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-Four
"Steph, baby, what is it?"
After voicing his concern, Angle quickly moved across the spacious master bedroom to where his wife was sitting distraught on their bedspread.
Her husband showing concern for her caused Stephanie to cry even harder. Setting aside her feelings about what she and her little girl were going through with the Paul situation, Steph was also feeling a measure of guilt and sadness for keeping all of this from her husband since it all went down yesterday.
"Come on, honey, whatever it is, you can tell me." Kurt encouraged gently wiping away a falling tear from her face.
He felt on edge. Something really had to be wrong for her to be so beside herself in tears. So many terrifying scenarios plagued his mind. The most plausible yet devastating was the thought that she could have miscarried. God, he just wish she would say what it was. No matter how terrible, at least he would know. The unknowing was much more frightening.
Stephanie closed her eyes tight, cutting forming tear drops that quickly ran down her face. She pursed her soft pink lips together; Steph wanted to tell him everything but she was not sure where to even start.
"You were right about Paul..." She finally muttered while doing her best to sniff back her congestion.
"What? What are you talking about? Did something happen while I was in Tennessee?" He quickly asked back with a hint of anger in his voice. The thought of Levesque doing anything to hurt his wife or one of the children was enough to set him off right then and there.
"Do you remember when Aurora was acting out a couple of days ago and I went up to talk with her? Well, she told me that her father had told her that I didn't love her anymore and that I was replacing her with Andrew and the new baby. I was utterly shocked that he could do something like that..."
"I'm not. How many times did I try and tell you that Paul only thinks about himself? The only thing he cares about is ruining the happy family we made together." Angle replied back quickly. He was not phased at all by what his wife was telling him about her ex.
"Well I confronted him. I told him that what he did was inexcusable and I didn't want him in Aurora's life anymore. Then he came by today and said goodbye to Aurora, getting her all worked up and upset. After he left, I got a call from Dad saying that Paul quit the company." Steph then divulged sniffling back her tears.
"Well that's good, he's out of our lives completely! He did what you wanted, right?" Angle quickly pointed out with a small chuckle before he furrowed his eyebrows because of his confusion of why his wife was so upset.
Kurt felt like Christmas had come early. Stephanie had finally seen the light and had banished Levesque from her good graces. In turn, Levesque had decided to resign from WWE; a course of action that definitely meant that the better man had won, and he had given up. Angle knew that he was the better man. Stephy belonged with him, and now, there would be no one to challenge that fact.
"I don't know what I want anymore. I said what I said to him because I was worried about my children. But when I see the look of sadness on my baby girl's face, I can't help but second guess what I said to him." She admitted bringing her hands to her face as she began to lose her composure again.
"Steph, no, don't second guess yourself. You're a good mother to Andrew and Aurora. When your daughter told you that her father was the son of a bitch that I told you he was, you did the right thing. He only cares about himself, not what's best for Aurora." Angle pointed out rubbing his wife's back as she sat next to him on their bed.
"Why did he quit the company? If he was so worried about his career, he would never have just walked into Dad's office and quit. And you should have seen Aurora, she was so upset. She didn't understand why he was leaving her. I'm so scared that she's going to end up blaming me..." Steph sobbed revealing her biggest fear and the reason she was so distraught.
"Oh, honey, I'd never let that happen. Aurora will be okay. You'll just have to explain to her that you are upset with her father right now, but she will be able to see him again soon. Just because we don't want him in our lives, doesn't mean that he still can't spend time with his child." Kurt explained after he took her into an embrace.
"No, I told him that I wanted to contest legal custody of her. He made me so mad that I just wish that we could go back to how it was before Aurora knew him as her father. You said before that you loved her like your own flesh and blood. Would you be willing to actually adopt her?" Steph asked through sniffles, hugging her husband back tightly.
Angle's mouth gaped open. He was a bit shocked with his wife's request. She was right, he had said in the past that he loved Aurora like she was his own child and he could see adopting her; but that was months ago. Kurt had been through so much since then when it came to his ex-wife and his own two older children. He couldn't help but put himself in Paul's situation, now that he knew that Jeff Jarrett was gunning for his role as father to Kyra and Kody. Who would Kurt be to replace the little girl's real and true daddy? Wouldn't that make him a hypocrite? Had Stephanie taken a page from Karen Jarrett's book? Wasn't one sole custody battle enough?
"You're right, I do love Aurora, but I just wouldn't feel right trying to take the place of her father now. I mean, it was different before, she used to think I was her daddy. Now, she knows who her father is, and I don't think it would be right for me to challenge that. Not because of Levesque, you know how much I hate him, but because I care about your little girl, and I want what is best for her." Kurt whispered lovingly into his wife's ear while resting his jaw on her shoulder.
"I do too, and that's why I am torn up inside. You should have heard my baby saying all the hateful things Paul said to her and everything he's done because he hates our marriage. I don't want the ugliness around any of my children. I think I need to take him to court." Stephanie admitted after leaving her husband's embrace. Her sparkling blue eyes pierced through his showing to him her sincerity.
"I don't, he's already done what you asked of him. He's left the company, and it seems he's going to leave you and Aurora alone. I don't think you should go after him in court. I'm about to go there myself with Karen, and I know it's going to hurt my kids; tear them up inside. Do you want that for Aurora? Hasn't she been through enough?"
Angle's words caused Steph to slowly begin to nod her head in agreement. Her little girl had been through enough drama in the three short years of her life, that she didn't need any more. Perhaps her threat about taking Paul to court was done so more out of knee jerk decision on her part that was out of anger and spite. Did Levesque's behavior really warrant him losing the privilege of being Aurora's father forever? And wouldn't that end up being a punishment for Aurora too, since she now knew him as her father?
"I hate that it has come to this. I just want a happy, healthy life with you and my three babies. I never thought that I was asking for much..." cried Stephanie, she leaned into her husband for comfort which he gladly gave her in the form of kiss on the forehead.
"It's not, honey. We deserve to be a happy family. You can't let this stress you out. Think about our little unborn baby growing inside of you." He told her as he began to gently caress her abdomen with his hand before continuing:
"Little Aurora will pull through this with a little bit of time. And I'm sure Paul will contact you after some time passes. If he really loves Aurora, he's going to want to work things out with us so he can see her again. He doesn't want to go to court either. So don't you worry, Steph, okay, everything is going to be okay. I'm here for you always. I love you, baby."
Kurt's loving words made Steph crack a smile while her tears began to subside. He had put, what she had considered as a dreadful situation, into a more positive perspective. Not only did he remind her how loved she was in her marriage, but Angle also made it clearly apparent how lucky she was. She had two healthy children and now another on the way that she had not lost despite a turbulent first trimester.
"I love you too." She whispered back bringing both of her manicured hands to his clean shaven face. She then leaned in and pressed her lips firmly against his.
Kurt let out a long sigh. He quickly took control of their kiss; parting his lips, he gently inserted his tongue into her mouth with no resistance from his wife. Their lips locked, and Stephanie matched his rhythm caressing his tongue with hers. The mere act of kissing her always turned Angle on; his muscular arms wrapped around Steph's slender frame and he pulled her to him causing her to straddle his torso.
"What do you think you're doing?" asked Steph with a sly smile the minute she broke the kiss. His hands were on her backside and he was making her grind into him.
"What am I doing?" He chuckled back before flashing a naughty smirk.
Angle didn't have to tell her what he wanted. She could feel from his body's current state of arousal as she rubbed up against him. And she wanted it too; even though it would be going against what the doctor in the hospital had advised. Hell, they hadn't been able to have make up sex since getting back together after a week or two apart.
"I don't want you to do anything. I'm in charge." Stephanie told him raising an eyebrow. Her hands reached behind her and removed his from her rear.
Kurt made his eyebrows go up once before pulling his mouth taunt into a goofy smile. He allowed his wife to move his hands to his sides. Then he breathed in deep, looking down at his dress shirt where Steph's hands then settled at its collar.
She grabbed hold of either side of the collar and used it to pull him toward her for an opened mouth kiss that she pulled away from before he could attempt to take control of it. He chuckled and then tried to kiss her again, but she moved away, teasing him slightly.
Stephanie smiled devilishly as her fingers began to fiddle with the top button of his dress shirt. Angle smiled back, and watched as she took her time slowly unbuttoning each and every button down his shirt. He was resisting the urge to take over and simply rip his shirt off along with hers. He wanted to obey her. Steph was in charge of their foreplay and she was surely going to make it a very pleasant experience.
As soon as the last button was undone, she grabbed two handfuls of the shirt, and pulled on it, causing it to become untucked from inside his dress pants. Then, she placed her hands inside the open shirt, her palms running from his pecs up to his shoulders, pushing the clothing off of him. Kurt straightened his arms, allowing the shirt to fall from his body onto the bed. He then bit his bottom lip in response to the feeling of his wife caressing his bare chest with her hands. Angle tightened his abdominal muscles while feeling Steph trace each and every one of the abs of his six pack with her fingertips.
"You love teasing me, don't you? You know I want you so bad." muttered Angle, leaning into his wife so that their foreheads pressed together as he spoke.
"Yeah, I know you do." Steph replied smiled while her right hand traveled down to his dress pants to the proof of his arousal.
"I want you too." She then whispered before giving him a tender kiss that he quickly turned into a passionate one.
She allowed his strong advances, and it prompted Stephanie to bring her other hand back to his muscular torso. She pushed on him so that he would lay back on the bed. When Kurt was lying on his back, he smiled up at his wife who then took her hair tie from her ponytail and then sensually shook out her long brown flowing locks.
She seductively bit her bottom lip, while her hands began to fiddle with his belt and then the button and zipper of his pants. And then, just as Angle reached up and began to try and pull down her shorts, a little voice broke through their thick haze of intimacy:
"Mommy?"
The sound of Aurora's voice caused Stephanie to freeze and immediately look to the master bedroom doorway. There was her little three year old standing there rubbing one of her eyes with her stuffed otter in her other arm. How much had she seen? Hopefully she had just walked in. It was a good thing they hadn't actually started making love yet. Normally, they were very good about locking the master bedroom double doors before being intimate, but tonight, it had been so spontaneous.
"Aurora, honey, what are you doing out of bed? It's night-night time, sweetheart." Steph replied back. Both her and Kurt were quick to retreat from one another.
"I no sweep by myself. Fwipsy and me wanna sweep wif you." The child whined seemingly on the verge of tears.
Steph and Kurt both breathed a sigh of relief as it seemed that the child was not at all concerned with what her mother and step-father were doing upon her entry into the bedroom. With the child wanting to sleep in their bed, it was clear that there would be no fooling around.
"Hey Princess, you go ahead and hop into bed with Mommy." Angle told his step-daughter after sitting up and zipping and buttoning up his pants.
He didn't even wait for his wife to answer her daughter back. From what he had heard about the day, the child deserved some snuggle time with her mommy more than he did.
Aurora smiled before running over to her mommy's side of the bed. Steph picked up her daughter and brought her onto the king size bed while Kurt got to his feet.
"You okay, honey?" Steph asked noticing her husband's retreat.
"Yeah, I'm just going to go take a shower. You know..." He replied making his eyes dart down to his lower half which he was covering with his wrinkled dress shirt in the presence of the child.
"Oh, okay." She chuckled back, helping her daughter under the covers.
When Angle adjourned to the master bathroom, Stephanie took the time to change into her night shirt while Aurora got comfortable on her side of the bed.
"Mommy, why you laying on Kurt when I come in?" The three year old asked innocently without taking her head off of Stephanie's pillow.
Stephanie stood still for a moment. Her back was to her child so she had a few quick seconds to come up with an appropriate response that was suitable for her young child.
"Well, Mommy and Kurt were just playing a game, it's something grownups do when they are private time together when they are in love and married." She finally said back in before turning around to look at her daughter to see if she was buying the explanation.
"Oh..." Aurora replied before continuing on, "You come lay sweep wif me now, Mommy?"
The child had easily bought her mother's reasoning of the situation and was now ready to go to sleep in bed with her mother. Thankfully, at the age of three, Aurora Rose wasn't yet questioning her mommy's explanation of things she didn't understand.
"Yeah, scoot over, munchkin." She told her daughter approaching her side of the bed in her long t-shirt that came down to her thighs.
Aurora giggled and rolled over toward the middle of the California king so her mother could climb in. Once Steph was under the covers, the three year old quickly rolled back over to be close to her mommy over, almost accidentally slapping her in the face with her hand.
"Careful with those hands, sweetheart. You've got a fierce slap just like me." chuckled Stephanie before taking her child's hand and giving it a kiss.
"I wike you, Mommy?" She asked with a grin cocking her head to the side.
"Yes, you sure are, Princess. You're mommy's mini-me. I love you." Steph told her in a loving whisper feeling her child snuggle up close to her in the bed.
A smile couldn't help but form on Stephanie's face when she was able to hold her little girl close to her. If one good thing came out of all the drama that Paul had caused her family, it was the realization that she needed to focus more of her attention on her children, more specifically, Aurora Rose. With a new baby on the way and with all of the drama that lead to Paul's departure, her daughter needed the extra assurance that she was very much loved and safe with Mommy and Kurt.
Angle let out a deep moan that faintly echoed in the master bathroom's enclosed shower. He then sighed, his free left hand, he placed on shower wall. Kurt's glistening chest heaved as the shower jets continued to beat down on it. He smiled wide, still breathing heavy as he looked down at the shower floor. It would have been so much better if he could have taken care of that with his wife's help, but at least he had relief.
After taking a moment to rinse himself off adequately, Angle turned off the shower jets and stepped out into a towel. He patted himself dry before tightly wrapping the towel around his waist.
"Everything come out okay? That was a nice long shower." Steph commented in a whisper to her husband the moment he reemerged from their master bathroom.
Little Aurora had already fallen asleep and had not even stirred slightly when her mother spoke aloud.
"You know how much stamina I have. I wish you were in there with me though." He whispered back to her, removing his towel once he knew that the child was asleep, and started rummaging in one of his dresser draws for clean briefs.
"You and me both, Sexy ass." She replied in a stifled giggle, checking out her man's bare backside before he stepped into his cotton underwear and pulled them up.
"Jeez, all we're missing is Andy, and we'd have ourselves a family slumber party." chuckled Angle in a low voice while he carefully into his side of the bed so not to wake his stepdaughter. He then reached over and clicked off the bedside lamp.
"I know, babe. I'm sorry things got cut short between us." Steph whispered back through the darkness.
"No, don't be. The kids come first. Aurora had a hard day, she needs love from you more than I do right now." He admitted in a mutter while he extended his arm out over both Aurora and Stephanie.
Steph smiled while her head remained on her pillow as she laid on her side facing her sleeping daughter and her husband. She brought her well manicured hand to his bare arm that was draped across her before whispering back.
"Thank you, honey. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you."
His wife's admission prompted him to carefully move across to her side of the bed, without disturbing the sleeping three year old, in order to find her lips in the darkness.
"Ditto, Steph. I love you. We'll be okay, Aurora will get through this." He breathed after giving her a quick smooch.
"I hope so. I love you too."
Paul's hazel eyes blinked open a few times. At first he thought it was night, but then quickly realized that it was only dark because his face was pressed into a pillow. He lifted his head and found himself in his 'oh so familiar' surroundings of his childhood bedroom. How long had he slept? In an attempt to answer that question himself, he glanced over at his bedside table at his old Cartex digital clock. It was '9:23 AM'. Jesus, he had slept away yesterday.
Slowly, Levesque shifted to lay on his back and then adjusted his clothing that he had slept in. His large hand rested on his cell phone that was still clipped to his jeans. He slowly unclipped it and brought it up in front of him. Immediately, upon examining it, he saw that he had two missed calls, a voice and text message. The first thought that popped into his head was that Steph was trying to reach him. It was wishful thinking, but he couldn't help but hope that she had a bit of regret for how things went down yesterday.
His optimism quickly faded when he saw that both missed calls were from Shawn; the text message was also. It read:
What's going on? I tried calling you twice and haven't heard back from you. I've been hearing from multiple sources that you quit WWE. Talk to me.
But he didn't want to talk to Shawn. The truth was that he felt a measure of betrayal when it came to the man who was suppose to be his best friend. According to Stephanie, it had been Michaels who had told her about him pushing Andrew off the sofa. How "Christian" that was of him. What kind of a friend would do that? He knew how much Paul wanted to get back together with Steph. As he saw it, Shawn was a Judas for ruining any shot he had at getting back with her and Aurora.
Paul placed his cell phone on his night stand before resuming the same position on his back.
Add best friend to the list of losses; His life had truly unraveled with no hope of every being put back to where it once was, and a good night sleep had not changed that fact. He was just seeing all of it with a clearer head.
Levesque's eyes scanned the many childhood memories that adorned his walls. He couldn't help but think back to how much simpler life had been when he was a young boy. He had his whole life in front of him then. His dreams of success in body building and one day having a family of his own were his motivation to work extra hard all those days during lunchtime in the high school weight room. If only he could go back and relive that time in his life again; to get a second chance at his adult life.
Paul would have fallen in love and married Stephanie all over again. That part he would never change. They would have had their precious Aurora Rose, and he would have been nothing but a faithful and loving husband. A husband that was so thankful for what he had that he had no need to find company elsewhere. And they would have had more children together, including the child that wouldn't have been lost via miscarriage. And Kurt Angle would have stayed merely a former WWE employee. He would have had no opportunity to worm his way into Steph's heart.
Levesque let out a deep sigh before slowly sitting up to hang his legs off to side of the bed. His back hunched over as he rested his face in his hands. No matter how badly he wished he could, there was no way for him to turn back time and fix his past mistakes. The truth was that he couldn't look back at the past and dwell on what he could have done differently. There was nowhere to go but forward. Paul just didn't know how he could do it.
All he could do was try and go through the motions. First came a hot shower, after which, he dressed in the forgotten clothing his mother had washed and folded in one of his dresser draws from one of his past visits over a year ago. His damp dirty blonde hair, he combed and then pulled back into a smooth, tight ponytail, like usual, without even thinking about it.
Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Levesque were discussing their son over a late breakfast. They had held out eating for longer than usual with the hopes of him joining them. A early morning phone call from Lynn had them even more concerned for Paul Jr. than yesterday.
"I'm telling you, Pat, honey, something is very wrong for him to do this." Paul Sr. warned his wife.
"Oh no, do you think he's had some kind of a nervous breakdown? He seemed very upset the other day when he told me that Stephanie and her new husband were having another child." Mrs. Levesque speculated.
"Poor guy, I think he really loved her and Aurora. He probably doesn't know how he can live without them and it drove him to do this."
"My poor baby. Oh my Gosh, do you think I should go upstairs and check on him. What if he, oh I can't even say it." Patricia muttered starting to get teary eyed at the mere thought of her son not wanting to live.
"Shh, I think he's coming." Mr. Levesque quickly cautioned his wife the moment he heard footsteps coming down the nearby stairs. As an attempt to 'act natural', Paul Sr. rustled the newspaper and pretended that he was busy reading it like he usually did every morning.
"Morning, guys." Paul Jr. muttered aloud the moment he shuffled into the kitchen. His face was blank, his words sounding detached.
"Good morning, hon. There's coffee if you want it. Would you like me to make you some breakfast? I could fry you up some eggs and bacon with toast or-"
"No thanks, Mom. I'm not hungry. I'm gonna just step outside for a bit, get some fresh air." He explained while doing his best to show her a kind smile. Sadly, as he saw it, there was never going to be a reason to smile again.
His parents both watched him as he left the house through the back kitchen door that lead out to their back deck. It was clear to them that he was avoiding interaction with them. Something was plaguing him, so much so that he felt like he needed to get away from the people that cared about him most.
"We have to talk to him. I've never seen him like this." Patricia said aloud the moment her son closed the back door.
"I don't know, Pat, he's a grown man. I don't think we should press him to confide to us. If he wants to talk to us, he will. He's become so secretive. For a year we didn't see him and our granddaughter. He didn't talk to us about his divorce. What makes you think he'll be candid about leaving the business he supposedly loved so much?"
"I don't care if he's grown man. He's my son and I can see the hurt and sadness in his eyes. I have to voice my concern. I wouldn't be doing my job as a mother if I didn't."
With that being said, Mrs. Levesque ventured to her backyard where she found her son sitting on a gray boulder with his back toward the house. He was peering out at the vibrant forestry that surrounded the Levesques' property. There was something so tranquil and comforting to him when he heard the sound of the New England wind moving through the leaves of the trees. The majestic beauty almost made him forget about his irreparable sorrows.
"Sitting on your old "thinking rock", huh? As a little boy, you used to come out here and sit on it for hours after school when you had a bad day. Do you remember?" Patricia asked her son before she slowly took a seat next to him on the hard surface.
"Yeah..." He muttered folding his arms in front of his muscular torso.
His eyes caught a glimpse at the remnants of the old tree fort his father had help him build. He had to be no older than seven that summer. Dad had always made time for him when he was growing up. He had even coached his little league baseball team. They had so much fun together.
Even back then, young Paul Levesque Jr. knew that he wanted to grow up to be a father to his children like his dad was with him. He wanted to be a part of all of Aurora's childhood memories: her first day of school, her learning to ride a bike without training wheels, and to be in the front row of her ballet recitals. But he had lost the privilege to be a part of those future milestones of his daughter's life. Oh, Aurora would get to experience all of those things, but instead of doing so with him, Kurt Angle, would be the father that she remembered being there with her. With time, the past few months Levesque had spent bonding and getting to know his little girl, would fade away from her memory along with him. He would become just as much of a stranger to her as a random guy on the street; And that's what Stephanie wanted: A happily little family with Kurt while Paul suffered alone in anguish.
"Paul, honey, what is it? I can tell you are carrying around this overwhelming sadness. Does it have something to do with you leaving WWE?" Patricia asked placing a sympathetic hand on her son's broad back with the hopes of it encouraging him to open up to her.
"I left WWE because there's nothing there for me anymore..." He muttered as a single tear escaped from his hazel eye.
"What do you mean? You loved being a performer there since you were a young man. You were married into the family and have a beautiful little daughter because of it."
"Not anymore, I lost her...and Stephanie. I tried so hard to be a better man; the husband Stephanie wanted when she married me, the father that she wanted for our daughter. But my past mistakes shattered it all..." divulged Paul through his tears.
"You shouldn't blame yourself for your failed marriage to Stephanie. You made mistakes that you regret, but I'm certain she does too. It doesn't matter that you two aren't together anymore. You are still Aurora's father, you always will be." Patricia assured her son bringing her free hand to his bearded face so that she could turn his head to look at her.
"No, Mom, she doesn't regret anything, the death of our marriage was the creation of her child with Angle and their new life together that doesn't include me. She told me herself that she doesn't want to know me anymore. She's going to contest my parental rights to Aurora..."
Patricia's eyes widened, her mouth gapped open in sheer disbelief at what she had just heard. From her previous discussion with her son, she had known that there had been an existence of discord between her son and his ex-wife, but she would have never dreamed that things between them had gotten that bad. Stephanie McMahon, her former daughter-in-law, had always seemed to be a kind hearted woman who was very family-oriented. What would possibly make her not want the biological father of her child in the picture?
"I don't understand, son. Is she doing this to be spiteful? Did her new husband put her up to this?"
"No, Mom. It was my fault. After she divorced me and left with Aurora because I cheated on her, I grew insanely jealous. I couldn't stand the thought of another man moving in on my family. The reality was that Steph had moved on and started a brand new family with Angle. I couldn't take it, it consumed me and made me do things that I'm ashamed of..." cried Paul after he removed his mother's hand from his face. He didn't feel that he deserved sympathy.
"I'm sorry, I can't see you doing anything that would warrant you losing your rights as that little girl's father. There has to be some mistake or a miscommunication of some kind. Did you try and talk to Stephanie?" She then asked as she began to lovingly rub her son's back with the hand that was already there.
"Yeah, she wouldn't listen to my reasoning or my apologies. She's already made up her mind that Kurt would be a better father for our daughter."
"Well, maybe I should reach out to her. I've always had a good rapport with her so she might understand your side of things if it came from me-"
"No, Mom, don't get involved. She's already pissed off at me, I don't want you and dad to ruin any chance at ever seeing Aurora again. She and her family don't want me around her, but maybe there's still a chance for you and Dad." He told his mother, turning his body so he could face her.
He looked deep into her eyes with his own so that she knew that he meant what he said. The last thing he wanted was for his parents to be banished from their granddaughter's life, after they just saw her for the first time since right after she was born.
"Son, this is so wrong. You need to do something. Stephanie needs to know what a big mistake she's making."
"She's obviously made up her mind, Mom! She stood there without saying a God damn word as I said goodbye to my child! It's over, Mom! The McMahon-Angle family won, I lost! I have nothing left in Greenwich or in World Wrestling Entertainment!" Paul hollered lashing out in rage unexpectedly.
His words were clearly that of a hurt and defeated man, and so his mother took no offense to his screaming. She simply took hold of one of his large hands with hers as a silent reassurance that she was there to support him in any way she could.
"Mom, I'm sorry for yelling. I-I just had to get away from there. I could go on being jobbed out to every mid-carder on the roster until I retired, but I couldn't do that while I watched my own flesh and blood being brought up by another man...I can't do it." He whispered, falling quiet after his angry outburst.
Her son's words moved Patricia to tears. Her heart was breaking as she now knew the emotional burden that her youngest child had been shouldering alone for so long. He deserved to be happy and to be a part of his child's life. Slowly and lovingly, she moved forward and brought her grown son in for a hug which he accepted.
"I don't blame you for feeling that way. But Aurora Rose is your daughter too, not just Stephanie's. People make mistakes, Paul, but you have just as much of a right to be in that little girl's life as her mother does. Do not let your ex-wife tell you any different. If she takes you to court, you need to fight for your right to be her father. That little girl needs her daddy." Patricia whispered through her tears into her son's ear while hugging him.
Paul closed his eyes tight, causing a few tears to break free from the brim of his eye and quickly cascade down his face. His mother's words resonated with him, and he immediately began to ponder what she was telling him. After losing Stephanie's love and the life they had built together, did he really have it in him to fight her in a custody battle? She had enough dirt on him to convince any judge that he was unfit to retain his role as father to Aurora. Steph was the one who had a successful career as a business woman, a gorgeous home, a husband with whom she had a one year old with and another in the oven. He was the one with nothing.
And what about Aurora? What would an intense custody battle do to her? After all he had put his child through, did she need to be pulled back and forth between him and Stephanie? He loved his daughter more than his own life. Wouldn't the right and selfless thing for him to do for his daughter be to let her grow up in a complete and loving family, even if it didn't include him?
"It's not worth it, Mom. It wouldn't be fair to Aurora to put her through that. She deserves to have a complete family with a mommy and daddy that live under one roof. I can't give her that." Levesque confessed, his vocal cords tightened as he spoke what he thought was the cold and hard truth.
His words caused his mother to break her embrace and return to her neutrally seated position on the boulder. Her face contorted into a look of utter confusion while she continued to cry.
"Paul, how can you say that it isn't worth it to fight for your daughter? What would be unfair would for you to simply walk away from her. Your father and I didn't raise you to be a man who would walk out on his child. No matter how much Stephanie and her family might want her new husband to be Aurora's father, he isn't. She's your blood, son, our blood. The Levesques, are just as much her family as the McMahons are." She told him in a serious voice that sounded like she was lecturing him instead of being sympathetic.
"Now, I know you're an emotional mess right now, and I understand that. It's okay if you need to take some time and regroup to get your life straightened out. You can turn your back on that wrestling company, but not your flesh and blood." Patricia explained before she got off the large rock and began to walk away from her son without looking back at him.
After an emotional heart-to-heart talk with his mother, Levesque was once again alone in the backyard of his childhood home. He was left to ponder how exactly he was going to get his life back on track. The life he had made in Greenwich Connecticut as the famous professional wrestler, Triple H, was all he knew anymore. What on earth was he going to do now that he had walked away from everything that made him who he was?