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-Seven

"Let go, Daddy. The hug done now." Aurora whined impatiently as she squirmed in her father's arms.

He had been holding her for a few minutes now, and the child was definitely ready to be let go. Paul did his best to get his emotions in check before he released his three year old. Once Aurora Rose was set back on her feet, he covered his face with his hands and concentrated on his breathing; he was trying to relax. He had to put his ex-wife out of his mind and enjoy his time with his child.

"I know what make you feel better." announced Aurora while making her way around to the other side of her bed.

The little girl approached the pink nightstand by her bed and immediately took hold of the photo album that was sitting on top of it. She had remembered the special picture album that Daddy had shown her the last time she had stayed overnight at his house. She smiled wide looking down at the photo album cover that was a heart shaped picture of her mommy and daddy with her as a baby. This was sure to make her father happy, because it was her favorite thing at his house.

"Come wook at pictures wif me, Daddy." She told him in her sweet voice that sounded a little strained as she used her three year old strength to lift the album and place it on the bed.

Paul twisted his muscular torso to look behind him at what his child was referring to. Great, she wanted to look at his and Stephanie's old photo album again. Of all the days she wanted to look at it again, it had to be tonight? Seeing pictures of him happy with his wife and baby girl wasn't going to make him feel better, but worse. It was only going to remind him of what he had lost. Too bad he couldn't explain that to his three year old.

"I'm not in the mood to look at that right now. Daddy's upset. You just go on ahead and look at it by yourself." He instructed his child, his voice cracking a little because of the lump in his throat.

"But it of you, Mommy, and baby me." Aurora quickly said back pointing her little finger to the picture that was framed on the front of the album. She didn't understand why he didn't want to look at it with her.

Levesque didn't reply to his daughter's comment. He closed his eyes before his tears could flow from his hazel eyes. Paul couldn't help but think back to the night when he had shared those treasured photographs with his little girl for the first time. He remembered how hopeful he had been then that in the future he and Steph would get back together and it would be the two of them that would look at it with their daughter. But as he sat there now, he knew in his heart of hearts that that day would probably never come. Steph was determined to press on in the life she had created without him; the new baby she was pregnant with was proof of that.

"There Mommy in the white dwess wif my daddy...And there Mommy wif a big belly. Look, Daddy, look, I inside Mommy's big belly cus I'm hided in there." The three year old commented giggling as she pointed out and gave her two cents for the first two pictures inside the album.

"Shh, the last person in the world that Daddy wants to hear you talk about is your mommy." Levesque muttered as he then began to massage his fingertips into the temples of his head. He could feel a pressure headache beginning to form there.

Her father's words caused Aurora's face to form a frown. Her bright eyes sparkled with both confusion and sadness as she wondered why her daddy didn't want her talking about mommy. What was wrong with her looking at pictures of her mother? Did Daddy not like Mommy anymore? If so, why? Was it her fault that Daddy didn't like her mommy anymore?

"Why you mad at Mommy? Mommy say that she always wuv you." Aurora Rose responded back in a soft tone of voice that was almost a whisper. She was, of course, referring back to her mother's reply when she had been asked by Aurora if she loved her daddy. The child had omitted the part of her mother's response where she said 'because he gave me you'.

Hearing his daughter's comment caused Levesque's sorrow to quickly evolve into that of anger. Not anger at his little girl, but at the mother of his child. How dare Stephanie feed a line of bullshit like that to Aurora? It was one thing if she did it to him, but to lead on their daughter was quite another thing. She professed love for him? If she loved him so much why didn't she let him be by her side in the hospital? Why had he been banished to sit in the waiting area for hours on end? Did the kiss he gave her in the kitchen mean anything to her? Obviously not since she was sucking face with Angle a few hours later. Before Paul could reign in his thoughts, his words came spilling out of his mouth.

"Mommy's a liar! She doesn't love anybody but herself and Kurt Angle! And maybe her replacement kids: Andrew and the one she's growing in her belly now! She could care less about me and what we had together! The fucking two-timing bitch!" Levesque screamed out letting every bit of his anger and frustration come flooding out without a single filter for his child's sake.

Her father's outburst, that virtually came out of nowhere, frightened the child. She had placed her hands over her ears the moment he started yelling, but by the end of his rant, her little hands had moved to her face to hide it. The sound of crying replaced the awkward moment of silence between her father's outburst and his reaction to what he said in front of his daughter.

"Shit..." He muttered under his breath.

Paul couldn't believe he had allowed himself to lose control and say all of those hurtful things aloud in front of her. None of what he said was anything that Aurora Rose needed to hear. She didn't deserve that from anyone, especially her own father.

Levesque moved from his seat on the other side of the bed so that he could comfort his crying baby girl. He wanted to act fast to take her tears away. He hated the fact that they were falling because of him and what he said.

"Sweetheart, Daddy's really sorry. Honey, I'm just cranky and-"

"You say bad loud words about Mommy! I no like that, Daddy!" Aurora cried out exposing her face while she began to wring her hands in front of her.

"I know, and I was wrong to do that, okay? Sometimes Daddies and Mommies say things when they're angry that they shouldn't say. And this was one of those times, baby." He said softly as he began to lovingly rub his child's back.

Aurora let out a few sniffles and then took a moment to rub her eyes with both hands. She really didn't understand why her father was upset and yelling. All she knew was that she didn't like what he said. As soon as Aurora Rose removed her hands from her face, she peered down at the open photo album and focused in on the pregnant picture of her mother. From all her daddy's mean words about Mommy, the thing he said that she did comprehend was that her mommy had a new baby hiding inside her belly now.

"Mommy know that a baby hided in her tummy?" Aurora asked her father. For the three year old, it was a relevant question since her mother never said anything to her about a baby being inside her belly.

Paul let out a deep sigh. It was obvious that he spilled the beans to his young child about her mother's pregnancy. Typical Steph to keep the fact that she was expecting hush-hush even from her own daughter. The question now became what he should say in response to his child. He couldn't very well lie and said that she wasn't, especially when a baby would show up in nine months or so. And if he said yes, Steph would certainly find out that he was the one who filled their daughter in about it. Actually, that was probably the least damaging thing he had said in his unbridled flare of anger. He would be lucky if she didn't repeat the profanity that he had let rip about his ex-wife.

"Yeah, she knows. It's that baby that's made mommy sick lately. She had to go to the hospital today and almost lost it." Levesque said aloud staring off into space as he divulged the private information about his ex-wife to their daughter.

"I no like that baby making Mommy sick. Why baby not get lost? I no want Mommy to have new baby, Daddy." She quickly replied back with a bit of attitude as she folded her arms in front of her.

Paul let out a sympathetic sigh while he continued to lovingly rub his child's back. He knew exactly how she felt because it was his feelings exactly. It was one thing he and his daughter certainly had in common: they didn't want Stephanie to have another Angle baby.

"Well sweetheart, there's nothing we can do about that. Mommy's going to have another baby that will take a lot of love and attention just like baby Andrew, and she'll need your help. But don't worry, honey, you will always have all of Daddy's love and attention." Paul promised before giving his daughter a kiss on her cheek.

He wanted to make it clear to his child that even though she was spending most of her time living with her mother and step-father, it was him, her father, that would shower her with all the attention and love that she deserved. She was his one and only child; the remnants of what he and Stephanie had together.

"No fair, I want all Mommy's wuv and attent-shun." Aurora Rose muttered back with a look of sadness on her face as she closed the photo album. She took a moment to study the cover picture of her with both of her parents before she laid back in her bed, letting her head rest on her pillow.

Levesque smiled again and slowly laid down on the bed beside his little girl. He knew how she felt because he too wished that he had Stephanie. Angle didn't deserve to be with her. The dipshit had screwed up a number of times, yet she took him back. Where was his second chance? He never got one.

"Me too, sweetheart, me too."

The sound of Andrew Vincent's cries coming from the nearby nursery caused Stephanie's blue eyes to flutter open. As the morning's daylight flooded through her iris, she saw that she had fallen asleep on her husband's hard chest. One of Kurt's arms was lightly draped over her. Her large diamond ring sparkled from her hand that was nestled in Angle's chest hair. She was careful not to disturb him as she lifted her head to glance over at the bedside alarm clock. The digital clock read "6:10". Stephanie wasn't surprised, this was the normal time her one year old woke up. The moment that Steph tried to slowly ease away from her sleeping husband, she felt his muscular arm flex, pulling her in close to him.

"Morning, babe." whispered Angle with a smile. One of his blue eyes opened to look at his wife while he allowed the other to stay closed. He was still a little drowsy.

"Good morning." She answered back before leaning back down to give him a quick peck on his full lips.

It was when she went to sit back up, so that she could leave his arms, that Kurt brought both hands to her arms to hold her in place. He always surprised her with how quick his reflexes were, even this early in the morning.

"Wait, where do you think you're going?" He asked smiling while he held onto her.

"Can't you hear that your son is awake?" She questioned through a smile of her own before removing his hands from her arms.

"Yeah, and I'm going to get up with him. You just lay back down and relax." directed Angle as he sat up in their bed and swung his legs over his side of the bed.

Steph raised her eyebrows before she slowly sank back into the comfortable bed. Her eyes remained fixed on him as he stood up in nothing but his white briefs. He took a second where he stood to adjust himself in his underwear before moving to grab a t-shirt and shorts from the nearby dresser drawer.

"Are you sure that you want to get up with him? He's going to need a diaper change and his breakfast." She inquired trying to give her husband an easy out if he didn't want to perform the daily schedule with the one year old that she had perfected herself.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry about it, okay? You can relax now, babe, because Daddy's home." He replied while quickly putting the light clothing on. After, he then turned back to look at her flashing smirk.

When her husband disappeared through the double doors, she let out a relaxed sigh and stretched her arms out across the width of the king size bed. It felt so good to be able to lay there knowing that someone else was taking over her morning mommy duties. She let out an uninhibited yawn before letting her eyes close. Her body had no problem falling right back to sleep.

Upon entering the nursery, Kurt was quickly greeted with a long string of "Dada"s from his son's wet mouth. Andrew was already standing at the crib railing facing the door. The sight of his son being happy to see him put a huge smile on Angle's face. He had actually contemplated if his time away from his youngster would cause the baby to act differently toward him when returned. It was now clear that that was not the case.

"Hey buddy, how's my big guy?" Kurt asked with a bit of enthusiasm walking across the nursery toward his son.

His words caused the child to let out a squeal of laughter, stretching his arms outward over his crib rail in the direction of his father. In one quick motion, Angle moved forward and took hold of his baby lifting him up and over the crib.

"Daddy missed you, buddy!" laughed Angle as he then began to bench press his son over his head making the baby continue his amusement of playing with his daddy.

After a few more moments of being a goofy dad with his kid, Kurt returned to his duties of fulfilling Andrew's morning routine that started with a diaper change. He had his work cut out for him this morning with taking care of his youngest child. Despite the fact that he had three children with yet another on the way, he considered himself to be still earning his stripes as a father. Feeding Andrew Vincent breakfast would surely be a full body experience for both of them.

Thanks to Angle's greatest efforts to be the best hands-on daddy that he could be, Stephanie was able to get a good four extra hours of sleep. The time that had elapsed felt like a blink of an eye because of how deep asleep she had been. It was the sound of Kurt coming into their master bedroom while carrying a breakfast tray that woke her.

"Hey babe, good morning a second time." He remarked with a smile while walking slowly toward the bed.

"What time is it? How long did I sleep?" Stephanie asked back while letting out a yawn and stretching.

"It's after ten, you slept most of the morning, but that's good. You needed to rest. Cathy's here now and she's looking after Andy. And this, is my pathetic attempt at cooking you breakfast."

Stephanie's mouth formed a smile the moment Kurt sat down on the edge of the bed, placing the breakfast tray across her midsection. This prompted her to sit up, propping the pillows behind her back.

"Oh, honey, you shouldn't have. I mean you really shouldn't have." Stephanie laughed looking down at her husband's pitiful effort to prepare her a meal.

The only thing on the tray that looked at all appetizing to her was the tall glass of orange juice. On a plate sat scrambled eggs which looked to be over cooked. Next to the eggs were four strips of bacon that had been almost burnt to a crisp along with a slice of equally burnt whole wheat toast with red jam smeared all over it.

"I know, I suck at cooking, I'm sorry. I was afraid of giving you something that was undercooked that might hurt you or the baby." Angle explained sheepishly.

"I can see that." Stephanie commented trying her best to hold back her laughter as she lifted the piece of toast from the plate and looked at the burnt underside of it.

"Do you want me to toss it? You don't have to force yourself to eat it on my account."

"No, I'll have a few bites. You know what would be great though? Two strawberry pop-tarts and a banana. I don't think you can mess up toasting the pop-tarts, and the banana needs no preparation." Stephanie informed him before giving him a hearty laugh.

"If I knew that was the breakfast you had in mind, it would have saved me a lot of trouble and embarrassment. Before I go fetch it for you, I'll let you in on the little phone call I made for you this morning." Angle divulged with a big smile on his face.

Stephanie made her thin eyebrows raise while taking a sip of the orange juice. She was showing her intrigue as a result of Kurt's mention of a phone call he had made on her behalf. Steph had no idea what he was talking about, but she was sure he couldn't wait to elaborate.

"I made a call to your favorite spa and made you an appointment for a half day of the finest pampering and relaxation. They are expecting you at noon." Angle announced proudly as he began to lovingly caress her arm with his hand.

"Kurt, you should have asked me first. You have to cancel it, tonight is SmackDown and I left work early yesterday, there's so much wor-"

"I don't want to hear that word come out of your mouth. You almost lost our unborn baby because of all the stress at work and our marital problems. You deserve a break, babe. Please let me give you one. Now, I've already paid for your spa day in advance over the phone. You're getting massages, facials, all of that stuff, the most expensive package they offered. Just go there and enjoy being taken care of, okay?" Angle pled using his other hand to gently brush his wife's brown hair away from her face.

Steph gave him a smile before nodding her head. She was surprised that Kurt would think to do something like that for her. The spa he was referring to was one that was right there in Greenwich. She had been there only once before with her mother almost a year ago during one of their mother-daughter outings that they occasionally made time to do. Had her Olympic sweetheart really come up with the spa idea all on his own? Perhaps her mother had had a hand in suggesting it. Anyway, it didn't matter. Her husband was right, she did need a restful retreat.

"You're so thoughtful." She commented grabbing hold of her husband's t-shirt with both her hands to make him lean toward her.

Angle moved toward his wife giving her a peck on the lips. She then wrapped her arms around his broad neck, and pulled him back in for a few more quick kisses which he gladly accepted.

Kurt was relieved when Steph finally agreed to go to the spa date. It was the best idea he could come up with when thinking about how to keep his pregnant wife away from all of life's stressors. With Stephanie at the spa and the nanny there to watch their son, he was free to travel the hour it took to get to Bradley International to get his Escalade back and turn in the rental.

Paul loved having his little girl with him. Having her there with him the moment he woke up in the morning was such a joy. She was like his little Stephanie that he had a right to be with because she was his. Levesque enjoyed his morning with his baby girl so much that he decided that he was going to completely blow off SmackDown tapings later in the day. Why should he sacrifice time with Aurora only to fly out to a city he had visited many times before to do a job under Vince McMahon's command? Fuck Vince and his second rate show. Paul was going to spend more time with his daughter and he didn't care what the consequences would be for doing so.

Once he had made the decision to keep his child longer, Paul immediately began to dread having to return to the Angle home to get more fresh clothing for his child. The last thing he wanted to encounter was the "loving couple" in their wedded bliss. God must have really been smiling down on him, because to his pleasant surprise, neither Kurt nor Stephanie were home when he and Aurora stopped by. The nanny was helpful in getting some of Aurora's clothing together, not even bothering to mention the fact that he had showed up unannounced.

"Yeah we had a little bit of a late start, but we're well on our way now. I know, it's been way too long." Levesque said into his cell phone.

While talking on his cell phone, Paul cautiously merged his red Hummer onto Interstate 90 East as his daughter slept soundly in her safety seat behind him. Aurora Rose had fallen asleep just after they had gotten through Hartford Connecticut which was an hour ago. She was a good little traveler despite the fact that she was only three years old.

"Okay, we'll see you then. Love you, bye."

After ending the phone call, he laid his cell phone in his nearest cup holder and brought his full attention back on the road. With both hands back on the wheel, he began to drum his thumbs upon it repeatedly. He couldn't wait to reach his destination. His and Aurora's visit there was long overdue.

Leaving the spa, Stephanie felt rejuvenated. Her day had been to the essence of relaxation and because of it, she felt like her body had returned to homeostasis. She couldn't wait to get home to spend time with her husband and children. At this point in the day, Paul would have already brought Aurora back before heading to SmackDown. Maybe her and Kurt could take the kids out to dinner.

She was in the mood to celebrate life. After all, she had a lot to be thankful for: she hadn't lost her baby and had two other beautiful children, a husband who adored her, and a job that she loved. Sure there was a far amount of intrusive drama, but that was true for anyone. It was a part of life and she wasn't going to let it have a negative effect on her anymore. She would rise above it.

With her Coach bag on her shoulder, Stephanie casually walked to where she had parked her Porsche in the small parking lot for spa patrons. She entered her vehicle and quickly started it and blasted the air conditioning before rolling down both the driver and passenger side power windows. It was extremely hot inside the car thanks to the sweltering summer sun. Steph donned her sunglasses and was about to put her automobile in reverse when she heard her cell phone ringtone from inside of her handbag. She put the Porsche back into park and then began to rummage through her bag for her phone. When she finally located her phone, she let her sunglasses slide down the bridge of her nose so that she could clearly see the caller i.d.

"Why do I not want to answer this?" Stephanie asked herself aloud the moment she read "Dad's cell".

Steph could only imagine what her father was calling her about. Her instincts told her that it probably wasn't going to be an uplifting conversation. She knew that her mother had filled him in on her threatened miscarriage and that Kurt and her were back together. With what time it was on Tuesday, he had to already be at the SmackDown tapings, so why was he calling her to talk now? She took a deep breath, bracing herself as she hit the green send button and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hi Dad." said Stephanie in a voice that was somewhat monotone.

"Hey Steph, have you heard from that bastard that you were once married to? We're setting up for SmackDown and he's AWOL. I tried calling him but the asshole won't answer his phone. Did you see or hear from him today?" Vince asked his daughter in a booming voice that made her hold the phone away from her ear.

"Dad, please lower your voice. I haven't seen or talked to Paul since yesterday. He had Aurora overnight and he was going to drop her off before traveling to the show. I've been at the spa for most of the day. Let me call home and find out if he dropped off our daughter. It's not like him to just not show up for an event."

"Yeah, you find out where he is and when you do, you can tell him that he can forget about any push for Triple H in the future! I own his ass! He's-"

"Dad, stop! I'm hanging up now and I'm worried that something could have happened to him and Aurora! I'll call you back!" Stephanie yelled back into the phone so that she was able to cut through her father's mindless rant about her ex-husband.

She was telling the truth about being worried. If there was one thing she knew about Paul, it was that he always had a strong work ethic. It would completely be out of character for him to just blow off his obligations to the company. Sure he had left early from shows, or missed a few because of extenuating circumstances, but for all of those past times, he had cleared it with management. This wasn't like him.

She didn't give her father a chance to rebuttal before she ended the call and quickly dialed her home phone number. It took a few rings before her husband picked up.

"Kurt, did Paul drop off Aurora? Is she at home?" Stephanie quickly asked the moment after her husband answered with a 'hello'.

"No, Aurora's not here. It's just me and Andrew here now. I let Cathy go home early."

"You haven't heard from him? Did Cathy mention him at all when you got back from the airport?" Steph inquired in a voice that was beginning to sound frantic.

"No, Steph, what's going on? Are you all right?"

"I-I'll talk to you when I get home. I need to call Paul. Love you, bye." Steph quickly answered back before she hung up. She wasn't going to take the time to explain the events to her spouse as they had unfolded. She needed to get a hold of her ex.

She dialed his cell number into her phone and swallowed hard as she heard the line begin to ring.

"Pick up, Paul. Pick up." She muttered as tears began to well up in her eyes.

She felt like her heart was in her throat. What if something had happened to him and Aurora? That's the thought that kept plaguing her mind as the only plausible reason she could even think of. The loss of one of her children would absolutely destroy her. Aurora was her first born and since the day of her birth, she could never imagine living a day without her child in her life.

Steph bit her bottom lip hard while in her mind she said a silent prayer that her daughter was okay and safe with her father. She felt like her life was hanging in the balance of this phone call.

"P-Paul?" Stephanie blurted out in a tearful voice the very moment the ringing stopped and her call came through to her ex-husband's phone.