Disclaimer: All the events and character description taken place in this story is COMPLETELY FICTION. No copyright infringement intended. All characters are copyrighted to their respective owners. No profit is being made from this story. It should be viewed only as entertainment.
Chapter Thirty-One
Paul barely managed to get any sleep after his surreal dream; if it really was a dream. It had been so real. He had felt her smooth skin under his touch, tasted her sweet kisses, and even felt the warm of her body against his. If it was all just a figment of his imagination, then how could it be so vivid? And how did the shirt get in the guest room? These questions were still plaguing Levesque the next morning when he entered the kitchen fully dressed.
"Hey good morning, oh good, you found the shirt I left for you in the guest room. I put on the dresser while you were getting a shower. Did you sleep okay?" Stephanie asked with a smile when she saw him enter the spacious kitchen wearing Kurt's light yellow shirt.
Paul's heart sank the moment Stephanie revealed to him how Angle's shirt ended up in the guest room. He really did dream everything that had transpired between them. The reality of the night before was that he had slept clear on the other side of the house while his little girl and the woman he loved slept behind locked doors away from him. They felt so out of reach even though he had spent the entire day with them yesterday.
A part of him wanted to express his feelings to her right then and there just like he had done in the dream. He wasn't going to though. This was because he knew that her reaction would not be the same as it was in his dream. She would reject him, and speak of her marriage and his fuck ups that caused the dissolving of their marriage. Why should he put his feelings for her out there if she was only going to throw them back in his face? Simply expressing his desire to be with her and retain his spot in the company was useless. He had a better chance to knock Kurt Angle off the pedestal Steph had placed him on as husband of the year. The guy wasn't perfect and he had his vices just like every man. Hopefully exploiting Angle's short comings would help Steph realize her mistake in marrying him in the first place.
Paul had been so focused about the thoughts in his head that he was now just noticing the absence of his child.
"Where's Aurora?" Levesque inquired. He was answering his ex-wife's question with a question. Levesque didn't want to even attempt to tell her about last night. This thoughts and feelings were better left being kept to himself.
"She's still in my bed asleep. I'm hoping the worst of the sickness is over and that she's just sleeping it off now. If she's still sick today, I'm taking her to the doctor." Steph replied as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
"Would you like some coffee?" She then asked him after noticing him watching her fixing herself some.
"No, I should be going. I've got to go home and get ready to leave for the SmackDown tapings today."
"Don't you want to say goodbye to your daughter?" Stephanie asked the moment she saw her ex-husband beginning to walk away like he was getting ready to leave. She looked to be taken aback by the fact that he was ready to leave without even saying goodbye to his sick child.
"I don't want to wake her up. Like you said, she needs her sleep. I'll see her this weekend at the birthday party. It's at your parents' beach house, right?"
"Yeah it's on Saturday at noon. Did you call Torrie and make sure she is able to come with you?" Steph then asked to remind him of the fact that he was only invited to Andrew's first birthday party if he was bringing his girlfriend.
"No, I haven't talked to her. I'll ask her today when I see her at the SmackDown tapings." Levesque muttered back. After the great day they had with Aurora yesterday, he was hoping she would finally allow him to be at the party without Torrie's presence; so much for that.
"Well have a safe flight. I hope to see you and Torrie at the party."Stephanie told her former husband before she escorted Paul to the front door of her large home.
Steph had to admit, she was glad her ex-husband was leaving her house early. She knew Kurt was most likely already on his way home with their son. She knew he wasn't going to take it well when she divulged to him the fact that Paul spent the night in their home while he was away. If he had to find out about the sleep over while Levesque was still at the house, there was bound to be fireworks.
"See you at the party, Steph. You better go drink your coffee. You don't want it to get cold." Levesque replied back pointing back toward the kitchen where she had left her cup of coffee.
Steph gave a quick laugh with a nod. She then waved goodbye to him after he walked out of the house. Paul didn't expect her to walk him to his Hummer that was parked in the nearby driveway. Her walking him to the door was the extent of the hospitality that she was willing to show to him.
It was just as well. Paul had someone else on his mind for the day; that woman was Torrie Wilson. She was his ticket to the McMahon-Angle party. Without her presence, there would be no way Steph could justify him being there to her family and worst of all, Angle. She wasn't the only one who was going to have some explaining to do. Paul still didn't know exactly what he was going to say to Torrie to convince her to go with him. The last time he saw her, she had left his home in a huff calling him an asshole. She had seen right through him and his intentions were clear. Still, there had to be a way. Levesque was determined to gain leverage in the situation, where ever he could find it.
Kurt and baby Andrew arrived home late in the morning. With everything that had transpired the day before, Angle had barely gotten any sleep at the hotel in Pittsburgh. Andy seemed to be agitated during the night perhaps because of the absence of his mother. And Angle couldn't stop thinking about where his ex-wife had taken his children.
When Vince had pulled him aside after RAW the night before, McMahon had advised him to contact his lawyer immediately and then followed his advice up with a hug. His father-in-law seemed to be quiet relieved to find out that Angle's troubles had nothing to do with his marriage to Stephanie. Still he couldn't act on Vince's suggestion, at least not immediately. There was no way he could call his lawyer that late at night. Besides, after all the shit Karen pulled, part of him wanted to resolve their custody problems without involving lawyers and law enforcement. He had to think about his children and what was in their best interest. What stress would all that drama put on Kyra and Kody?
"Hi my sweet angel, I missed you so much!" Stephanie gushed before greeting her husband and baby the moment they entered the kitchen through the laundry room.
Andrew immediately perked up at the sight of his mother. Kurt gave her a weak smile before allowing his wife to take their son from his arms and into hers. With her baby in her arms, Steph then began to shower him with kisses while he smiled and cooed.
Angle couldn't help but notice that not one of his wife kisses was for him. In fact, since had entered the kitchen, Steph hadn't even acknowledged his presence. Their son seemed to be the only one she was happy to see returning to her safely. She was obviously still upset about their fight on the phone yesterday.
"Where's Princess Aurora? At least I know she'll be happy to see me." Kurt asked aloud taking notice that the three year old was not in the kitchen. His voice sounded a bit hoarse like he was getting choked up. After all he had been through in Pennsylvania, he would have least liked to be welcomed home by his wife with a nice kiss and hug.
"She's on the sofa in the living room. She got sick last night but I think she's starting to feel better. She was sleeping a lot this morning so I think that means her body is fighting off the sickness."
"Shit, really? Why didn't you call me?" Kurt answered back quickly. His eyes had widened when he heard that his little stepdaughter was under the weather. He began to walk toward the living room.
"I didn't think I needed to call you. Her father was here. Besides, I figured you were too busy hanging out with Candice Michelle after the show." Steph replied in a bitchy tone raising an eyebrow while she following after her husband with her baby son on her hip.
"Are you feeling okay, little girl?" Angle whispered in a soft caring voice after taking a seat down next to where Aurora was sitting with a light blanket on. He had chosen to completely ignore Stephanie's smart ass comment about Candice Michelle. The last thing he needed now was a fight with his wife.
"My tummy hurted but teddy, doggie, and kitty cat made it better." Aurora answered back with a smile on her face. She pointed at each of her stuffed animals that were sitting on the other side of her on the sofa.
"Well I'm glad you are feeling better." Kurt then told his stepdaughter before giving her a kiss on the cheek and then took her into his arms for a hug.
Angle couldn't help but think about his little boy and girl, Kody and Kyra. He missed being able to see them whenever he wanted; to be able to hug them and play with them. He was willing to admit that after he moved to Connecticut with Stephanie, he was able to see them even less than when he still lived in Pittsburgh. But he wasn't the only one at fault. Karen had made it very difficult for him to see his two children. There were several occasions where he was going to take a short jet flight to Pennsylvania to pick them up but it was somehow never convenient for Karen.
Now he had no idea where Kyra and Kody were. They had obviously been moved from their home in Pittsburgh. What was Karen's agenda? Where was she moving them to? Did his children think that he didn't care about them? Angle wanted to cry at the thought of his little Kyra thinking that he had moved on and started a new family that didn't include her and her brother. That was the farthest thing from the truth. Kurt would love it if he could have all of his three children with him at all times. Unfortunately, an ugly divorce made that impossible and Kody and Kyra were the ones suffering because of it, just like him.
"Kurt, she wants you to let her go. How long of a hug do you want to give her?"
Stephanie's words caused Kurt to finally come back to reality and push away his sad thoughts about his children. He hadn't even realized that Aurora was trying to wiggle out of the prolonged hug that he was giving her. The three year old liked giving hugs, but not ones that lasted for minutes.
"I'm sorry. I'm just dealing with a lot." Kurt muttered back after he broke his embrace and starred over to the plasma flat screen that was currently displaying cartoons. Stephanie gave him a look of confusion. She wondered what he could possibly be "dealing with" that had him acting so odd.
As he studied his entertainment center, he narrowed his eyes noticing a CD case that he didn't recognize. While Steph placed Andrew down on the carpet floor to play, Angle got up from the sofa and ventured over to the DVD player where the mysterious case was sitting on top of it.
"What's this?" Kurt asked aloud to Steph when he turned around to show the writable DVD case.
"Oh, Paul brought some home movies over so Aurora could see herself as a baby. I guess he forgot it when he left this morning." Stephanie replied. The very second after she said "this morning" she knew she had just opened the proverbial can of worms wide open.
"What do you mean this morning?" Angle asked while his eyebrows furrowed. He thought maybe he had misunderstood what his wife had said.
"Paul spent the night in one of our guest rooms. He was worried about Aurora being sick. She threw up on his shirt at bedtime. I let him borrow one of your shirts and he left early this morning." Stephanie explained revealing all the details about the night before.
"You let him spend the night with you while I was gone? He slept in my house and you gave him my clothes to wear? What else did he have that is mine?" Angle asked. His voice was full of anger as he looked on his wife with suspicion and disgust.
It was hard enough on Kurt having to deal with thoughts of his missing children. Now because of his wife, he was having wild and jealous thoughts of her possible infidelity with her ex-husband, Paul Levesque.
Angle's abrupt outburst caused both Aurora and Andrew, who were now sitting together in the play corner of the living room, to look up at both adults. Their little eyes were full of innocent worry as both of them had no idea why Kurt was hollering.
"Let's go into another room to discuss this." Steph muttered through her gritted teeth before motioning for him to follow her out of the living room.
With Stephanie leading the way, the Angles briskly walked to the other side of their home and into their study. It was when they entered the room that Steph closed the door behind them. They wanted to be free to argue without worrying about the children hearing them and being frightened.
"Nothing happened between Paul and me at all last night! I had him use the guest room that was farthest away from our master bedroom where Aurora and I slept behind locked doors! Besides, you have no room to talk! You handed our baby son over to Candice Michelle after I remember specifically telling you that I didn't want her around either of my children! All she does is flirt with you like a cat in heat! If I didn't know any better I would think she was being encouraged!" Steph screamed at Angle putting her finger right in his face.
"I don't give a shit about Candice Michelle! She was the very last thing on my mind yesterday! I let her watch Andrew because she offered and the baby would be one less thing I had to worry about!"
"You keep hinting that something happened but you won't tell me! I'm your wife, Kurt! If something is happening to you then it's happening to me too! Now tell me! What is it?" Stephanie yelled back as tears began to form in her eyes.
Stephanie was so frustrated with her husband. Ever since his phone call yesterday she had an inkling that something was bothering him. Why didn't he just tell her what it was? Was she the only one he was keeping in the dark about what was bothering him?
"Karen took my kids!" Kurt yelled back. He was finally letting his wife in on what had been eating at him since yesterday. It even pained him to say it aloud.
"Wait, what do you mean she took them?" Steph asked back quickly. Her voice was now calm as she quickly began to realize that her husband was really torn up about something to do with his children.
Angle went to answer her but immediately had to stifle himself when his emotions over took him. A single tear escaped from each of his light blue eyes. The two streams began to slowly cascade down his cheek before he wiped them away with his hands.
"Tell me what happened, baby." Steph breathed in a hushed voice.
She closed the space between herself and her husband. Her right hand she brought to the left side of his face and used her thumb to wipe away another tear the moment it fell from his eye. She hated seeing him this upset especially when she knew it was something his ex-wife, Karen, had caused.
"I went to see Kyra and Kody at their house as soon as I got to Pittsburgh. When I got there, I saw a for sale sign in the front yard. I got out of the car and looked inside the house. It was empty." Kurt muttered through his tears.
"She just moved them without telling you first? That bitch, did you try calling her?"
"Yeah, I called and left a voice mail yesterday when I got to the arena. Then I tried calling again this morning and it said the number was no longer in service. She took my babies and I have no idea where they are." Angle added in a hoarse voice as he moved away from his wife and slumped down in his office chair. His head fell in his hands and he continued to weep.
"We need to call Mike Santicola. This goes beyond you trying to reason with Karen. Now the lawyers need to get involved. We'll find out where she's taken the kids. Everything is going to be fine." Stephanie assured him. She walked over to where he sat and began to rub his back, showing her support.
"Who knows what Karen is saying to the kids about me…They are probably wondering why Daddy hasn't visited them…" Kurt cried.
"I'm sure they know that you love them. Karen's just a cold hearted bitch and she needs to be held accountable. Just make the call the Santicola and your other lawyers if needed. That's their job."
"I hate getting lawyers involved. It reminds me of that DUI charge that woman tried to pin on me. And now a custody dispute, I don't know if I can go through all this again."
"Kurt, you have to, for Kyra and Kody. I'll be right here with you." Stephanie assured moving in front of him between where he sat and the office desk.
"I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you with me, Stephy." Angle mumbled through his sniffles of congestion. With both hands, he grabbed hold of her and pulled her into his lap. His head he buried in her bosom as he held her close.
"I'm not going anywhere." Steph then whispered into his good ear like she was telling him a secret while hugging him tightly. She felt a little awkward straddling him in his study chair nice it wasn't the most comfortable position to be in; but it didn't bother her, she was comforting her husband.
"I love you." Kurt professed the moment he lifted his head to look into her brilliantly blue eyes. She was his angel that was always there to take care of him when he was I pain; whether it was physical or emotional.
"I love you too." Stephanie replied back in a hushed tone of voice.
She moved her arms that had been wrapped around his neck so that she could place both hands on his face. Her well manicured hands, she used to pull him closer causing their noses to touch, and then finally, she brought his lips to hers. As they began to kiss, Angle brought his hands to her face. He loved the taste of his wife's kiss. While it was arousing, it was also comforting. He knew she was willing to stand by him when dealing with Karen's shit; and knowing that made him feel much better.
Not long after his arrival at the Landon arena in Topeka Kansas, Paul was able to spot Torrie Wilson getting her makeup done in an alcove of a hallway. She hadn't noticed him watching and was busy talking to Janet the makeup lady. Her blond hair had already been styled and she was dressed in a low cut sexy business suit. She was obviously going to be continuing her role as the sexy business assistant of Theodore Long.
"Hey Jan, you mind giving us a minute to talk?" Levesque asked approaching the two woman.
"Yeah sure, no problem, I'll just excuse myself. Torrie, I'm just going to go grab a quick cup of coffee. I'll be back to finish." Janet answered putting down her makeup brushes to excuse herself from the alcove to give Paul and Torrie space.
"What do you want, Paul?" Wilson asked with a hint of anger in her voice. She obviously hadn't forgotten about the last time they were together. This was going to be an uphill battle.
"I just wanted to apologize for how I acted that morning at my house. I was a jackass. I was upset because my ex-wife has man making seeing my daughter difficult and I took it out on you. I shouldn't have done that." Levesque told her in the best sincere sounding voice he could muster.
"Yeah you were a jackass. You also embarrassed me in front of Stephanie. You have some serious issues you need to work out, Paul." Torrie indicated looking right into his hazel eyes as she spoke what she believed to be the truth.
"I know I'm not perfect. And what I did to you wasn't okay. I was wondering if you could do something for me."
"I think I've done you enough favors." Torrie quickly argued back putting a hand up to signal her objection to the idea.
"Well it's not just a favor for me. You see, you really made an impression on my three year old little girl, Aurora. She keeps asking me if you are going to come to her little brother's first birthday party. Steph invited you. Would you go with me? It would mean a lot to my little girl." Paul lied.
Torrie gave a long exhale before diverting her eyes to the hallway. She was obviously thinking about the invitation he had just presented her with. Levesque knew bringing Aurora into the equation was the smartest thing he could have done. It was actually making her contemplate giving in.
"I'm going to have to say no. I really don't want to get in the middle of whatever drama is going on between you and Stephanie. You obviously aren't ready for a new relationship so it wouldn't be fair to Aurora if I showed up with you at the party and presented myself as your girlfriend. Tell her I'm sorry that I couldn't come." Wilson finally told him.
Levesque face quickly changed to a look of disappointment. He didn't say a word in reply to Torrie's rejection. What could he say? It wouldn't do him a bit of good to curse her out because she wouldn't go along with what he wanted. That's what he would like to do. After all, she had been his only shot at being accepted at the McMahon beach house. Now he didn't know what he was going to do. He had been so confident in the idea that he would be able to persuade the blonde diva into joining him. Paul never thought she would reject him. With the party being on the upcoming Saturday, he needed to come up with a backup plan and fast.
"Was that Mike calling back? Did he get in contact with Karen or her attorney?" Stephanie asked her husband the moment he hung up the kitchen cordless phone.
The Angles had called Kurt's lawyer earlier in the day and had been playing the waiting game while the man did his job in locating Angle's ex-wife. Stephanie hadn't even bothered making an appearance at the office. She had relied on blackberry and emails to keep tabs on her corporate duties. There was no way she was going to leave Angle alone with the kids while he waited on such important news about the location of his children.
"Yeah, he, ugh, he got in touch with the real estate agent Karen used to sell the house and she got him in touch with the agent that helped her relocate. She took the kids to Tennessee." Kurt reported with no emotion in his voice. He was still in shock that Karen had taken the children so far away from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.
"Tennessee? Why there?" Steph asked narrowing her eyebrows.
"Um, He was able to get a home contact number from the agent. He talked to Karen briefly and apparently she's engaged to be married to Jeff Jarrett. She and the kids moved in with him at his house in Hendersonville Tennessee." Angle muttered looking off into space as if he was in a trance. He was blown away by the news because it had been the first time he had heard it.
"Jeff Jarrett? When did she start seeing him? He's the founder of TNA Wrestling, isn't he?"
"Yeah he is…And I have no clue when it started…I didn't even know she was with him…"