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-Seven
"No I will not have a teleconference! I want to deal with this problem in person, right now!" Vince yelled into his cellular phone while standing his study.
"I don't care if it's a weekend! If it was done right to begin with, I wouldn't have to be the one taking the time to fix it! The problem is, someone isn't doing his or her damn job and I have to leave my baby grandson's first birthday party and fly back to Connecticut to do the job myself!" McMahon screamed slamming his fist down firmly on his desk.
"Yes, you better hope it gets fixed before I get to the office! It's your job on the line too because you're in charge of the department!" Vince continued. His eyes darted to the window in the study that happened to be on the side of the house. He caught sight of Paul and Barbie slowly making their way to the front of the house. Thank God Linda had told him to hit the pike.
"Shut up and do your job! I'm leaving right now and taking the corporate jet back to Connecticut! If it isn't worked out when I get there, I'm cracking skulls!" McMahon threatened. Before his employee could attempt to reply, he ended the call and threw the phone into one of the nearby leather chairs.
All in a huff, Vince snatched his phone from the chair and quickly made his way to the back of the beach house where the sliding glass doors connected the home to the back deck. With his booming voice he informed his family that he had to leave.
"Don't feel guilty about leaving, Dad. You were here to sing "Happy Birthday", that's the most important part. We're just going to hang out with the kids the rest of the night. I'll probably try and lie down and get some rest." Steph told her father.
"You do that, sweetheart. I hope you feel better. We can't afford you getting sick. This company needs you." McMahon replied back before giving his daughter a quick hug.
"Gramps will see you again soon, birthday boy. And I'll see you soon too, little princess." Vince said in the sweetest grandfather voice he could muster.
Aurora cut her little eyes and turned her face away from her grandfather's gaze. She hadn't forgotten how mean Grandpa was being to her daddy. She didn't understand why her granddad had been hollering at her dad. It wasn't just confusing, it was scary to her. McMahon's booming voice could be quite terrifying to a three year old.
"You pretty like a pwincess, Rora." Kody commented with a smirk and an eyebrow raise. He had leaned closer to his stepsister who was still hugging her mother's leg to make sure she had taken notice of his compliment.
The little boy's assessment caused Aurora to return a shy smile. While Kyra was an older kid that made her feel a little uneasy because of their confrontation earlier, Kody was being nothing but nice to her. She liked him.
After he finished saying his goodbyes to his family, Vince, with his work satchel in hand, made his way out to the three car garage. It was when he opened one of the garage doors to drive his corvette to the private airstrip that he saw Paul crouching next to Kelly Kelly. The diva was leaning up against the rental car that they had arrived in. What were they still doing there? At least the rental car wasn't blocking his exit for it was parked on the other side of the driveway.
"Why the hell are you still loitering on my property? Hit the road, Levesque!" McMahon shouted out the window of his high performance car as it rolled in reverse down the driveway.
Vince was such an asshole. It took every ounce of self control for Paul not to shoot his middle finger up at his former father-in-law. Sure the guy deserved the gesture but in the long run he would certainly be the one to pay the price for it. It was best for him just to stay calm, let the old bastard leave, and then send Barbie off in a taxi cab.
With the sound of squealing tires and a puff of smoke, the black corvette had a surge of acceleration and sped off. McMahon didn't even seem to give him a backward glance. Perhaps he thought he had put him in his place by simply barking the demand for him to leave. It didn't matter; Vince and Shane were both now gone. The only single remaining thorn in Levesque's side was Angle.
Only a moment or so after Vince's departure, a typical yellow taxi cab pulled up in front of the beach house.
"Come on, your cab's here. It's time to get up and leave." Paul told the young woman who was still sitting next to his rental car and had not made an attempt to get up when she saw the cab was there. She was still feeling the effects of all the alcohol she drank and had needed to sit down once they got to the drive way.
"I just need to sit here for a little while longer. Just give me a few minutes." Barbie insisted waving her hand in Paul's direction like she was shooing him away.
Levesque wasn't going to have any of it. He was tired of Kelly Kelly's ongoing drama that had started up the moment he had brought her to the party. Paul was just ready for her to leave. With one quick motion, he bent over, put his muscular arms behind her back and under her legs, and lifted her up.
"Oh Paul!" She screeched out in surprise not expecting him to pick her up.
"Oh, I wasn't expecting you to carry me. This is nice. You're so strong." She said in a drunken yet seductive voice placing her hand on Paul's face.
"Open the door, would you?" Paul said through gritted teeth to the taxi driver while at the same time he moved his face away from her hand. He didn't want her touching him.
The driver quickly did as he was told and Levesque let the young woman plop down on the backseat of the taxi cab. The moment the young woman was in the cab, her head leaned back and she then slumped over in the seat. It was probably the air conditioning in the cab that caused her to fall back asleep.
"Just load up her crap I have sitting out here by the curb, stick the seatbelt on her and take her to the nearest hotel. This should cover the fare." Paul muttered shoving a wod of cash in the driver's hand.
With the payment given, Levesque was quick to walk away from his again comatose date and rejoin his daughter, ex-wife, and her family on the back deck. He didn't even give a backward glance as he heard the car's engine soon start up and pull away.
"You could have left the same time your date did." Angle told Paul the moment he noticed him returning up the back deck stairs.
"Yeah I guess I could have but wouldn't I be a bad father if I didn't come back to at least say good bye to my daughter? Unlike you, Angle, I don't ignore my child just because she doesn't live under my roof anymore." Levesque retorted with a jerk of his chin in the direction of Kyra and Kody who were standing by their father.
"You going bye- bye, Daddy? You not stay wif me?" Aurora questioned aloud expressing her sadness from hearing of her father's impending departure. She didn't understand why her father had to go but Andrew's daddy stayed with her and mommy all the time.
The small child's words caught her grandmother's attention. Vince was now gone and heading back to Connecticut. There being plenty of room in the plush vacation home, and the thought of inviting Aurora's father to stay overnight seemed like a nice gesture, not just for Paul, but for her grandchild as well.
"I have to go, sweetheart. I wasn't invited to stay overnight like you and Mommy were."
Linda eyes shifted from her granddaughter, to her former son-in-law, and then finally settled on her daughter, Stephanie. Steph had been watching her mother's reaction to both Paul and Aurora's words. She understood her mother's unspoken thought process. And now it looked like her mom was subtly asking her to weigh in on the matter even in her weakened state. After only a short moment of pondering, Stephanie shrugged her shoulders and gave a slight nod to signal that she was alright with her ex staying over at the beach house to spend more time with his daughter.
"Paul, you are more than welcome to stay in one of the guest bedrooms overnight. I know how thick the traffic is in the city where all the hotels are. Staying over would allow you to spend more time with Aurora." Linda finally offered aloud to Levesque.
Angle couldn't help but roll his eyes after hearing his mother-in-law's invitation for Paul to stay over. Kurt knew that if Vince was still there at the beach house, she would never have proposed this. The guy wasn't a part of the McMahon family anymore. He was lucky enough to even be invited to the party. What was next? Was Steph going to invite him to come home with them to their home in Connecticut, for him to "spend more time with Aurora"? That is what they loved to call it. Angle knew what it really was. It was his way trying to get closer to Stephanie.
Levesque was now looking directly at Kurt. He must have taken noticed of how frustrated Angle seemed to be with Linda's proposal. It made Paul smile wide. He loved seeing Kurt miserable and stifled. There was no way the he was going to speak out against Linda's decision, certainly not if he wanted to keep up his façade of being a picture perfect husband. It was nice to see him squirming for a change.
"That's really sweet of you to offer a guest room. Are you sure it wouldn't be an inconvenience?"
Levesque already knew what the answer to his question was going to be, but he knew to ask it anyway. He was trying to put his best foot forward in demonstrating to both Stephanie and Linda that he was gracious and courteous. Those two traits, after all, were ones that he portrayed constantly when he had been courting Steph before they were even dating.
"Really laying the bullshit on thick isn't he?" Kurt muttered to his wife, not able to keep his anger at bay.
His comment caused Stephanie to shoot her husband a dirty look. The cold stare was not only for cursing but for making a generally hateful comment aloud when her ex was being on his best behavior for the good of their daughter. Aurora was making such strides in warming up to her daddy. Steph would be really pissed at her husband if he would be responsible for derailing her daughter's progress.
"Don't be silly, you know that there is plenty of room. It's not like you will be putting anyone out. So are you going to stay?" Linda asked again with a gracious smile.
"Stay! Stay Daddy! Stay!" Aurora exclaimed jumping up and down in front of Paul like she was making his decision for him. She was smiling because of the prospect of her father staying at her grandparents' beach house overnight.
"Well it looks like my baby girl decided for me. Let me just go get my piece of luggage from my rental car." Paul commented after he lovingly touched his little girl's face.
"You're really not buying this 'father knows best' crap, are you?" Angle asked his wife in what was somewhat of an intense whisper with the hope of not being heard by Aurora.
"Stop it, he is being on his best behavior with his daughter. Can you please just take your son? I think he needs a change. I'm feeling sick again so I'm going to go lay down in our guest room." Stephanie informed her husband with a hint of anger before leaning toward him with their child so that he could take him from her.
"All right, fine. I'll watch the kids, go get some rest." Kurt replied accepting his son so that his wife could go inside.
He could tell his wife wasn't going to believe him about Levesque. If anything, trying to convince her about Paul's real intentions was just getting her mad at him. Angle didn't want that. It would just become another instance where Paul Levesque was causing problems in their marriage.
"Where's Steph?" Paul immediately asked aloud the moment Linda followed by Kurt and all the kids came inside the beach house because of a down pour that had come out of nowhere mere moments after Levesque had brought his luggage inside.
"My wife is resting upstairs. Don't bother her, she's still feeling sick. Visit with your child, that is after all why you are still here, right?" Angle quickly retorted before Linda could even reply about her daughter's whereabouts.
"What we do now? It's raining outside at the beach, look!" Aurora then commented pointing a finger out toward the sliding glass door where they had just entered from.
"I'm sure Granny can put on a good movie for you, Kyra, and Kody. I have to change Andrew, then I will be back to watch it with you guys." Angle told his stepdaughter with a kind smile.
The moment Kurt left the room with the baby, Linda began to list off the few children's movie she had at the beach house for the occasions when her grandchildren visited. The three children unanimously voted to watch "Finding Nemo". Paul took a seat with his daughter on his lap while Kyra and Kody sat on the other side of the sofa.
"Can we have a slumber party in here?" Kyra asked Linda as she put her arm around her little brother who was too enthralled with the movie to even notice.
"It's okay with me, but you'll have to ask your dad when he comes back from changing Andrew."
"Sounds okay to me, you still have that blow up mattress, don't you, Mom? I could set it up in here for all three kids." Angle offered coming back into the living room with a freshly changed Andrew in his arms.
"Yes I do, it's on the top shelf of the hall closet. If you want to go get it, I'll go grab some fresh linen to put on the mattress." Linda replied getting up from where she was seated.
"Daddy, can I hold baby Andy?" Kyra asked her father with her arms stretched out toward her youngest brother.
"Sure you can, but he may not want to stay on your lap. You can watch him for me while I set up the mattress." Kurt answered back as he gently placed his one year old in his daughter's lap. He and Linda then left the living room to get the bed sheets and air mattress.
"Hi little baby, I'm your big sister." Kyra Marie said in a sweet voice as she petted her half brother's head with her hand. Andrew let out a happy squeal and smiled at his older sibling.
Aurora took in a deep breath and exhaled sharply from where she sat at the other end of the long sofa. She didn't understand why Kyra was telling Andrew that she was his big sister. Her mommy always gave her that title. Why wasn't Kurt, Andrew's daddy, correcting her? She was the one who had always helped her mommy take care of the baby, not Kyra.
"See, Kyra is the baby's big sister, not you." Paul whispered softly in his daughter's ear and then gave her a kiss on her cheek causing Aurora's bottom lip to protrude due to sadness.
When Angle returned he was able to quickly set up and inflate the mattress. The moment the last bit of air filled it, Kody pounced onto it with full force from the sofa like he was pretending he was a ferocious lion that was complete with a growl and playful roar. His father decided to join in on the three year old's play by getting on the made bed so that he could tickle him. Kody began to howl with laughter as he weakly fought back the tickling with his hands and feet.
"Look, Daddy's getting Kody!" Kyra exclaimed with excitement as she pointed for her youngest brother to see.
"I'm going to get you too, Kyra and Andy!" Kurt said in his best monster voice before turning his attention to his two other children.
Both Andrew and Kyra were both belly laughing the moment Angle swooped both of them up in his arms and then fell back with them onto the mattress. Linda was even chuckling a bit while observing her son-in-law playing with all three of his children.
"Aurora, no, stay here with Daddy, let's watch the movie." Levesque told his child when his three year old made an attempt to leave her seat that was right next to him.
"But I can pway, I'm always alloweded to pway at home." Aurora whined folding her arms in a huff.
Aurora Rose looked quite disappointed that she wasn't allowed to partake in the fun that all of the Angle children were having. Even the baby was allowed to participant in the fun and was laughing and climbing on his daddy. She had always been able to play with Kurt, in fact, it was usually just him and her rough housing since Andy was a baby.
Paul could tell his little girl was unhappy with staying him on the couch but he didn't care. He refused to let his little girl bond any further with Angle. She had no business being over there with his kids. He wasn't even sold on the idea of letting her sleep on the inflated mattress with them. But how could he tell Aurora no now in front of Linda? How would that look if Aurora began to pitch a fit? Levesque just hoped that the kids would just fall asleep soon so that he didn't have to continue to watch Kurt Angle's "perfect father" routine. It was sickening.
After what seemed like forever to Paul, all four of the children were finally asleep. Kyra was asleep on one end of the bed, her brother, Kody, in the middle, and Aurora was on the other side, closest to where her daddy was still sitting. Linda was the first adult to leave the living room for bed. Then Angle, with his sleeping one year old in his arms, was the next to stand up to leave.
"I guess you're sleeping down here with the kids? Steph and I will be in bed upstairs if you need us." Angle whispered with a smirk without even looking back at Paul before walking out of the living room toward the staircase.
Typical Kurt just had to have the last word. He really reveled in rubbing in the fact that he was the one sleeping in Stephanie's bed. He was wrong about one thing; Paul wasn't going to be sleeping in the living room with the children. Levesque just wasn't ready to retire to his appointed guest room just yet.
Kurt moved cautiously through the dark upstairs hallway. He was being extra careful in his navigation to his and Stephanie's guest room so as to not wake up the sleeping baby he was holding. He was a bit surprised to find their guest room dimly lit by light coming from the guest bathroom that was connected to the room. The bed was empty; Steph had obviously been in it but had left. She was probably still throwing up. Taking advantage of the semi-illuminated room, Angle was able to put Andrew down in his pack and play with ease before going to the bathroom to check on Stephanie.
There was his wife lying on the bathroom tile floor right in front of the toilet. She appeared to be asleep on her side facing the toilet in her pajama shorts and top.
"Stephy, babe, you okay?" Angle asked in a caring whisper the moment he crouched down and brushed Stephanie's hair away from her face.
Her eyes opened the moment she felt his touch on her face. She slightly lifted her head from the bathroom floor and peered up to see her husband. She didn't know what time it was or how long she had been passed out in the bath room. She only remembered getting out of bed and running to the toilet just in time. She had wretched and heaved so much that her abdominal muscles felt like she had completed over one hundred crunches. And finally, when the nausea had subsided, she had fallen asleep right there on the floor.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm really thirsty." Steph muttered through a raspy voice as she sat up.
Without hesitation, Angle quickly got up from his crouching position and walked over to the sink. He grabbed a glass that happened to be sitting by the faucet already and promptly filled it with cold water before giving it to his wife. Patiently, Kurt watched Stephanie gulp down the water as if it was her first drink of the whole day. She must have really been parched.
"Do you think we need to take you to the emergency room? If you can't keep anything down, you're going to get dehydrated."
"No, I'll be okay. It's just a stomach bug, probably got it at the office." Steph replied between gulps.
"Are the kids asleep? Where's the baby?" She then asked the moment she had drank the last bit of water.
"The kids are all downstairs in the living room on the inflated mattress and Andrew is asleep in the playpen by the bed. Come on, let's go to bed. You shouldn't be sleeping in the bathroom." Angle whispered to her so that he wouldn't wake the baby. He then kissed her forehead after taking the drinking glass from her.
"No, you go ahead to bed. I know I'm not going to be able to sleep now. I'm going to go get some air on the back deck." Stephanie told her husband as she slowly got to her feet.
"Do you want me to go with you?" Angle offered placing the glass back down where he had found it on the vanity countertop.
"No honey, you go ahead and get some sleep. I'm just going to sit outside for a bit and then I'll come to bed." She told him with a weak smile before quietly sneaking out of the guest room without waking up her sleeping child.
Stephanie tried to be as quiet as she could in respect of her mother and ex-husband who she thought were already asleep in their respective rooms. After descending the stairs, she followed the hallway that lead to the living room where the children were asleep. The television was turned off and each of the three children was sound asleep under the light covers. Carefully, Steph opened the sliding glass door to let herself onto the back deck without waking up the kids.
"Hey, you're up late. Feeling any better?"
The voice that broke the soothing sound of the ocean caused Steph to jump in place the moment after she had closed the sliding door. She whipped around to see her ex-husband sitting nearby in one of the lounge chairs.
"A little, thanks. I thought I'd come out here to get some of the ocean air. It's always so nice at night. Why are you still up? " She asked coming back with a question of her own as she ventured toward the lounge chair that was next to the one Paul was in.
"I'm not really ready to call it a night. I actually wanted to go up and check on you but with Angle already up there, I decided against it. I figured you had all the drama you could handle today." Levesque explained while turning his head to focus on his former wife.
"Yeah, you're right, I have. Thanks for being concerned about me." She quickly replied leaning back in the chair and folding her arms in front of her chest.
"I was also hoping for an opportunity to apology to you. I'm sorry about that crude comment I made about you and Angle earlier. I was angry and was out of line to say it in front of your family and the kids." Paul said with his voice full of sincerity.
His apology caused Steph to turn her head and look directly at him for the first time during this night encounter. She looked surprised, her eyes wide in reaction to his words that seemed heartfelt and genuine. Paul was actually owning his mistakes and trying to make amends for them? He was sounding like the man she had fallen in love with in the first place. It was calming and soothing to her, just as much as the sea breeze.
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have slapped you. If anyone deserved to be slapped today, it was my dad. He really goes overboard sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Levesque asked with a smirk and an eyebrow raise.
His remark caused both Stephanie and himself to start laughing in unison. Hearing her distinct laughter again was like seeing the ghost of a dearly missed loved one. He could hardly remember the last time he had made her laugh. Early on in their marriage, he was able to do it so effortlessly. He knew that his humor was one of the qualities that had made her fall in love with him in the first place. If only it would work a second time.
"I'm really glad you came to the party. You don't know how much it means to me to see Aurora and you bonding again." Steph told him with a warm smile while leaning over the side of the lounge chair so that she could speak to him more directly.
"I'm happy I did too. I'm really thankful that you decided to come out here tonight. You don't know how rare it is for me to steal a few moments alone with you. I forgot how easy it was for us to talk civil without all of life's interruptions. It makes me think back to before we had Aurora and things were good between us."
Stephanie let out a long exhale and her eyes diverted down to the wooden deck. She thought back to the many weekends they had spent together on that very back deck as a couple. Not only had they been civil to one another back then but they actually cared about each other and were thoughtful of each other's feelings. Who's to say they couldn't have that again, especially for their daughter?
"Things can still be good between us." She told him focusing back on his face. Steph flashed another smile and gently placed her hand on his to further drive home her sincerity.
"I'd like that. I want us to move forward. I think Aurora would want that too. I'd be lying if I said that a night goes by without me thinking back to how things were before it got bad between us. I just wish Aurora could remember that time; that she could remember us as a family." Paul said in almost a whisper.
"We're still a family…" Steph quickly replied back before she brought her hand up to former husband's face. Her finger tips ran over the neat edges of his beard. It had been a while since she had touched a man's face that wasn't clean shaven. She had forgotten how much she loved a man with a beard.
Levesque couldn't help but close his eyes as he felt her gentle touch against his skin. He was savoring it, remembering when she was his. And just when he thought it couldn't get any better, he felt her lips gently touch his cheek. She was kissing him, well, not his lips but still it was a kiss; one that he hadn't requested but had been freely given to him.
Unfortunately, as soon as the kiss happened, it was over, and by the time Paul had opened his eyes, she was not only back to her neutral position in the chair but was getting up from it.
"I need to try and get some sleep. Sleep is probably going to be the only thing that will get me over this stomach bug. Have a good night." She said before managing to get up.
"Good night." Levesque replied back with a weak smile as his hazel eyes followed her to the sliding doors where she then disappeared inside of the beach house leaving him by himself on the back deck.
Paul couldn't believe what had just taken place between them. Stephanie had admitted in her own words that there was still hope for them by saying that they were still a family. And if that wasn't enough, she had kissed him. It was all the encouragement he needed to continue his pursuit of getting her back. The only problem facing him at the moment was how he was going to get some sleep.