The internal battle brewing within the confines of Stephanie's heart was brutal.

The simple response would have been to rush down to her car, drive herself directly to the police station, and use the articles in her possession as evidence to assist in proving her parents were lying kidnappers. Yet, her heart remained conflicted, because she didn't want to be the reason the two people who had raised and loved her over the years ended up behind bars. Aside from the crime she strongly suspected they committed, the people she knew as her parents would hold a special place in her heart for eternity, and she struggled with what action to take. There had been a sense of insufficiency inside of her since childhood, and Stephanie had often felt there was a missing piece of the puzzle in her life, but it was an inclination she hadn't been able to explain in prior years.

Knowing she had an entire family waiting for her somewhere in the vast universe, the only thought she was able to process was that she had to get to them. Whether she drove herself or hopped on a plane and flew cross-country, Stephanie was determined to track them down and make her presence known. At 22 years of age, it was fairly safe to assume her real family believed she was no longer alive, and she hoped showing up would bring them joy, rather than add unneeded turmoil to whatever daily routine they had developed by now. Stephanie stuck an index finger in each ear to block out Dusty's deafening whines from just outside her bedroom door as she concocted a plan.

The assumption that her parents would eventually end up going to jail was a given, but it wasn't a consequence she was fully prepared for, so Stephanie made the decision right then to avoid notifying the police right away. Instead, she would sneak out of the house when night fell and the people she thought she knew as her mother and father were asleep. Making a clean break was important, because if she had to face them with all the questions and underlying anger piling up in her mind, she would have a breakdown, and they would most likely watch her round-the-clock to make sure she didn't bolt. Since the starter plan was to hole herself up in her bedroom for the night and not make contact with them for the rest of the evening, Stephanie went to her door and opened it long enough for Dusty to slip inside.

She relocked the door and sat on the circular rug, where Dusty made herself right at home in her lap. Stephanie hugged up with her and ran a hand over her shiny coat. "Dusty, I'm in so much trouble," she whispered.

As Dusty lay cuddling in her lap, something told Stephanie her trusted pal understood perfectly well.

Night fell upon her Minnesota home quite swiftly, and it couldn't have come a moment sooner. After surviving countless knocks on the door from her parents and rebuffing their offers to join them downstairs for milk and cookies, the time had come to make her move. A simple internet search turned up the identity of her true parents, and while she expected to have a difficult time getting the exact address where they currently resided, she was shocked to find they were a well-known family. They were the owners of the World Wrestling Federation, which was a company who put on weekly professional wrestling shows she had only been a casual fan of while growing up.

It was a given their professional status wouldn't have allowed for them to have their address printed in the white pages, so Stephanie came up with a course of action that would allow her to meet them at their place of work. The address to the WWF's Stamford, Connecticut offices was readily available, and after jotting it down in a notebook, she tossed it into the bag she had already prepared for herself earlier in the evening. Dusty was asleep on the floor, and Stephanie's heart broke when she glanced over, because she knew she would have to leave her beloved pet behind. Her trip was already going to be difficult enough without lugging a dog around everywhere, and she could always return for her later. Dusty would need somebody anyways, after her parents got taken in for questioning, so she could always swoop in for the rescue at a later date.

The car ride from Moorhead to Stamford would take approximately 21 hours, based on the information she had come across online, but with the way Stephanie was feeling, she would step on the pedal with enough force to get her there in 21 minutes. Knowing it wouldn't do her real family any good if she didn't make it to them in one piece was the main source of strength that brought her down from irrationality and reminded her the importance of driving safely. For everybody's sake, especially her own, she needed to play it safe. After enduring 19 years without seeing those she had left behind, an additional 21 hours was going to be a cakewalk.

After picking her travel bag up and tossing the straps over her shoulder, Stephanie blew Dusty a sorrowful kiss, despite the fact that Dusty was asleep and would never detect it, and went to her bedroom door. After pressing her ear against it to make sure no sound was emanating from the other side, she swiped her car keys from the bookshelf and quietly opened her door. She sent only a single backward glance inside her bedroom, because anything more would have sent her into a display of waterworks that would have awoken everyone inside the household. Her natural stealth came in handy as she swooped down the stairs and cut through the kitchen to get to the garage, where her car was waiting.

The garage door made a moderate amount of noise when being raised, so Stephanie had to move swiftly once she pressed the remote control button to open it. She slipped into the driver's seat and tossed her bag in the back so there would be room for her purse in the passenger seat. Having been raised Christian, she brought the index and middle fingers of her right hand up to her mouth and kissed her fingertips before pressing them against her cross necklace, hoping the gesture would bring her great luck during her journey. With a deep breath, Stephanie pressed the garage door button and started her car.

The grand voyage was officially underway.

"She just had to be in my room all the time," Shane laughed at the memory. The McMahon family had enjoyed a hearty dinner and were all seated on the sectional sofa in the living room, as old home movies played across the projection screen in the background. They went down the line and each of them shared a fond memory of Stephanie, save for Marissa, who had little to no recollection of the youngest McMahon. "She would always toddle to my doorway with that teddy bear she constantly held onto."

"Mr. Bear," Linda chuckled. "That's what she named him. Creative, huh?"

"She was only a three-year-old," Vince added, laughing right along with everyone. After his private talk with Linda, he managed to loosen up and realize it was in the best interest of the entire family not to skirt around the issue of missing Stephanie. The more they spoke of her and the memories she left behind, the healthier and closer they would grow as a rejuvenated family unit. "It was so long ago, but I can still picture her jumping on her little trampoline in our backyard like it was yesterday. That was back when we still lived in Cape Cod. Every day, when we finished feeding her lunch, she wanted to be outside on that."

"Such a sweet little angel," Linda fiddled with the straw in her glass of eggnog and pursed her lips. The pain endured from the loss of a child never lessened, no matter how much time passed. Her heart would always hurt for the loss of Stephanie and be filled with questions as to who she would have grown to be. "I just wish I could have been lucky enough to see her grow."

"I figure she would have come to work with us," Vince speculated as he tilted his head back and stared up at the ceiling. "She would have been a brilliant businesswoman, I'll bet."

Shane mused, "Or maybe she would have shocked us and done something completely different from the rest of the family."

"She could have followed down the path I almost took and gone into the medical field," Linda added, not realizing the full extent of her accuracy in that estimation. "Or maybe she would have been content with the homemaker life. She could have been a young wife and mother like I was."

"Who knows what she would have grown up to be by now, but I'm sure, whatever it was, she would have been great at it," Vince said.

"Yep," Shane agreed, smiling as he glanced around at the roomful of his biggest confidantes and supporters. There was nothing that would ever compare to spending the holidays with his family. The only thing that could come close to topping it would be if Stephanie could have joined them, but Shane knew that wasn't likely to happen.

It would take a miracle for the McMahons to see Stephanie again.

Her first stop of the night was the ATM, but Stephanie didn't make it there without constant rearview mirror checks. She was convinced her parents heard her leaving and would be coming after her any second and ordering her back home. There was a mass of guilt settling in the pit of her stomach because, regardless of what the truth was, Stephanie felt she should have had the decency to allow her parents a chance to explain themselves and state their cases. Of course, that concept went both ways, and they should have had the common courtesy to tell her the truth from the beginning, so it was null and void in the end.

Being that ATM's weren't the safest places to be after dark, Stephanie opted for the drive-up machine and checked her surroundings before pulling forward and taking out everything she had in savings, which was just under $500.00. Her expenses while away at school were considerably low, since her parents had made sure the cost of her schooling was covered. They also sent her money for the apartment she shared with her roommate, so she worked as a cashier at a drug store near campus and saved that money for personal needs, which turned out to come in handy. Venturing out to meet the family she had missed out on, due to an act of immense selfishness, called for a personal emergency, so she had no problem spending any money she might need along the way.

After grabbing her receipt when the machine spit it out and pulling away, she sighed and looked around while stopped at the traffic light. The roads were icy from leftover snow, and she was thankful to have bundled up before leaving home. The thought hadn't occurred to her how dangerous it could be for a single female to be traveling the highways at night, but, suddenly, she felt the urge to wait until morning. It would probably be better to clear her head before she set out on the open road anyway, so when the light turned green, Stephanie drove until she came upon a Denny's restaurant and pulled into the parking lot.

She was greeted by a friendly hostess immediately upon stepping inside and chose a seat at the counter, since she only planned on ordering coffee and a small stack of buttermilk pancakes. Never had there existed a time when she was more thankful to own a cell phone than that precise moment, and Stephanie pulled it out of her jacket pocket and called the one person she could always count on when things were rough. It was getting late, and she didn't want to wake Nicki up if she had gone to sleep already, but it was likely she wouldn't be concerned with sleep when she heard what Stephanie had to say. Making a mental note to speak quietly so nobody in the restaurant would overhear her dilemma, Stephanie slumped down in her seat and waited while it rang.

"Hey, girl, what's up?" Nicki answered, sounding very much alert. There was holiday music playing in the background, and it wasn't until then Stephanie remembered she was supposed to have called her back so they could make plans. From the sounds of it, Nicki had assumed she got caught up in family stuff and ended up going out without her anyway.

"We have to talk. Are you going to be free anytime soon?"

"Uh, well, I'm just hanging out at my friend's house, they're having this little party thing. Just tell me whatever you need to say."

"No, you don't understand, I can't do this over the phone," Stephanie explained, smiling in thanks when the waitress placed a cup of steaming hot coffee in front of her. Stephanie balanced the phone against her shoulder and ear while she reached for a couple cups of cream and some sugar packets that were lining the counter top. "There's something really serious I found out about after I hung up with you earlier, and I need to tell you about it. Actually, if you're free, maybe you could even come on the trip with me."

"Come with you where?" Nicki wondered, but Stephanie didn't register the question, as she was still thinking aloud.

"No, that wouldn't work, because then you would miss Christmas with your family, and that wouldn't be fair to you. Well, maybe you could come with me on the drive there and then fly back in time for the holiday or...I don't really know yet, but we could work something out," she muttered like a madwoman as she explored all her options. She didn't want to get any of her friends tangled in the sticky web of her life, but if ever there were a time when she needed people to depend on, it would be the current moment.

"Would you please just tell me what's going on? You're seriously starting to freak me out a little," Nicki admitted.

"Oh, yeah," Stephanie nodded, Nicki's request snapping her out of the panicked thinking she had been engrossed in. "Sorry, I'm just still in a state of shock, and it's coming through in this conversation, I guess. Like I said, I can't tell you this stuff over the phone, but if you can come meet me, I'm at the Denny's on 13th Avenue. Can you get here soon?"

"I'm coming, I'll be right there."

"Thanks, Nic. I always knew I could count on you."

After sipping down her first cup of coffee, Stephanie got a refill and was about halfway through her pancakes when Nicki entered the establishment. Stephanie breathed an audible sigh of relief and rose from her seat to give her a hug. Nicki detected something was amiss when Stephanie held her longer and tighter than normal and didn't seem to want to let go. "Is everything okay?"

"My life is a mess," Stephanie told her.

"Calm down, Jen."

"That's not my name," she shot back, and a part of her wished she would have had a camera ready to take a snapshot, because the look on Nicki's face was priceless. It wasn't necessarily funny in the moment, when emotions were still so raw, but someday it would be, and Stephanie would have loved to have that image as a reference. Nicki's reaction, however, reminded her to ease into the subject gently, because the last thing she needed was one of her closest friends to think she had gone off the deep end. If everything was explained in an orderly fashion, Nicki would pick up on the acuteness of the situation and offer guidance. "Sorry, I'm just losing it right now. Can you sit down for a minute so we can talk?"

"What do you mean that's not your name?" Nicki asked, still stuck on Stephanie's admission.

"Sit," Stephanie motioned to the empty stool next to her and Nicki, albeit reluctantly, sat down and placed her purse on the counter. "Do you want to order anything to eat or drink? I would have ordered for you, but I didn't know what you would want."

"No, it's okay, I'm fine. What the hell is going on, though?" she asked while unraveling her wool scarf.

Stephanie took a deep breath and leaned in so she wouldn't have to speak too loudly, "I found something out about myself. I'm not the person I thought I was, and my so-called parents aren't who I always thought they were. Be discreet about these, all right?" she added before pulling the newspaper clippings out of her jacket pocket and handing them over.

"What the hell?" she asked, taking the papers and sorting through them. Nicki studied each article for quite some time, reading every detail of the news reports until finally reaching the lone photo. The next time she glanced up, Stephanie saw skepticism knitted in her brow, and it made her regret bringing an outsider into the situation. She should have known even her best friends wouldn't be able to understand what she was going through, and it was a lesson learned to keep her mouth shut the next time anything crazy happened in her life. "This could be about any girl. Are you really going to doubt your own parents just because of some random newspaper articles?"

"They're not random, and if they had nothing to do with me, why would my parents keep these tucked away in a secret shoe box in their closet?" Stephanie questioned, but she was only just getting started. Nicki opened her mouth to respond, but Stephanie cut her off at the pass, barreling into her with a barrage of points. "Why would I overhear them talking about getting me 19 years ago? Not having me, but getting me, and why would it just so happen that 19 years ago is when this girl was kidnapped? Why, when I overheard this conversation and asked them about it, did they brush it off and tell me to stop eavesdropping instead of explaining themselves? Why would they dye my hair from brown to blond since childhood, and why does my face look exactly like the age-enhanced photo of this girl?"

Stephanie ended her verbal onslaught, nearly out of breath, and watched as Nicki's eyes widened and she went back to scanning the papers in her hands. The next time she looked up, Stephanie found that Nicki's doubt seemed to have been replaced with fear, and while it wasn't the desired emotion, she would take it over uncertainty any day of the week. Nicki's eyes darted around the restaurant suspiciously, as if she was expecting someone to jump out and surprise them at any moment, and when they settled on Stephanie once more, she spoke, "You think you're this girl — Stephanie McMahon?"

"I'm about 99.9% sure I'm her. It would explain everything."

"I'm sorry, I just don't understand. I want to, but I can't."

"What do you need me to explain?"

"I don't know, how about everything?"

Stephanie proceeded to supply Nicki with a rundown of the entire evening's events, complete with a set of unanswered questions about her parents suspicious actions that she had held onto in silence for her entire life. Every single thing she had ever wondered about was answered if she accepted the belief that she was Stephanie McMahon, and it was the only thing that made sense to her. There was an entire group of people somewhere in Connecticut, probably mourning her loss when they should have been celebrating her existence, and she hadto reach them. Stephanie made a fairly convincing argument for herself, and by the time she was finished, she had fully converted Nicki into a believer.

"We have to call the police," she said, and Stephanie held her hands up to slow her.

"We can't do that. My parents will get taken in, and I'm not ready for that to happen yet."

"They should be taken in after what they've done. They tore you away from your real family and...I can't...I just can't believe this. It's so hard for me to process."

"Yeah, imagine how I feel," Stephanie pointed out.

"I'm sorry, I'm being so insensitive."

"No, I didn't mean it that way at all. You're always here for me, and you came when I needed you," she reached out to squeeze Nicki's hand. "I know they'll be taken away soon, but I don't want that to happen before I get to meet my real parents. I took the money saved in my account, and I'm driving to Connecticut to meet them. That's where they live, according to the information I found online, and guess who they are?"

"Who?"

"Vince and Linda McMahon. They own the WWF, you know that wrestling show we sometimes watch?"

"Oh, you mean Raw is War, or whatever it is?"

"Yeah."

"So they're in charge of that show?"

"They're in charge of the entire company," Stephanie said, and even in the nearly two decades that she had been away from her family, she already spoke of the company with a naturally ingrained sense of pride. It was as if the WWF had been circulating through her blood since birth. No matter where she resided in the world, she was a McMahon through and through and always would be. "I just want to meet them, but I have to do it in a way that won't completely freak them out. I mean, I can't just walk right in the door and be like, 'Hey, I'm your long lost daughter.'"

"How long is the drive to get there?"

"Almost 24 hours."

Nicki frowned and bit her bottom lip, "So, by the time you get there it'll be Christmas Eve? How are you going to get to them on a holiday? Did you get their home address or something?"

"No, I only have the work one."

"They won't be in the office on Christmas Eve. You should just go to the police so they can get you in touch with the family and —"

" — It's not 'the' family, it's my family, and I don't care who I have to bulldoze over to be able to get to them. I've had enough of living a lie. It's time to go meet my true parents," Stephanie said, determination blazing in her eyes. "Look, the reason I called you, aside from needing someone to talk to, is because I wanted to see if you could come with me. I only have the work address for now, but I can find a way to get their home address when I get there. I'd really like it if you would come with me, because I don't want to be on the road alone."

"I can't just pick up and leave this close to Christmas, Jennif...I mean, Stephanie," she corrected herself. "Whoa, that was weird."

"It's okay, you're used to calling me Jennifer, so it's fine if you do that for now."

"I want to go with you, but I can't leave my family this close to the holidays and expect them to understand. We have family flying in from Europe, who I never get to see, and they're all expecting me to be there. Can't you wait until a little after Christmas?"

"No, I can't," Stephanie shrugged matter-of-factly. "I can't put off something this serious for a few days. That may seem like nothing to you, but what the hell am I supposed to do? Go home to the people who have been pretending to be my parents for all these years and tell them I'll be leaving in a few days to find my real mom and dad? I have to go, and I've gotta do it now. I hope they haven't noticed I'm gone yet, but I don't think they heard me leave or else they would have called me by now."

"I wish I could go with you, but I just can't make the trip."

"That's fine, it's not your problem, it's mine. I'll call you along the way and give you updates, so keep watch for my calls when you can. I'll be back to visit before long, because I have to come get Dusty when my parents get taken in."

"What about school and your job and apartment?"

"If I click well with my family, I'll finish school in Connecticut and get a side job there. I only have a single semester left before I'll be able to get licensed and work as a nurse anyway. Then I can get my own place out there and see my family as much as I want. When I checked my parents' biographies online, I saw that I have a brother named Shane. I was trying to remember him, but my memory from that age is so foggy, and I don't think I remember being around him."

"Well, I hope things turn out all right. I'm really scared for you, and I just want everything to be okay."

"And it will be okay," Stephanie reached a hand out to squeeze her shoulder. "I'll be fine, but I need you to do me a favor and not tell anyone what we talked about. If anyone asks, especially my parents, don't tell them you saw me or we talked about this, and definitely don't tell them I'm driving to Connecticut. I have to do this on my own."

"So what now?" Nicki quizzed. Stephanie took a deep breath and a final sip from the coffee cup in front of her before supplying the best answer she could muster at the time.

"Now, I hit the road."