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-Nine
"These all mine?"
Aurora had asked that same question several times in the last hour as she poured over each and every toy in the room her father had made for her. While this wasn't the first time she had spent the night at her daddy's home, it was certainly the first time she cared to explore her room there.
"They're all yours, sweetheart. These are your toys at Daddy's house." Paul explained with a smile. He couldn't help but find enjoyment in seeing his daughter pulling out each and every toy from her pink and yellow toy box to examine it.
They had arrived home in Connecticut in the late afternoon. Stephanie had kept her promise to Aurora and called to talk to her. Levesque immediately began to worry that talking to her mommy would made the three year old want to leave and go back with her. Surprisingly, it had the opposite effect. Whatever Stephanie had said to their child had perked her right up. Aurora was quite the little ball of energy. Paul had made them a late lunch of peanut butter and jelly and they had spent the rest of the afternoon playing together in the back yard.
And now, as the day was drawing to a close, Paul began to worry that their fun time together was going to sour as soon as bedtime came. The only successful over night that Aurora had spent with him was with the help of Torrie Wilson. Now he was on his own.
"Hey Aurora, how would you like a surprise before bedtime?" Levesque asked his daughter while getting up from the carpet floor.
"Is it a present?" She asked with her voice full of excitement; The prospect of a surprise gift that would be just for her caused her to turn her attention away from the toy box and onto her father.
"Well it's something Daddy put together especially for you. You have to close your eyes to get it."
Aurora let out a little giggle bringing her hands to her face. Her little palms cupped over her eyes while she smiled. As she heard her daddy moving in the room, she couldn't help but slide her fingers apart to peek out at him.
"Hey, no peeking!" Levesque warned with a chuckle as he stopped momentarily waiting for his little girl to hide her eyes adequately.
The three year old let out a squeal of laughter and let herself flop down on her belly onto the floor. She brought her face to the crook of her arm and hid her eyes, letting out a few more giggles because she knew her daddy was getting her surprise.
When Paul was sure that she wasn't peeking, he quietly made his way over to the small nightstand next to her bed. His hand reached for the knob on the single draw of the pink end table that was accented with yellow stars. Without making any noise, he eased it open and removed the sole contents and placed it on her bed.
"Okay, angel, you can come see your surprise." Paul told his daughter, breaking the silence after he sat down on the bed himself.
Aurora jumped to her feet the moment she was given permission to finally see what it was that she was being given. She ran over and plopped onto her bed, next to her daddy, and peered down at the large pink photo album. There was a square cutout in the front cover of it and inside of was a picture of Paul, Stephanie, and baby Aurora.
"Mommy!" Aurora exclaimed while pointing her little finger at the picture of her mother. It was her face in the photograph that the little girl immediately took notice of.
"Yeah, it's Mommy and Daddy too. And look, there's you when you were a baby. See, it's our family picture." Paul commented as he used one hand to point out baby Aurora and the other to lovingly rub his daughter's back.
"I was the baby." She stated with a few giggles sneaking their way out of her mouth. She loved the fact that she was once the baby in her mommy's arms and not Andrew.
"Yeah, and now you're Daddy's big girl." He said proudly before giving her a small peck on the cheek.
"You're hairs tickle, Daddy." Aurora giggled bringing her hand to her father's beard to feel it against her soft hand. She wasn't used to the feeling of a beard touching her cheek since both Vince and Kurt were clean shaven.
Levesque could help but smile at his daughter's cute comment about his facial hair. He pursed his lips and turned slightly to give her soft palm a peck. The loving action caused Aurora to laugh and pull her hand away before reaching to open the album.
When the album was open, the first picture that Aurora's eyes fell upon was one of her parents on their wedding day back in 2003. It was clearly a picture taken by a wedding guest while Paul and Steph were posing for the wedding photographer to take his professional shots. The newly married couple looked happy and most importantly, very much in love. While sitting with his daughter and looking at the photo, Paul only could hope that his little girl could see the love that was there between her mother and father.
"Mommy's hair looks different." Aurora commented after noticing that the little bit of her mother's hair that wasn't covered by the white veil, was a few shades lighter than what was her mommy's normal hair color.
"Yeah, it's a little different. She got it done special a few weeks before the wedding. This picture was taken the day when Mommy and I got married."
Little Aurora brought her hand to the bottom of the page, and turned it over, completely skipping the other photographs that were joining the wedding picture. She gave a big smile the moment her eyes focused on a picture of her mommy with a big belly. But Stephanie wasn't alone in the picture; Paul was standing with her in a traditional pregnant couples' pose: the two of them turned sideways with both their hands together resting on the large extended abdomen.
"There's Mommy and Daddy, and guess what, right in that big tummy is you." Levesque whispered close to Aurora's ear like he was telling her a secret. One of his large fingers tapped on the pregnant belly in the picture.
"I'm hiding in there." She whispered with a big smile like she didn't want to give up her secret hiding spot in the picture to anyone else that might be listening to them.
Paul took the initiative and turned the page to reveal a picture that was taken in the hospital right after Aurora was born. Looking at the picture, he remembered that moment like it had only happened days ago instead of years.
"And this right here is our first official photograph together. Daddy could never forget the day you were born. This was the first time your mommy every saw me cry."
Levesque pointed to a photograph of him, a proud new daddy, holding his little baby girl in his arms. As he gazed at the picture, he remembered the overwhelming amount of love he felt the moment the doctor handed her to him. Aurora Rose had felt so tiny in his large muscular arms. She was pink and soft just like the hospital blanket she was wrapped in. Tears of joy had caused his hazel eyes to sparkle and Paul could remember how proud his wife was to see his love for their child. The moment he looked into his baby girl's small cloudy blue eyes, he knew that his life was never going to be the same.
Aurora reached forward and ran her hand over the picture of her and her daddy. It was almost like she was feeling to see if it was indeed a real picture. The idea that she had her own daddy who had been there when she was a tiny baby was such a pleasant surprise to her.
Paul leaned back in bed, taking the photo album in his hands. Aurora followed his lead and leaned back too. She seemed to be completely at ease now because she had no hesitation when it came to snuggling up to her father. She placed her head on his chest while she looked up at the other photos he had resumed showing her. He gave a short little narrative for each picture on every page as the memories flowed through his mind with ease.
Aurora remained silent as her father spoke to her. The combination of voice vibration in his chest, his heart beat, and the rising and falling of his muscular torso from his breathing was soothing her to sleep. It was when Levesque was just about to flip to the last page of the album that he looked down and noticed that she was out.
Carefully, so that he wouldn't disturb her, Paul gently set the album down on the top of the night stand with his left hand. His right arm, he used to hold his child close to him while his left hand then lovingly swept a lock of her brown hair away from her face. She looked so angelic sleeping in his arms. The only thing missing from this perfect father-daughter moment was Stephanie being there to witness it. He longed for her; if only to have her approval for his interaction with their daughter like the day she was born. Instinctively, he bent his neck forward and gently planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
Stephanie let a moan escape her parted lips before blinking her eyes open. To her surprise, daylight had flooded the room while she was still asleep. She twisted her body to her right in the direction of her husband's side of the bed. It was empty. How late had she slept in? Seeking a definite answer to the question, she rolled to her left and gazed at her digital alarm clock. It was 9:15. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept in until nine o'clock. Her body must have needed it.
Steph had spent a great deal of the night in her master bathroom retching and vomiting. It had to be in the early morning hours when she staggered back to bed as quiet as she could so as not to wake up Kurt who was snoring away. Feeling weak from all the throwing up, sleep had been a welcomed relief.
The first thing that entered Stephanie's mind when she sat up in bed was her son, Andrew. She was hoping that Kurt had been able to take the initiative and follow the baby's normal morning routine. Oh, but it wasn't just Andy that Kurt had to pay attention to, it was his two other children who were staying with them. He had to be overwhelmed by taking care of three children without her. She needed to get up and help him, regardless if her stomach was still upset.
As soon as Steph went to get out of bed, she was overcome by a wave of nausea that sent her running to the master bathroom. She practically flung herself over the toilet, sticking her face into the bowel. She let the onslaught of nausea finally overpower her and the vomit started coming.
"Steph, you okay?"
Stephanie had been so overtaken with her sickness that she hadn't even noticed that her husband was showering in their bathroom. He had been taken off guard by the abruptness of her entry into and how sick she seemed to be at the toilet.
Shutting off the shower jets, he opened the frosted glass shower door. His eyes were wide and stayed focused on his sick wife, as he grabbed a towel from the nearby rack. Kurt began to quickly dry off his muscular frame while at the same time he moved to get closer to her.
"I'm fine." She answered back in a raspy voice the moment the vomiting subsided. She raised he arm in the direction of her encroaching husband and waved for him to keep his distance. The last thing she needed was someone hovering over her when she felt this bad.
"You really don't look like you are doing fine. You should go to the doctor today before I head off to RAW." Advised Angle after he halted his steps upon his wife's request.
"No, I'm going to give it another day or so. I think it's just what Aurora had last week. It's just working itself out of my system." Stephanie explained before she pulled a small sheet of toilet paper off the roll and used it to wipe her mouth.
"I don't think it's what Aurora had. Didn't that only last one day? I think this is more serious than that. I mean, what if you get even sicker?" Kurt asked in a concerned voice that would only come from a worried loving husband. He wrapped his damp towel around his waist before making his way over to his side of the double sink basin.
Steph caught herself rolling her eyes while putting her hands on the toilet seat to help brace her as she got to her feet. She knew that her husband was worried about her condition. He wouldn't have said anything if he didn't care about her. Still, a part of her was a bit annoyed with his insistence that she sought after medical attention. Wasn't she the one going through it? She was the one being kept up half of the night by relentless vomit and nausea while he slept like a baby. Who the hell was he to tell her when it was serious enough for a doctor visit? She would know better than him, because it was her body that was going through it all.
She was willing to wait it out a day or two more. That's what she usually did when it came to an illness. She was Vince McMahon's daughter, so she had always been expected to work and perform through any ailment. If she had been expected to do on air segments and had a bad head cold, they would simply write it into the script. The show must go on. Sickness was only a state of mind and it could be overcome when there was work to be done. Those were her father's words; Words that Vincent Kennedy McMahon didn't just say but live by.
"Where's the baby?" Stephanie asked aloud switching the topic of conversation. She had moved to her side of the bathroom counter and just stood there watching her husband go about his morning toilette.
"He's in his playpen downstairs. His big sister, Kyra, is keeping an eye on him and Kody." Angle quickly replied before putting his toothpaste covered toothbrush into his mouth.
Stephanie's mouth fell open and she placed her hand on her hip, leaning some of her weight onto the side of the countertop. She couldn't believe that her husband had left their one year old and a two and a half year old under the watch of his six year old daughter. And what was even more surprising was the fact that he seemed nonchalant about it.
"And you think that was a good idea? Our son could be dead downstairs and you wouldn't even know it." Steph sneered sticking her chin out in his direction.
Her reaction caused Kurt to look over at her like she had gone crazy. Why was she being so over dramatic? After several seconds of vigorously scrubbing his teeth with his tooth brush, he spit out the paste in his sink.
"You're being ridiculous. The kids are fine. I've had Kyra look after her little brother when she was only four years old. Andrew is in his playpen, it's not like he can toddle off and hurt himself." Angle fired back the moment he had rinsed his mouth out with water.
"Oh yeah, well, we'll see how ridiculous I am when we're rushing our baby to Greenwich Hospital with a fractured skull! You can be a real jackass sometimes, you know that?" She hollered back at him with such force that it caused her face to turn red.
Feeling as that she had said her piece, Stephanie started to walk out of the bathroom but Kurt was quick to go after her. He grabbed hold of her right hand and pulled her back to him. He wasn't going to let her leave the room that upset; especially since it was him she was mad at.
"Hey, come here. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to get a shower, a shave, and dressed before you woke up so that you wouldn't feel overwhelmed by watching three kids when you're so sick. If I thought Andrew was in any danger, I wouldn't have left him downstairs with his brother and sister, you know that." Angle said in almost a whisper as he looked directly into his wife's eyes that were still filled with anger and frustration.
His words were spoken with sincerity and love. He began gently rubbing her hand in his as the left corner of his mouth pulled taunt into a smirk. Stephanie batted her eyes a few times, allowing his words and physical advances to sink in before she reacted. And then, as a way to literally decompress, she exhaled with a sigh.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just on edge because I don't feel well. I know you're a good daddy and wouldn't do anything to put our son in harm's way." She replied in a soft voice while at the same time closing the distance between them.
"You're right, I wouldn't." Kurt agreed slowly bringing his forehead to hers.
"I'd give you a kiss but I can't even imagine how bad my breath is right now." Steph said with a chuckle, running her hands up and down her man's hard chest. He had such a great body for a forty year old. She especially loved the small bit of chest hair between his pecs.
Angle chuckled and then pressed his lips firmly against hers. Stephanie instinctively brought her hands up to her husband's face while closing her eyes and enjoying their tender kiss. It was the feeling of light stubble under her finger tips that immediately made Steph think about how much she loved a man with facial hair. Her ex-husband's beard was one of her favorite physical features that attracted him to her in the first place. There was something sexy about feeling soft, well groomed whiskers brushing up against your cheek during an intimate moment.
"You should skip the shave. You'd look so sexy with a beard." She commented aloud the moment their kiss ended. She hadn't even planned on saying anything about it; it just sort of slipped out.
"You want me to grow a beard? What, like ZZ Top? That would turn you on?" Angle asked with a hearty laugh causing Steph to let go of his face and playfully punch him in the chest.
"No, not like ZZ Top! I mean a short well groomed beard!"
"All right, I can change my look up a little. I don't think Dad will mind since it will go with my heel character." Kurt responded letting out a few more chuckles of laughter.
"You're not my father's husband, you're mine. So it shouldn't matter what he thinks about it. Now come on, let's throw some clothes on and go check on the kids." Steph said in a somewhat bossy yet playful tone of voice.
While Angle changed into a pair of briefs, a blue MMA "Tap Out" shirt and running shorts, Stephanie changed from her night shirt into a causal t-shirt and cotton shorts. She wasn't going to RAW or anywhere else today so she wanted to be as comfortable as possible.
"Holy sh-"
That was all that escaped Kurt's mouth the moment he and his wife entered the living room. His eyes were wide and he knew immediately that his wife had been right; not because something terrible had happened to their baby son, but something definitely did happen involving his two older children. Perhaps Kyra and Kody were not old enough to be left unsupervised. He would never hear the end of this.
"What happened in here?" Stephanie asked in a voice that was full of concern.
Steph had thought that the first thing that would beckon her attention down stairs would be her one year old child but instead, it was a mess of broken glass, colored marbles, dirt, and pieces of plant on the glass end table and white carpet floor in the living room.
The moment Steph had inquired about the mess, Kody started to cry. He obviously had something to do with the broken plant vase. It was Kyra who spoke up to answer her step mother's question.
"Kody was jumping between the couches and his foot hit the vase and it fell onto the table and broke. It was an accident. He didn't mean to do it." Kyra explained in her brother's defense as the two and a half year old continued to cry quietly as he looked to his big sister for support and comfort in the form of a hug.
"I didn't think that Kody meant to break my marble filled plant vase. It's okay, accidents happen. You guys shouldn't have been left alone down here for so long. The important thing is that no one was hurt." Steph said calmly looking first at Kyra and Kody, then to her little son standing in the playpen, and then finally at her husband when she spoke the part about the children being left unattended.
With that said, Steph moved to pick up her child who was starting to fuss because of Kody being so upset.
"Kody, come to Daddy." Kurt requested aloud moving forward to get his son.
Reluctantly, the little boy allowed his father to pick him up and sit down with him on the sofa. He was still crying and constantly rubbing his little brown eyes.
"Shh, stop crying, its okay, no one is mad at you, shh." Angle whispered in his best soothing voice.
Little Kody began to try his best at sucking up his tears. His small frame jerked each time he took a short breath in to hold back his emotions.
"You're a big boy who's going to be three years old in October. I think you know that it's wrong to jump on the furniture. The same rules that are at Mommy's house are also at Daddy and Stephanie's house. Daddy would have been very upset if it was you who fell instead of the vase or if you got cut on the broken glass."
Stephanie said nothing as she watched her husband's approach at parenting as a bystander. She was impressed with how calm and loving he was being with his older son. Seeing Kurt interacting with his child made her thoughts shift to her daughter, Aurora. She wondered how her visit was going with her daddy. Hopefully no news was good news. At least she didn't get a call in the middle of the night with Aurora screaming and crying in the background. She had spent the night at her daddy's house and hopefully had a nice time bonding with him.
"I want you to say that you're sorry to Stephanie. It was her plant you knocked over and broke." Angle instructed his son.
"Sorry." He whispered through his tears with his little bottom lip extended outward. He looked so precious that Steph found herself getting a little teary eyed by seeing how distraught he was.
"It's okay, sweetheart. I know you didn't mean to break it and make a mess. I'll just go grab my little dirt devil and take care of it before the dirt sets into the carpet."
"Steph, no, you sit down and rest. I've got this." Kurt quickly interjected before Steph could even ask him to take their son from her so that she could clean up. She had been sick for the last two days. She needed to take it easy.
After Kurt cleaned up the mess, it was quickly decided that he was going to take both Kyra and Kody with him to RAW for the day. After all, it would be quite unfair for Steph, who was still under the weather, to look after three children. Angle was still worried about how she was going to manage even with just their one year old but Stephanie had assured him that she would be fine.
Of course, it wasn't long after Kurt and his kids left that Steph had an attack of nausea. She had to leave the baby in his pack and play and make a mad dash to the nearest downstairs bathroom. The moment he was put in the playpen, Andy let out a loud forceful wail showing how unhappy he was with his mother's decision to plop him down in the netted box and leave the room. He didn't understand what his mommy was going through; he only saw it as her not giving him his much needed attention.
"Andy, Mommy will be right back." Steph managed to call out before having to bring her face back to the toilet bowl. She could hear her son continuing to scream for her in the living room.
And if her situation wasn't worse enough, the sound of the door bell chiming signaled yet another pressing matter. She let out a moan after retching a few more times, the nausea was beginning to fade; thank God since the door bell chime was unrelenting. As Stephanie struggled to get to her feet, she was sure that she would have a few choice words to say to whoever was on the other side of her front door.
Under normal circumstances, Steph would have first gone over to pick up and console her crying baby, but she couldn't do it this time. She felt way too weak from all of the painful retching and vomiting she had endured. She would have never forgiven herself is she would have fallen with him and he was still too wobbly to walk on his own without any assistance. So she left Andrew screaming and crying in the living room as she slowly made her way to the foyer to answer the front door.
"Mommy!" Aurora exclaimed the moment the front door opened and she caught sight of her mother. The three year old didn't seem to notice that her mom was any worse for the wear, she was just happy to see her.
"Hi sweetie, what a surprise." Steph said with a weak smile. She was doing her best to sound enthusiastic to see her little girl. She was being held by her daddy, which was a pleasant surprise to Steph. The visit must have gone really well, thank God.
"Yeah, I text you earlier this morning saying that Aurora and I were going to drop by this afternoon to pick up some clothes. We almost didn't think you were home, Aurora kept ringing the door bell. You okay, you look a little pale." Paul asked noticing right away that Stephanie's color looked off.
"I'm just still under the weather with this stomach thing. I'm sorry, I didn't check my phone at all this morning, and things got kind of hectic. Come on in." Stephanie replied before she moved away from the door and opened it wider so that her daughter and former husband could gain access to the home.
Once inside the house, Aurora wanted to be put down so that she could go off on her own leaving both her parents in the foyer to talk alone. She wanted to go check on all of her stuffed animals. Levesque narrowed his eyebrows as he immediately noticed the sound of a crying baby echoing in the spacious home.
"I take it that Angle didn't the kids with him?" Paul asked with a quick roll of his eyes before Steph turned to look at him and reply. This was just what he needed, Angle children being there and ruining any shot he would have to spend time with Steph and Aurora.
"He took Kyra and Kody with him. The baby stayed home with me. There really isn't anyone to take care of a baby at RAW and I do not want Candice Michelle thinking that she has an excuse to flirt with my husband by offering to babysit my child." Steph explained while bringing her hand to her face to touch her forehead. Her crying baby was giving her a headache.
"Oh I'm sure she'll be watching his other kids. The girls must really be talking because there are rumors going around at SmackDown tapings that Candice has the hots for Angle. Why she could possibly have a thing for that Olympic twerp, I have no idea. I mean, maybe she thinks she has a chance with him, you know, because of his track record." Paul said aloud nonchalantly as he watched Steph's face for any sign of jealousy or suspicion.
She looked to be deep in thought. He couldn't tell if his words had even sunk into her subconscious as she looked to be staring off into space. And then, just when it looked like she was going to get upset and say something in response to his words, she quickly excused herself and ran down the hall.
"Okay…" Paul said to himself aloud letting out a deep sigh. That wasn't the response he had been looking for. He was sure that if she wasn't sick, she would have reacted just as he wanted her to.
Levesque followed the path she had taken down the hallway and stopped at the open doorway to the bathroom where he found her getting sick. Seeing her on the floor in front of the toilet, made Paul think back to the pregnancy that had resulted in a miscarriage. But why was he thinking about that, she wasn't pregnant, she had a mutation of Aurora's stomach bug that he himself had witnessed in Aurora's room last week. He didn't even want to think about the mere idea of Stephanie being pregnant unless of course the pregnancy was by his own doing.
"It's unrelenting…I'm so tired and I have a crying baby to take care of…" Steph sobbed the moment she stopped vomiting. She was reaching her threshold of what she could take for a single day. The day was only half over though, and that really worried her. Was it going to get worse?
His former wife's crying compelled Paul to approach her. It was now that he knew just how bad off she really was. He felt stupid for even bringing up the Angle bullshit as soon as he walked in the door. She was all by herself; no Kurt, Vince, or even Linda. He needed to be there for her.
"Do you need me to take you to the hospital or something?" He offered in a gentle voice as he knelt down beside her. Without even thinking, he swept away one of her brown locks of hair that was hanging in front of her face.
"No, I don't need to go to the hospital. I'm going to be okay, it just has to pass. I hate to ask this of you, but would you do me a huge favor?" Stephanie asked through her tears while she looked directly into her ex-husband's hazel eyes. They were warm and inviting and maybe that's why she felt comfortable enough to ask him.
"I'll do anything you want me to do, Steph." He quickly replied gently running his hand across her cheek. He was looking into her eyes as he spoke with sincerity. She looked so beautiful, even now in the throes of a stomach bug.
"Can you take care of Andrew for me and keep an eye on Aurora?"
Paul's first gut reaction to the request was to give an emphatic no. Of course the rejection wouldn't be to watching over his little girl but taking care of Angle's baby. It wasn't his kid. Hell, not only wasn't it his kid, but it was the son of the man he despised. The baby was a physical representation of the new life Steph had tried to make without him. Now she wanted him to play nanny to the son that should have been his?
"I know that looking after the baby is a lot for me to ask of you. I just don't have the strength right now. Please?" She pleaded after a few awkward moments since her first request had been heard.
Her blue eyes were sparkling with tears and he could see the look of desperation on her face. It was at that very moment that he realized the opportunity that he had just been given. This was his first real chance to show Stephanie that he still loved and cared about her. This was his opportunity to show her that he was still the loving and caring partner she had once wanted to share her life with.
Yes, he did want to still share his life with her. It wasn't until that very moment that Paul actually realized what he was going to have to put up with in order to make that a reality. The little one year old, while it was Angle's son, it was also Steph's. Like Aurora, he was one of her children and would have to live with him if they got back together. There was no way to have Steph without her youngest child. It was packaged deal. He had to accept the baby if he wanted to be with its mother.
"Sure, I'll take care of it. Just relax." He finally told her before getting to his feet.
"Thank you, Paul. I'm really glad you're here." She admitted letting a smile show through her tears.
"I am too." He softly said before leaving the bathroom.
As he began to walk toward the living room to approach the screaming baby, Aurora met him with a look of concern on her face.
"Where's Mommy? The baby's crying loud and I wanna watch Toy Story." Aurora inquired in a loud enough voice to be heard over the screaming baby.
She was looking for her mother to come in and perform her usual tasks of mommy. Her absence was somewhat unsettling to the three year old.
"Mommy is not feeling well so she asked Daddy to take care of everything. Why don't you go find the movie while Daddy tries to get that baby to stop crying?" Levesque suggested to his daughter while ushering her back into the living room with him. He didn't want her to see how sick her mother was, it would only frighten her.
Aurora quickly ran over to where all her own blu-ray and DVD movies were organized on the other side of the living room while her father attempted to make contact with the crying baby. To Paul's surprise, Andrew immediately reached up for him the moment he approached the playpen. After a few seconds of hesitation, Paul bent down and lifted the crying baby up into his arms. As if someone physically flipped a switch, the baby's crying completely stopped once he was in Levesque's arms.
"Hey, hands off the nose, kid." Paul quickly said with a chuckle, moving away from the baby's hands which immediately went to his face or more specifically, his nose.
This was the first time he had held Andrew and actually took the time to study his little face. What Paul saw surprised him, making him wonder how never noticed before. The baby's blue sparkling eyes were the very same eyes he had looked into moments ago. He had Steph's eyes, not Angle's.
"Oh shit, I think you shit." He then said after taking a whiff of the air. To confirm his suspicion, Paul held the baby away from him and then turned him around so that he could smell his backside. Yeah, there was no mistaking it.
"Daddy, you can't say the's' word." Aurora corrected her dad coming back to him with a blu-ray copy of the movie Toy Story.
"Sorry, I guess Mommy is going to have to spank me, huh?" Paul asked his daughter while making his eyebrows go up and down causing her to laugh.
"Can you put my movie on now? She then asked holding the thin blue movie case up toward her father.
"Yeah, in a second sweetie, if I put this kid down, he's going to start wailing again. Let Daddy take care of his situation really quick and then I'll put your movie on."
The last thing Paul would ever dream of doing was put Angle's kid before his own, but the last thing he wanted to hear was more crying. Besides, what would Steph think if she came in to see her screaming baby had a shit filled diaper while he was busy putting on a movie? Aurora was a big girl and she would be fine for the few minutes it took to change a diaper.
Aurora Rose frowned sharply and stomped her right foot hard on the carpet floor. She watched with jealousy as her daddy took the baby into the kitchen to be changed. Wasn't he suppose to be her daddy and no one else's? Why couldn't baby Andrew's daddy take care of him so her daddy could take care of her? She was so confused now. Why was her daddy taking care of the baby that he said was stealing her mommy away from her? It all had to be baby Andrew's fault.
Full of jealousy and anger, the three year old swiftly kicked over the baby's basket of toys that was sitting by the playpen sending all the toys scattered across the floor. She then ran over to the nearest sofa and plopped down on it.
"Oh my God, Steph, what do you feed this kid? It's enough to fill a mason jar. Ugh, and it's all up the small of his back!" Paul yelled out before he gagged and coughed due to the pungent smell that was unleashed as soon as he opened the soiled diaper. H
"Kurt fed him this morning. If it's all over him you can wash him off in the kitchen sink. There should be some diapers under in the top cabinet of the wet bar. Let me know if you can't find them." Steph called back from the bathroom.
"Well, I'd say you look like your daddy below the belt too." Paul snickered just loud enough for him and the baby to hear as he lifted him up, leaving behind the engorged diaper and the baby's clothes on the table.
Levesque had the baby stand in the sink. He supported the child with his left hand, while the other manned the kitchen sink hose and rinsed the baby's lower half completely clean. Andy kept bouncing on his feet while letting out playful squeals. After he was clean, Paul used a handful of paper towels to dry the baby's lower front and back. The diapers were just where his former wife had said they would be. He quickly applied one to the child, not forgetting the technique he had acquired from when Aurora was a baby.
"There, good as new." He commented letting the one year old down on the kitchen floor wearing just his fresh diaper. Andy took a few wobbly steps but then fell on his diapered butt.
With new found freedom, Andrew began to crawl away while Paul disposed of the dirty diaper. Levesque had to then run after him as he crawled with speed to the bathroom where his mother was.
"Are you coming to see, Mommy?" Steph asked sitting up from her position next to the toilet. She then smiled as she saw Paul approach and scoop up the baby before he could crawl into the room.
"I forgot how quick they can crawl at this age. You doing okay, are you still vomiting?" Levesque asked with concern.
"The nausea passed, now I'm just tired. If you don't mind, I want to try and lay down for a little while. I feel weak."
"Yeah, no problem, just wait a minute and let me stick the baby in the playpen and then I'll help you get up stairs."
Paul moved quickly as he deposited the baby back into the pack and play and left the room again before the one year old could fuss for being put back in the playpen and Aurora could ask again for the movie to be put back on. His priority was Stephanie, nothing else mattered.
"Woah, I told you to wait." Paul said aloud as he had to rush to his former wife when it looked like she might collapse.
Stephanie, always being the independent woman, had not listened to him and was trying to make her way to the front of the house where the stairs were. She had been going along with her side up against the wall, she was that weak that she needed the wall to support her weight. When it looked like she could possibly fall, Levesque took the initiative and effortlessly scooped her up into his arms. His right hand bracing her back while his left was tucked under her legs.
"Paul, you didn't have to." Steph said in a weak voice like she was a little out of it. Her face naturally rested against his.
She hadn't expected her ex-husband to be carrying her. In fact, it felt a little awkward. She hadn't been in his arms like this since they were married. Yet as weird as it was having him carry her upstairs, there was a level of comfort she felt, especially the feeling of his soft beard touching her face. She knew there was a reason that she missed facial hair on a man.
Yeah I did, you were about to fall." He explained flexing a little as he felt her right hand move and rest on his clothed chest.
This was the second time in the last few days where he was carrying a woman, the first of which being Kelly Kelly. Steph was the only woman he actually enjoyed having in his arms. As he slowly ascended the stairs with her, he moved his eyes down to see if she was looking at him. Her eyes were closed. Levesque felt like he was her one and only prince who was saving her from the stupid bald jock ogre and carrying her to safety where they could be together living happily ever after.
And there, behind the white double doors was the Angles' master bedroom. Paul took a moment to scan the room with his eyes since it had been the first time he had stepped foot in it. It was surprisingly a lot like what his and Stephanie's master bedroom was like. Similar bedroom set, décor; even the bed sheets looked like ones they had had on their bed.
"Do you want to be under the covers?" He asked the moment after he gently laid her down on the side of the unmade bed that was closest to the door that he assumed was the master bathroom.
Instead of answering her former husband, Steph let out a long sigh. Paul took that as an affirmative and he grabbed an edge of the bed sheet and pulled it up, covering the mother of his child. Stephanie stirred only slightly when she felt the sheet on her body. Her head rolled to the left, toward the direction that Paul was standing at bedside. Her beautiful lips parted showing the bottom of her two front pearly white teeth. Stephanie's left hand then poked out from the edge of the bed which Paul gently took hold of. When he was going to put it back under the bed sheet, he noticed that she wasn't wearing her wedding ring; he smiled and returned the hand to its place under the sheet.
Without even thinking twice, Paul planted his right hand on the wooden headboard to brace himself as he slowly began to close the distance between his and Stephanie's parted lips. He could feel his heart rate increase with each inch their lips got closer and closer. And then, in the silence and privacy of the upstairs master bedroom, it happened.
His parted lips gently pressed against hers, matching his top and bottom lip to her top and bottom. To his surprise, only seconds after their lips touched, he felt her lips purse together under his, allowing him to kiss her less awkwardly. Just when he was contemplating turning the soft sweet kiss into an opened mouth one, her lips retracted back to their natural position and he backed away from her. The moment he was standing upright, her eyes blinked open. She was staring up at him blankly. He gave her a smile, wondering if she was with it enough to know what had just transpired between them. Before he could even speak a word, she let out a soft moan and closed her eyes.
"So we're good, no hard feelings?" Angle asked Jack Swagger as they stood at ringside in the empty arena that would be home to RAW later that night.
"Yeah, of course. Hey man, I was the one who was out of line for using your ankle lock. Everyone knows that that's been your move since Shamrock retired from pro-wrestling. I'm glad we're cool." Jack said extending his hand out toward Kurt which was quickly accepted.
"Kyra, keep an eye on your brother real quick, I need to make a phone call." Kurt told her daughter who was sitting on the ring rope close to where her father was talking. Kody was in the ring running back and forth to each of the four corners.
"I'll talk to you later, I've got to call my house and check on my wife, she's sick at home." He told Swagger, excusing himself from the conversation as he began to walk away from ringside and up the ramp.
He had text Stephanie twice already since he and the kids arrived at the arena. He hadn't called just in case she and or the baby were sleeping, but now he was growing concerned because he hadn't heard from her.
"You're Woody, Daddy!" Aurora told her dad as they sat and watched the Pixar movie together on the sofa. She was all smiles again as soon as her father returned to the living room to spend time with her. The baby was asleep in the playpen, so she had him all to herself.
"If I'm Woody, Mommy must be Bo Peep." Levesque replied with a chuckle. He thought it was cute that his daughter had picked out what character he would be in the movie.
"And Kurt's Buzz." She added pointing to the plasma television that was showing the part of the movie where all of the toys were crowded around the new toy in Andy's room.
"Oh, you think you're funny, huh?" He laughed as he began tickling his little girl causing her to burst into laughter.
Their cute father-daughter moment was interrupted by the sound of the house the cordless phone ringing in its cradle on the nearest end table. Paul leaned over and saw the flashing call id display: Kurt's Cell.
"Daddy's going to answer the phone real quick so it doesn't wake Mommy." Paul told Aurora as he quickly got up from the sofa with the phone in hand and went into the kitchen to actually answer it.
He smiled wide as his thumb pressed in the talk button and he brought the phone to his ear.
"Hey Kurt."