When the doctor had said those two little words--"you're pregnant"--
Stephanie had been shocked, but then everything that she'd been feeling
lately had suddenly made an all new kind of sense. Somewhere in her
peripheral vision she knew that the bartender was looking at her curiously,
probably because she couldn't get that ridiculously stupid smile off of her
face--but it didn't matter. None of any of it mattered.
She was having a baby. Unconsciously her hand stroked her stomach. "Your daddy is going to be so happy when he finds out about you", she whispered softly. But then she wondered.
Would he be?
Would he be happy? Of course he would. This was a baby--their baby. And he or she would be the most beautiful, happiest, healthiest baby in the history of the world, Stephanie promised herself firmly. And all she had to do was tell Hunter the truth. Then everything would be perfect, he would fix everything, and they could try again...
Suddenly she had a horrifying thought: Healthy? What if the baby wasn't healthy? She'd been pregnant during her last few days in the Federation. And that final match with Hunter had been so brutal... she had ached for days. She hadn't known about the baby then, hadn't even suspected, if she had she never would have set one foot in that ring. But she hadn't known about the baby, although she really ought to have suspected considering how much she and Hunter had "celebrated" their upcoming wedding and arrival of their child. So she really didn't know why she was still so floored at the news. But what if there was something wrong now? She would never be able to forgive herself. Hurriedly Stephanie pulled out her phone and pressed Speed Dial One, but as soon as she realized what she was doing she hung up quickly. No, she couldn't tell Hunter like this, not over the phone. This was something that she had to tell him face to face. Besides, even if she did want to tell him right this minute, he'd probably just hang up on her. With a burst of renewed energy Stephanie dumped the contents of her purse on the counter and rummaged through the belongings until she found the card that was from Dr. Alan Lucas. She had first consulted with him four months ago, when she had thought she could be pregnant. She remembered she had been so very thrilled at the idea.....
Four Months Earlier....
Stephanie dangled her legs in on the bed, freezing in that pathetic hospital gown the nurse had given her to wear, waiting impatiently for Dr. Lucas. She wanted to get the heck out of her so she could go have dinner with her husband. She had already called ahead to the restaurant and placed the order for a special meal...baby back ribs, baby corn...she knew it was pretty dorky and inelegant, but she didn't care. She wanted to see how long it would take Hunter to figure out the theme of the evening. As soon as she finished here, she wanted to go to a sports shop and buy a baseball glove and write something sentimental like "Congratulations, Daddy" or something really maudlin like that. This baby was going to fix everything. Stephanie knew that she and Hunter had been growing apart as of late, but this would bring them closer together than ever before. Hunter never really said anything, but she knew that he wanted children. He never realized it but she would catch him looking at the kids with a kind of wistful expression every time they would pass a park. She hadn't wanted to bring up the subject, to pressure him, because they already had so much going on in their lives...for months now he had been in rehab, healing his quad, and she had been getting more and more involved with Shane's plot against Dad and ECW. She had wanted to be there for Hunter, to help him through every possible set-back, celebrate his every triumph, but all he had wanted was for her to leave him alone, so he could train. That had stung. She had tried to be understanding though, but she was his wife, and she knew he needed her around, even if he himself didn't quite realize that yet. But she also knew she couldn't force the issue, so she had thrown herself completely into ECW and left Hunter to his own recourse, all the time rushing back to her various hotel rooms, hoping against hope that there'd be some sort of message from him...but there never had been.
And then the Alliance had been destroyed, and she was once again on Dad's bad side, but Hunter's painstaking dedication had paid off. He had beaten all the odds, he had returned. It should have been a joyful, gloriously triumphant time for the both of them, but instead their marriage had crumbled even further. So she had gone a bit overboard, trying to make things better, but instead everything she did only seemed to make him even angrier.
And then Stephanie had realized the possibility of a pregnancy, and here she was in Dr. Lucas' office. Her head snapped back up as the doctor came in the room. She sat expectantly, waiting for his confirmation of her suspicion.
"Hello, Mrs. Helmsley." Dr. Lucas sat across from her. "I realize this isn't the news you were expecting but..."
"I'm pregnant, right? Right?" she asked excitedly.
"I'm afraid not...although I do wish to tell you I see absolutely no problems in the future, you are not pregnant at this time."
"Well, that obviously can't be right. You don't understand. I have to be pregnant. I am pregnant! Run the damn test again! The first one was obviously wrong." Stephanie objected.
"It wasn't wrong, they're really very accurate. I'm sorry, but..."
But Stephanie didn't want to hear anything further. She looked at him and asked him to leave her to get dressed, and when he exited the room, she told herself she would not cry. She wouldn't...just because it wasn't happening now, that didn't mean anything.
She really needed to cancel the dinner....
Present Day
Stephanie shook off the bad feelings that memory brought forth. She had been so upset, and then that very evening, Hunter had sprung his "surprise" on her, telling her he wanted a divorce. A divorce! She'd see him in hell first! So she'd said the first thing that popped into her head, that she was pregnant and the whole thing had just snowballed from there. She had wanted to buy herself some time, that was all! She would have told him the truth eventually, when they were deliriously happy after the renewal of their wedding vows, he would be a little upset, but then they'd get to work on actually making a baby and she would make up for her lie. Instead all she had bought herself was the Backfire of the Century.
But this time around, it actually was true. She wouldn't be lying, and Hunter would see that. Stephanie first made a call to arrange an appointment with Dr. Lucas, and then looked through her Palm Pilot. Hmmm...it looked like Smackdown would be in New York this week. She had a lot to do and not much time to do it in.
But first, she needed to get some sleep. She was too tired to think anymore for the night. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley left the bar, knowing that it would remain one of her favorite places of all time, because that was the place where she had come up with a foolproof plan to get it all back: her marriage, her family and her career. And God help anyone who actually dared to try and get in her way she thought, entering the elevator that led to her hotel room upstairs.
Halfway across the country, Hunter Hearst-Helmsley awoke in a cold sweat with a start, chills running through his body. "Steph?" he called silently in the darkness of his own hotel suite.
She was having a baby. Unconsciously her hand stroked her stomach. "Your daddy is going to be so happy when he finds out about you", she whispered softly. But then she wondered.
Would he be?
Would he be happy? Of course he would. This was a baby--their baby. And he or she would be the most beautiful, happiest, healthiest baby in the history of the world, Stephanie promised herself firmly. And all she had to do was tell Hunter the truth. Then everything would be perfect, he would fix everything, and they could try again...
Suddenly she had a horrifying thought: Healthy? What if the baby wasn't healthy? She'd been pregnant during her last few days in the Federation. And that final match with Hunter had been so brutal... she had ached for days. She hadn't known about the baby then, hadn't even suspected, if she had she never would have set one foot in that ring. But she hadn't known about the baby, although she really ought to have suspected considering how much she and Hunter had "celebrated" their upcoming wedding and arrival of their child. So she really didn't know why she was still so floored at the news. But what if there was something wrong now? She would never be able to forgive herself. Hurriedly Stephanie pulled out her phone and pressed Speed Dial One, but as soon as she realized what she was doing she hung up quickly. No, she couldn't tell Hunter like this, not over the phone. This was something that she had to tell him face to face. Besides, even if she did want to tell him right this minute, he'd probably just hang up on her. With a burst of renewed energy Stephanie dumped the contents of her purse on the counter and rummaged through the belongings until she found the card that was from Dr. Alan Lucas. She had first consulted with him four months ago, when she had thought she could be pregnant. She remembered she had been so very thrilled at the idea.....
Four Months Earlier....
Stephanie dangled her legs in on the bed, freezing in that pathetic hospital gown the nurse had given her to wear, waiting impatiently for Dr. Lucas. She wanted to get the heck out of her so she could go have dinner with her husband. She had already called ahead to the restaurant and placed the order for a special meal...baby back ribs, baby corn...she knew it was pretty dorky and inelegant, but she didn't care. She wanted to see how long it would take Hunter to figure out the theme of the evening. As soon as she finished here, she wanted to go to a sports shop and buy a baseball glove and write something sentimental like "Congratulations, Daddy" or something really maudlin like that. This baby was going to fix everything. Stephanie knew that she and Hunter had been growing apart as of late, but this would bring them closer together than ever before. Hunter never really said anything, but she knew that he wanted children. He never realized it but she would catch him looking at the kids with a kind of wistful expression every time they would pass a park. She hadn't wanted to bring up the subject, to pressure him, because they already had so much going on in their lives...for months now he had been in rehab, healing his quad, and she had been getting more and more involved with Shane's plot against Dad and ECW. She had wanted to be there for Hunter, to help him through every possible set-back, celebrate his every triumph, but all he had wanted was for her to leave him alone, so he could train. That had stung. She had tried to be understanding though, but she was his wife, and she knew he needed her around, even if he himself didn't quite realize that yet. But she also knew she couldn't force the issue, so she had thrown herself completely into ECW and left Hunter to his own recourse, all the time rushing back to her various hotel rooms, hoping against hope that there'd be some sort of message from him...but there never had been.
And then the Alliance had been destroyed, and she was once again on Dad's bad side, but Hunter's painstaking dedication had paid off. He had beaten all the odds, he had returned. It should have been a joyful, gloriously triumphant time for the both of them, but instead their marriage had crumbled even further. So she had gone a bit overboard, trying to make things better, but instead everything she did only seemed to make him even angrier.
And then Stephanie had realized the possibility of a pregnancy, and here she was in Dr. Lucas' office. Her head snapped back up as the doctor came in the room. She sat expectantly, waiting for his confirmation of her suspicion.
"Hello, Mrs. Helmsley." Dr. Lucas sat across from her. "I realize this isn't the news you were expecting but..."
"I'm pregnant, right? Right?" she asked excitedly.
"I'm afraid not...although I do wish to tell you I see absolutely no problems in the future, you are not pregnant at this time."
"Well, that obviously can't be right. You don't understand. I have to be pregnant. I am pregnant! Run the damn test again! The first one was obviously wrong." Stephanie objected.
"It wasn't wrong, they're really very accurate. I'm sorry, but..."
But Stephanie didn't want to hear anything further. She looked at him and asked him to leave her to get dressed, and when he exited the room, she told herself she would not cry. She wouldn't...just because it wasn't happening now, that didn't mean anything.
She really needed to cancel the dinner....
Present Day
Stephanie shook off the bad feelings that memory brought forth. She had been so upset, and then that very evening, Hunter had sprung his "surprise" on her, telling her he wanted a divorce. A divorce! She'd see him in hell first! So she'd said the first thing that popped into her head, that she was pregnant and the whole thing had just snowballed from there. She had wanted to buy herself some time, that was all! She would have told him the truth eventually, when they were deliriously happy after the renewal of their wedding vows, he would be a little upset, but then they'd get to work on actually making a baby and she would make up for her lie. Instead all she had bought herself was the Backfire of the Century.
But this time around, it actually was true. She wouldn't be lying, and Hunter would see that. Stephanie first made a call to arrange an appointment with Dr. Lucas, and then looked through her Palm Pilot. Hmmm...it looked like Smackdown would be in New York this week. She had a lot to do and not much time to do it in.
But first, she needed to get some sleep. She was too tired to think anymore for the night. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley left the bar, knowing that it would remain one of her favorite places of all time, because that was the place where she had come up with a foolproof plan to get it all back: her marriage, her family and her career. And God help anyone who actually dared to try and get in her way she thought, entering the elevator that led to her hotel room upstairs.
Halfway across the country, Hunter Hearst-Helmsley awoke in a cold sweat with a start, chills running through his body. "Steph?" he called silently in the darkness of his own hotel suite.