TITLE: Second Chances
AUTHOR: Dannette [ UniqueFandoms@aol.com
]
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: On Christmas Eve,
Stephanie gets a glimpse of what her life could have been if she had made
different choices in her life. Inspired by 'The Family Man'. AU
story.
DISCLAIMER: I do not
own Stephanie McMahon, Andrew Martin (Test) or whoever decides to
pop up in this story; They belong to the WWF and Vince McMahon ---- Unfortunately
in my case, I do not own Shane McMahon (Sad I know.)
SPECIAL DEDICATIONS:
To Grace and all the other Andrew/Stephanie fans out there!!
~*~
Stephanie sat at the kitchen table,
a cup of coffee in her hands as she watched everybody in the living room
... everybody would be: Shane, Vince, Linda, Andrew, Megan and Chris. Everybody
was opening up Christmas presents, Stephanie didn't understand what was
going on, she wasn't married to Andrew... she had turned her back on him,
but Andrew had told her just a matter of 25 minutes ago that they had been
married for two years. How could that be ---
"I don't need to be saved."
"Everybody needs something."
"What about you?"
"Huh?"
"You said everybody needs something,
what do you need?"
"I don't need anything,
I have everything I need."
"Are you so sure about that?"
"Yep, I have everything I have
ever needed."
"Remember you brought this upon
yourself Stephanie."
Stephanie widened her eyes as she
remembered the conversation she had with Lisa, the young homeless woman
she had met yesterday; Stephanie hadn't even bothered to try to find the
meaning of Lisa's words, but now here she was married to Andrew Martin
with two children. "I got to go." Stephanie said, standing up.
Andrew looked up from the last Christmas
present, he stared at Stephanie, she had been acting strange all morning,
nothing like his usual chipper, sweet wife. "Steph?" Andrew walked away
from the Christmas tree and walked into the kitchen and put his hand on
Stephanie's arm. "Honey?"
Stephanie looked Andrew in the eyes,
he was so incredibly handsome, more handsome then she had already thought
he was. "Andrew, I have to go."
"Where?" Andrew asked, smiling at
Stephanie.
"The store, to get more egg nog."
Stephanie said, coming up with the best excuse she could think of.
"Okay, want me to come? I'm sure
Shane, your mom and dad wouldn't mind watching Megan and Chris while we
go to the store." Andrew replied, there was something about Stephanie's
behavior that was making him concerned.
"Oh no, it's fine, stay here with
the ... kids. I'll be right back, I promise." Stephanie forced a smile
while she grabbed her jacket. "Uh, Andrew?"
"Yeah?" Andrew asked, staring at
Stephanie.
"Do we have a ferrari?" Stephanie
asked, hoping that part of her life wasn't gone as well.
Andrew laughed. "No, only in our
dreams Steph."
"Then what car do I take?" Stephanie
asked.
Andrew gave Stephanie a pair of car
keys and shook his head. "The mini van. Stephanie are you sure you're okay?"
Stephanie nodded. "Fine, really,
be back." Stephanie turned to leave but turned back around and stared at
Andrew. "I love you." Stephanie said quietly.
Andrew smiled. "I love you too Stephanie."
Andrew kissed Stephanie, he then watched the smile dance itself across
her face. "You should know that sweetie."
Stephanie smiled wider. "It just
feels like a lifetime since I last heard you say that. Bye." Stephanie
waved and walked out of the house.
Andrew walked over to the window
and watched Stephanie get in the car and take off, sighing Andrew walked
back over to the Christmas tree and picked Chris up. "Notice anything weird
about mommy Chris?" Andrew laughed when all he got was a gurgle from Chris's
slobbering mouth.
~*~
Stephanie stared at the building,
that yesterday had been the WECW building, now it was a law firm, WECW
didn't exist. WECW had been formed by her and Shane, but WCW and ECW, in
this world, had not been bought by her and Shane so WECW didn't exist.
"Hop in." A sweet voice yelled over
the loud engine of the silver ferrari.
Stephanie whirled around and gasped
when she saw her car, and Stephanie gasped again when she noticed that
the driver in the car was indeed Lisa. "What have you done to me?" Stephanie
asked, more loudly then she had intended to.
"Get in, I'll explain." Lisa pushed
the passenger's door open, Lisa smiled once she saw Stephanie get in.
"What did you do to me?" Stephanie
asked again, shutting the car door, Stephanie grabbed onto the seat belt
as Lisa sped off.
"You remember our little conversation
last night? The one where you got all cocky and said you didn't need anything
because you had everything you needed?" Lisa asked, Lisa smiled when she
saw Stephanie nod but say nothing. "Well you were wrong. You don't have
everything you need, you haven't had that since the day you walked away
from Andrew and left with Hunter."
"I- I don't understand." Stephanie
said, her eyes dancing in confusion.
"What you did in the store was real
nice Stephanie, that was an act of human emotion, something you don't usually
show, not ever since your heart became cold to love. I gave you a glimpse
Stephanie." Lisa replied, turning the radio off.
"A glimpse? A glimpse of what? Who
are you?" Stephanie stared at Lisa and noticed that she was wearing fancy
clothes instead of the torn ugly things she had been wearing yesterday.
"I'm giving you a glimpse of what
your life could have been like if you had never turned on your father at
Armageddon and sided with Hunter. A glimpse can be a short time or a long
time, depending on how long it takes for you realize what you need to find
out." Lisa said, pulling over in front of a big white house. "Good luck."
"No wait!" Stephanie screamed. "You
can't just go sticking your nose into people's lives and turning their
world around and then leave, you can't leave me like this. I want to go
home." Stephanie replied.
"You are home." Lisa replied, in
a matter of fact tone.
"No, not this home! My regular home!"
Stephanie said, raising her voice.
"Only you can lead yourself to that
place, see you when you do Stephanie." Lisa watched Stephanie crawl out
of the car, Lisa waved and before she left she threw Stephanie a carton
of egg nog and winked. "Bye."
"But --- " Stephanie started to say
but stopped when Lisa sped off.
Stephanie turned around and walked
up the steps that led to the white house, she held on to the egg nog as
she walked into the house. "I'm home?" Stephanie said, confusion lacing
her words.
~*~
"Look mommy!" Megan crawled into
the couch next to Stephanie and gave her a box. "It's my present to you."
Stephanie looked at Megan, her so-called
daughter; Megan had long brown hair, a bit stringy but it was still beautiful,
she had a little dimple in her chin just like the one Stephanie had, but
the most unique thing about Megan's features were her bright blue eyes.
"Huh?" Stephanie asked.
"You didn't open your present I got
you, come on mommy." Megan said loudly, she crawled onto Stephanie's lap
and waited for her to open the box.
"For me huh?" Stephanie asked; Stephanie
unwrapped the box and then pulled out the picture frame, Stephanie let
her fingers trace along the picture inside the frame. It was a picture
of Stephanie, Andrew, Megan and Chris; Andrew was in the middle, Stephanie
on his back smiling, Megan was sitting on the grass playing with a ball
and Chris was throwing his hands all around. "It's beautiful." Stephanie
said, in a hushed tone.
"Nu uh." Andrew said, coming up behind
Stephanie.
Stephanie looked away from the picture
and gave Andrew a look. "How can you not say this is beautiful?"
"Easy." Andrew smirked. "Because
right now I am looking at the most beautiful person in the world."
Megan giggled, slipping off of Stephanie's
lap. "Daddy wants loving!"
Stephanie looked away from Andrew
and laughed, she grabbed Megan and threw on the couch, Stephanie leaned
over Megan's body and smiled. "Oh is that so?"
Megan nodded, giggling. "But he can't
have you, you're my mommy." Megan replied, hugging Stephanie.
Stephanie smiled and hugged Megan
back, this might not be her real home, but she was going to take all she
could in, this place was such a warm place, and for once in her life, she
had everything.
~*~
"Breakfast in bed my dear." Andrew
hissed into Stephanie's ear, he pulled her up and dropped a chaste kiss
on Stephanie's forehead as he watched her face scrunch up.
"Where am I?" Stephanie asked, rubbing
her eyes, for a second she thought everything could have been a dream,
but the minute she opened her eyes she realized she was still not back
at her regular home, but at the home she shared with Andrew.
"In heaven, didn't anyone tell you?"
Andrew smiled and put the tray of food on the bed in front of Stephanie.
"Eat, it took me forever to make this."
Stephanie smiled down at the food.
"For me?"
Andrew shook his head. "Well I was
making it for Lita but she didn't want it, so I thought hey I have a wife
at home, might as well give it to her." Andrew grinned.
Stephanie laughed and playfully hit
Andrew on the shoulder. "Shut up."
~*~
"I could stay awake just to hear
you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away and dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet
surrender
I could stay lost in this moment
forever
Every moment spent with you is a
moment I treasure."
Stephanie twirled around and stuck
the plastic spoon in the baby food, she spooned up some baby food and fed
it to Chris as she continued to sing.
"Don't wanna close me eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep
'Cuz I'd miss you baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cuz even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing."
Stephanie twirled around in circles,
throwing the baby food away, she then turned back to Chris, she picked
Chris up and began to dance with him, singing to him.
"Laying close to you
Feeling your heart beating
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming
Wondering if it's me you're seeing
Then I kiss your eyes
And thank God we're together
I just want to stay with you in
this moment forever
Forever and ever."
Stephanie grinned at her laughing
son in her arms, she danced over to the play pen and put Chris in it, and
then she ran up behind Megan and picked her up, causing a squeal to come
out of her daughter's mouth.
"Don't wanna close my eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep
'Cuz I'd miss you baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cuz even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing."
Stephanie twirled Megan around while
continuing to sing.
"I don't wanna miss one smile
I don't wanna miss one kiss
I just wanna be with you
Right here with you just like this
I just wanna hold you close
Feel your heart so close to mine
And just stay here in this moment
for all the rest of time
Baby, baby."
Stephanie put Megan down, she then
grabbed Megan's hands and the two began to dance.
"Don't wanna close my eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep
'Cuz I'd miss you baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cuz even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing."
Andrew stood in the hallway watching
Stephanie dancing with Megan while singing Aerosmith's "I don't wanna
miss a thing". Andrew smiled, sometimes he couldn't believe that he
had almost lost Stephanie, because he felt like he never didn't have her
in his life.
~*~
"Hey Stephanie." Shane threw his
coat down on the chair and sat down next to Stephanie who looked like she
was not even a resident of this world. "Something on your mind?"
Stephanie turned and smiled at Shane.
"You could say that."
"Penny for your thoughts?" Shane
said, interlocking his fingers with Stephanie's.
Stephanie looked away, she had been
here for about 3 weeks now, and she was in love with her new life, but
like Lisa had said, this was just a glimpse. What if just when Stephanie
was used to being around everyday Lisa decided to take her away from this
world? "I don't belong here." Stephanie said quietly.
Shane looked at Stephanie. "What
are you talking about?"
"You wouldn't believe me."
