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-Four
With the passing of a full week, it was safe to say that Stephanie had fallen back into her old routine at World Wrestling Entertainment headquarters. She and Nanny Cathy had worked out the logistics of their day to day schedule and the children really seem to take well to it. Steph was right back in the thick of things in the office, and she loved it. Having to focus her mind on the creative welfare of her company kept her from thinking about her marriage that was in limbo.
Steph was working extra hard in the past week. She had to catch up on the work she had missed while she was away. Sure, many of her team members had given their best attempt in picking up the slack due to her absence, but most of the work that had been done wasn't up to her standards. She was doing quite a lot of revising, rewriting, and also the new work load that was coming in daily. Still, even with her nose to the grind stone, she couldn't help feel that something was amiss in the office; to be more specific, it was her creative team that was behaving differently around her. At first, Stephanie was quick to shrug it off believing that it was just the team adjusting to having her back. Now, after a full week of noticing it, she was finally ready to address it.
"Okay people, what is it?" Stephanie asked aloud, her voice cut through the awkward silence that was supposed to be a productive brainstorming session for the creative team. It was only ten minutes until lunch and not a lot of work had been accomplished.
Each and every employee looked up from their notes and looked at Steph with a look of confusion. The women squirmed a bit in their office chairs while some of the men cleared their throats. It was clear that they all knew what the 'what' was that she was referring to, but no one was going to speak up to answer her.
"You know, every time I turn around I see you guys huddled up whispering about something, and then you immediately disperse when I walk up. I need to know what's going on, because I keep getting the vibe that you are all walking on egg shells when working with me." She continued holding her hands on the table in front of her as she leaned forward. She was ready to get it all out on the table, complete transparency.
Everyone's eyes went from being focused on Steph to darting nervously at each other. No one really wanted to come out and tell her the reason that everyone was feeling so awkward. It was clear that she hadn't heard the gossip about her marriage that was spreading like wildfire in the company. They didn't know how she would take hearing about it from any of them, her employees.
"Come on, somebody better speak up. I don't care if we have to sit here through our lunch break." Steph added leaning back in her executive chair, folding her arms in front of her to show her determination.
"Well, Steph, umm..." One of the female members began in a trembling voice that caused her to take a deep breath before continuing.
"There's ah, a rumor going around the company...See, Candice Michelle announced that she's pregnant, and umm...The rumor is that it's Kurt's." The woman explained with her head bowed. She couldn't even bring herself to look at Stephanie while she exposed the harsh rumor about her husband and another woman.
Steph felt like her stomach did a back flip after being blindsided with the details about what was WWE's latest juicy gossip. Her jaw dropped. She was speechless as her mind raced with the thoughts of her husband cheating on her with a diva. The words of his ex-wife played over and over again in her head, torturing her. Was it at all possible that the rumor could be true?
"Of course, we don't believe it, Steph." Another female piped up in a weak attempt to put their boss' mind at ease.
"Yeah, it's just diva gossip that everyone is taking way too seriously. You know how people like to talk. Kurt had been showing up without you to RAW and being all friendly with Candice, then he gets suspended and you come back to work without your wedding ring on. Some are piecing things together." A male writer tried to explain.
"People are saying that you and Kurt are separated. There's no truth to that, is there, Steph?" Another female asked chiming in to the barrage of comments that were being hurled at Stephanie.
Oh God, they were asking if she and her husband were separated. She could only imagine how it would look to them when they found out that they actually were. They would think that it was because of the supposed affair. Why didn't she know about this sooner? Did Kurt know about it? She hadn't even spoken to her husband since she had made him leave her family party.
Steph felt her composure starting to slip away. It was as if the room was starting to close in on her. The more details she heard about the ugly rumor, the harder it was for her to keep it together. She couldn't speak to any of it for fear of bursting into tears. She was a professional, she couldn't lose it in front of her underlings. Her stomach began to feel like it had been turned inside out; its bile burning at her navel before traveling up her torso toward her esophagus.
"Excuse me." She managed to mutter before a shaking right hand cupped over her mouth as she sprang from her chair.
"Steph, are you okay?" One of the women asked with concern as Steph ran out of the room like her life depended on it.
The whole creative team sat there in complete disbelief at what had just happened. Should someone go after her and make sure that she was okay? Should they just mind their own business and take their lunch break? Or maybe they should work through lunch to get something accomplished since RAW was later that night.
Stephanie sent herself careening into the first bathroom stall nearest to the restroom door. She barely had time to lift the toilet seat lid before her partially digested breakfast came up into her mouth. She moaned in pain while retching uncontrollably. When the vomiting subsided, she let herself fall back onto her bottom on the restroom floor, leaning her head against the black stall divider.
While the nausea was beginning to subside, the overwhelming sense of sadness and thought of possible betrayal was still with her. In light of her current situation, Steph couldn't help but think back to the night that she discovered her first husband had been cheating on her. It had been the same feeling she was experiencing now. She vividly remembered getting sick in her kitchen sink after reading Paul's mistress' email to him. It was what she was feeling now.
Her two French manicured hands tucked her brown locks behind her ears, she breathed in deep, and let out a soft whimper. Two black streams of tears and mascara ran down her face. In her mind, she tried desperately to rationalize what her creative team had told her about the rumor. After all, it was a just a rumor. She had no solid evidence that Kurt wasn't faithful to her. All she actually had on him was the fact that he allowed Candice to watch his children on more than one occasion. Did that make him a philanderer? No, a lazy father, maybe, but not that. Besides, when would he have time to carry on an affair with another woman? Because of his one of a kind contract that he and her father worked out, Angle rarely had any media appearances or house shows. He went to RAW and then came back home and trained. That was his life. It wasn't like he was off doing "photo shoots" in New York.
The sound of the rest room door swinging open caused Steph to snap out of her thoughts. She then heard high heels clicking against the tile floor that were getting louder as the person approached the row of bathroom stalls.
"Stephanie, are you all right?" Bethany Walker of the creative team asked in a concerned voice.
"Yeah...I'm fine, Beth." Steph lied wiping away her tears before she rose to her feet. She took a deep breath before pushing the metal slide lock to let herself out of the stall.
"Are you sure?"" Beth pressed on after the toilet automatically flushed and her boss walked over to the nearest sink.
"I said I'm fine!" Stephanie snapped back immediately.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean-"
"No, I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't mean to be nasty. I'm just not doing too well right now." Stephanie apologized having to really try and keep herself from getting emotional in front of her colleague.
"If you need someone to talk to, I'd be happy to listen." offered Beth in a sympathetic tone of voice.
"Thank you, but, ah, I'll manage." Steph muttered before placing her hands under the basin faucet to make the water flow.
Mrs. Walker looked on while Stephanie leaned over and took a sip of the water that had filled in her clasped hands. She swished the liquid in her mouth before spitting it back into the sink, rinsing away the disgusting taste of vomit.
"You know, if you're not feeling well, you should go home and rest. You've obviously have a lot on your mind. We'll get everything done and email you everything for approval."
Steph closed her eyes for a moment. Right now, going home sounded like a good idea. It wasn't like the creative team hadn't managed without her before, and she did have Cathy the rest of the day to watch her children. She definitely needed to relax. The one thing that she didn't want was to slip back into her bout with extreme morning sickness which was very likely to happen.
"Yeah, I'm going to go. I'll have my cell on me if the team needs me, but, yes, shoot me an email with what you guys come up with." Stephanie told her while studying her own pale face in the mirror.
Her father would be less than thrilled in her decision to leave work early, but that was too bad. There was no way that Stephanie would be able to get any work done after her own team had dropped a bombshell of a rumor about her own husband right in her lap. She had to get home. As she packed up her leather satchel in her office, she was in a complete mental haze; simply going through the motions. Even the drive home from Stamford was a mindless task for her. She felt like an unforgiving two ton weight was on her shoulders. It was the knowledge about what those in her company were saying about her marriage. Simply leaving work wasn't going to be a successful means of escaping it. The stress stayed with her, like a dark cloud over her head that she couldn't get away from.
Ms. Scot had been a bit startled by the sound of the garage door opening in the laundry room. She was relieved to see that it was the lady of the house. Cathy wasn't expecting Mrs. Angle home until much later in the day.
"Oh hi, Steph, we weren't expecting you home at lunchtime. You decided to take a half day?" Catherine asked.
"Yeah, I'm not really feeling well." replied Stephanie as she sat her car keys and purse on the wet bar's counter top and placed her work satchel on the floor.
"Mommy, you have wunch wif me?" Aurora inquired from where she sat in her boaster seat with a voice full of enthusiasm.
"Yeah Steph, would you like me to fix you a plate of food? Did you have lunch already?" Catherine added while continuing to fix Andrew's bowl of baby food.
"No, thanks, I'm not hungry. I think I just want to go upstairs and lay down for a while."
"Ma-ma!" Andrew called out while sitting in his high chair. The moment his mother looked over at him, he smiled and flapped his right hand to wave at her before reaching out for her.
As much as Stephanie wanted to interact with her two children, she just didn't feel up to doing so. Her whole body ached from the stress of the day. Sleep would be her only escape from it.
"Hi honey, Mommy loves you and Aurora." Steph told her baby with a weak smile before she turned to leave the kitchen.
Unsatisfied by the amount of attention from his mother, Andy began to whine. His back stiffened and he pushed his belly against the high chair tray showing how badly he wanted his mommy to get him out. The whining then turned into full blown crying when he saw Steph disappear into the hallway.
"Be quiet, baby!" The three year old screamed aloud holding her hands to her ears.
Hearing her son's cries echoing through her spacious home caused Steph to begin to cry as she ascended the stairs. Just when she thought she was mastering her roles as mother and businesswoman, she was thrown for an emotional loop. Now, she was shirking not only her professional responsibility to WWE, but also her responsibility as a mother. She felt terrible, not just about the situation, but about herself. And to think she was going to be bringing another life into the world surrounded by all the drama.
Seeking comfort, Stephanie quickly changed from her business attire into a t-shirt and yoga pants before crawling into bed. She put her blackberry on her bedside table, just in case work need her. Steph tossed and turned quite a bit in her California king. Her mind just wouldn't stop working overtime. She fixated on the rumor. Many times she contemplated calling her husband just to find out if he knew about the gossip about him. She couldn't bring herself to call, she didn't feel up to it. It felt like forever before she was able to get relaxed enough to drift off to sleep.
The shrill sound of her blackberry ringing caused her head to dart off her pillow to reach the cell phone. Because she was still half asleep and assumed it was work, she didn't even bother to look at the caller id.
"Hello?" She said closing her eyes that felt heavy from her drowsiness.
"Hey Steph."
"...Paul?" Steph asked furrowing her brow. She was a bit surprised that it wasn't work calling her but her former husband.
"I hope I didn't bother you at work. I didn't want to text you because I've found that hasn't been the best way to contact you as of late." Levesque explained, ending with a slight chuckle.
"What do want, Paul?" Stephanie questioned in a testy voice that still sounded a bit hoarse from her sleepiness.
"I wanted to know if I could come over and pick up Aurora. I'd like to have her over night and I'd bring her back tomorrow afternoon. I just wanted to check with you first before I came over, because I don't think your new nanny would just let me take her without you saying it was okay."
Steph let out a long sigh, letting her head fall back onto her pillow while keeping the cell phone at her ear. She hesitated for a moment because she really didn't want anyone coming over to the house after the day she had. But this wasn't just anyone who wanted to come over, this was Aurora's father. Stephanie felt a small measure of guilt because of how she had been handling her ex-husband as of late. There had been two text messages that she had gotten from him over the course of the last week, and she had ignored both.
"Uh, yeah, I guess you could stop by and pick her up whenever."Steph told him nonchalantly.
"Okay, well how have you and the kids been doing? I figured you've had your hands full lately." Levesque commented, wanting to chitchat with his ex.
"Paul, um, I don't mean to be rude but I'm not doing too well at the moment. I'm going to need to let you go."
"Oh, okay, I guess I'll see you later today if you're home from work when I come over to get Aurora. Bye, Steph."
"Bye." She muttered back before ending the call and tossing her phone back onto her nightstand.
Stephanie yawned hard before pulling the bed sheets up over her body and tucking them under her chin. It didn't take her long to fall back asleep.
Aurora Rose hummed happily while lying on her belly across the plush carpet of her living room. In her right hand was a red crayon that she was moving across a piece of white construction paper. Scattered around her was a sea of all the different colored Crayola crayons from her sixty four piece box that was laying empty right next to her.
She was making her mommy a pretty picture to help her feel better. Not only had Mommy missed having lunch with her, she had been upstairs resting for most of the afternoon. When her mother did come down, she had informed her daughter and Cathy that Aurora's father was coming over. The three year old hoped that when her mommy saw this beautiful picture she had made her, Steph would feel better and be just as happy and excited to see Daddy as Aurora was going to be.
"What's that pretty picture you're drawing, Aurora?" Cathy asked peering down at what the three year old had been intently working on while she had been changing Andrew.
"It a picture of Mommy. See, I maked it so she feel better!" Aurora Rose explained with enthusiasm as she pointed with her left hand at her best attempt at drawing Stephanie.
"Oh, that's very nice, sweetie. I'm sure that your mommy is going to love what you made her." Catherine told the child with a voice full of encouragement before she placed Andrew in his playpen.
"I done!" Aurora exclaimed before getting up from the floor and clapping her hands together to show her satisfaction in what she had drawn.
"Can I add one little thing? Can I put your name and the date on it? It will let your mommy know that it's from you and what day you drew it on." Cathy suggested with her extending her arms out for the child's artwork.
The three year old nodded her head in agreement before she bent over and picked up her drawing to hand to her nanny. Cathy then grabbed a dark blue crayon that was the closest to her feet and then proceeded to use it to write the little girl's name and the date.
"There you go, it's a perfect masterpiece. Where do you want to put it so you can give it to her when she comes downstairs?"
"On the table wight hewe." announced Aurora Rose after she was given her drawing back and placed it on the center coffee table in front of the large sofa.
"Okay, now it's time to help put all the crayons back in the box." announced the nanny as she already started to pick them up. Aurora joined in and they quickly got them put away.
The doorbell chimed signaling the arrival of Aurora's daddy. The little girl jumped up and down twice before she ran full force to the front door while the nanny followed behind.
"Hey, how's daddy's little princess today?" Paul gushed the minute he laid eyes on his child from where he stood on the front porch.
Aurora giggled and reached her arms out for her father. In one fluid motion, Levesque lifted his daughter up and into his muscular arms for a hug and a kiss.
"How are you today, Paul?" Catherine asked politely, graciously stepping out of the way so that her boss' ex-husband could come inside.
"I'm better now that I'm with my Aurora. I think she's grown in the week I didn't see her. Pretty soon she's going to be as big as her mommy and daddy." Paul joked while he playfully tickled his child causing her to belt out the very same laugh of her mother.
"You all packed and ready to go, sweetheart?" He then asked as he walked into the kitchen with his daughter still in his arms.
"No, I wanna wait for mommy to wakey up before bye-byes." The child explained as her father sat her down onto her feet.
"Steph's home already? She's asleep?" Levesque asked narrowing his hazel eyes. He wasn't expecting her to be home, but since she was, the visit would be even better than he imagined.
"Yes, she came home early because she wasn't feeling well." explained Ms. Scot.
"Daddy, wets go outside and pway!" Aurora begged tugging on her father's hand as she pointed toward the sliding glass door to the back deck.
"All right, honey. Let's go." He replied taking his daughter by the hand to lead her to the back yard via the back deck.
Stephanie ran her fingers though her hair as she slowly made her way down the stairs. While she had slept a great deal of the afternoon away, it did nothing to relieve her of her stressful state of being. She had dreamed about Kurt. It was a nightmarish hell of a dream where he had indeed gotten Candice pregnant and wanted to divorce her. The only comfort she felt was when she awoke to realize it hadn't happened, not yet anyway.
The ground floor of her home was pretty quiet. Steph stopped in the hallway for a moment to listen for the sign of where everyone was. She faintly heard Catherine's voice coming from the living room. She shuffled in her bare feet into the living room where only Ms. Scot and her son sat on the carpet floor.
"Ah, shit!" Stephanie barked after she tripped over baby Andy's Fisher Price xylophone that she hadn't even seen in front of her. With a flare of anger, she kicked the toy, sending it twirling across the carpet into a bunch of his toys.
"Oh, are you okay?" Cathy asked realizing that her boss had entered the room after the commotion with the baby toys. "Did you get some rest?"
"If you want to call it that." Steph replied in a dull voice before bringing her hand to her face. She had a terrible headache.
"Ma-ma!" Andy shrieked with enthusiasm pointing up at his mother.
"Yes, it's your mommy. Do want to show Mommy what you learned to do? Go ahead, blow Mommy a kiss. Go on, sweetie, blow a kiss to mommy." Ms. Scot told the child before she demonstrated the motion that she wanted him to replicate.
Andrew's wet mouth formed a smile. He quickly brought his hand to his face, almost slapping himself, and then pulled it away just as fast as Cathy added the "muah" sound effect before chuckling.
"That's so cute. Muah back at you, my little love." commented Stephanie before blowing her own kiss in the direction of her one year old.
"Where's Aurora? Did her father come get her already?" She then inquired speaking on the subject of how quiet it was with her three year old nowhere in sight.
"Oh, both of them are outside in the back yard playing. Aurora didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to you, and I wasn't sure if I needed to pack her an overnight bag."
"Oh, I'll take care of the bag of clothes, don't worry about it. She's only going over to spend the night." Steph muttered before leaving the living room for her spacious kitchen.
Approaching the kitchen sink, Stephanie's blue eyes peered out the wide kitchen window. The corners of her mouth instinctively pulled taunt to form a smile when she caught sight of her little girl having fun with her father in the yard. Paul had Aurora swung over his shoulder like a sack a potatoes and he was spinning around in place. A small bit of laughter then escaped through Steph's lips when she saw Paul gracefully fall into the grass with their daughter and then start tickling her. The three year old rolled away from her father's playful advances and it was then that Paul noticed Stephanie watching. He shot her a smile and then raised his hand to wave hi. Without even thinking about it, Steph returned the wave which then signaled Paul to stand up like he was finished playing and ready to go back inside to talk to her.
"Hey Cathy, I'm going to try and get some work done in my study! Just give me a holler when Aurora is ready to say goodbye!" Stephanie hollered aloud so that her voice would carry into the living room.
She waited for a few seconds until she heard the confirmation from her nanny that she would do just that. And then, Steph quickly made her way toward her and her husband's study. While watching her daughter and ex-husband interacting from a distance was nice, Stephanie really didn't want to put herself in an opportunity to have to dialogue with him. The last thing she needed was him seeing her in her current emotional state of being. Besides, her blackberry, that she had stuffed inside her yoga pants, had been going crazy with notifications of emails. There was work to be done.
Paul was a bit surprised by the fact that Stephanie was nowhere to be found when he and his daughter came back inside. His hazel eyes scanned the kitchen and then he followed his daughter into the living room.
"Where did Stephanie go to?" He asked the nanny after seeing that his ex-wife wasn't in that room either.
"She's in her study trying to get some work done. " Ms. Scot replied still playing with baby Andrew on the floor.
"Always about work, her father keeps her so busy and stressed that it's a wonder she hasn't gotten herself a prescription for some Xanax." Paul commented shaking his head. It was clear that his former wife still couldn't even take a sick day without attempting to get some work done. It had to be the McMahon in her.
"Oh shoot, I can't believe I forgot." The nanny remarked after a realization had dawned on her.
"What?" Paul asked back quickly.
"I need to go drop off a prescription at the pharmacy today. I didn't have time this morning, and I need to get there before it closes later tonight. Gosh, I really don't want to disturb Steph now that she's working. Even if I were to take the baby with me, I'd need his car seat." Catherine explained with regret.
"Go ahead and do whatever you need to. I'll watch the kids until you come back." Levesque offered shrugging off the problem like it was no big deal.
"Are you sure? I don't want to impose, after all, they are my responsibility."
"Don't worry about it, I've watched them before for Steph. I'll keep the fort down." Paul promised holding up a hitch hiker thumb telling the nanny that it was okay for her to hit the road.
Ms. Scot thanked Paul again and quickly went into the kitchen to grab her purse to go. She wanted to get the errand done as fast as she could with the hope that Stephanie wouldn't be upset with her having to leave the children.
"So, you and diaper butt over here like the new nanny?" Levesque asked his daughter the moment after Cathy left. He plopped down in the nearest sofa.
"Mmhmm."
"She seems nice." He added chewing his mint gum while nodding his head slightly.
Andrew toddled over to where Aurora had left her box of crayons on the floor and squatted down to pick them up. Once the box was in his hands, he shook it, liking the sound of them shifting back and forth. He stayed still while doing this.
"You think he's taking a dump?" Levesque casually asked his daughter with a chuckle.
His inquiry about the baby caused Aurora to notice that her crayon box was in her younger brother's hands. Quickly, she arose from her play area and approached Andrew.
"No, my cwayons!" Aurora scolded the baby as she ripped the box out of his hand so that she could take it back to her area. She set the box on the small shelf next to her doll house and resumed playing.
"Ooo." Andy whimpered first looking up at his sister, and then looking over at Paul, who was the only adult in the room. He then stuck his bottom lip out and let out a little whine.
"Jeeze Aurora, chill out." Paul commented, a bit surprised by his daughter's quick reaction to the baby. It was certainly different than her normal behavior.
Looking for more stimulation, baby Andrew got to his feet and staggered over to the coffee table. His blue eyes scanned all the objects sitting on top of it, before focusing in on his sister's artwork. He strained a little bit, reaching for the corner of the construction paper in the center of the table. When his hand grabbed hold of it, he pulled it off the surface and held it in his hands.
"Ooo, dat?" Andy babbled playfully, pointing to the drawing.
It was then the sound of the construction paper tearing that got Aurora's attention. Her eyes widened before she sprang to her feet and ran over to the baby.
"No, that my pwesent for Mommy! No!" Aurora hollered pulling the slightly torn construction paper from the baby's hands.
Having the paper ripped from his hands, caused Andy to whine and try and reach to get it back. This of course pissed Aurora Rose off even more, and she pushed the child back, sending him back into the coffee table. It was a sickening sound when the side of the one year old's head smacked into the glass coffee table with a good amount of force.
"Oh shit!" said Paul with alarm before jumping up from his seat and rushing over to the baby.
Andrew's mouth opened wide as he then sucked in a big breath of air before letting out a bloodcurdling scream that echoed throughout the whole house. Aurora backed up a few steps letting the construction paper flutter to the floor faced down. Even she was startled by the volume of the baby's crying.
"Shhh, it's okay, you're all right." Levesque assured in his best calming voice after he picked up the hysterical baby.
Paul brought his hand up to the side of the child's head. It was hot to the touch and he could feel a goose egg already forming. He then looked over at his daughter who looked like she was getting ready to cry too.
"He taked Mommy's pwesent, Daddy! He hurted hisself!" The three year old shouted in her own defense. She was concerned that she was going to get in big trouble because of the baby getting hurt. Was her own daddy going to yell at her?
Paul let out a sigh while he tried rocking the baby in his arms. Nothing was soothing the child. Andrew continued to wail, his face was now beet red and wet with tears.
"What's going on in here?" Stephanie hollered the minute she rushed into the living room.
Before Paul could even attempt to reply, Steph was taking the screaming baby from him. She studied her child and immediately saw the large bump on the side of his face. And then she looked to her ex-husband for an explanation. Aurora Rose had sat down on the carpet floor. Had demeanor was that of a convicted criminal who was ready to face his sentencing. It was going to be time out for sure.
"He was toddling along when he tripped over one of his toys and fell head first into the glass coffee table." Levesque heard himself lie in response to Steph's question.
He had made up the fabrication for his three year old daughter. The last thing he wanted was to see his little angel getting in trouble with her mommy when he should have stepped in to prevent the accident in the first place.
"Oh honey, you really got a bad booboo." voiced Steph bringing her baby into a hug while her eyes surveyed the scene.
Andrew's baby toys were all over the floor. She, herself, had tripped over one earlier. Stephanie's eyes narrowed slightly when she looked at her daughter. Aurora was biting her bottom lip and looked nervous.
"Aurora, it's okay, honey. Andrew is going to be okay." She assured her three year old before giving her son a kiss on his cheek. He was starting to calm down a little.
"Maybe you should take him into the kitchen and put some ice on it so it doesn't bruise too bad." Levesque suggested watching her give the baby affection.
"Yeah, I need to, but he's not going to be happy." commented Stephanie as she left the living room to follow her former husband's advice.
"Hey, that my booboo bunny, Mommy!" Aurora whined the moment she and her father entered the kitchen and saw Steph remove the frozen block with the pink plush bunny around it from the freezer.
"Shhh, don't worry about it." Paul whispered to his daughter while holding a finger up to his mouth.
"Where's Cathy?" Stephanie asked aloud, finally noticing that her hired nanny was missing in action.
"She remembered that she needed to drop a prescription off at the pharmacy. I told her I'd watch the kids for her." Levesque explained looking on while Steph began to fight to control her son since he did not want the cold on his bump.
"Here, why don't I take him and you can put it on his head." He then offered approaching the struggling mother.
"Thank you." Stephanie muttered before handing over the child to her ex.
Immediately, Andrew began to cry and fight against Paul's attempt to hold him still. The fact that Levesque was a muscular man with a great amount of strength in his grip, made Andy scream with rage since he wasn't able to move away from the cold at all.
"It's okay, honey. Mommy loves you." Steph gushed, her heart was breaking for her little man.
Aurora was overcome with jealousy as she watched not one but both of her parents giving all their attention to baby Andy. What about her? Wasn't her daddy suppose to be visiting with her? Desperate to garner attention, the three year old ran back into the living room, picked up her drawing, and ran back into the kitchen.
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"Aurora Rose yelled trying to be heard over Andrew Vincent's screaming. She wanted her mom to see the picture she had drawn for her.
Stephanie's head felt like it was about to explode. Between both of her children screaming, to the unrelenting stress she was feeling, she started to feel her self control slipping away.
"Aurora, just stop! I can't take it anymore, just stop! What do you want? What?" Stephanie snapped out causing both children to fall quiet.
"I maked this for you..." Aurora muttered with her pink lip protruding out. Her beautiful eyes sparkling with tears as she held up her drawing of her mother that was suppose to make her mother feel better.
And then it was Steph who burst into tears. She couldn't believe that she had snapped out at her own child. What kind of a mother did that? All her baby girl wanted to do was give her a drawing. At that moment, she hated herself as a mother.
Levesque was wide eyed. He couldn't believe how emotional Stephanie was being. She had gone from screaming to crying in a matter of seconds. Something definitely had to be wrong.
"I'm sorry..." Steph whispered to her child through her tears.
She then approached the kitchen sink and threw the booboo bunny into it. Then she leaned against the counter top and started sobbing.
"Mommy? Daddy, why Mommy cry?" Aurora Rose asked as she started to get worried.
"Come on sweetie, I need to talk to Mommy for a little while, I want you to stay in here and play with your toys." Paul told his daughter as he led her into the living room with Andrew still in his arms.
Aurora was still looking up at him like she wanted an answer to her question. She did what her father told her though. Before leaving his daughter in the living room, Levesque deposited the one year old into his playpen.
Paul scratched his beard with his hand while he slowly began to make his way across the kitchen to his ex-wife. He was trying to figure out what he should say. Did she even want him to try and comfort her? He wanted to, but he wasn't sure if she would let him.
Without saying a word, he gently placed his hand on the middle of her back. Once it was there for a few seconds, and she didn't move away from his touch, he began to gently rub his hand up and down her shirt. He then closed the space between them, coming up behind her. He hated seeing her in obvious pain, especially when he didn't know what the cause of it was.
"What's the matter, Steph?" He asked in a meek voice.
"What isn't the matter? I've been trying so hard to hold my life together! To try and be strong for me and my kids! I find out today at work that everyone's been talking about my marriage behind my back! They're spreading ugly rumors that Kurt's cheating!" Steph cried letting her guts spill out to her ex.
"You mean you didn't already know about the rumor about Kurt and Candice?" Paul inquired, narrowing his hazel eyes. He was sure she had already known about all of it since according to Aurora, she had kicked the Olympic Wonder out of the house. He had assumed that the affair was the main cause of that.
"No, but you did?" Steph quickly retorted as she whipped around to look him in the eyes.
"Yeah, everyone's been talking about it." Levesque muttered. His eyes darted away from hers nervously.
"And you didn't think to tell me?"
Paul let out an exasperated laugh as he put his hand up in the air. He couldn't believe that she was now questioning why he hadn't come to her with all the details of what was being said.
"I told you a number of times in the past that people were saying that Candice had a thing for Angle. As I recall, you basically told me that you didn't want to hear it. Anytime I tried to drop hints to you that I was here for you if you needed to talk, you'd brush me off." Paul finally told her.
"And if I did tell you that the word in the company was that that diva was having his kid, what would that get me, Steph, gratitude? No, it would have landed me a slap to the face. You know it, and I know it." He added.
"I don't want to believe it...I can't. I just refuse to believe that this could all happen to me again. People are so damn hurtful spreading gossip, not caring who gets hurt. I don't deserve it. I just want to be happily married, raise my children, and help my company grow. I don't think that's too much to ask." Stephanie wept, bearing her soul aloud. She brought her hands up to her face and cried harder into them.
"It's okay, come here. It's not your fault. And you're right, that's not too much to ask for." Paul agreed with her in a whisper as he step forward and pulled her into a hug.
Levesque couldn't help but feel a surge of contentment when he felt her grab hold of him, wrapping her arms around his neck, accepting his hug. Her face was buried in his t-shirt, right at his broad shoulder. He could hear her muffled cries while he rubbed the small of her back with both his hands. Her perfume entered his nostrils each time he breathed in deep. He wanted to tell her right then and there that even though he screwed up in the past, he wanted to be the one to give her all those things she wanted: a wonderful marriage, more children, a happy life.
"Steph?" Paul whispered in her ear. He then gave her cheek a tender kiss before letting go of their embrace.
His hands, he then brought to either side of her jaw line, lifting her head up so that he could look into her sparkling blue eyes before he said whatever it was he was finally going to say to her. She looked up at him, giving him her full undivided attention. This was it. This was his moment to tell her how he was still very much in love with her.
"Steph, I..." He began but then paused, he was trying to figure out how exactly he wanted to say it. For over a year, he had fantasized about this very moment. It had happened over and over again in his head, but now, he just didn't know the right way to spit it out.
Stephanie trembled under his touch. She felt like she was on tenterhooks. She was wondering what bombshell he now was going to drop on her. She had enough stress today to last her a lifetime. It was such an awkward silence after he trailed off. It added the overwhelming anxiety she was being plagued with.
Fuck it, there was no words for how he felt about her. In one quick motion, Paul leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. His body literally vibrated from the sheer ecstasy of once again having his lips on hers; knowing that she was fully awake and knew what was going on. This kiss was real, it was him and Steph. His eyes were closed. The kiss was tender, yet bold, and as quickly as it started, it ended. Stephanie pulled away, while her hand pushed into his chest to quickly separate them. When Levesque opened his eyes, he saw Stephanie staring back at him with her mouth slightly parted. Her eyes were wide, her face still tear stained and now pale, like all the color had been drained from it.
Steph couldn't believe what had just happened. Had she led him on? Was it something she said that made him think that she wanted him to do that? Oh God, did he think she was coming on to him because she hugged him back? Stephanie felt like her intestines had seized and formed into a huge knot, pulling hard downward toward her feminine parts.
Before Paul could do or say anything else to end the awkward nothingness between them, Stephanie moved, walking away from him and out of the kitchen. He turned to watch where she went, and saw her enter the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.
"Fuck..." Levesque muttered to himself. He shook his head.
Had he just blown it? Did she hate him because he kissed her? Surely if she had not wanted to be kissed, she would have slapped his face right after or would have told him how inappropriate it was of him to kiss a married woman; but she didn't do any of that.
For a moment he thought about going after her, but quickly thought better of it. She clearly needed to be alone. He just wished that she would have said something, anything, before leaving him in the kitchen.
Levesque just stood there in that exact same spot minute after minute. In his mind, he recapped the turn of events, over and over again. He was immediately reanimated when he heard footsteps coming toward the kitchen from the hallway. He turned just in time to see that it was Catherine.
"Thanks for watching the kids. Are they still in the living room?" She asked setting her purse back on the counter top where she had had it before.
Paul said nothing but just nodded and then watched her go in to the living room to tend to the children. He wondered if the return of the nanny would compel Steph to come back out of the bathroom and face him.
And then, after what felt like a few more minutes passed by, the bathroom door slowly opened. Stephanie was silently weeping. Her body was trembling as she slowly walked back into the kitchen with both her hands clutching her abdomen. Seeing her caused Paul's eyebrows to furrow. She looked like she was in pain. He took a few steps toward her, but then immediately stopped dead in his tracks when she spoke aloud:
"I'm bleeding..." She muttered almost breathlessly.
Paul scanned her with his eyes, a bit confused. He didn't see any blood on her. She injured herself? How? Did she fall in the bathroom or something? He hadn't heard anything while she was in there. And then Stephanie said something that completely threw him for a loop:
"I think I'm losing my baby..."