Disclaimer: I am a lowly college student. I own nothing.
A/N: I don't thank my reviewers enough, but thank you.
Unexpected
Chapter Ten
Stephanie just arrived at her brother's place in New York City. She hadn't told Shane when she was coming just that she was coming. She wanted to surprise him, she just hoped that he would be surprised.
Stephanie knocked on Shane's door, hoping that he was home from the office by now. He might have had a date or something that. She'd told him not to change his plans for her, but she didn't expect him to listen to her. He never seemed to anyway.
"Stephie," Shane said pulling his baby sister into a big hug.
"God Shane are you trying to kill me?" Stephanie asked shutting the door behind her.
"Hey if it works then what more can I ask for?" Shane joked. He was happy that his sister was finally coming to visit. He hadn't visited her very much since she married Paul, and she hadn't visited him. (He thought it was on Paul's orders but he hadn't said anything because he didn't have any proof.)
"You better not have canceled any plans that you may have had tonight," Stephanie warned him. She didn't want him to put his life on hold for her.
"No, Marissa is going to bring Jaden by tomorrow," Shane said referring to his three year old daughter.
Stephanie couldn't be more thrilled. She needed someone to distract her and her niece could do just that. Stephanie couldn't believe her luck.
Shane had an opportunity to look his sister over for the first time. He noticed that she looked sleep deprived, a little bit hurt, and like she'd gained a touch of weight, though he knew telling her that at the moment would probably be suicide. There was at least one something bothering her, but probably more. He was far more observant than anyone, especially his sister, gave him credit for. "How's life?"
"You mean Mom didn't tell you?" Stephanie asked. She was surprised, despite what anyone else said Linda always kept her and Shane informed of each others lives, to an annoying point at times.
"What was Mom supposed to tell me?" Shane asked. He had been out of the loop for a while. His life for the last six months had been his little girl and the office.
"Dad told Paul I was cheating on him, even though I wasn't. He filed for divorce about three months ago," Stephanie told her brother who she knew wasn't going to be happy. "I happily signed. I didn't want to end up like Mom."
Shane didn't blame her. He knew what it was like being in a marriage destined to fail. He knew that he and Marissa weren't going to make it for years before he finally filed for divorce. He didn't want anyone to have to do that. "That bastard," Shane muttered controlling any other curses that came out.
"Who's the bastard?" Stephanie asked. Right now personally she thought most men were bastards.
"They both are," Shane replied. "Next time I see Paul I'm going to kill him."
"Don't hurt him," Stephanie said. "Living with knowing the truth eventually will eat him away inside. You know it's only a matter of time before Dad will want to hurt him that's when he'll say that I never cheated on anyone. Then it will be to late."
"Why prey tell will that be?" Shane asked wondering if her sister had moved on to her next failed romance. He hated to admit it but all McMahon's were destined to fail in the romance department.
"Because he chose to listen to the one person he knew was out to get me. He chose to believe a person he knew to be manipulative and vindictive instead of his wife," Stephanie said bitterly.
Shane knew she had every right to be bitter but he didn't want bitterness to consume her. He made a mental note to watch her the next few days. "Steph, I hate to say this, and I'm not doing it to defend Paul in any why but you've been known to be vindictive and manipulative yourself," Shane pointed out. "What have you been doing the last few months if you haven't been on TV or being Paul's doting wife."
"Throwing myself into work, visiting a few old friends, that kind of stuff," Stephanie said conveniently leaving out the last few weeks. She knew Shane would know eventually but today wasn't the day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark didn't know who to curse more, her for leaving or him for letting her go. He knew that she would leave when she said she would, and he knew he could have done more to keep her here. 'Maybe you need this,' the little voice inside his head, that happened to be the only part of his brain thinking logically at the moment, said
"Yeah," Mark mumbled to himself only half believing it. He didn't think that Steph leaving was a good thing, but maybe that was the possessive part of him. Since when was he possessive of Stephanie?
He was also frustrated because it was getting late and Steph didn't have the common courtesy to call and at least tell him that she got in okay. She should have been in New York hours ago. He'd already tried calling her cell phone, but it was turned off. If she wanted space he would give it to her after he knew she made it okay.
He felt like slamming something, anything, anything at this point against the wall or some other hard surface. He wanted to call Shane but it was getting to late, and he had a lot of respect for Shane, and pissing him off wasn't usually a good idea.
"Dad, chill out. She'll call tomorrow morning," Savannah told her father. She was sick of seeing him like this, and sick of seeing herself like this. She didn't know how she was feeling, it was kind of all mixed up with the events of the last few weeks.
"I'm not thinking about Stephanie," Mark lied though he figured his daughter would see right through it.
"Yes you were," Savannah said.
Mark looked at his daughter for a moment that's when he noticed a few things that he hadn't since she'd been home, such as bruises right below the base of her neck and on her arms (the previous day she'd been wearing a long sleeved shirt and there were so many other things going on). "What did he do to you?" Mark asked trying to keep his again rising anger in check.
"Like I'm sure you know Vince isn't the most pleasant man," Savannah explained hoping that despite the intense anger and hatred that was flowing in his eyes, he would get what she meant without her having to say it directly.
Mark hugged his little girl. He didn't have any words that would help her at the moment. He didn't think that he would be able to say anything of any comfort anyhow. He was so angry at everything that had happened and obviously at Vince McMahon.
He didn't know how long he was holding his daughter before he stopped crying. He thought there was more to what she had to say but he wasn't going to press her about it seeing what happened with one simple question. She hadn't kept anything from him before, so he thought it would only be a matter of time before she was ready to open up and tell him everything.
"I'm going to go to bed," Savannah said pulling herself together. Now that she had told someone about beating she couldn't bury the other things that happened and she needed someone to talk to, more than she ever had in her life.
"Good night baby girl," Mark said kissing her on the forehead. "Sleep tight."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stephanie spent all evening catching up with her brother, and hadn't even realized that she hadn't remembered to turn her phone back on after she got off the plane until she was changing into her pajamas getting ready for bed.
She briefly considered not turning it back on until tomorrow morning but then realized that she told Savannah that she could call anytime and decided to turn it back on. Not even two minutes after she turned the thing back on it started ringing. She answered it quickly before it could keep Shane from sleeping.
______________________________________________________________________________
There you go there's one more chapter complete. You've read now the nice thing to do is review.
A/N: I don't thank my reviewers enough, but thank you.
Unexpected
Chapter Ten
Stephanie just arrived at her brother's place in New York City. She hadn't told Shane when she was coming just that she was coming. She wanted to surprise him, she just hoped that he would be surprised.
Stephanie knocked on Shane's door, hoping that he was home from the office by now. He might have had a date or something that. She'd told him not to change his plans for her, but she didn't expect him to listen to her. He never seemed to anyway.
"Stephie," Shane said pulling his baby sister into a big hug.
"God Shane are you trying to kill me?" Stephanie asked shutting the door behind her.
"Hey if it works then what more can I ask for?" Shane joked. He was happy that his sister was finally coming to visit. He hadn't visited her very much since she married Paul, and she hadn't visited him. (He thought it was on Paul's orders but he hadn't said anything because he didn't have any proof.)
"You better not have canceled any plans that you may have had tonight," Stephanie warned him. She didn't want him to put his life on hold for her.
"No, Marissa is going to bring Jaden by tomorrow," Shane said referring to his three year old daughter.
Stephanie couldn't be more thrilled. She needed someone to distract her and her niece could do just that. Stephanie couldn't believe her luck.
Shane had an opportunity to look his sister over for the first time. He noticed that she looked sleep deprived, a little bit hurt, and like she'd gained a touch of weight, though he knew telling her that at the moment would probably be suicide. There was at least one something bothering her, but probably more. He was far more observant than anyone, especially his sister, gave him credit for. "How's life?"
"You mean Mom didn't tell you?" Stephanie asked. She was surprised, despite what anyone else said Linda always kept her and Shane informed of each others lives, to an annoying point at times.
"What was Mom supposed to tell me?" Shane asked. He had been out of the loop for a while. His life for the last six months had been his little girl and the office.
"Dad told Paul I was cheating on him, even though I wasn't. He filed for divorce about three months ago," Stephanie told her brother who she knew wasn't going to be happy. "I happily signed. I didn't want to end up like Mom."
Shane didn't blame her. He knew what it was like being in a marriage destined to fail. He knew that he and Marissa weren't going to make it for years before he finally filed for divorce. He didn't want anyone to have to do that. "That bastard," Shane muttered controlling any other curses that came out.
"Who's the bastard?" Stephanie asked. Right now personally she thought most men were bastards.
"They both are," Shane replied. "Next time I see Paul I'm going to kill him."
"Don't hurt him," Stephanie said. "Living with knowing the truth eventually will eat him away inside. You know it's only a matter of time before Dad will want to hurt him that's when he'll say that I never cheated on anyone. Then it will be to late."
"Why prey tell will that be?" Shane asked wondering if her sister had moved on to her next failed romance. He hated to admit it but all McMahon's were destined to fail in the romance department.
"Because he chose to listen to the one person he knew was out to get me. He chose to believe a person he knew to be manipulative and vindictive instead of his wife," Stephanie said bitterly.
Shane knew she had every right to be bitter but he didn't want bitterness to consume her. He made a mental note to watch her the next few days. "Steph, I hate to say this, and I'm not doing it to defend Paul in any why but you've been known to be vindictive and manipulative yourself," Shane pointed out. "What have you been doing the last few months if you haven't been on TV or being Paul's doting wife."
"Throwing myself into work, visiting a few old friends, that kind of stuff," Stephanie said conveniently leaving out the last few weeks. She knew Shane would know eventually but today wasn't the day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark didn't know who to curse more, her for leaving or him for letting her go. He knew that she would leave when she said she would, and he knew he could have done more to keep her here. 'Maybe you need this,' the little voice inside his head, that happened to be the only part of his brain thinking logically at the moment, said
"Yeah," Mark mumbled to himself only half believing it. He didn't think that Steph leaving was a good thing, but maybe that was the possessive part of him. Since when was he possessive of Stephanie?
He was also frustrated because it was getting late and Steph didn't have the common courtesy to call and at least tell him that she got in okay. She should have been in New York hours ago. He'd already tried calling her cell phone, but it was turned off. If she wanted space he would give it to her after he knew she made it okay.
He felt like slamming something, anything, anything at this point against the wall or some other hard surface. He wanted to call Shane but it was getting to late, and he had a lot of respect for Shane, and pissing him off wasn't usually a good idea.
"Dad, chill out. She'll call tomorrow morning," Savannah told her father. She was sick of seeing him like this, and sick of seeing herself like this. She didn't know how she was feeling, it was kind of all mixed up with the events of the last few weeks.
"I'm not thinking about Stephanie," Mark lied though he figured his daughter would see right through it.
"Yes you were," Savannah said.
Mark looked at his daughter for a moment that's when he noticed a few things that he hadn't since she'd been home, such as bruises right below the base of her neck and on her arms (the previous day she'd been wearing a long sleeved shirt and there were so many other things going on). "What did he do to you?" Mark asked trying to keep his again rising anger in check.
"Like I'm sure you know Vince isn't the most pleasant man," Savannah explained hoping that despite the intense anger and hatred that was flowing in his eyes, he would get what she meant without her having to say it directly.
Mark hugged his little girl. He didn't have any words that would help her at the moment. He didn't think that he would be able to say anything of any comfort anyhow. He was so angry at everything that had happened and obviously at Vince McMahon.
He didn't know how long he was holding his daughter before he stopped crying. He thought there was more to what she had to say but he wasn't going to press her about it seeing what happened with one simple question. She hadn't kept anything from him before, so he thought it would only be a matter of time before she was ready to open up and tell him everything.
"I'm going to go to bed," Savannah said pulling herself together. Now that she had told someone about beating she couldn't bury the other things that happened and she needed someone to talk to, more than she ever had in her life.
"Good night baby girl," Mark said kissing her on the forehead. "Sleep tight."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stephanie spent all evening catching up with her brother, and hadn't even realized that she hadn't remembered to turn her phone back on after she got off the plane until she was changing into her pajamas getting ready for bed.
She briefly considered not turning it back on until tomorrow morning but then realized that she told Savannah that she could call anytime and decided to turn it back on. Not even two minutes after she turned the thing back on it started ringing. She answered it quickly before it could keep Shane from sleeping.
______________________________________________________________________________
There you go there's one more chapter complete. You've read now the nice thing to do is review.