Disclaimer: All the events and character description taken place in this story is COMPLETELY FICTION. No copyright infringement intended. All characters are copy written to their respective owners. No profit is being made from this story. It should be viewed only as entertainment.
Chapter Twenty-Two
"I think they're here." Kurt reported as he walked into the spacious living room. He had noticed that a luxury rental car had pulled into their well lit driveway while he was tending to the kids.
"Okay, I'm just about done." Steph replied not taking her eyes off of what she was doing.
Stephanie had been giving him things to put away while she was making a clean sweep of their downstairs. It was normal for her to do this every time they were expecting company. The challenge for her was to keep her children occupied so that she could straighten up without being interrupted constantly. She accomplished this by sitting Aurora at the kitchen table with her favorite coloring book while placing Andrew in the nearby playpen with a few toys.
Kurt had decided to not even question the circumstances surrounding the phone call between his wife and her ex-husband. Stephanie was already doing him the favor of entertaining Lesnar who she really wasn't fond of. Of course, this did not mean that he was going to forget about the call. In the past few days, his awareness of Levesque's interest in his wife had been heightened. It was something to keep an eye on, but not something that he considered to be a threat to his marriage.
"You bought the steaks, right?" Stephanie asked. She was quickly removing Aurora's stuffed animals from the sofa that was adjacent from the plasma television.
"Yeah, I went and got them when you told me to earlier. They're in the frig. Babe, the house doesn't have to be perfect. Brock and Rena aren't going to care." Angle told his wife as he watched her line up the stuffed toys in Aurora and Andrew's little play corner of the room.
"I just want to make sure they have a choice of where they want to sit. I know the house doesn't have to be immaculate." She replied before taking a moment to scan the room to make sure everything was in order.
"Do I look all right?" Stephanie then asked her husband. She was now turned toward him. She ran her hands over her outfit in order to take care of any wrinkles or lint that might have accumulated there during her cleaning spree. Her eyes were focused on Angle, awaiting his response.
"Yes, you look wonderful tonight." Kurt replied with a chuckle as he advanced further into the room to meet his wife. He couldn't resist Eric Clapton's song lyric when he was replying.
"Kurt, I'm being serious…" Steph said in a somewhat pouty voice after giving her husband a giggle. She brought her hands to the collar of his dress shirt and fixed it.
"You look gorgeous, Stephy." Angle told her while gazed into her brilliant blue eyes. He placed his hands on her forearms that had been resting on his chest while she was fixing his collar. Gently, he moved her arms so that they were now around his neck.
Steph gave him a smile and tilting her head slightly before her husband's lips met hers. Her elbows bent fully; she hugged him tighter as their kiss intensified. Kurt's arm muscles flexed as he almost lifted his wife off the ground. The sound of their doorbell chiming caused them to break the kiss.
The couple walked into the kitchen en route to the front door of their home. The sight of both of his parents caused baby Andrew to whine with his arms stretched out toward them. He had obviously had enough of his playpen and wanted to be with them.
"Do you want to come see who's at the door?" Stephanie asked her son in a sweet voice before lifting him into her arms.
"Hey Aurora, my friend, Brock, and his wife are here to visit. Do you want to come with us to welcome them to our house?" Kurt asked his stepdaughter. He wanted to make sure that he was giving her the opportunity to greet the guests as part of the family.
The three year old shook her head without saying a word. She was shy to the idea of greeting strangers even with her mother there. Aurora was slow to warm up to new faces but once she did, she was a little chatter box.
"Hey, glad you guys could make it." Angle said the moment he opened his front door to allow his guests access to his home.
"We got a little turned around trying to find the place. All of these Connecticut country back roads look the same, especially in the dark." Brock said as he and Kurt exchanged a tough hand shake and then a quick hug.
"This is such a beautiful home." Rena commented to Stephanie. She was standing next to her husband holding her little son, Turk, in her arms.
"Oh thank you, I see your little one is still awake too. Look Andrew, you have a new friend." Steph said bringing her son closer to the other baby so that they could interact.
Both Andy and Turk's eyes widened as they became intently interested in looking at each other. Like all other babies, they both loved seeing another baby's face. Andrew's wet mouth formed a smile before a few lines of gibberish escaped from it. This caused Turk Lesnar to react the same exact way. Both mothers gushed at their sons while Angle and Lesnar continued their chat without even noticing.
Waiting to get dinner started, Stephanie sent Kurt onto the back deck to grill the steaks while she handled the rest of the meal. Rena was nice enough to help out Steph in the kitchen; her husband joined Kurt at the grill. Aurora had appointed herself in charge of monitoring her little brother and the other baby. The mothers had placed the children in the play corner of the living room. Every time either baby would try and crawl or toddle away, the three year old would try and drag them back over to where she thought they belonged. This of course, caused them to whine and fuss. Aurora would then animate a toy for them which would in turn pacify them.
"You are going to see me strangle your husband if I find out he's encouraging Kurt to fight." Steph said to Rena. They were both standing at the kitchen counter preparing food. Even though she was cooking, Stephanie was keeping her eye on her husband and Lesnar from the kitchen window. The two men were standing side by side talking over the hot grill.
"It wouldn't surprise me if he is. Mixed martial arts are what Brock lives for. It's always about the next fight with him. He never gives himself any downtime." Rena replied before she too gazed out the window.
"Kurt's the same way with wrestling. He's constantly pushing himself to the limit. With all of his past injuries, my heart is constantly in my throat when I watch him wrestle. I've asked him so many times to work lighter but he's so damn stubborn."
"I know what you mean, believe me. Brock sees himself as invincible. It has only gotten worse since he won the heavyweight title. He's an amazing fighter but no one is immune to injury or God forbid, death. He's only human…despite what he believes." Mrs. Lesnar commented.
"Kurt is the same way. At least Brock is in his early thirties. Kurt is now forty. I don't know how much more his body can take. What good is being known as the best wrestler in the business if you are so broken down that you can't play with and enjoy your children?" Steph replied back in a serious tone of voice.
As frustrated as Mrs. Angle was by her husband's stubbornness to excel in the business, she was somewhat relieved to be talking to another wife who had the same issues in common. Rena Lesnar had to cope with the same worry each time her husband stepped into the cage to fight. She too had an infant son with her husband and had to fret about some of the worst possible outcomes of each and every fight.
"If I were you, I wouldn't let Levesque anywhere near my wife." Brock told Kurt before taking a sip from his beer bottle.
"It's not that simple. They have a daughter together. Trust me; he uses Aurora like a pawn to play on Steph's emotions." Angle replied turning the steaks one by one with the metal tongs in his right hand while he held his beer bottle in his left.
"Of course he wants to get back with Stephanie. The guy is nothing without her. The fact that he calls himself an athlete and a wrestler is a complete joke and an insult to us. Still, the guy is intelligent and manipulative, you can't underestimate him."
Kurt simply nodded as he turned his head and caught sight of his wife through the kitchen window. Steph was smiling and laughing while talking to Rena. He thought back to how he felt earlier in the day when he saw Steph talking to her ex-husband. As much as Angle didn't want to admit it, he felt the smallest amount of jealousy creeping in. But why would he need to feel jealous? Steph was now married to him. And according to her, she was very happy. It wasn't like Levesque could ever measure up to him, so why was he feeling this way about the call? Perhaps it was just the fact that Kurt knew that Paul wanted to take Steph from him. Angle couldn't stand the thought of losing her.
"I know he's gunning for her…" Angle finally said aloud before taking a gulp of beer.
"He's not going to take your wife, man. Even if the guy has some brains, he's still a pussy. Just treat this like he's a potential wrestling opponent that you're going up against. What do you do? You study him and find his weakness. Once you know, you exploit it. Shoot for the single leg, and put him on the mat for the count before he even knows what hit him, get it?" Lesnar said to his friend with a smile as he reached into his back pocket after placing his empty beer bottle on the deck railing.
"Yeah, I get it. I'm going to talk to Vince, he knows more about Levesque then I do." Kurt replied while tending to the steaks.
"You want a dip?" Brock offered holding his round can of chew out. He had already put a chunk in his own mouth before offering some to his buddy.
"No thanks man, I quit that stuff."
"Since when? Why?" Lesnar asked with a chuckle as he closed the can and put it back into his back pocket of his pants.
"Steph didn't like it. I quit for her."
"You know, some people might call that being pussy whipped. She must be great in the sack."
"Oh yeah, she's pretty amazing. It's hard to find a woman who can match my intensity."
"You sure got her pregnant quick enough. You haven't been married that long and you already have a one year old." Brock laughed before he spit tobacco juice into his empty beer bottle.
"Actually I impregnated her before we were married. Well…technically, she was still married to Levesque when it happened." Angle admitted with a smirk.
"No shit, right under his enormous nose you knocked her up? Angle, you sly dog..." Lesnar laughed folding his arms after he gave his friend a playful punch in the arm.
"No, their marriage was already over, and so was mine. Steph had a hard time bringing the marriage to a close because she was worried about Aurora but when she found out she was pregnant with our baby son, it brought us back together."
"I always knew you wanted to hit that. You spent more time hanging out with her backstage then you did with me when we were on SmackDown together."
"Ah, what's the matter, Lesnar? Were you jealous?" Angle joked causing Brock to burst out laughing.
When dinner was ready, both couples sat in the dining room with their children. Aurora insisted that she sit next to her mommy and little brother who Stephanie had sitting on her lap so she could feed him with ease. On the other side of the table, Rena was doing the same thing with Turk. The sound of both babies babbling in between spoonfuls of Gerber echoed in the room due to the vaulted ceiling.
"Sweetie, don't kick the table." Steph told her three year old after the sound of her little feet could be heard hitting the underside of her expensive table. Being a very active child, Aurora sometimes would fidget in her boaster seat.
"Steph, she is so cute. She looks just like you. It's unbelievable." Rena Lesnar reported to Steph from across the table. She had taken her attention away from feeding her son for a moment to watch Stephanie's daughter.
"Yeah she does. Levesque must have no fucking genes what so ever. I guess God knows what he's doing, huh?" Brock remarked with a laugh right after his wife's observation and before Stephanie could reply.
Stephanie's eyes narrowed as she shot a look of distain over at her guest. Lesnar continued to laugh as he looked over at Kurt who was also snickering quietly after almost aspirating on his beer that he had been drinking when the joke was made. The fact that her husband was laughing at his friend's inappropriate comment caused her to change the focus of her angry gaze at him. Why was every little snide remark toward her ex-husband the new form of entertainment not just among other wrestlers but also her own husband. Didn't Kurt care that Aurora, Paul's little daughter, was sitting right there while his buddy was saying disparaging things about her father?
"Hey man, watch your mouth, we've got kids here." Angle finally said with a smile after a few awkward moments of silence that he was using to keep himself from laughing aloud. He turned to look at Stephanie who he could sense was staring at him.
The sight of his wife shooting him a look that was anything but warm and loving caused Kurt's smile to quickly fade. Without words, he shrugged his shoulders slightly as a way of pleading innocence as he acted like he didn't know why she looked upset with him.
"You can't be surprised by the fact that he had a daughter though. I mean from what I remember from biology class, you actually need a Y chromosome to give. And by the looks of him, I doubt he even has one. Roids can only do so much, you know." Lesnar chuckled before shoving a piece of steak in his mouth with a fork.
Brock's newest comment in an attempt at humor caused Angle to bring his hand up to his face. He used his large hand to cup his mouth, hiding a smile as well as keeping and signs of laughter hidden from everyone at the table. Stephanie had no problem seeing through his pathetic attempt to stifle his enjoyment of the rude comment. She looked right into his eyes before slowly shaking her head in disapproval.
"Brock, you know, it's not funny unless everyone is laughing. Don't be obnoxious, we are guests." Rena said to her husband after giving his large muscular arm a quick smack with her free hand.
"Steph, I just love your dining room set. Did you buy it here locally?" Mrs. Lesnar asked looking across the table. She was trying to change the topic of conversation and relieve the younger woman from feeling uncomfortable.
"Thank you, ugh, no, I ordered it from a catalog. It's a hand painted Madison Park set." Stephanie replied before giving Rena a quick polite smile. She brought her attention back to feeding herself and her son. Steph was happy that Rena had addressed her husband's behavior and had taken to focus off of her ex-husband.
"Stephy's got great taste. She decorated the whole house on her own." Kurt announced gazing lovingly over at his wife. He leaned over and put his arm around the back of her chair so that his hand could gently caress her back.
"So Rena, are you working now?" Steph asked almost cutting her husband off. She leaned forward in her chair, moving away from Kurt's touch. Andrew being closer to the table compelled him to reach out for his mother's fork and knife which she quickly had to move from his reach. This caused Andy to stiffen his body as he threw his head back let out a loud whine.
"No I'm not. I was doing some modeling before I got pregnant with Turk but now I just stay home and take care of my two boys." The former Mrs. Mero explained giving her baby son a little kiss on the cheek.
"Do you want me to take him so you can finish eating?" Angle offered after noticing that their child was being difficult and his wife was obviously irritated.
"No, I don't want you to take him! I don't want you to do anything!" Steph snapped back at her husband. Her voice was full of anger and frustration as her baby son continued to fuss. Kurt's eyes widened, he looked puzzled by his wife's irascible demeanor in response to him offering to help.
"Damn Angle, you can't do anything right. I think you can forget about getting any nookie tonight." Brock said with a chuckle. He was watching Angle's reaction to Stephanie's bitchy attitude. The guy looked confused and somewhat uncomfortable. He didn't even look like he heard Brock's comment.
"You better stop adding your two cents or you won't be getting any tonight either." Replied Rena who had turned her attention to her husband; Lesnar's continuation of inappropriate comments was really starting to aggravate her.
"He knows I'm just talking shit. But to be serious now, Angle, Rena and I would like you and Stephanie to be our guests tomorrow at the PPV. We've got two seats reserved right with Rena u close to the action."
Lesnar's offer immediately caused Kurt to look away from his wife. He looked and Brock and smiled, nodding his head in approval. In his eyes, the only thing better than watching MMA on his large plasma television was actually going to the events.
"I actually have plans for tomorrow. It's a commitment that I just can't break." Stephanie said aloud before her husband could even formally accept the Lesnars' offer. Her comment caused Kurt's state of perplexity to return. What exactly did his wife have planned for tomorrow? And more importantly, why didn't he know about it if it was so important to her?
Angle didn't immediately follow up on his curiosity. The last thing he wanted to do was look foolish in front of their company by admitting to not knowing what his own wife was going to be doing in place of joining him at the UFC event. It was a topic that was meant to be discussed in private. It was once the company left and both children were put to bed, that Kurt decided to enquire.
Stephanie was just finishing up cleaning the kitchen by loading up all the dinner plates into the dishwasher. Steph had not spoken to Angle directly since she had snapped out on him in the dining room during dinner. He had taken the initiative to be the one to tuck both children in for the night so that Steph didn't have to do so along with her kitchen duties.
"Did I do something to piss you off?" Angle asked bluntly as he walked into the kitchen.
"You say you love Aurora yet you see no problem in your pal, Brock, make cruel and hurtful comments about her father right in front of her. You were even laughing. What message does that send to Aurora?" Steph replied stopping what she was doing for a moment so she could turn and look over at her husband.
"It wasn't a big deal. Brock made a couple of off colored jokes about Levesque. Aurora was completely fine. She's only three years old. And she knows I love her like she was mine own daughter. I dare say, she is surer of my love for her than she is of her father's love."
Her husband's words caused Stephanie to turn back around to face her kitchen counter. She paused for a moment before resuming her activity, allowing his words to resonate in her mind. Kurt was speaking directly to the reason she made plans with Paul tomorrow.
"What's going on tomorrow that you can't go with me to New York for the UFC event?" Kurt asked in an attempt to switch topics and get off the subject of Levesque. Little did he know, Paul wasn't going to leave the conversation that easily.
"I'm going with Aurora over to my parents' house. Paul is going to visit with us." Steph replied nonchalantly and as though it was a matter of fact.
"Wait, what? You and Aurora are going to be spending the day with Paul tomorrow? Aurora is one thing, but why do you need to spend time with him, Stephanie?" Kurt asked inquisitively, putting his hands on his hips. He walked forward and further into the kitchen to be closer to his wife.
"How many times do I have to explain this to you? I am going to be there so that Aurora is comfortable during her visit with her father. It's not as big of a deal is you are trying to make it." Steph explained showing signs of becoming exasperated with her husband.
"Oh, I guess him putting the moves on you here in the kitchen while he was 'visiting' with the two of you is not a big deal then." Angle quickly replied folding his arms and leaning up against the counter top. He was throwing his wife's words back at her while sighting the incident that Levesque himself loved telling him about.
"That's not going to happen again. Paul's dating Torrie Wilson. It looks like he's finally moving on with his life and I think it's important that Aurora is a part of it."
"You don't need to be there if your mother is going to be. Aurora is close to your mom so if Paul's visiting while Linda supervises, everything will go smoothly. You are my wife. You should be at my side. I want you to go with me to the UFC event." Angle told her moving in to take her into his arms.
"I'm not going to see Brock Lesnar fight tomorrow! I could barely stand being in the same room as him during dinner! The way he was just taking cheap shot after cheap shot at Paul was unacceptable, especially since he was a guest in our home!" Steph hollered while backing away from Kurt's advances. After everything she had to deal with that evening, being intimate and loving with him was the very last thing on her mind.
"Why do you care what he says about Levesque? He's a worthless piece of shit! Are you forgetting what he put you and Aurora through? You don't owe him anything! I really hate for it to come down to this but you need to choose what's more important, spending time with me or him!" Angle hollered back. He was beginning to get riled up thinking about the possibility of Steph choosing Paul over him.
"Oh don't even go there! This isn't about us not spending time together, this is about you having a hard on to run to New York to hang out with Lesnar! He was a complete asshole and disrespected me and you didn't even do anything!" Steph screamed back throwing a dish towel at Kurt.
"He never said anything about you! What are you talking about?" Angle yelled as he threw the dish towel with force onto the counter. His chest was heaving, his anger building as their fighting continued.
"The shit he said about Paul was directed toward me and Aurora! You knew I was uncomfortable and you didn't say a word! Well you know what, Kurt! You and Brock can go fuck yourselves because you aren't getting anything from me tonight! Don't even try and get in our bed with me tonight!" Steph hollered began to storm out of the kitchen.
"Steph, wait, shit, I don't want this to drive a wedge between us. I won't go to the event tomorrow if you don't want me to. I'll go with you and the kids to your parents' house. I'll watch Andrew while Aurora visits with him." Kurt said quickly in an attempt to keep his wife from leaving the kitchen still mad at him.
Stephanie stopped right at the entrance to the hallway and turned around to face her husband. She took a few deep breaths before opening her mouth to speak again. Angle thought that her taking a moment before replying was a good sign that she was going to agree with him to resolve their issues.
"I don't want you there…It will only cause problems…Go to the event…" Stephanie said in a raspy voice, wiping away a single tear that had formed in her eye. Then slowly, she turned her back on her husband and left him standing alone in the kitchen.