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 Fifty
Friday night had come, and with it a blanket of stars hovered over the Connecticut summer sky. Shortly after dinner, Stephanie put her one year old to bed in the nursery. The baby cried for only a few minutes, before he settled down and then fell asleep inside the safety and comfort of his crib. In the meantime, Aurora Rose begged to have her second bath of the day before bed. While it wasn't necessary, Stephanie did not object. She was happy that her daughter liked to stay clean, of course, she knew it really had to do with how much the three year old like to play in the tub.
"I'm glad that you had so much fun with your daddy today." Steph told her daughter while she rubbed a soapy cloth up and down the child's back.
Aurora didn't reply, she was distracted by all her plastic toys that she had loaded into the bath tub while her mommy had been running the water to fill up the tub and putting in a cap full of Mr. Bubbles.
Ever since Paul had dropped their daughter off earlier in the day, Stephanie's thoughts had been fixated on how he was all of a sudden so concerned with how she was doing. She found it odd since he had been around a lot lately visiting their daughter, yet this was the first he asked about how she was holding up. What had happened during his visit with their daughter that had compelled him to inquire about her?
"Aurora, did you and Daddy talk about anything while you were at the park?" Steph finally asked aloud after giving it much thought.
In response to her mother's question, the three year old slowly nodded her head while she continued to play in the water.
"What did you talk about?" Steph then asked, as she moved the wash cloth around her child's neck and then down her arms.
"You." Aurora told her mother looking up at her with a grin.
"What about me? Did Daddy ask you something about me?" Stephanie asked without hesitation.
"Mmhmm, he ask bout Kurt on busy-ness, ven bout mean louded words, ven bout you cryin" Aurora told her mother, giving her best summary of the subjects of the conversation with her father.
Stephanie let the wash cloth fall into the warm bubble filled bath water and then brought her hand to her face to rub her eyes. She shook her head and let out a forced laugh.
It was now clear that her ex-husband had coerced the information about her and Kurt from his three year old daughter. No, would he really do that? Levesque had been on his very best behavior as of late. He was acting like he genuinely liked spending time with their child. She needed to find out for sure before she jumped to assumptions.
"Why did you and Daddy talk about that, Aurora? Did daddy ask you about me and Kurt or did you just feel like telling him?" She asked after removing her hand from her face.
"Daddy ask-dided me bout it. You mad at me, Mommy?" Aurora asked, worried that she had done something wrong by talking to her father.
"No, sweetheart, I'm not mad at you. I love you." Stephanie assured her daughter before she lend over the tub and gave her child a kiss on her wet cheek. She then reached in the water and picked up the wash cloth so that she could continue washing her daughter.
"You mad at Daddy?" The three year old then asked tilting her head to the side with curiosity. She was studying her mother's face as she waited for an answer from her.
"I'm disappointed in him. If Daddy wanted to know something about Mommy, he should have asked me, not you." Steph replied in an exhale after she had held in the air from a sharp inhale for a moment.
"And in the future, Aurora, if Daddy asks you any questions about me, or about Kurt, I want you to tell him that he needs to ask Mommy, not you. Do you understand?" She added leaning in close to her child to show the importance of what she was telling her.
"Mmmhmm." Aurora responded while at the same time giving a nod.
Stephanie smiled and watched as her three year old went back to playing happily with her bath toys. Steph had definitely sugar coated her feelings toward her former husband when answering their daughter. She was very put off by the idea of Paul pumping his child for information about her and Kurt. Why would he spend his precious time with his child asking her questions about her mother? Did he really think it was okay to put Aurora in the position of tale carrier? Could he not just be a man and ask her any personal question he had for Steph to her face?
Saturday had come and so had Vincent Kennedy McMahon's 64th birthday. Shane and Marissa had driven up from New York with Declan and Kenny and had gotten to the McMahon estate right on time for the festivities. It was Mrs. McMahon that greeted the first arrival of guests with a warm greeting and hugs all around. Vince had requested that his birthday party be restricted only to his immediate family unlike the previous year.
"Happy birthday, Vince. Hi, Kurt." Marissa said sweetly with a smile as she gave first her father-in-law a hug and then her sister-in-law's husband one. Declan and Kenny both then gave their grandfather a hug.
"Happy birthday, old man!" Shane O' Mac shouted out with a laugh the minute he finally entered the great room where Vince and Kurt were hanging out.
"Who the hell are you calling 'old man'?" Vince hollered back before striking a muscle pose that caused both Angle and Shane to start laughing. McMahon senior hugged his son and began to laugh himself.
"How it's it going, man?" Shane then asked his brother-in-law as he then gave him a quick hug too.
"I've been better, man, how are you, Marissa, and the kids doing?" Angle asked back as the smile faded from his face.
"We're good, we're good, thanks. Where's Steph and the kids? Didn't they come over with you?" Shane asked narrowing his eyes because of the fact that he had not seen his sister nor any of her children since he had arrived.
"No, Steph and I are kind of taking some time apart. I'm staying here for a bit until we can work things out. I'm sure she will be here soon though." Kurt explained giving his best attempt at an optimistic smile.
"Well whatever is going on between you too, I hope it has nothing to do with her ex. I told you before, don't let that loser come between you and my sister. You guys are stronger than that."
"That's what I told him." Vince added.
"Well it's a lot of things, not just Levesque. The arrest this week didn't help matters either. I miss her and the kids, and it has only been one full day since I've seen them." Angle admitted folding his arms while a bit awkward talking about the situation with yet another member of his wife's family.
"Let's stop talking about depressing shit. This is my party, and I'll be damned if my whole complete family won't be here to celebrate it with me. When Steph gets here, she'll have no choice but to be part of the family, and this family includes Kurt." Mr. McMahon interjected completely cutting the conversation about the Angle marital problems off. He then followed his words up with a swift pat to the back of his son-in-law.
"All right, well, can I ask what he plans on doing during his time away from WWE?" Shane asked.
"I think I'm going to finally try my hand at MMA." Angle replied back with a smile. He knew that his brother-in-law would appreciate his ambition.
"Nice, but I'm sure my sister will be anything but thrilled. Still though, I really envy you. It's got to be nice to have a break from the company to pursue other interests while spending time with the kids." Shane O' Mac answered back.
When she entered the kitchen, Marissa McMahon was doing everything she could to help her mother-in-law, Linda, with the preparation of the hors d'oeuvres for the party. Declan and his younger brother, Kenyon, were running around the large kitchen playing a game of tag that would cause Linda to look up from her cooking and smile. She loved the sights and sounds of having her grandchildren in her home. For the first few minutes, the two women engaged in small talk, mostly about Shane and Marissa's two boys, but when the casual conversation was spent, Marissa dared to ask aloud what Linda's take was on the Kurt and Stephanie situation.
"So Kurt's been staying with you and Dad ever since he and Steph had a fight after his arrest?" Marissa asked, making sure she was getting an accurate picture of it all.
"Yes, he has. Vince was the one who offered him a guest room. I've been so busy at the office lately, I don't know much about it. I'm sure he made sure Stephanie was okay with it first though. Maybe he was able to talk to her more about her marital problems than I was, because she absolutely refused to talk to me about it." Linda explained to her daughter-in-law.
"Well Steph always has been Daddy's little girl, I don't think anyone could dispute that." Marissa commented with a smile. She and Shane had grown up together as neighbors, so it was safe to say that she had been around Steph since she was a young girl. She knew how fond Stephanie was of her father.
Stephanie's tan Porsche Cayenne pulled up right behind her brother's luxury automobile before coming to a stop. Only a few seconds later, she shut off the engine and then proceeded to first get her daughter out of the car. She was wearing her long straight hair down. Her luxurious brown locks flowed over her sleeveless powdered blue shirt.
"We at Granny and Pop's house!" Aurora exclaimed while skipping over to the other side of the cross over where her mommy was getting the baby out of his car seat. The three year old was sporting a cute pink sundress with matching sandals.
"We sure are. Do you want to carry Pop's present?" Steph asked bringing her one year old to her hip before she closed the car door. Baby Andrew was dressed in a dark blue cotton polo and matching capris and sandals.
"Yeah!" Aurora exclaimed as she followed her mother to the back of the Porsche where Stephanie was retrieving the gift bag that was accented with green tissue paper coming from the top of it.
The three year old ran ahead to the front door, swinging her grandfather's present as she ran, as Stephanie brought up the rear carrying Andy. When Steph and the kids were both on the front porch, Aurora Rose strained, reaching up on her tip toes to ring the doorbell.
"Hey, we were wondering when you three would get here! Come on in!" Linda said with enthusiasm to her family as she waved them into the home.
"Look Granny, a present for Pop!" Aurora voiced with excitement, holding up the bag for her grandmother to see right after she received a hug.
"Oh, I'm sure he's going to love whatever you, Mommy, and Andrew got him." Mrs. McMahon replied before giving her only granddaughter another hug and then a kiss on the cheek.
"Sorry we're a little late, Mom. It's a lot harder getting yourself and two children ready without any help." Steph explained giving her mother a hug.
"Oh, don't worry about it, you haven't missed anything. Now, let me see my little grandbaby. Come here you little munchkin."
Linda was standing there with her arms extended out for baby Andrew. The one year old let out a laugh and hid his eyes in his mother's chest for just a few seconds. Then, he slowly reached out for his granny.
"Oh, I swear, every time I see him he looks like he has grown. You're so handsome, yes you are." Granny said sweetly giving her grandbaby affection.
Marissa then came to the vestibule to greet her sister-in-law and her niece and nephew. With her came her sons to see their aunt and cousins. This prompted Steph to set her one year old down on his feet so that he and his sister could interact with their cousins.
"Where's Dad?" Steph asked moving further into the foyer as Marissa and her mother followed.
"He's in the great room last time I checked." Marissa commented.
Andy saw his mother walking away when he immediately proceeded to whine and toddle after her compelling the three women to turn back around. Before Steph could even react to her son, her mother walked over and scooped up the child.
"Do you want to come and see Grandpa? Come on, sweetheart." Linda gushed affectionately as she walked with her daughter and daughter-in-law down the hallway leading to the great room.
"I wanna say 'happy birfday to Pop too!" Aurora called after them as she ran to catch up.
The three women continued to chat as they walked into the great room. It was baby Andrew who's set of eyes were first to fall upon the three men standing together chatting.
"Dadada da!" Andy bellowed pointing his finger toward his father .
The one year old caused Steph to stop chatting with her brother's wife. She narrowed her eyes and then looked in the direction her son was smiling and pointing. Her blue eyes then widened when she saw that it was indeed her husband standing with her father and brother across the room.
"Kurt! Kurt! Kurt!" Aurora exclaimed running across the room to give her stepfather a big hug. Despite him being Andy's daddy, the three year old was very fond of the man who had taken the place of her daddy for a full year.
"Hey, little girl, how have you been? Are you taking good care of Mommy and Andy? I missed you guys yesterday." Angle replied while hugging his stepdaughter. His eyes were focused on his wife to see her reaction to his presence. When he broke the embrace with Aurora, she quickly ran and gave hugs to Pop and Uncle Shane.
Steph shook her head before folding her arms. She was looking right at Kurt with the best look of disdain that she could muster. While at the same time, Linda set Andy on his feet. The one year old immediately began to toddle across the room toward his daddy.
"There's my big boy. Look at you walking to Daddy. Come here, buddy." Angle gushed with pride as he knelt down and extended his arms out to his approaching child.
"It appears that he missed his daddy." Marissa commented with a smile as she watched Kurt pick up his son the moment he reached him.
The last person that Stephanie expected to see at the McMahon estate was her husband. She had assumed that he had taken up residence in a hotel or had gone to Tennessee to try and see his two older children. Why was he a guest at her father's 64th birthday party? And more importantly, why didn't she know that he was going to be there? Why didn't her mother or father tell her? She had a right to know what she was walking into.
"Did you invite Kurt to the party?" Stephanie asked her mother in a blunt dull tone of voice that was anything but cheerful.
Her reaction to seeing her spouse caused Marissa and Linda to both glance over at each other before anyone dared to reply to her inquiry.
"Kurt's been staying here the past two days. It was your father who extended the invitation. I thought you knew about it." Mrs. McMahon explained showing her surprise.
"No, I didn't! Why on earth would I want him here if we're separated?" Steph asked exasperated with the whole situation.
Angle, with their son still in his arms, started to move forward like he wanted to approach his wife, but Vince stopped him and walked on in his place.
"Hey, calm down, this is my party, damn it! I wanted him here! He's family! Now the two of you need to get the hell over the shit you've been fighting about so we can have a nice family gathering!" McMahon commanded with rigor. His hollering caused Aurora to run to her grandmother for comfort.
"Vince, you need to calm down. You had no right to get in the middle of Kurt and Stephanie's problems. You are scaring the children." Linda told her husband in a calm voice that was still quite assertive.
"We were having a nice time until she decided to cop an attitude because I extended a helping fatherly hand to my son-in-law when he was thrown out of his own house by her!" Mr. McMahon hollered back while pointing a finger right at his own daughter.
"You know what, Dad? You can have your family gathering with your son-in-law but my children and I are leaving!" Steph screamed back in her father's face before she grabbed her daughter from her mother and then stormed across the room to her estranged husband who was still holding their son.
"Steph, I-" Kurt attempted to say as he allowed her to take their baby from his arms.
"Shut up, Kurt!" She snapped back at him and then began to stomp back over to the entrance to the great room with both her kids in her arms.
"Stephanie, don't be this way, come on now! Why don't the two of you just go outside or into another room and calmly talk things out!" Vince suggested, calling after his daughter as she began walking down the hallway. His words caused her to whip around to face him.
"Who's side are you on, Dad? If my maiden name wasn't McMahon, I would swear that Kurt is your son, and I was the in-law!" She yelled back causing both her father and her husband to move to approach her.
"Don't try and stop me!" She added turning around and continuing to walk down the hall.
"Steph, I don't want you to leave your father's party. The last thing I wanted to do was upset you and the kids. I love you guys. I'll go, okay?" Angle pleaded while in pursuit of her.
His words caused Stephanie to halt her stride in the foyer. She turned to face him. Her eyes were sparkling with tears of anger and frustration. Angle felt terrible seeing his wife's negative reaction to him being there. While he loved being able to see the children and be with the rest of his wife's family, it wasn't worth the hurt he felt seeing his wife so adamantly pulling away from him.
"Then go, now!" She answered back with a sneer as she adjusted her grip on her two kids that were still in her arms.
His wife's firm insistence of his departure caused tears to form in Angle's eyes. He felt the sadness overwhelm him and all he could do was nod to show his acceptance of her demand. He grabbed hold of the banister that was attached to the grand staircase. Slowly, he approached the steps.
"Just got to grab my stuff." He muttered as he made his ascent up the steps to the second floor.
Steph glared up at him with eyes that would surely kill if they could. And then, when her husband was out of sight, she shifted those same eyes to her father who was standing with her in the foyer. He was staring back at his daughter with a look of disapproval, but he didn't say another word. In fact, there was an awkward silence in the spacious mansion. No one could be heard, not even the children. Perhaps, everyone was still reeling because of the turn of events.
Stephanie stood there at the bottom of the stairs for the few minutes it took before her husband reemerged with his duffle bag in his hand. Her wide unforgiving eyes followed him down the stairs. Angle stopped for a moment as he stood right in front of his wife and son. He looked like he wanted to say something, maybe to say goodbye to his one year old or plead with her to let him stay with them, but he said nothing. Instead, he opened the front door, walked through it, and then closed it gently behind him. The sound of the front door shutting closed signaled the loud strong cry of baby Andrew as he leaned himself out toward the front door where his daddy had exited.
"I hope you're happy now." Vince hissed in with contempt before he turned his back on his own daughter, and left her by herself with her kids in the vestibule. As he saw it, his party had been spoiled by his daughter's stubbornness.