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-Four

"Did everyone have fun?" Linda asked her returning family members the moment they rejoined the rest of the family on the back deck.

The children enthusiastically expressed that they did have fun on the wild ride Vince had taken them for. It was the look on Stephanie's face that told the story of what the adults endured for the duration of the boat ride.

Stephanie still felt terrible. Kurt had helped her get out of the boat and she was still leaning on him because of still feeling queasy. It really didn't help that Barbie Blank was staggering in the sand ahead of her with little help from Paul. She couldn't seem to walk in a straight path and was constantly having to stop and get sick. Steph was trying not to even look at her, in fear of it making her throw up again too.

"I think we are all happy to be on land again." Angle told his mother-in-law with a smile to answer her question; as if she hadn't already gotten the message from the look on her daughter's face.

"You got that right. I would have kissed the sand on the shore if Barbie didn't puke all over it." Levesque commented with a slight chuckle before nodding over to Kelly Kelly who had already collapsed in one of the nearby deck chairs with her face on the table in front of her.

Linda went to open her mouth to voice concern for the young woman but it was her husband's load booming voice that cut her off from what she was about to say.

"It was a great day for boating, Linda. Too bad the birthday boy had to stay behind and sleep through it. He would have really enjoyed himself." Vince stated while taking notice of his sleeping grandson in his wife's arms.

"I'm glad he stayed behind. Five kids to hold onto on a powerboat going top speed was enough. Adding a one year old would have made it even more chaotic." Angle admitted giving his wife's back a gentle caress the moment he saw her rub her forehead like she was in pain.

"Oh I can imagine." Linda replied with a nod. Angle knew of course that she wasn't just giving him lip service but she actually knew what a hell ride that had just been through. Poor Linda had to have been subjected to many of them throughout her marriage to Vince McMahon.

"Was he okay for you?" Steph asked her mother in a soft spoken voice that didn't seem to have a lot of energy behind it. While she was no longer leaning on her husband like she had been while walking the distance in the sand back to the beach house, she was still standing close to him enjoying the nice back rub he was giving her.

"He was a perfect little angel. He fell right asleep right after you left. I didn't have the heart to lay him down." Her mother replied in a sweet endearing voice as she a second to glance down at the sleeping one year old. It was when Linda looked back up at Stephanie that she noticed that her daughter's color was off.

"Are you feeling all right, Stephanie? You look a little pale." Linda inquired with concern.

"I think I got a touch of what Aurora had earlier this week. I'm feeling really tired and I still have an upset stomach." Steph explained with some tightness in her voice and her hands resting on her stomach.

"You really should just go take some time for yourself, Steph. If you are worried about the kids being too much for your mom and Marissa to handle, I can watch Aurora." Paul spoke up and offered.

He was taking this opportunity to show her that he acknowledged the fact that she was under the weather and that he was willing to pitch in and take care of their child. Despite the fact that Angle had already encouraged her to take some personal time when she returned to the beach house, he felt that he needed to say it as well.

"Don't you have to look after that lush you brought to the party? If she vomits on this deck or on anything in my house, you better clean it up!" Vince exclaimed cutting off what would have been a conversation between Stephanie and her former husband. He was pointing over at Barbara Blank while he chastised Paul. He had no problem dressing him down in front of everyone.

Before Paul, Stephanie, or even Linda could say a word to Vince, it was the little voice of Aurora that spoke up against her grandfather.

"Pop! Don't yell at my daddy!" The three year old hollered as she pulled on her grandfather's shorts to make sure she had his attention. Her outburst caused Andrew to awake from his slumber and let out a loud whine.

Levesque's face quickly formed a smile. He didn't know what warmed his heart more: his baby girl referring to him as her daddy all on her own or her sticking up for him to her grandfather. This was one of those moments where he had a video camera so he could preserve it forever. His little three year old could see that her pop was being mean for no reason. Why didn't Stephanie defend him to her family too?

"Aurora, if you ever yell at your grandpa like that again; you are going to get a spanking right on your little fanny." Vince declared in his booming voice before he grabbed her hand that was still pulling on his khaki shorts.

"Get your hands off my daughter!" Paul yelled getting right in Vince's face. Levesque's movement was so quick that it startled Vince and caused him to let go of his grip on Aurora's hand. Free from her grandfather's grasp, the three year old ran over to her granny and little brother and buried her face in her granny's chest.

"Who the hell do you think you are getting in my face? This is my house, damn it! You are only here because I condoned it! Steph wanted it! I didn't!" Vince screamed back right into Paul's face.

As queasy as Stephanie felt, she knew she had to step in before things got physical between her father and her ex-husband. So she sprung into action, wedging herself in between Vince and Paul. Being a referee was the last thing she wanted to do after puking the contents of her stomach in the ocean, but it had to be done and no one else would likely do it.

"Dad and Paul, please, can we please just be civil to one another? Dad, Paul had every right to be upset with you being mad at Aurora for sticking up for him. Besides, you shouldn't be reprimanding her when both her parents are right here." Stephanie said aloud looking directly at her dad and then over her shoulder at Paul a few times as she spoke.

Levesque could feel his temper flaring but he was controlling himself since Steph had stepped in between him and McMahon. She was saying everything he wanted to say. He especially loved the fact that she was referring to the both of them being Aurora's parents. Yes, both of them were her parents, Paul and Stephanie. Angle didn't fit into that at all.

"And Paul, while I admit the way my father went about discussing Barbie with you was wrong, he does have a point about her behavior today. I don't know the extent of your relationship with that young girl. That's really none of my business, but I do know that she's not someone I want my daughter around."

'My daughter', didn't she mean 'our daughter'? Levesque couldn't agree more that Barbara Blank was definitely not stepmother material, but there was something keeping him from speaking up in agreement. That something was of course, Kurt Angle. Who was Stephanie to judge his choice of companion when she was married to the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing?

"Well what if I say that I don't think Kurt is someone I want our daughter around? Oh that's right, it wouldn't matter now would it because you married the guy and moved my child into a house with him. Did I have a say in that, Stephanie?" Paul heard himself blurt out before he had a chance to catch himself. His thoughts were running right out of his mouth. There was no filter present.

Steph's eyes widen and her mouth fell open slightly. She couldn't believe what just came out of his mouth. He had been behaving so civil and loving toward his daughter and then for no reason he spewed poison about Kurt. What was going on with him? It was like he had two different personalities: Jr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Sometimes he acts like the self centered man who cheated on her and broke her heart and then other times, he has lucid moments where he acts like the man she fell in love with and married. Why did she have to deal with this duality?

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Angle spoke up as he made his way over to the confrontation. He was surprised that Levesque was bringing him into the altercation.

"Kurt, please don't feed into this." Steph pleaded calmly placing her hand on her husband's chest the moment he approached them. With her husband being brought into the mix of things, she definitely saw the possibility of the situation escalating.

"No, I want an answer. Where the hell does he get off saying I shouldn't be around Aurora? I love that little girl like she was my own flesh and blood!"

"But she's not! When are you going to get that through your thick bald head? She's nobody to you! Just because you're screwing her mommy doesn't make you her daddy!" Levesque hollered back out of reflex. All his hatred and frustrations were coming pouring out with his words.

Levesque's rage was suddenly curtailed as he felt a stiff hand right across the left side of his face. He was caught completely off guard by it but because of the strength behind the slap, Paul knew immediately that it was his ex-wife's hand delivering the stinging shot. He quickly brought his hand up to his face as his eyes shifted to Stephanie who was shooting him a dirty look. No one said a word; they couldn't believe that Steph just slapped her ex.

Paul's face felt like it was on fire as he stared right into his former wife's sparkling blue eyes. Steph's eyes looked glassy; almost doll like, because of the tears that were forming in them. Her bottom lip was trembling; was it from anger or was she about to cry, Levesque didn't know; maybe it was both.

Stephanie's mouth opened gapped open. It looked like she was going to say something but she paused. Her hands she brought to her abdomen as a look of discomfort came over her face.

"Steph, you okay?" Kurt called out the moment his wife turned her back on them and began to run toward the sliding glass door that connected the back deck to the beach house.

It was clear that she was in a hurry. After she entered the beach house, she hadn't even bothered to close the sliding door. Aurora had popped her head up from her granny's chest after hearing her stepfather asking if her mother was okay.

"Mommy, okay? Granny, Mommy okay?" Aurora inquired pulling on her grandmother's shirt while still sitting in her lap.

"I'm going to go see if she's okay. Please just keep an eye on the kid's for me, Mom." Angle muttered to his mother-in-law before he began to walk the same path his wife had ran.

"Mommy is fine, sweetie. Just stay right here with Granny and brother." Linda answered back to her granddaughter while her eyes followed Kurt before he disappeared inside of the beach house.

Levesque felt terrible. Not only was he probably going to have a bruise where she had hauled off and slapped him, but he knew he just blown any progress he had made with Steph in the past few weeks. He really had to upset her with his comment about Angle. It had been so long ago that he had angered her enough to cause her to slap his face.

And he remembered the very last time it had happened too. It had been the night where she had found out about his affair with Michelle. That was another night where he had lost his self control and had said things that he wished he could have taken back. Thinking back to that hard slap she had given him on the stairs of what was their home, brought back an even worse memory that had taken place only moments after. It was the heart wrenching recollection of her unforgiving fall down their stairs. Her clutching her abdomen, in a fetal position on the hard wood floor; knowing that he had a part in her pain and knowing later what they had lost. Now he had hurt her again.

Paul felt himself began to move in the direction of the sliding glass door. Not only was he concerned about Stephanie's health, he wanted to have his chance of apologizing for flying off the handle moments ago. Lord knew he would have to work face to repair the damage he had just done. She was definitely pissed off at him. The sooner he tried to smooth things over, the better.

Levesque only made it a few steps across the back deck before Stephanie's brother, Shane, cut off his stride by stepping right in front of him. McMahon's face told the story. He was doing his job as he saw fit; the protective big brother who was willing to make himself the barrier between his little sister and the ex-lover who he thought would harm her. Before Paul could even speak up in his defense as to why he should be able to check on Steph, Shane spoke up.

"Haven't you done enough?"