Thank you so much for the reviews :) I'm so glad you are guys are enjoying the story!

Stephanie sat down on the couch in her dressing room and closed her eyes relaxing in the last few minutes of peace she had left. She had taken Shane's advice and asked Vince if she could have a couple of days off. Surprisingly he had let her but it was probably because Shane told him about her breakdown at his house. When Shane first mentioned taking a couple of days off she had thought about it because of the simple fact that she wanted to avoid Paul. That plan of course was thrown out the window when he showed up at her house so instead she had taken the days off to spend time with Aiden and just try to relax. It also helped just to have a few days to think since her and Paul came to their agreement, she still didn't really feel all that at ease with it. But he wasn't backing down and at least this way he was working with her on taking it slow. She was not ready to tell her family the truth yet and she definitely wasn't ready for Aiden to know just in case Paul stopped communicating with them. For the last couple of days, he had kept his word but then again this was still all new and it was going to take more than that to trust him. Maybe in time if he proved to her that he really wasn't going to run off again than she could trust him but right now she had to take it day by day. She had no idea what the future held but hopefully whatever happens in the end of all it Aiden would be happy and that is all she really wants for her son.

Opening her eyes, she grabbed her purse and took out her cellphone to call Linda quickly to check on Aiden before she had to focus on the show tonight but she was interrupted by a knock on the door. Getting up from the couch she made her way to the door and opened it to find Paul standing there.

"Hey" Paul said looking over her shoulder into her dressing room.

"Are you looking for something?" Stephanie asked looking back behind her and didn't see anything of interest.

"I thought maybe you would have brought Aiden"

"Let's not discuss Aiden while we are standing in the doorway of the dressing room where anyone can walk by and listen in" Stephanie said stepping aside and motioning him to come inside her dressing room. The last thing she needed was someone overhearing anything about Aiden. It was bad enough Shane had brought him to the arena on Monday and she hadn't quite forgiven him for it. That is why she had asked Linda to watch him for her this time.

"Okay" Paul replied walking into her dressing room and she shut the door behind them before going back to her spot on the couch. "So where is he?"

"He's with my mom"

"Why didn't you just bring him with you?" Paul asked walking over and taking the seat beside of her.

"Because even though you know about him now doesn't mean I'm ready to start bringing him around here" a part of her was scared that if she did then maybe people would start putting it all together. Especially when Paul and Aiden were together, you could definitely see the resemblance. If that happened well it wouldn't take long for people to start talking and her family hear about it. She was thankful that Shane hadn't seen the resemblance or he just thought it was impossible because of her lie to her family about Aiden's dad. Either way she was just glad he hadn't put it together.

"So you deliberately didn't bring him around here because you didn't want me to find out?"

"I…" she trailed off not wanting to tell him that was one of the biggest reasons she had never brought Aiden but she didn't want to fight. Not here, not now.

"Of course that's why" Paul answered for her as he scoffed and shook his head.

"I don't want to get an argument here so can we please drop the subject for now?" Stephanie asked as her cellphone started vibrating and ringing in her hand. She had forgot that she had still been holding it.

"I guess we have to" Paul replied as she looked at the name on her phone. It was Jake. She had kind of been avoiding him, mostly on purpose at first because she wasn't sure about him. But for the last couple of days it was because of the stress of her new situation she was in. She stared at the phone debating on whether she should answer or not. It was going to be kind of awkward talking to him but then again maybe it was better to talk to him than fight with Paul.

"Hello" Stephanie answered getting up from the couch and putting a little distance between her and Paul.

"So you are alive and well" Jake said with a chuckle.

"Yeah" Stephanie replied with a small chuckle of her own. "I've been pretty busy lately. I'm so sorry"

"No need to apologize. I'm just glad you weren't avoiding me on purpose" Stephanie couldn't help but feel bad because that was exactly what she had been doing. "Do you think you might have some free time this weekend?"

"I'm not really sure at the moment" Stephanie hesitated. Did she want to try and give this guy a chance? He seemed nice and she did like his company but if she didn't think there was anything between them she didn't want to lead him on. It was only wasting his time and that wouldn't be right.

"Well how about you call me sometime this weekend and let me know?" Jake asked as Stephanie looked over at Paul, she could feel his eyes on her. He was sitting on the couch tapping his fingers against his knee while practically staring a hole through her with a scowl on his face.

"I'll let you know" Stephanie replied "I've got to get going"

"I'll talk to you later"

"Bye" Stephanie ended the call and walked back over to the couch and grabbed her purse to put her cellphone back in. When she turned her attention back to Paul he was still staring at her. "What?"

"Was that your boyfriend?"

"That's none of your business" Stephanie replied crossing her arms.

"I think if things between you and that guy are getting serious and you are going to let him be a part of Aiden's life then I have a right to know. Unless he already is and you have Aiden calling him daddy"

"Aiden hasn't even met Jake. Aiden has only met maybe two guys that I've ever dated because they were the only guys I was even really serious about. He never called them daddy either"

"Who does he think his daddy is? Who does your family think his dad is?"

"My family thinks it's some guy from college that I made up and as for Aiden he doesn't know anything. I haven't told him anything and he hasn't asked. I didn't want to have to lie to him like I am to everyone else and if he had ever asked me before now then I'm not sure how I would have explained it to him" Stephanie replied shrugging her shoulders.

"So if he were to ask you who his dad is then you would tell him that it's me?"

"Yeah" Stephanie nodded her head. Although she hoped Aiden didn't ask anytime soon because she wasn't ready for him to know just yet.

"How long do you think it will be until we do tell him?"

"I don't know" Stephanie replied tucking her hair behind her ears "you've only been in his life for a couple of days and it will take longer than that"

"I know. I just feel like I'm some random person to him" Paul said leaning back on the couch with a sigh. Stephanie sat back down beside of him on the couch. She couldn't help but feel a little bad for him because if the roles were reversed, well she couldn't even imagine how bad it would hurt.

"Just give it a little bit longer. That's all I'm asking"

"Promise me that we are going to eventually tell him" Paul pleaded looking into her eyes.

"I promise"

Later that night Paul left his dressing room and started to head down the hallway to leave the building when he spotted Stephanie heading his way. When he had first talked to her tonight it had started off rocky but at the end something felt like it had changed. She seemed to have softened up to him at the end of the conversation so maybe she was trying to be more understanding, or at least he hoped. It would make their whole situation a lot easier if she could try to be more understanding. They both were parents to Aiden and somehow they would have to work together on all of this. Right now was hard because he knew Stephanie was used to being the only one in Aiden's life and well he was to get over the fact that she hid Aiden from him. Neither one was easy tasks and he couldn't help but feel his blood boil every time he was reminded of what she did. He pushed that thought away not wanting to get upset as she got closer to him.

"Hey"

"Hey" Stephanie said stopping beside of him and adjusting the purse strap on her shoulder. "Heading to the hotel?"

"No actually I was going to go eat. What about you?" Paul asked as they started walking down the hall.

"I'm probably going to go back to the hotel and relax, maybe watch some television. Although food does sound good"

"You could always join me"

"I don't think that's such a good idea" Stephanie replied shaking her head.

"Okay. I just thought maybe we could talk more about- "

"Every time we talk more about Aiden we always end up fighting"

"I just want to know more about him Steph" Paul replied as she sighed. "And you wouldn't make your husband go out to eat by himself would you?"

"You can be so irritating; you know that?"

"Right back at you" Paul replied with a smile as she rolled her eyes. "So what do you say?"

"Fine but don't start a fight with me" Stephanie said as they made it outside.

"Don't start one with me" Paul joked as he started heading to his car when he noticed she was no longer beside of him. He turned around to see her heading to her car. "Where are you going?"

"To my car"

"Why? We are going to the same place just ride with me"

"What about my car?" Stephanie asked stopping and turning to face his direction.

"It will be fine. I'll bring you back to get it"

"You should probably slow down. I don't want a repeat of last time" Paul said with a small laugh as Stephanie sat her glass down and giggled.

"I haven't even had that much and I don't want a repeat of last time either"

They had just finished eating and it had been a surprisingly pleasant evening. They hadn't argued and she had told him some stories about Aiden. She seemed to be in a good mood but that could also be the alcohol she had been consuming but at least she was opening up to him. She even told him about the pregnancy without bringing up how he wasn't around or throwing something in his face about it. It gave him hope that maybe they really could try and put the past behind them and move forward.

"Okay just as long as you don't mistake someone else's car as your own" Paul replied as a blush rose to her cheeks.

"Let's just not talk about the last time I got drunk"

"Why not? Shawn was right it was kind of funny now that I think about it"

"Shut up" she blushed even more before picking up her glass and taking another drink.

"Are you going to need me to carry you to bed again?" Paul asked with a laugh. Her face was pretty red from embarrassment but he couldn't but tease her.

"Okay I think that is enough" Stephanie replied looking at anything but him.

"Aww are you a little embarrassed?"

"Enough about my stupid drunken night. I want to know something about you" Stephanie said finally looking back at him. It felt as everything suddenly turned serious and it made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"What do you want to know?"

"I…I know that you think what happened between us was just a fling" Stephanie paused for a moment licking her lips and he couldn't help but wonder where she was going with this. He didn't want to get in an argument "but- "

"Steph. Can we please not go there? For once in the last couple of days we haven't fought and it's actually pretty nice" Paul replied as she turned her head away from him. He knew he had upset her but nothing good ever came from talking about their time together. Maybe it was time to call it a night before they did start a fight. What was it about alcohol that made her want to talk about these things?

"Fine" Stephanie snapped before standing up from the table. "I get it. You just pretty much gave me my answer."

He watched her walk away from the table and outside. This wasn't good because now he was sure they were going to end up fighting especially since they were going to be stuck in the car together. After he paid their bill he made his way outside to his car where she was leaned up against the side of the car with her arms crossed.

"You're still here" Paul joked coming over to her and putting his hand on her arm but she shrugged him off.

"Of course I am. You're my ride" Stephanie replied looking away from him.

"What did you want to know Steph?" Paul shrugged his shoulders in defeat. She was already pissed off at him anyway so he might as well tell her what she wanted to know but she just shook her head "just ask it Steph. What do you want to know about our fling? If that's what you even want to call it. I think I just tried to tell myself that was all it was"

"What do you mean?" Stephanie asked looking up at him.

"That what we were wasn't just a fling"

"What changed your mind? Is it because you found out about Aiden?"

"No. That has nothing to do with him" Paul replied feeling his heart rate speed up slightly. He hadn't really wanted to say as much as he had because he didn't want to tell her about what he had been feeling for her or was feeling for her. That part was complicated since he found out she had been keeping Aiden a secret. He couldn't deny that he had felt jealous earlier when she had been talking to Jake or the fact that he couldn't help but want to flirt with her when they were actually getting along.

"If it wasn't just a fling then why did you just leave me for Joanie?" Stephanie asked so quietly that he almost hadn't heard her.

"I didn't leave you for Joanie"

"But not long after you just stopped talking to me I found out you were back with Joanie"

"I didn't just go right back to her. Joanie and I started talking again not long after but only as friends. I mean as you can see we did eventually get back together but I didn't just jump from you to her"

"I don't understand" Stephanie replied shaking her head.

"That's probably because you're not completely sober" he laughed and she shot him a dirty look.

"I'm fine. I'm hardly even feeling the effects from the alcohol"

"Sure. Come on let's get going to the hotel"

"Umm no. You have to take me to my car" Stephanie replied pushing herself off the car and straight into him.

"Woah" Paul chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist. "I thought you said weren't feeling any effects from the alcohol"

"That was an accident" Stephanie said placing her hand on his chest and looked up at him.

"I'm sure it was" he said softly reaching up with his free hand and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. They stood there for a moment as he stared into her eyes before his gaze landed on her lips. He wanted to kiss her so badly but God knows how she would feel about that and it would probably make things more complicated. But he could have sworn there was a look in her eyes, almost pleading look that she wanted it too. Then again he was probably reading into things so making up his mind he cleared his throat. "I think it's best if you don't drive. I can take you to get your car tomorrow"

"Paul- "

"No arguments. You just proved you shouldn't be behind the wheel and besides with how much you did drink I wouldn't have let you anyway"

"Fine"

"Now do you need me to help you in the car?" Paul asked with a laugh and she smacked him lightly on the chest before he let his arm drop from around her waist. He watched her open the door to the car and climb in and she stuck her tongue out at him before shutting the door behind her. He shook his head and smiled before going over to his side of the car and getting in.

Stephanie opened her eyes and groaned at the bright sunlight that filled her room. It was way too damn bright for her liking but at least she didn't have a pounding headache or even feel sick to her stomach. She had been a little tipsy last night which had led to the conversation she had with Paul. She hadn't even meant to go down that road but it happened and she couldn't change that now. God she just hoped Paul brushed it off as nothing, she felt so stupid for even bringing it up. Then she had to go and trip over her feet right into him and make a bigger ass of herself but at least she hadn't come out and told him to kiss her. Stupid alcohol, would she ever learn to just stop drinking it?

Kicking the blankets off of herself she got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She had to go find Paul and face what happened last night because she needed to go get her car. Then when she got back she would take a shower and call Linda so she could talk to Aiden. But as soon as she had made it to the door of the bathroom her cellphone started ringing. Maybe she wouldn't have to wait to talk to Aiden after all but as she made her way over to the nightstand and picked it up it wasn't her mother after all.

"Hello"

"Why haven't you been answering me?"

"Good morning to you too Kelsi" Stephanie replied with a small laugh.

"It's not funny. I thought something bad happened"

"No I just had my ringer turned off last night and forgot to turn it on until I got back to the hotel. I got all of your missed calls and texts so don't worry about that. I just didn't reply because I wasn't sure if you were awake because it was pretty late"

"I was still up at the time you should have made it back to the hotel"

"I uh went somewhere after the show was over"

"Where did you go?" Kelsi asked and Stephanie bit her bottom lip debating if she should say anything about Paul. Kelsi was her best friend and she told her everything but Kelsi also kept trying to say she had feelings for Paul. Right now she didn't want to get into that because no matter how much she denied it Kelsi wouldn't let it go.

"Just out to eat"

"By yourself?" Stephanie let out a sigh. Of course she would have to ask and well she couldn't lie to her.

"No"

"Stop being so short with your answers. Who was it?"

"Paul asked me if I wanted to come with him to eat"

"He asked you out on a date?" Kelsi asked not hiding the excitement in her voice.

"No it wasn't a date. He just wanted to talk about Aiden and I wouldn't have agreed to go on a date with him"

"Whatever you say Steph" Kelsi replied and Stephanie rolled her eyes. She knew that was coming. "Did anything happen?"

"Yes but I'll need to tell you about it later. Right now I need to go get my car because Paul wouldn't let me drive it back last night and I need to call my mom so I can talk to Aiden"

"Smart man for not letting you drive. You better call me right after you talk to Aiden"

"I will"

"I'll be waiting" Kelsi replied before Stephanie ended the call.

After brushing her teeth and her hair Stephanie pulled on her shoes and headed out of her room to the elevator. She hoped she was remembering what floor and room number he was staying in correctly. He had told her them last night and told her when she was ready to go get her car this morning to come and get him. Maybe she should have texted him and told him to meet her in the lobby. She didn't want anyone seeing her going to his room, she could imagine the rumors that would be spread. But it was too late for that now as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Hopefully he would be awake and they could just get out of here quickly.

Stephanie stepped out of the elevator and started heading down the hallway when she spotted Joanie walking out of one of the rooms at the end of the hall. Stephanie stopped dead in her tracks feeling her heart start to race. She would never hear the end of it if she caught Stephanie at Paul's door. What else could she do though? Stand in the middle of the hall and look like an idiot? Joanie wasn't paying attention to her anyway, she was faced towards the door of the room she came out of. Apparently she was caught up in a conversation with whoever was still in the room so maybe there was a chance Joanie wouldn't notice her at all. All she had to was find the hotel room number that Paul said he was in.

That was when the person Joanie was talking to stepped out more into the hallway, it was Paul. Well she found his room and there was no way to avoid Joanie. Why in the hell was she leaving Paul's room in the first place? She hadn't seen Paul talk to Joanie in a while and the last thing she remembered was Paul being furious with her. So why did they seem friendly right now?

That question was answered though as Stephanie watched Joanie lean over and kiss him. Suddenly she felt sick to her stomach and she turned back around as fast as she could. She just needed to get back to the elevator and get away from this scene as fast as she could. All she wanted to forget what she just saw and thankfully it didn't take long for the elevator doors to open. She stepped back in and jabbed the button to her floor as she felt tears start stinging her eyes. After the doors closed she didn't even try to hold the tears back as she began to sob.