Chris was looking into Stephanie's face, but it was so pale, so very pale that it was almost transparent.  And her eyes, they were devoid of any kind of emotion, they had dark circles under them like she hadn't slept in weeks.  She was staring back at him, and she looked so despondent that Chris just wanted to take her into his arms and hold her until she felt better.  But they were too far apart for him to just wrap his arms around her.  And she was making no attempt to come closer.

It was only then he noticed where they were.  They were back on the beach, the beach where he had found her again.  He also then just noticed that he was holding Regan, just like he had done that fateful day that he had gotten Stephanie back.  Why were they here?  He was so confused, he just looked around, but everything but the water and Stephanie were dark, like it was the dead of night.

"Steph," he whispered "What are you doing here?"

"Let me go," she said, in a hoarse voice, like her mouth was dry or something.

"What are you talking about?"

"Let me go," she repeated.

"Stephy, come with me and we'll go home, you look like you could use some sleep."

"I can't go with you Chris."

"Of course you can, we'll go home and get you to bed, you look exhausted, that can't be good for the baby."

"There is no baby."

"Steph, you're starting to freak me out ok?  Let's just go."

"I'm so sorry Chris," she whispered, "This is my home now."

"But I don't understand?" he said, looking around frantically wondering how they had gotten here, and what was wrong with his wife.

"You dreamed me up Chris.  I never came back, I'm dead, I died in that plane crash, you just can't see the truth and let me go," she said sadly.

"No you didn't!" he screamed, "I found you and you came back and we're married and we're having a baby!"

"No Chris, you imagined those things, they never happened.  I know you want me back, but I'm gone Chris…."

"I didn't imagine them, they happened!" he yelled, wanting her to stop this stupid game.

"Goodbye Chris, be happy," she said as she started fading away.

"No, you're not gone!"

"Be happy with Trish," she whispered as she was almost gone, "I love you."

"Trish," he said, once again confused.

He tried walking to Stephanie, she couldn't be gone, she was just hiding from him or something.  She was real, she had been real.  As he went to take that first step he found himself pulled back by a woman's arms.  He turned around and saw Trish.

"Come on baby, are you done here?"

"What?"

"Done saying goodbye to Stephanie.  We have a flight to catch," she explained looking at him weirdly.

"What are you doing here?"

"You wanted me to come with you for moral support," she said, smiling than kissing his cheek, "You said you needed your two best girls with you."

"Best girls?"

"Me and Regan silly."

Regan woke up and looked up at Trish, "Mama! Hold me!"

"Come here sweetie," Trish said, taking Regan from Chris's arms.  He let her go willingly, letting his arms drop by his sides.  He looked back towards the water, but there was nothing there.

"Why does she call you Mama?" Chris asked dumbly.

"Because she just called me that one day remember?  And you said it was fine since Stephanie is gone."

"But she's not gone!" he protested.

"Sweetie, of course she isn't," Trish said, running her hand down his cheek, "She'll always be with us in spirit.  But come on, I wanted to discuss wedding plans over lunch."

"But I want Stephanie!"

~

Chris woke up with a start.  He shot out of bed.  It was a dream.  But what if that dream was his reality.  Was Stephanie really here?  Or was she still dead laying at the bottom of that sea?  He looked to his bedside and saw it was empty.  Dear God no, he thought, rushing towards the phone.  He dialed her cell phone number quickly.  Her voice message came on.

"Hey, you've reached Stephanie Jericho, and I'm not here at the moment, or I am and I'm too busy to talk to you.  Either way, leave me a nice long message and I'll get back to you.  And Chris, I love you."

Chris's mind was so hazy, he didn't know if that message was new or old or what.  When she had died, he left her messages on everything, just so he could hear her voice and pretend she was still alive.  Was that the same message?  He wasn't sure if it was or wasn't and that scared him.  She couldn't still be dead!  It couldn't have all just been his imagination.

"Steph, baby, it's me.  I really want to--"

"Hello?" came her groggy voice over the phone.

Chris gave out a huge sigh of relief.  She was still here, she wasn't a figment of his imagination, she was alive and she was with him.  She was just in Winnipeg with his parents and Regan was there with them.  He felt his heartbeat return to some semblance of normal and took a couple deep breaths.

"If this is some kind of prank call," he could hear Stephanie mumble on the other line, "I'm killing whoever this is."

"Steph, it's me," he finally answered.

"Chris?"

"Yeah."

"Baby, don't you think it's a little late to be calling, it's like 3 in the morning."

"I know.  I just needed to hear your voice."

"You couldn't have picked a time where I was, you know, awake," she said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, I just woke up and had the urge to talk to you."

"Are you sure it was the urge to talk?" she joked.

"Very funny, where's my little girl?"

"Next to me, sleeping, like I'd like to be doing.  She's taking advantage of the fact her Daddy isn't here to sleep with me."

Chris laughed, "And my other little one?"

"Fine, fine, like's to keep me up at night though.  Kind of like my husband."

"Keep you up at night?" he asked.

"Oh baby, I forgot to tell you, the baby kicked for the first time a couple days ago."

"And I missed it!?!"

"I'm sorry Chris."

"It's ok.  I guess I'll just have to wait to feel it."

"Only two more days sweetheart and then we're home free," Stephanie said happily.

He smiled at her giddiness, "Yeah, I can't wait to have you back here.  Back home where you belong."

"Me neither," she said yawning, "Is there anything else you wanted."
"No, not really, I just really needed to hear your voice."

She yawned again, "Why?"

"Just because.  I had to reassure myself you were still here."

"Where else would I be?" she said as Chris heard shuffling on the other line like she was lying down or something.

"Dead," he said bluntly.

"Chris, is everything alright over there?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah, I just had this dream where you were really dead."

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry."

"I'll be ok, I just wish the next two days would hurry up and pass so I can have you back here with me."

"They will, just try to get some sleep," she said soothingly.

"Ok, I'll let you go now," he said, "Night, I love you."

"I love you too," she said before hanging up.

Chris lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling, wondering what had prompted that dream.  Maybe he was getting anxious about this whole thing with Trish.  The mock wedding was in two days and he was feeling the heat.  The angle had been set up perfectly to a tee.  Only a select few people knew what was going to happen, Stephanie, Chris, Kurt, and Vince had been told about it, but not the reason why they were planning it.

He finally dozed off and fell asleep, the dreams he had been having previously not plaguing him this time.  The rest of the weekend passed too slowly for him.  He just wanted them to pass quickly so he could go to Raw and get this plan over with, but it seemed every minute lasted an hour, and every hour was a day.

Finally, finally he found himself on a plane to the next show in Chicago.  Stephanie and Regan's plane was landing an hour before Raw was slated to start and they'd be taking a limo to the arena straight from the airport.  He got off the plane and got his things before going to rent a car and driving himself to the arena.  He smiled as he thought about the plan and what would be done tonight.

He got to the arena and parked his car, taking his bag out and his tux that he was going to where later on.  It was the same tux that he had worn to both his weddings.  And now he'd be wearing it to keep his life.  He walked inside and Trish rushed towards him.

"Chris!" she squealed, "I'm so excited for tonight!"

"Me too," he said dully.

"Oh my God, it's going to be great," she gushed, pulling him towards her locker room, "What do you think of my hair?"

It was done up in a French twist type thing, with a few strands hanging down by her face, "It's nice, I like it."

"I was hoping you would."

"When are you going to get dressed?"

"Soon," she told him, looking down at her white robe, "I was hoping to talk to you before I got dressed."

Chris could only imagine what she wanted to talk about, but let her drag her to her dressing room anyways.  He'd only have to put up with this a little while longer, then he'd be free from this onslaught that she provided him.  They entered the room and she closed and locked the door.

"You don't know how happy I am about tonight."

"You know it's just storyline right Trish?" he asked, not sure if she really did get it.

"Of course I do, but that's what I wanted to talk about Chris," she said softly, gently.

"Ok."

"I really, really like you," she said, running her hands through his hair, "And I think I may be falling in love with you."

"Oh wow," Chris said, trying to act surprised, "That's news to me."

"Yeah, I know, but I can't help it.  These past few months, with us together have been so great.  And me being able to help you through your marital problems has been great, and I think you and I are great together.  And I was hoping we could take it beyond the storyline."

"I don't know what to say Trish."

"I just wanna be with you Chris," she said, leaning in to kiss his neck.

Chris gently took her face, not wanting her to touch him with her nasty lips, "I'd really like to be with you Trish."

She smirked to herself.  It had all fallen into place perfectly, every single piece of the puzzle was in place.  Stephanie was thousands of miles away, probably not even caring what was going on, Regan was with her grandparent's, and she had Chris all to herself.  And she would have him all to herself for the rest of her life.

"Oh, I'm so happy," she said, throwing her arms around him.

Chris hugged her back, "Me too, and tonight is going to go perfectly."

"I know, I saw the schedule, no interruptions," she said, clapping her hands.

"Nope, but I've got an interview I need to pre-record, so I'll talk to you later, ok?" he said, kissing her cheek.

"Ok, bye Chris, I'll see you down the aisle."

"That you will," Chris said, smirking.

He walked down the hallway, ready to do the interview he was talking about earlier.  He recited what he was supposed to say before he got there.  He was supposed to act like he was happy about the upcoming nuptials.  But he was happy for a different reason.

"You ready for your interview?" the production people asked.

"You bet I am," Chris said.

"Ok, so we'll film on five, you ready Terri?"

"Yeah," the petite blonde said.

"Ok, then in five, four three, two, one, action," the production guy said.

"Chris Jericho, you are set to marry Trish Stratus later on this evening, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling great Terri, I'm ready to go out there and marry the woman of my dreams, what's better than that?"

"That's nice, do you think that everything will go smoothly?"

"Of course it will, I'm certain it will, but you never know, there may be a few twists and turns here and there," Chris said winking.

"And that's a wrap, great job you guys."

"No problem," Chris said before walking off. 

He went back to his locker room to change into his tuxedo.  He grabbed his garment bag and unzipped it.  He slowly changed into his tux, making sure that everything looked perfect with him.  He looked at his watch, Stephanie should be arriving here soon. 

He waited for a while in the locker room, putting his cuff links on.  He went to the mirror and combed his hair back in a tight ponytail.  He actually looked really, really good.  But hey, he was planning a little revenge tonight and you always wanted to look your best for that.

When he was through, he left the room and went down to the other side of the arena, that was nearly deserted.  This is where Stephanie would be hiding for the evening.  He went up to the door where there was a light shining from underneath and knocked softly, lest he be heard.

The door flew open and two arms were thrown him.  He grinned and sighed, finally feeling better now that she was here.  She rested her head on his shoulder and let herself melt into his embrace.  He ran his hands through her brown tresses and pulled them inside the room.

"God I've missed you," she whispered.

"Me too," he whispered back, "God, you're beautiful."

She pulled away, "Thank you."

He looked her over, "Well, someone sure is pregnant."

She rubbed her stomach, "How did you know?"

He ran his hand across her stomach hoping to feel his baby kick, "Have they been active?"

"Not today so much, but yesterday, somersaults in there," she laughed, then felt the baby kick.  She moved his hand over to where the baby was kicking, "They must've heard you."

He laughed, "Now where's my beautiful girl?"

"Sleeping," she said, gesturing towards the couch, "She didn't take her nap yesterday."

"Oh," he whispered, going over to kiss her on the forehead, "But the plan is going to work perfectly."

"I hope so," she said, wrapping her arms around him, "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."