Stephanie had to get used to Chris, she realized. She knew that Chris had been living here for a while now, but she had to get used to him all the same. It had just been her and the girls after she had kicked Hunter out of the house. It was like the "Girl Power Hour" around here and now she had a man in the house. Not only did she have a man in the house, she had bought the house with the man. She and Chris were both on the papers when they bought the house so it was both of theirs.
She turned her head to look at Chris while he was sleeping. He looked peaceful right now, laying on his stomach, facing her and his arm was slung across her stomach. Sharing a bed was different too. Right before she had discovered Hunter with his mistress she had noticed that he had started to shy away from her. When they were sleeping, he would usually have his back to her and be on the other side of the bed. Chris was different. Chris constantly wanted to be touching her, and she had to get used to it.
She had to get used to Chris being there and the girls having two parents again. She had gotten so used to taking sole responsibility for them that she had forgotten what it was like to have help. She was just being paranoid right now though, she knew that she was just being paranoid. Once her life had finally settled down, she was starting to freak out. She was being irrational, but then she and Chris had confessed their love for one another.
That was something huge. It was bigger than huge actually, it was gargantuan. She had never thought when she had fallen in love with Hunter that she would ever love again. When you get married and you find that person that you think is your soulmate, you truly believe that this is the man that you are going to love for an eternity. It's a good feeling too, secure and warm, a warm feeling that just undulated through your body in the most delicious way.
But then Hunter had cheated on her and broken the bond of marriage and suddenly she found herself without love. That was an even stranger feeling, because then the world was big again and the person you might be meant to love for the rest of your life was out there and you didn't know where they were or how you were going to find them. But Stephanie had found hers in the strangest of places.
Chris and her had been friends when she was a wrestler. Well, maybe friends was stretching it a little bit. They were more than acquaintances, but less than friends, whatever that was. They had had friendly conversations and they had worked well together, having a long storyline that had spanned more than a year. They had shared kisses, but those had simply been stage kisses and she had never put much thought into them. Now, though, she couldn't stop thinking about him.
She hadn't been all that sad when he had left the company because she had no reason to be sad, but if she had known what would happen, if she had known she was going to end up here, she might've missed him just a little bit more than she had. She might've tried to look him up sooner. She smiled to herself and reached out to tuck a piece of his hair behind his ear as he slept so she could get a better look at his face.
He stirred and mumbled, "Steph, what are you doing?"
"Watching you sleep."
"That's creepy," he whispered hoarsely.
"Why?"
"Because it's like you want to kill me or something," he told her, opening his eyes to look up at her. "Steph, it's still dark out, why don't you go back to sleep?"
"Chris," she said, the question in her voice prevalent.
"Yes," he answered in the same tone.
"How many girls have you lived with?" she asked politely.
"One," he answered immediately.
"Who?"
"You, duh," he said, turning on his side to prop himself up. "You're the only girl I've ever lived with, that's an easy stat to remember because you're the first."
"So you have to get used to living with me then?" she asked curiously.
"I guess so," he said. "I mean, sure."
"I'm getting used to you too," she told him, sliding down to face him. "I mean, I've lived with Hunter, but it's different now and I'm getting used to you. I don't think I'm used to you."
"Well don't let that interrupt your sleep," he chuckled, reaching his hand up to caress her cheek. "We're both getting used to each other. It's just a learning process, and we're both learning. Do you think it was easy for me coming to live with three girls?"
"No…" She slid a little closer to him. "But you don't regret it do you?"
"Too early to say," he said in a joking tone. "Nah, I don't regret it Steph. Like I've told you a million times before, you're a fantasy come true."
"I like the idea that I'm your fantasy," she sweetly said. "I don't think anyone has ever told me that I was their fantasy before."
"Well then you haven't met enough men in your life."
Stephanie giggled and settled herself against his warm body. No more would she have to get used to a cold bed. Chris would be there and he would wrap his arms around her like he was doing at the moment and she wouldn't be alone. She wouldn't have to wake up and see an empty pillow, half an unmade bed, or anything so utterly depressing as those visuals provided.
"Now can I go back to sleep because I have a meeting with your father early this morning, and I seriously doubt that he wants to know that his daughter kept me up all night because that sounds really suspicious."
"Oh yeah, your meeting with my dad, I forgot," Stephanie said uneasily.
"Yeah, he wants to go over when I want to come back, iron out the details and the like," Chris told her, kissing her temple. "I think this should be fun, I've conquered the music world, and now I get to go back and conquer the wrestling world…again."
"Yup, conquer…"
"You sound tired, why don't you try and get some sleep, or are you so not used to me that you can't even fall asleep with me in the bed."
"I can fall asleep just fine," she told him, poking him in the side.
"Oh, so you want to continue to watch me sleep then? Well, I guess if you want to be a creep then I'll just go back to sleep so that you can continue to watch me sleep."
"I don't want that either," she giggled.
"Man, this whole getting used to living with a woman thing is tough," Chris said, his voice sleepy as he was already drifting off to sleep. Stephanie snuggled herself against him, relishing in the warmth permeating off of his body. He unconsciously pulled her tighter against him, and she felt totally safe in that moment.
She woke up the next morning and turned to her clock to see what time it was. Her alarm, as always, was set for 6:30 am, because that's what time she had to be up to make the girl's lunches and their breakfast, and still leave enough time to get the girls ready for school. She checked her clock and was horrified to see that it read 7:13. She sat straight up and gasped.
"Chris, Chris, I have to get up, the girls!" Stephanie said, looking to the other side of the bed, but found it empty. She got out of bed and went to the bathroom to see if he was in there. As she entered the doorway, she heard voices coming from downstairs and she went down there only to see that Chris was eating breakfast with Keagan and Ferris. Chris looked up and saw her.
"Hey Steph, did you sleep well?" he asked.
"Yeah…I wasn't…expecting you to get them up," she said, walking in a little further.
"Well, I figured you'd be tired from last night and so I turned off your alarm and just woke the girls up myself. I can take them to school too since I've got that meeting with your father."
"You're going to see Grandpa Vince today?" Ferris asked.
"Yup," Chris said, taking a bite of his toast. "Right after I drop you guys off."
"Why are you meeting with him?" Ferris asked another question.
"Oh, he wants me back on television, so I'm going to go talk to him about it and see how I'm going to come back."
"Are you going to be leaving us?" Keagan asked, stricken as she heard the news because she knew that her daddy would leave for long periods of time when he was wrestling. What the little girl didn't know was that Hunter was never JUST wrestling when he was gone for a long time. He would bring his mistress along with him and that's why he was always volunteering for any autograph session or television appearance.
"When I go back, it'll only be for one day a week, no more than that."
Ferris looked down. "Do you have to Chris?"
"What's the matter?" Chris asked the two downtrodden-looking girls.
"It's nothing," Stephanie said, "Their dad just used to go away a lot and they didn't really care for it."
Chris looked at Stephanie and she gave him a pointed look and a little head tilt. Chris suddenly understood that Hunter had gone away a lot, but that he went away for reasons not pertaining to his job. Chris reached out and ruffled Keagan's hair and gave Ferris a playful wink.
"Well, I know that your dad did a lot of wrestling and all of that, but I'm not going to be wrestling, I'll just be like your grandpa is, he talks a lot, right?"
"Yeah, Grandpa talks so much," Keagan said, scrunching up her face to exaggerate her words.
"But your grandpa is always around isn't he?"
Keagan nodded. "Whenever I want to go get ice cream, Grandpa is there and he tells me that he'll take me."
"Yeah, so if I go and talk on the television, I'll only be gone one day because I won't have to go to all of those places."
"Do you promise?" Ferris said. "Because Daddy never promised and then he wouldn't come home and we really missed him. I'll miss you when you go away Chris."
"I'll miss you two Fer, but I will make sure to tell your grandpa that I will only be gone one day a week and that's it. I can work it out so that I fly to wherever I have to go on Monday, and then Tuesday morning, I'll fly back home, and by Tuesday night, I'll be right here and then you'll get me for the rest of the week. And that's a promise."
"Ok," Ferris said, giving him a little bit of a smile as she finished her cereal. "But we should go so that we're not late. Mommy says being late is a very bad habit."
"She's very right," Chris said as he took her bowl and Keagan's bowl to the sink.
"I'll take care of those," Stephanie said as she sat there watching the three of them. "Have a good day at school babies."
Keagan and Ferris rushed at their mother to give her a goodbye hug. Chris waited his turn and leaned down for a kiss. Ferris and Keagan giggled to each other as Stephanie gave them a sharp look, which ceased their giggling, but Stephanie was only joking with them. Chris gathered up their lunches and they got their backpacks as he ushered them out of the room.
Stephanie was by herself then and she thought about the meeting that Chris had with her father this morning. She had mixed feelings about this meeting and Chris's subsequent return to the squared circle. She took a deep breath and decided that the best way to clear her mind was with a nice cup of coffee and Chris had been kind enough to make enough coffee for her. She took out the largest mug she owned and poured the steamy, black liquid into the cup, smelling it and feeling more awake than she had a moment ago. One sip and she was ready for the day.
She sat down again and flipped idly through a magazine that was sitting on the table. This was another thing she'd have to get used to. Even when she and Hunter were married and happy, he never drove the girls to school. It was always her responsibility to get them ready and then drive them. Chris driving them gave her time and she had no idea what to do with this gift of time she had just been given.
She just wanted to keep her mind off of this meeting later though. She didn't know why she had this irrational fear of Chris going back to wrestling. Yet, there was still this uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach that wouldn't go away. It was nagging at her, pulling at her, and she tried to ignore it so badly. But it was still there.
A short while later, across town at Titan, Chris was pushing the elevator button to the top floor, where Vince's office presided. He leaned against the back wall of the elevator and watched the lights move as he went up to the top floor. He was whistling as he stepped off the elevator and went up to Vince's secretary, telling her that he had an appointment. She sent him right in and Vince nodded in greeting as Chris walked over to the desk.
"Hey Vince, what's up," Chris said, shaking the man's hand.
"Chris, nice to see you again," Vince said cordially. "How are you?"
"I'm great, and yourself."
"Good…good, and how are my girls?"
"Well, I just dropped off Keagan and Ferris at school, and I don't know what Steph is doing right now, but she's at home."
"And how is the new place?"
"It's really nice, I know that Stephanie wants you and Linda over when we get everything set up, as a kind of housewarming thing. But we don't have everything in place right now, so we're holding that off."
"Well, I'm just glad you didn't move far away," Vince said, sitting back down. "So about this comeback…I was thinking about bringing you back as a General Manager or as the Commissioner."
"Either one sounds fine, but I think I'd prefer to be the Raw General Manager, we've been watching the shows, of course, and I know that you recently did a thing where the current GM was ousted, and well, I think I could fit in there."
"Sounds solid."
"The only stipulation I have Vince is that I only work on Mondays and Pay-Per-Views. I promised Keagan and Ferris that I'd only be gone once a week, and I don't want to break that promise to them. You know as well as I do what a rough time they've had."
"I do," Vince said and was secretly glad that Chris was so concerned about his granddaughters. If only Hunter had showed a little more concern. Vince practically snarled as he thought about that bastard and what he had done to his daughter and granddaughters. "And I can go along with that. I trust you out there and I know that you're the last person I would ever need to script a promo for."
"Well great, so just figure out what you want me to do and you can have Stephanie send me the schedule, or you know, she can tell me since she's the head of creative."
"That's what I wanted to discuss, you do need to have a meeting with the creative department, which can be set up now or whenever Stephanie's schedule is free. I don't think it'll be difficult for you to find time to speak with her."
Chris laughed. "No, I don't think so, I see her quite often actually." He looked down at his watch. "I think she should be here soon actually. I'll go see what she's up to."
"Ok, we'll discuss more later, this is still in the developmental stage. We'll really start to get the details done once we get your contract written up."
"Sounds good Vince, I'll see you later."
"Goodbye Chris."
Chris nodded and got up. That was a really short meeting and he wondered if Stephanie was even here yet. He went back to the elevator and pressed the number for a few floors down. He was tapping his foot this time and when the door opened he saw Stephanie actually walking to her office. He walked quickly up behind her, but didn't reveal himself until he caught her around the waist and pulled her towards him. She squealed and turned.
"Chris, you scared the crap out of me," she told him, hand over heart. "Don't do that."
"Couldn't resist," he said, kissing her neck. "You look too beautiful."
"I'm at work," she said coyly. "I'm the boss around here, you shouldn't make me look normal. I have a reputation around here."
"Well how about you get a new reputation?" he growled in her ear.
"Chris," Stephanie said sweetly. "Not gonna happen."
"Damn."
"So how did the meeting go?" Stephanie asked, and she tried to act nonchalant about it so as not to arouse Chris's suspicion.
"It went fine, things look like a go. I just have to meet with head of creative. Any idea who that is?"
"So you're definitely back?"
"I'm definitely back."
There was that feeling again.