Stephanie stared down at the papers in front of her trying to make sense of them but she felt too exhausted to try and concentrate. The one morning she actually felt like sleeping in didn't happen as Aiden had decided to wake up early with so much energy she felt like she couldn't keep up. After eating breakfast this morning and playing with Aiden she had sit down to drink a cup of coffee while he went to play in his room. She had decided to try and do some work while she drank her coffee but it was just pointless. Her mind kept drifting off to other things she just didn't want to think about and she just wanted to close her eyes just for a second. Stephanie sighed and looked over at the clock on the wall to notice she had actually been sitting there for an hour. That was when she realized that she hadn't heard a peep from Aiden and with how hyper he had been earlier that was not a good sign. Getting up from the table she walked through the living room and into the hallway to Aiden's room.

"Aiden Michael!"

"What?" Aiden asked innocently dropping the crayon he held onto the floor. Stephanie stared at the now crayon covered wall before closing her eyes to keep herself from trying not to get too mad.

"How did you get the crayons?" Stephanie asked opening her eyes and looking at him. She always kept them put up until he wanted to color and she could supervise him or things like this happened.

"They were in my bag"

"What bag?"

"This one" Aiden said holding up the bag Stephanie packed for him to take to Linda's yesterday. After they had arrived home last night Stephanie had forgotten that she had packed his coloring book and crayons. So technically it was her fault that he had got a hold of them. It didn't help that she was still upset about it though.

"Come with me" Stephanie replied sternly and motioned for him to get up.

"Why?"

"Because you are going to go sit on the couch. You are in time out"

"Why?" Aiden whined without getting up from the floor.

"You colored on the wall" Stephanie replied crossing her arms.

"I didn't color. I drawed" Stephanie shook her head at him.

"That sounds like something your fath… just go sit on the couch. Now" Stephanie replied as Aiden got up from the floor and ran out of the room. "No running"

Stephanie turned back to the wall and observed how much of it he had covered. This was going to be a pain to get off but right now she just wanted to clean up the crayons off the floor and get them put up so he couldn't do it again. Once she had made sure she got on the crayons she headed back into the living room when she noticed Aiden was watching tv.

"Aiden"

"What?" Aiden asked as he kept watching the tv.

"I told you that you were in time out"

"I'm on the couch" Aiden replied as she went over and flipped the tv off.

"Time out doesn't mean just sitting on the couch. You know that" Stephanie said as she went over to the couch and took the remote from him. She went over back over to the kitchen table and sat down putting the crayons and remote beside of her. Today was already turning out to be stressful and she had no idea why Aiden was acting this way. Usually he listened to her but it seemed like he was developing a little bit of an attitude today. Picking up her cup of coffee and taking a sip to find out that it had went cold she got up from the table to pour it out and make another cup but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hey" Shane greeted her when she opened the door.

"Hey" Stephanie smiled weakly at him then stepped aside for him to come in.

"You don't look so good" Shane said following her into the kitchen. She poured out her coffee and poured a fresh cup.

"I am completely frustrated and exhausted" Stephanie replied taking a sip of her coffee and leaned against the counter.

"What's wrong? Did something happen on your date last night?"

"Not really. I just couldn't sleep good last night and Aiden woke up pretty early then decided to color no wait he said 'draw' on his bedroom wall" Stephanie said as Shane started laughing. "It's not funny Shane"

"Where is he now?"

"In time out" Stephanie replied nodding her head to the living room.

"It happens Steph. Don't stress out about" Shane said with a shrug.

"You don't have to clean it up though and it's just not that he drew on the wall. He got a little bit of an attitude with me and then he sat on the couch and started watching tv"

"Well did you tell him he couldn't watch tv?"

"Is he learning this from you" Stephanie asked eyeing him suspiciously.

"No but if you didn't say he couldn't then- "

"He knows he is not allowed to watch tv when he is in time out" Stephanie replied sitting up from the counter and heading back to the table to sit down.

"I'll help you clean it up if it will take some of the stress off" Shane said sitting down at the table next to her.

"Thanks" Stephanie smiled at him.

"So how was your date last night?" Shane asked taking her cup of coffee from her and stealing a drink.

"It was fine"

"That doesn't sound very promising" She really didn't want to talk about it but she didn't really know how to get around the subject. The last thing she needed was Shane asking questions and trying to tell her what a good guy Jake was because she already knew that and she was trying to understand why last night she felt nothing when he kissed her. Stephanie looked at Shane trying to think of something to say as he stared at her but luckily she started hearing something in the living room.

"Aiden what are you doing?" Stephanie asked getting up from the table feeling relieved for the distraction. When she made into the living room Aiden was jumping on the couch.

"Nothing" Aiden called not noticing that she was in the living room with him.

"Sit down" Stephanie said sternly and he looked up at her. He just smiled at her and kept jumping. "Aiden!"

"Aiden!" Shane shouted from the table and Aiden immediately sat back down on the couch.

"I really have no idea what has got into him. How did you do that?" Stephanie asked sitting back down at the table with Shane and he shrugged.

"Maybe you should let me watch him for a while when you have to go to the arena. He's been with mom lately and she lets him get away with everything"

"You are just as bad of a push over as mom" Stephanie laughed.

"I'm a little stricter than mom. Besides he needs some male bonding and well me and dad are his only male figures because that bastard walked out"

"Shane, mouth" Stephanie scolded him.

"I can't help it. It makes me angry every time I think about the guy. I don't understand how he could claim that Aiden wasn't his and just walk away with no sense of responsibility"

"I don't know"

"I still don't understand why you never proved to him that Aiden wasn't his"

"Even if I did Shane that didn't mean he was suddenly going to be in Aiden's life or be a good dad" Stephanie replied feeling guilty. The reason she couldn't prove anything was because the guy she told her family was Aiden's dad was a completely fictitious man and his real dad didn't even know he existed. She had told her family that she had started dating a guy she met in one of her classes and then he broke up with her after she told him she was pregnant. Then the lies just kept going from there.

"You're right. He is better off without him but sometimes I wish he had more than just me and dad because he needs an actual father"

"I wish he had a father too but you and dad are doing just fine as the male figures in his life" Stephanie replied giving him a smile and reached over giving his hand a gentle squeeze. She felt bad for lying to them about Aiden's dad but it was for the best because if they ever found out, they would be pissed. Not just at her for lying to them but for who Aiden's father really was and Paul would probably get a worse punishment than hers. She didn't want that even though she was still irritated at him because she was growing closer to him whether she wanted to admit it or not.

Paul rolled over stretching out his arm to find the spot beside of him on the bed was empty and he couldn't help but feel relieved. The last thing he remembered was talking to some brunette girl at the club Shawn had wanted to go to last night. He didn't usually drink and last night well he went overboard and was feeling the effects from it now.

"Good morning" Shawn shouted opening his bedroom door as Paul winced and pulled his pillow over his head to try and drown him out.

"Get out"

"What was that? Shout a little bit louder? Okay" Shawn shouted the last word at him.

"I'm going to kill you if you keep shouting at me" Paul replied removing the pillow and opening his eyes to the bright sunlight filling his room.

"Remind me to never let you drink you again"

"Don't worry I don't plan on it" Paul replied sitting up in the bed running his hands through his hair.

"It would have probably been better if I could have got drunk too but I had to drive us home so I was left listening to you babble on all night"

"Well it couldn't have been as bad as I feel right now"

"Want to bet?" Shawn asked with a laugh "I was kind of proud of you last night because you started flirting with this brunette girl and I really thought you were going to bring her back with you"

"I didn't?" Paul asked looking over at him.

"No. I think you would have but you pissed her off. You kept calling her Steph and she would correct you but then you would just do it again. After a while you started going on and on about Stephanie telling this pretty hot girl that Stephanie was the most beautiful woman you had ever seen. You started describing the way she looked and the way she made you feel when you kissed her. That was about the time the brunette left and then I was stuck listening to you go on and on about Stephanie all the way home"

"You're lying" Paul replied and rolled his eyes.

"Oh God I wish that weren't true because then I might have been able to enjoy myself last night" Shawn replied shaking his head as if he were trying to rid himself of the memory. "I was right though"

"About what?"

"You are in love with Stephanie"

"I am not in love with Stephanie" Paul replied grabbing his pillow and slinging it at Shawn.

"You can't deny it now" Shawn replied throwing the pillow back at him.

"Can you just leave so I can get dressed?" Paul asked "I really need to get up and get something to relieve the throbbing pain in my head"

"Fine but this conversation isn't over" Shawn replied wagging his finger at him before he left the bedroom.

Paul stood up from the bed and went over to his closet pulling out a shirt and pair of pants. He couldn't believe that he had talked about Stephanie all night but of course it was just his luck that he did. She had been on his mind when he started drinking so it only made sense that it happened. He just wished it wouldn't have happened when Shawn was there to rub it in his face that he had been right and then right after he will probably go into all the reasons why he can't be with Stephanie. Well he didn't need Shawn explaining that to him because he was smart enough to figure all of that out last night on his own. Maybe if he hadn't left Stephanie all of those years ago for fucking Joanie then it might be different. Who was he kidding, it wouldn't be any different because she was the boss's daughter.

When he was finally dressed Paul left his bedroom and headed to the bathroom to find something to help with his headache. His head felt like it was killing him more now than it had earlier. After he found some Tylenol he headed to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water hoping that Shawn would at least wait to hound him until he got some relief from his head. That didn't seem like it was going to happen though as he grabbed a bottle of water and looked over at Shawn who had hopped up on the counter beside of the refrigerator eating a sandwich.

"When did it happen?" Shawn asked not even waiting until he swallowed the bite of food he had taken.

"I'm not sure" Paul replied before putting the Tylenol in his mouth and took a drink of water to wash them down.

"Bullshit"

"Okay fine maybe I realized it the night after she got drunk. Maybe I did before that and didn't realize it but it doesn't matter Shawn"

"Why doesn't it?" Shawn asked with a confused expression. The question surprised Paul because he was expecting to come out here and Shawn lecture him about the reasons he couldn't have feelings for Stephanie.

"Besides the fact that I just stopped talking to her the first time I 'dated' her and she will never forgive me for that, she is the boss's daughter"

"That didn't stop you the first time" Shawn pointed out before taking another bite of his food.

"Yeah well I was immature back then and I wasn't thinking"

"You still are" Shawn laughed and Paul flipped him off "but you probably are right about her not forgiving you about the first time"

"I know I'm right. I mean even if she wasn't the boss's daughter I can't just go up to her and be like hey Steph I'm sorry I left you high and dry the last time but would you want to go on a date with me"

"She would probably smack you" Shawn laughed and Paul couldn't help but laugh with him because he knew he was right. He could just picture it in his head.

"Why aren't you lecturing me about this?"

"You sound like you have it all figured out for yourself. I just wanted to hear you admit you were in love with her" Shawn said with a shrug.

"I have feelings for her but I'm not in love with her"

"I'll still take it. So what are you going to do?"

"Try to stay away from her as much as possible I guess. I haven't figured it out yet"

"Well you will just have to call me and let me know how that goes. I've got to start packing for my flight later" Shawn said sliding down off the counter leaving Paul thinking about how exactly he was going to avoid being around Stephanie.

Later that night Paul arrived at the arena feeling nervous about tonight since it tonight he would be around her a lot just for their storyline. This was going to be harder than he originally thought it was going to be. He walked inside the building and started to his dressing room ignoring Joanie as he passed her. She didn't even attempt to talk to him and he was glad for that because he had enough to try and deal with tonight. Arriving at his door Paul turned the doorknob and walked in to see Stephanie sitting on the couch.

"Hey" Stephanie greeted him with a smile.

"Hey" Paul replied "I wasn't expecting to see you"

"Well we do work together and we have that thing called a storyline" Stephanie replied with a chuckle but he just stood there feeling confused. The last time they had talked she hadn't seemed to forgive him so as far as he knew she was still mad at him but yet here she was joking with him.

"I meant I wasn't expecting to see you in my dressing room" Paul said leaning up against the wall. He would of went to sit down on the couch next to her but he really need to keep some kind of space between them.

"I'm sorry. Do you want me to leave?" Stephanie asked and he really didn't know what to say because part of him wanted her to stay there and the other wanted to be far away from her until necessary. "Paul are you okay? You're acting…weird"

"I'm fine" Paul replied giving her a small smile.

"Then come over here and sit down" Stephanie said patting the seat next to her. Okay he could do that he just needed to make sure not to flirt or joke in a flirting way and he was sure he could his emotions in check. If he kept acting weird Stephanie was going to figure out that something was up with him. He didn't want to let her know he had feelings for her because then things could be awkward between them.

"So were you wanting to talk to me?" Paul asked sitting down beside of her on the couch.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay"

"Yeah. What would make you think I wasn't?"

"Well last night you ran away pretty fast and it was kind of weird" Stephanie replied tucking her hair behind her ears while he thought of an excuse.

"It was Shawn's last night here and he was wanting to go out. I was just in a hurry to go out and celebrate last night and the fact that I'm not going to be a father"

"Wait. What?" Stephanie asked with a confused expression. He had forgot that Stephanie didn't know that part because they hadn't really talked since they fought. It wasn't as if he really discussed his personal life with her to begin with though.

"Joanie thought she might be pregnant. I found out last night it was just a false alarm and was so relieved that I actually got drunk last night" Paul replied leaving out that he also got drunk because he was trying to forget her. What good that did him though.

"Oh" Stephanie said with an expression he couldn't quite read before she turned her head away quickly.

"Could you imagine me as a dad?" Paul asked shaking his head.

"What would be so wrong with you being a dad?" Stephanie asked glancing back at him.

"Did you want her to be pregnant or something?" Paul asked with a small laugh.

"No. I guess I just don't see what would be so wrong if you did have a child" Stephanie replied with a shrug.

"I'm just not ready. I have so much I want to do before I even think about having a kid plus I kind of have to have someone for that and I don't have any takers. Well none that I would want anyway but besides that I'm just on the road too much to be a real father and hell sometimes I still act like a kid myself" Paul explained watching her nod her head and open her mouth as if she were going to say something but then she stopped when they heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" Paul called looking at the door as it opened and Shane appeared.

"What are you doing here?" Stephanie asked looking at Shane.

"I went to your dressing room and couldn't find you so I thought you would be here"

"No I didn't mean in here. I meant what are you doing at the arena at all"

"Uh I'm part of the storyline tonight" Shane replied looking at her if she were crazy while Paul just sat there feeling confused about why it mattered that Shane was there.

"Then why earlier did you offer…. can I talk you outside?" Stephanie asked getting up from the couch and didn't give Shane a chance to answer as she pushed him outside to the hallway. Paul sat there feeling confused as he heard them argue outside of the door. He couldn't really understand what they were saying but they must have started moving away from his door because soon he wasn't able to hear their voices. Paul shrugged it off and decided to go get something to drink. He found it funny though the fact that she said he was acting weird but suddenly she ended up being the one acting strange.

Paul walked down the hallway not seeing Shane or Stephanie anywhere. It was probably a good thing; he was starting to feel nervous about kissing her tonight. There was no way he was going to be able to avoid his feelings for her so hopefully their storyline together wouldn't last long or he was in trouble. Once Paul made it to his destination he grabbed a bottle of water and open it to take a drink. He stood there getting lost in thought about maybe talking to Vince and convincing him to go another way in the storyline that he didn't even notice someone trying to talk to him until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What?" Paul asked turning around to see Shane.

"Are you okay?" Shane asked giving him a concerned look.

"I'm fine. I was just coming up with some ideas" Paul replied "so what was that argument with Stephanie about?"

"She forgot that I had to be here tonight and well I offered to spend time with Aiden. I had to bring him here with me and she's not too happy about that"

"Aiden? Is that the guy she has been seeing because I thought it was something else?"

"Wow. You two really don't talk about your personal life do you?" Shane asked with a laugh.

"Not really. So who is Aiden?"

"He's- "

"Shane! Shane!" a voice shouted and soon Paul seen a little blonde hair boy run up to Shane.

"What are you doing? You are supposed to be with Marissa" Shane said bending down and picking him up.

"She said I could find you"

"Did she really say you could come and find me?" Shane asked him and he nodded his head. "Okay well I do have someone who wants to meet you"

"Who?" Aiden asked and Shane pointed to Paul who smiled at the little boy. He was cute, he actually resembled him as a kid.

"Why don't you tell him your name"

"Aiden Michael"

"That's a cool name. My middle name is Michael"

"Huh. I didn't even realize that until now" Shane replied and then looked back at Aiden. "You have the same middle name as Paul. Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah" Aiden said excitedly and nodded his head.

"Anyway Paul this is Aiden as you know now. He's Stephanie's son" Shane said and Paul froze.

"No way" Paul replied shaking his head in disbelief feeling his heart pound hard against his chest and it felt as if his world had come to a crashing halt. "She would have had to….in college"

"She got pregnant in college" Shane laughed at Paul trying to get his words out. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just shocked I guess" Paul replied swallowing the lump in his throat. He felt like he was going to be sick or pass out. "I've got to go. I'll see you later"

He didn't even wait for Shane's response as his walked away ignoring people as he passed them.