh-oh." Little Vaughn's voice rang out, breaking the silence in the room.
Though Paul and Stephanie tried to remain serious, they couldn't help but smile at the shocked look on their daughter's faces. It was an adorable scene.
"Uh-oh is right young lady, why aren't you in your room?" Stephanie asked her youngest daughter, folding her arms across her chest.
Vaughn pouted as she rubbed at her hazel eyes. "I'm not sleepy." She mumbled, barely stifling a yawn.
Paul turned to look at Stephanie and shook his head, his gaze followed back to his rather energetic girls. They stared up at him curiously, fully expecting him to lecture them much like their mother did. Instead he just smiled at them.
"Alright, who wants a story?"
"Me, oh, oh, I do!" Aurora chirped.
"Yeah, me too!" Murphy proclaimed with the same enthusiasm as her sister.
"Story!" Vaughn's eyes lit up cutely.
Paul grinned at the reaction he received. He arched an eyebrow towards Stephanie. Not everyone in this house thinks his stories 'kinda suck'. Rolling her eyes in return, Stephanie watched as Paul all but herded the girls to their beds, placing Vaughn next to Murphy since they were smaller and had plenty more room for two.
Each one snuggled under their warm covers as Paul sat himself on the foot of Aurora's bed, while Stephanie sat opposite him on Murphy's bed.
"Tell us the story, daddy!"
Stephanie smirked maliciously as Paul struggled to come up with an idea. His hand reached up to run over the top of his short hair, desperately trying to rake some ideas out of it. Fuck, he couldn't let Stephanie win. What a massive blow to his ego that would be.
"Daddy!"
Okay, now they were starting to get impatient. Think Paul, think. They should really teach in schools, 'how to tell a good story to put your kids to sleep,' that's actually a useful life skills.
"Um…"
Stephanie struggled to maintain her calm facade as she witnessed her husband crack under pressure. For a man who thrives on the attention and adoration from a hundred thousand people packed into arenas, he looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock and hide than to tell a bedtime story to his three little daughters. Stephanie almost felt bad for him. Almost. She was not going to cave in and help him. God knows she needed to win this wager.
"Okay, so there was this Princess, right?" It sounded like a question more than a start to a story.
Stephanie slapped her palm to her forehead and snorted in quiet laughter, the hilarity of the situation weighing in on her while Paul simply glared at her, the girls however did not seem to notice their mother, rather they nodded in response, waiting for their father to continue.
"And she was trapped in a huge tower guarded by two fire breathing dragons." He smiled to himself, proud of what he came up with. Piece of cake.
"Why was she trapped?" Murphy queried, her blue orbs stared back at her father intently.
"Because an evil Witch put a mean spell on her. Anyway, the-"
"Why?" This time, the question came from Vaughn, whose little blonde head poked out from underneath the covers.
"Because the Witch was jealous of the Princess." Paul tried to continue before he was interrupted by another voice.
"Why was the Witch jealous of her?" Aurora asked in curiosity.
Paul sighed irritably, though he tried not to let it show, "because the Princess was more beautiful than she was."
Seriously, what was with all these damn questions? If he didn't know any better, he would think that Stephanie was silently communicating to the girls about their bet. Women were awfully confusing as it was. Maybe she was encouraging them telepathically to badger him with unnecessary questions. That would mean she was cheating. And though he did not have any physical evidence to prove so, he was certain that was the case.
"But why did the-"
"Oh my god," Paul sighed heavily, trying not to lose his cool as he buried his head in his hands.
On the opposite side Stephanie couldn't breathe. She was literally gasping for air. Her body shook rapidly as she struggled to hold back her laughter. Paul's eyes burned through her as she fell back on their daughter's bed in a fit of laughter. Yep, she was definitely using telepathic powers. He thought to himself.
The girls simply watched on, having no clue to what was so funny to their mother. They were still waiting for their dad to finish his story. Aurora reached out and tapped on her father's forearm, grasping his attention from Stephanie, who was in a state of hysteria.
"What happened to the Princess, daddy?"
He was about to respond when Stephanie sat up fully on the bed, clutching at her abdomen trying to tame her outburst of giggles. Paul smirked to himself and shrugged. "I think mommy can take it from here."
Three pairs of eager eyes turned to Stephanie, who at the moment, still hadn't recovered from her laughing fit moments prior. She managed to glare at him once she got the energy, whilst Paul sat there with a cunning smile on his face. It was time for her to crash and burn, hopefully worse than he did. He knew he would soon get a second chance to redeem himself.
Silence fell upon the room as the attention from each occupant was solely focused on her. Shit! She really should have thought this through. Having a time advantage, she should have been able to come up with something great to hit the ball out of the park and bask in her glory. Curse Paul for turning the tables on her like that. But she would be damned if she let him think that he got one over on her.
Think Steph. C'mon. She urged herself in her head. Digging into the inner most roots of her childhood, desperate to find answers. What always worked in putting her to sleep? A light bulb went off in her head as it hit her like a ton of bricks. The song from Marry Poppins! It was the one thing that never failed to make her eyes go heavy. The one thing that would always make her fall to her fatigue and surrender into deep slumber. It was her mother's trick. And it was soon about to become hers.
Alright girls, mommy's going to try something different tonight." Getting up from the bed, she tucked each of her daughters in and made sure they were comfortable.
"So you're not going to tell us a story?" Murphy inquired with a sad pout, her blue eyes mirroring Stephanie's. Though she had her father's blonde locks, Murphy was the most identical to her mother in terms of facial features.
Stephanie walked over to Murphy and smoothed down her hair. "Well, see I happen to think stories are…"
She paused for a beat and turned to look at her husband, whose back leant against the wall and he arched his eyebrow for her to continue. "boring."
Paul scoffed ironically and Stephanie turned her attention back to Murphy, who looked confused. She liked stories. They weren't boring. What was her mom talking about?"
"Mommy is going to sing you a lullaby." Stephanie smiled warmly at the content look on her daughter's face.
"Yay lullaby!" Murphy chirped happily
"You're going to sing, mommy?" Aurora asked in shock.
"Lull-by!" Vaughn mumbled, her eyes were already starting to get weary.
Stephanie giggled at her youngest and pinched her cheek. "Yeah, this was my favourite lullaby when I was your age." She turned to Aurora as she sat back on the bed.
Meanwhile, Paul sat on Aurora's bed not believing what just came out of his wife's mouth. She was going to sing? Stephanie, his wife was going to… sing their kids to sleep? Oh god, he had this bet in the bag. Albeit he heard her sing before, most of the times along with the radio in the car or just humming random tunes from time to time. But he had never heard her actually singing. Seriously. So he was rather fascinated to hear her little lullaby. But at the back of his mind, he knew he would be having her screaming his name in no time.
A smug smirked crossed his face at the same time she looked at him. Stephanie knew what he was thinking- she was going to crash and burn- almost as bad as he did. Unbeknownst to her naïve husband, this lullaby worked like a charm on her as a kid. And if her children were anything like her- which they have proven many times in the past- then they would be out like lights before she could even finish the song.
"Sing it, mommy." Aurora whispered, her eyes too were starting to get heavy.
That sign gave her enough confidence to start singing her most beloved childhood song, knowing soon that her kids would soon fall asleep.
"Stay awake, "While the moon drifts in the skies
don't rest your head
Don't lie down upon your bed"
Stay awake,
don't close your eyes"
Paul was in shock. That voice did not belong to his wife. How had it been lost on him all these years that his wife, who had been married to him almost ten years and is the mother of his children, had this incredible angelic voice! His stunned gaze fell upon his kids, who were slowly but surely nodding off into deep slumber. Paul felt his own eyes start to get heavy and he leant back further into the wall.
"Though the world is fast asleep
Though your pillow's soft and deep"
Stephanie concentrated so much on the song that she failed to notice her children's eyes begin to flutter. As her own eyes were shut and a peaceful smile graced her face. She wasn't thinking about her wager with Paul, rather reminiscing on her childhood and how fondly she adored this lullaby.
"You're not sleepy as you seem
stay awake,
don't nod and dream"
"Stay awake,
don't nod and dream"
Singing the last line of the lullaby, Stephanie opened her blue orbs and was at once welcomed by the heart-warming sight- Murphy and Vaughn lay cuddled up together in one bed while Aurora lay peacefully on hers. Warm smiles gracing their features and eyes shut whilst they slept. But what really made her smile even wider was her husband, who was perched at the end of Aurora's bed leaning against the wall. His almost invisible blonde eyelashes resting against his cheeks and his calm, even breathing was the only sound audible in the room.
She giggled quietly and shook her head. Works like a charm! She thought to herself. She not only managed to put all the kids to sleep, securing herself a pleasant victory over her arrogant husband, beating him in his own game, but also achieved to make him fall asleep, therefore making her victory much more enjoyable.
Careful not to disturb the girls, Stephanie stood up off the bed. She looked back at her Sleeping Beauties and her heart filled with so many emotions. They were growing so fast before her eyes. It seemed like only yesterday when they brought Aurora home for the first time, and now she was the proud mother of three beautiful little girls, whose looks and characteristics resembled her and Paul to a tee. Soon, Paul won't be able to tell his crappy stories that they happen to adore. Nor would she be able to sing for them like this again. They wouldn't stay six, four and two forever. But the future can wait, right now all she cared about was these little moments she got to spend time with the people she cared about more than words could ever say. What she and Paul did today, even though it started off as a mindless bet with no real motives, was create memories with their children. And tonight she surely created a memory that everyone would certainly remember for years to come.
She sighed wistfully at her husband, who still sat on the bed with his head leaning against the wall, his chest rising and failing with his steady breathing. Stephanie leaned over carefully and placed a soft, lingering kiss to his lips. The movement causing Paul to stir from his sleep and he groggily opened his eyes, his hazel orbs met her blue ones.
A sly smile was her reply before she turned and exited the room. Paul sat there for a beat, still in a daze. He was confused on what happened. One moment he was listening to Steph singing, the next she was kissing him and giving him an almost evil smirk. Turning his head to the kids, he noticed them fast asleep. Suddenly realising what happened, Paul sighed sullenly under his breath.
"Shit." He whispered. Not only did she put the kids to bed, but she managed to put him to sleep as well! Fuck! She played the game and she won!
Paul shook his head and an ironic smile adorned his face. Oh well, time to suck it up and face the music like a man. He carefully stood up from the bed and headed to the door, taking one last look at his kids, who were all tuckered out for the night. He was contemplating on kissing them goodnight and putting Vaughn back in her own bed but decided against it. Besides, wouldn't want to ruin Stephanie's hard work.
Stephanie smirked up at him from the bed as he walked through. His eyes refused to make contact with hers as he made his way to his side of the bed, pealing his t-shirt off. He sat on the edge of the bed, his back facing her. The blue hue of the night sky shone through the open curtains, illuminating his masculine figure. He smiled as he was anticipating his wife's next move.
That smile turned into a smirk as he felt her hands run up his chest from behind him. She pressed her chest up against his back and left small kisses around his upper back and neck.
"I didn't know you could sing like that." He sighed as her nails trailed down his body, travelling lower, reaching the waistband of his boxers.
"How did you…"her hand came to fondle him through his boxer briefs eliciting a groan from her husband.
Stephanie nibbled and sucked on his lobe before whispering in his ear. "Reverse psychology. Always works."
Paul's shoulders shook as he chuckled. He then reached down to stop her hands from roaming around his body and turned to face her, crashing his own lips against hers. She moaned as he parted her lips and she willing allowed him entry and their tongues battled for dominance.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her down to the bed. His lips began to attack her neck but she pulled away all too soon. Stephanie took Paul's confused state as an advantage, reversing their positions so that she was now straddling his hips.
Paul was about to comment before she began to grind her hips against his. He let out a groan and could feel himself getting harder under her. Stephanie moaned softly as she felt his bulge press up against the area where she desperately wanted him. But she was going to tease the hell out of him, have him wanting more.
Stephanie leant down, her chest pressing into his as her hips still ground against his. She moved her lips to his face and left a trail of kisses up to his ear. "You do remember the circumstances of the bet right?" Her voice was husky and full of desire. "I won, and I wish to claim my prize." She whispered seductively.
Paul opened his already darkening eyes to catch the almost black colour of her orbs. Before he knew it, her mouth was trailing down his body, over his chest, down his abdomen and finally to the waistband of his boxers. Maybe losing wasn't so bad after all. In fact, Paul was beginning to enjoy his loss at the hands of his wife, who was currently stripping him out of his garments that were shielding him.
After a couple of torturous minutes of teasing him, she finally gave in and made him experience a sense of pleasure that only she could provide for him. As his fingers reached down to thread through her dark strands, he knew that unlike their children, they would stay awake all night long.
I really need to start updating my other fics... Review and tell me what you think!