During the two weeks that had passed since the encounter with Paul in the coffee bar Stephanie had gradually had a change of heart and she was now a lot less disappointed with how it had gone. In an ideal world Paul would have been the kind of guy who would have been happy to be involved in the life of his son or daughter even if he was not interested in her but he had made clear that there was no way that was going to be the case. Initially she had been disgusted with him and furious but now she was glad that he wanted nothing to with their, her, child. The influence of that kind of person was not what she wanted around her child as he or she grew up. It was sad that there would not be a father figure in the picture but that was by far the lesser of two evils.

As for right now there were more immediate concerns than what would happen months from now when her baby arrived in the world. Right now she was supposed to be memorising her script for tonight's Raw and this was the third time that she had let her mind wander part way through it. She tried again but once more she did not even make it half way through before becoming distracted. This was no good at all. The truth was that the baby was already having an effect on her work because the worry and stress that it was bringing were causing things exactly like this to happen. She was unable to focus on what she was doing and if it continued it would inevitably lead to mistakes. She looked around the women's locker room from her position sitting in the corner of it on a steel chair. Now that her pregnancy was common knowledge, or maybe it was because she had slapped the taste out of Brie Bella's mouth, either way the sniping and outright bullying that she had been suffering had stopped but she was still not welcomed into any of the conversations as the others were. She was in the same locker room as them but she was still isolated from them. The loss of the respect and friendship of her fellow divas was just one more negative to result from her brief involvement with Paul. She realised that a friend in this place was what she needed most right now. If only she had a friend or two she would be able to return to work when her child was old enough and she had regained her fitness and someone would be able to mind the child for her when she was in the ring. Not knowing much at all about raising a child she was unsure how old he or she would need to be before it was practical for them to live on the road but right now it seemed academic.

By nature she was a nervous person but now she was trying to work up the courage to speak to the other divas as a group and to openly ask for their future help. It seemed that it was the only way to save her career as she was in no doubt that Paul would not give a damn if she went to him with his. Even if she asked him to mind the child just for the time that she was needed in the ring she was sure that he would react angrily and turn her away with a bunch of swearing and abuse. In any case she had already decided that she did not want him around her child. No, she either got help from one or more of the women in this room or she was going to have to give up her dream job. She saw no other alternative. Maybe the best course of action was to be totally honest and to tell them the truth about what had happened with Paul? Yes, she had known that he was married to Trish and she had slept with him anyway and that meant that she was regarded as a slut and a bitch and in a way this was understandable and even deserved but the other divas seemed to be equally if not more annoyed about the fact that they believed that her career had been advanced a lot more rapidly than she deserved due to the fact that she had been sleeping with Paul the whole time which was of course untrue. It felt as if this was some kind of final chance to save her dream job so she decided to bite the bullet and hope against hope that it worked out for the best. After taking a couple of deep breaths for courage she stood and addressed the room as whole, cutting off a conversation between Nikki, Brie and AJ. "Guys can I just say something to you all for a minute, please?" No one objected or talked over her so she got right into it, "Listen, I know that none of you like what I did, sleeping with Paul behind Trish's back and I understand that. I knew that they were married and I shouldn't have slept with him but..."

"Give us a break Stephanie," Brie cut in, "We all know how you got that crazy push as soon as you showed up here. You were obviously with Paul the whole time. How was it that you put it Cam? Fucking her way to the top?"

"Right," Cameron agreed, "We saw you in that bar so save your bullshit. You're only coming with this now because he got you pregnant and then kicked you to the curb. We all see through you, right girls?" A bunch of positive responses came and Stephanie's heart sank. This was not working out at all. She tried once more, "You're right, you did see us in that bar but I swear to you that night was the first time I slept with him. Paul gave me the push, put me on Raw and gave me the General Manager storyline before anything happened between us. I can't go on like this with all of you hating me. I know why you do if you think that's what happened but I promise you that it wasn't. Paul used me, got me pregnant and now he wants nothing to do with me or the baby. He's ruined my life. My mistake of sleeping with him has ruined my life."

"I'm not listened to this BS. Come on Nikki." Brie led her sister to the door and the twins were gone. If anything this was probably a good thing. AJ spoke next and Stephanie looked at her hopefully. If anyone was going to take her side it was likely to be AJ as she was the only one who did not speak to her like a piece of garbage. "Why are you telling us this? Why are you so keen to, what, set the record straight?"

Stephanie decided to continue being honest. "Because I don't want having my baby to end my career. I want to be able to come back here as soon as I can and I want to be able to leave my son or daughter with some of you guys while I'm in the ring. I know you guys would do it for each other, I just want to be part of the group. That's all I ask. Please?" It sounded a lot more pathetic than she had intended it to but it was out there now. The faces that looked back at her did not seem very sympathetic and no one seemed to want to speak first. After a long moment Naomi took up the challenge, "That night in the bar, I remember we called you out on this thing with Paul and you denied it before he walked in. I remember thinking that I wasn't as sure as Cam was because you looked genuinely surprised. You swear to me again that was the first time and that you didn't get pushed over all of us because you were with him the whole time."

"I swear to you. That night was the first time that I slept with him. I slept with him that night, then you guys told Trish and it all blew up. I slept with him again after that but then he got the injury and it kind of ended there. I didn't say or do anything to get the push that he gave me. I didn't screw you guys over in any way. I wouldn't do that, I swear."

Emma was next up and she still seemed to doubt a part of what she had heard, "You say that you're telling us all of this because you need help with your child when you're on the road. Forgive me for stating the obvious but Paul works here. You can leave your child, his child with him. Why are you so desperate for our help?"

"Firstly Paul openly told me that he wants nothing to do with me or the baby and that he wants me to abort it and secondly the guy is an asshole. He's the scum of the Earth and I don't want him anywhere near my son or daughter. His influence can be nothing but bad. I'm just asking for a little help from you guys, that's all." Stephanie watched and waited as the women looked at each other. Some still did not seem convinced but eventually AJ spoke. "Okay guys I believe her. As you know I've been telling you to stop giving her such a hard time and now I'll tell you why and why I believe her. Paul is a total prick, he tried to make a move on me some time back. Obviously I rejected him but it just shows the kind of guy he is. He knows that I'm married and he was married to Trish then too but still he came on to me. He thinks he's god's gift and all he has to do is come on to a woman and they will jump into bed with him. I believe what she says, I believe she fell for his shit and I believe what she says about how he's treating her. Stephanie if you need help with your child or with anything else you can come to me."

A huge weight lifted itself from Stephanie and she felt tears coming to her eyes at the kind way that AJ had delivered the final sentence. AJ, who was now fielding questions from the other women about her revelation concerning Paul, would never know how much that sentence or indeed her whole speech meant to her. "Thank you. Thank you so much." Suddenly she found herself trying to blink the tears away as they seemed intent on escaping her as the realisation that there was light at the end of the tunnel began to sink in. She no longer had to sit in the locker room like some kind of outcast. She no longer had to think about how many weeks of her career she had left before it came to an end. She no longer had to worry so much about what the future held for both herself and her child. AJ's words had helped with all of those things and maybe some of the other women would now follow suit?

"I'll help out if you need me to. Emma and I both will, right?" Paige offered a hint of a smile to Stephanie as she turned to her closest friend in the locker room. "Yeah," Emma nodded. Now the tide seemed to have turned as Naomi walked over and put an arm around her, "Damn girl. That guy is something else huh? Don't cry." Stephanie was trying her best not to cry and after wiping at her eyes several times she managed to control herself. "I'll go and get Nikki and Brie back in here," Paige announced as she headed for the door. Stephanie sat down, this time not on a chair in the corner but on one of the benches next to Natalya and for the first time in a very long time she was involved in a conversation with the other women who now seemed keen to talk about the prospect of minding her baby for her.

Several minutes later Paige, Nikki and Brie returned to the locker room. Stephanie looked over expectantly at the new arrivals as Brie closed the door. She then began to speak and it seemed to surprise even her sister. "Paige just told us what you said Stephanie, and what you said AJ. If I tell you all something can we all agree that it goes no further than this room?" Everyone voiced their agreement so Brie continued, "I slept with Paul too. By the sound of it he came onto Stephanie in much the same way as he did to me. I slept with him because I genuinely thought that he wanted to be with me but when I tried to speak to him about it he blew me off. When all this blew up with you Stephanie I kind of got the impression that he ditched me for you but I guess I was wrong, so I'm sorry."

"Oh shit Brie, that bastard," Nikki said as she wrapped an arm around her sister. Simultaneously Stephanie smiled and nodded her acceptance of the apology and Nikki was quickly assured, "I'm fine. I'm with Daniel now so I don't give a damn about that prick. At least we all know what he's like now."

Still smiling Stephanie held up her script, "Can anyone help me with reading through this please?"

"I will," Brie answered without hesitation and walked over and sat down next to Stephanie with a smile of her own. As she worked through the script Stephanie felt that she had just turned a corner, not only with the women she worked with but in her life as a whole. She did not need Paul to be part of her life or the life of her child. That bastard could end up alone and miserable just as she had told him that he would. As she had that day when Paul had told her that he was going back to Trish she told herself that if Paul ever came back to her now, showing an interest in her or the child she would give him exactly the response that he deserved.