A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews, they are so great, and I thank you all for sticking with the fic.
~
"I don't know how you've done this for fourteen years," Stephanie said as she sat down on the plane.
"Well, you've been doing it for a while too."
"Yeah, but I can't remember that, this traveling thing it's so tiring," Stephanie said, leaning her head against the airplane chair.
"You'll get used to it after a while, it just takes some time," he said grabbing her hand.
"I'm sure I will," she said leaning over to kiss him. He smiled as she pulled away.
"What was that for?"
"Cause you're so cute."
"But I'm cute all the time," he said winking.
"So I'm learning."
Chris smiled as the plane took off. Things had been going so great for the two of them for the past few weeks. They were "dating" despite the fact they were legally married. She hadn't told him she loved him, but he knew that she was slowly falling back in love with him again.
He hadn't felt this happy since before Stephanie had gone on the trip to Europe, there had always been a void left by Stephanie that he couldn't replace. She was his heart, just as much as Regan was. They were his girls, and he would do anything for either of them.
"I'm tired," Stephanie said.
"Why don't you try to rest then?"
"Yeah, ok," Stephanie said before leaning on Chris's shoulder. Chris wrapped an arm around her loosely as she drifted off.
"Hey Chris, what's up?"
"Nothing, um Steph, I was wondering if I could ask you something?"
"Of course you can, go right ahead," Stephanie said cheerfully.
"Are you-Would you like to go to dinner with me sometime?" Chris said, a little bit nervous.
"Like on a date?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that."
"You're asking me on a date?" Stephanie asked surprised.
"Yeah," Chris said sheepishly.
"That's so cute. I didn't even know you had feelings for me."
"Oh, so then that's a n—"
"It's a yes," Stephanie said, not letting Jericho finish his sentence.
"So you will?"
"Definitely," Stephanie said, kissing him on the cheek, "It'll be fun."
"Steph, wake up," Chris said, tapping her lightly.
Stephanie opened her eyes slowly, letting herself adjust to the light. She lifted her head from Chris's shoulder and looked around. Chris smiled at her, and gently kissed her awake.
"Hmm, what's the matter?" she asked groggily.
"We're about to land," he said softly.
"You mean I slept through the whole flight?"
"Yeah," Chris said smiling.
"Wow, I must have been more tired than I thought."
"I guess so."
The three of them got off the plane, and to their awaiting car. They drove home fairly quickly, and settled themselves in.
Later that evening, Stephanie woke up from a deep slumber. The house was quiet as everyone was asleep. She crept downstairs to watch some television, which would hopefully help her fall asleep.
She sat down in front of the television when her eyes landed on a huge shelf of videotapes. She got up and walked over. Most of the tapes consisted of wrestling, but she noticed a whole row that had different things on the tapes. She saw a tape labeled "Regan" and she immediately pulled it out and put it in the VCR.
Images came across her screen and all of them of the little girl that she had loved from the moment she laid eyes on her. They started off when Regan was a newborn, and she could see herself being the doting new mother, fussing over the baby, while Chris filmed the whole thing.
Then she faded out of the video, the focus instead being on simply Regan as Chris was still behind the camera. Her eyes were riveted on the little girl, as she watched her grow up with each passing scene. She had missed so much of her daughter's life. Stephanie watched as the scene changed again, showing Regan at about a year old, holding onto the couch as she walked slowly. She noticed that there was a wrestling tape playing in the background and she was on it.
"Are you going to walk for Daddy?" Chris asked from behind the camera.
"Yah!" Regan yelled.
"Walk over here then baby."
Regan turned her eyes to the television for a moment, then started walking over to it, releasing the couch. She took a few steps towards the television, a smile plainly on her lips. Then she looked back and realized that she wasn't holding onto the couch anymore. She panicked, and fell right on her backside.
She started crying and reaching her hands out towards Chris. Chris put the camera down and went over to Regan, the camera still filming. He picked her up and started dancing her around the room, trying to calm her down.
"Mama!" Regan screamed, looking at the television.
"Shh, shh, it's ok baby, I'm here," Chris said soothingly.
"Mama!" Regan screamed again.
"Baby, I know you want Mama, but she can't be here, ok, but I'm here," Chris said, wiping her little tears away. Regan laid her head down on his shoulder as Chris touched her brown curls.
Stephanie found tears rolling down her cheeks as she watched the scene play out before her. It broke her heart to see her little girl crying for her and she not being able to be there. And she recognized the sadness in Chris's eyes immediately. What had the two of them been through without her?
"I didn't even know it was filming," a voice said. Stephanie turned to see Chris standing in the doorway.
"I'm so sorry," Stephanie said, wiping the tears off her cheeks.
"It's not your fault."
"But if I had been more careful that day, if I hadn't wanted to take a walk before I caught a cab to the airport, none of this would've happened."
"And then where would you be?" Chris said, sitting down on the couch, "You would've been on that plane, and I would rather lose you for two years, then lose you forever."
"But everything you and Regan have been through, it's my fault, if I had gotten my memory back then you wouldn't have had to go through any of it."
"It made us stronger Stephanie. It made me realize what was really important in my life."
"It's just watching that, you were heartbroken, and I-I was living like I had no past, like there wasn't anyone waiting for my arrival."
"But you didn't know," Chris said.
"But I should have! I should have looked, I should have tried harder to find you, to find Regan. That little girl in that video wanted her Mommy more than anything else, and where was her mother? Probably shopping for new clothes, or taking a shower, or some other stupid insignificant thing.
"Stephanie, you can't beat yourself up about this. We managed, we lived, it was hard of course, but we were able to go on."
"Chris, I want you to be honest with me, completely honest, what were the last two years like for you?" Chris thought for a moment.
"I wanted to die at first," Chris started, "I literally wanted to be in a grave more than I wanted to live. You were everything to me Stephanie, everything. And when you "died" I wanted nothing more than to die as well. And then I looked into our daughter's eyes, and I realized that I had something I HAD to live for. It wasn't just me who was losing you, but it was her as well. She made me go on, she pushed me to wake up every day, and to remind me to breathe. And everyone would look at me with these sad little looks of pity and sympathy, and I wanted to punch them all. They didn't know what I was going through, they couldn't even begin to understand my pain. But everyday the pain lessened a little, and slowly but surely, I started to heal."
"And were you healed when you found me?"
"I would have never completely healed from losing you."
"Do you think you would have eventually remarried?"
"I really don't know. I want to say 'no' but I don't know if that would be for sure. But at the time I found you, I didn't even consider dating anyone."
"Why did you fall in love with Stephanie?" she asked, curiously, wanting to understand what he used to love about her, that would make him never be completely over her.
"She was," Chris paused, "Beautiful. Inside and out, everything about her was just so… utterly…beautiful. She was spectacular, her personality, sense of humor, her kindness. I even loved her flaws."
"And what were those?"
"You really want to know?" Chris said, amused.
"Yeah."
"You were a horrible singer, you could not sing if your life depended on it. And your voice, well, it got screechy sometimes. And you had a temper, you could scare anyone while you were angry."
"Sounds like I used to be a great person," Stephanie said.
"You were," Chris told her, leaning over to kiss her, "Now go get some sleep."
"Ok," Stephanie said getting up, "And Chris, thanks for telling me all this stuff."
"It's ok, you want to know about yourself, you know where to find me."
~THE NEXT DAY~
Chris walked into the living room and looked at the occupants. His wife and daughter were sitting in the living room watching television, and Chris smiled as Regan and Stephanie laughed about something that had just happened. He knew Stephanie had been upset about what she had seen last night, and he hoped that she felt better today.
"Daddy, can go to the park?" Regan asked, looking at him.
"Sure," Chris said smiling at her, "Steph, did you want to come?"
"Of course I want to come, lead the way."
"There's a park a couple blocks from here," Chris told her, getting off the couch. He held out his hand to Stephanie, helping her off the couch.
"Thanks," she said.
"Let's go," Regan yelled, as she ran for the front door.
"Hold on Princess, wait for us," Chris said as he and Stephanie made their way to the door.
They all walked outside, and started walking towards the park. Stephanie took Chris's hand, and held it tightly in hers, sending him a smile when he looked at her. His other hand was being held by Regan, who knew better than to walk alone.
"So is this park nice?" Stephanie asked.
"Yeah, it is, Regan and I like to go there when we're at home."
"They have swings!" Regan told Stephanie.
"Ooh, swings, those are my favorite."
"Me too!" Regan said happily, making Chris and Stephanie laugh.
They arrived at the park and Regan immediately ran for the playground. Stephanie and Chris let her play with some of the other children there as they sat on the park bench keeping a close eye on her. Stephanie sighed as Chris put his arm around her, and pulled her closer to him.
"You ok?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure, you seemed down after last night."
"I was, a little. I think I just have to reconcile with the fact that I missed so much, and the stuff I didn't miss, I can't remember, except for bits and pieces."
"Stephanie, I know I keep saying this, but it'll all be ok, we can build a new life."
"I guess so," Stephanie said. Regan ran over and stopped in front of them.
"Push me on swings Daddy?" Regan asked.
"Sure Princess," Chris said, getting up, "Coming Steph?"
"Yeah," Stephanie said smiling.
They went over to the swing set, and Chris helped Regan onto one of the swings. He started pushing her as she giggled. Stephanie smiled softly as she watched Chris and Regan. She could tell that Regan adored Chris, and the same went for him. She was fortunate that she had them both in her life, even if she couldn't remember everything about them. What she did know about them, she loved, and wanted to be a part of it. She walked over, and sat on the swing next to them, swinging softly as the wind swept through her hair.
She closed her eyes, just enjoying the swinging motion, lulling her into daydreams. She felt free as she felt herself lifted off the ground. It was kind of the way that being around Chris made her feel. Like she was flying.
"Mama, watch!" Regan cried, and Stephanie opened her eyes.
"I'm watching sweetie."
"I swing high," she said delightedly.
"You are, and you know what I like to do when I swing high?"
"What?"
"I like to jump off, like this," Stephanie said jumping off the swing as it was in mid-air.
She landed, and felt her ankle twist, and a sharp pain shoot through her. She collapsed on the ground crying out in pain. Chris stood shocked for a moment, then took Regan off the swing before rushing over to Stephanie.
"What happened?"
"Ow, I think I sprained my ankle," Stephanie said, obviously in pain.
"Let me look at it," Chris said, lifting up her jeans a little. She winced as he prodded her ankle.
"Ow, that hurts," she cried.
"Yeah, it's swelling, you probably sprained it, we should get you to the emergency room."
"Fine," Stephanie said, trying to get up.
"Here, let me," Chris said, sweeping Stephanie into his arms, "It's easier this way."
"Ok," Stephanie said, smiling through her pain.
"Regan, walk right next to me ok?"
"Yes, Daddy."
Together they walked over to his car, and Chris gently set Stephanie in the back seat, before helping Regan into the car. They drove fairly quickly over to the hospital, and checked Stephanie into the emergency room.
After x-rays, and a thorough examination, it was determined that Stephanie had indeed sprained her ankle. They wrapped it up, gave her some crutches and sent her home. Chris was helping her hobble up the steps a little while later.
Later that evening, after Regan had gone to bed, Chris and Stephanie were sitting on the couch watching some television. Stephanie had her ankle propped up, and had some ice on it.
"I'm so clumsy," Stephanie said rolling her eyes.
"Well, you probably shouldn't have jumped off that swing," Chris said cheekily.
"Whatever," Stephanie said, yawning rather ungracefully.
"You should probably get some rest, it'll do your ankle good."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Stephanie said, getting up slowly and reaching for her crutches. She pulled herself up and started to hobble awkwardly towards the stairs.
"Hold on Stephanie," Chris said, taking her in his arms in one fluid motion, "I'll just carry you upstairs."
"You don't have to," Stephanie said as she dropped her crutches, and wrapped her arms securely around his neck.
"I want to."
Chris took her upstairs, going slowly so he wouldn't aggravate her ankle, and so he could balance himself on the stairs. He walked down the hallway to her bedroom, and kicked the door open with his foot. He walked over to the bed and set her down gently.
"There you go," Chris whispered softly, "Sweet dreams."
Chris turned to leave, but before he could, he felt Stephanie's hand on his arm. He turned back around, wondering if she needed anything. She looked up at him and smiled softly.
"Is there something you needed Steph?" Stephanie grabbed his arm and brought him down to her, kissing him soundly.
"You," she answered simply.
"What?"
"I want you Chris," she said seductively, kissing him again.
"Are you sure?" Chris asked, not wanting to do anything Stephanie didn't want to.
"As sure as I have been about anything."
Chris closed the distance between them and her lips seized his. He pulled her closer to her, and she melted into his embrace. He put everything he had into the kiss. How much he had missed her, how much he loved her, how glad he was to have her back.