A/N: Sorry about the confusion with the last chapter…Anything in italics are dreams/flashbacks. :) And thanks for the reviews.
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Chris looked out the window as they flew over the Atlantic Ocean. Just a few days ago, he thought Stephanie was dead. Little did he know that the trip would reunite him with his wife, and then separate them once again. Each second that ticked by was one more second that he was drifting farther and farther away from her.
They got off the plane, and Chris and Regan were following Vince back to Vince and Linda's Greenwich home. They had decided to have a family dinner as soon as they had gotten home. Chris hoped that they didn't ask too many questions about his stay in England.
He didn't know if he could keep Stephanie a secret. He felt bad for keeping this secret from them. It wasn't that he wanted to keep Stephanie being alive a secret, he just wanted to spare their feelings.
Linda had taken Stephanie's death very hard, and she had never really recovered. Chris didn't want to get her hopes up that Stephanie would be returning. It would be cruel of him to give them Stephanie and then snatch her away just like that.
They arrived at their destination, and Chris and Regan got out of the car. He picked her up as he walked into the house.
"Sweetie, remember we talked about, we have to keep Emma a secret," Chris whispered to her.
"I know Daddy," Regan said, putting her finger up to her lips, making the shh sign.
"Good," he said kissing her cheek.
They followed Vince into the house, and found Linda, Shane, and Marissa sitting in the living room. Shane and Marissa had had a baby two months ago, and Linda was holding the baby in her arms, smiling down at her. Shane and Marissa were sitting on the couch, relaxing.
Chris briefly thought about how they would have felt if he had brought Stephanie home. He could almost see the jubilant looks that would grace their faces. Linda would be so happy, and Chris so wanted for his mother-in-law to see that Stephanie was ok. Chris quickly banished those thoughts away, as he set Regan down.
"Hey, welcome home you three," Shane said as he spotted them.
"Hi," Chris answered.
Regan ran over to the baby that Linda was holding and started smiling at her. Regan loved her little cousin and was enamored that something could be that small.
"Hi Gramma Linda," Regan said.
"Hello Regan, how are you?"
"I good," Regan answered before turning back to the baby, "Hi Unca Shane's baby."
"How was your trip?" Linda asked.
"It was nice," Chris answered.
"And Vince, did the shows go well?"
"Yes, the shows went fine, no problems."
"How did you like it Regan?" Marissa asked.
Regan ran over to the couch, and climbed onto it. She climbed into Shane's lap, before smiling. Shane kissed her little cheek, causing her to giggle.
"It very nice, lots of water."
"Lots of water?" Shane looked up at Chris questioningly.
"Um, we went to where Steph's plane crashed," Chris explained, noticing Linda's gaze turn from happy to downtrodden.
"How was it?" Linda asked.
"It was interesting," Chris answered as best he could, finding it hard to lie as he looked into Stephanie's family's faces.
They had dinner, and after Chris and Regan headed home. Chris felt even worse now keeping his secret. The discussion had reverted back to Stephanie a few times during the evening, with them recalling funny stories about her, trying to lighten the down-hearted mood.
As they were talking about Stephanie, Chris thought about how Stephanie used to be and how Stephanie was now. Basically they were the same person, the person that he had fallen in love with, the spectacular person that he had known. He found it hard not to love even the new incarnation of Stephanie. She was still the same woman, just minus the memory.
He could've loved this Stephanie. Even if she didn't remember anything about them, he could still have loved her. Maybe if he had tried, or stayed, or done something, Stephanie would have seen, in her heart, that she loved him too. He could live with her not having her memory, if only she was with him.
They got home, and Chris walked inside, and was once again assailed by Stephanie. Their house had been adorned in pictures of her since she had "died." Now he really didn't want to see any of these pictures. They just reminded him of the loss that he had suffered a couple of days ago. He had lost his wife not once, but twice. Nobody should ever have to go through that.
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Stephanie walked into her apartment a few days later. She'd had a long day at work, and she wanted nothing more than to relax and watch some mindless television. She walked into the kitchen to get some food, and her eyes fell again on the picture that Regan had drawn for her. She smiled as she looked at it. No matter what mood she was in, that picture seemed to make her smile.
She got some food, and walked into her living room. She sat on her couch and settled herself in for a night of television. She grabbed the remote, turning on the television, and flipping through the channels.
As she flipped through the channels, she stopped on a particular channel that was showing wrestling. Chris had said that he worked for World Wrestling Entertainment, and she figured this was it. She sat there watching mesmerized by this life that she used to lead. She figured that she had probably known most of the people that graced her screen.
She noticed a man that she recognized in the picture that Chris had shown her of her family. It was her brother Shane, and she watched as he made his way down the ramp to the ring. He proceeded to talk, and she listened intently. That was her brother. He was seemed like an intelligent well-bred guy, and she wondered if she had had a close relationship with him.
She watched some more, and noticed that they were announcing Chris as coming up next. She sat on the edge of her seat, anticipating seeing him again. She just wanted to make sure that he was all right, that he was doing ok. She felt the inexplicable urge to check up on him.
After the commercial break, they showed Chris coming down the ramp, clad in red tights. Her breath caught for a second, and she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. Now that she knew who he was, she found herself wanting to know more about him. She couldn't figure out why she felt this way. Could it be that her heart was trying to tell her that she did love this man?
She watched as he fought, and though she didn't know much about wrestling she could tell that he was good at what he did. She wondered where Regan was at the moment, maybe she was with her family or something, or with one of the friends she used to know.
She sat there watching the rest of the show go by before turning off her television. She decided to go to bed since she was really tired from work that day. She got ready for bed and climbed in hoping for a good night's sleep.
"I love you."
"I know, you silly boy."
"And just how long have you known this?"
"I've known forever," she said snaking her arms around his neck.
"And you never let me in on this little tidbit of information?"
"I thought I should let you figure it out by yourself."
"I hope you know that now you're stuck with me."
"That doesn't sound so bad," she said lightly kissing him.
"Forever. You're stuck with me forever."
"Forever…I like the sound of that."
"Me too."
"So was this your way of proposing to me?"
"I guess so," he answered.
"You didn't even get down on your knee," she said pouting light-heartedly.
He took her arms off from around his neck, and pulled away. He dropped to his knee in front of her. He grabbed her left hand and looked up into her blue eyes. She smiled down at him as she prepared herself to hear him propose to her.
"I have loved you for the longest time, and I think it's about time I made that official. If you're willing to put up with me for the rest of your life, then Stephanie Marie McMahon will you be my wife, my love, my everything?
"Hmm………that's a tough question to ask," she said, pretending to think about it for a while.
"You do know my knee is starting to hurt don't you?" he said jokingly.
"Shut up, I'm thinking," she said good-naturedly.
"Could you think slightly faster?"
"You can't rush something like this."
"Fine, but I'm getting up," he told her, before getting off his knee.
"Hey, you're not supposed to do that."
"You haven't answered me, and it's lonely down there."
"Fine, I guess I'll marry you then," she said with a smirk.
"It's about time," he said, picking her up and spinning her around, "I love you Stephanie."
"I love you too Chris."
Stephanie woke up with a start, her breathing labored as she thought about the dream that she had just had. Or was it a memory? It had seemed so clear in her mind, like it had actually happened. Could she be getting her memory back? It hardly seemed possible. She had gone for so long with nothing, and now, now she was remembering things.
She lay in bed, and smiled to herself. Maybe slowly but surely she could be Stephanie again. And maybe, just maybe, she could go back to her old life. She could go back to the things she used to love.
She could go back to Chris and Regan.