A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter =D I loved them. So yes, this is the next chapter and thinks take a turn here, enjoy the ride.

Disclaimer:Yep, don't own anyone or anything. Chris and Stephanie do and as you can see from the last chapter, they own Aurora too.

Chapter 11

"It's yours."

In moments of utter confusion and astonishment, the mind tends to leave you so that you can fend for yourself, only rejoining you when you have effectively dealt with the action that had caused this reaction in the first place. The mind empties, the rudimentary simple act of breathing stops and somehow the world speeds ups and throws you off your axis that you had so become accustomed with. You then watch your actions without any actual say and can only prepare for the after effects. It really was one a hell of a ride.

One Chris found himself on.

His mind couldn't quite grasp the meaning behind those two simple, unadorned words. Not that there was any chance of misinterpreting them. He had already had so much hurled at him today, and this was the last thing that he could take that would potentially make his mind shutdown and cause him to become catatonic. But this wasn't just anyone telling him, this was Stephanie, and that, that right there was the hope he had been so frantically grasping for.

Dropping his hand from the door he was holding open, he arduously turned and faced Stephanie. His wide eyes took her in and he noted she looked almost fearful. Was she worried about his reaction? What was his reaction for that matter? He felt all kinds of numb, but unlike before when he had first heard the news from Trish, it wasn't a cold sort of numb. No, it was like he was pleasantly numb even...happy. Alive. He had to make sure he had heard her right though, he couldn't just jump to conclusions. Not that his mind wasn't going a million miles a second, he kinda wished he could pull out one of those thoughts and use it as a starting point. But all he had was a stuttering, "W-w-what?"

His feet were moving now and he was going against all his earlier thoughts of fleeing and found himself walking back into the proverbial lion's den. He had to be near her, now more than ever.

Stephanie's eyes bore into him, pleading for him to say something other than what he had asked. She didn't know if she could tell him again without losing her composure. She almost welcomed Paul's reaction again, that at least she knew how to deal with. This was completely new territory and for all she knew she had just told him something that he didn't want to know.

She hadn't seen him in months, and because of that she didn't know anything about his life now, not in the business or in his home life. She hated to think it, but it was entirely possibly that he had moved on with Jessica and started life a fresh with her, like he should have to begin with. Jessica could be his family again with him successfully moving on. She had dropped a bomb and there was no way to take it back and apparently her mouth wouldn't shut up.

"It's yours." She repeated, sighing and turning away to look anywhere but at Chris directly. Chris was sure if he had any ounce of control over his body he would have reached a hand up and turned her face to him. "It's not even a possibility of it being Paul's, and the timing doesn't even come close to working out for it to be his." She trailed off, wishing her mouth would just close so she could disappear.

"What do you mean?" Chris choked out.

"Paul and I haven't," she began only to pause and sigh again. "We haven't been that way since before you and I. That's how I know that it's yours." She finished quietly.

Head rushes were a nifty thing, or at least Chris thought so as he felt this euphoria surge through him. Was it healthy to go from overwhelmingly distraught to amazingly content in the space of a few minutes? Chris didn't think so, but he was fighting to survive through this change and flow with it, because more than anything he wanted to ride this out and reap the rewards.

"I thought I could not tell you and pretend, but Chris...you don't deserve that and I can't keep your child from you." Stephanie told him, her voice heavy with tears and once hearing that Chris gained some sort of movement within him and brought Stephanie's face up to look at him. She was biting her lip to keep from losing what little control she had left and her eyes glistened with tears. To her credit she hadn't let any fall no matter how close she was to letting them.

Chris hated to see her like that but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't form any sort of reassuring words to soothe her. It was like he was trapped inside his own mind screaming to be let out so he could do everything he wanted to do. But all he seemed to speak were unintelligible sentences that more often than not contained "Hmm" and "Oh" and he was getting sick of saying the word "Oh". Stephanie deserved more than an "Oh."

"I suppose you need time to think it over huh?" Stephanie mumbled looking away again. "That's expected." She nodded. "I-I'll just go." She pointed back from where Chris had come from earlier. "I'll see you around." She finished repeating Chris's earlier sentiment.

Watching her turn Chris was seconds away from freaking out. There was no way he was going to let her walk out of his life, not now, not ever. She was having his baby. He gasped at that thought, Stephanie was having his baby. He felt a smile come to his face, a shiver run through his body and he was almost 100 percent positive that his heart would burst from the happiness he was experiencing right now. He was going to be a father, that thought blew his mind. No, the thought that blew his mind was that he was going to be a father and Stephanie was going to be the mother to their baby.

Their baby.

His hand shot out and took Stephanie's own in his, just like it was meant to be, and it caused her to stop short and then he turned her and pulled her to him. "That baby is ours." He spoke his voice full of wonder and his free hand reached out and laid it across her stomach, which caused him to let out a chuckle. Looking down at it he couldn't help but marvel at what was growing in there. He looked up and caught Stephanie's eyes with his own and the smile that covered his face hurt because he was sure he hadn't had a reason to smile since he left her.

"Our baby!" he said out loud stunned, amazed, astounded, take your pick he was most certainly it.

"Ye-yeah." Stephanie stuttered out, still not sure how to act around him. She let that thought fall on deaf ears though as se felt him take her into his arm.

"I'm having a kid with you!" His voice rang out and it was like music to her ears. His voice sounded so excited and as he lifted her up and spun her around she couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out from her, and she couldn't stop her arms from lifting and wrapping around his neck. As he slowed she leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder.

This was how it was meant to be.

Laughing heartily Chris pulled back and then without thinking leaned down and kissed her, in the middle of a deserted hallway in some arena in some part of some town, for the world and their mother too see and he couldn't give a damn.

"A baby!" he repeated for about the third time. "Do we know what it is yet? Is it a boy? It's a girl isn't it? It's one or the other isn't it?" he rapidly fired question after question at her. "If it's a girl she's going to be a Daddy's Girl, and I'm going to chase the boys away till she's fifty! Don't think I'm kidding you here, don't think any boy is getting his filthy hands on my little Princess." Grinning up at Stephanie he winked at her and then dropped to his knees before reaching out and lifting up her t-shirt. "Hear that sweetie? Daddy's gonna keep you his for as long as possible." Moving forward he planted a kiss on Stephanie's stomach and then stood up and did the same to her lips. "If it's a boy we have to get him little hockey boots cause my son has to learn how to play hockey so he can take on his old man from a young age. He'll lose, but that's expected when he's facing me." He explained his eyes glowing. "With Ash it was exactly like that, Jessica always go way overprotec-"

Jessica. She always seemed to be in the way of his happiness.

Looking up at Stephanie they both realised that this wasn't going to work. Not without someone getting hurt. Stephanie didn't want Chris to hurt anymore, hadn't she caused him enough pain already? "This is so screwed up." She commented sadly.

"Can't I just have a life with you?" Chris wondered idly. "Is it wrong that I dream that I'm with you or that we're actually happy?" he asked her. "Can't I get what I want, can't I get it just this once? Is that to much to ask?"

"We should know by now Chris," Stephanie began sighing. "That in this life we'll never get what we want. If we did," she paused. "I'd have you and our baby and we'd be a family." She told him with a wistful smile. "We wouldn't have to find moments in deserted hallways to feel alive."

"Run away with me right now." Chris proposed suddenly. "Take my hand and leave with me right now and we'll never have to look back again."

"Where would we go?"

"Anywhere you wanted," Chris let her know. "I'd follow you anywhere."

"If only it was that simple huh?"

"Come with me and we'll make it that simple." Chris pointed out, reaching out his hand.

Stephanie looked down at his hand. All she had to do was reach forward and take it. It looked so tempting and really it was everything that she wanted. Looking up at him she knew he was just waiting for her to reach out and who was she to deny him what he wanted? Her eyes glowed as she found the feeling in her stomach build as she lifted her hand, she knew this was the right thing to do. She wanted their happy life and she was going to have it, consequences be damned.

"Lead the way." She whispered, placing her hand in his.

Pulling her to him Chris kissed her fervently. "I love you."

Following him out the doors to the arena she held onto his hand tight, "Not half as much as I love you."

The doors that shut behind them closed, effectively shutting the past behind. If they had waited a minute or two more than they did, maybe they wouldn't have found themselves in Chris's rental car driving out of the parking lot and joining the freeway. That much may have been true, because behind those closed doors Paul rounded the corner seconds after they closed, searching for his wife.

"This is crazy!" Stephanie exclaimed happily as she gripped Chris's hand as they drove. She hadn't felt this free in such a long time.

"Should we expect anything different when it concerns us baby?" Chris asked his voice full of his own excitement. Getting everything you want in such a mixed up day of loss and gain, tended to make the mind screwy at best. But the one solid thought that was going through his mind was that Stephanie was with him now and they would make a life together.

It was all planned out now, he could see it. They were going to be so happy. He could feel it. He moved his hand to her stomach. "I can't believe we made that." He whispered. "He or she is going to be so beautiful Stephanie."

"If they take after their daddy, then that won't be hard."

Chris laughed and reached over and kissed her. "You mean if they take after their mom, then they'll be the most beautiful person on the planet, then yeah you're right. Cause their mom is stunningly beautiful."

"Charmer." Stephanie remarked playfully.

"Dazzling, alluring, you name it Stephanie your beauty is unmatched by anything on this earth." Chris rebutted, with a lazy smile.

"I can't get enough of you." She told him as she reached up a hand and ran it through his hair. "Paul's reaction was indifference, I didn't expect much, but I expected more than I got." Stephanie let him know. "You were so different, so happy. You make my heart feel like it's finally home."

"It's funny that, because I know when I'm with you my heart is home." Chris told her. "We can do this Steph. You, me and the kid. We'll buy a house, a car, whatever the hell you do in life when you start a family. We'll make it and well last." He told her with conviction.

"That sounds like a plan." Stephanie replied, liking the sound of that.

"Where do you want to live?"

"Where ever you are is fine." Stephanie told him.

"Canada? America? Australia? Japan?" Chris threw out.

"Hmm, between Canada and America." Stephanie laughingly replied.

"Not Japan? We just don't belong together!" Chris kidded.

"It's just the commute baby, it's hell."

"I'll buy you a house in every state, how is that?"

"Over kill?"

"Yeah, I don't want to be bankrupt." Chris nodded.

"Oh, don't worry my money will keep us afloat."

"That's why I'm with you. It's the money and nothing else." Chris joked.

"Well, I'm only with you because you're the father of my baby."

"I'm glad we have our priorities straight then, then we don't need to deal with this mushy love stuff." Chris spoke.

"Mushy love stuff?" Stephanie repeated.

"Yeah, with me loving you like crazy and you loving me just the same."

"That sounds about right."

"Tomorrow I'll pick up Ash and we can spend the day with him."

She had been so caught up in the moment, that the fact that Chris was already a father had slipped her mind. This was wrong. He needed to be a father for Ash. He and Jessica needed to be a family unit for that little boy. She should have thought this through, because it would have saved her so much pain if she had only done that. But Chris's hand had been there and it had been to tempting not to take, and she had left the drama of her life behind in that instant. It seemed though, you could only close the door on your past for so long, before it swung open again and there were the same worries and complications that had been left there.

She looked at Chris, and he looked content and in that scarce instant where you lose all sense of thought she didn't care that he had another son, they could work with that. She would let him keep driving, and they could find that perfect house and live their live like they should have been doing if they had met first.

Those instants were what kept her sane, but they weren't reality and she was faced with reality right now. They couldn't live their dream, it would prove fruitless in the end.

"Chris?" she whispered.

"Yeah, baby?" he questioned back, turning to look at her.

"We can't do this."

In future reference he needed to remember to tell Stephanie not to tell him stuff like that when he was driving. Not unless she wanted to smash into the car right in front of them. We can't do this? He repeated silently. We're doing it of course we can do it. "You're not making sense baby." He told her adamantly, hating the fact that his palms suddenly got sweaty.

"You have a son already." Stephanie pointed out.

"I know and I love him, like I love the kid that we're having." Chris pointed out, slowing the car down and pulling into the side of the road. He could have this conversation and have his attention fully on the road and he would not risk her safety.

"You and Jessica need to be a family for him."

"You and I can make a family for him." Chris told her.

"His mother is Jessica," Stephanie told him. "You and her are all that he's ever known. I won't change that."

"Don't do this to us Stephanie please, I don't think we can survive without each other." Chris begged.

"You'll have Jessica." Stephanie told him quietly.

"Fuck, Jessica!" Chris exploded. "I don't love her! I love you and only you." He stressed. "And I will not live without you or our child. Ash will learn to adjust to change okay? I love him to death but he wouldn't want his father to be unhappy, would he?"

"I won't let him go through that Chris. I'm not screwing up your child's life." Stephanie told him, her resolve growing.

"But you're willing to do it with our child's life?" Chris shot back.

"We can work that out!" Stephanie stressed.

"Yeah, we already have. We're making a life together. We just gotta hang in there, hold on to each other until the water settles." He paused. "I can't live a life without you, it's like having a heart that doesn't beat." Chris whispered.

"I don't have a life without you," Stephanie began. "But your son doesn't deserve that either. He deserves a father, whose going to be there for them."

"That's a catch 22 Stephanie, you're opposing the same thing you don't want for Ash, on our own child." Chris pointed out. "How is that right?"

"It just has to be. It doesn't have to make sense but..." she stalled. "We can't live like this. Together, it just doesn't work."

Sighing Chris knew he was fighting a losing battle. "You're wrong."

"Maybe."

"Just let me drive, let me put my foot to the ground and you won't have time to look back."

"Don't temp me Chris, you already broke me down once, I can't last through another one."

"Why couldn't I have met you first?" Chris wondered helplessly.

"Because life didn't plan out that way. We found each other when we did and now, now we have to live the life we're in."

"That's unfair."

"Life's unfair." Stephanie whispered. "You should probably start the car."

"Yeah."

But he didn't and they sat in silence.

The car ride back to the arena was silent as well. They couldn't talk to each other and not break. All Chris wanted to do was take her hand and hold it, but he knew he couldn't. All Stephanie wanted to do was tell him to turn the car around so they could disappear, but she couldn't. Stephanie closed her eyes as the arena they had left earlier loomed overhead, she was driving back to the life she hated.

Chris pulled into a parking space and shut off the engine with a tired sigh. "This is it huh?"

"Welcome to our lives." Stephanie muttered miserably.

"We'll talk things over right? About the baby, because I want to be in its life."

"Of course you'll be in it, I'd never stop you from seeing him or her." She whispered. "I should go."

"Stephanie," Chris called out as he saw her open the car door. "Please just stay with me. It's not too late, we can pretend we never even came back. We can just disappear, I can do that, and I can live like that. For you'd I'd do anything." Chris told her desperately.

"You'd do anything for me?" Stephanie repeated.

"Anything." Chris vowed.

"Go back to your son and give him the life he deserves."

Closing his eyes he nodded, he wouldn't argue anymore. "Okay." He whispered brokenly. He watched Stephanie step out of his car and close the door and he just couldn't let her leave like that. Flinging open his door he jumped out of his seat and hurried behind her. "Steph," he spoke, reaching up and grabbing her arm. Turning her round he took in her confused face. "I can't just let you walk away without telling you that I'll always love you and despite everything that has happened today; the good, the bad and everything in between, you still made me the happiest man alive." Reaching a hand up he cupped her face. "You told me I'm going to be a father, it doesn't get better than that." Leaning forward he kissed her and relished in how every time he did so it just got better and better. Pulling back he smiled down at her, "This isn't goodbye, it's merely a see you later."

"I love you." Stephanie told him, sniffing slightly.

"Don't cry," Chris told her. "We have the best connection in the world. You can't forget me if you tried."

"I'd never forget you." Stephanie whispered.

"I'm glad you told me it was mine," Chris let her know. "It saved me."

"It saved you? Saved you from what?"

"From dying." Chris told her simply. "When I found out my zest for life stopped." He explained. "When you told me it was mine, you saved my life."

Stephanie looked at him, his words warming her inside and out, she loved him so much and it was going to kill her to walk away from him. Her eyes searched his for any way to make this easier, but it never got easier, each time they walked away from each other it only got harder and things were so much more complicated now. He nodded at her and gave her a small smile and turned on his heel and she watched as he walked away from her. It didn't hurt as much as usual, but she knew it was only because she knew it wasn't goodbye.

They'd never have a goodbye anymore, they would forever be interconnected by their child. That made her smile as she turned and headed back towards the building, maybe she could live like this. She opened the door to the arena and she entered a world she hardly even knew anymore. Nothing made sense when she wasn't with him. He was her balance beam that kept her world on axis and made everything so clear.

She made it to her locker room door and almost about turned as she thought about Paul being on the other side of it. How could she go back to him when she almost had the perfect life with Chris? A few more miles and it would have been theirs. Sighing, she pushed the door open and the second she stepped over the threshold Paul was in front of her.

Life wasn't some kind of fairytale, and the first words out of his mouth weren't 'I've been so worried about you!' it was, "Do you have any idea the inconvenience you caused me?"

"Sorry."

"Next time tell me where you're going, so I can tell your father..." Paul began but his voice faded as she sat down and got lost in anything but him.

Maybe she should feel a little guilt for leading Paul along and not telling him the honest truth but, she didn't and if that made her a bad person then so be it. It wasn't like he cared anyway and looking back had he ever? Maybe in the start when they were so caught up in each other, but that had passed and she was so caught up in Chris she never saw an end in sight.

When it came down to it today wasn't your typical day like any other and she would wake up tomorrow and think about what she had given up and wonder where Chris was. Was he with Jessica? Was he thinking about her? Did he miss her like she knew she would miss him?

He had said it wasn't goodbye and that was her light right now.

Goodbyes were final.

Chris and Stephanie were anything but and if she looked at it from the outside she would realise that they weren't ending.

They were merely just beginning.