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-Two
The weekend was finally here and the McMahon-Angle family had all traveled south to celebrate little Andrew Vincent's first birthday in the Florida sun. Vince and Linda were happy to play host at their private beach abode. It was going to be quite casual; barbequing hotdogs and hamburgers, followed by a frosted birthday cake with a single candle sunken in the white icing.
"I still don't understand why you insisted on inviting him to our family party." Vince insisted to his daughter while he watched her help Linda setting the back deck up for the afternoon party.
Stephanie knew this would be her father's reaction to the news of her invitation to Paul. It was part of the reason that she only let her mother in on her plans to allow Paul to attend with his girlfriend. Linda was understanding and could see how it would benefit Aurora to have her father attending family occasions. Vince, on the other hand, wanted no parts of the idea. His reaction, that was expected, was the reason that Steph waited to the day of to let her father know. She had to at least tell him before Levesque showed up. If she never told him about the invitation and Paul came "unannounced" Vince would most likely throw a fit and that wouldn't be fair to Paul.
"Dad, Paul is an extension of our family. He is Aurora's father and I think that it is important that she sees that we include him as a member of the family. Just because Paul and I didn't work out and are not going to be together anymore, doesn't mean Aurora has to do without seeing her dad." Steph dictated back. She was hoping that her clear cut reasoning would be enough to satisfy her father and allow him to drop the topic.
"He can see Aurora on his own time, this is our family time. Being invited to Aurora's birthday was different. He's nothing to Andrew." McMahon attested getting somewhat exasperated by his daughter's view of her ex-husband.
Neither Stephanie nor Linda made an attempt to reply to Vince's argument. It was clear that the man was dead set against the idea of his former son-in-law being at his grandson's birthday party. Trying to change McMahon's mind would most likely lead to a fight, and both Linda and Steph didn't want that. This was little Andrew's first birthday and they wanted it to be a happy one.
"Kurt, do you want to help me out here? You can't be thrilled about this." Vince asked Angle, trying to gain an ally in the situation. He knew that his new son-in-law was not fond of Levesque, surely he would agree.
"Andrew is Aurora's little brother. Steph thinks it will make Aurora happy if her daddy is allowed to visit with her at her brother's party. I told Stephanie that I was fine with it since it's for Aurora." Kurt answered back taking a momentary break from playing with Andy and Aurora on the deck floor.
"Did Aurora herself say that she wanted him there? The answer is no! Kurt's the man who Aurora thinks of as her daddy! He is the only father figure she needs! If it was up to me, I'd have that selfish bastard relinquish is parental rights and have Kurt adopt Aurora to make it official!" Vince hollered causing his face to turn a nice shade of red.
"Dad!" Steph quickly retorted with wide eyes.
She couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth at their family gathering. Her eyes darted over to her little girl. She was afraid Aurora had heard and understood what it was her grandfather was saying. The three year old was looking over to see the source of the yelling but she didn't look upset.
"Vince, that's enough. Stephanie and Kurt are Andrew's parents, if they are okay with inviting Aurora's father to our family party than we should be too; like the adage goes: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. I don't care what you think of Paul Levesque, he is your grand daughter's father and an employee of ours so you will not cause a scene. Today is about baby Andy, not you." Linda finally told her husband in a calm yet reprimanding voice.
"What's going on here? Marissa, the kids and I are a few minutes late and we miss all the action. The party didn't start without us, did it?" Shane asked with a chuckle the minute after he emerged from the sliding glass doors of the beach house with his wife and sons.
Shane knew he was arriving in the midst of one of his father's tirades. He knew that humor was helpful for defusing the situation. Linda smiled and made her way over to her son to give him a hug in acknowledging his arrival. She then hugged and kissed each of her grandsons.
"Shane, do you know who Stephanie is letting come to the part-"
"Hey, Dad, why don't you show me that beautiful new speed boat in the water that you just bought? We could take her out when all of the guests arrive. She looks like a beauty." Shane mentioned cutting his father off before Vince could stay on the topic of Paul Levesque.
"Oh I love it. You won't believe how powerful it is. The acceleration is phenomenal." Vince told his son.
Linda gave her eldest child a smile and a nod as an unspoken way of thanking him for getting his father off his Paul Levesque rant. Then Stephanie did the same as she watched her brother walk with their father down the deck stairs and toward the docks that were on the side of the McMahon's beach property.
"I see boat too!" Aurora announced as she ran over to the edge of the deck and called out. Her shouting caused her uncle Shane to double back quickly and throw her on his back for a piggy back ride to catch back up with Vince who was already almost to the dock.
"Kurt, is everything okay?" Linda asked her son-in-law the moment she noticed that he kept refraining from play with the children so that he could strain his neck to look around the side of the beach house.
"Yeah, I'm just keeping an eye out for Kyra and Kody. My lawyer was able to demand that I have visitation for their little brother's birthday. I hate that we have to negotiate visitation through lawyers." Angle replied in a voice that expressed his sadness about the situation with his two children from his first marriage.
"Well Karen is spiteful and she knows that withholding your children from you is what hurts you the most. Don't worry babe, Kyra and Kody will be here. And if she goes against the lawyers, she and I are going to have a problem." Stephanie assured her husband while she kept an eye on her one year old son who was crawling toward the deck stairs that led to the sandy beach where his sissy had gone.
"Oh no you don't, Mister Angle, we don't want any booboos on the birthday boy." Steph quickly stated while she ran over to where her son was pulling himself up on the rails of the deck like he was about to try and go down the steps himself.
Andrew let out a spoiled whine the moment his mother picked him up. He kicked his legs and then stiffened his body to show his unhappiness with being stopped from fearlessly exploring his new environment.
"Oh someone has a bit of a temper like his grandpa." Linda pointed out with a chuckle. "I'll get the baby gate and set it up so we don't have to worry about him exploring the deck."
"I should give just set up the walker that we got him for his birthday. Hopefully then he will walk off some of his energy and take a nap." Stephanie replied before she sat her son down where a few of his toys were sitting. It was the spot on the deck where she wanted him to stay. She popped a pacifier in his mouth so that his whining would cease.
"We do not want him to be too tired and cranky for his birthday party." Mrs. McMahon commented with a smile as she watched the baby's crying stop thanks to the pacifier and him being put back down on the deck.
Kurt was completely detached from his wife and mother-in-law's conversation about his son. His focus was still on the front of the beach house. When his eyes caught sight of a black limousine pulling up in front of the house, he moved farther at the edge of the deck to try and get better view.
"Who the hell is this in the limo?" Angle asked aloud causing his family to turn their attention to him and his curiosity.
"Are you going to check it out?" Steph asked watching her husband quickly descend the deck stairs before Linda placed the safety gate barrier in its place.
Stephanie knew that it made no sense for everyone to usher to the front of the home to see who was arriving. She was hoping that it was Karen arriving to drop Kyra and Kody off. The arrival of his children would definitely put Angle at ease and allow him to enjoy his baby son's first birthday party.
As Kurt made his way to the front of the house and closer to the limousine, he saw the driver emerge from the tinted automobile and quickly make his way around to the passenger door that faced the beach house. The moment the door opened, a pair of little legs swung out and Kyra hopped out in a cute little pink dress.
"Daddy!" Kyra shouted with enthusiasm the moment she saw her father making his way from the side of the beach house. She quickly ran full force toward him, not bothering to wait for her little brother who was being helped out of his car seat by the limo driver.
"Hey sweetheart, how's my little angel? I missed you so much!" Angle told his child the moment he bent down to catch her in his arms.
"I missed you too. Can I go swimming in the ocean? Mommy packed my bathing suit. She packed Kody's too." Kyra ask while she hugged her daddy.
"Where's Mommy, little girl?" Angle quickly replied back, answering her question with a question of his own.
Surely Karen was in the limo dropping their children off. The only adult Kurt had seen with them was the limousine driver. Maybe she just didn't want to get out and say hello to him. Either way, Angle didn't care. His two children were here and that was all that mattered.
"She's going on vacation on a big boat with Jeff. Mommy said to Jeff that you were a pain in her a-word and if you wanted the kids then you can have them for the rest of the week." Kyra Marie dictated back. She was giving her father an accurate account of her mother's behavior minus the curse word.
"She went on a cruise instead of bringing you guys here? You flew to Florida by yourself?" Kurt immediately questioned, his eyes widened.
"Yeah, you aren't mad at us, are you Daddy?"
The six year old's eyes were filled with worry when she saw the look on her father's face. Angle couldn't believe what he was hearing from his daughter. What was Karen thinking sending their two small children on a plane by themselves to be dropped off like by a chauffeur as if they were a package being sent via UPS?
"No sweetheart, I'm not angry at you and Kody. I am just worried because you travel so far all by yourself. But I'm happy you guys are here. I've missed you both so much." Kurt quickly answered back. He had motioned for the limo driver to step away so that he could finish getting his oldest son out of his car seat.
"Oh great, they're here! Hi Kyra and Kody! Oh my Gosh, you guys are getting so big!" Stephanie gushed with a wide smile when she saw that her husband was returning to the back deck with his children in tow.
"Hi Stephanie." Kyra said with a smile and a wave.
She was old enough to remember the many times she had been around her stepmother, even before Steph and Kurt become involved romantically and married. Kody on the other hand, was a little shy in front of his father's new wife and of his own father for that matter. The little guy was sticking close to his older sister, showing his uncertainty of the adults his mother had sent him to be with.
"Kyra and Kody, you two remember your little brother, Andrew, right?" Angle asked his kids while ventured over to the part of the deck that Stephanie had sat Andy with his toys. He quickly brought the birthday boy over to see his siblings.
The last time Kody and Kyra had laid eyes on their younger brother was right after Andrew Vincent was born. Kurt had been the one to make the effort by picking up both children and taking them to the hospital to see their new baby brother. Karen had made it clear that she wasn't going to inconvenience herself with driving the kids to Connecticut just because Stephanie had given birth.
"He looks different. He looks more like Kody now, before he was all wrinkly." Kyra commented aloud, giving her assessment as to how her youngest brother looked now compared to how she remembered him.
"He does look a little like Kody, doesn't he? You can tell they're brothers." Kurt agreed with a smile as he watched Andy remove his pacifier from his mouth and throw it across the deck before letting out a screech of excitement. He was clearly enjoying all the attention he was getting.
"Hey no, Kody, that's your little brother's don't put that in your mouth. Give it to Daddy." Angle told his almost three year old son when he saw him pick up the baby's pacifier and pop it in his own mouth.
His father speaking him to directly caused Kody's to move behind his older sister, showing his shyness. Unlike Kyra, Kody wasn't completely used to Kurt's presence. He had no memory of when his mother and father were together. And because of the lack of time spent with his father, he was slow to warm up to him.
"Kody, give the binky back to Daddy." Kyra instructed moving so that her little brother could no longer hide behind her.
"Thanks buddy, who wants to get their swimsuits on and play on the beach?" Kurt asked after he accepted the pacifier from his slow to warm two year old.
"Me!" Kyra exclaimed raising her right arm up in the air as she jumped up and down a few times to show her excitement.
"Will you stop looking at yourself in the visor mirror and just get out of the car?" Paul shouted to express his annoyance with the young blonde in the passenger seat of the rental car. He was leaning against the car with his arms folded. They had been in the drive way for what must have been five minutes.
Paul was already late getting to Florida and was pissed off because there weren't any limousines available for use when he arrived. Not only did he have to waste money on two plane tickets, one for him and one for his mandatory date, but now he had a rental car fee.
"Will you chill out? We're going to a party. I have to look my best. My makeup got smeared during the flight. Do you want your date to look like a hot sick mess?" Barbie "Kelly Kelly" Blank explained before she rolled her eyes at her date's ignorance to her high maintenance.
"Fucking ditzy broad…" Levesque muttered under his breath while he began to walk up the driveway not even waiting for the young female to get out of the car.
"What's your rush? You couldn't wait for me?" Kelly whined with a bitchy attitude that Paul knew so well from every female he had ever dated. She had to hustle to catch up with him especially because she was wearing heels.
"No I couldn't, if I waited for you the party would be over before we even made it to the back of the beach house. You should just be lucky I invited you at all. All the other divas would give their two front teeth to get the opportunity to go to a private McMahon party. Just keep up with me and keep your mouth shut." Paul told her while walking through the sand at a quick pace.
He wasn't going to tell the young girl that she had been his last resort for a date. Having Torrie as his date would have made things go so much smoother. At least that blonde wasn't a high maintenance brat. The things he put up with in order to see his ex-wife and daughter.
The young diva was of course overjoyed to be invited to be Paul Levesque's date anywhere. The fact that they were going to a McMahon-Angle party was even better. She knew that it was a chance for her to impress Mr. McMahon. If he liked what he saw, who knows, maybe she would be moved to RAW.
"Hey don't tell me to- oh shit, hang on, I almost twisted my ankle!" Kelly Kelly screeched in discomfort.
"Maybe I could get Angle to break the damn thing." Paul thought to himself. He had come to a brief stop so he could look back and watch the young woman struggle with her footwear. The thought of seeing Kurt snap that whiny little bitch's ankle was enough to put a smirk on his face.
"Who wears heels to the beach? You couldn't have brought flip flops or something?" He asked annoyed walking back to where she was struggling.
"I figured we would be on a deck the whole time. You never said anything about having to walk a mile in the sand. These are the Milano heels that go with this dress." She quickly replied grabbing onto his muscular arm in order to steady herself so that she could remove both high heels.
"Will you just come on? We're almost there." Levesque insisted pulling away from the diva's grasp so that he could continue to walk on.
Before the young woman could reply, Paul had already left her far behind as he drudged through the pearly white sand and then around the side of the back deck. He could still hear his date complaining about how hot the sand was, but he didn't care to listen.
"I've got one, why are hurricanes named after women?" Shane asked both Kurt and Vince while the three of them stood around the grill with beers in hand.
"Why?" Angle asked with a smile turning to his brother-in-law for the punch line. Vince just chuckled and turned the hot dogs and burger patties. He had heard this one already at the office.
"They come into your life wild and wet but when they leave they take your house and car with them." Shane replied back with a chuckle.
"Oh man, that's funny. I hadn't heard that one." Kurt said through a burst of laughter. The joke's punch line even made Vince chuckle a bit despite the fact that he had heard it before.
"I've got a better one, a naked blonde walks into a bar." Vince answered back with a joke of his own that he seemed to be proud of judging by his tone of voice.
"She says to the bartender-oh shit, he's here."
Both Shane and Angle narrowed their eyes in confusion before they too saw the late arrival of Paul. They weren't the only ones who saw Levesque, both Linda and Stephanie took notice of him walking up the deck stairs. They had been busy setting the table and getting the children seated.
Up until his late arrival, all three men had been relieved in their assumption that Paul Levesque was simply going to no show. After all, it was only Steph that had been so insistent of inviting him in the first place. None of them really thought be belonged at their family party for the obvious reason that he was no longer a party of the family.
"Welcome to the party, we're glad you made it here okay." Linda McMahon said cordially as she was the first to approach him, opening the safety gate so that he could access the deck easily.
"Thanks, I hope I didn't hold anything up arriving late." Paul muttered back with a polite smile to match his former mother-in-law's kind demeanor.
"We were just about to sit down for lunch followed by birthday cake. Where's Torrie?" Stephanie inquired the moment she joined her mother in greeting her ex-husband.
"I didn't come with Torrie. We aren't together anymore. I came with Kelly Kelly. She's this week's model, if you catch my drift." Levesque replied back with a smirk and a wink.
"I'm going to get the baby food out for the birthday boy." Linda told her daughter as a way of excusing herself from what seemed to be an awkward situation.
Steph gave a small nod to her mom to show that she had heard her. Her attention was focused on what her ex had just said. She didn't seem to find his nonchalant admission of his break up with Torrie to be at all humorous. She gave him a look to show her disapproval. In her mind, she wondered what he was doing with Barbara Blank, a twenty-two year old diva. The girl was much too young for him and had no business coming with him to visit his child.
"Thanks a lot for waiting for me! Ugh, I hate the sand! Please tell me that there are drinks at this party. I so need to get smashed." Kelly Kelly said in a loud obnoxious voice the moment she finally caught up with Paul.
"Hello Barbie Jean, it's nice to see you. We were just sitting down to eat lunch. You're welcome to find an open seat. I just need to borrow Paul for a quick second." Stephanie said in his best polite voice before she motioned for her former husband to follow her.
Levesque couldn't help but smile at the fact that Steph was directing him to follow her away from his date to talk privately. He could only fantasize that it was to sneak off to do just a handful of the dirty things that would go through his mind any time he was around her. He couldn't get that lucky.
Angle's eyes followed his wife as he watched her and Paul enter the beach house through the sliding glass doors. What was she doing leading him away from the party?
"She's just probably asking him why he brought that barely of age blonde as his date. I know it's what I'm wondering. It's probably another one of his childish attempts to make my sister jealous." Shane told Kurt after he saw the look on his brother-in-law's face. Shane could tell that Angle was getting suspicious.
"Why would she have to ask him that in private?" Angle replied, his eyes had not deverted from their fixed state on the sliding glass door that was now closed.
"You know, if you wanted to get me alone, you should have been more subtle." Levesque told his ex-wife as he flashed a smile the moment they were alone in the kitchen that overlooked the shoreline.
"So what, you and Torrie broke up and now you are with Barbie Blank? When did you start dating her? You are already to introduce her to your daughter?" Stephanie asked beginning to overload him with questions as she crossed her arms.
"Since when do you care about my personal life? We aren't together anymore, remember? You made it perfectly clear that I needed to have a date to attend the party today, so I got a date." Paul explained as he shrugged his shoulders like her inquisition wasn't a big deal. Secretly, he loved how uncomfortable Steph seemed to be with the idea of him dating a much younger woman.
"That's not what I meant, Paul. Aurora seemed to be getting used to Torrie being with you and I thought you and her attending a family function would help establish a level of normalcy for her. You showing up with a young woman that is well over ten years your junior is only going to be confusing and uncomfortable for her." Stephanie replied back with her explanation that justified how he had completely misunderstood her intentions for inviting him.
"Is it uncomfortable for Aurora or for you?" Levesque immediately shot back with a smirk on his face.
Steph's eyes widened and she said nothing. Either she was blown away with his assumption about how she felt or he had hit the nail directly on the head. Either way, she wasn't quick with a comeback to deny what he was implying. For this reason, Paul reached his hand out to take her hand in his.
"Don't…" She muttered jerking her hand out of his grasp. Steph had looked away from his gaze at the same time she was rejecting him.
"What's going on in here, Steph?"
Both Stephanie and Paul's attention quickly shifted to Kurt the moment he made his presence known while slowly walking into the kitchen. Angle was looking on in suspicion as he approached his wife and her former husband.