A/N: Thanks for all the reviews everyone, I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. I hope that you continue to enjoy it after the storyline that is coming up soon. ;)
I'd also like to thank the people who really helped with this story recently, especially Jodi who ALWAYS reassures me that every stupid idea I have is a good one, even when I think it's totally bad and shouldn't even be written, and Joanna (TakerTakeMe), who also helped with parsing out this story when I couldn't think of some of the particulars.
"Did I tell you what Ferris told me the other day?" Chris asked Stephanie. Stephanie, who had her head resting against Chris's hard chest shook her head and then went back to listening to his heartbeat. "She told me that she wished I was her father."
Stephanie laughed. "She did?"
"Yeah, it just really struck me how…in their lives I am now," Chris said.
"You just jumped right in…" Her voice trailed off as she thought for a moment. She tensed up for a moment and Chris felt it against him. He looked down at her and she seemed frozen in thought, the skin between her eyebrows crinkled together. She was looking down, and he wanted to think she was looking at his pants, but she was staring right through him, through the couch, through everything.
"Steph, you okay?"
Stephanie shook her head and looked up. "I was just thinking. Something hit me just now that I had forgotten about."
She had spoken before she had thought about what she was saying. She hadn't meant to say that, but she had been thinking about something that had just hit her in that moment. It was funny sometimes how you pushed events and memories into the back of your mind, and then one day, they just spring forth at the silliest and most inopportune moments. This was one of those times, except the event that she had just recalled.
"What did you remember?"
She looked up at him and smiled. "I just remembered that I think Ferris has a parent-teacher thing coming up, just to alert the parents about the progress and stuff that they're doing. I wouldn't want to forget that because Ferris, you know, she skipped ahead and I want to make sure it isn't too advanced for her."
"That makes a lot of sense, although if she was put back into her old class, she'd get bored again. They should have half classes for this kind of thing," he joked, but she wasn't laughing. Instead, she was thinking about Ferris.
"Ferris is smart, I'm sure that she's doing great," Stephanie said absently, thinking about how her daughter was so advanced for her age. "Were you smart when you were younger?"
"I pulled good grades," he told her. "I was constantly reading though, my parents have video tapes of me sitting in the pool just reading, sitting under trees, reading, and everywhere else reading."
"Ferris likes to read too," Stephanie said.
"I know, I take her to the library all the time, she's going to run out of books by the time she's ten," Chris told her. "But that's a good thing Steph, she's smart and studious, and if she keeps this up, she'll be graduating high school early."
"Don't even make me think about my little girl leaving," Stephanie responded. "It's bad enough they're with Hunter right now, I don't want to think about them going off into that big, bad world. Although both Ferris and Keagan have expressed desire to work for WWE. Ferris is more into the whole writing aspect while Keagan just wants to ring the bell, but I'm sure she'll think of something a little more challenging to do."
Chris laughed. "But we always do need someone to ring the bell, so never count that out. That's got to be a great job, just ringing the bell and keeping the time."
"Yeah, until you get out there and do it…so you were speaking of your parents, I'm assuming they know about us."
"Us as in us, you and me? Or us as in you and the girls?" he asked.
"Both."
"I couldn't let them find out through the tabloids. I think that I owe my parents a little more respect than to let them find out their son is dating someone seriously through the written word of the press. Of course I called them and told them all about you and all about Ferris and Keagan and they're very happy that I seem to be settling down finally. They had lost all hope, but well, I'm a rock-star, they understood."
"What are you parents like?"
"Hey, now that you mention it, my mom skipped two grades and she graduated valedictorian of her high school class when she was sixteen. So she was smart, I guess that's where I got my love of reading from."
"Do you think they'd like us?" Stephanie asked him innocently. "I mean, we are a big part of your life right? They should know us right?"
"You three are a big part of my life. You're the biggest part of my life right now. I love all three of you so much, you should know that."
"I know that," she told him, "Chris, can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah."
"It has to do with the future, is that okay with you?"
"Go ahead, spit it out."
"Do you want kids? Like lay it on the table right now, do you want to have children with me?"
"Right now?"
"No, I mean, in general, do you want children with me?"
"Yeah, I do want children with you. And my parents would be really happy if that happened. But even if we don't, we still have Ferris and Keagan and that's fine too. My parents will love them like they were my own. In the event that you don't want children or we don't have any or something. Totally your call."
Stephanie laughed softly as she thought about what Chris's parents were like and if they'd like her and girls. Her mind wandered towards her daughters again. She missed them terribly and they had only been gone for several hours. She had the urge to see them though. She wanted to talk to them, but she wanted to see them even more. She really just wanted to look at her daughters.
"You miss the girls huh?" Chris said, picking up instantly at her mood.
"Yeah, I do, am I that obvious?"
"It's just really quiet without them here, I'm used to spending the day with them."
"Do you think they're having fun?"
"I have no idea, but they should be home soon," Stephanie said. "Hunter said that he wasn't going to keep them until they fell asleep or anything, so I figure he's keeping them until they can eat dinner. Then they'll be home."
"So…uh, what do you want to do until they get here?" Chris asked, wiggling his eyebrows and licking his lips as he let his eyes roam over her body. She blushed a little under his scrutiny, but still let him lead her upstairs.
A few hours later, and Chris and Stephanie were just lounging in bed together, watching television. She had her robe tied languidly around her, a tank top underneath and her pajama pants riding low on her hips. She was leaning, watching Chris intently as he watched television. He would look over at her occasionally but didn't say anything as she would just smile at him. The doorbell rang and she jumped out of bed happily and practically flew down the stairs to the front door, swinging it open.
"There are my girls!" Stephanie said excitedly as she knelt down and was engulfed by her little girls. "Were you good today?"
"They were," Hunter confirmed from behind her. She gave him a tentative smile. "Thanks for letting me take them out."
"No problem. Don't be a stranger," she told him and he left with a nod. She watched him walk off, his hands in his pockets as she pushed the door closed. She turned her attention to Ferris as she eyed her critically. "Let me look at you."
She took in her daughter. She just took in her wavy, long brown hair, her stunningly blue eyes and her slightly crooked smile that said mischief, but hardly meant mischief. She stared at her for a good long moment before pushing Ferris's hair behind her ears. Ferris looked at her strangely for a moment.
"Mommy, why are you staring at me?" she asked.
"I just missed you is all."
"I didn't do anything to my face," she said, confused by her mother's behavior. Her mother had never stared at her for so long in this strangely intense fashion.
"I know sweets, I just missed you so much and I couldn't wait to see your pretty face, and now here it is and it feels like I haven't seen you in forever, and I just wanted to memorize your face."
"It's the same as it was this morning," Ferris pointed out.
"I know it is sweets, but that doesn't mean I can't miss it," she said, looking at the little girl who looked like her.
"Mommy, don't you want to look at me too!" Keagan asked as she stood next to her sister. Stephanie looked over at her and smiled at the little girl who was grinning at her. Stephanie hugged Keagan tightly as Keagan buried her head into Stephanie's shoulder. Chris came walking down the staircase and Ferris saw him.
"Hey Chris!" Ferris said, going over and giving him a hug. Stephanie couldn't keep her eyes off the picture they made and thought back to how Ferris had said she wished that Chris was her father. She wondered if that was still true after the day she had spent with Hunter.
"Hey there kiddo, how did your day go?"
"Can we watch the TV and talk about it?" she asked. "Daddy took us out to dinner already and I just want to watch TV, is that okay?"
"If it's okay with your Mommy," Chris said, gesturing towards Stephanie.
Stephanie nodded. "I'm going to get Keagan to bed anyways, then maybe I'll join you guys."
"Why do I have to go to bed?" Keagan asked, arms folded, but the yawn she gave after she finished her sentence gave credence as to why she needed to go to bed. Stephanie laughed and picked her up, intending to bring her upstairs. She passed by Chris who smiled at her and she couldn't help but watch as he and Ferris made their way to the living room.
A few minutes later, Chris and Ferris were settled on the couch. Ferris was tucked neatly against Chris's side as she rested her head against him. "So did you have fun today?"
"Shayna was nice," Ferris told her. "I don't know about Daddy though, he didn't talk much. Shayna talks a lot though, and she talked about you a lot. She likes you."
"That's flattering."
"Yeah, but it was fun…Chris, Mommy was acting weird when we came home."
"Weird how?" he asked.
"She kept staring at me, it was weird," Ferris said, making a face. "Do you know why she was staring?"
"I think it was just because she missed you guys today. She's not used to spending an entire day without you so she just wanted to see you again."
"But she was staring, that's weird," Ferris said again. "But I don't know, I guess she was just looking at me. Chris, do I have to like my Daddy now?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"Since I had to spend the day with him. Am I supposed to like him now because he's here? Or is it still okay that I'm kind of mad at him? I don't know."
"It's okay to feel mad at him, he wasn't here for a long time, but it's also okay if you had a good time with him today. It doesn't mean that you love your mom any less or that you're any less mad at your dad for what he did. All it means is that you had a good time with your dad and that's a good thing."
"Why is that a good thing? You live with us now," she pointed out and in her mind, she thought that Chris living with her now would solve all of their problems. Like he was just going to sweep in and make them all forget about Hunter, which was nearly impossible.
"Yeah, and I love living with you guys, but you also have to remember that he's your dad and he's going to be in your life forever. And if he's spending time with you, that means he wants to be around you. And if he wants to be around you, that means you'll see him more and maybe you won't be so angry with him."
"But he lives in California," Ferris told Chris. "That's a long ways away and he doesn't even live near here anymore."
"That's true, but that doesn't mean that he can't come visit you when he's here, or come here just to visit you and maybe someday in the future, you can go visit him in California, if that's what you want to do."
"No," she shook her head firmly. "I don't want to do that."
"Okay, well, why don't we just watch the TV and we won't talk about this anymore," Chris said, sensing a fight. Ferris was just like Stephanie in that respect. They could get so easily riled up and then you just had to stand back from the explosion. Stephanie was like a stick of dynamite, you lit her fuse and watched her blow up. It was a little nice to see that the next generation was the same way.
Ferris leaned against Chris, content to end their discussion and just watch television together. She was happier with Chris because she didn't have to be on careful watch with him. He lived here and when she woke up, he would still be here. Her relationship with Hunter was tentative at best, and at worst, he would disappear from their lives again. She didn't exactly want that, but she knew that she could fall back on Chris; she knew that he'd be there.
Stephanie came down a short while later, after tucking Keagan safely into her bed. She stood in the doorway a little as she observed her daughter and Chris. Ferris had fallen asleep at Chris's side, her hair falling loosely over her face as she snored lightly. She just looked at the two of them together and her heart contracted a little and her stomach dropped a little bit as well.
Remembering had never been such a drag.
