Chapter Seven

"Hi Aunt Steph-nie" Kenny said in the sweetest little voice as he climbed into Stephanie's lap.

Steph smiled hugging her youngest nephew back. Her first weekend back in Greenwich was celebrated with a family cookout. A billow of smoke rose from the grill that was being manned by both Vince and Shane.

"How are you Steph?" Marissa asked sitting next to Stephanie.

"I'm okay. Doing better." Stephanie replied taking one of Kenny's little hand in hers.

His hand was little and somewhat dirty from the backyard play. Kenny smiled at his aunt. His beautiful hazel eyes shimmering back at her. She felt him squeeze her hand and laugh; the heartwarming child laughter that Stephanie now longed to hear.

"Aunt Steph-nie, where's Adriana? I wanna play." Kenny asked innocently.

"Kenny, remember what we talked about? Why don't you go and play." Marissa interjected before Stephanie could even say anything.

Steph felt Kenny pull away from her hand as he got off her lap and ran off. Steph placed her now empty right on her lap as the tears began to form in her eyes.

"Oh Steph, I'm sorry. I don't think Kenny understands."

Stephanie nodded silently as she quickly swiped away the tears and inhaled. She had promised herself that she would not let anything keep her from enjoying the cook out her family had put together for her.

"Hey Steph."

Stephanie saw Kurt Angle making his way over to her. He wore a pair of kaki shorts and a tank top along with a nice black pair of sun glasses. He smiled as he walked up to her.

"Hi…" Stephanie said again wiping her face, making sure all the evidence of tears was in fact wiped clean from her face.

Angle removed his sun glasses revealing his nice vibrant blue eyes studying her. His eyes were kind and caring.

"Why don't we take a walk." Kurt offered, putting his sunglasses back on.

Stephanie looked over at Marissa who nodded signaling to Stephanie that it was a good idea. Steph shrugged and stood.

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"So how did you know about the cook out?" Stephanie asked walking next to Kurt as they began to walk the perimeter of the McMahon's two acres.

"Your mom called me and told me. I hope you don't mind I came." Kurt replied looking over at his friend.

"No, I'm glad you came." Steph quickly replied giving him a nice smile.

"I think it's good you came to stay with your parents." Kurt said. "There's just something about the place where you grew up."

"Yeah, there is." Stephanie agreed as Angle fell silent.

"So Kurt, how's little Kyra? Have you seen her lately?" Steph asked trying hard not to seem too nosy.

Kurt said nothing for a minute as he removed his sun glasses and hooked them in her tank top.

"No…I haven't seen her…in three months." Kurt muttered softly in a low shaky voice. "I miss her so much…"

Angle stopped walking and stood still his eyes looking off into the distance. His faced illustrated how much he missed his little girl.

"I miss my little girl, too." Steph simply stated.

"I'm sorry Steph. I didn't mean to come here to make you feel bad." Angle said turning to face his friend.

Stephanie smiled weakly before embracing her friend. Her hands gently caressed his clothed back as she felt him tighten the hug.

"You don't know how lucky Paul was to have you. He loved you so much." She heard him whisper.

Never had one simple statement been so meaningful to Stephanie. What Kurt said made Steph truly believe that Paul did in fact know how much he meant to her. She closed her eyes remembered the text message. The very last thing her husband had said to her before his death. I love you.

"I need to know if you're going to be okay." Kurt said, now caressing Stephanie's face with his right hand.

Stephanie was still in some what of a trance. Her eyes still closed. Though she was still physically with Kurt, her mind was far away. She did not even notice that they were no longer hugging. She did however, feel the warm sensation of Kurt's hand rubbing her face. Steph instinctively nuzzled his hand, like the countless times her husband had lovingly touched her face.

"Steph? Are you going to be okay?" Kurt asked again, still concerned for his friend.

Stephanie finally opened her eyes. She was somewhat surprised that it was her good friend Kurt Angle who was staring back at her. Steph could see the genuine concern in his eyes; the way he rubbed her rubbed her soft cheek with his hand. He really did care for her.

"…Yeah…I'm going to be okay….Thank you, Kurt." Steph replied before slowly taking Kurt's hand off her face.

Angle quickly backed off. He had temporarily forgotten himself. He had let his feelings for Steph cloud his judgment. It had not been his intention to make Stephanie feel uncomfortable; that was the very last thing he wanted.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's okay. I'm just kind of tired." Steph said, her hand beginning to play with the wedding band on her necklace.

Kurt nodded noticing how Stephanie had grasped her husband's wedding band. It was as if she were holding onto Paul Levesque himself. Though he had already been dead for months, Paul was still very much a part of Stephanie.

"You know I should go, I've got a long drive back to Pittsburgh."

"Are-are you sure you don't want some food? A hot dog or hamburger?" Steph offered looking back at everyone on the patio.

"No…thanks. I'll talk to you later." Angle muttered smiling weakly at Stephanie.

"…Bye Kurt…" Steph said as she watched him walk away.

Stephanie watched Kurt quickly say goodbye to both Vince and Linda. He looked sad. She hoped that she hadn't made him feel like he had done anything wrong. Kurt was just being her friend. He was trying to show her how he cared.

Stephanie looked down at her necklace. She twisted the golden wedding band around with her fingers.

"Where's Kurt? We had a hot dog on the grill for him." Shane asked as he approached Stephanie who had not moved.

"He left…"