Thank you everyone for the reviews! I really liked this chapter so I hope you guys enjoy it :)
The next morning Stephanie slipped out of her bed quietly as she could, leaving a softly snoring Paul in her bed. Once she was out of her room she sneaked a peek inside Aiden's room to see him sprawled out on his bed still asleep. She couldn't help but smile at the sight and then head towards the kitchen to put a pot of coffee on. Stephanie grabbed a cup out of the cabinet and then leaned against the counter to wait. When it was done she poured the coffee in her cup and headed to the table to sit down and enjoy a little bit of alone time but the words from last night was still buzzing in her ears that Linda had said to her. She rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands feeling exhausted from the sleepless night. Even though Paul had stayed with her it didn't stop the bad dreams from happening. There were ones of her and Paul, he was so close but still just out of reach and when she would reach out for him, he would just disappear. Then suddenly she was holding a crying Aiden as a baby in her arms and her trying to calm him down as tears of her own slipped down her cheeks. She would look back to the spot Paul had been waiting for him to show back up but he never did. He had just left them standing there alone crying.
Even though that wasn't the way things had exactly happened it still had brought up the painful memories and feelings of him leaving her alone and pregnant. She had to remind herself that if she had tried a little harder to let him know back then that she was pregnant maybe things would have been different. But would he have stayed only because of Aiden or had he really cared about her? She sighed and took a drink of her coffee while pushing the thoughts away. It didn't really matter anymore did it? He was here now and he really seemed to love Aiden and he really did seem to care about her too. That's what she had to keep reminding herself.
"Good morning" Paul said as she looked over at him. He was wearing his jeans from last night but he didn't have his shirt on. She couldn't keep her eyes from raking over him and remembered how he had been in nothing but his boxers last night. Also how one of the first times she had woken up due to one of the dreams he had rolled over and put his arm around her waist and pulled her close against him. It hadn't been easy to ignore the way he felt against her or how much she wanted to let her desire for him to take over. But in her mind she knew she wasn't ready for it even though her body definitely was. She didn't want to rush things between them, not like she did all those years ago.
"Good morning" Stephanie replied before taking another drink of her coffee as he sat down at the table with her. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah it would have been a little better if you hadn't kicked me through most of the night" Paul replied with a chuckle while bringing his arms up to rest in front of him on the table.
"Did I really?"
"Just a little."
"I'm sorry I guess I'm used to sleeping alone" Stephanie replied putting her cup of coffee down on the table in front of her.
"It's nothing I can't take" Paul shrugged and then smiled "I mean I do wrestle for a living."
"So would you like me to cook you something for breakfast?"
"No I was actually thinking of taking Aiden out for breakfast when he gets up since I promised him last night that we would do something just me and him. Then I thought I would take him out after that and do some stuff he likes to do. If that's alright with you?"
"Yeah that's fine" Stephanie replied and nodded her head. "I guess that leaves me by myself today. Wow I can't really remember the last time that happened. Maybe I'll watch those movies we rented last night."
"Great. Then I don't have to suffer through them."
"Oh I'll leave one for both of us to watch together" Stephanie replied with a smirk.
"Just remember our deal from last night though. You now have to watch a movie of my choosing because you said you wouldn't fall asleep and you did."
"I don't remember that deal" Stephanie replied trying to hide the smile that was threatening to break through. Paul studied her face for a moment while she sat there trying to keep a straight face until he got up from his seat. For a second she thought maybe he was going to let it go until she felt him press against the back of her chair and felt his breath on the side of her neck.
"I know you remember and I get to choose the movie the next time" Paul whispered in her ear and then she felt his lips against her skin as he gave her a soft tiny kiss just below her ear. Then he walked off into the kitchen leaving her wanting for more than the just the tiny kiss he gave her. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Stephanie asked confused taking another drink of her coffee.
"That little groaning sound you made" Paul replied walking back towards the table. "Or was it a moan?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about" Stephanie replied feeling herself blush. She hadn't even been aware that she had made any kind of noise.
"Daddy! You're here" Aiden said drawing Stephanie and Paul's attention to him. Stephanie hadn't even heard him wake up or head towards them. "You didn't come back last night and spend time with me."
"I know and I'm sorry but your grandma was here and mommy wanted to talk to her alone" Paul replied as Aiden came over to him and climbed into his lap. "But I'm going to make it up to you because I'm going to take you out for breakfast and then you can choose anything you want to do today. It's going to be just you and me."
"Really?" Aiden asked with a huge smile.
"Yeah you just have to go get changed out of your pajamas and get your shoes on" Paul replied as Aiden climbed down back off of Paul's lap and raced out of the room. "I guess I'd better go get my shirt and shoes. Is there anything you need that I can pick up for you while we are out?"
"No I'm good" Stephanie replied and Paul walked off leaving her to finish her coffee wondering all the things she could do with her free time.
Once Aiden and Paul had said their goodbyes to her and headed out Stephanie decided to take a nice long bubble bath. It had been a while since she could just lay in the bathtub listening to music and just relax. Unfortunately, though as she went to the bathroom and started to turn the faucet on there was a knock on the front door. For a moment she considered to just not answer it but then whoever it was had started knocking even louder and it had made her worried that maybe it was some kind of an emergency.
"I'm coming" Stephanie called making her way down the hall quickly already kind of annoyed at whoever it was at her front door. When she made it to the door she unlocked it and opened it slightly to find Shane standing there with his arm raised looking like he was about to knock again. "Shane what are you doing here this early? Is something wrong?"
"Where is he?" Shane asked ignoring her questions.
"Where is who?" Stephanie asked opening the door wider for Shane to come inside the house. She was starting to freeze already from the door being opened and she hoped he would just hurry and come in so she could close the door. Especially since it looked like he was going to be here for a while.
"Paul" Shane replied angrily walking into the house and started heading into the living room. Stephanie shut the door and followed him feeling angry that Linda had apparently told him about Paul being Aiden's father. There would be no other reason for him to be looking for him this angry. When she made it to the living room Shane was already walking down her hallway to her bedroom.
"Shane stop! He's not here" Stephanie replied following him down the hallway until he spun around and faced her. "Mom told you didn't she?"
"Yeah she told me. What the fuck Stephanie?" Shane asked throwing his hands in the air and let them fall back down at his side. "How could you keep this a secret? How could you lie to us?"
"It wasn't easy but you're pretty much showing me the reason right now of why I kept it a secret" Stephanie replied turning around and walking back into the living room. "And I kept it a secret because after a while I didn't want Paul knowing or him getting fired. I'm sure mom has already told you my reasoning because apparently she can't keep her word. What are you doing here anyway? Did you come to kick his ass? Because let's be honest Shane you would have been the one getting his ass handed to him."
"I could take him" Shane replied defensively crossing his arms and Stephanie couldn't help the laugh that came out of her. "I could."
"Okay Shane" Stephanie pressed her lips together to try and contain herself from laughing again. Even though she was pissed off she couldn't help but let a little bit of the anger slip away at the image in her head of Shane trying to take Paul on.
"I get it now though. Why you didn't want to be in a storyline with him and why you were so pissed off about me letting Aiden meet him that night."
"That's the night that Paul found out that Aiden was his."
"So I'm the one that let it all out?" Shane asked going over to the couch and sinking down onto it.
"Well he came here to make sure but yeah after you introduced them that's when Paul realized that Aiden was his son" Stephanie replied sitting down next to Shane on the couch. She looked over at him watching some of the anger wash away. "Where you going to tell him if that hadn't happened?"
"Yeah, eventually."
"I still don't understand why he left you in the first place" Shane replied clenching his hand into a fist.
"We all do stupid things Shane that we regret at some point" Stephanie shrugged "but he realized his mistake and he really does regret it."
"Are you sure?" Shane asked looking her in the eye. "Are you sure he won't just leave again?"
"Yeah I'm sure. He really loves Aiden and he has been a great father so far to him. He's the one that wanted to make sure he was a part of Aiden's life once he found out about him so I'm sure he's not going anywhere" Stephanie replied and for once believed her own words.
"He shouldn't have got involved with you in the first place, no offense. But he was older and he knew better plus you were the boss's daughter. How did he think all of this would go when everyone found out eventually?"
"I don't know. We were both hoping that no one did and that is why we kept it a secret. I never thought I would end up pregnant and it would all come out. It doesn't matter that he was older Shane, I wanted it just as much and I agreed to it so you can't put the blame on just him" Stephanie replied as Shane gave a small sigh and ran his hand over his face.
"Look I didn't come over here to give you a hard time because I know you're already going to be getting that from mom and dad. I just came over here because I was so pissed off and I wanted to kick his ass for doing that to you and decided to look here for him first. I can't help but feel protective of you, you're my little sister and nobody is going to hurt you or my nephew" Shane said as Stephanie smiled at her brother. It was kind of sweet but also very stupid of him to think he could kick Paul's ass but at least she knew he had her back.
"Did you get it out of your system? Have you cooled down? Because it will be very stupid of you to start a fight with him."
"I'm not as angry but I still do want to kick his ass. I'll try to keep myself under control but if he hurts you again or Aiden by him leaving I will kick his ass."
"You can try" Stephanie replied patting his shoulder gently. "So did mom tell dad? Should I be expecting him at some point?"
"I don't think so. She said you asked her not to tell dad and that was the reason she had come to me because she needed someone to talk to."
"Well I guess I'll have to wait and see" Stephanie replied leaning her head back against the couch and hoping that Linda didn't say anything to Vince. She wanted to tell Vince herself and right now she wasn't ready.
A few hours later Paul pulled into Stephanie's driveway and shut the car off and grabbed the movie he had decided to rent while Aiden and him were out. He had got to know a lot more about Aiden today like his favorite things to do, some more of his favorite movies, his favorite color and stuff like that. He also learned something about himself and that was that he was the pushover parent. Aiden had wanted a toy today and even though Christmas had recently passed he couldn't help but want to buy it for him. But then Aiden had found two other toys he wanted so Paul had ended up buying him three toys. If he wasn't careful, he was going to end up spoiling Aiden and letting get away with whatever he wanted but right now he couldn't help himself. Maybe it was because he had missed out on so much of Aiden's life and now he wanted to try and make up for it somehow.
"Okay ready to go in?" Paul asked opening Aiden's door as Aiden picked up his toys and tried holding them to his chest as he got out of the car. Once he was out one of the toys ended up falling to the ground. "Do you want me to help?"
"No I got it" Aiden replied bending down and picking the toy up while trying to make sure the other two didn't fall. Then he headed to the porch as Paul shut the door on the car and followed after him.
After they made it inside the house Aiden ran straight towards the living room while Paul went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. Then he headed to the living room to find Stephanie sitting on the couch watching one of the movies they had rented last night. When she noticed him she paused the movie and smiled at him.
"So I saw you bought him some new toys as he ran to his bedroom" Stephanie said with a chuckle as he went over to the couch and sat down next to her. "He just got a ton of stuff for Christmas and some of it he hasn't even really played with yet."
"I know I know" Paul replied shaking his head "I did realize something today though."
"What's that?" Stephanie asked and it was almost as if she sounded nervous.
"I'm definitely the pushover parent."
"Oh" Stephanie replied and he hadn't realized how tensed she had been until he saw her loosen up and relax further into the couch. "We'll have to work on that."
"So how was your alone time?" Paul asked bringing his arm to rest on the back of the couch behind her and she laid her head back against it.
"It was pretty good. I watched the rest of Pretty Woman and I've made it halfway through this one" Stephanie motioned to the television.
"So that means there is still the rest of this to watch and then there is only one left to watch."
"Yeah and I saved the best for last since I knew it was the one you would be watching with me."
"Which one is it?"
"Dirty Dancing."
"Oh no" Paul groaned and threw his head back against the couch as Stephanie laughed at him.
"You're going to love it" Stephanie teased poking him lightly on the chest as Paul rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand from his chest letting his thumb caress the back of her hand.
"I love… the movie that I picked out while Aiden and I were out. You're totally suffering through it now since you're going to make me suffer through Dirty Dancing" Paul replied hoping she hadn't noticed how he trailed off there in the beginning because he had been about to tell her he loved her. Which would have probably freaked her out but he hadn't been thinking and was letting the way he was feeling get the best of him.
"Oh I'm sure I will" Stephanie replied sarcastically not letting on to whether she had caught on or not about what he was about to say. "Oh by the way I had unexpected visitor after you and Aiden left."
"Who was it?"
"Shane. Apparently mom told him about you being Aiden's father."
"Was he pissed?" Paul asked as Stephanie let out a giggle "What's so funny?"
"Nothing. He was pretty pissed but I got him calmed down."
"Do you think Linda told Vince?"
"I'm not sure. Shane said mom told him that I asked her not to say anything to dad and that's why she talked to Shane about it. But if you suddenly see my father coming at you really pissed off you'll know the reason why. Before Shane left I asked him not to say anything to anyone especially not dad and he agreed."
"I'll deal with it if it happens" Paul replied tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "But now that we're starting to let your family know I was thinking that maybe we should start telling mine."
"Hmmm... "
"What?" Paul asked as she turned her head away from him.
"Maybe you should tell them" Stephanie shrugged.
"You don't want to tell them with me?" Paul asked and she shook her head "why not?"
"Because they'll hate me for keeping Aiden from you all of these years. I'm already dealing with my family being pissed off at me and I don't want your family feeling the same way."
"Baby they won't hate you. My family isn't going to be like your family, sure my mom will be upset at first. She'll be upset that she missed out on so much of his life but she'll be happy to have a Grandson to get to know and spoil. There is no way they can hate you especially after they get to know you but if you just want me to tell them I will" Paul replied and Stephanie nodded her head. He didn't want to push her to do something she didn't want to do but he would have liked to introduce his family to Stephanie too.
"Daddy" Aiden said interrupting their conversation "come play with my new toys with me."
"Okay I'll be there in just a minute" Paul replied as Aiden turned and headed back to his room. "I'll let you finish the rest of your movie and then later tonight we'll watch the other one together. Then if you're still awake we'll watch mine."
"I'll make sure to fall asleep right after mine" Stephanie grinned at him and he leaned over and kissed her.
"Then I'll just make sure we watch it sometime before I have to take it back" Paul replied getting from the couch as she pressed play on the movie and ignored him. As he walked towards Aiden room he felt excited about finally being able to tell his family about Aiden and introducing them. He knew they were going to love Aiden and they would love Stephanie too whenever she would be up for meeting them. He just hoped she didn't let her family bring her down too much but he would be there for her and try to cheer her up as much as possible.