Chris slowly opened his eyes when the first rays of sun peeked their way
through the windows. He blinked a few times, trying to figure out where he
was. He wasn't in his room, and wasn't in his bed. And he certainly
wasn't alone.
Chris looked down and saw Stephanie cuddled up to him, her head resting gently on his chest, her hair splayed under her. Chris wanted to pinch himself and make sure that he wasn't dreaming. He had to be dreaming, this was just too good to be true. He was here with Stephanie in his arms, waking up to her beautiful face once again.
He noticed Stephanie starting to wake up, and he gently caressed her hair, smoothing it against her bare back. Stephanie blinked a few times, trying to get her bearings back. She yawned, and looked up to see Chris smiling down at her.
"Morning," he whispered.
"Morning to you, how'd you sleep?"
"Better than I have in years."
"I'm glad," she said, laying her head back on his chest.
"How's your ankle?"
"Not bad."
"I can't believe this happened."
"Hmm?"
"It's just I never thought I'd ever get you back, and here you are, here we are."
"I know I'm not the Stephanie that I used to be, but-"
"I don't care, I love you now, and I'll love every single thing you are, will be, or used to be."
"Chris, I want to tell you something, something important."
"Go ahead," Chris told her, giving her his full attention. He couldn't help but be a little worried she was going to say she regretted last night.
"I love you too," Stephanie said simply.
Chris froze for a second, hearing the very words that he dreamed of hearing from her. The last words that Stephanie had said to him before the day he thought she had died were "I love you too." For the past two years those words had been imprinted in his brain, playing in an endless loop. Whenever he had found himself lost, or down, or sad, he would think about the way Stephanie had said those words.
"Chris, are you ok? I didn't mean to- I can take it back if you don't want to hear it."
"No, no, I just, it's been so long since I've heard those words from you," Chris said happily, choking back tears that were starting to come to his eyes.
"I do love you. Maybe it's a combination of what I used to feel, and how I feel now, but I love you."
"I love you too."
"Thank you for allowing me back in your life, and giving me the opportunity to love you again."
"How could I not? You're not just my wife, you're the mother of my child. Even if I didn't want you back, I owed it to Regan."
"I'm glad you did."
"What time is it?"
"Um," Stephanie looked at the clock, "6:45"
"Well, I better get out of here," Chris said, sitting up.
"What, where are you going?" Stephanie asked, sitting up as well.
"Back to my room."
"So you sleep with me, and then you leave?" Stephanie said, confused.
"Never, but sometimes Regan comes into my room in the morning, and I don't want her coming into an empty room. It could scare her or something."
"Oh, I see."
"Though you do make it very hard to leave," Chris said, leaning over to kiss her, before putting his boxers on.
"How about I just come with you?"
"To my room?"
"Well, I figure that we'd be sharing a bed now, am I wrong in making that assumption? We are husband and wife after all."
"Yeah, I just, well...sure you can come, just put some clothes on first," Chris said laughing.
"No, I was just going to walk around naked, and hope for the best," Stephanie said, sticking her tongue out.
Stephanie put her pajamas back on before following Chris down the hallway. They went into his bedroom, and settled themselves back into bed. Stephanie felt herself getting tired again, and started drifting off.
"Steph?"
"Yeah?"
"I really, really missed you."
"I know," she whispered before falling asleep again.
~A COUPLE HOURS LATER~
Regan got out of bed, and walked down the hallway. She slowly opened Chris's door, and peeked her head in. She saw Chris and Stephanie sleeping in the bed, and crept into the room. She climbed onto the bed, and laid herself between her parents.
"Daddy," she whispered. Chris stirred but didn't wake up.
"Daddy!" she whispered again, a little more loudly this time. Stephanie heard her, and opened her eyes.
"Hey baby," Stephanie said quietly. Regan turned her body towards Stephanie.
"Hi Mama, I wake up Daddy."
"Why don't we let him sleep, he looks tired?"
"Ok."
"Too late," Chris said, as Regan and Stephanie turned towards him.
"Daddy!" Regan said, going willingly into his arms as he held them open for her.
"Good morning baby, can I have a kiss?" Regan complied, and then laid back down on the bed.
"We go to wefwing today," Regan said definitively.
"I know," Chris answered.
"Oh, yeah, I completely forgot, I had other things on my mind," Stephanie said, sending Chris a look, which he smiled at.
"I understand," Chris said winking at her.
"Where are we going again?"
"Just over to Hartford, we get to sleep in our own beds tonight."
"Well, we better get a move on," Stephanie said, getting out of bed, and getting ready for the day.
**********************
"So, I wanted to ask your opinion on something," Chris told Kurt, later that day at the arena. Stephanie and Regan weren't around.
"What?"
"I was going to ask Stephanie to marry me."
"Um, Chris, you guys are already married," Kurt said, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"I know that dumbass, but she can't remember our wedding, don't you think your wedding is something that you should remember?"
"You've got a point."
"So I'm not being a complete doofus for wanting to ask her again?"
"No, not any more than usual."
"Thanks," Chris said sarcastically, "I just don't know how to go about it."
"Well, how did you propose to her last time?"
"I told her she was stuck with me."
"Wow, that sounds romantic," Kurt said blandly.
"You know Stephanie, or at least the old Stephanie, she didn't ever want romantic, she wanted straight-forward."
"Yeah, well, what about this Stephanie?"
"Well, she does like romantic stuff, but not so much, but she doesn't like the straight-forward approach either, she's in the middle."
"So do something moderately romantic."
"Like what?"
"I don't know!"
"Like, drop her ring in a champagne glass or something?"
"You have a ring."
"I have her old ring, she never took it on her trip."
"Are you trying to be cheap and not buy her a new ring?"
"No! I just figure giving her, her old ring, it might spark a memory, and besides it has sentimental value."
"Still hoping for her memory to come back?"
"Well, she can remember a little bit, but yeah, I guess I'll always hold out hope that she'll get it back."
"But she loves you. You said she told you this morning."
"Kurt, you are an idiot, I know she loves me, that's not the point. The point is, I want her to remember us. I just want her to know what we had," Chris said sighing, "It sucks being the only one who can remember things like our first date, or our wedding and stuff."
"I'm sorry."
"It's ok, so how do I propose to her?"
************************
Over the next few days, Chris tried to think of the perfect way to propose to Stephanie. He wanted it to be perfect. It was like he had to start all over again with Stephanie. The last time he had proposed, it hadn't been all that romantic, more a spur of the moment type of proposal. This time, he wanted to plan it out perfectly, he wanted to make it memorable.
He finally thought he had the perfect plan, and he was waiting for the perfect moment to execute it. He figured next Monday at Raw would be perfect. He was a little bit on edge though, not wanting his plans to be revealed to anyone.
"Chris," Stephanie said, walking into the bedroom. Chris jumped at her voice, and quickly put the ring in the drawer.
"Yeah, Steph?"
"Um, are you ok, you seem kind of jumpy?" Stephanie said, walking over to stand in front of him.
"Yeah, I'm fine, you just startled me right there."
"Ok, you sure?" Stephanie asked, still a bit concerned.
"Of course, now why are you here?" Chris said, pulling her into his lap.
"I just wanted to tell you that dinner is almost ready and you might want to come down so we can eat."
"I'll be right down," Chris said, kissing her.
"So what's in the drawer?" Stephanie asked.
"What are you talking about?" Chris asked as nonchalantly as he could.
"I saw you put something in there, are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to find out myself?" Stephanie said, reaching for the drawer.
"Hey, none of your business," Chris said grabbing her arm before she could reach the drawer.
"Are you keeping secrets from me?" Stephanie said suspiciously.
"Maybe, maybe not," Chris said, kissing her lightly, "But you're just going to have to wait to find out."
"You're no fun."
"All in due time baby, all in due time."
"Whatever, let's go eat," Stephanie said, getting up, and pulling him by the hand.
***********************
Chris paced nervously around his dressing room. Tonight was the night he was going to propose, and he was nervous. He didn't remember being so nervous last time he had proposed. Maybe because last time, he hadn't thought about proposing, he had just come out and said what he felt.
He breathed deeply, trying to calm his nerves down. Stephanie was in a meeting, and he was waiting for her to come back. He had Kurt waiting outside ready to tell him when Stephanie was coming. Regan was with Linda, who was making a rare appearance at a show tonight.
"Chris, she's coming," Kurt said, poking his head through the door.
"Ok," Chris said nodding. Kurt closed the door, leaving Chris alone momentarily.
Stephanie opened the door and walked in, "Hey there."
"Hey Steph, how was the meeting?"
"It was good, you look a little pale, are you all right?" Stephanie asked, studying his face.
"Yeah, it's just kind of hot in here."
"Did you want to go outside and get some fresh air, it might do you some good?"
"No, um, could you just get me my tights, they're in that bag right next to you," Chris said, pointing to a lone duffel bag.
"Sure, no problem," Stephanie said, bending down to go into the bag. She unzipped the bag, and didn't find anything inside, "Chris, there's no tights in here."
"Are you sure, look harder."
"Um, ok," Stephanie answered, looking again.
She unzipped the bag all the way, and saw absolutely nothing inside. She stuck her hand inside, searching in the corners of the bag. Her hand fell on something small and square, and she grabbed it. She pulled it out and realized it was a ring box. What was Chris doing with a ring box?
"Chris, this was the only thing in there, did you forget your tights?" Stephanie said, standing up.
"Open the box," Chris told her.
"I don't think tights will fit in this box," Stephanie said laughing.
"Just open it."
Stephanie opened it and saw a ring sitting inside. It was beautiful, a rather large diamond surrounded by two smaller diamonds. And it looked to be platinum. She looked at the ring, and then at Chris, and then at the ring again.
"What's this?" Stephanie asked, with wide eyes.
"It's yours, but you can't have it until you answer one question."
"Question?" Chris got down on one knee in front of her.
"Will you marry me?"
"But we're already married," Stephanie told him.
"I know, but you can't remember our last wedding, and I want a wedding that we can both remember."
"Really?" Stephanie asked, getting choked up with emotion.
"Yes, I want to start a new life with you, and what better way then to get married again."
"Then of course I'll marry you, or renew our vows, or whatever, just YES!"
Chris stood up, and took Stephanie into his arms. She hugged him tightly, before pulling away and kissing him passionately. He kissed her back, and smiled as they pulled away from each other. He took the ring from its box and slid it onto her finger.
"The ring seems vaguely familiar," Stephanie said.
"It should, it was the engagement ring I gave you four years ago. You never brought it on the trip."
"Wow, it really is beautiful."
"You picked it out, we bought it together."
"I had good taste then."
"Of course you did, you married me didn't you?"
Chris looked down and saw Stephanie cuddled up to him, her head resting gently on his chest, her hair splayed under her. Chris wanted to pinch himself and make sure that he wasn't dreaming. He had to be dreaming, this was just too good to be true. He was here with Stephanie in his arms, waking up to her beautiful face once again.
He noticed Stephanie starting to wake up, and he gently caressed her hair, smoothing it against her bare back. Stephanie blinked a few times, trying to get her bearings back. She yawned, and looked up to see Chris smiling down at her.
"Morning," he whispered.
"Morning to you, how'd you sleep?"
"Better than I have in years."
"I'm glad," she said, laying her head back on his chest.
"How's your ankle?"
"Not bad."
"I can't believe this happened."
"Hmm?"
"It's just I never thought I'd ever get you back, and here you are, here we are."
"I know I'm not the Stephanie that I used to be, but-"
"I don't care, I love you now, and I'll love every single thing you are, will be, or used to be."
"Chris, I want to tell you something, something important."
"Go ahead," Chris told her, giving her his full attention. He couldn't help but be a little worried she was going to say she regretted last night.
"I love you too," Stephanie said simply.
Chris froze for a second, hearing the very words that he dreamed of hearing from her. The last words that Stephanie had said to him before the day he thought she had died were "I love you too." For the past two years those words had been imprinted in his brain, playing in an endless loop. Whenever he had found himself lost, or down, or sad, he would think about the way Stephanie had said those words.
"Chris, are you ok? I didn't mean to- I can take it back if you don't want to hear it."
"No, no, I just, it's been so long since I've heard those words from you," Chris said happily, choking back tears that were starting to come to his eyes.
"I do love you. Maybe it's a combination of what I used to feel, and how I feel now, but I love you."
"I love you too."
"Thank you for allowing me back in your life, and giving me the opportunity to love you again."
"How could I not? You're not just my wife, you're the mother of my child. Even if I didn't want you back, I owed it to Regan."
"I'm glad you did."
"What time is it?"
"Um," Stephanie looked at the clock, "6:45"
"Well, I better get out of here," Chris said, sitting up.
"What, where are you going?" Stephanie asked, sitting up as well.
"Back to my room."
"So you sleep with me, and then you leave?" Stephanie said, confused.
"Never, but sometimes Regan comes into my room in the morning, and I don't want her coming into an empty room. It could scare her or something."
"Oh, I see."
"Though you do make it very hard to leave," Chris said, leaning over to kiss her, before putting his boxers on.
"How about I just come with you?"
"To my room?"
"Well, I figure that we'd be sharing a bed now, am I wrong in making that assumption? We are husband and wife after all."
"Yeah, I just, well...sure you can come, just put some clothes on first," Chris said laughing.
"No, I was just going to walk around naked, and hope for the best," Stephanie said, sticking her tongue out.
Stephanie put her pajamas back on before following Chris down the hallway. They went into his bedroom, and settled themselves back into bed. Stephanie felt herself getting tired again, and started drifting off.
"Steph?"
"Yeah?"
"I really, really missed you."
"I know," she whispered before falling asleep again.
~A COUPLE HOURS LATER~
Regan got out of bed, and walked down the hallway. She slowly opened Chris's door, and peeked her head in. She saw Chris and Stephanie sleeping in the bed, and crept into the room. She climbed onto the bed, and laid herself between her parents.
"Daddy," she whispered. Chris stirred but didn't wake up.
"Daddy!" she whispered again, a little more loudly this time. Stephanie heard her, and opened her eyes.
"Hey baby," Stephanie said quietly. Regan turned her body towards Stephanie.
"Hi Mama, I wake up Daddy."
"Why don't we let him sleep, he looks tired?"
"Ok."
"Too late," Chris said, as Regan and Stephanie turned towards him.
"Daddy!" Regan said, going willingly into his arms as he held them open for her.
"Good morning baby, can I have a kiss?" Regan complied, and then laid back down on the bed.
"We go to wefwing today," Regan said definitively.
"I know," Chris answered.
"Oh, yeah, I completely forgot, I had other things on my mind," Stephanie said, sending Chris a look, which he smiled at.
"I understand," Chris said winking at her.
"Where are we going again?"
"Just over to Hartford, we get to sleep in our own beds tonight."
"Well, we better get a move on," Stephanie said, getting out of bed, and getting ready for the day.
**********************
"So, I wanted to ask your opinion on something," Chris told Kurt, later that day at the arena. Stephanie and Regan weren't around.
"What?"
"I was going to ask Stephanie to marry me."
"Um, Chris, you guys are already married," Kurt said, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"I know that dumbass, but she can't remember our wedding, don't you think your wedding is something that you should remember?"
"You've got a point."
"So I'm not being a complete doofus for wanting to ask her again?"
"No, not any more than usual."
"Thanks," Chris said sarcastically, "I just don't know how to go about it."
"Well, how did you propose to her last time?"
"I told her she was stuck with me."
"Wow, that sounds romantic," Kurt said blandly.
"You know Stephanie, or at least the old Stephanie, she didn't ever want romantic, she wanted straight-forward."
"Yeah, well, what about this Stephanie?"
"Well, she does like romantic stuff, but not so much, but she doesn't like the straight-forward approach either, she's in the middle."
"So do something moderately romantic."
"Like what?"
"I don't know!"
"Like, drop her ring in a champagne glass or something?"
"You have a ring."
"I have her old ring, she never took it on her trip."
"Are you trying to be cheap and not buy her a new ring?"
"No! I just figure giving her, her old ring, it might spark a memory, and besides it has sentimental value."
"Still hoping for her memory to come back?"
"Well, she can remember a little bit, but yeah, I guess I'll always hold out hope that she'll get it back."
"But she loves you. You said she told you this morning."
"Kurt, you are an idiot, I know she loves me, that's not the point. The point is, I want her to remember us. I just want her to know what we had," Chris said sighing, "It sucks being the only one who can remember things like our first date, or our wedding and stuff."
"I'm sorry."
"It's ok, so how do I propose to her?"
************************
Over the next few days, Chris tried to think of the perfect way to propose to Stephanie. He wanted it to be perfect. It was like he had to start all over again with Stephanie. The last time he had proposed, it hadn't been all that romantic, more a spur of the moment type of proposal. This time, he wanted to plan it out perfectly, he wanted to make it memorable.
He finally thought he had the perfect plan, and he was waiting for the perfect moment to execute it. He figured next Monday at Raw would be perfect. He was a little bit on edge though, not wanting his plans to be revealed to anyone.
"Chris," Stephanie said, walking into the bedroom. Chris jumped at her voice, and quickly put the ring in the drawer.
"Yeah, Steph?"
"Um, are you ok, you seem kind of jumpy?" Stephanie said, walking over to stand in front of him.
"Yeah, I'm fine, you just startled me right there."
"Ok, you sure?" Stephanie asked, still a bit concerned.
"Of course, now why are you here?" Chris said, pulling her into his lap.
"I just wanted to tell you that dinner is almost ready and you might want to come down so we can eat."
"I'll be right down," Chris said, kissing her.
"So what's in the drawer?" Stephanie asked.
"What are you talking about?" Chris asked as nonchalantly as he could.
"I saw you put something in there, are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to find out myself?" Stephanie said, reaching for the drawer.
"Hey, none of your business," Chris said grabbing her arm before she could reach the drawer.
"Are you keeping secrets from me?" Stephanie said suspiciously.
"Maybe, maybe not," Chris said, kissing her lightly, "But you're just going to have to wait to find out."
"You're no fun."
"All in due time baby, all in due time."
"Whatever, let's go eat," Stephanie said, getting up, and pulling him by the hand.
***********************
Chris paced nervously around his dressing room. Tonight was the night he was going to propose, and he was nervous. He didn't remember being so nervous last time he had proposed. Maybe because last time, he hadn't thought about proposing, he had just come out and said what he felt.
He breathed deeply, trying to calm his nerves down. Stephanie was in a meeting, and he was waiting for her to come back. He had Kurt waiting outside ready to tell him when Stephanie was coming. Regan was with Linda, who was making a rare appearance at a show tonight.
"Chris, she's coming," Kurt said, poking his head through the door.
"Ok," Chris said nodding. Kurt closed the door, leaving Chris alone momentarily.
Stephanie opened the door and walked in, "Hey there."
"Hey Steph, how was the meeting?"
"It was good, you look a little pale, are you all right?" Stephanie asked, studying his face.
"Yeah, it's just kind of hot in here."
"Did you want to go outside and get some fresh air, it might do you some good?"
"No, um, could you just get me my tights, they're in that bag right next to you," Chris said, pointing to a lone duffel bag.
"Sure, no problem," Stephanie said, bending down to go into the bag. She unzipped the bag, and didn't find anything inside, "Chris, there's no tights in here."
"Are you sure, look harder."
"Um, ok," Stephanie answered, looking again.
She unzipped the bag all the way, and saw absolutely nothing inside. She stuck her hand inside, searching in the corners of the bag. Her hand fell on something small and square, and she grabbed it. She pulled it out and realized it was a ring box. What was Chris doing with a ring box?
"Chris, this was the only thing in there, did you forget your tights?" Stephanie said, standing up.
"Open the box," Chris told her.
"I don't think tights will fit in this box," Stephanie said laughing.
"Just open it."
Stephanie opened it and saw a ring sitting inside. It was beautiful, a rather large diamond surrounded by two smaller diamonds. And it looked to be platinum. She looked at the ring, and then at Chris, and then at the ring again.
"What's this?" Stephanie asked, with wide eyes.
"It's yours, but you can't have it until you answer one question."
"Question?" Chris got down on one knee in front of her.
"Will you marry me?"
"But we're already married," Stephanie told him.
"I know, but you can't remember our last wedding, and I want a wedding that we can both remember."
"Really?" Stephanie asked, getting choked up with emotion.
"Yes, I want to start a new life with you, and what better way then to get married again."
"Then of course I'll marry you, or renew our vows, or whatever, just YES!"
Chris stood up, and took Stephanie into his arms. She hugged him tightly, before pulling away and kissing him passionately. He kissed her back, and smiled as they pulled away from each other. He took the ring from its box and slid it onto her finger.
"The ring seems vaguely familiar," Stephanie said.
"It should, it was the engagement ring I gave you four years ago. You never brought it on the trip."
"Wow, it really is beautiful."
"You picked it out, we bought it together."
"I had good taste then."
"Of course you did, you married me didn't you?"