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Chapter Thirty-Five
"Get out of my way, Shane." Paul demanded in a stern voice that could only mean that he meant business.
Levesque knew that it was in his best interest to remove himself from the surrounding McMahon family. Vince and Shane were surely chomping at the bit to follow up Steph's slap with further denigration and then an escort off the premises. Shane acted like Paul's words didn't even faze him. Vince's son even moved in closer and got right in Paul's face, like he was daring him to put his hands on him in an attempt to get through.
"Shane, let him pass. Don't get involved in your sister's business." Linda told her son in a calm voice while she sat there still holding both of Stephanie's children.
Despite how adamant Shane had seemed to stand his ground only moments ago, he slowly began to move from Paul's potential pathway to the beach house. He had obeyed his mother's words.
"You really are a momma's boy, aren't you?" Paul asked in a sneer before walking on. The younger McMahon wasn't so big and bad when his mother ordered him to stand down.
"Keep running your mouth, Levesque! It will never change the fact that Steph left your cheating ass for the best shooter in the business! Angle's a real man who treats her right!" Vince quickly called out to Paul before he had a chance to leave the back deck.
McMahon's smart ass comment caused Paul to stop dead in his tracks. It made him cringe hearing Stephanie's father praising the fact that she had left him for "the best shooter in the business", Kurt Angle. Didn't Vince know that Angle had a history of cheating too? Were Vince and his family really that blind to Kurt's bullshit? Or perhaps McMahon wasn't ignorant to Angle's past at all but chose to over look it for the sake of having an Olympic Gold medalist son-in-law; As if that was such a big fucking deal. Still, Vince was a hypocrite for calling him a cheater. Just because the family chose not to discuss it, it was still common knowledge, even public record, that Vince hadn't been faithful to Linda most of their marriage.
"You want to bring up my cheating, Vince? You were the one that wrote the book on philandering! How many divas did you sleep with over the past twenty years, while your wife was at home raising your two children? You have absolutely no right to pass judgment on me! The only reason that you are even at your grandson's birthday party with your family is because Linda found it somewhere in her heart to stay with you after she caught you with your pants down on more than one occasion! How many second chances did Linda give you before you decided to clean up your act? Steph didn't even give me one!" Levesque fired back.
He was tired of taking Vince's shit. For too long he had taken McMahon's unfair treatment with stride. Paul wasn't going to do it anymore. He was going to put Vince in his place, even if it meant that he was going to be forced to leave the party afterward. It needed to be said.
Vince McMahon looked shocked. It was obvious that he wasn't expecting to be on the receiving end of a tongue lashing courtesy of his much despised ex son-in-law. With the surprise came a hefty amount of embarrassment. It had been a long time since someone had thrown his past marital indiscretions at him. The McMahon family had since moved on and made it a point to never bring it up. But now a former member of his family, a man he had once welcomed into the fold with open arms and gave his daughter to, was bringing out the skeletons from his previously locked closet.
"Who the hell do you think you are dragging up ancient history? You want to talk history? Who created "Triple H", Hunter Hearst Helmsley, the king of kings, the cerebral assassin? That was me! You would be nothing without me! I sign your paychecks! I decide what Triple H does, says, and who he jobs to! Your career can be over with the snap of my fingers!" Vince screamed back. His face was turning from a nice shade of red to almost purple. Veins running along the lining of his neck were popping out under his skin like a raised road map to hell.
Kyra and Kody, who had been frozen in place since things got serious and their father had left the back deck, both quickly ran to Linda in order to be closer to their little half brother. Baby Andrew was not only being held by his granny but his big sister, Aurora, was hugging him for dear life. Shane's sons were glued to their mother. Marissa had directed her husband to sit down next to her and stay out of the argument between Vince and Paul.
Did Levesque want his WWE career to be over? God help him, he actually caught himself contemplating the idea while Vince screamed his threats. The idea of ridding himself of Vince McMahon forever didn't sound like that bad of an idea. No longer would he have to deal with any of the McMahon-Angle clan. He had made a substantial amount of money during his wrestling career. Perhaps McMahon was giving him the perfect opportunity to hang up his boots.
Could he really do it though? Could Paul really leave wrestling, the profession that had been is passion since he was a young man in the early nineties? And if he walked away from WWE, wouldn't he be walking away from Stephanie and Aurora too? That was definitely the last thing he wanted to do. Playing into Vince's hand and leaving the company like a dog its tail between its legs would be like resigning to the idea that Steph was meant to be with Angle. That would never happen.
"You know what Vince, you can snap your fingers and fire me and I can pick up, call my lawyer, and have him slap you with one hell of a wrongful termination lawsuit! Just try me! I'm sure a new lawsuit from a former employee would not make the share holders very confident in your product! Especially when that former employee was one of the company's top earners! You didn't make Triple H! If you had had your way, I would still be doing curtsies while wearing riding chaps and spouting a fake French accent! Shawn and I made DX! I made The Game, Triple H! You sold the merchandise because of me; because of my performance in and out of the ring! Don't get confused, old man!" Paul finally shot back.
Levesque wasn't going to let McMahon get the better of him. He was finally willing to speak up against his former father-in-law, regardless of what the ramifications would be. After all, if he was ever going to get back with Stephanie, he would have to show the McMahon family that he would no longer allow them to openly disrespect him. Surely Steph herself would appreciate his new found fortitude against her father. But Steph wasn't there to witness this. She was inside the beach house with Angle. Only her family was there to see his stand against Vince.
"Who are you calling, 'old man'? Does this body look like the body of an old man, damn it!" Vince screamed with a swift tug of his short sleeve t-shirt at the neck line. With what seemed to be taken right out of a Hulk Hogan promo, McMahon tore open his t-shirt, exposing his freakish muscular physique.
"This has gone far enough! Have the two of you forgotten that we are at a one year old's birthday party? Vince, you need to go somewhere and cool off before you do something you'll regret!" Linda hollered over her crying grandson who was now crying with a fierce intensity that was quite unsettling.
"Why should I leave?" Vince questioned his wife. "This is my grandson's party at my beach house! He should leave!"
"Vince, you were clearly the instigator in this altercation. Now you need to excuse yourself so you can get yourself together. Why don't you go upstairs, change your shirt, and then get some work done in the home office. I will call you when Stephanie and Kurt decide it's time to open birthday presents with Andrew." Linda explained in a calmer tone of voice. She did this while beginning to rock her grandson in her arms to sooth him and his older sister.
"Where did my daddy go?" Kyra finally asked Linda the moment Vince retreated to the beach house at the request of his wife. The little girl sensed that things were finally calming down and it gave her the courage to speak out.
"He went inside to see if Stephanie was okay." Linda assured her.
"I'm going to go see him." Kyra announced before beginning to walk away from Linda and toward to beach house.
"Oh okay, you two will probably find him in the powder room. It's right down the first hallway past the kitchen and on the left." Mrs. McMahon replied with a smile as she watched Kody scurry after Kyra so that he too could go find their father. He wasn't so much concerned about finding Kurt as he was staying close to his sister.
The pain was already starting to build in Steph's knees from kneeling on the hardwood floor of the powder room, but she was too sick to care. The vomiting had resurfaced and was coming at her in waves that were unrelenting. It was worse than what Aurora had; thank God, she wouldn't have ever wished this on her little daughter.
"Do we need to go to the emergency room?" Angle asked in a voice full of concern.
Angle's eyes were wide with worry since he followed his wife into the bathroom and saw her getting sick again. He was doing his best to help her: holding her hair back so that it would not fall into the toilet water, rubbing her back with his free hand. But those were the only things he could do. He couldn't take her nausea away.
"No, I'll be fine. I just have a stomach bug or something. It's going to have to work itself out. You should just go be with the kids, it's our son's first birthday party. I'll be fine in here." She croaked before she felt her body retch involuntary.
"I'm not leaving you in here with your head in the toilet. Andrew is only a year old. He doesn't even understand that it is his birthday. We are here for the weekend. There is no reason we can't just leave the gift opening for tomorrow."Kurt told her in a loving whisper while watching her vomit yet again.
"Daddy?"
Angle's attention diverted from his wife to the small quivering voice that was coming from the bathroom doorway. There stood Kyra with her little brother, Kody, holding her hand. Her brown eyes were wide and sparkling with tears. She looked afraid.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Kurt asked instinctively at the sight of his child who was on the verge of tears.
"Why did you leave us? We were scared. There was a lot of yelling." Kyra explained as the first few tears escaped from her eyes. Little Kody was looking up at his big sister as she spoke. He didn't seem to know what to make of everything that was going on.
"I didn't leave you two. Stephanie was sick so I came in to check on her. There's nothing to be afraid of. Mr. Levesque is just upset. He'll get over it."
During Angle's explanation, Kyra began to venture further into the bath room; her father's assurance that everything was going to be fine allowed her to curtail her tears. Kyra's fear was obviously replaced with curiosity as she focused her attention on Stephanie who was still throwing up over the toilet.
"Why is Stephanie throwing up?" Kyra then asked aloud.
"She most likely got a stomach bug that her little girl, Aurora, had this past week. She'll be fine, she just needs some rest. Why don't you and Kody go play with Shane's sons?"
"No, we want to stay with you!"
Kyra Marie intended to stay close to her father. With the heated altercation from earlier, she felt it was best for her and Kody to be with him. If staying with Kurt meant being in the bathroom with their sick step-mother, then so be it.
"Kurt, I'll be fine. Go be with Kyra and Kody and enjoy the party. I'm starting to feel a little better." Steph finally spoke, sitting up from her position over the toilet.
Angle let out a sigh before bringing his hand up to his wife's face. Gently, he caressed her cheek with his finger tips. She looked pale, and he could tell that she was still sick despite her claim to be making a recovery. His wife was telling him to go be with his children and leave her to tend to herself. Did she really not need his love and care or was she just trying to be a selfless step-mother who wanted her step-children to have time with their father?
"Are you sure you have to leave? We haven't started opening Andrew's gifts. And you know this beach house has plenty of extra guest rooms. Stephanie and Kurt are staying over and leaving in the morning." Linda explained trying her best to convince her son, Shane that he shouldn't be leaving the party with his wife and children.
"Thanks for the offer, Mom, but Declan has little league tryouts tomorrow morning. Now that he's five we promised him he could try out for the team so he can play t-ball next season." McMahon explained to his mother while he watched Marissa round up their boys.
"Mom, why is that lady sitting over there with her head down on the table? Is she asleep?" Declan asked his mother as she was leading him and his little brother, Kenny.
"She's not feeling well. You and your bother go over and say goodbye to your cousins, Aurora and Andrew. Hurry up, we have to say goodbye to everyone before we leave." Shane's wife directed her older son.
"It was a great first birthday party, I'm glad we could be here for it. I love that the whole family was able to get together." Marissa told her mother-in-law before she gave her a hug.
"Thanks so much for taking the jet down here. I know how busy you guys get in the city. We really should get the family together more often. Have a safe trip back." Linda said back to both Marissa and Shane.
"It was nice seeing you again, Paul. I'm sorry about the circumstances earlier." Marissa said politely with a weak smile in Levesque's direction.
Paul was sitting next to his passed out date. He had planted himself down in his seat right after Linda had banished her husband to his study. Paul felt it was better to allow Aurora's grandmother to comfort her. And now, his daughter was sitting on the deck with Angle's son while saying goodbye to her cousins. Up until Marissa's direct words toward him, he had felt like an invisible onlooker to the McMahon family while Shane was announcing his family's departure. He was a bit surprised by Marissa's acknowledgment of him and her polite parting words. Perhaps she didn't share her husband's same sentiment of him. The McMahon women were obviously the wiser in the family; Steph needed to get with the program.
"No need to be polite and proper with him, honey. It's common knowledge that he's only here in a pathetic attempt to destroy the happiness Stephanie has found with Kurt. Mom is just too Christian to kick him and his drunken date off the property. If we didn't have to leave right now-"
"Shane, you and your dad made your point earlier. Don't do this again in front of the kids. Come on, we need to say goodbye to your father, sister, and brother-in-law." Marissa interjected in a calm voice before she took her husband's hand to lead him into the beach house.
"Kenny and Declan, come on, give Gran a hug and then let's go say goodbye to the rest of the family." Shane instructed his sons.
The boys ran to Linda and took turns giving her a hug before they disappeared into the beach house with both of their parents. With her son and his family inside, Linda took a moment to survey the party scene. There were several paper party plates with bits of melted ice cream and cake still covering them, and some glasses of milk were still sitting there half drunk. There was still a great deal of cake left sitting out at the foot of the table. She had her work cut out for her.
"Paul, would you mind keeping an eye on Aurora and Andrew while I put the leftover cake away and say one last goodbye to Shane, Marissa, and the kids?" Linda asked her former son-in-law.
Levesque was quite surprised that Linda had no problem entrusting him with looking after Stephanie's children, especially after what her own son had accused him of only moments ago. It was clear that Mrs. McMahon didn't believe that about him. If she had any ill thoughts of his intentions, she would not have been so quick to allow him to watch two of her grandchildren.
"Yeah, sure, it's no problem."
"Thanks, I appreciate it. I know you are probably ready to call it a day and get Barbara back to the hotel so she can rest. I promise you, I will only be a few minutes." Linda answered back with a quick smile. She grabbed the left over cake with her right hand and used her left hand to grab a few paper plates so she could dispose of them in the kitchen.
When Paul was the only adult left on the back deck, besides his comatose date, he left his seat and made his way over to where both of Steph's children were still playing on the deck. The newly one year old was surrounded by new toys from his parents, yet he seemed to be favoring his big sister's stuffed kitten. Aurora was sitting with him, playing with the other stuffed animal she brought to the beach house, the puppy dog.
"Baby brother, don't put Kitty's nose in your mouth!" Aurora said with a loud giggle. Her little nose wrinkled as she let out a laugh before she took to stuffed animal from her brother's mouth and let him grab hold of it again to bring it into a hug.
"Why don't you take that toy away from him? It's yours, not his. He has his own toys to play with." Levesque advised his daughter after watching the interaction between the two children.
"I share with brother, Daddy. Mommy said I need to share and be a big sister. It's baby's birthday so I have to share lots." Aurora explained with a proud smile. She was happy that she was following her mother's wishes to share like a big girl with her sibling.
"That baby isn't your bother, Aurora. Mommy and Daddy only had one baby together, and that was you. Calling him your brother would be a lie, because he isn't Daddy's son like you are my daughter."
"He is my baby brother, we share our mommy. Mommy says we are her angels." Aurora responded back to her father's insistence.
"Do you know why you have to share your mommy, Aurora? It's because of that baby." Paul retorted in somewhat of a nasty tone of voice.
Aurora looked confused by her father's words. She didn't understand what he was saying. She looked over at her brother as her father went on with his explanation:
"Before your mommy had that baby, you lived with me and Mommy. We were a real family and loved each other very much. It was because of that baby being born that your mommy broke up our family. She hurt me by taking you away from me to live with Kurt. And it's all his fault. Baby Andrew took your mommy from you and Daddy, just like he's taking all of your toys now. If he was never born, you would still live with both Mommy and Daddy and wouldn't have to share with anyone." Levesque told his daughter as he pointed sharply at the one year old.
Aurora Rose eyes were wide as she did her best to internalize and understand what her father was telling her. The three year old could barely wrap her mind around the idea of the little baby causing her to lose her family. But she knew how she felt about him taking her toys. Maybe it was the same thing her daddy was talking about. Was Andrew going to take her toys, and worst of all, take Mommy for himself? Was she not a part of a family because of him? Why didn't her mommy tell her this?
The three year old focused her eyes on her half sibling. The baby looked up from the stuffed animal and smiled at her. And with one chubby hand, Andrew reached out to touch her or her stuffed dog that was sitting in her lap. Just before his hand made contact with Aurora, she sprang into action scooting away from the baby. Aurora's head and eyes then went upward to where her father was standing. Her eyes were searching for his reaction; she wanted to know if she had done the right thing. The approval came in a smile and a nod. Confident that she was acting the way her daddy wanted her to, she quickly leaned back over to the baby and grabbed hold of her stuffed kitty cat.
"This is my toy and you can't take it or my mommy!" Aurora hollered with a swift and hard yank of the toy.
Andrew Vincent was caught off guard by his sister's anger and the force of her snatching the toy. He literally jumped from both her screaming in his face and her swift removal of the stuffed animal from his grasp. And then, after a second, the shock wore off, and he let out a loud wail.
"I didn't hurt him, I just taked my toy back." Aurora quickly told her father in defense of her actions. She was suddenly worried about the ramifications of her decision to no longer share. If her mommy would have been there for what she pulled, she would definitely have been in trouble.
"Don't worry about it, sweetie. You are just taking back what is yours to begin with. He's just a stupid little baby. He'll get over it." Levesque replied while smiling down at his daughter.
"Oh, what's wrong little one?"
Linda had just returned from inside and had quickly made her way over to where her youngest grandchild was screaming somewhat hysterically. She scooped the crying baby up into her arms and placed him on her hip before looking over at both Aurora and Paul for some explanation as to why he was so upset.
"He's been rubbing his eyes the whole time you were gone. I guess he didn't finish his nap because of all the arguing. He must be over tired." Paul told his ex mother-in-law after he lifted his three year old daughter up into his muscular arms and planted a kiss on her cheek.
Never before had Aurora felt more conflicted and confused. Seeing her little brother crying and knowing it was because of her made her feel bad. She had spent the first year of his life loving him and watching out for him. And now her daddy, her real and true daddy, was telling her that Andrew Vincent not only wasn't her real brother, but was the reason why she didn't live with both her mommy and daddy. A family was a mommy and a daddy living with their little girl in the same house. Her mommy and daddy had different houses. Did that mean she didn't have a family? And was it really all because of baby Andrew being born? Yes, it had to be true, why else would her very own daddy tell her that if it wasn't?