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 Forty-Six

Stephanie's consent of her husband's imminent departure was the abrupt end of their argument. Angle immediately began a lethargic process of getting clean clothing together from his dresser drawers and walk-in closet. It was Steph who emerged from the master bedroom to answer her children's cries. Aurora was already standing in the hallway. Her little angel face was tear stained, both sets of fingers were at her mouth like she was biting her nails out of nervousness. She looked terrified, like a fawn trembling in the looming presence of a hunter.

It was the heartbreaking sight of her little girl standing in the hallway shaking that caused Steph to put aside her own personal feelings about the fight, and focus completely on her children.

"Oh, sweetheart, everything is okay, come here." Stephanie assured her oldest child in a loving voice.

In one fluid motion, she scooped her crying daughter up into her arms for a heartfelt hug. Steph hated that the sound of her and Kurt screaming had spilled into the children's rooms. Aurora and Andrew were little innocents that didn't deserve to have hateful screaming pierce through their slumber.

"I hear-ed loud mad words!" The three year old sobbed while she held on her mother tightly.

"Mommy and Kurt were just upset. It's over now, no more fighting. Why don't you go lay back down and finish your nap? Mommy needs to check on Andrew." Steph whispered into her daughter's ear. Her words caused Aurora to lift her head from her mother's chest.

"I'm not sleepy, I wanna stay wif you." Aurora whined as she began to rub both her eyes with her hands. She could hear the baby still crying from the nursery, but she didn't care. She wanted Mommy to herself.

"Okay, okay, you can check on the baby with me." Steph replied back as she carried her daughter with her into the nursery.

Andrew Vincent was standing in his crib when his mother entered the room. He stopped crying the moment he saw her, and began to whine, shifting back and forth between each foot as he watched Steph come further into the room toward him. As soon as she approached the crib, he reached out for her.

"Be a big girl now, sweetie. I have to take care of the baby." Stephanie told her daughter as she set her down back on her feet.

Aurora was crestfallen by her mother's actions. Why did her mommy need to stop giving her attention to give it all to that crying baby? The baby didn't need all of those hugs and kisses, she did.

"No, Mommy! I want you to hold me! No!" Aurora screamed out in a spoiled whine while she watched her mother shower the baby with affection the moment she picked him up. The three year old began to stomp her feet into the carpet floor as hard as she could.

"Aurora, that's enough! You need to act like the big girl that you are and let me take care of the baby! He needs his diaper changed!" Stephanie told her child in a raised voice so that she could be heard over Aurora's tantrum.

"No, I need you! Mommy, I want you! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Aurora Rose continued as she then threw herself back onto the carpet floor and began to kick out while yelling after her mother took the baby to the changing table.

Stephanie let out an exasperated sigh and continued on changing her son's diaper. The child's screeching and carrying on was like nails on a chalkboard. She knew that it would be wrong to give attention to her daughter when she was exhibiting such bad behavior. It would be best to ignore it, and the three year old would stop. After all, it was all being done for attention.

"What's going on in here?" Kurt asked raising his voice over Aurora's so that he could be heard as he entered the nursery.

Stephanie said nothing. She acted like she hadn't even heard him. He was getting the same treatment as Aurora's tantrum was. It wasn't until he approached the changing table that she even looked in his direction.

"How's my little buddy doing? Daddy missed his boy." Angle told his youngest child the moment his wife had finished putting his clothing back on him.

The moment that Aurora saw that Andrew's daddy was there to give him attention, she stopped yelling and quickly ran to hug her mommy's legs. This was her chance to regain her mom's full attention. Instinctively, Steph placed her hand on her daughter's head and gently stroked her hair.

"Are you finished packing?" Steph inquired then folding her arms while she watched her husband pick up Andrew. She was a little annoyed that he was wanting to play with their son instead of getting his stuff together to leave the house.

"Just about, I wanted to take a time out to visit with the kids before I left. I'm going to miss them."

"You weaving? Where you going?" Aurora asked aloud after hearing that her stepfather, who had just come home, was leaving yet again.

Hearing the concerned voice of her little girl made Stephanie shoot Kurt a facial expression that would most certainly be classified as an "eat shit and die" look. He had no right to allude to the fact that he was leaving their home for an extended amount of time. Aurora Rose had been through enough this morning with overhearing the fighting, she didn't need to be clued in on the aftermath too.

"Kurt has to go away for a little while on business." Steph told her child before Angle could even come up with the appropriate answer for a three year old in his head.

"Hey Aurora, why don't we go watch some cartoons downstairs? That sound good?" He then asked reaching his free hand out toward his wife's child. This was his best attempt at changing the subject.

"Okay!" The three year old exclaimed before she let go of her mother's legs and did a little skip over to her stepdad to take his hand.

Before even attempting to leave the nursery, Angle looked at his wife's face, waiting for any sign of disapproval from her. He figured she would be fine with him taking both children off her hands, but after what had been said between them in their master bedroom, he wasn't certain.

"I'll be downstairs after I get shower." Steph stated as she began to walk toward the door.

A hot shower: that's all Angle had wanted upon arriving home. Spending the night in the county jail was one of the worst nights of his life. If anyone deserved a shower, it was him. But he wasn't going to make it an issue. He had already spoke his mind earlier during the heated fight, and now his wife wanted him to leave their home. Kurt didn't want to make things any worse. She could have the shower, she was the one after all, that was pregnant with their child.

While Stephanie was initially disappointed that her husband wasn't leaving the house right way, she quickly realized that having him leave abruptly wouldn't be what was best for the two small children. Besides, with him watching Aurora and Andrew, it gave Stephanie some time to herself to decompress. As a busy mother of two, she wouldn't dare turn way some alone time, no matter how brief it would be.

Once everyone was in the upstairs hallway, Steph watched Kurt scoop up her daughter with his free arm and then descend the stairs with both children. When they had reached the bottom, Stephanie left the hallway for the master bedroom.

Steph let out a long sigh as her eyes fell upon the open duffle bag that was sitting on the end of the bed. She could see her husband's idea of folding from the jumbled clothing inside of the bag. Stephanie felt guilty that it had come to this, but she knew it had to. In no way could she justify his behavior in her mind. She had said things that really had to be said, as did he. Kurt had to know that she was not going to tolerate drinking and driving. She cared too much about him and her children to make nice about the situation.

It was when Steph walked over to her side of the bed that she caught sight of something on her bedside table that caused her eyes to narrow. There on the nightstand sat Kurt's wedding band. He had to have put it there while packing. How else did it move from his bedside table, where he had left it before leaving for RAW, to her bedside? And why would he do that? Was this his unspoken way of telling her that he was serious about ending their marriage? Would be really be that cold?

"Insensitive asshole..." She muttered under her breath while at the same time she went into the top drawer of the table and removed her wedding ring from the jewelry tray.

She then picked up his wedding band and quickly whipped back around, moving back to his duffle bag. Carelessly, Steph let both rings fall on top of the open bag so that they were sitting upon his clothing. She stood there for a moment staring at the two rings that symbolized her marriage before she relinquished herself to a hot shower in an attempt to wash it all away.

"Kurt..." Steph whispered as she stood in front of her sofa where her husband and two children had fallen asleep. She was doing her best to wake him up and not her two kids who were hopefully going to be able to finish their nap.

Her whisper didn't even cause a stir in Angle's slumber. His head was tilted back, his mouth open slightly. Like a little miniature version of his father, baby Andrew was asleep on his lap in the exact same position. Angle's free arm was loosely around Aurora who was napping with her head resting on his left pectoral muscle. If he and Steph weren't at odds, it would be a sight that would have been too precious to disturb. Unfortunately for Angle, Stephanie wasn't going to let his apparent devotion to the children make her forget what had transpired between them.

"Kurt!" She said again, this time louder and with force that was accompanied by a hard slap on the knee.

The slap to the knee was enough to cause him to jolt out of his slumber. He blinked his eyes a few times before looking up at his wife who was standing there looking down at him.

"What time is it?" He asked in a mutter after taking notice of the sleeping kids and the fact that he himself had dozed off.

"It's time for you to finish packing and leave. Hand me the baby and don't wake up Aurora when you get up." Steph demanded in a whisper as she held her arms out for her sleeping one year old.

Angle looked like he wanted to say something in reply but instead he did what Stephanie wanted. He was able to transfer Andrew to his mother's arms without waking him, and once she had the baby, Steph left to put him in his crib.

It took Kurt a minute or two of slow awkward positioning in order for him to get up off the couch and leave his three year old step daughter still sleeping there. Once he was off the couch, he returned upstairs to the master bedroom to collect his things. He had a handful of things left to grab since he already had his toiletries and a good amount of clothing in his luggage that was still in his SUV from his travel to RAW earlier in the week. Grabbing a handful of matched socks from a dresser drawer, he made his way over to his duffle bag.

"What the hell?" Angle said aloud dropping his socks onto the bedspread when he caught sight of the two rings sitting on top on the bag of clothing.

Angle scooped up both wedding rings and then examined them in the palm of his hand. Stephanie had obviously found his wedding band that he, in anger, had picked up from his nightstand and threw onto her bedside table. Did she even know that he had inadvertently forgotten his wedding band before he left for RAW? Did she think he had taken it off his hand as a sign of ending the marriage? What took Angle aback was the fact that her response to it was for her to take her wedding ring, and his ring, and carelessly dumped them on to his duffle bag, without even mentioning it at all. Was she letting her actions speak for themselves? Did she want to end their marriage regardless of the fact that they were having another child together?

Kurt bit his lip. He gazed down on the large sparkling diamond ring that he had had custom made for Steph. The exquisite engagement ring was uniquely intertwined with the wedding ring. It was the most expensive piece of jewelry he had ever purchased, but seeing it on her hand was worth it; she had been worth it.

Angle closed his hand over the rings and closed his eyes tightly, causing a single tear to escape from his eye and stream down his face. He should have never tossed his wedding band onto her side table, no matter how frustrated he was with her. Her retaliation to his insensitive act tore at his heart. He never wanted to see her wedding ring anywhere else but on her finger.

Should he make an attempt to give it back to her? That's what his heart wanted but it was his brain that kept him from doing so. She had already stated multiple times that she wanted him to leave their home, and the possibility of her throwing the ring back at him would be like salt in the wound. He didn't think he could take that level of rejection, not now after all he had been through in the past twenty-four hours.

He opened his eyes and then took a short breath in, pushing back the congestion in his nose and the tears that wanted to fall down his face. Kurt slid his wedding band back on his left hand before he tucked his wife's diamond ring in a small zipper compartment inside of his duffle bag for safe keeping. He then put the pairs of socks inside the bag before forcefully zipping it shut.

Leaving the master bedroom with the duffle bag in hand, Angle stopped at the open door of the nursery where he peered into the room and saw his wife standing next to the crib with her back to him. She had obviously already laid their sleeping baby down, but she was still lingering there.

"I'm leaving now." He said in a hoarse whisper, not bothering to cross through the open doorway.

While he was stating the obvious, he was also announcing his departure with the hope of receiving a last minute pardon before being banished from their home. Angle had time to think things over in the last several moments, maybe she did too. There was an awkward silence for a moment that Kurt saw was a glimmer of hope that a reconciliation could be on the horizon.

"Goodbye."

The single word pierced the silence even though it was spoken in only a quivering whimper. Angle didn't have to see her face; he could tell from the sound of her voice that she was crying. The dissonance between them was hurting her as well. Gently, he lowered his bag to the floor.

"Steph?" Kurt croaked, taking the initiative to begin to close the distance between them as he crept into the nursery to approach his wife quietly without waking his sleeping son.

Despite hearing her name, Stephanie didn't move from her position at the railing of the crib. The only part of her that moved at all was her finger tips as they traced circles over and over again on the light pickled pine wooden railing.

When he approached her, Angle gently placed his left hand on the small of her back, while his right hand he placed on her lower abdomen where he knew the new tiny little life that they had created was growing even at that very moment. His touch caused Steph to let out a soft whimper, as she was doing her best to stifle herself from crying aloud. Slowly, Angle leaned in, bringing his mouth closer and closer to her right ear until it was only an inch or so away.

"If you don't want me to leave, just say so and I won't." He whispered to her in a hushed tone of voice.

His proposal caused Steph to bring her hands up to her face. She wiped away her tears and then took a few seconds to massage her forehead in a futile attempt to do away with the dull ache that had settled into her frontal lobe.

Kurt stood there, waiting patiently, but with some level of confidence that she was about to say that she didn't want him to leave her and the children. His trust grew as she removed her hands from her face and placed both of them over his large hand that was still cupping her abdomen. He was about to smile until he felt her pulling his hand off of her body. Angle looked on at her, puzzled by her action as she finally turned to face him for the first time.

"I want you to leave. We need some time apart. I need space." She finally replied looking into his eyes with the utmost sincerity as she said aloud what she knew was a truthful answer but one that would hurt him.

Kurt's mouth dropped open. He was bewildered by his wife's reply. His hands fell to his sides as his watery blue eyes blinked a few times causing tears to flood out. There was nothing more to say. She had said it all in three sentences. Stephanie wanted to separate.

Slowly, Paul's red Hummer drove up the lengthy driveway to the Angle home. The red brake lights illuminated as the SUV pulled to a stop near the garage doors. Levesque breathed in sharply before holding in the air while at the same time he put it in park and killed the engine. He then sat back in his driver seat for a moment and slowly let out his exhale.

Was he making a mistake showing up at his ex-wife's house uninvited? News reports had made it clear that Angle had been released earlier in the day. He was probably in that house right now with Steph. Paul's arrival would only cause more drama if Kurt knew he was there.

Paul brought his hand to his beard scratching it while his mind continued to contemplate his rash decision to come over there. If Angle knew; that was the key. Levesque glanced over at his Hummer's digital clock. It was eight o'clock at night. For a guy who had a sleepless night in county lockup the night before, he was willing to bet that Kurt was already in bed.

That is if he was even there. It was quite possible that he and his butt buddy, Vince, were meeting with a lawyer so they could cover their asses from the media shit storm that was raining down on the company.

Fuck it, he was going for it. Paul was sitting there in Stephanie's driveway. He was the closest he had gotten to see her in days. Besides, it wasn't just Steph who was in that house, his little girl was too. He wasn't going to give up now, not when he was this close. If need be, he would tell Kurt Angle to go fuck himself, right to his face. Levesque's face formed a smile because of his last thought. He grabbed hold of the paper bag that was sitting on his passenger seat and then exited his Hummer.

He walked the pathway to her front door with confidence and had no hesitation before ringing the doorbell once he reached the front door. While waiting for a response, Paul shifted his weight to one foot, and tried to get a look inside the home that looked dark from the small side window. And then, with a flip of a switch somewhere inside, the foyer was lit up. Levesque fell back to his other foot, going back to his neutral position as he knew the door was going to be opening. He took a deep breath and sighed, he was ready for whom ever was going to answer it.

The sigh turned into one of relief when it was Stephanie who was standing there when the door slowly opened. She looked somewhat disheveled: her hair was unusually messy, her eyes were red like she had been crying for a while. Instinctively, Paul's face formed a smile at the sight of his former wife. She always looked beautiful to him, even when she looked a far cry from her usual well kept appearance.

"Hey." Paul said through his smile before Steph even had a chance to have the first word.

"Hi, um, wh-what are you doing here?" She asked while her right hand pushed a dangling lock of hair behind her ear. She then folded her arms over her white terry cloth robe.

"Oh, well, I knew you probably would still be under the weather and could use something warm in your stomach, so I brought you a quart of egg drop soup. It's from that Chinese restaurant we used to always order takeout from." Levesque explained holding up the brown paper bag.

Steph's eyes blinked a few times and then looked away for a second or two before focusing back on him. Her initial reaction made Paul feel uneasy. Was what he thought to be a kind and thoughtful gesture on his part not seen to be so to Stephanie?

"Wow, umm, thank you, that was really nice of you to bring that by. I haven't had any since the last time we ordered it when we were together." She divulged with a weak smile to show her gratitude.

Levesque felt a rush of excitement and encouragement as he heard Steph bring up the fact that the last time she had had any of that soup was when they were still married. And she had been smiling when she said it, that had to count for something too.

"Are you by yourself with the kids? Do you need a hand? We could share the soup and if you need to talk about anything, I-"

"Thanks but um, I'm sorry, Paul, but I'm really not in the mood to eat right now, or to have any house guests. I'm just a mess right now, but thank you for coming over to check on things here." Steph said completely cutting him off midsentence before he could finish his dinner proposal.

"Oh, yeah, well, it's no problem." He replied with a smile as he handed over the warm bag. "I had them put some fortune cookies in there for Aurora. Is she still up? Can I see her?"

"No, sorry, she's already in bed. I was actually heading to bed myself. I'll put this in the refrigerator, I'm sure it will make a nice meal tomorrow, thanks again." Stephanie told him after accepting the bag.

Paul felt a wave of disapointment overcome him. He gave her a small smile and nodded to show that he was happy to help out. He couldn't help but feel let down. Not only was he not going to share the soup with Steph, but he wasn't even going to be invited in to see his daughter. Angle was probably upstairs already waiting for her to come to bed.

"You know, I'm free the next few days. Would you mind if I came over and visited with Aurora?" Paul asked the moment he sensed that Steph was about to say goodnight to him and close the door.

"Well, umm..." Steph began but paused briefly as she bit her bottom lip and looked away for a moment, "Yeah, sure, I guess it would be fine if you came over to see her. Just please call first to let me know when you want to come over."

"Oh yeah, I will, no problem. Have a goodnight, okay? I hope you feel better."

"Thanks, have a good night. Bye."

Paul held up his hand and gave a wave as he watched his ex-wife close the front door, leaving him alone again on the front porch. He stood there for a few more moments, analyzing the conversation between him and Steph in his mind. It wasn't until he noticed the light leave the foyer signaling her departure.