A/N:  ::dies of shock::  Wow, just wow on the response to this story.  I'm so glad that you guys liked the first chapter.  I'm also surprised on how many of you are torn.  Well, we'll see how this fic goes and we'll see how you guys react to it and who knows how you'll all think by the end. ;)  Keep the reviews coming!  They're awesome, seriously!

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Why was she in all his dreams?  It didn't make sense.  He and Stephanie weren't even friends.  Sure, they had worked together, once upon a time, but they had never really gotten to know each other.  There business partnership was over two years ago, and merely a memory to either party.  She had come back to Raw once her father had taken her back, but she was in a management position, and she only conversed with him when she needed to tell him something about a match or a show or whatever was on tap for him that particular night.  They didn't even travel in the same social circles.

So why couldn't he stop dreaming about her?

She was always there, and she was so sweet and kind in them.  The perfect wife, and he always felt content in his dreams.  He almost felt like chalking them up to nightmares, but they never turned dark or sinister.  They were always happy, more importantly and puzzling, HE was always happy.  Why was he so happy with someone he had never been with before in his life?

He liked Trish, he liked being with Trish, that much he knew.  Trish made him really happy, happier than he'd been in years.  He'd never had a long-term relationship because the girls he met wouldn't be in the business and it was hard to sustain a relationship when he traveled so much.  But with Trish, she was always here, and that made it so much easier.  They had fun together, but why wasn't he dreaming about her.

The dreams had persisted for a few days and they were driving him crazy.  He kept trying to think of different reasons why Stephanie would be in his dreams, but none of the reasons made sense.  Maybe because he saw her around the company and she had just transferred herself into his dreams.

"Yoo-hoo, Earth to Chris," Trish said, snapping in front of his face.

"What?"

"You were going space cadet on me," Trish said, "That's like the fifth time this week, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing," he lied.  He didn't think his girlfriend would appreciate him dreaming about another woman.  And not just some random woman, one of their bosses.

"Is this about what I told you the other night?" she asked, "Because I know that it must have been a shock, and if you don't want to hear it, then I can just keep it to myself."

"No, it's not that, I promise.  I'm still flattered by that."

"Of course, flattery gets you nowhere," she laughed, "So I'm not expecting an answer to what I said."

"You'll get an answer, when I'm good and ready to give you one."

She giggled, "You want to go downstairs and get a late dinner?"

"Sure," he grinned, getting up off the couch.

He grabbed her hand and they walked downstairs together, going over to the café adjacent to the lobby.  They were seated immediately and Trish chattered non-stop about how she was having so much fun on the show with her feud against Victoria.  Chris grinned as he listened to her speak.  He just liked hearing the sound of her voice.

His attention was distracted as Stephanie walked into the café.  She was talking animatedly into her cell phone, her free hand waving impatiently.  She had a large bag with her, with files peeking out.  She must've been so busy, he thought to himself.  She was always busy in his dreams, busy with their kids and all that.  She also took care of him in his dreams, in just the right way.  She looked so involved in her work, as she sat down only to pull out some files to look at.  He wondered if she was even the type to get married.

"Cadet Jericho, permission to land," Trish said, grabbing his hand.

He turned his attention away from Stephanie, "Sorry about that."

Trish looked in the direction he had been looking at and saw Stephanie sitting alone at a table, writing something furiously into a file.  She turned back to Chris, "God, does she ever stop working?"

"I was just wondering that myself," he commented.

"I feel kind of bad, should we invite her over?" Trish asked.

Chris gave her a look, "But we're not even friends with her.  Not to mention she looks very busy."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Trish said, leaning across the table to kiss him, "But don't you think it'd be a nice gesture."

"You just want to suck up to the boss so she'll give you a title shot," Chris said knowingly.

"Hey!  Are you saying I have ulterior motives?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"I'm appalled you would question my motives on anything!" she said, pretending to be indignant.

"Sure, and while we're at it, we can question some other things," he joked.

"Oh, like how you leave your clothes everywhere," she argued, "That bugs me!"

He shook his head, "Get over it, you're with me now, you have to get used to it."

"Never!  I refuse to become accustomed to your sloppy ways!"

He laughed and kissed her temple, "If you want to invite her over, that's cool with me."

"Ok," she smiled, "You're such a kind man."

"Well, I've got to impress you somehow right?"

"Nah, you impress me all the time."

"Especially in the bedroom right?"

"Well, I was going to say that's the one place you don't impress me," she said, biting her lip, "But now that you said that………."

Chris grabbed her and tickled her into submission, "Stop Chris!"

He laughed and stopped tickling her, "Spoilsport."

"Shut up," she said, punching him in the arm, and then leaning her chair over towards where Stephanie was seated, "Hey Steph!"

Stephanie looked up and around to locate the voice that had just called for her, spotting Trish waving, she turned, "Trish, what can I do for you?"

"Well, Chris and I were just about to have lunch and we noticed that you were sitting alone, and wondered if you wanted to join us."

"Well, I have a lot of work to do," Stephanie told them.

"Oh, that's cool then, you don't have to," Trish said, smiling, "Just wanted to make sure that you weren't lonely or anything."

"Thanks for the offer though," Stephanie smiled, then went back to her work.

"No problem," Trish responded, turning back to Chris, she lowered her voice, "I feel bad for her."

"Why?"

"Well, she just works all the time.  Trying to stay on her father's good side and all that.  It's gotta be hard you know."

"Yeah, I'm sure it is," he said, glancing over at Stephanie.  Stephanie, who was so different from the woman in his dreams, though they were the same person essentially, well, no that wasn't true.  They were just how she really was and how he projected her to be.  They ate their food quickly, since it was so late they hadn't really ordered anything big.

"Come on Chris, I wanna go back upstairs and go to bed," Trish said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"Fine," he said as the waiter set down a check.  He paid for the meal and got up to help Trish out of her seat.

She smiled up at him, "You're such a gentlemen."

"Well, I figure that you can give me one of those Trish kicks if I didn't be as kind as possible to you."

She leaned up to kiss his cheek, "Yeah, and they'd hurt too."
"Trust me, I know," he said, giving a wince as emphasis.

They walked by Stephanie and Trish said goodbye to her politely.  Stephanie looked up and smiled in response, giving a little wave of her hand.  Chris looked back at her as she worked.  Poor thing, she should take a break every once in a while.  He turned back to Trish as she laughed about some unfortunate person's hairdo that had just walked into the coffee shop.

"You're so mean," he said as they went into their hotel room.

"I'm not mean, that woman's hair was like three feet in the air!" she protested.

"So?  You didn't have to laugh and snicker."

"Oh puh-lease, maybe it got her a clue," Trish said, jumping on the bed and lying down on it.

Chris came over and stood over her, "You're such a bitch."

Her mouth dropped, "I can kick you in the crotch right now you know."

He grabbed her feet, "Yeah, try it."

She laughed, "Let go!"

He came down to the bed and hovered over her.  She smiled innocently up at him, her eyes dancing with laughter.  He gave her a look and then laughed as he leaned down to kiss her.  She wrapped her arms around and pulled him closer.  Forgetting about holding onto her feet, he let go, which gave her an opportunity to knee him in the stomach gently.  He pulled away and grabbed his mid-section.

"Oh, you're getting it now Stratus!" 

She gave him a shocked look and started moving up the bed.  He got on the bed and practically pounced on her.  She laughed as she tried to get out from under her, but he kissed her into submission.  She smiled against his lips.  This was definitely more fun than fighting playfully.

Chris walked into the living room to find Stephanie sitting on the floor, laughing with Brennan, the younger of their two sons.  He was busy getting tickled by Stephanie and he giggled happily.  Chris leaned against the doorframe, watching the love of his life and his child as they played happily.  He had missed them.

"Dada!" Brennan yelled as he spotted Chris.

Stephanie turned her head, "Chris, you're home!"

"Yeah, I just got here," he said, gesturing to his suitcase which was next to him.

She got up and ran over to him and he intercepted her before she could pitch them both on the ground.  He held her tightly, burying his face into her hair, taking in the scent that was definitely Stephanie.  It was a mixture of strawberries and bubble gum, the scent of the boy's bubble bath.

"I've missed you so much!" she exclaimed.

"Steph, I've only been gone for four days."

"Four days is too long, much, much, much too long."

"Oh, so was it me you missed, or the fact you had to take care of the boys alone that made you miss me?"

She pulled back and stuck her tongue out, "You."

"Sure it was, and what's with the tongue sticking out, you HAVE been around Bren and Reid too much."

"Well, you know, they are my life," she said, looking over to Brennan who was busy playing with some blocks, "Not that that's a bad thing."

"You know, you don't always have to watch them and stuff, I know you have work you have to do.  I can take Brennan to the park so you can do some work."

She shook his head, "And let you leave me before I even get to spend five minutes with you…not a chance!"

"But you have work?"

"Work's not important, you're important, Bren and Reid are  important, but work is the least of my worries.  We have a very competent staff."

"Well then, how about you come to the park with us?"

"Oh, so I get invited on the father/son trip."

"It wouldn't be the same without the voice of reason…screechy voice of reason."

"My voice is not screechy!" she, well, screeched.

"Uh-oh Bren, let's get out of here," he laughed, rushing over to pick up his son, who hugged him immediately.  They started walking away.

"My voice is not screechy," she mumbled to herself before following them.

Chris woke up with a start. 

Damn it, this needed to end.

Get out of my dreams Stephanie McMahon.