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 Sixty-Two
Stephanie knelt beside the porcelain lined bathtub in a t-shirt and shorts that were both damp with warm bath water. Her hair, she had wisely gathered up into a loose bun on top of her head so it would not interfere with her bathing duties. She had decided to make her life easier by giving Aurora and Andrew their bath together, which proved to be quite a splashing good time.
"Okay, no more splashing, you two. Mommy already had her shower, I don't need another one." Steph laughed while lathering up the puppet cloth with Johnson & Johnson head-to-toe wash.
As traumatic and stressful as yesterday had been for both Stephanie and Aurora, this morning seemed to be a stark contrast. Despite all that had come to a head the day before, the three year old was in a surprisingly cheerful mood. All morning she had been the sweet and loving big sister that Stephanie knew that she could be. Everything falling into place during their morning routine helped Steph chase away all thoughts about her disdain for Paul.
Kurt had set off for the airport quite early. Before he left the house, he had made it a point to advise her to keep the nanny on duty during his absence so that she had a second pair of hands. In the last three hours since her arrival, Catherine had been just that, a helper; there to make Steph's life a little easier, while she, herself, performed all of her mommy duties.
"Now that I clean can baby broffer and me get more bubblies in the baffytub?" Aurora Rose asked after noticing that the amount of bubbles in their bath water had significantly diminished since her mother had finished washing her.
"No, sweetheart, I put enough bubble bath in the water. Bath time is almost finished. I just need to wash Andy." Stephanie pointed out before she began to scrub the colorful puppet cloth over Andrew's soft skin.
"He no like that." giggled Aurora.
She was stating the obvious when the one year old let out a whine and turned his head away from the direction of the wash cloth that was scrubbing his face clean.
"I know, but that's too bad. He needs to have his face washed, just like you. Just wait until I go to wash his hair. He's really going to get upset." Steph explained to her daughter as she used her free hand to make Andrew stand up so that she could wash his entire body with the other.
"He have more hair than his daddy!" Aurora exclaimed with a laughter before starting to play with her bath toys.
"You're right, he does." Stephanie chuckled. She brought her hand to the faucet knob and manipulated it to allow warm water to flow.
The running water quickly filled up a plastic cup which Stephanie then slowly poured over her one year old's head. Andrew immediately pitched a fit, so much so that Steph had to grab hold of the child for fear of him falling in the tub.
"Oh goodness, someone's not happy." Cathy commented the moment she entered the bathroom with two fresh folded towels in her arms.
"I laid out clothes for both of the children, and here are two towels that are still warm from the dryer." She added placing them on the counter top between the two bathroom sinks.
"Thank you, Cathy. They are almost ready to get out." replied Steph as she poured another cup of water on Andrew's hair to rinse out the soap suds.
"Eww, baby brother peepeed in the baff! Eww, wight out of his tinkle spout, Mommy!" Aurora cried out in disgust when she saw her younger sibling urinate into the water. The act caused her to stand up.
Catherine approached the bath tub and helped the three year old out before wrapping her with a towel. The nanny figured that removing the child from the dirty bath water would quickly calm her down and allow Steph to finish administering to her younger child.
"Oh, Steph, before I forget, your father called the house sounding quite agitated. He wouldn't leave a message but wants you to call back as soon as possible." Cathy reported to her boss.
Stephanie inadvertently rolled her eyes in response. She was in no way surprised to be getting an angry call from her dad when the writing team was without her direct supervision. She almost wanted to completely blow off the phone call. Her father caused her nothing but stress with his ranting and raving. Though thinking better of the situation, she knew that if she didn't get back to him then he was going to be all the more upset when he finally did get a hold of her. It was best to head off the potential problem instead of ignoring it.
"Can you get both of the kids dried off and dressed while I call my dad back?" Steph then inquired while at the same time she stood and then handed off Andrew to the nanny. His bath was finished so it was a perfect opportunity for her to slip away for a few minutes and appease her father with a phone call.
Ms. Scot gladly accepted the task allowing Stephanie to retreat to the floor level of her home in order to make the phone call. She was just about to enter the kitchen when the sound of the doorbell chiming caused her to halt. She quickly spun around, narrowing her eyes in the direction of the front of the house. She was not expecting any visitors today. The unanticipated arrival a guest took immediate precedence over calling Vince.
Anxious to see who was on her doorstep, Steph hastened her stride navigating through her hallways until she arrived at the vestibule. Before even bringing her hand to the door handle, she peered out of one of the smaller rectangular side windows to see who was actually on the other side of it.
"What the fuck?" She breathed in a faint whisper when she saw her ex-husband standing there.
What the hell was he doing there? Seeing him on her doorstep was like all of the anger and sadness she had experienced last night was rearing its ugly head to ruin the simplicity and peacefulness the new day had brought to her. Had she not made it clear to him that she no longer wished to know him? Did that last statement she gave him not cover the fact that she never wanted him darkening her doorstep again?
She nervously tucked her bottom lip into her mouth. Should she just ignore the fact that he was there and go on back to her mommy duties? How could she? Catherine would surely question as to why she wasn't acknowledging the fact that someone was outside ringing the doorbell. No, ignoring him wasn't the answer. She needed to deal with him head on.
Stephanie quickly unlocked the door and then opened it just enough for her head to fit in the space.
"What are you doing here?" Steph quickly snapped aloud in a voice that had all the bitchiness of her former television alter ego, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley.
The abrasiveness of her tone immediately seemed to throw Paul off. He was silent for a few seconds after she had spoken. He shifted his weight between his feet, not taking a step closer nor farther from the doorway. In his hands, he firmly gripped their old family photo album. His hesitation caused her eyes to widened as an unspoken way of telling him to spit it out.
On the way over to the Angle home, he had pictured how this encounter between them would go in his mind so that he would know what to say. Unfortunately for him, in his mind, she had treated him like a human being, her child's father, and not like a lump of dog shit that she had just scrapped off one of her stiletto heels.
"I don't want you stepping foot in my house, Paul." Stephanie then added before he was even able to start answering her question.
"I just want to see Aurora..." He croaked, trailing off at the end of his sentence. Saying his daughter's name almost caused him to tear up; so did the thought of Steph denying him a chance to see his little girl before she tried to take away that right entirely.
"I don't know if that's a good idea. I wouldn't want her to get upset because of what happened yesterday. She's having such a good morning." protested Stephanie after letting a few seconds of awkward silence elapse.
Levesque breathed in deep before letting out a slow and controlled exhale. He couldn't believe how selfish she was being to not only him but to their child. The night before, she had thrown in his face that she wanted Kurt Angle to raise their daughter in his place. And now, she wouldn't even allow him a chance to explain to Aurora himself why he was no longer going to be a part of her life?
"Let's cut the bullshit, Steph. I'm not leaving here until I see my daughter. I don't care if I have to wait out here in the hot summer sun all day long. Call the cops, try and have me escorted off your property, nothing is going to keep me from seeing my baby girl. I still have the right to see her. You haven't taken that away from me yet." He told her in a quivering voice that was full of raw emotion.
Steph inhaled sharply and held it. In the mist of her anger, she couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that he did have a point. Stephanie had yet to go to court to contest the joint custody arrangement. Until then, she couldn't legally keep him from seeing Aurora Rose. And what about her? Wouldn't it be best if she got to say goodbye to him in terms of closure? It could be a monitored visit; that way if he said or did anything inappropriate, she could step in.
"Okay, fine, go around back to the deck and I'll send her out so you can have a few minutes to say your goodbyes, but don't think I won't be keeping an eye on you; just in case you have the urge to spew any more hurtful lies at her."
Before Levesque could even verbalize an acceptance of her offer, she retreated back into her house and slammed the door in his face. It was clear that he was going to have to walk the perimeter of the huge home instead of simply cutting through the inside of it. It made sense, she didn't want him stepping foot inside of it.
"Did someone ring your doorbell?" Cathy asked Mrs. Angle the minute she entered Aurora's bedroom.
"Yeah, Aurora's father is here to see her for a quick visit." Stephanie replied walking over to where the nanny was helping the three year old get dressed in a cotton t-shirt and shorts.
"Daddy here? Where?" Aurora questioned back quickly after her head popped through the shirt followed by her arms on either side.
"He's waiting for you on the back deck. If you don't want to see him, Mommy can make him leave." Steph assured her daughter while lovingly bringing her damp locks of light brown hair out of the back of the t-shirt.
"No, no go away. I pway wif him." Aurora quickly answered back with a smile as she clapped her hands together a few times showing her enthusiasm.
"Cathy, would you please keep Andrew occupied while I oversee my daughter's visit with her father?"
Little Andy had climbed up onto his sister's bed and was scrutinizing each and every one of the stuffed animals that were piled on top of it. Thank God the nanny was there to keep tabs on the one year old. There would have been no way for Stephanie to monitor Paul's visit with Aurora with Andrew Vincent to look after.
Catherine cocked her head slightly to the side. She looked a little confused by Stephanie mentioning that she needed to oversee her daughter's visit with her father. And why was her boss questioning if her child would want to see her daddy? It was all a little odd, but it was none of her business to inquire for clarification. She simply nodded with a smile and moved to tend to the younger child.
"I go see Daddy now!" Aurora exclaimed with excitement as she attempted to run passed Steph who grabbed hold of her hand to cut off her stride.
"Wait a minute, sweetheart, let's get some sandals on you."
To Stephanie's surprise, Aurora Rose seemed to be chomping at the bit to see Paul. It definitely spoke to how resilient children were. Despite all the nastiness her daddy had displayed in front of her, she was willing to look past it. The small child may have been able to do so, but Steph couldn't. At the tender age of three, she didn't understand what was best for her. She only knew that her daddy was a man that loomed high in her world and that she should love him.
It felt like forever that Paul was waiting patiently on the large wooden deck for his little girl to emerge from the sliding glass doors. It was no surprise that Stephanie was taking her sweet time bringing their child to him. He placed the photo album on the patio table and took a seat in one of the chairs.
And then, just when he thought he was going to have to wait well into the afternoon, the back door slid open. With a big smile on her face, the three year old hopped over the small step onto the back deck causing him to let out a chuckle. He beamed with pride seeing his baby girl now before him. Stephanie quickly pulled the screen door across the open doorway and then stood there with her arms folded while Paul got up from his chair.
"Daddy missed his baby girl so much." Levesque whispered after he quickly scooped her up into his arms and hugged her as tightly as he thought he could without hurting her.
"You come to pway wif me?" Aurora Rose asked, quickly letting go of the hug so that she could look into her daddy's eyes.
Paul wished with all his heart that that was really the reason he was there. Looking into the eyes of his child, he knew how difficult it was going to be to explain to her that they were no longer going to see each other anymore.
"Actually, honey, I came over to talk to you." He began before gently setting his little girl back onto her feet.
Levesque let out a long sigh and then slowly lowered himself into a kneeling position in front of his daughter so that he could be eye level with her. For a rambunctious three year old, she was standing there surprisingly still while waiting for her daddy to elaborate on what he was going to talk to her about. She was still smiling; completely oblivious to what she was going to be told. Paul had to mentally tell himself that he needed to press on and be honest with her. It was just so hard seeing his child standing there so happy to be with him when he knew it was all coming to an end.
"Sweetheart, Daddy is going to be going away..." He finally said aloud.
"I come too?" She quickly questioned back. Her sparkling eyes beginning to fill with excitement at the thought of daddy taking her on another trip. Maybe this time, Mommy could come too and she wouldn't be upset with him anymore, she thought to herself.
His daughter's inquiry wrenched his heart. Levesque slowly shook his head. His hazel eyes darted away. He had to turn his head away from her. It was far too painful to see his little girl's reaction to him telling her that he wouldn't be able to take her with him, no matter how much he wanted to.
"But why?" Aurora then asked innocently in her sweet little voice that would melt even the coldest of hearts.
"Daddy, why I no come?" She asked aloud again after not getting a response. She brought her little hands to either side of his face and forced him to turn his head back to look at her.
When father and daughter's eyes met, the tears began to fall from Paul's eyes. Through his blurry gaze, Levesque saw that the smile on her face had disappeared and had been replaced with a look of concern. She now knew that something was wrong. The fact that Aurora Rose was a big girl now and was quick to pick up on his emotions, made it all the harder for him.
"Because you need to stay with Mommy. We aren't going to see each other anymore." He croaked through his tears. Those were the hardest two sentences he had ever had to say aloud.
Aurora gave a hard frown. She tipped her head forward as her eyes began to sting with fresh tears. Her protruding pink bottom lip began to tremble before giving way to a sob. Why was her daddy not going to see her anymore? Was it because she had told Mommy about what he had said about her baby brother?
Even with her child's back facing her. Stephanie could hear her daughter's crying. Her first instinct was to run out onto the deck and take her into her arms and away from her father. However, it was Aurora's tearful words that froze her in place:
"You mad wif me? You no want be my daddy anymore?"
Her questions ripped into Paul's heart. His child actually thought that he was stopping their visits because he didn't want to be her father anymore. God, that was the farthest thing from the truth. His greatest wish would be to mend his shattered family and raise her with her mother. Stephanie had already crushed that dream, giving that privilege away to another man.
"Oh, sweetheart, I'm not mad at you. I love you with all of my heart. Getting to be your daddy has been the greatest accomplishment of my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything." He told her after pulling his child into his arms for an embrace.
As he held his daughter in his arms, Paul's eyes shifted to his ex-wife who was still standing at the screen door. To his surprise, she was crying as well. Her manicured fingertips she placed on either side of her nose, her palms covered her mouth. Her sparkling blue eyes leaked with tears that had to be only for their daughter. Couldn't she see what her decision to remove her from Aurora's life was doing to the child?
"Ven why you go away?" Aurora asked while still being hugged.
A part of Levesque wanted Stephanie to answer that question. After all, she was the one who was ripping him and Aurora apart. He kept his eyes focused on his former wife for a few more seconds before bringing them and his attention back to his crying child.
"I'm going away because I said and did things that good daddies shouldn't do. It's all my fault. You did nothing wrong, okay? Do you understand?"
Aurora pulled away from the hug to look at him. She shook her head while her small frame spastically jerked as she sucked air in and out through her runny nose.
She did not understand at all. Her daddy never was bad when she as with him. She always had fun playing with him. Why was her daddy being taken away? Andrew's daddy was on busy-iness but would come back to him. Why wasn't her daddy allowed to?
"You not bad, Daddy. You pway wif me and give me big huggies and kissies. You not go!" pleaded Aurora Rose, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I don't want to go, but sometimes, we have to do things that we don't want to do. And because daddy can't be with you anymore, I brought you something special for you to have always." Paul explained before moving to reach up and grab the photo album from the table.
"It the Daddy-Mommy-Aurora book." She stated sniffling back her congestion as her father brought it down to her.
The moment Aurora grasped hold of the book, Paul moved to sit back down in the patio chair, this time, putting his little girl in his lap. Now with both of them facing Steph, she immediately recognized the photo album in her daughter's hands. She had made it herself to chronicle her most joyous memories of her life with Paul. Stephanie had left it behind after their marriage had ended in an attempt to forget and move forward with her and Aurora's new life with Kurt.
"This photo album is all yours now. Whenever you feel sad and miss seeing Daddy, you can look at all these happy pictures and feel better." Paul advised before leaning in and kissing his daughter's tear stained cheek.
As much as Levesque loved being with his child, he knew it was time for him to say goodbye and leave. It was like a double edged sword: He wanted desperately to spend as much time as he could with her, but each passing moment was making it harder and harder to leave her with her mother.
"Daddy has to say bye-bye now. I love you, sweetheart." He muttered giving her a squeeze and a few more kisses.
"No!" cried Aurora as Paul set her down on her feet so that he could stand up to leave. She immediately let go of the photo album allowing it to fall flat on the wooden deck.
"I'm sorry, honey. I love you but I have to go." Levesque muttered while using his hand to wipe away his own tears.
The three year old was quick to spin around and grab onto her father's right leg with both her arms and legs like a crab. She figured that if she held onto her daddy, he couldn't leave her.
"No Daddy, no weave me, pwease! Daddy! Pwease!" She continued to beg through her tears holding on to his leg for dear life.
Paul bent down and brought his hands to his daughter. He knew that he needed to pull her off of him, but God help him, he couldn't do it. For months upon months, he had wanted his little girl to be attached to him like she had grown to be with Kurt Angle. And now that he finally had that, he was having to give it up. It broke his heart.. What he really wanted to do was pick her up and take her with him.
Levesque looked up and over at his ex-wife who was still playing spectator on the other side of the screen door. He stared at her blankly, his tears continuing to flow down his cheeks and into his beard. He felt like asking her if she was happy with what she saw. After all, this was what Stephanie wanted.
Steph took her ex-husband's glace as an indication that he needed her assistance with their daughter so that he could make his exit. She opened the sliding screen door and stepped out onto the deck.
"Come here, honey, he has to go. Let's go inside." Stephanie whispered in a calm but loving voice as she approached them.
"No, Mommy! No!" Aurora screamed and cried feeling her mother pulling off of her father's leg.
As soon as Steph had succeeded in pulling his daughter off of him, Paul quickly began to walk away toward the deck stairs. Him leaving, caused Aurora to pull away from her mother using all of her weight.
"I come too, Daddy! No go! DADDYYYY!" She cried out in almost a howl as she started to run after him. Stephanie moved fast and was able to catch her child and pick her up with a little bit of resistance.
"It's okay, shhh. He had to go, it was what was best. Mommy's here, sweetheart." Steph told her daughter as she tried rocking her in her arms like she did when she was a fussy little baby.
Paul had not looked back. It was the only way he was going to be able to go through with leaving her on that back deck. The sound of his child crying out for him hastened him as he tried to get as far from her as quickly as he could.
It was when Levesque disappeared around the side of the house that Aurora finally started to calm down a bit. She whimpered softly while her mommy dried her tears with her hand and then gave her a bunch of kisses as if to make up for her feeling of abandonment.
"How about we do something just for Mommy and Aurora? We can leave your brother at home with Cathy and we'll go get some ice cream. How about that, hmm? How does that sound, Princess?" suggested Steph while she gently pressed for forehead up against her daughter's. She then moved her face away so that her child could express what she wanted.
Aurora Rose shook her head adamantly before thrusting herself into her mother's shirt, snuggling her face up to her mommy's neck.
"Okay, maybe later when you're feeling better. Let's pick up your photo album and go inside. We can find a special place to put it in your room."
With her little girl still nuzzled in her arms, Stephanie walked over to where her old family photo album laid face up on the wooden deck. Gracefully, she bent down and lifted the album with one hand along its spine.
Her eyes focused on the cover picture: her and Paul with their little baby girl. A family picture for the cover of their family album. While the picture was only three years old, it felt like a lifetime ago; like another life she had led. She had moved on and had a new photo album to record new family memories with her new husband and her children. Still, Steph was glad that this album was in her daughter's possession. It documented for her the fact that her mommy and daddy were once very much in love with each other, and more importantly, that they both loved her.
"Steph?"
Catherine's voice caused Stephanie to snap back to reality and look in the direction in which she was hearing her name called. The nanny was standing at the screen door with Andy on her hip, and the cordless phone in her hand.
"Sorry to interrupt anything, but your dad is on the phone demanding to speak with you." explained Cathy in an apologetic tone of voice.
Stephanie rolled her eyes and gave a loud forced exhale. She made her way across the deck and pulled open the screen door.
"Here, just hold this for a minute." She ordered handing the nanny the photo album so that she had a free hand to take the phone.
"What do you want, Dad? I'm busy at home with my children!" She snapped out into the phone causing Andy to whine and reach for her.
"Damn it, Stephanie, I've been trying to get a hold of you all morning! You didn't answer your cell or call me back! That son of a bitch ex-husband of yours came to headquarters this morning and quit his job!"
Stephanie's eyes opened wide as he jaw dropped open with disbelief about what she had just heard. She was speechless. Levesque quit his job in World Wrestling Entertainment? No, she must have heard him wrong.
"He what?" She finally asked back regaining her voice.
"Are you deaf? I said he quit! He walked out on the company! We're suing his balls off, Steph! When I finish with that bastard, he's going to wish he never signed with this company back in 1994!...Hello? Stephanie, are you still there?"
Yes, she was still on the line, but was utterly astounded. In all of the years she had known Paul Levesque, very last thing on earth he would ever do would be to leave professional wrestling; Like body building, it was one of his greatest loves in his life. Perhaps it was the prospect of losing his visitation with Aurora. What else would have been the catalyst to do something so bizarre and impulsive?