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-Nine
"You're packing?" voiced Vince as he stood in the doorway of the guest room he had put his son-in-law in.
McMahon wore a perplexed look on his face while he watched Angle shoving his clothing back in his duffle bag. The only conclusion that he could come up with from what he saw was that Kurt was packing up to leave. But why? He had only stayed over one night. Did he and Steph make amends already? Was he going home to her?
Angle remained silent, not even looking in his father-in-law's direction after hearing him speak. He didn't even know what time it was. After returning to the McMahon estate after his blow up with his wife, Kurt had collapsed on the guest bed from exhaustion. He had been mentally and physically drained. Being passed out for who knows how many hours was the first decent rest he had gotten since all of the trouble started. Sleep had been a brief escape from the reality and the gravity of his situation. Unfortunately for him, it was all there waiting for him when he woke up. Judging by the need for a light in the room, Angle was originally willing to bet that it was at least dinner time. Now, with Vince's arrival home, he knew it had to be later than that.
"Kurt, don't ignore me, God damn it! What's going on?" Vince persisted, demanding to not be kept in the dark about things.
McMahon's insistence for an explanation caused Angle to cease his action. Abruptly, he allowed himself to plop down on the bed in a seated position. He brought both his hands to his face and proceeded to talk through them.
"I got worried because I couldn't reach Steph all afternoon. So I went over to the house with some roses to try and work things out. She had taken the kids to spend the day with Levesque at an aquarium. She's acting like she doesn't even care that our marriage is on the rocks. She didn't even want her ring back." Kurt muttered in a voice that was clearly strained.
"Jesus Christ..." McMahon commented moving further into the room. He sat down next to his son-in-law who he could hear begin to cry in his hands.
"Damn it, Kurt, suck it up! I was easy on you last night because you had spent the night in jail, but now your sniveling is just getting old! Be a man, damn it! What did I tell you last night? Did I not tell you to give her a day or two?" Vince hollered out of frustration.
"I know, Dad, but the thought of that son of a bitch being around my wife and son..." Angle trailed off and then removed his hands from his face as he breathed in deep, unable to finish his statement.
"I know, I get it, okay? I'll take care of that son of a bitch, don't you worry about it. I'll give him enough media appearances and house shows that he won't have time to bother Stephanie." McMahon promised before continuing: "You just need to keep your focus on what really matters. And what matters is being successful in talking things out with your wife after she has time to calm down, and finding something to keep yourself busy during your suspension."
"I don't know if I can get through this. I can't be with my family and I can't wrestle..." Kurt replied bringing his right hand to the back of his head to itch the hair that was starting to grow in since he hadn't shaved it in the past few days.
"Well, let's see...What about that mixed martial arts. You've been telling me for a year now how you'd like to give it a try. Even if you don't fight but end up just doing a little bit of training and conditioning, it would help get out some of that anger and aggression. What do you think?" McMahon suggested extending an arm around the back of his son-in-law.
"I'd love to have even just five minutes with Levesque in the cage. I'd fuck him up good for coming near my wife..." Angle commented while staring down at the plush carpet floor.
"Now that'd be something I'd put as a main event on a pay-per-view!" Vince's voice boomed with enthusiasm after he let out a laugh.
"I'll call up my buddy, Brock. He's got a lot of connections in the MMA world." Kurt added using his hand to scratch the forming beard on his face.
"You do that, in the meantime though, I want you to stay here. My birthday is this weekend and I want the whole family to be here for it."
Angle simply nodded in agreement. He was taking his father-in-law's advisement to heart. It was clear that his gut reaction to focus his mind on his wife's ex-husband would definitely only add fuel to the fire; his fight with Stephanie was surely proof of that. No matter how hard it was going to be, Kurt was going to give Steph the space she wanted. After all, he knew that he would see her and the children in the coming weekend for Vince's birthday party. Hopefully, that would be the perfect opportunity for them to make amends and come together as a family.
With all the arguing she and Kurt had done in the past few days, Stephanie had entirely forgot about Andrew Vincent's scheduled doctor's appointment on Friday afternoon. Luckily, that morning she had noticed that she had three missed calls and two voice mail messages on her home phone. Two of the three calls had been her paranoid husband trying to reach her and who had left an agitated voice message. The other call, however, had been from Greenwich Pediatrics reminding her that baby Andrew had a scheduled appointment at two o'clock with Dr, Mott.
"Shit." Steph muttered to herself before quickly deleting the message. The last thing she wanted to do in the afternoon on a Friday was spend more than an hour in a doctor's office with her children.
She couldn't just say 'fuck it' and not show up with Andrew for the appointment. This was her son's one year old check up where he was sure to get a whole round of shots and a few tasks to track his development. Oh she and Andy were going, but what about Aurora? Was it really fair for her three year old daughter to have to come along?
Stephanie tucked her bottom lip in her mouth while glancing over at her little girl who was kneeling in front of the coffee table in the living room coloring. Steph was racking her brain to figure out possible options for childcare for her three year old for an hour or so during Andy's doctor appointment. Grandma and Pop were both busy with work, so they were definitely out of the question. And there was no way in hell she was going to call up Kurt when she had just gotten him to give her some time apart. Oh, what about Paul? If he wasn't busy today, she was sure that he would love to spend more time with their daughter.
With the phone still in her hand, Stephanie used her thumb to dial her former husband's cell phone number on the keypad and then hit send. She brought the phone to her ear and began to patiently wait as it began to ring repeatedly.
"Hello?" She heard his voice say on the other line.
"Hey Paul, it's Steph. Listen, I was wondering if you were willing to watch Aurora for a couple of hours today. I had forgotten that Andrew has an appointment with the pediatrician, and I'd hate to make her have to sit there in a doctor's office for more than an hour."
"Oh yeah, sure, no problem. What time did you need me to swing by?" Levesque asked back without any hesitation.
"The baby's check up is at two so if you could be here at one, that'd be great." Stephanie told him as she quickly ran over to the one year old who was about to pull down a plant while he was getting to his feet from the living room floor. His mother intervening caused Andy to give a loud spoiled whine.
"Well, it sounds like you have your hands full over there so I'm going to let you go. I'll see you at one." Paul said with a chuckle.
"Okay, thanks Paul...Bye."
The later part of the morning flew by since Stephanie was kept busy by bathing both children, dressing them, and feeding them an early lunch. Having Paul come at one o'clock worked out well since Steph was already finished getting herself showered, dressed, and her makeup and hair fixed.
Levesque's Hummer pulled into the driveway with only a few minutes until one. He used the cylinder running board on his SUV to step out and then brought his hands up to the back of his head to pull his dirty blonde ponytail tight. He was wearing a nice cotton polo shirt, one that he knew his former wife would approve of, and a pair of designer jeans.
While Paul was overjoyed to get a phone call from Steph asking him if he wanted to spend time with their child, he couldn't help but be curious as to why Mr. 1996 drunken gold medalist wasn't there to watch the kids. After all, that was how it usually went. For the past year, Stephanie had let Angle take over virtually all the responsibilities and privileges of being Aurora's father. Why now was he no longer her number one choice? Maybe she was finally seeing how much of an effort he was putting into being a good Dad as of late. Perhaps she was even starting to have some of the old feelings for him again. God he hoped so.
"Thanks for looking after her today. I'm sorry I asked on such short notice but the appointment completely skipped my mind." Steph told him with a quick smile the minute she allowed him access to her home via the front door.
"It's no problem, I'm happy I get to see her today. Is she already dressed? I wanted to take her to a park in town. They just put up a really nice playground that I think she'd enjoy." Levesque answered back, returning a sweet smile of his own.
"Oh yeah, she's dressed and ready to go. She was so excited when I told her you were coming over. She's in the living room with Andrew." Stephanie told him, titling her head slightly while her fingers fiddled with her dangly earring as she put one in one ear and then one in the other.
Before venturing down the hallway to see his daughter, Levesque took a quick moment to let his eyes scan his ex-wife. His hazel eyes tracked her body from top to bottom. God, even going to a pediatrician's office, she looked sexy.
"You and Aurora can take off whenever you're ready, I just have to load up the diaper bag and Andy and I are leaving." Steph commented, not noticing that her ex had just checked her out.
Paul nodded, taking her mention that she was almost ready to leave with the baby as a cue that he needed to go get his daughter from the living room and be on his way to the park. He walked through the hallway, not even having to think about where the living room was located since he had been in the spacious home so many times before now.
Levesque smiled immediately when his eyes fell upon his little girl. She was sitting Indian style on the floor with four stuffed animals sitting around her to form a circle. In the center of that circle was her plastic tea set.
"Are you having a tea party in here, honey?" Asked Paul after watching his child play undisturbed for a moment or two.
"Yeah, me, puppy, kitty, Teddy bear, and Flipsy." Aurora replied pointing to each of the stuffed animals, one by one, as she listed their names.
"Well I hate to break up the party, but you and I have a date for the park." Levesque announced moving further into the room toward where his daughter was playing.
"Hi!" Andrew piped with a flap of his hand. The one year old was sitting with his toys on the carpet floor near his half sister. He smiled at the sight of Paul for he was beginning to recognize him as a frequent visitor.
"Hey, Poopy Pirate." Paul chuckled, taking notice of Stephanie's second child.
"Why you call him "Poopy Pirate", Daddy?" Aurora asked after she got up and started pulling on her father's jeans for his attention to be brought back to her.
"Because he's a pirate that steals people's poopy and puts it in his diaper. He's a poopy pirate, that's why your mommy has to change his diaper so much." Levesque explained before he made a silly face.
His comment caused Aurora to throw her head back and let out a hearty laugh. She had her mommy's laugh, and it was contagious because baby Andy started laughing too.
"What's so funny in here?" Steph asked walking into the living room with Andrew's diaper bag and her purse hanging over one of her shoulders.
"Daddy called baby a poopy piwate cus he puts poopy in his diaper!" The three year old exclaimed through her continuous laughter.
"Oh, I'm sure we'll have to come up with a clever nick name for Daddy, now won't we." Steph replied with an eyebrow raise as she bent over and picked up her one year old.
"You know I've already got a nickname, Steph. I'm "The Game", and you personally know that I am that damn good." Paul answered back quickly with a naughty smile and a wink.
Stephanie rolled her eyes but couldn't help but let out a chuckle. She could feel her cheeks begin to warm, knowing that she was blushing. Why had he always been able to do that? She had given him enough encouragement just by laughing, she wasn't going to verbally feed into it.
"Well, we need to get going. I'm sure you guys will have a lot of fun at the park." Steph commenting, hoping to give the impression that she was ready for him to leave with their daughter so that she could be on her way with her son.
"You not go wif us, Mommy?" Aurora questioned, her blue eyes widened as she looked up at her mother in total surprise.
"No, I have to take baby Andy to his check up at the doctor's office. You go have some fun with Daddy and then he'll bring you home." Stephanie told her child as she shifted her one year old to her other hip. The one year old was trying his best to lean down as he reached for his toys on the floor below.
"But why can't you go wif us? I want you to go wif us! Why-" The three year old pressed on, this time narrowing her brow at the thought of not having her other parent there to partake in the outdoor fun.
"Aurora, stop, okay, I told you why! Now go have a good time with your father, I love you, and I will see later!" Stephanie snapped back out of frustration while she strengthened her grip on her squirming baby who was now beginning to whine.
Paul took the initiative and quickly scooped up his three year old before she showed any signs of getting upset by her mother's abrupt bitchiness. He gave his little girl a hug and a peck on the cheek. He was a bit surprised by the shift in Stephanie's demeanor. It wasn't like her to snap out at one of her children. Was something bothering her?
"Steph, take it easy. What's going on? You're not acting like yourself."
Levesque was looking right into her eyes for some hint of what was causing her to be on edge. He could tell something was off but it was obvious by her body language that she wasn't willing to open up to him.
"It's-It's nothing. I just have a lot on my mind today. I really didn't want to have to show up for this appointment, and the baby is now getting cranky because he didn't get his full nap, and then tomorrow is Dad's birthday party..." Steph explained listing off all of the stressors that she was currently dealing with. Well, all most all of them since she deliberately omitted her marital problems with Kurt, since it was her ex-husband she was talking to.
"Ugh, better you than me on that last one. Well, we're off. Aurora and I will be back before four. I'd love to keep her longer, but I just got a call this morning from one of your father's ass kissing assistants saying that I was added to three separate weekend house shows out in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. There went any weekend plans I had for my Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday."
"Wow, that's a lot to put upon you in such short notice. I wonder if someone got injured."
"No, I'm sure it's just your father being an asshole, trying to make my life miserable. I won't give him the satisfaction though. I'll put on three amazing matches with whomever they put me with." Paul commented as he began to walk out of the room with Aurora still in his arms.
"You always do. Have a good time, you two." Steph called back after them.
"We will, Mommy!" He hollered on his way to the front of the house.
Levesque didn't bother putting his three year old down so that she could walk along side of him out to the car. He rather enjoyed carrying her. It reminded him of when she was a baby.
"In you go..." Paul commented aloud as he sat his daughter in the preschool car seat that he had sat in the middle of the Hummer's large backseat.
"The park far away?" She asked swinging her legs back and forth while her father strapped her in securely.
"No, it's only a few minutes away. You'll love it. It has a huge play area with swings, slides, and lots of other stuff to have fun with."
"I want Mommy to come too." Aurora Rose confessed again, letting her pink bottom lip protrude slightly to show her sadness that she wasn't going to get what she wanted.
"I know, honey, I wish she could come with us too. But we're going to have a good time, just me and you." promised Paul after which he leaned forward and gave his child a kiss on her forehead.
It was times like this that he felt for his child. Aurora never did anything to deserve her parents divorcing. She had just been an innocent baby when the marriage dissolved. She had no memories of being a part of the Levesque family; a complete family with her mommy and daddy living together under one roof, and married. He couldn't blame his child for being jealous of Angle and Stephanie's new child who had just that. She deserved to have both of them with her, and not just one or the other.
The short drive to the nearby park was an uneventful one. Out of the many parks in Greenwich Connecticut, he had chosen a beautifully landscaped spacious one that had many activities for children of all ages. The area that he took Aurora to was the colorful playground that was framed in a bed of shredded tire chunks to give an extra springy soft ground for children to play on.
"I wanna climb up there!" Aurora announced the moment she stepped into the playground area. She was pointing to the loose hanging rope that made a number of squares for her to put her feet in to climb up to the first level of a play tower.
"Go for it for it, princess. I'll be right here watching you." Levesque told her as he watched her begin to climb. He was confident in his child's ability to make it up safely since the ropes were secured in place both on the ground and at the top where it met the playground equipment.
"Yay! Look at me! I up high, Daddy, look!" Aurora jumped up and down, immediately celebrating when she made it up.
"Wow, you're such a big girl. Is that your castle?"
"Yeah, you can come up too! Go that way, Daddy!" Aurora instructed with enthusiasm as she pointed over at the curly pole that was on the other side of the play set as an alternative way for a child to get up there.
"Here I come, Princess Aurora. I just slayed a two headed dragon to keep this castle and your royal kingdom safe." Paul said as he stepped onto the metal tubing while playing fully into the imaginary story he wanted to create for his little girl.
"Oh no, look, it a monster behind you, go fast!" Aurora shouted running over to watch her father take the three steps up the curly pole to reach the platform.
Levesque let out a laugh and when he joined his daughter on the play set, he quickly whipped around and with an imaginary sword in his hand, he swung a wide stroke, making an appropriate sound effect for his action.
"Yay! You got him! But oh no, look, a monster is over there. He climbed up the slide! Get him, Daddy!" The three year old squealed with excitement as she pointed to the other end of the play set where she imagined a creature standing.
Paul sprung into action as he leaped onto the wooden bridge that bounced and shifted all around as he ran across it. He lunged pretending to stab his imaginary sword right into the throat of the monster. And then, he jumped onto the platform and performed what would be a shoulder block to the already wounded monster.
"Good job! Now we safe up here!" She celebrated jumping up and down.
"Oh no, Aurora! The monster bit Daddy's arms, and now he's turning into a monster, too!" Levesque announced as he began to thrash around, exposing his bottom teeth outward through his top lip to make himself look like a monster.
Aurora screamed and immediately ran over to the wooden ladder that lead to a higher tower. As she did her best to climb, she was looking back at her father who began to slowly make his way back across the bridge like he was playing the lead of Frankenstein with his muscular arms stretched out in front of him.
"I'm gonna eat you up, little girl!" Paul said in his best monster voice that was deep with a lot of heavy breathing.
He deliberately waited until his daughter had safely made it to the top tower before he climbed the ladder himself.
"You not get me, monster!" Aurora shouted out with delight as she then sat down at the long curly slide that lead to the playground tire mesh below.
She didn't even wait for the 'monster' to reach the top of tower before she pushed herself forward and slid down the plastic slide while laughing the whole way down.
"I down here now, monster! You not get me!" She taunted with a bit of attitude the moment she jumped off the bottom of the slide. Her hands were on her hips, and she even stuck her little pink tongue out of her mouth to add to the effect of her words.
When Levesque reached the top level, he looked down at his daughter and then let out a bellowing monster roar. Showing off his athleticism, Paul leaped right off the top of the slide and landed on his feet only a foot or so away from his little girl. This caused Aurora to scream again and start running away.
"Now I'm mad! I'm going to enjoy eating you all up!" He called out as he started to go after her. This time he actually quickened his pace and ran after her.
Aurora continued to scream as she noticed her daddy gaining ground on her as she was now running through the lush green grass meadow right next to the playground. Right when he was about to grab her, she dropped down onto the ground and curled up in a ball, as an attempt to protect herself from the monster.
"I got you now! Hahahaha!" Levesque exclaimed in his low monster voice while he quickly knelt down beside her. He bent over to start tickling his little girl so that she would leave her fetal position and allow him to start to blow air right on her clothed stomach that caused her to howl with laughter.
"Stop, Daddy, stop, no more!" She finally demanded through her uncontrollable laughter.
He immediately stopped upon his child's request and then laid down in the grass next to her. She was still laughing even though he had quit tickling her. It was obvious that she was enjoying every second of her pretend play with her father.
"You having fun, honey?" Paul asked, even though he knew what the answer was going to be. He wanted to hear her say it.
"Yeah, lots. Mommy come here after she done at the doctor?" Aurora asked rolling over in the grass so that she was now facing her father.
"I don't think so, sweetie. She's going to want to take the baby home."
"I no like that baby anymore. He tries to take Mommy away from me. Kurt need to take him on busy-ness wif him." Aurora Rose told her father, speaking what exactly was on her three year old mind aloud. Her words were like echoes of what her father had whispered to her only a week ago.
"Kurt's on business?" Paul asked, narrowing his eyes, as this was the first he had heard about Angle being gone since Steph didn't mention it.
"Yeah, he went on busy-ness. Then he got home after the awarium and was mad." Aurora divulged as she began to play with the blades of grass between her and her father.
"What was he mad at mommy about? Were they fighting?" Levesque asked back quickly, sitting up because of the importance of what his daughter was telling him.
"Mommy tolded me to go upstairs wif Flipsy. I hearded mean words and baby crying. When the noise gone, Mommy comed upstairs and said that Kurt back on busy-ness." Recalled the three year old as she began pulling out handfuls of grass.
"Was Mommy upset? Did you see her crying?"
"Yeah, she cry a lot holding the baby. I fink she miss Kurt." The three year old replied, giving her guess as to why her mother was so upset after her step-father left.
The right side of Paul's mouth, pulled taunt as he began to smirk. His three year old's retelling of the past day's events were as clear as day to him. Kurt and Stephanie had been fighting, and he was now out of the house. It all made sense now: Angle's absence today, Stephanie being on edge in the living room.
"Do Mommy and Kurt say mean words a lot to each other?" Paul asked without hesitation.
At first, Aurora just shrugged her shoulders, but then she gave him a nod that made it clear that yesterday wasn't the first time she had heard the two of them arguing. This meant that things hadn't been going well for them recently. And then Paul realized the reason behind Stephanie's disheveled appearance the night he brought her over soup.
"You're a good girl, sweetheart." Paul told his daughter before giving her a pat on the back.
If it wasn't for his three year old's testimony about what went on in the Angle household, he would have never known that the Angle marriage was on shaky ground. This was all too good to be true. First Angle gets arrested for a DUI, bringing shame to the company, and now he was "on business" away from Stephanie. This was turning out to be the perfect opportunity for him to get closer to his former wife, so that she could see that he was still that amazing guy she had fallen for those number of years ago.
"Did you have a good time with Daddy?" Stephanie immediately asked her daughter after she opened the front door to greet them.
"Yeah! I go see my animals now!" Aurora exclaimed, giving her mother's leg a quick hug, before she ran inside the house to where she had left her stuffed animals in the living room.
"Thanks again, Paul. You were a real lifesaver today." Steph admitted, turning her attention to her daughter's father.
"No problem, I'm happy I could help. Did everything come out all right at the appointment?" He asked, he propped his arm up on the frame of the open doorway.
"Yeah, Andrew is right on track with his development. He had to have a few shots, but he did fine."
"How about you, Steph. How are you holding up, today? Levesque asked leaning himself inside slightly as he asked a personal question that he hoped would evoke an emotional response.
Stephanie's eyebrows furrowed immediately in response to his question that seemed a little out of the blue. She then raised her brow and put on a polite smile before replying to him.
"I'm holding up just fine, thanks." Steph heard herself lie. She definitely did not want her former husband to have any inclination about what was going on in her personal life. Her marriage was her business.
"Are you sure? Because if there's ever anything you need to talk about, you know that I'm here for you." Levesque pointed out looking right into her eyes.
His words caused Stephanie to shift her weight between her feet, like she was fidgeting in place. She felt uncomfortable. Her mind was desperately trying to play catch up and figure out where all this was coming from. Was there something written across her forehead that said "my husband and I are separated"? Perhaps it was because of her losing her patience with their daughter in front of him earlier in the day.
"Thank you for the offer, Paul, but I'm okay. Have a safe trip out to the Midwest." She said with her polite smile plastered on her face. Her hand now gripped the doorknob and she was slowly beginning to close it.
"Thanks, I'll keep in touch. We should try and get together next week sometime to be with our daughter." Paul suggested, moving his arm and taking a step back so that he wouldn't be in the way of the door.
"Okay, sounds good, bye." Steph replied back quickly as she closed the door before he even had the chance to say it back to her.
"Well that conversation ended abruptly." Paul thought to himself as he began to walk the path in front of the home that lead to the driveway where he was parked.
He could sense his former wife tensing up the moment he asked her about how she was doing. It was clear that she was holding back, purposely not telling him about her problems with her current husband. This only cemented Paul's belief that her "oh so perfect" marriage was falling apart. He wanted to be there for her in the fallout. She couldn't keep her drama with Angle a secret forever. It was only a matter of time before she confided in him. And when that happened, he would be that shoulder for her to cry on, like Angle had been for her during their marital strife.
"My, my, how the tables have turned." He muttered aloud to himself with a smug smile.