A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys. Please keep them coming, they make my day. :)


"I need you to get me Shawn Michaels."

"Huh?"

"Just what I said Chris, I'm swamped with the paperwork, and if you could just go get him and tell him to meet me in here, it would be a great help. Would you do that for me?"

"Why do you need to see him?"

"You don't need to know," Stephanie said with a small smile. "Can you just get him for me?"

"I think I do need to know."

"No you don't," Stephanie said with a real smile this time.

"Yes I do," he answered.

"No. You don't," she said, more decisively this time.

"Yes. I do."

"Christopher Keith Jericho, don't argue with me," Stephanie said. "I am twenty-eight weeks pregnant, in my third, and LAST trimester and I can't see my feet, and I'm pretty sure that I'm wearing mismatched socks right now. The baby is keeping me up at night kicking his little heart out against not only my bladder but I'm pretty sure he's starting to get the ribs too, and you want to argue with me!"

Chris bit his lip. "See, I love you, and I adore everything about you, even the whole pregnancy thing, and I know that you're in discomfort right now, but you can't pin everything that you're going through on me to make me feel guilty and then give in."

"And why not?"

"I think it's because this is what you do when you're not pregnant. Are your legs working? Cause if you want to go talk to Shawn then you can just stand yourself up and walk there to see him."

"You're an ass," Stephanie said, folding her arms over her stomach.

"Swearing around the kid, lovely Stephanie," Chris said.

"Yeah, because he's really going to know what the word means," Stephanie said sarcastically. "Chris, you know you're going to cave and do it for me because you love me, regardless of the fact that I'm carrying your child."

"I do love you, but you're still not an invalid and if you won't tell me what's going on, then I'm going to just have to leave and then go find Trish or Kurt, or Edge, or any other person who strikes my fancy and you'll be here…alone."

"I'm not alone, I'm never alone," Stephanie said, enunciating her words. "I have a little something, it's called a baby, you know, our son, little boy. Don't know if you realized that."

"You're such a bitch sometimes, I swear to God."

"But you love this bitch," she teased and winked at him. "And I'm totally wearing mismatched socks aren't I?"

"Yeah," Chris nodded. "One's brown and the other is navy blue."

"I figured as much," she said, sighing, then running her hand over her face. "It gets a little bit harder every day."

"When are you going to stop traveling?" he asked her, just curious to see if she had a time frame. Chris hadn't pushed the issue in the past several months, but it had to come up some time because there was going to be a time where Stephanie would be too uncomfortable to travel.

"Who knows," Stephanie said. "You know Dr. Sheldon said since I'm having a fairly easy pregnancy I could probably travel well into my ninth month. The fact of the matter is am I going to want to travel in my ninth month?"

"I don't know, it's up to you," he said. "I mean, yeah, I'm your husband, that's my child, but I don't know what you're feeling."

"At the moment, a little achy, a lot pissed off at my father for giving me a stack of pretty meaningless paperwork that will inevitably keep me occupied for the entire show so that I can't do anything that would detrimental to his partying and/or pill-popping. Maybe I should just get out now."

"Whatever you want to do, I'll support you."

"I know," she said, reaching across her desk to grab his hand which he had been leaning on her desk. "It just makes me appreciate you more."

"And I really do like to be appreciated," Chris said cockily.

She rolled her eyes. "If I didn't love you, I'd have thrown you out of here by now because you have the innate talent to bug the hell out of me. And I should be doing this paperwork."

"Screw your dad, you should not do it just to spite him," Chris said.

"Oh yeah, and then let him fire me for not doing my job in an adequate fashion. I know that my dad is hurt by what we did," she said, looking away a moment, then looking back at Chris, a raw kind of anger in her eyes. "But I can't allow him to be around my son when he's got all of this crap going on. How would I go about explaining to our son all the things his grandfather does? I can't, I don't want to do that. I just don't understand why he can't be a normal person EVER."

"As Lord Acton once said, 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely.'"

Stephanie leaned back a little and furrowed her brow as she stared at Chris, "Excuse me?"

"It's a quote."

"Chris, have you been holding out this immense knowledge on me? And here I thought the only in-depth conversation you could have would be about what bass guitar is the best and how metal has changed in the last fifteen years."

Chris gave her a look of disgust. "You really think I'm an uncouth boor don't you?"

"Wow, the language, sexy," Stephanie giggled.

"I'm educated too you know," Chris told her. "Just because I prefer to discuss music doesn't mean I can't work my way around a literature or history argument."

"I know you're educated, but it gets lost in the cockiness."

"Takes one to know one."

"You're crazy," Stephanie said, then patted her stomach. "Daddy is crazy baby. You'll figure that out pretty quickly."

"Not as crazy as Mommy," Chris called out to her stomach, "but I guess being inside her, you already knew that."

"Well, as for the whole traveling thing. If I leave now, that means Dad wins. He'll think it's because I'm afraid of him or something, and I'm not afraid of him. You know, honestly, sometimes I don't know how my mother stays with him. I just…she's an amazing person to put up with all of that crap. I mean, if you pulled any of that on me, cheating, wanting to be an ass, choking your own child, I'd leave you and never look back."

"Well there go my plans to choke the baby with a wrench," Chris shrugged with a sigh. "And I was planning it down to the last detail too."

"I'm going to travel until my ninth month," Stephanie told him. "Maybe starting around the middle of my eighth month I'll start coming every other week or something. But no traveling in my ninth month, I'll save us both the grief."

"My eardrums thank you," Chris said with a smile. "Now let me help you with this junk so that you finish up earlier."

"You really don't have to."

"Would I be a candidate for Husband of the Year if I didn't?"

"Whoa, who nominated you for that one?" Stephanie said sarcastically. "It must've been one of your other wives, because it sure as hell wasn't me."

Chris stood up and started stalking around the desk. Stephanie thought she was in for some punishment, but Chris just pulled up a steel chair and sat down next to her, kissing her cheek and then dropping a kiss to her t-shirt covered stomach. Stephanie just shook her head at him before the door burst open and Trish bounded inside a wide grin on her face.

"I have a date!" Trish said eagerly.

Stephanie's eyes widened. "A what?"

"A date," Trish repeated.

"What?" Stephanie asked again.

"Date," Trish repeated, slower this time. "You know, d-a-t-e. It's where I go out with a guy. You might not be familiar with it since you're married and everything, but it's what unmarried people do when they're trying to find the right guy for them."

"Yeah, I haven't been out of the loop for that long," Stephanie said sarcastically.

Chris looked at her. "What do you mean you haven't been out of the loop? When was the last time you went on a date?"

"Last week, some guy named Fred, don't worry about it," Stephanie joked. She then turned back to Trish. "Trish, what's this about you and a date?"

"This guy, I don't know, I think he works for your dad, and I know that should automatically put him on your shit list, but hear me out. He like just asked me out, like randomly right. So I was like, um, I don't know, but you know what?"

"What?" Chris indulged her.

"I'm not with Christian anymore and it would serve him right to find out that I had a date. And who cares if this guy is lame, which he probably will be, because come on, he's not Christian, but still, if Christian hears that I'm with another guy, think of the jealousy."

"He would be jealous," Stephanie nodded.

"Exactly! And Edge would tell him, because Edge tells him about me," Trish said, "And I know you may be thinking that I'm stupid for wanting to get back at Christian, but you know what? I don't care, he deserves it, right?"

"He was an ass in leaving," Stephanie complied.

"Yeah, he was, and he broke my heart," Trish said with a sigh. "And maybe this Jack guy won't turn out to be a complete loser and maybe I'll have a good time, and I can go out with him a couple of times, and it'd be fun…I mean, I'm not ready to seriously date anyone right now, but you know, maybe…"

"Definitely maybe," Stephanie nodded. "I think it's a good thing for you to be going out, regardless of who it is. I think its good Trish."

"Me too," she said, her voice softer. "I have to change, I'm a referee tonight as you might know."

"Mickie's waiting right outside the door isn't she?" Stephanie asked, but knowing the answer already.

"Yeah," Trish said. "I told her that you were not allowed in here because you were really strict, so if you see her, act like you're really strict."

"I'll just act like I would around my father," Stephanie laughed.

"I don't want to leave," Trish admitted. "You don't know how creepy she is. She's always saying she loves me and stuff and it's just creepy. I mean, I've gotten fan mail that's pretty weird, but I don't have fan mail that follows me around all the time. I need some respite."

"Well, if you ever need me to like order her away from her, just let me know," Stephanie said with a smile.

Trish nodded her thanks and turned around to leave. As soon as she was out the door, Mickie was next to her, following her like a little puppy dog. Trish looked over at her and stopped momentarily. Mickie, predictably, stopped as well and looked anxiously at Trish like she was going to hang on her every word. Actually, Mickie usually WAS hanging on Trish's every word.

"Can you give me a little space Mickie?" Trish asked as nicely as she could.

"But I thought we could go to catering and have dinner together or something," Mickie shrugged. "Or you know, you could help me stretch for my match or something."

"Actually, I needed to get dressed for the match later on," Trish told her.

"Oh, that's cool," Mickie said. "Lead the way."

"Um, don't you think that I should change on my own?"

"I won't look, I know you have a problem with that. I don't know why, you have a really great body, you have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm not ashamed, I just don't like when people watch me dress," Trish explained. "I mean, do you like when people watch you change?"

"If it were you, I wouldn't think it was a big deal, you're my best friend," Mickie told her excitedly. "And after what you did last week, I know that you think of me as the same thing. We're like best friends forever or something."

"Actually," Trish said slowly. "Stephanie McMahon is my best friend. I mean, you're nice and everything Mickie, but I haven't known you for that long. I've known Stephanie for years, and she's my best friend."

"Oh yeah, of course," Mickie said, giving her a look. "I knew that. I mean, you're right, you have known her for years. Why shouldn't she be your best friend?"

"Exactly," Trish said. "So a little privacy would be great right now."

"Sure, but later, like after the show, I thought we could go clubbing or something. I know we'd have tons of fun!"

"Well, actually…"

"I'll see you later buddy," Mickie said, punching Trish in the shoulder a little bit. Trish watched her walk away. She didn't know how to get rid of that girl; she was the most annoying thing she'd ever had to deal with, and Trish had been in some weird situations. This took the cake though.

"She bugging you still?"

Trish turned to see Ashley. "Yeah, how could you tell?"

"You have this look on your face that just says you're annoyed."

"God, am I that transparent?"

"When it comes to Mickie, you could be freaking see-thru and she still wouldn't get the point," Ashley said. "Which is why I'm going to kick the truth into her tonight."

"Good."

"So, I hate to ask this, because it's not really ethical or anything, I mean…although ethics in this company isn't exactly a premium, but whatever. I just wanted to know if you'd make me win. I think that's a way to get through to her."

"How do you figure that?" Trish asked.

"Think about it," Ashley said. "If you count the 1-2-3 for me, then Mickie is bound to believe that you two aren't the BFF that she thinks you guys are. She needs the truth kicked into her psychotic mind."

"Yeah, I guess I could do that," Trish nodded. "I just want her out of my hair. She wants to go clubbing tonight and when I tried to tell her that I have a date, she interrupts me and I can't get a word in edgewise."

"You have a date?" Ashley asked, surprised.

Trish smiled. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"Sure, I won't worry at all."

Edge and Chris were walking down the hallway talking. Stephanie had figured she would get more work done if Chris wasn't hanging around her all the time. Since Kurt had gone to visit his mother this week, it was slim pickings for people to hang out with. Edge was it, and he wouldn't even get to talk to him for a while since they were walking to the gorilla as they were speaking.

"So what's up with Lita?" Chris asked tentatively.

"She was just helping me," Edge said, trying to justify her behavior of last week. Truth was, he didn't know the exact truth of the situation, but he just couldn't believe that Lita would hit him intentionally.

"No, I meant with the two of you, out of the ring. Are you two dating? Or just sleeping together?"

"Who knows," Edge said, not feeling like evaluating his relationship with Lita at the moment. "We're just…hanging out."

"Does she know you're friends with us again?" he asked.

"Nope," Edge said. "We're not exactly honest in this relationship I guess is the easiest way to say it. We don't keep tabs on each other. She's free to do what she wants, and I'm free to do what I want. It's a mutually beneficial type of relationship."

"You do know she's your girlfriend though," Chris said knowingly. "I mean, you can say that you're not involved and you're just 'hanging out,' but she's still you're girlfriend and she still deserves to know who you're friends with."

"Sure," Edge shrugged. "I don't know. You don't get the two of us Chris. I mean…I have to be this way if I want to be on top, you of all people should know that. When you went after the WCW title in 2001, you turned into an asshole and went after Rocky."

"True, but just be careful, eventually you find out its not the best way to live. Belts can only get you so far in life. Look at Hunter for a good example of that."

"Still can't believe he's friends with Stephanie," Edge said, shaking his head. "Ok, well, I've got to go out there and explain last week since everyone seems to think that Lita hates me."

"How do you know she doesn't if you don't have an honest relationship?" Chris asked and Edge seemed flustered for a moment before cooling off.

"You're just trying to get me to admit something that I'm not admitting," Edge told him. "See you later, tell Stephanie I'll come by and see her."

Edge walked the rest of the way to the gorilla and saw Lita waiting for him there. She was sitting on a folding table, her legs dangling over the edge and her hands flat on either side of her. She was staring off into space and her hair was falling down one side of her face. He cleared his throat and she threw her hair back to look at him.

"Hey, where've you been?" she asked, though she knew where he had been. She had seen him talking with Chris, talking happily with Chris. Edge was getting his friends back, maybe he had gotten them back and she was still all alone. Nobody had forgiven her for anything. Nobody knew the truth about her and Edge, that he had blackmailed her into this relationship when she had been quite content with Kane. It wouldn't have worked out with Kane anyways, but she didn't want to be with Edge if he was just going to use her and then not take the blame for alienating her from everyone.

"Around," Edge shrugged, not giving up any information, as was customary in their relationship. She was a good lay and nothing more.

"Oh," she nodded. "We have to go out there soon. Maria is supposed to interview us."

"Great, we get the ditz," Edge said, rolling his eyes as he reached out his hands and lent her a hand to stand up. She took it gratefully. She was surprised he was even talking to her anymore, now that he had his friends back. What use did he have of her anymore? Maybe he did care about her, and she couldn't believe the hope that went along with that thought.

When Edge wrapped his arm around her waist, she felt a sense of normalcy, or at least the normalcy that she had grown accustomed to in this half-life she was leading. It was like she wasn't even leading a full life and neither was he. She had grown accustomed to the boos she received, the declarative statements of her being a whore and a slut, but deep down inside, it still cut her deep.

Edge took control in the ring, like he usually did. He was good at that, good at talking, he had been for years. She remembered her time with the Hardy Boyz, a great time in her life, and how they had feuded rather extensively with Edge and Christian. Even then Edge had been one of the funniest guys in the whole company. She wondered if he was still funny or if he had lost that like she had lost everything that ever mattered to her.

It usually happened while Edge was talking. Her mind would flit over to Matt and she'd think about him briefly. She never let him linger long. She couldn't let herself linger on him for too long. She had screwed up the one relationship in her life that had been great. Better than great actually; that relationship had been the highlight of her life. If only she had seen how good Matt was for her, maybe she'd be with him instead of feeling empty.

She knew how to play her part now, she knew it like the back of her hand and she played it. Edge appreciated that about her. Even when she was feeling like crap, she still put on her bravest face. She went out there and went after Maria like a pro. They both did in fact, until Cena, the perennial good guy showed up and saved her. Edge and Lita went backstage and Edge started to walk away, but Lita caught up.

"Can we hang out?" she asked, trying not to sound desperate.

"Um, sure," Edge said. He had planned to go see Stephanie, but Lita looked so pitiful, he slung his arm around her shoulders and started walking with her. Lita leaned into him a little bit, glad that he hadn't ditched her.

Stephanie grabbed her walkie-talkie from the table and brought it up to her mouth. "This is Stephanie McMahon, can I get a production assistant in my office please."

"Will do ma'am," came the voice on the other end.

"Thank you," Stephanie responded and put the walkie-talkie down.

She tapped her finger on her desk as she did another useless bit of paperwork for her father. She was glad that Shane wasn't here tonight or else she might fly off the handle like she had last week. She was still mad at Shane over his betrayal in joining with their father. She didn't care the reasons, she was doing what was best of her son. There was a knock on the door and she told them to come in. A production assistant came in and looked at her.

"You requested me Mrs. McMahon-Jericho?" the guy said.

"Yeah, thanks for coming Greg," Stephanie said, knowing his name. "I needed you to get me Shawn Michaels, can you deliver the message that I need to see him ASAP in my office."

"No problem ma'am."

Stephanie went back to her paperwork as she waited for Shawn to show up, if he did show up that is. The whole world knew that he was having problems with her father, and she was now having problems with her father. That was precisely the reason she needed to see Shawn. Before she could think another thought, the man in question entered the room and Stephanie smiled, leaning back in her chair and folding her hands over her pregnant stomach.

"Shawn, just the man I wanted to see," Stephanie said, looking at him with what could only be construed as a shrewd.

"What is it McMahon?" Shawn said irritated with being called to see a McMahon; he didn't want to see any McMahon right now."

"Jericho," Stephanie added. "And I know that I'm one of the last people that you want to right now, but it's imperative that I speak with you about recent…events."

"What? How your jerk of a father is treating me?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Stephanie said, leaning forward. "It seems we both have the same problem, and that problem is Vince McMahon."

Shawn narrowed his eyes. "Daddy's little girl is having problems? Why the hell should I believe you of all people? You aren't exactly Miss Innocent."

"No, I'm not," Stephanie conceded. "But that has nothing to do with the here and now. As you can probably tell, I'm pregnant."

"Whoa, could've fooled me," Shawn said in that sarcastic tone of his, you know the one.

"I didn't need the sarcasm," she said sharply. "Anyways, I cannot allow my son to have an influence like my father in his life. I have since banned my father from seeing my child in any capacity unless he shapes up."

"You really did that?" Shawn asked, suddenly becoming impressed by her.

"Yes, Chris and I were firm on that. Now, you've been having problems with him too, and I think that they stem from the same place. I don't like how my father is being, and this man he's being is antagonizing you into being someone you're not."

"Yeah, that's the gist."

"And you love your children like I love my son," Stephanie said. "Which is why I want you to know that I'm on your side. I will not let my father gain control, I will not let him get his way with this, and I'm trying to be firm with him. I wanted to let you know that I was doing everything in my power to make sure that you are not ousted from this company. Consider this a silent business partnership."

"Isn't it business partnerships that get you into trouble?" Shawn joked.

"Only to guys named Chris Jericho," she answered. "As it is though, I will be working around my father. He gives me a stack of paperwork each Monday to try and keep me from the show. But I don't think my father actually looks at what he's giving me. I have access to a lot of things, and I am more than willing to use them to my advantage if the opportunity arose. What I want from you is your consent in the event that I work things in your favor."

"And this isn't a set-up?"

"No," Stephanie told him with a firm voice. "I can't say trust me if you don't Shawn, but I assure you, I am doing what I think is best for my son. He is the most important thing in my life right now and I will do anything and everything to ensure his safety. If that includes putting my father in his place, then that's what I'll do."

"You've really grown up you know," Shawn told her. "I've known you since you were like twelve years old, and you've changed."

"As we are all bound to do."

"Well, if you're not setting me up, then I say go for whatever you have to do."

"Good," Stephanie said, sticking her hand out. "Nice doing business with you Shawn."

"Always a pleasure Stephanie," he said, kissing her hand. Stephanie scoffed to herself as he walked out of the room. Leave it to Shawn to try and be chivalrous. She sat down again and stared down at her stomach. "Well baby, looks like I've got that thing covered. Just remember that when you're scheming, always do it in such a way that you know you're going to win the fight. I just cannot let Grandpa get to us. You're so lucky baby, you get a great daddy. I wish I had a daddy as cool as yours is going to be."

She rubbed her stomach as she thought of how hard it was going to be to keep her father away from her son.

Trish and Ashley went through with their plan and from the look on Mickie's face, it might finally be registering in her mind that Trish did not like her at all. Trish went backstage by herself, wanting to get ready for her date. That word was still weird in her mind. She had a date. She had a date with a guy named Jack. She took a deep breath and tried to push Christian out of her mind. She barely registered Mickie's voice behind her.

Mickie was trying to apologize to her…again and Trish was trying to ignore her. She turned to her finally and then Jack showed up. Trish pretended to be more involved in him, but she did find his reaction to Mickie funny. Jack worked for the company so he obviously knew the talent. Trish went off with him and she giggled and tilted her head towards his.

"Thanks for that, I thought she would never leave me alone," Trish said.

"I've seen what she's done," he said. "It was the least I can do."

She smiled. "Why don't you let me slip into something a little more date-worthy and then we can go?"

"I'd like that, I guess I'll wait for you…"

"Um, meet me at the door to the parking garage?" Trish asked.

"Yeah, ok, how long should I wait?"

"Ten minutes, fifteen tops," she told him, touching his arm as she walked away. She walked to her locker room, letting herself inside and getting dressed quickly. She looked at herself in the mirror to make sure that she looked presentable. Luckily she only had to referee tonight so she didn't have to shower and she didn't smell. She looked to her neck and saw the necklace that Christian had sent her. She watched as her bottom lip quivered and tears came to her eyes.

She was ashamed to see them. She was fighting everything inside of her body. Everything in her heart and in her soul was saying she was stupid for going out with some guy she didn't know. Her heart was somewhere else entirely, probably in Florida, maybe watching the show. She took a gasping breath as she realized that Christian might've seen what had just happened. Had she just ripped his heart in two? As much as he deserved it for leaving her, her body ached at the fact that she felt like she was cheating on him.

"He was the one," Trish whispered to herself. "He was the one…"

"Look, I don't have time for this," Edge said into his phone. "I've got a match later and I kind of need to focus on that. I know that you have matches in TNA and don't you have to prepare for those."

"Did you see that guy!"

"No, I didn't see that guy, again, I was stretching for my match."

"He was ugly, what's she doing with an ugly guy! Trish is the most beautiful woman in the world and she should be with a hot guy, not some loser. And what the hell kind of name is Jack anyways? Stupid name, stupid name for a stupid guy."

"How about you just confess what you did that was so bad that you had to leave her?" Edge said, getting annoyed.

Christian instantly clammed up. "I just…I can't think about it right now. I just…I don't want to see her with some ugly guy named Jack."

"You want to see her with a handsome guy named Christian."

Christian sighed. "She seemed fine…"

Edge laughed pathetically. "If you knew what I knew, you wouldn't be saying that."

"I've gotta go."

"Keep denying the truth man and you will lose her forever. At some point she's going to not take you back, no matter how much she loves you."

"You don't--"

"No excuses man. Look, I've got a match to focus on, I've gotta go. I'll see you man."

Trish had collected herself enough to go meet Jack at their designated meeting place. Just as she reached the door, she saw Chris and Stephanie leaving as well. She turned to wait up for them and saw how they were both looking at her stomach and placed his hand on her stomach, so obviously the baby was awake and kicking.

"Hey Trish," Stephanie said. "How's it going?"

"Good," she said as she fell into step with them. They reached the door and met up with Jack. "Oh, before you think I'm rude. Jack, this is Chris and Stephanie Jericho and they're my best friends in the world. You guys, this is my date for the evening, Jack."

"Yeah, we've met before," Stephanie said, "At Titan I think."

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "Nice to re-meet you then, and nice to meet you Chris."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too," Chris said politely. "Well, we'll let you two go, Stephanie and I are going back to our hotel room so Stephanie can put her feet up."

"The plight of the pregnant woman I'm afraid," Stephanie shrugged helplessly. She patted Trish's arm as they walked past and out the door.

Trish smiled at Jack when he offered to take her bag for her. She let him do that as she followed him out to his car. She didn't know if tonight would go well, but it was a step in the right direction. Maybe she'd find something with this Jack guy, maybe she wouldn't. The important thing was that she could do this. She could go out with another guy.

If Trish had been holding her own bag, maybe she would've felt her phone vibrating. Maybe she would've picked it up. Maybe she would've heard a familiar voice on the other end. But Trish was not holding her bag and did not feel her phone vibrating, and she didn't pick it up and she didn't hear that familiar voice. Instead, she would look at her phone later and see a simple "1 missed call," and she would check it only to find, "Private number," and not knowing who that could be, she would ignore it.

Christian sighed and hung up the phone.