Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, other than Lily and Madison.
Rated: M
Warning(s): Slash, Storyline Fanfic, Past Mpreg, etc.

It took him about fifteen minutes to get himself back under control after that little fiasco. He didn't know what had gotten into his little girl, but he certainly knew that she had never behaved like that before. Suddenly, she hated him, and he hadn't the slightest as to why. It disconcerted him. Knowing that she wasn't likely to get dressed at all that morning, he resigned to cancel his earliest commitment and pay a surprise visit to his husband. As the COO, he had access to the room assignments of every one of the superstars and divas under his care - his husband could try to hide as much as he wanted, that fact would never be able to change. And he used this fact to his advantage right now.

Not bothering to wait for the elevator, he stormed downstairs and quickly located room 23A. It was only upon reaching the door that he hesitated slightly, suddenly questioning, if only for a moment, his true reason for wanting to come down there. Was it really to get to the bottom of what was happening with Lily, or was it something else, something undeniably more selfish? Wasn't it true that, realistically, he could get to the bottom of this mess all on his own? But he shook the thought from his head, raising his fist to the tall door acting as a barrier between himself and his husband, and knocked. There was muffled cursing from inside, and Hunter distantly picked at memories of Mark's difficulty with mornings, but these were thin… unsubstantial…

"What the fuck do you… oh, it's just you." Mark looked upon his husband with what could only be described as contempt, and Hunter found his already fragile condition to be deteriorating once again. "What do you want?"

Hunter had to look away in order to maintain his steely resolve. It wouldn't do him any good to break down now, not after how far he had come. "Trust me, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to be." He spat back viciously. "I'm here because of our daughter."

Mark was staring at his face now - but if he noticed the dark bruise on his cheek from Brock slapping him, he didn't bring it up. "What's wrong with her?"

A sigh, then, "She's been screaming for you all morning. I tried to have her get dressed, but she started throwing a tantrum. She kept saying that she hated everything… her outfit… me… She kicked me in the stomach and then ran off." He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to think about the burning sensation still present from Lily's kick.

"She probably blames you." Mark said easily, almost nonchalantly.

Hunter turned on him, eyes wide, fiery, and red-rimmed. "Blames me for what?"

Mark crossed his arms over his bare chest. "I have no doubt that you stayed with Stephanie last night." If Hunter wasn't mistaken, he was sure he detected a hint of jealousy in Mark's tone. "She probably blames you for my leaving, and sees Stephanie as a threat to our relationship." Mark reasoned.

Not for the first time in the last few days, Hunter felt the distinct urge to slap Mark. But he didn't. Couldn't. Not now. Instead, he forced out, "And wouldn't it just crush her little dreams to find out that you were the one who left me?"

"I didn't do anything that you didn't bring on yourself." Mark replied easily.

"What could I have possibly done that was bad enough to deserve to be walked out on by my husband? I didn't hit you. I didn't cheat on you. I didn't ask you to leave. What the hell did I do?" And now he was crying. He was crying, and Mark didn't care.

"You crossed a line." Mark said easily. "Your little feud with Daniel Bryan - it's stupid. It's one thing to keep it in front of the cameras, but every damn time you see him, it's like you want to rip his throat out. And talking like that to Phil? If someone had talked like that to you while you were pregnant, I would have hit them. But you knew Daniel couldn't. It gave you power."

"You make me sound like a power-hungry ego maniac." Hunter said, a tad agitated.

For the first time, Mark met his eyes. "Maybe that's because that's what you are."

Once again, Hunter found himself questioning why he had come down to Mark's room in the first place. It certainly wasn't to find out such things about himself. Especially from the man that had abandoned him with two small children. So why had he come here? For Lily. Oh, he knew, deep down, that he could weather this storm that Lily was currently riding through. It was just a little fleet of childhood mania, which would come and go just as easily as the rain. Yes, he was sure that he could weather it. But that didn't explain why he was currently in front of Mark's room, totally getting his beads read to him. It didn't explain why he still hadn't turned heel and walked away. Why was he letting Mark break him so brutally?

Hunter sucked in a deep breath. "Why do you enjoy doing this to me?"

"I'm merely telling you the truth, Hunter. You knew that Daniel couldn't hit you, but you didn't expect Phil to. And perhaps you haven't punished Daniel for it because you actually feel bad for acting like such a bitch." Mark bit back.

"Why did we get married?" Hunter hadn't realized that that was what was about to come out of his mouth… but didn't regret it, once it had.

Mark didn't even seem to be fazed. "Honestly? I don't know anymore."

Hunter laughed bitterly. "If I had known that it would come to this, with us having a fight in the middle of some hotel hallway, then I never would have agreed to walk down that aisle." It was stringent and biting, but Mark seemed unfazed.

"Maybe that would have been better."

And then, still not knowing where the words were coming from, but unable to force himself to regret them once they spilled from his mouth, he asked, "Are we breaking up right now?"

The pieces were now all coming together right now. Suddenly, he realized why it was that he had come here. The reason surprised him. Was he actually… hoping… that Mark would tell him yes, yes they were breaking up? No, that was a ludicrous concept. He loved Mark, loved the fact that he had Mark's ring upon his finger. But at the same time, he hated that Mark had simply walked out on him for what seemed like such an inconsequential reason. He didn't like to be told that he was wrong - especially when he'd already come round to that realization all by himself. He'd known that what he'd done to Phil wasn't okay, but he wasn't exactly planning to apologize any time soon, either.

From the look on Mark's face, he hadn't been expecting the sudden turn of events either. Much to his credit, however, he didn't miss a beat. "Yeah, I guess that we are."

Hunter shifted oddly. He knew that he should feel sad, heartbroken, even, but just couldn't muster much of anything in the way of emotion. "God, what the hell are we doing? Where the hell are we going here?"

Mark sighed, "Do we really have to talk about this right now? I have a packed schedule today, and, if you don't mind, would greatly appreciate another half hour of rest before starting out." He didn't say this unkindly, but Hunter couldn't help but feel as if he was being shoved aside for 'more important matters'.

For some reason, that truly made him want to hurt Mark. Reaching for his ring, he twisted it off with some difficulty (he was still a little swollen from the pregnancy) and tried to hand it back to the Deadman. "I guess you'll want this back, then."

Mark hesitated for a moment, then accepted the ring from his (ex)husband. "I guess I do."

Daniel fully expected to awaken and find himself on the floor, or to be verbally chewed out by the master of the "pipe-bomb" once he was coherent enough to recall what had happened the night before. But none of that happened. Once he was awake and fully coherent, he found two olive-green eyes peering at him in the bright light of the just-breaking morning. He jumped slightly, and Phil laughed. It was a sweet, painfully unfamiliar sound that he knew he would never hear enough of. When he quieted, he offered Daniel a sweet, complacent smile. Leaning forward slowly, he pressed his lips to Daniel's in a soft offering of forgiveness and apology. When Phil finally drew back, Daniel was amazed to feel thick, hot tears streaking down his cheeks.

Phil looked a little bit startled to see tears streaking down his fiance's face. "What's the matter?"

Daniel did his best to get it together, but it was harder than he had once thought. Sucking in a deep breath, he managed to force out, "I thought that we broke up last night."

Phil's eyes widened with realization. "I… I am so, so sorry, babe. I… It's these damn hormones, I just… I can't… One minute I'm fine, the next, I'm biting people's heads off. I don't… God, I was so out of it… I don't even remember that. I mean, I trust you… you wouldn't lie about that… but I don't remember it at all."

"You certainly sounded as if you knew exactly what you were saying." Daniel said softly. It was not that he distrusted what Phil had said, but rather, that he was still hurting from what had transpired.

"I'm so sorry… I never meant -," here, he cut himself off. He'd been reaching for Daniel, wanting to hold him and to be held, when he noticed that something was missing on his finger. "Where is my ring?" He asked.

Daniel looked down. "You threw it at me last night. That's… That's why I had thought that we had broken up."

Much to Daniel's horror, this caused Phil to start to cry."I… damn these stupid fucking hormones." He scrubbed at his eyes, frustrated beyond all else. "I… I don't even remember, and that's what fucking pisses me off the most. I don't… I'm sorry… I know it doesn't mean a damn thing, but I am."

"I know that you're sorry. And I believe you." He placed a gentle kiss on Phil's forehead, meaning the words wholeheartedly.

Phil looked as if he was about to protest, and he did offer a mild, "You shouldn't be so quick to forgive people."

"Well, you're not just anyone." Daniel squeezed Phil's hands gently, reassuringly. "I love you, and loving people is about forgiving them, even when it is difficult. What happened… yeah, it hurt, but it's behind us now. And to prove it…"

He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the ring, realizing that he had stuffed it in there the night before, hoping that Phil would come to a similar epiphany and that all of this could be solved and put behind them like some ugly nightmare. It looked like he would be getting his wish. Carefully taking hold of Phil's proffered hand (and looking sadly at the swollen, knobby fingers, wondering how long Phil had fussed over his own reflection in the mirror, subconsciously nit-picking every little detail that Hunter had carped upon in their latest encounter), he slipped the ring back where it belonged - with a little bit of careful maneuvering. Phil looked down on it with the same reverence that he had when Daniel had first put it on him.

With a sigh, he then ventured into dangerous territory. "You were right, you know."

Phil, blissfully unaware of the turn that the conversation had just taken, offered a distant, "About what?"

"I should have had the balls to stand up to Hunter then and there. It wasn't right, what he did and said to you. By just standing in the shadows and remaining silent, I acted like it was okay… hell, even like I condoned it. And I'm sorry." Daniel said softly.

Phil smiled softly, as if in thanks, but he brushed off the comment easily. There was no need to get into another fight about that. Not now. "What did you say about forgiving people, even when it is difficult? Something about 'that's what love is'? Maybe you should take your own advice." He shoved Daniel's shoulder lightly.

Daniel grinned, dutifully playing the part of the man outwitted by his fiance. "Guess I should have known that that would come back to bite me in the ass."

"Guess you should have." Then, leaning over, Phil pulled out a small binder filled with magazine clippings and color swatches. "Now… which of these do you like for the nursery?"