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Early the next morning Paul pulled into Stephanie's driveway and shut his car off. He was dreading getting out and making his way to the front door because he was still pissed off about everything. Leaving last night had not helped as he had hoped, no it just gave him more time alone to think and to feel even angrier. Which left him tossing and turning all night and now he was running on very little sleep. So when eight o'clock rolled around he decided to go ahead and head to her house. Well after he had stopped and bought some kind of toy race car track and some toy cars for Aiden. He didn't even really know what Aiden liked but this was what he had decided to go with. Grabbing the bag of toys, Paul got out of his car and made his way to the porch. Once he reached the door he knocked on the door and hoped he wasn't about to wake them up. Stephanie probably wouldn't be happy about that. It only took a minute or two before the door was opened.
"Paul" Stephanie said sounding surprised.
"Can I come in?" Paul asked as she nodded her head and stepped aside to allow him in.
"What's that?" Stephanie asked after shutting the door behind them and eyed the bag in his hand curiously.
"I bought something for Aiden. Where is he?"
"He's still asleep" Stephanie replied rubbing her eyes. Now that he got a good look at her it looked like she hadn't got very much sleep either. He walked over to the table and sat the bag down before taking a seat.
"So why did you seem surprised when you opened the door?"
"I just uh… wasn't expecting to see you"
"I told you last night I would back today" Paul replied as she crossed her arms and looked away. "You didn't believe me"
"Well going off of past experience I wasn't really expecting it" Stephanie said shrugging her shoulders.
"I know I fucked up in the past, okay Steph? I get it. You've reminded me of that a lot and I've been trying to make that up to you but I had no idea what I actually left behind. I had no idea how bad I actually fucked up because you failed to tell me that we have a son. Yeah I'm an asshole for what I did but you fucked up too you know and I'm not that same guy I was back then" Paul replied feeling the anger from last night start to rise again. Today already seemed to be going bad just like last night the only difference was he could think a little clearer.
"Seriously?" Stephanie scoffed before taking off into the kitchen. Was she really going to deny she had done anything wrong? Make him out to the be the only bad guy in this whole scenario? He already had been feeling like shit about himself over what he had done and honestly he didn't know if he would ever stop. Yeah if he wouldn't have done what he had then he would have known about Aiden and been there for his life. But she could have found him and told him too especially after they were in a storyline but she still continued to hide it.
"Hi" Paul looked over to see Aiden. He wasn't sure how long he had been standing there because he had been lost in his thoughts
"Hey" Paul said giving him a small smile before grabbing the bag of toys he had bought Aiden "I brought you something"
"Really?" Aiden asked excitedly with a big smile and walked over to stand in front of Paul.
"Is there any crayons in there?" Paul looked over to Stephanie who had come back from the kitchen holding a cup in her hand.
"No" Paul replied before looking back at Aiden and pulled out the toys from the bag. Aiden took them before sitting down in the floor and started opening them.
"You really have to watch him with crayons because he likes to color on walls"
"I drawed" Aiden corrected her and Paul had to try not to let out a chuckle. Paul looked back over to Stephanie who shook her head and took a drink out of her cup.
"What do you say to Paul for the gifts?"
"Thank you Paul" Aiden said looking up at him and then returning his attention back to his toys.
"You're welcome"
"Are you hungry sweetie?" Stephanie asked as Aiden nodded his head. "What would you like?"
"Cereal"
"Okay cereal it is" Stephanie replied turning around and heading back into the kitchen. Paul stood up and walked around Aiden as he played with his cars.
"So are we going to talk anymore about this?" Paul asked coming into the kitchen and watched her start pouring cereal into a bowl.
"Maybe after Aiden has his breakfast and I can put on something for him to watch. I really don't want him hearing our conversation" Stephanie replied grabbing the milk out of the refrigerator and pouring some into the bowl.
"Aren't we going to tell him?" Paul asked as Stephanie whipped around and gave him a look as if he were crazy.
"No. We can't just spring this on him. He has no idea who you even are except a wrestler with the same middle name as him. Plus, I'm not going to let you just walk into his life and introduce yourself as his father and something happen to make you want to walk away without a word. That would leave him so heartbroken and I will not let that happen to him"
"I would never do that him. He's my son"
"Are you sure about that? Being a parent is hard Paul besides even if that wasn't the problem we still couldn't tell him. What the hell do you think would happen when he went to my family and started talking about you?" Stephanie asked making him realize her family was going to be a problem. He could definitely lose his job and everything he had worked for. But Aiden was his son and he wanted him to know eventually that he was his father, they could figure out how to tell her family without it getting messy. Right?
"So you're not going to let me be a part of his life?"
"I didn't say that…let's just wait and talk about this after he gets done with his breakfast okay? His cereal is going to get soggy" Stephanie replied grabbing the bowl and heading out of the kitchen. Well at least she didn't say no to him being a part of his life at least. That had to be a good sign.
Paul walked out of the kitchen and sat down beside of Aiden as Stephanie sat the bowl down in front of Aiden. Then he watched as came over to sit in front of him. They sat in silence as Aiden ate his food and Paul stared at the woman he thought he had been falling for. Now everything he felt for her had changed, he wasn't sure how to feel except for angry and hurt towards her. It was like she was a different person to him. They could have possibly been a family together but he was mostly the one to blame for that not happening.
"Why are you staring at me?" Stephanie asked raising an eyebrow and breaking him out of his thoughts but thankfully he didn't have to answer as they were interrupted with a knock on the door. Stephanie got up out of chair and answered the door.
"Hey" said a female voice and then a familiar looking brunette walked into the house "Where is my favorite newp…. Paul?"
"Yeah" Then he remembered how he knew her; it was Stephanie's friend from college. "I'm sorry I can't remember your name"
"It's okay. It's been a couple of years since we seen each other and we didn't really talk much. I'm Kelsi"
"Kelsi! Look at what Paul got me" Aiden said getting down from the chair and going to where he left his toys.
"That was nice of him" Kelsi replied before looking over at Stephanie. "Can I talk to you outside for a minute?"
"Yeah" Stephanie said nodding her head before looking over at Paul "Do you mind to make sure he doesn't get into anything he isn't supposed to?"
"Yeah I'll watch him" Paul replied before Kelsi grabbed Stephanie's hand and opened the door, pulling her outside and shutting the door. He then turned his attention to Aiden who had put down his toys and came back over to sit down to eat. "What do you think they are talking about?"
"Hair" Aiden said looking at Paul and shrugged before turning back to eating. He chuckled before leaning back in his chair and the room went silent once again. He had no idea how to really talk to Aiden since he didn't know much about kids but hopefully Stephanie would let him be a part of Aiden's life. He really wanted to get know him better.
"What the hell is going?" Kelsi asked as soon as they were outside on the porch. She hadn't got to tell Kelsi anything about what happened yesterday. She was going to call her today and talk to her about it but Paul had showed up which had surprised her.
"Paul found out about Aiden yesterday and that Aiden is his son" Stephanie replied watching Kelsi's eyes widen in surprise.
"How?"
"Shane was fucking stupid and brought him to the arena yesterday where he introduced them" Stephanie sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She still wasn't handling this very well, that was for sure. Last night after Paul had left she had decided to lay down and try to get some sleep since Aiden was asleep. But all that happened was she would keep having bad dreams of Aiden being taken away from her or all the shit she went through in college when Paul left her.
"Woah. What happened after that? How bad did you hurt Shane?"
"I didn't hurt Shane because he doesn't understand the big deal about it. My family doesn't know Paul is Aiden's dad, remember? So all I could do was yell at him which didn't go very well either. I was hoping maybe Paul didn't realize that Aiden belonged to him but he showed up last night at my house wanting answers"
"And he's back today. So does that mean he wants to be in Aiden's life?"
"That's what he's saying, for now anyway"
"Are you going to let him? How are you feeling about all of this?"
"I'm not sure and I'm scared. I'm scared of Aiden getting close to Paul and then he decides that he can't handle the responsibility and walks out of his life. That would hurt Aiden so bad and then I'm scared that if I don't then Paul will try to go get custody. I don't want to go through that, I mean what if they think I'm an unfit mother or- "
"Steph calm down. If anyone thinks your unfit mother, they are stupid. You are a great mom" Kelsi replied as tears starting to run down Stephanie's cheeks. Then Kelsi's arms were immediately around her.
"Thank you. I'm just such a mess right now" Stephanie said hugging her back.
"I can't even imagine what you are going through"
"What am I going to do Kelsi?" Stephanie asked as they broke from their hug.
"That's between you and Paul. I wish I could help but I don't have any answers or advice" Kelsi replied with a small shrug.
"I guess we should head back inside but we can talk more when he leaves" Stephanie said walking back over to the door and opening it. When she stepped inside she noticed that Paul and Aiden were no longer at the kitchen table so she headed into the living room thinking maybe they went to watch tv. The room was empty with the tv still off but then she heard Aiden's voice coming from what sounded like his room.
"That's a cool drawing. Although you probably shouldn't have done it on the wall" Stephanie heard Paul say as she came to the doorway of Aiden's room. She hadn't got a chance to do anything about Aiden's drawing yet and well Shane hadn't come over as promised to help.
"Mommy didn't like it. She was mad"
"I'm sure she liked your drawing. She just didn't like you doing it on the wall. Maybe you could draw it on paper for her" Paul suggested as Aiden nodded his head.
"I could do that" She couldn't help but smile at their interaction. Hadn't she wanted Aiden to be able to have his father? Now he was here and saying that he wanted to be in his life and she had no idea what to do.
"I could help you get this off if you want" Paul said when he noticed her standing in the doorway.
"But I don't want it off" Aiden replied looking up at Paul.
"Sorry buddy but I don't think your mom wants it on there" Paul said ruffling his hair.
"That's okay Shane said he would help me" Stephanie replied trying to refuse his offer nicely. She really had no idea how things were going to go so it was better if she didn't try to count on him to help her.
"Mommy can I watch tv?"
"Yeah"
"Can I watch Lion King?"
"Yeah you can watch Lion King" Stephanie replied with a smile.
"Come on Paul" Aiden said reaching up and tugging Paul's hand.
"Okay let's go" Paul replied with a chuckle as they headed out of Aiden's room and past Stephanie. She stayed in her spot at Aiden's doorway and leaned against the door frame. It looked like Aiden had already taken somewhat of a liking to Paul, either that or he was excited to hang out with someone new. Either way it scared her, it seemed like she was numb to every other feeling except fear. Fear for that she could never fully trust Paul, fear for her son if she let Paul in his life and he ended up letting him down. She kept wondering why Paul wanted to be in Aiden's life. Was it because he actually wanted to be a part of his child's life? Or was it because he didn't want to look like some kind of piece of shit because he knew he had a kid but wouldn't have anything to do with him? It was two of the many questions that had been running through her head last night every time she would wake up from one of her dreams.
"Steph" Kelsi called breaking her out of her thoughts. She had been standing there for God knows how long staring at Aiden's empty room lost in her thoughts.
"Coming" Stephanie called turning and walking back through the living room. Paul and Aiden were sitting on the couch with Aiden's movie going as he giggled at something Paul had obviously said. Kelsi wasn't in the living room with them so she kept walking in search of her.
"How is it going?" Kelsi asked as Stephanie found her sitting at the kitchen table flipping through a magazine.
"I'm not sure. Aiden seems to like him and right now there watching a movie but I haven't got a chance to really talk to him" Stephanie replied sitting down in a chair in front of her.
"I thought maybe you two were talking. That's why I didn't follow you" Kelsi replied closing the magazine and putting it aside.
"No I guess Aiden wanted to show Paul his drawing that he did on his bedroom wall"
"Should I leave? So you two can talk. I don't want to be in the way and with me here, well I'm sure you guys don't want to discuss those things in front of me"
"No don't leave. Besides they are watching a movie so it will be awhile anyway" and she was putting off having the conversation so any kind of distraction was welcome. She wasn't expecting Paul to be here this early so she thought she had more time to think on everything and well she wasn't sure if she should expect him at all.
"Steph… don't get mad about what I'm going to say…." Kelsi trailed off and cleared her throat. She definitely looked nervous.
"What?" Stephanie asked knowing if Kelsi was this nervous then she wasn't going to like what she had to say.
"Are you afraid that Paul is going to hurt you again?"
"Why would you think that? This whole thing is to do with Paul being in Aiden's life. It doesn't really have anything to do with me besides the fact that Paul and I would have to be around each other a little more. But we already are together a lot because of the storyline. The only person I'm afraid of Paul hurting is my son"
"I get that. I definitely don't want to see Aiden hurt either but Steph you… have feelings for Paul" Kelsi said in almost a whisper and Stephanie narrowed her eyes at Kelsi.
"I do not" Stephanie replied with a scoff. She did not want to discuss this and she wished Kelsi would drop this whole thing about her having feelings for Paul. So what if she had wanted him to kiss her at the door when he brought her home when she was hungover. It hadn't meant anything; she had just got swept in the moment that was all. Besides it was the last thing on her mind right now. The only thing she needed to think about was the situation she was currently in.
"Yeah I think you do" Kelsi said nodding her head. "And I think you are not only scared that Aiden is going to end up heartbroken if you decide to let Paul be a part of his life but you think you will end up heartbroken again too"
"You are way off. Can we please drop this?" Stephanie asked feeling annoyed as she got up from the table to go into the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. Kelsi's words kept running through her mind though and she silently cursed her. Could she be right? Was she scared to let Paul in Aiden's life because she was afraid that she would get close to Paul again too and end up hurt all over again? She knew she would definitely hate him more than she ever had if he done that to Aiden, no doubt about that. But was she also scared for herself?
Time had seemed to pass by as Paul spent time with Aiden and he really had been enjoying it. Finding out things that Aiden liked to do had made trying to talk to him easier that was for sure. It was about noon now and he was dying to talk to Stephanie more about the situation they were in. He wanted to be a part of his son's life and he wanted his son to know that he was his father but it seemed Stephanie didn't want any of that. Especially the part of Aiden knowing he was his father. It made him wonder who exactly Stephanie's family thought was Aiden's father. Did she have some other guy claiming to be Aiden's dad? He didn't really like the thought of that.
"I'm hungry" Aiden said turning his attention from the tv and looking at him.
"Okay let's go have your mom fix you something" Paul replied as Aiden jumped up from the couch and took off before Paul had even a chance to get up. The kid was fast, that was for sure. After he got up from the couch he headed in the direction Aiden has sprinted off to and could hear Kelsi's voice coming from the kitchen.
"Have you talked to him?" Paul heard Kelsi ask as he stopped, trying to stay out of view. He normally didn't eavesdrop but he was curious about what they were talking about and knew if they saw him then they would go silent.
"Not since he kissed me" that got his attention. He couldn't help but feel a pang in his chest upon hearing that some guy had kissed her. Yeah he was pissed at her right now but he had been falling for her before all of this.
"Are you going to talk to him again or go on another date with him?"
"I don't know Kelsi. Jake's a great guy but I'm just trying to get through today" Paul rolled his eyes, they were talking about that guy. He didn't really feel like standing here listening to her go on about how great this guy was when he probably really wasn't. He still didn't believe the excuse he gave her of why the guy stood her up. With that thought he stepped into the kitchen and Kelsi's eyes were immediately on him.
"You know Steph instead of making Aiden something to eat why don't I just take him out?" Kelsi offered turning her attention to Stephanie.
"That's fine. I can just make him something here"
"No really, I insist. We can get ice cream after. How does that sound Aiden?" Kelsi asked as Aiden's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Yeah!" Aiden replied "Can I please go with Kelsi?"
"I don't know…" Stephanie trailed off shaking her head before Kelsi whispered something that Paul wasn't able to hear. "Fine but don't let him have too much ice cream"
"Go grab your jacket Aiden and we'll go so mommy and da… Paul can have some time to talk" Kelsi replied catching herself before she said daddy. Paul could have sworn it looked like Stephanie was going to explode when Kelsi almost called him daddy to Aiden. This wasn't going to be good if Kelsi left her pissed off.
Aiden had paid no attention to the last part as he left the kitchen to get his jacket and Kelsi followed him, probably to get away so Stephanie couldn't yell at her. Now they were the only two in the kitchen and Stephanie seemed to try to look anywhere but at him.
"Bye mommy" Aiden said coming back into the kitchen and giving her a hug.
"Bye sweetheart. Be good for Kelsi"
"Bye Paul" Aiden said giving him a small wave.
"Bye" Paul replied waving back at him and then Aiden was out of the kitchen. They were left alone again as they heard the front door close and Stephanie leaned against the counter with a sigh.
"Okay I need you to be honest with me Stephanie. Do you want me to be a part of Aiden's life?"
"Not really" Stephanie replied crossing her arms. He had already known the answer to that just by the way she was acting but he needed her to say it. It didn't mean he still wasn't going to try though.
"Why?" Paul asked as she finally looked at him.
"Because of what I said earlier. I don't want Aiden to get hurt if you realize you aren't the father you thought you could be. This isn't just some relationship you can walk out on and the girl just move on with her life. This is a child that you are a father to and walking out on him would damage him"
"And I told you that I wouldn't do that- "
"How do I know that Paul? How can I trust you at all?"
"I know I haven't really given you a reason to trust me but all I want is a chance to show you differently. I want Aiden to know me and I want to know him. He deserves to have his father and I'm not going anywhere, no matter how hard it gets. Just let me prove it"
"I guess I don't really have a choice anyway, do I?" Stephanie asked shrugging her shoulders. He knew what she meant and he would rather not have to involve lawyers and that kind of shit. He really didn't want to piss her off and make her hate him more than what she probably already did but if that was the only choice she would leave him then he didn't see a way around it.
"I'd rather not do it that way. I want us to work this out just between us and I'll do it the way you want if you will just work with me"
"I don't want him knowing you're his father- "
"I want him to know that. I don't want to be known as just Paul, some guy who comes to hang out with him. I know you're scared of your family knowing I'm his father but I'm sure we can tell them at some point without it all going to hell"
"Paul will you let me finish? I don't want him knowing you're his father right now. Just give me some time to make sure you are really going to stick around before we even think about that. For now, you can come and see him and get to know him. I just want to take it slow and then we can go from there I guess" Stephanie replied looking away from him. She wasn't happy about the decision; he could tell but at least she was going to give him a chance.
"That sounds good to me. I promise you Stephanie that I'm not going anywhere" He could tell she didn't fully believe him but he was going to prove to her that he was different now and he could be the father that Aiden needed him to be.