A delighted smile had been fixed on Stephanie's face a long time before she entered the women's locker room and it was immediately noticed by Nikki and Brie Bella. The reason for the smile was that Stephanie had news and something to show to the other divas.
"Hey Steph," Nikki greeted as Brie smiled, "What are you so happy about?" The slap in the face that Brie had received from Stephanie was now long since forgotten about as was the bullying that Stephanie had received from some of the divas. "What am I happy about? Look." Stephanie took something out of the pocket of her leather jacket and held it out towards the twins who were the only two divas present in the room to Stephanie's disappointment.
"What do you have there?" Brie took the item from Stephanie and then took in a breath sharply, "Oh, Steph!" Nikki peered over her sister's shoulder, "Oh!"
"My baby, my son," Stephanie announced proudly. The item that Brie was holding was a picture of Stephanie's twenty week scan. Brie repeated her previous words, "Oh, Steph! You're having a boy? That's amazing."
"Congratulations, everything was okay?" Nikki asked, still looking at the picture.
"Yeah, everything's great. I've only got another couple of weeks on the road before this General Manager storyline ends. I uh... don't know if I'll be back."
"Why?" The twins exclaimed in unison. The answer was simple; Stephanie was not sure about coming back on the road with her baby. It was true that this was her dream job and all that she had ever wanted to do but the fact was that she was going to be a mother and that meant that the needs of her child must have priority over her own ambitions. While it was true that the other divas had made their willingness to help out at the arena more than clear that would only be a fraction of the time on the road and she was not convinced that plane flights and hotel rooms were the right places for a baby to be. "I'm just not sure that coming on the road with him will be a good idea. I know you guys have all offered to help out when I'm at the arena and in the ring but there's more to it than that. There's the travel, the flights, the hotel rooms and all of that and I'm just not sure that I should do it. I have to put my son first and if that means giving this up then that's what I'll have to do."
Stephanie saw the twins glance at each other before Brie spoke, "It's your choice of course if you don't want to bring him on the road but don't feel like you have to give this job up because you don't have help. Nikki and I are happy to help out whenever you need us and I'm sure some of the others are too." Just as Stephanie was about to offer her thanks the locker room door opened and the one person in her life who she could genuinely call a friend walked in. "Hey guys," AJ greeted the three women as she dropped her bag down on the floor. "Steph, how did the scan go yesterday?"
Brie returned the picture to Stephanie who then held it out to AJ with a huge smile, "I'm having a boy." AJ took the picture and delightedly offered congratulations but then her tone changed to something close to disgust, "This reminds me, great timing. Guess who's back here tonight?" It was clear to Stephanie that AJ meant Paul. He had not been on the road with the creative team for at least a month. Word had it that he was focussing full time on the rehab of his knee and returning to full training. Now he was back so he must presumably be ready to return to the ring. "Paul's here? Do you think I should show him the picture?"
"We'll leave you to it," Nikki patted Stephanie on the shoulder and led her sister over to the opposite side of the room, realising that this might be becoming a private conversation between friends. "It's your decision," AJ answered, "Do you really want that asshole in your life even if he does stop being a prick long enough to show an interest?"
"In my life? Hell no. I'd be more than happy to never see him again but it's not just me is it? He's my son's father and I don't think it would be fair for him not to have a father in his life, if it's possible. I know what it's like to live without parents and it's horrible."
AJ had heard Stephanie's story of how her parents had literally disowned her for her refusal to work for the family business to instead pursue her dream of becoming a wrestler. Despite the fact that she had made a success of it to say the least and even the news that their daughter was pregnant things still had not changed. AJ found it appalling that people could be so heartless and she greatly admired how strong Stephanie was in dealing with all of the difficulties in her life. It was at that moment that an idea came to her. Stephanie and Paul were not on speaking terms to say the least and she had no intention of speaking to the guy herself either but rumor had it that there was someone who he considered to be a friend. Frankly speaking to the boss was only a marginally more appealing prospect but it was worth it to potentially help her friend. "Can I just take this picture? Maybe I can get some sense into him."
"You're going to speak to him?" Stephanie sounded understandably less than convinced by what she had assumed was the idea.
"No. I've got a better idea. I'll be back soon." AJ left the locker room before she could face a cross examination and headed off to find the boss' office. She could count the amount of times that she had spoken to Mrs. Molinaro on one hand and probably the total amount of words spoken on two. As did everyone else she knew the reputation the boss had and had heard the stories. Everyone agreed that she was a woman to be avoided when possible and only to be spoken to when she addressed you directly. Given this knowledge she was distinctly nervous as she reached the correct office which as usual had a security guy stationed outside. It was nearly always the same guy, the one who looked like a taller and fatter version of Steve Austin. "Is Mrs. Molinaro inside?" A nod was the only response so AJ knocked on the door and was ordered rather than invited to enter from within.
Making sure than a smile was fixed on her face AJ pushed the door open and walked in. The boss was already looking up from the script that she had been reading through with a look of irritation to see who had interrupted her. "What is it AJ?"
So much for a warm greeting. "I wondered if we could talk for a moment?"
"We are talking and I said what is it?" Jesus Christ, the stories were true. What was it with this woman? The only thing to do was get to the point and do it quickly so she held out the picture of Stephanie's baby scan. "This is a picture of Stephanie's scan. It's awkward but she thinks it's best for the child, her son, if Paul is a part of the babies life and I wondered if you could like, talk to him? People say you are the closest he has to a friend around here and..." AJ let her voice trail off because the boss seemed not to be listening. She had taken the picture and was staring at it with an expression that AJ could not read. If anything there seemed to be sadness in it but what kind of reaction was that to seeing someone's baby scan? "Mrs. Molinaro? Are you okay?"
The boss looked up at her and blinked a couple of times, looking like she had forgotten that there was anyone else in the room. Was this woman wired up correctly? "Leave this with me AJ. I'll speak to Paul and get back to Stephanie myself. Good enough?"
"That's great, thank you. I really appreciate it and so will Stephanie." A slight nod was the only response as AJ hurriedly left the office.
Once she was alone in the office Laura looked at the baby scan once more and then closed her eyes tightly. There was no way that AJ could have known how painful this was for her. Her relationship with Paul was not what she would exactly call a friendship but he had certainly gotten to be a lot easier to manage now that they would occasionally share a drink together or have a chat when time allowed in the office. It seemed that he was getting his head straight and had successfully completed his rehab and training. Indeed tonight was his return to TV, not in a match but he was going interfere in the main event and resume his rivalry with Daniel Bryan by preventing him from winning the WWE title when he seemed to have it won. If any night was the night to catch Paul in a good mood and try once more to talk sense into him regarding his child, his son, that night had to be tonight. With that in mind she headed for Paul's locker room with the scan picture in her pocket.
Finally, after so long, so much stress, pain and rehab the nightmare was over for Paul. There was no need to change out of his jeans and Triple H t-shirt for tonight's segment and he had not been issued with a script as he had no lines to deliver. His only job of the night was to come through the crowd to ringside in order to pull a referee out of the ring at the right time. The rest of the work would be done by the commentators but even so it felt great just to be going back out there. The heat that screwing Bryan out of the title would generate would be great. Another three weeks would go by before he actually wrestled for the first time since the injury when he took on Bryan at the next pay per view which would give him even more time to reach peak condition. This was the only drawback to now being single; there was no one to share the enjoyment with. Even so the single life was definitely what he preferred. Never before had he had this much sex. It seemed that all he had to do was walk into a club or bar and he could walk out with some stunning woman, he really was on the top of his game lately and better even than that was that there was now no need to sneak or think about being caught. In its own way that had been a powerful thrill but now he was glad that it was a thing of the past. Simple, easy, enjoyable sex was what he wanted and he was getting it as often as he wanted it. Life in general was great.
A knock came on his locker room door which was strange. He had no friends in the locker room and he liked it that way. The guys in the creative department had been explicitly told not to disturb him. "Yeah?" He yelled. The door opened and Laura walked in with a smile on her face. Who would have thought it at one time? The only person that he got along with on a personal level was the one person who no one else managed to get along with. Maybe that was one of the reasons? "Hey Paul. Welcome back. I bet you can't wait to get out there huh?"
It was strange. Previously the correct greeting had been a handshake but that now felt too formal but he was not the kind of person to greet someone with a hug and probably neither was she so he just smiled and gestured to a steel chair that was already placed near to the bench that he was sitting on. The chair had his bag on it so he tossed it aside to make it available. "Hey. Yeah, really can't wait. It's taken so much longer than I hoped but all of that crap is behind me now."
Laura sat down on the offered chair. "Good. You can get out there now and start earning me money again," she joked. Never being one to waste time when she wanted to talk about something she got right into it as Paul smiled at her weak joke. "So, I've got something here that I think you want to see."
Paul was tempted to say that he had already seen her tits before but that probably would not have amused her. "What?" Laura reached into her pocket and held out the picture to Paul, hoping that it would finally help her to make progress on what she had so far failed to do; get Paul to take an interest in his child. "AJ brought me this. Take a look at your son Paul." The picture was taken from her and Paul looked at it for a long moment.
"Why are you showing me this? How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want a kid? I know what kids mean to you and I'll say it yet again, I'm sorry about your daughter but I do not want a kid. Stephanie decided to keep it so there's nothing I can do about it but get this straight in your head once and for all," he held up the picture for emphasis, "This is not my son."
The picture was held back towards her and Laura had no option but to take it as she wondered how anyone could dismiss their own child like that even if they did not get along with the other parent. "Look, I know you don't get along with Stephanie, the two of you can't stand each other, whatever but you're dead wrong. This is your son. He is your son now, he will be your son when he's born, he will be your son when he takes his first step, he will be your son when he's your age. This is your son for god's sake man."
The impassioned speech had left Laura with tears in her eyes but it still made no breakthrough. "You're upsetting yourself Laura. You're taking this too personally or something." Laura looked at him sadly and shook her head before standing and heading for the door. "One day you'll realise that I'm right Paul and I hope it happens soon."
A moment passed after the white painted door closed behind Laura with Paul staring at it. "Do I look like a father to you?" He asked the woman who was no longer there.