"Hey Pops, can we talk?"
"What is it, Shane?" Vince said, looking up from his paperwork. "I'm kind of busy right now."
"Yeah, I understand that, but I still needed to talk to you and I couldn't think of a better time to do it," Shane said. He came in and sat across from his father. "I wanted to discuss a storyline idea with you."
Vince raised an eyebrow, "With me?"
"Yeah, with you," Shane confirmed.
"You do understand that your sister is in charge of storylines?" Vince told him.
"Yeah, but I think with this one I needed to go over her head a little bit," Shane said, starting to feel a little uneasy. It wasn't that he didn't think his idea was a good one, he thought it was very good. It was the feeling that he got around being his father and feeling like a teenager again. Vince had that effect on people.
"Well, if you feel that way, what is this storyline idea you have?" Vince asked curiously, wondering what kind of storyline Shane could possibly think up that he couldn't go to his sister for. Stephanie had been the head of the creative team since before Finnegan was born and she was doing as good a job as Vince could've hoped, so this had to be big.
"I wanted to do a storyline with Chris and Stephanie, you know, like before," Shane said, taking a deep breath afterwards.
"What? Between Chris and Stephanie?"
"Yeah, Pops, that's right."
"I don't think so, Shane," Vince said, going back to his paperwork.
"What? That's all, that's all you're going to say?" Shane asked, expecting more.
"Shane, if I told you what I think about that, then you'll get your feelings hurt, and I'm not going to deal with that right now."
"I think it could work, Dad."
"Are you cruel or something? I know I've been cruel in the past, but to your own sister? I didn't think that you would stoop that low. Did Stephanie say something to you, or do something to you that makes you want to do this to her?"
"Do what to her?"
"You know full well that Stephanie and Chris are no longer together and putting them into a forced work environment would make it awkward and painful for the both of them…no."
"But you've done it before."
"Stephanie is my daughter," Vince said firmly. "I'm not going to hurt her like that, Shane, and that's final. Why would you want to do that to your sister anyways?"
"Because it would force her to see Chris and realize what a huge mistake she's making in not being with Chris. Dad, we both know they're so obviously right for each other. We both know they should've gotten married years ago and maybe if we forced Stephanie into something with Chris, she'd see what everyone else sees!" Shane said, his voice impassioned.
Vince took a moment to look at his son. He took off his glasses and put them on his desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He agreed with what Shane was saying, but he didn't want to think about that right now. He knew that his daughter was stubborn and didn't understand why she would end a six-year relationship, but he was beyond understanding Stephanie. He had stopped understanding Stephanie the moment she had told Linda and him that she was pregnant.
He could remember that day like it was yesterday. She and Chris at dinner, and that was hardly unusual, she and Chris had come to dinner often, and he and his wife genuinely liked Chris, especially because of the smile he put on Stephanie's face. And then as the dessert was being served, as Linda sat down after serving everyone, Chris and Stephanie had dropped the bombshell that had forever changed their lives. She was pregnant, unmarried, and going to have this baby whether they liked it or not.
Now, he wasn't going to say that he wanted her to get rid of the baby, because he never thought that. But he did think of the consequences, of the marriage that should happen as soon as possible, the engagement would be brief, everything to make this baby as legitimate as possible. It was the father in him wanting nobody to look down on his little girl. A sense of old-fashioned in a world moving much faster than it had when he was growing up. Yet, Stephanie, as always, was steadfast in her views and instantly rejected her father's proposition of having them get married that very weekend.
Ever since then, Stephanie had been manning her own boat so to speak. She had refused certain things in favor of doing them her own way. She had raised Finnegan like he was an intricate and drawn out storyline she was working on. She would come to an obstacle, find a way to work through it and move on. All of that plus Chris had worked for so long because as of this moment, Finnegan was the only person in this world that Vince liked all the time. He couldn't say that about anybody else, but his grandson could do no wrong in his eyes, and the boy was always welcome, even in Vince's worst moods, Finnegan could turn it around in a second.
"Yes, I see what you see," Vince said slowly. "But this is a decision that Chris and Stephanie have made mutually. This is the real world Shane, it's not a storyline where we can manipulate the characters to our own whims. We have to respect your sister's decision and Chris's decision and allow them to work through this if they so choose."
"But Dad, this is just not right, and think about Finn, this isn't fair to Finn."
Vince closed his eyes. He could feel a headache approaching. "Finn is a McMahon, we're nothing if not resilient in the face of adversity. He'll be fine."
"Nobody seems to understand that he's four!" Shane exclaimed. "He's four years old and he doesn't understand this any more than I do or you do. His parents, who he has always had together and happy are suddenly apart, and you expect me to think that he's just going to troop through this?"
"Shane, you are not in their relationship and you don't know what happened. You're not getting your storyline, and that's the final word. Do not bother your sister, do you hear me?"
"Sure, sure," Shane mumbled as he stood up. He walked out of his father's office without another word. It felt like the whole world had just accepted this break-up except for him, and maybe, partly, Trish. It was like The Twilight Zone or something. Everyone was just being a zombie to this relationship between the two of them. Couldn't they see or help or do something to show they cared? What Shane didn't understand, was that by not doing anything, people were showing that they cared, in their own way.
Shane had just about enough of this and he was pissed off. He had told his dad he wouldn't bother Stephanie, but McMahons were also liars. He got into the elevator and went down to the seventh floor, where Stephanie's office was located. He walked purposefully down the hallway and anyone who saw him immediately got out of the way, not only because they would've bumped into him, but also because he looked like he had a chip on his shoulder and he was the boss. He went into Stephanie's office where she was watching a clip of one of their shows on the monitor she had on a shelf.
"Where's Finn?" Shane asked, noting that it was definitely after Finn's preschool ended.
"He's with Mom," Stephanie said. "She took him to see Grammy Vicky."
"Good," Shane said as he shut the door and locked it.
"Are you kidnapping me?" Stephanie asked with a laugh as she saw him lock the door.
"No, I'm here to ask why the hell you won't marry Chris, and don't bullshit with me this time, Stephanie, don't tell me some shit about how you're on two different planes and how you'll never see eye to eye because if anyone knows you other than Chris, that person is me, so stop shitting around with me and tell me why the hell you won't marry Chris."
"What the hell business is it of yours?" Stephanie snapped at him, her anger creeping up on her without warning.
"Because I'm sick and tired of seeing you guys apart when you could be happy, and it seriously seems like I'm the only person who cares about Finn in this entire mess. His parents love each other, I know you fucking love Chris."
"Of course I fucking love him!" Stephanie yelled, glad that her office was soundproof. "That's not being called into question here."
"Then why the hell aren't you with him!"
"It's none of your goddamn business Shane," Stephanie told him, "So get out of my office before I have security come and throw you out."
"No!" he told her, coming forward and slamming his hands on her desk. "This is my business. When it involves my nephew, who I love, you better believe this involves me. I will not see that little boy sad for one second."
"And you think I want my son to be sad?" Stephanie challenged, standing up and putting her hands on her desk, mirroring Shane's position. Her eyes were becoming dangerously dark as she stared her older brother down. "You honestly think that I would ever, ever want Finny to be upset? What kind of mother do you think I am?"
"I think you're a great mother, but I think you're misguided right here."
"I'm not misguided. And it really isn't your business why I won't marry Chris. I love Chris, but it's just not going to work out."
"But why?"
"Stop pushing me!" Stephanie said, gritting her teeth. "Why won't everyone just stop pushing me!"
"Because we want to understand why!" he countered.
"Chris didn't see a future with me, okay! Chris never saw a future with me!" she crumbled into her chair as she confessed her deepest fear, her darkest secret. She covered her face with her hands as she finally allowed herself to cry.
She hadn't cried in the past month and a half that she and Chris had been apart. She had kept her brave face on; she had been the consummate McMahon. She lived by the motto, "Never let them see you cry." Crying made you look weak, and she was strong. But here she was now, weak and vulnerable and finally letting the tears that had been right behind her eyes fall down her face.
Shane stood there for a moment, stunned that his sister had had such an outburst. Stephanie was known for that, but this was different; this was the confession of someone who had been keeping something in for a long time. Shane came around her desk quickly and knelt down next to his chair, and for the first time in twenty-three years, he hugged his sister while she cried. Not just cried either, but sobbed, her pain palpable and Shane wondered how long she had been keeping this in, this incredible hurt that he could feel breaking her into a million pieces right before his eyes.
"Steph, tell me what happened, tell me what he said," Shane pleaded as he held her.
Stephanie, embarrassed, pulled away. She didn't want to confess, she didn't want to tell her reasons, but she hardly had any choice now that Shane knew the truth. She grabbed a Kleenex off the desk and tried to clean herself up a little bit. Even if it was just Shane seeing her like this, it wasn't the image she liked to project to the world.
"He told Edge that he didn't see a future with me, that he never saw a future with me," Stephanie said. "And then the next week, I told him I was pregnant, and suddenly everything changed. I got pregnant and everything changed, his opinions changed, and all because I was pregnant. If I hadn't been…if I hadn't gotten pregnant…there would've been no us."
"Oh Steph, you don't know that," Shane whispered as he pulled away from her. She looked like such a little girl in that moment that Shane thought she was going to go to her room and cry into her pink pillow.
"I do know that," Stephanie said. "He only stayed with me because of Finny. That's why I've always said no. Because if I didn't marry him, if I kept that part of myself closed…it wouldn't hurt so bad when he left."
"He never left, Steph. He never once left you."
"He would've," Stephanie said. "I gave him that option. I gave him the opportunity, and I always knew that he would take it. I took his future from him is all, by moving on and staying away from him, I'm doing the best I can to give it back."
"Chris loves Finn, Steph. He's crazy about that kid."
"I know that, and I understand that. But that doesn't change the fact that Finny wasn't supposed to happen. I love my son so much it hurts when he's away from me, case in point the fact that he's been traveling around the world since he was wearing newborn diapers. But still, Chris and I were together for Finny, and while it worked for a long time, he probably just got fed up and left."
"He kept asking you to marry him though."
"Because of Finny. The first time he ever proposed was five days after Finny was born. Sure, we knew that we didn't want to get married while I was pregnant, and we thought very briefly about it, but he never, ever discussed marriage before he found out I was pregnant, but then five days after our son is born…he asked. Just out of the blue, nothing big or anything, just thought it might be nice. He didn't have his heart into it, so I said no. And I've been saying no ever since because I know that he doesn't want to be with me, not really. And while it's noble that he wants to stay with me for our son, that's just it, it's for our son. I can't live like that any more than he can. If he has a chance to go out there and find someone, I need to give him that chance because I took it away from him."
"You didn't take anything away from him. You gave him a son. You didn't take anything," Shane told her.
"I took his future," she said, looking off into the distance at a scene he couldn't see. "I tried to hang on. I got six years with him, which was probably a lot more than I deserved. I think if it hadn't been for Finny, he would've broken up with me that second year we were together. He didn't see a future with me."
"Are you sure that's what he meant?" Shane asked, just truly not believing that Chris would be so callous as to say something like that to anyone. And then there was the fact he stayed with Stephanie supposedly five years after this comment. "Because if he really was just with you because of Finn, why would he be so into you? Why would he do such nice things for you? You'd think if he thought that, he'd be distant and you know, cheating on you, and we both know that he never cheated on you."
"Well, I don't know that," she said.
"Come on Steph, we both know that's not Chris. So what did he say?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Tell me," he insisted.
"He was talking with Edge," she recalled. "I was about to walk around the corner when I heard him talking about me. So I stood there out of sight. Edge asked if it was serious between the two of us, and Chris said, and this is what he said exactly, he said, 'I guess I don't think of the future when I'm with Stephanie.'"
"Wait, that's what he said?"
"It's been imprinted on my brain for the past five years," Stephanie told him. "I think I would know what he said."
"That's what you've been saying no to? That's the phrase that has dictated your life for the past five years and made both you and Chris miserable?" Shane asked incredulously. "He said he didn't think of the future with you?"
"Yes! God, stop making me think of it," she said, covering her face, mortified that the man she loved only saw a future with her because of their son.
"Oh my God, Stephanie. How could you be so naïve?" Shane asked.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe he said that because the two of you didn't have a future back then? And not in the way that he never saw marrying you or being with you forever but because of the fact you two never planned anything in your life."
"Huh? I don't get it."
"Stephanie, you and Chris back then never planned the future. The only future you had was the minute after the minute you were living. How many times did I have to hear that you flew somewhere on a whim, that you decided you wanted real pizza so you flew to Italy on one of your weekends off? Of course he didn't see a future, you guys didn't like planning the future."
She furrowed her brow, "So you're saying that for the past five years, I've been living a lie?"
"I think so," he said. "Come on, Steph, think about it for a second. He didn't say that he didn't want a future, or didn't see a future, but that he didn't think of the future. There's a huge difference."
Stephanie thought about it for a second. She had been so caught up in the fact that she thought Chris didn't want a future with her that she never took the time to actually analyze what he said. She didn't want to think that she had been wrong about this, but all signs were pointing to that. She turned slowly to Shane and he had his head tilted, giving her that Shane look of his. She looked to her desk where there was a picture of Chris and Finnegan together at the beach, Chris throwing Finnegan into the water.
"I've been so stupid," she whispered to herself.
"Well, you just misinterpreted it."
"I've wasted all this time when I would've said yes the first time he asked me," she told him.
"But at least you know that even without the ring, he would've stuck around," Shane said, trying to make her feel better. Sure, she had believed something wrong for many years, but anybody could've done the same thing. "He stuck around because he loves you."
"And I kept saying no. He kept asking and I kept saying no," she said in a daze. "He loves me, and God, how he must've felt when I kept telling him that I didn't want to marry him…"
"And yet he kept asking? That's a man who loves a woman," Shane told her, finally getting through to her. "That just shows how much he loves you, Steph. He was willing to keep asking."
"I kept rejecting him, oh God, I kept rejecting him!" she said, sounding a little crazed. "How could I do that!"
"It'll be okay. You just need to talk to Chris and straighten this all out. Trust me, he won't turn you away. He loves you, baby sis, he's told me as much a million times."
A knock came at the door followed by someone trying the knob. "Mommy, let me in!"
"Oh God, Finny can't see me like this," Stephanie said, trying to clean herself up quickly, rubbing her eyes in a futile attempt to make it look like she hadn't been crying. Shane didn't seem to care as he went to the door and opened it for Finnegan, who ran inside and up to his mother.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Finnegan asked in alarm as he saw the state his mother was in. Linda stood in the doorway and gave Shane a questioning, but stern look. He led her out of the room and closed the door behind him.
"What's wrong with Stephanie?" Linda asked. "Did you say anything to upset her?"
"No Mom, I think she's going to be just fine."
Stephanie sniffled and looked at Finnegan, "Nothing's wrong, Finny. Mommy's fine."
"You don't look fine, Mommy," he told her as he came closer and tried to climb on her lap. "Do you need a hug?"
She lifted him into her lap and hugged him. "Did you have fun at Grammy Vicky's?"
"Yeah, she said that I look like Grandpa Vince when he was a kid like me, but I don't think I look like Grandpa Vince."
"You look like Mommy," she said, resting her cheek against his head.
"Are you sad, Mommy?"
Stephanie thought for a moment. If Shane was right, and she was starting to believe he was, then she would have a lot of explaining to do to Chris. But when she looked back over the years, Chris did love her and always put her before himself. She had been so stupid and blinded by her own perception, she hadn't seen the little things Chris did for her, the way he looked at her when she was cooking, or the way he would fix her collar if it was sticking up, or how he'd wipe away a smudge of makeup on her face. She kissed Finnegan's head and smiled.
"Not for long Finny, not for long."