Nicole and Heidy - here's my New Year's...errr...something for ya! Thanks for the replies on the last chapter. To the other 75 readers of ch. 8, I'd love to know what you guys think, too. LOL.

This chapter is longer and has more depth than the prior chapter and hopefully makes up for the suckiness of it. I'd still like this fic to end at chapter 10, but we'll see...might have to add another chapter or two! ENJOY the chapter, ENJOY your New Year's celebrations, be safe...and of course (continued at very bottom)


Hunter's parents, Patricia and Paul stood in the elevator with their grandchildren. Devin had clearly inherited his father's appetite, evidenced by the fact that he had eaten nearly twice as much as his older sister. The four of them had split a chocolate brownie and vanilla ice cream dessert; no one needed a whole helping of sweets at nearly eight at night.

Morgan tugged on Patricia's hand, waiting until she looked down at her. "Nana, where are we sleeping tonight?"

Patricia poked her bottom lip out thoughtfully. Truth be told, she had no idea what the answer to that question was. She knew that Stephanie had wanted to talk to Hunter; that's why the kids had gotten the boot. It was entirely possible that they needed more time to talk or simply wanted the night to themselves. Anyone who knew the both of them well could easily see that something strange was going on. It was difficult to pinpoint, but they just hadn't been behaving as usual. At least not with each other. Their interactions with the kids had seemed relatively unaffected.

"I'm not sure, Mac. Your Mommy and Daddy might need to spend some time alone."

Devin decided to put his two cents in with, "You have toys!"

Patricia and Paul laughed as they all stepped off of the elevator. They headed down the hallway with the kids in between them.

From down the hall, Paul could see that the door to Hunter and Stephanie's room was open. That was unusual, to say the least. The grandparents weren't staying too far away; just in the opposite direction they'd originally walked.

"Pat?" He asked, reaching into his pocket to retrieve their key card.

"Yeah?"

"Here," he said, pushing the card into her hand. "Take them and go to our room."

Patricia stopped walking so that she could look at Paul. "I thought we were going to ask Hunter and Steph what they wanted to do tonight."

Paul shook his head in the negative before leaning in close to her. "I can see that their door is open. I'm going to check it out first; make sure it's safe. I don't want you and the babies here, just in case it's dangerous."

Patricia nodded her understanding before turning to look at her confused grandkids. She forced a smile and said, "Come on you two, let's go play with some toys."

Completely forgetting about the awkward scene that had just taken place, Morgan and Devin did celebratory yells before running off down the hallway. Normally Patricia would scold them, but the room wasn't very far. She turned to Paul and kissed him on the cheek. "Be careful," she urged before rushing off after the children.

After the three of them disappeared from his line of vision, he turned and walked briskly until he reached Hunter and Stephanie's room. He poked his head in cautiously, noting that nothing seemed amiss. "Hunter?" He called loudly. He waited a few seconds for a reply and heard nothing.

"Stephanie?" He asked, walking further into the room.

He didn't hear a response, but he did notice that none of their stuff seemed to be missing. He walked all around the suite, looking for clues as to where the two of them had disappeared to. He spotted their cell phones in the living room. This was so odd. Why would they just up and leave without closing the door or taking their phones with them? That wasn't characteristic of either of them.

Paul continued his inspection, heading farther into the suite. He heard a noise – a low, muffled grunt coming from what sounded like the bathroom. He went in that direction and pushed the halfway door open further, flicking on the light.

On the floor, Stephanie jerked a little bit, but otherwise didn't move.

Paul's eyes widened and he rushed over to her, pulling back the hair that was covering up her face. "Stephanie?" He asked, touching her cheek, his voice fraught with concern.

Stephanie lifted her head slightly, "Mmm?"

"I'm gonna lift you up. Okay?" He asked.

Stephanie didn't respond, so he took that as a yes. He placed one arm under her knees and the other across her back, picking her up from the floor.

It took some effort – he was a relatively fit guy for his age but his son totally outshined him in that department. At this point Paul was just happy that as a 40th anniversary wedding gift, Hunter and Stephanie had given them a home gym.

Briefly, he thought about taking her all the way into the bedroom, but dismissed it quickly. That might be too far. Instead, he laid her down on the couch and propped a pillow under her head a few moments later.

Stephanie groaned and opened her eyes a little, bringing her hand to rub at her head. After initially running to the bathroom and throwing up, she had sat for a few minutes before getting up to brush her teeth. Before she was finished she got nauseous again and ended up having to spit the toothpaste in the toilet. She didn't throw up again but was so tired and worried about getting sick that she stayed put. She had no idea how much time had passed, but it was obviously enough for her father-in-law to be done with dinner.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Stephanie's bottom lip began to quiver and a few tears rolled down her cheeks. Against the pillow, she shook her head no. "Hunter left me…and I feel like crap."

Both of Paul's eyebrows rose in astonishment. It wasn't characteristic of Hunter to just leave Stephanie when she wasn't feeling well. Actually, it wasn't like him to leave Stephanie unless it was absolutely necessary. "He left? Left where?"

"Left. Permanently," she said simply. She was still trying to make herself realize that it hadn't all been one horrible nightmare. This was real and her husband had walked out on her. Stephanie watched on silently as Paul's face turned beet red.

Paul reached into his back pocket, pulling out his cell phone. "Like hell he is," he grumbled angrily as he sent the call through to his wife. "Pat you need to get over here. The door is still open and I'll explain everything when you make it," he said abruptly as soon as she answered.

"Okay," Patricia agreed before hanging up.

"No," Stephanie protested, moving so that she was sitting up instead of lying lifelessly on the couch. "I don't want the kids to see me like this."

"We'll just tell them you got food poisoning," Paul suggested.

"Might not be too far off, actually," Stephanie said.

"We're going to sort this mess out when Pat gets here," Paul said with determination in his voice. "Then we're going to go find that idiot son of ours."

While they waited, Paul had wandered into the kitchen area of the suite to get Stephanie a cold glass of water. He brought the glass along with the pain medication the doctor prescribed for her concussion. She swallowed the pills and gulped down the water quickly; she was parched from all of the throwing up.

A few minutes went by; with Stephanie desperately trying to hold herself together emotionally and Paul trying to keep his temper in check. What the hell was his son thinking? Stephanie was recovering from an injury and clearly not feeling well. Even if they'd gotten into a marital spat, he shouldn't have just left her alone halfway passed out in the bathroom.

Clearly, Hunter had left in a rage. He'd been careless enough to leave the door unlocked and wide open and his cell phone on the table. He just couldn't understand what could have happened to make him blow his lid this way.

Already feeling better physically speaking, Stephanie fixed a small smile on her face when she heard multiple footsteps and tiny voices approaching the door. Her smile became genuine when she actually saw her kids.

Morgan was dressed in her Disney Princess pajamas. The images featured were of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Belle. It was one of her favorite sets, as the little girl loved anything Disney, especially the Princesses. The set was pink and had pants and a long-sleeved top. Her daughter topped the look off with fluffy bunny slippers, also in pink. If it weren't for the images on her outfit, Stephanie liked to think Mac could be mistaken for walking cotton candy.

Devin was dressed in an outfit from one of his favorite movies, Cars. The pajamas were mostly blue and the pants and long-sleeved top were covered in various images of cars from the film. On his feet were shoes that were also fashioned after the movie.

When they spotted her, they both ran over to her and decided to take advantage of the very spacious sectional leather couch. Devin was lying with the top of his head pressed lightly against the top of Stephanie's head with his legs going in the opposite direction. On the other hand, Morgan had cuddled up right in Stephanie's arms.

The moment didn't really need any words so Stephanie decided to just enjoy being close with her kids before they fell asleep. It was a little selfish in her opinion, but she was rejoicing that they were too worn out to ask about their father. Stephanie wasn't sure she could have resisted the urge to fall completely apart if they'd asked her to explain his absence.

Well…Mommy has ruined the relationship yet again. Only this time it's not just my life and Hunter's I'm ruining, she thought cynically. She just wished everything could go back to the way it was six months ago. Before she was on Orton's radar and he'd decided to slowly but surely destroy her life. Before she inevitably and unintentionally started helping him destroy it.

During the quiet time, Paul and Patricia had gone into the bedroom to discuss the situation. Not that Paul had very many details for his wife. They had mostly been waiting for the children to fall asleep so that they could get the story out of Stephanie.

For the last twenty minutes they'd been busying themselves with channel surfing to pass the time. They both looked when their daughter-in-law walked in, carrying Morgan.

Because Stephanie had her hands full, Patricia pulled down the covers for her while Paul went out and grabbed Devin from the couch.

With the kids properly tucked in and sleeping soundly and Stephanie no longer looking like death, they headed back into the living room to talk.

"Spill," Patricia said in a tone that conveyed that her impatience over not having answers was reaching its peak.

Stephanie sighed and sat down on the couch heavily. "Hunter thinks I'm leaving him for Randy Orton," she blurted out. "He thinks I've fallen out of love with him and-"

"What?" Patricia asked in disbelief while Paul stared on slack-jawed. "That-that's insane, Stephanie. I mean the guy has taken out your father and brother already and attacked both you and Hunter. Not to mention he almost scarred Mac and DJ for life."

"I don't understand where my son would get such a ridiculous idea from," Paul said with a shake of his head. Ridiculous was the exact word for it. Even a blind man could see how much Stephanie loved Hunter and her kids. She was also a very intelligent woman; there was no way she'd allow herself to screw up her marriage to ride off into the sunset with what he'd deemed to be a total monster.

Then again…Hunter wasn't exactly the best person in the world when they'd married the first time. "I mean…it is ridiculous. Right?" He asked hesitantly.

Stephanie's eyes widened with her insult but she forced herself not to get angry. She too had drawn the out the similarities between the two men. "It's absurd. Hunter just jumped to conclusions and wouldn't listen to a word I said. All he heard was 'Orton' and the word 'drawn' and he totally lost it."

"Drawn? You feel drawn to that jerk?"

"I-ah…" Stephanie hesitated. "Yes. But not in the way Hunter thinks. Not emotionally."

"Then how?" Paul pressed.

Stephanie cleared her throat and averted her gaze to the floor. She could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks with her blush. Was she seriously about to confess her strange attraction to Orton to her husband's parents?

"Stephanie?" Patricia asked, probingly.

Why yes. Yes I am going to confess, she thought dismally. "Sexually," she answered simply, lifting her head to meet their stunned faces. "I haven't done anything. I don't want to do anything. But it's…it's so powerful sometimes. That basic instinct to just scratch the itch. You know?" She marveled out loud. "The part that makes this so damn stupid is that I'm in love with Hunter. That hasn't changed a single bit, nor has my desire for him. I don't know what's wrong with me," she admitted.

Patricia shrugged a little bit. "You're human. That's what's wrong with all of us." She glanced over at Paul. He simply crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back into the loveseat, nodding that it was fine for her to continue.

"You're smarter than I was, Stephanie. Back when I was in your position, I tried to handle it all alone. I kept it to myself and it drove me crazy. I didn't open up to Paul; didn't let him help me with it. And I…scratched the itch, so to speak."

"Hunter, he…Hunter never told me that," she said, completely baffled. She would have never guessed that Hunter's mom had once cheated on his father.

"He doesn't know," Paul chimed in. "I didn't want my issues with Pat to affect his relationship with her. Or for it to affect his future relationships. He was just a toddler when it happened. Lynn was confused, but too young to know what was going on."

"Wow," Stephanie said. Stunned, she shook her head while she tried to process this new information. She wasn't going to let this skew her perception of her mother-in-law. Obviously, they'd worked things out and remained happily married. One indiscretion didn't make her a horrible wife and mother since she was able to mend things and keep her children from being screwed up by her actions.

Patricia stood up from the couch, wiping her moist palms on her jeans. "I'm gonna go talk to Hunter."

"He didn't say where he was going," Stephanie reminded her.

Patricia flipped a wink to Stephanie. "Trust me; I know where I'll find him."

On the rooftop of the hotel, Hunter paced around the pool. Had he seriously just left the love of his life? The fact that he was up here and not with her answered that for him. And this wasn't even the first time – no this would be the second time in ten years that he just excused himself from their marriage.

He had to hand it to himself, though. He'd lasted twice as long before deciding it was quitting time. Although "lasting" wasn't an accurate term. Lasting implied that there was serious hardship and that they'd simply survived it. But that didn't describe how things had been this time. Things between them had been as perfect as a relationship between two people ever could be.

But she didn't want him. He wasn't exactly quitting; she simply wanted to move on to someone else. And her happiness and well-being came first to him. He was doing this for her.

"It's hard to love someone so much that you're terrified they don't feel the same way," his mother's voice said from behind him.

Hunter snorted and turned around. Of course his mother would know he was here. It had been a habit he developed in his teenage years. When he needed time to think or just be upset, he had to have two things: the sky and a body of water.

"Terrified my ass," he disagreed. "I know she doesn't feel the same way. I would never leave her for someone else. The only way I'd leave Stephanie is if she decided she didn't want to be with me anymore. That's exactly what happened tonight. So spare me your 'insightful' lecture, please."

"Hunter…it's nine at night and Stephanie is a complete wreck. She's throwing up and passing out and all kinds of stuff. So I don't have time to beat around the bush with this. You're an idiot."

Hunter was going to ask about Stephanie, before his mother went and insulted him. It shifted his focus. So instead of asking her to elaborate on his wife's condition, he widened his eyes and gestured to himself questioningly. "Idiot?"

"Yes. An idiot. You didn't even listen to her before storming out. You just jumped to conclusions."

"Really?" he asked sarcastically. "She said she feels drawn to him…but that it wasn't a strong enough term for what she felt," Hunter recalled, beginning to pace again. "Why would I want to stay and listen to that shit? I cut to the chase with her, just like you think you're doing now."

Patricia was undeterred and unruffled by her son's attitude and rudeness. "Had you listened to her you would have known that she wasn't trying to tell you that she's leaving you for the psycho."

Hunter stopped pacing and looked at his mother. "She isn't?" He asked skeptically.

"She isn't," Patricia affirmed. "Her draw is…physical. It's really been messing with her because her love and attraction to you hasn't at all diminished. She doesn't understand how this could happen to her."

"Physical?" Hunter repeated. "Well isn't that just dandy! So she isn't in love with Orton but she wants to go screw him? Thanks, Mom," he clapped slowly and deliberately. "That makes me feel much better."

"No, she doesn't want to."

"The hell she doesn't! That's pretty much what you just said. Isn't it?"

"It's not that simple! Feelings…feelings and things are out of our control. Actions aren't. Stephanie isn't going to cheat on you, Hunter."

"What the hell makes you so sure?"

"Because she's not me!" Patricia finally exploded before looking away in shame. "She's – she's not me," she repeated in a whisper. "When you were two…I had an – I had an incident. With a co-worker. It was just the one time and the guilt ate me alive. Me and this co-worker had this kind of magnetic sizzle going on. But I told myself I could control it. That I didn't need to confide in Paul because it would upset him. And what was the point in upsetting him when I was sure it would resolve itself? So I stayed quiet," she recalled, looking up at Hunter again. "Until I'd done the one thing I never thought I would."

Hunter breathed in and out deeply. He wanted to go comfort his father or something, but there was no point. That had happened three decades ago. And he'd obviously gotten over it and made the marriage a success. "And this story is supposed to convince me she's not going to be unfaithful, how?"

"She came to you, Hunter. She knew it would upset you to talk about this but she recognized the damage it was doing by not sharing it with you. She came to you for help. Stephanie trusts and loves you enough to let you all the way in." Patricia touched a hand to Hunter's shoulder. "So," she dragged out. "Get back downstairs and help her. She's an even bigger mess than she was when we came to get the kids for dinner."

Five minutes later and Hunter was hastily ushering his parents back to their own hotel room. He'd purposely avoided looking at Stephanie. He didn't want this conversation to begin in any way, shape or form until they were alone. He shut the door behind his parents and turned around.

Stephanie had stood up from the couch and was a mere few feet away from him. She wrapped her arms around her midsection protectively and chewed her bottom lip. "You really hurt me tonight," she began softly.

"I know…I heard," he said while taking a few steps forward. "I'm sorry I hurt you. And I know it's not an excuse for walking out on you, but you hurt me first."

Stephanie sighed. "If you would have just listened to me…" she trailed off.

"What? You think that finding out that you simply want to – to what – whore yourself out to Orton hurts less than just straight up leaving me for him?"

Blue eyes flashed with insult. Stephanie opened her mouth, preparing to launch into a full out argument, but Hunter held up a hand to stop her.

He winced at the harshness of what he'd said to her and rubbed his forehead briefly and tenderly, making sure to avoid the bruising. "I shouldn't have said that," he admitted.

"No, you shouldn't have."

"I'm sorry. I don't think you're a whore," he said sheepishly.

Stephanie laughed mutedly. She was relieved that Patricia had been able to talk him down, but she also wanted to clarify things personally. "Most of this thing has been subconscious and involuntary, but I'm still sorry for it. For me, it still feels like I've betrayed or have been unfair to or checking out on you. I never want to do that. So I want to get one thing straight here. I absolutely and completely love you and want you. In every way possible. That hasn't changed in the slightest."

"How can you say that when you're hot for the crazy guy?"

"Lust and attraction will come and go randomly," she said easily. "Love is forever. Our marriage is going to be forever. There's no way in hell I'm going to lose you twice in one lifetime. So I've been fighting it off. I'm going to fight it until it goes away entirely. But I can't do it alone."

"All right." Hunter nodded and ignored the urge to smile hugely at the conviction in her voice. At the fact that she wasn't just throwing in the towel on the whole situation. At the fact that he wasn't the only person who didn't want to lose the other again. "How can I help?"

Stephanie wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "Be here?" She tried. "Just stay and hold me. Please?"

Hunter kissed her cheek as his way of agreeing to her request.


A/N: (Continued) LET ME KNOW what you think...I mean if I don't know what you guys want/think then I'll have to assume a character should be killed off or a relationship or two destroyed for shock value and dramatic effect. Hee! :-D.