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 Thirty-Three
"I was just asking Paul for his reason in bringing Barbie Blank to visit with Aurora. I didn't want to do that in front of the girl so I brought him inside to discuss it. That's all." Steph answered back quickly in response to her husband's inquiry of what was being discussed between her and her ex.
Her quick response made Angle sigh with relief. The fact that his wife was able to quickly give him a reason as to why she was talking to Paul away from the family and his date assured him that she was telling the truth.
"Okay, well, your mom's got her hands full with serving lunch to all the kids and then we have to get the cake ready so we can sing happy birthday." Angle then mentioned placing his arm around Steph while he glared over at Levesque.
"I better go back out there. Six kids at a table is a lot for Mom and Marissa to handle. They'll need all the help they can get." Steph said aloud excusing herself from the kitchen.
Stephanie's departure left Angle and Levesque alone in the kitchen. There was an awkward moment of silence before Levesque spoke aloud.
"I was just telling Steph how much I enjoyed spending the night with her on Monday. You really should go to shows without her more often; that way, Stephy and I have more time together." Paul informed Angle showing a hint of a smirk on his face.
Angle felt his fingers instinctively curl up into his hand, forming fists. He could feel his anger rising in response to his wife's ex-husband trying to make it seem that he had his wife during his absence. Over and over again, Kurt had to tell himself to keep cool. He had promised his wife that he would give it his all and get along with Levesque in all future encounters. Now his promise was being tested.
"Save your breath, okay? I already know you spent the night because Aurora was sick. You slept in a guest room. You may have wanted something to happen, but it didn't. You need to just let your obsession with my wife go, because the only way you are going to have her is in your dreams." Kurt finally asserted while maintaining his composure.
Angle's words struck a chord with Levesque. Not only was he annoyed that he failed to get a rise out of him but the comment about only having Stephanie in his dreams was like salt in an open wound. Paul hadn't stopped thinking about the erotic dream he had experienced that night. He still couldn't get over how real it had seemed to him and how much he desperately wanted it to become a reality.
"Is that what she told you?" Levesque asked with a sneer.
Angle let out a long sigh and then a forced chuckle. He licked his lips once before pulling them taunt into a smile.
"You really are pathetic, you know that? We both know damn well you coming here has nothing to do with you wanting to visit with your daughter. You just want to cause problems. If you had Steph on Monday, you wouldn't be bringing that young blonde skirt here on your arm as a pitiful attempt to make her jealous." He then retorted with a smile before he turned his back on Levesque in an attempt to walk away.
"You wish you had a twenty-two year old to go home with. We both know that you don't have the required sexual fortitude to keep up with a piece of ass that young and willing." Paul scoffed in an attempted to have the last word before Angle departed.
"I don't have to wish for anything. Stephy is quite willing and capable of taking care of my every need. She and I both have an insatiable sexual appetite that we attempt quench quite frequently. Why would I want that kid when I have my beautiful wife, your ex-wife, Stephanie McMahon-Angle?" Kurt remarked after he turned back around to face Levesque.
He had purposely spoke explicitly about he and his wife, using every vivid adjective he could think of to emotionally crush Paul. And it had worked. He could see the color drain from Levesque's face as the words settled into his consciousness. Angle might as well have punched him in the stomach because all the air left Paul's body. He stood there like a deflated balloon without words to throw back. Happy to have gotten the last word of the argument, Kurt left to join his family.
Levesque felt like the kitchen was going to close in around him. It had been a while since had experienced such anger being accompanied by hurt. It wasn't Angle's words that hurt him, no he was too much of a man to let the words of the enemy rock him. It was the cold reality of his situation that killed him.
No matter how much Paul wanted to deny, he had lost Stephanie to Angle. The cold hard truth was that she was no longer his wife and she and their daughter did not live with him anymore. Kurt had everything and he had nothing. And why? What made Kurt Angle so God damn special? The guy was no more virtuous by any stretch of the imagination.
Stephanie was so insistent in labeling him as the reason their marriage ended because of the affair with Michelle North. How could she villanize him when her new replacement husband had a history of cheating himself? Why wasn't Angle being punished? He had made the same mistakes in the past, why wasn't he too paying for them? Why was Steph so trusting of Angle given his past history? After all, she made it clear that because of the Michelle North affair, she couldn't trust him again. Didn't she see how hypocritical she was being?
"Your date is beginning to ask where you are..."
Paul was immediately snapped back to reality when he heard the voice of his former brother-in-law cut through the silence of the room. Levesque's hazel eyes focused on Shane as he slowly entered the kitchen. McMahon wore a look of seriousness that could only mean he had something to say to him; as if he didn't get an ear full from Angle.
"How's it going, Shane?" Paul asked trying to start the conversation as a civilized one. The last thing he needed was a heated argument with Steph's brother. Shane and Linda had remained neutral toward him after the divorce and he wanted to keep it that way.
"Look, I'm not going to say that you shouldn't be here. My sister gave you the green light to come and visit with your daughter. So that is what you should be doing. Leave Stephanie and Kurt alone. They are happy and I don't want you screwing that up. Today is their son's first birthday party and they don't want nor do they deserve any drama." Shane replied bluntly.
"What makes you think I'm the one that's causing drama? You should be chastising your new brother-in-law. You know, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist that everyone thinks is so wonderful and infallible."
"I'm warning you to stop this now. I talked with Kurt and I know what you are up to. Do you really think causing Stephanie grief in her life is going to endear her to you? Leave her alone and let her live the new life she built for herself. I'm telling you this straight up because I believe you once were a stand up guy. I don't want to label you as an enemy to my family, but when you do things in an attempt to hurt the people I love, you can be damn sure I will." McMahon threatened before turning his back on the man who used to be a member of his family.
So much for Linda's son taking after his mother; He had no idea what was really going on within his sister's marriage. Shane lived in New York City and for the most part kept to himself. Family occasions such as birthday parties and other annual holidays were the only time that he would bring Marissa and the boys to visit. He only knew what Angle ran and told him. It made sense that Kurt would poison Shane's mind against him. The McMahons only cared about the people in their family circle. Angle had replaced him in the circle and the only way he would ever get back in was if he reclaimed his rightful place as Stephanie's husband.
"Where were you? I had a beer waiting for you but I ended up drinking yours after I finished mine." Kelly Kelly commented with a chuckle, placing her hand on thigh the moment Levesque took the seat next to her on the back deck.
Paul completely ignored his young dates questioning and kept his eyes focused on Stephanie who was helping her mother serve food to the children. Angle's disgusting words about his intimacy with her still plagued his mind while he observed her from afar.
It was clear to Paul that he and his date had been purposely seated at the other end of the long table. They were sitting farthest away from Stephanie and Kurt and closer to Shane and Marissa. He was already being treated like an outsider and he had just got there. Little Aurora was sitting among both her cousins and Angle's son and daughter. She seemed to be preoccupied with being surrounded with other children and the party scene in general; she didn't even notice he was there. That's exactly what the McMahon-Angle family wanted.
Kurt took notice that Paul was staring at his wife. Levesque looked he was undressing her with his eyes. The guy had no business being there. He hadn't even approached his daughter yet. Angle walked over to Steph and leaned in close so that he could whisper into her ear.
"Is Paul ever going to say hello to his daughter?" Kurt said in a hushed whisper, in an attempt to clue his wife in to how little her ex-husband seemed to care about seeing his child.
Steph looked up from administering to her youngest child, her eyes focused on Paul who she could see sitting next to his young date looking pretty miserable at the other end of the table. She was surprised that he hadn't made an attempt to see his little girl and give her a hug.
"Hey Paul," Stephanie call aloud to address him directly, "you know your daughter is over here? Are you going to say hi to her?"
"Would it even matter to her if I did?" Levesque muttered under his breath while he slowly rose to his feet to go greet his child.
"Aurora, look who came to visit. It's your daddy. He came to celebrate your little brother's birthday with us." Steph told her daughter in an excited tone of voice hoping it would have a positive effect on her three year old.
"Hey princess, bet you didn't expect to see your daddy here, huh?" Paul said with a smile as he bent down and gave Aurora a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Aurora said nothing in return. She turned and looked at her mother and then her stepfather. She looked confused.
"Daddy here all the time e-sept when he at playtime on the TV." Aurora replied as her little finger of her left hand pointed at Kurt to show Paul that Angle was not only there and accounted for but was hardly ever absent from her life.
There it was again. Another instance where his little girl was referring to the man he despised as her father. It was like none of the time he had spent with her as of late mattered. How hard could it be for her to understand that he was her daddy?
Maybe he shouldn't have come at all. Other then setting him up for an opportunity to be hurt by his own child, Steph really didn't care that he was in attendance. The majority of the family hated him. Nothing good was going to come out of the party.
"Daddy, why is she calling you her daddy?" Kyra asked aloud before Steph even had the chance to correct her daughter.
Kurt's oldest child, Kyra, had heard her stepsister's comment from where she sat just a few seats away. She had seen the little girl pointing to her dad. In addition to the confusion it caused, it also caused a streak of jealousy. Was her daddy replacing her and her brother with these new kids?
"She's just confused, angel. I'm her stepfather. Paul here is her dad but she's not used to spending time with him because he doesn't care to visit her a lot." Kurt explained turning to address his little girl.
"Kurt," Steph hissed through gritted teeth, "was that really necessary?"
Kyra Marie decided to take matters into her own hands in correcting little Aurora. She got out of her seat and walked right over to the three year old.
"That's not your daddy! He's mine, Kody's, and Andrew's! Stop calling him your daddy! The only reason he lives with you and not us is because he married your mom! You have your own daddy!" Kyra hollered right in Aurora's face. Her words were filled with jealous attitude as she stood there with one hand on her hip and the other pointing out her father.
Aurora's eyes widened while filling up with tears. Her little pink protruding lip she tucked into her mouth as she turned to look at her mother. The three year old was trying to hold back her tears but the moment her mommy moved to consoler, it all spilled out. She didn't understand why an unfamiliar older child was hollering at her and telling her that Kurt wasn't her daddy.
It was about time someone set the record straight. While Paul didn't like seeing his daughter yelled at by one of Angle's kids, he had to admit, there was a level of satisfaction to be felt by the truth being spoken by a small voice. Maybe this would light a fire under his ex-wife's ass so that she would finally do something about Aurora's misconception about Angle's role in her life.
"Kyra, that's enough. Come here; come have a talk with Daddy." Angle told his oldest child as he stood up and took her by the hand and lead her into the house where he could speak to her alone.
Kurt couldn't believe Kyra exploded the way she did. He never dreamed that bringing his children to be with new wife and child would cause such drama. This was of course a product of the little amount of time he had sent with Kyra and her little brother. She didn't understand her daddy's new life and why she didn't get to see him a lot anymore. Who knows what her mother told her. Aurora calling him her father in front of Kyra must have just caused her feelings to flood out.
"Kyra, sweetheart, that wasn't nice to yell at Aurora. She's only three years old and doesn't know what she's saying. She lives with daddy because I married her mommy. Her daddy doesn't come to visit her often so she thinks that I'm her daddy because I take care of her." Angle explained slowly after he sat his daughter down on a plush couch in the living room of the beach house.
"Me, Mommy, and Kody live with Jeff now! And you don't come to see me and Kody! So Kody and me can call Jeff our daddy?" Kyra yelled back throwing her father's logic back in his face. Even at the age of seven, Kyra could easily vocalize her feelings when she knew something wasn't right.
Angle looked taken aback by his little girl's words. While he had been missing his children desperately the past several months, he hadn't known that they had a new potential father figure in their lives that could possibly be similar to how he was with Aurora. The mere suggestion of another man taking his place as Kody and Kyra's father made was upsetting. It made Kurt think about how Paul felt hearing Aurora call him her daddy.
"That's not how it is. You and Kody are my flesh and blood. I could never stop loving either of you. I do love little Aurora but it's because I fell in love with her mommy. She is a part of her mommy and so I love her too. She's my step-daughter." Kurt quickly replied kneeling down to his daughter's level so he could look into her eyes while he spoke.
"But weren't you in love with mommy?" Kyra asked softly in almost a whimper as the tears began to fall from her two brown eyes.
Seeing his child cry caused Angle to get choked up. He hated seeing any of his children in pain. To think it was because of him that she was so upset and confused killed him. If only he had been able to spend more time with them after his marriage to Steph. Karen didn't want that but he should have found a way. He should have fought to be with them more.
"Your mommy and I were once very much in love. And the best thing that came out of that love was you and your brother. But people grow and things change. Mommy and I fell out of love with each other. We wanted different things and so we decided not to be together anymore."
"Is that why you're not together with Kody and me anymore? You don't love us anymore too?" She asked with a look of worry as her body stiffened with anxiety.
His little girl was breaking his heart. She was actually questioning his love for her aloud. That meant that it was something that she had been thinking about and questioning to herself for a while. He hadn't been there for her and Kody and this was the result of that. She felt abandoned, just like he feared she would; and Karen was probably more than happy to let her feel that way.
Angle should have forced his right to visitation sooner. It was his duty as a father to make the effort no matter if it got ugly with lawyers. The kids were most important. Kurt felt awful because he had to admit to himself that with his new marriage, becoming a step-parent, and the birth of his new child, he was distracted. How could he explain or justify that to his little seven year old?
Kurt's knee jerk reaction was to blame his lack of involvement on his ex-wife, the children's mother. But wouldn't that be just making an excuse? It would be putting his little girl in the middle of the tug-of-war between him and Karen. She didn't deserve that.
"I could never stop loving you and your brother. I want more than anything to be with you guys all the time. But you live with your mommy in Tennessee and I live with Stephanie in Connecticut. But that shouldn't matter. And I promise you that from now on, we are going to see each other a lot more." Angle promised in a pledge before he took his child into his arms for a warm embrace.
"I love you, Daddy…" She whispered in her sweet little voice through the sea of tears.
"I love you too, angel." Angle replied back in an exhale as he tightened the hug between them.
He could hear his little girl's muffled crying in his shirt during their embrace and it prompted him to pick her up. He was doing his best to console her. Holding her in his arms and rocking her slowly was what worked when she was a tiny baby; that seemed like just yesterday.
It was when Angle turned around toward the entrance of the living room that he saw his wife standing there watching him and his daughter. Steph quickly wiped away a few tears that were streaming down her face before smiling at him. Had she witnessed the whole conversation between him and his daughter?
"How long were you standing there?" Angle whispered to his wife while walking toward her with his daughter in his arms.
"Long enough to witness what a terrific Daddy you are; not that I ever doubted that you were." Steph replied before she leaned in close to her approaching husband to give him a peck on the lips.
She loved seeing her husband interact with his little girl. He was so gentle and loving with her while he tried to make her understand about the divorce. She could only hope that Paul would do the same for their little girl once Aurora started asking questions. She only hoped that when Aurora grew and began to ask why her parents' marriage failed, Aurora Rose would already know how much both she and Paul loved her. What worried Steph was the idea that Aurora wouldn't care to know more about her father and why he wasn't living with her. With the limited amount of time Paul was putting in to being there for his child, Aurora wasn't attached to him anymore.
"Why is everyone so quiet? Isn't this supposed to be a party? So far it has been lame as hell." Kelly complained to Paul who was preoccupied with following his ex-wife with his eyes the moment she reemerged from the beach house with Angle.
"Just put the beer bottle to your lips and keep your mouth shut." He finally muttered in a reply when he noticed that Steph had gotten Aurora and was coming toward him.
"I'm sorry about earlier. Kurt's kids are still adjusting after the divorce." Stephanie explained the moment she approached Levesque at his end of the table.
"So am I." Paul muttered back looking up at the beautiful woman who he used to call his wife.
"Well anyway, I thought Aurora would like to sit with you while we sing happy birthday and have cake." She answered back plopping Aurora down on her daddy's lap.
"Mommy!" The three year old whined outstretching her arms toward her mother to signal she wanted to go back with her.
"Stay with your daddy, Aurora." Steph told her daughter pointing at her like she was a little puppy dog that was being told to stay in its crate.
After commanding her daughter to stay put with her daddy at the end of the table, Stephanie returned to Kurt and their son. Linda had already set the cake at their end of the table and had put the number 1 candle in the middle of the cake.
"You don't want to just put the cake on his high chair tray while we sing happy birthday?" Kurt asked watching Steph removing Andrew from the high chair.
"No, because he'll be too tempted to put his hands in the cake or worse, in the flame of the candle; I'll hold him on my lap with the cake on the table in front of us."
Hearing her daughter's wishes, Linda sat the birthday cake on the table in front of Stephanie's seat. Andy's eyes widened the moment he and his mommy sat down with the birthday cake in front of them. Steph grabbed hold of his little hands the moment that reached out for handfuls of cake.
"Mom, can you move the cake further away from him? He's just going to keep reaching for it." Stephanie requested aloud as the one year old let out a loud whine trying to pull his hands from his mommy's grasp.
"I've got it, babe." Angle told his wife. He was stepping in for his mother-in-law who was busy focusing her attention on her granddaughter at the other end of the table.
"Why isn't Aurora over here next to her little brother? She looks unhappy over there at the other end of the table." Linda reported to her daughter.
"I put her with her father. She needs to get used to being with him."
"Why don't you invite Paul and his date to sit on this side of the table so Aurora can be near you and her brother while we sing happy birthday." Linda quickly suggested hoping to persuade Steph to allow Aurora to be close to her and the baby while still spending time with her daddy.
"Paul, do you and Barbie want to sit down here with us so Aurora can be close to her little brother while we sing happy birthday?" Steph called out. She decided to act on her mother's suggestion after pondering it for a moment.
Levesque let a smile shine through his otherwise dull expression after hearing from Steph herself that she wanted him to be closer to her. The invitation caused him to let go of his daughter so that she could get off his lap.
"I wanna help baby brother blow out his candle!" Aurora Rose announced with glee while she scurried across the deck to her mother and brother.
"We have to sing happy birthday first, sweetie." Steph replied with a warm smile before she put her free arm around her daughter the moment Aurora approached where she was sitting with Andrew.
Linda graciously placed two extra chairs in the only space on that side of the table that was available. While Kelly Kelly looked a bit annoyed being closer to the group of boisterous children, Paul was thankful to get a seat closer to Steph. This was of course until Angle obscured his view with his big bald head as he leaned in to give his baby and then Stephanie a kiss.
"Are we going to sing the song or what?" Levesque asked with a sneer showing his intolerance of the Angles' public display of affection.
"Aw, they are such a cute couple! And their son is so adorable!" Kelly Kelly gushed aloud to Paul whose eyes grew larger. He couldn't believe the mouth on her. As if Angle needed any encouragement to needle him. Levesque wasn't a fool, all the affection Kurt was showering on Stephanie was for him to see; it wasn't genuine.
And as if Paul wasn't feeling queasy enough by his date's comments about the Angles, Vince coming forward to the head of the table was surely going to send him over the edge. He could only wonder what nauseating words McMahon had for his "future wrestling grandson" on the kid's first birthday.
"We are all gathered here today as a family to celebrate the one year anniversary of the birth of Andrew Vincent Angle. May it be the first of many birthdays as he grows into the WWE champion I know he will become. Linda, light the candle so we can sing." Vince announced over the crowd of family in his usual voice that was full of confidence and in this case, pride.
Paul could help but roll his eyes as he watched Linda light the sole candle on the birthday cake. Vince gently pet his grandson's head of hair like he was his prized puppy dog while he too watched Linda. Vince was treating the occasion like the lighting of the torch at the Olympic Games.
And once the candle was set ablaze, the happy birthday song commenced. Everyone did their part, joining in with the well known lyrics to the song; everyone except Paul. He looked like he had been sucking on a batch of sour lemons as he sat sulking in his chair. Levesque didn't know what was worse, having to watch Stephanie and Angle making over their one year old son together or having his clueless date, Kelly Kelly, obnoxiously singing happy birthday in his ear.
When the family finished singing the song, the cake was promptly cut and each piece given to a party guest. The children were of course served first followed by each adult going clockwise around the table. Despite how awkward the situation seemed to her, Steph made her best effort to be friendly to her ex-husband's date.
"I'm sorry if Paul didn't tell you that the party wasn't very formal. I can't imagine trying to walk in the sand with high heels. The shoes and dress are beautiful though." Steph stated with a warm smile.
Stephanie then brought a napkin to her baby's face to wipe away some of the cake smeared on his mouth and cheek. Andrew had been turned loose with a piece of his birthday cake sitting on his high chair tray. In contrast, his three year old half sister was eating her piece like a big girl with a plastic fork.
"He didn't really tell me much about the party when he asked me to be his date at the SmackDown tapings." Kelly explained after took a large mouthful of what was her third beer. Her reply caused Paul to elbow her in the ribs.
"Hey! You're going to knock me off my chair!" She hollered at him; quickly correcting herself after she spilled her beer.
The interaction between the two of them caused Stephanie to narrow her eyes for a moment before she turned her attention to her children. She wasn't even going to attempt to figure out what was going on between her ex and his date. That was their business and she had children to look after.
"Aurora, make sure that when you put your milk glass down you don't put it at the edge of the table. It could get knocked off." Steph told her daughter before reaching over and moving the child's beverage to a safer spot.
"No brother, that's my kitty! You have your own toy!" Aurora hollered the moment she saw her little brother reaching for her toy cat that was sitting on the edge of the table. It was far out of his reach but it was the fact that he was reaching out for it that annoyed her. After moving the toy, Aurora placed one of the one year old's small plastic tug boats on his high chair tray.
"I see she knows the difference between her toys and the baby's toys. Too bad she doesn't know the difference between her daddy and his." Paul pointed out aloud before rolling his eyes.
This comment caused Stephanie to pause for a moment. She was going to give Aurora the same tired lecture about the importance of sharing with her brother before her ex-husband brought up the comparison of Aurora knowing which toys were hers but not knowing who her real father was. Could using the toys as an example for the three year old finally get her to understand that Kurt was Andrew's father and that Paul was hers?
"Hey Aurora, you know how kitty cat belongs to you and the baby toys like this tug boat belong to Andrew?" Steph asked her daughter. She was beginning to set up the comparison for her three year old. She had physically taken the plastic tug boat in her hand and put it by the baby to provide a visual aid for what she was explaining.
"Yeah, it's my kitty cat. It's not baby's. He got his own toys." Aurora quickly replied back. She had no trouble knowing what was hers.
"Well, just like baby Andrew's tug boat is his and not yours, Kurt…" Steph explained clearly as she pointed to her current husband.
"He is Andrew's daddy and not yours. You have your very own daddy." She told her daughter. Kurt even decided to help his wife in her attempt to explain things by taking Andy from his high chair and holding him.
"Who my daddy?" Aurora asked wide eyed like it was the first time she had heard that Kurt wasn't her father.
A small chuckle escaped Stephanie's mouth followed by a smile. This was the first time after many failed attempts of explaining that Aurora actually seemed to be understanding that Kurt wasn't her father. Before she could tell her that Paul was her daddy, Levesque chimed in and answered the question for his little girl.
"I'm your daddy, Aurora. Your mommy and I made you when we were married. Me, you, and Mommy used to live together like you live with Kurt and Andrew now. And-"
"Okay Paul, let's not overload her with information. I think one new concept is enough for right now." Stephanie commented cutting off her former husband before he had the chance to explain the divorce to their daughter.
"He's my daddy, Mommy?" Aurora Rose asked looked directly at her mother for confirmation. She wasn't completely sure she was ready to believe the man who she didn't live with that was claiming to be her daddy.
"Yes, sweetheart, he's your very own daddy and no one else's. Just like all your toys are yours and no one else's." Stephanie insisted with a smile that she first gave her daughter and then her ex-husband.
Aurora let out a happy little giggle through her smile. She liked the sound of having her own daddy who belonged to no one else. Up until now, Aurora had thought that she had to share a daddy with her brother, Andrew. She liked this idea much better.
"That's brother's daddy." She verbalized pointing at Angle who was sitting next to Steph now holding his son, Andrew.
"And this is my daddy! Only mine, just like my kitty cat!" Aurora proclaimed with excitement as she pointed directly at Paul while holding her toy cat in the air showing that she made the connection.
His little girl's proclamation caused Paul's heart to leap from his chest. He felt like a weight was being lifted off of his chest instead of being dropped down onto it. Finally, his little girl knew the truth. He was her daddy, not Kurt Angle, and now she knew that. He was one step closer to reclaiming his life.
"I guess paternity is a hard thing for kids to grasp these days." Kelly Kelly tried to whisper Paul in a snicker. Do to the number of beers she had consumed that contributed to her inebriated state, it wasn't a whisper at all and everyone at the table heard it.
"I would say knowing when to keep your mouth shut is a hard concept for children to grasp." Steph quickly retorted without missing a beat. The fact that the young woman would make such an inappropriate comment after witnessing a milestone in a three year old's life shocked her. What was Paul doing with her? She was obviously still a child herself.
Paul didn't even acknowledge the brief exchange between his ex-wife and his date. Nothing could take the focus off of this moment. If only Stephanie would come to the save revelation; that he was her real husband, not Angle.
"Can Daddy have a big hug, Aurora?" Levesque asked with his arms extended out toward her. He was hoping that his daughter's new revelation of him being her daddy would finally cause her to want to be with him like when she was a baby.
There was a brief moment where Aurora looked like she had to contemplate fulfilling her father's request. But it was brief and fleeting and before Paul knew it, his little girl had catapulted herself into his arms at a run. He let out a wince and then a chuckle when the three year old jumped into his lap and hugged him.
This was the first real hug he had received from his little girl since she was a little baby. Her arms were actually around his neck and she was hugging him just as tightly as he was hugging her. It wasn't until he had her in his arms in an embrace that he realized how much she had grown since he had held her close.
She was no longer the little baby she was when Steph took her away from him. The sweet smelling Johnson and Johnson baby lotion that Stephanie used to slather her with was no longer there when he inhaled. Her infancy had passed and time had marched on even without him being there. But at the same time, as big as she had gotten, she was still his baby girl. The softness of her beautiful fine brown hair still felt the same in his cupped hand on the back of her head. She was still her mom's little twin, perhaps that made his interaction with her bittersweet for Paul. He couldn't help but look at his daughter without seeing his former wife; the woman he was still in love with.
Steph felt tears escape from her eyes which she quickly brushed away with her hand. Seeing her little girl actually bonding with her father for the first time since the divorce was such a relief to her. She could only hope that this breakthrough in Aurora's understanding would be the first step in her getting to know her daddy again. She wanted that for her little girl.
"Who's ready to go for a ride in Pop's new power boat?" Vince asked aloud beckoning all of the party guests' attention.
"We do!" All the kids shouted in unison with mouths full of birthday cake.
"Dad, I don't think right now is the right time. They just ate and-"
"Nonsense, we're burning daylight. Besides, the birthday boy wants to go for a ride in Pop's brand new boat." McMahon retorted, cutting off his daughter's sentence as he reached for his little grandson.
Angle noticed Steph looking in his direction. Her eyes widened after she captured his gaze. It was a silent signal to not hand over their child to his overzealous grandfather. Kurt wasn't surprised Stephanie's reaction. Vince taking their one year old on open water in a power boat wouldn't be a smart idea.
"Actually, it's time for Andrew's nap. He gets cranky if he doesn't get one." Angle explained making an excuse that he hoped his father-in-law would accept.
It wasn't a lie either. Baby Andy always took an afternoon nap each day around the same time. If the nap was put off too long, the baby would be irritable before finally falling asleep around dinner. A late nap would mean he would be wide awake all night. It had happened before and it was enough of a headache for the both of them that they made sure to stick to the baby's schedule.
"Oh bullshit, he's not tired. Just one quick ride on the open sea and he can take a nap." Vince pressed on. He quickly began to bring each set of fingers to the palms of his hands and then back outward. He was signaling to his son-in-law to give him the baby.
Before Stephanie could attempt to intervene, it was Linda who came to the rescue. She quietly walked over to Kurt and the baby giving her youngest grandson a loving smile.
"Little Andrew Vincent is going to stay with his granny while grandpa takes the older children out on the boat." Mrs. McMahon declared as Angle willingly handed his son over to his mother-in-law.
The birthday boy's face immediately lit up with excitement the moment he realized he was being held by his granny. He let a few lines of gibberish that could be considered close to the English language escape from his smiling mouth. His soft little hands, he brought to his grandmother's cheeks.
"Damn it Linda, you never miss a chance to under mind me. Well come on kids, let's go for a ride in my big power boat! Shane, are you coming?"
Vince was looking over at his son who seemed to be quite comfortable at his seat at the table next to his wife, Marissa. He had been enjoying his small slice of birthday cake quietly, making a point to keep out of the interaction between Stephanie and her husband and ex.
"No," Shane replied back with a smile after his wife had given him a nudge and a laugh. "I'll sit this one out, Dad. But I'm sure Kurt would love to join you with the kids."
Angle let out a slight chuckle in Shane's direction before muttering an obscenity that he was sure Shane could here. This caused Shane O'Mac to laugh boldly not just at the fact that he had volunteered his brother-in-law to be a passenger in what would surely be a hell ride but also at Angle's reaction to it all.
"Have fun, honey." Steph whispered in his husband's direction with an evil smile and one eyebrow raised. She was delighting in the fact that her husband had been the one signed up to go with her father.
"Oh yeah, Steph, I'm sure Dad wouldn't mind if you came with us." Kurt answered back aloud, with an evil smile of his own.
"Yeah Stephanie, you and Kurt both come for a ride! You'll love this new boat!" McMahon exclaimed showing his exuberance for taking the family out on his new toy.
"I'll go too." Paul said speaking up for himself.
His vocalization that came out of nowhere caused Stephanie to turn and look at him. The look on her face was clear. She wanted to know why he would willingly volunteer himself to be subjected to Vince.
Seeing the puzzled look on his former wife's face, Paul decided that he needed to give a justification for his readiness to go on the boat.
"I thought it would be a good opportunity for Aurora and I to do something together. I'll hold her for you. I'm sure you and Angle will have your hands full keeping a hold on his two kids." Levesque explained.
Stephanie looked like she had bought his excuse for inviting himself. Lord knew she wouldn't approve of the real reason he wanted to go. As petty as it would seem, he didn't want Steph and Aurora going without him on a boat with Kurt. He was going to invite himself into these family activities even if the McMahon-Angle family didn't want him there.
"Oh wow, is the boat really fast? This is going to be awesome!" Kelly Kelly shrieked with excitement causing Paul to look over at her in disgust. He could smell the alcohols on her breathe and he just wished she would go ahead and pass out.
So with the direction of "Captain Vince McMahon", the four other adults and five children boarded the powerboat that was docked nearby on McMahon's property. Shane's sons, Declan and Kenyon, were seated right with their grandfather at the helm. Aurora had been agreeable to sit on her daddy's lap with her Mommy right next to her who was holding Kurt's first son, Kody. Kyra was sitting on Kurt's lap. McMahon had insisted that Kelly sit in the seat closest to one side of the boat. Since the young woman was clearly drunk, she was right there at the edge of the boat if she decided to get sick. The last thing Vince wanted was vomit all over his plush leather seats in his boat.
Right after untying the boat from the dock, Vince turned the ignition key and made the large engines fire right up. He let out a laugh and then threw the lever all the way forward giving the boat a jack rabbit start away from the dock.
"Jesus Dad! You need to warn us before you just take off like that! We're holding children back here!" Stephanie screamed, trying to be heard over the engine.
Her father made no indication that he even heard his daughter. Vince was too busy driving his boat forward with increasing speed. Despite Steph's complaints, the children all laughed and cheered to be going fast in the boat.
"Check out this turning radius!" Vince hollered over his engine before he quickly cut the wheel causing the power boat to begin a tight figure eight.
This caused Steph to place her hand on her husband's leg in an attempt to brace herself. She needed all the help she could get because Kody was doing anything but sitting still. The three year old was trying to climb over onto his father in order to hang off the edge of the speeding boat. Feeling his wife's touch, Angle quickly looked over and took notice of his wife's struggles; His arm he placed around her to provide her with a feeling of safety.
In the second large turn to the right, Aurora began to reach for her mommy letting out a terrified squeal that could barely be heard over the roaring powerboat engines and the whipping wind. Her cries were loud enough to be heard by her mommy. Stephanie motioned for Kurt to take his son into his arms so that she could attend to Aurora. At the same time, Kelly Kelly had latched onto Paul like a crab with both her arms wrapped around his muscular right arm. Her grip on him felt like a blood pressure cuff that was completely inflated with air. She looked like she was somewhat out of it.
"Get off! Hold on to the side!" Paul yelled as he pried the young blonde's gripe off of him. He really wished he never brought her at all. She was serving more as a hindrance than a help in regards to his quest to win Steph's heart back.
"Just come closer to me! It will calm her down!" Paul hollered to his ex.
Levesque smiled when to his delight, Steph wiggled out from under her husband's arm so that she could move closer to him and their daughter. As soon as Steph moved close to him and Aurora, he quickly took the initiative to put his arm around her bringing his ex even closer to her child.
And just as Paul took his eyes off of his daughter and Stephanie, he saw Angle looking over at him. Kurt's eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes narrowed. He had obviously taken notice of Paul's bold move putting his arm around Steph. Angle didn't like it and Paul knew that. How did he like having to watch another man being affectionate to her? Paul had to deal with that every time he was around the Angles, it was about time Kurt had a taste of his own medicine.
"Go faster, Pop!" Declan yelled with excitement patting his grandfather on the back.
"Slow the hell down! Hey, you're coming in too close!" A nearby fisherman hollered waving his fishing pole and other arm at the approaching speed boat from his small fishing boat that was powered by a single motor. This area in the ocean not far off from the shore was usually calm enough for fishing but thanks to Vince, a tide of waves was causing his boat to bob around like a small cork in the middle of the Atlantic.
"Watch this!" Vince hollered out to his grandson's with a smile the moment he caught sight of the fisherman waving his arms around and yelling right in his path.
With a slight turn of the wheel, the powerboat barely maneuvered around the small watercraft causing a large wave to hit and turn over the smaller boat. The fisherman was thrown into the ocean water. When he saw that the man had been thrown over boat, Vince pulled back the throttle of the boat to the lowest setting. The loud engines died down a great deal. The abrupt loss of speed caused quite a jolt for Vince's passengers.
"You stupid asshole, didn't you see me? I'm going to call the coast guard on you!" The man screamed the moment he was able to get his boat flipped back over and climb back into it.
"Go ahead, damn it! Call the coast guard! In fact! Do it twice!" Vince screamed back.
As mortified by her father's behavior as Stephanie was, it was the overwhelming feeling of nausea that kept her from speaking up. With all the hard bouncing turns, and the quick stopping, she was beginning to feel like she was going to get sick.
"Don't think I won't! You have no business operating that boat at top speed in this area!" The fisherman hollered back shaking his wet hand sternly as he vocalized.
"I'll drive my boat where ever I damn well please!"
"Babe, are you feeling okay?" Angle asked; his voice full of concern while he had to hold tight onto his three year old son so that he wouldn't climb out of the boat.
"No…Switch spots with me..." Steph moaned before she began to move to her husband's side of the boat. Before Angle could even react and move out of the way, Steph almost fell on top of him and the children getting to the side of the boat.
Immediately, a combination of undigested birthday cake fell from her mouth into the ocean water. Then she coughed a few times followed by a gag and then yet another mouth full of vomit was emptied into the water.
"Vince, turn the engine off! Steph's getting sick!" Kurt hollered right overtop of Vince and the fisherman's argument.
McMahon turned to view his daughter getting sick off the side of his powerboat. He immediately then turned off the motors. Everyone on the boat had their eyes on Stephanie. Paul wanted to spring into action and comfort her but Angle had already beaten him to it.
"It just came on me all of a sudden. I wasn't feeling sea sick." Steph croaked between waves of nausea.
"You're going to be fine, baby. Just let it all get out of your system." Kurt replied in his best soothing voice as he gently held his wife's hair away from her face with one hand while rubbing her back with the other. Kody had been giving to his sister to sit on her lap.
"I think that's the last of it. Oh God, I still feel sick." Steph moaned allowing herself to move away from the edge of the boat and back next to her husband.
"Mommy, okay?" Aurora asked cocking her head to the side as she wore a concerned look for her mother.
"Mommy is going to be fine, Princess. She just has a bad tummy ache." Kurt replied back to the child before her own father could do so.
"Mommy is okay, Aurora. I probably have that nasty stomach bug you had earlier this week."
"Come here, honey. You'll feel better as soon as we get back to the beach house. It will be okay. You can take a warm bath and your mom and I will watch the kids." Angle told his wife taking her into his arms before giving her a peck on the side of her head.
Levesque sat there watching Stephanie with a faraway look in his eye. But even though he was staring at her, his mind couldn't help but drift elsewhere. Paul remembered the last time he took care of her like Angle was doing now. No, it wasn't her deceitful pregnancy with Angle's baby; he didn't even see her throw up while she carried Andrew. It had been the pregnancy she had lost; what would have been their second baby together.
He remembered how under the weather she became and how it had put a damper of her excitement at the prospect of them having a second child. Paul clearly recalled her asking him to hold her and comfort her. But he didn't. Why didn't he? What would cause him to be so neglectful to his then beautiful pregnant wife? Oh that's right; he was too consumed with his affair with Michelle North to even care.
"That would be great, honey. You're so sweet, I love you." Steph muttered back through a weak smile. Her hands, she placed on her husband's smooth face which she used to bring him in close to her, pressing their foreheads together.
Was Stephanie really that easy to please? A little bit of lip service, an embrace, and a few little kisses was all Angle had to do to be world's number one husband? Why the hell hadn't he taken the time to do that too? It surely wouldn't have taken more than a few minutes to comfort her.
Shit, who was he kidding? He should have never gone to New York to be with Michelle when she was so sick. After all, it was his absence in the midst of her being hospitalized that brought about scrutiny into his "media appearances" for the company. It all could have been avoided if he would have just stayed by her side during those first rocky months of her pregnancy. If he had played his role as the perfect husband, she would have never been compelled to go snooping in his email and discover his indiscretions. There would have never been a confrontation that escaladed to her fall and the loss of that precious life they had created.
"Paul, don't you think you'd better help Kelly?" Angle asked Levesque bringing him out of his trance like state.
Levesque had been so deep in thought about his past that he had failed to notice that his date was following Stephanie's lead and was now puking off the other side of the boat. Her blonde locks were already all in the salt water as she vomited up the alcohol that she had so greedily consumed. That stupid bitch would do anything to shift his focus from Steph onto her; this was just one example of many from the party.
"She'll live. I told her not to drink so damn much." Paul commented back nonchalantly as he turned back to look at the Angles.
Steph couldn't help but shake her head at her ex-husband's comments. Was this really how he was going to treat his date? While he did have a point in the fact that the young woman had no business drinking that much, he still should have showed her some compassion. But really, was she that surprised by his lack of feelings for the young girl? The memory of him leaving her alone pregnant and vomiting in their bathroom for the night, still lingered in her mind. It really was a shame that upsetting memories such as that one were constantly seeping through her consciousness while being around her ex-husband.