"I don't know what's been with him lately, but he's acting a little strangely."
"How so?" Amy asked.
"I don't know, he's been a little bit more…introverted," Stephanie frowned, the corners of her mouth turning down. "I mean, it's not anything bad, I guess, it's just like…I don't know, he just seems distant, like he has a lot on his mind."
"Do you have any idea what it could be?"
"No, I mean, he's kind of been like this ever since he went out on that date," Stephanie looked especially bothered now, the space between her eyebrows knitting together and giving her slight wrinkles. "Part of me is…well, I guess part of me is unsure. I'm just wondering if…God, I know this sounds stupid, and even worse that I'm confessing this to a TV show."
"We don't have to use any of this footage," Amy assured her. "It's really up to you what we can and can't use. Your father is the one ultimately paying us so I think you can have some dictation on what we show."
Stephanie laughed, "I don't know, I really don't. It's kind of like, maybe he's thinking about how he's stuck with me, and maybe he would rather just be out with someone else? I'm not really sure, but I just feel like something is kind of pulling him away from me. I'm just not sure what it is."
Stephanie stuck her tongue out at the camera. "My mom wanted to do a photoshoot today with just the family. I think it's kind of dumb, but they thought I would want a picture of me while I was pregnant, like it would be something special."
"It will be," Chris cut in front of her in the shot. Stephanie pushed him away as he chuckled.
"Don't listen to him, I'm not sure I want to remember how big I am right now," Stephanie said distastefully, glaring down at her expanding middle. She felt so big right now, and it didn't help when she went to the doctor's office and looked twice as big as everyone there. She knew she was having twins, but it wasn't immediately obvious so she felt humongous compared to all the other pregnant women she saw.
"Have you forgotten you're talking into a camera right now," Chris told her as he grabbed a cup of coffee. He took a sip as he leaned back on the counter. "You get to watch all of this when it comes out. And you know what they say, the camera adds ten pounds."
"Shut up," Stephanie said good-naturedly, grabbing his coffee cup from her and taking a sip. He glared at her, giving her a pointed look, "I know, I know, no caffeine, but one sip is not going to make our kids have two heads each. I'm dying without my coffee."
"You are not dying," he told her in an even tone.
"I am so," she pouted, looking longingly at the cup, "but I've got to do what's best for the kids and all of that. I'm mostly eating healthy, but I let myself splurge every once in a while, especially when I just crave something so badly I can't even take it."
"The other night it was garlic bread," Chris said, "all this woman wanted to eat was garlic bread. The entire house smelled like garlic all day. I had to buy a whole loaf that she devoured—"
"I dipped it in marinara sauce," Stephanie said, "it was so good."
"My kids are going to come out smelling like they're trying to ward off Dracula," Chris said, running his hand over Stephanie's stomach casually. She sent him a soft look. She could tell he was trying not to be as distant as he had been, and she was grateful for the change. She didn't like it when Chris closed himself off from her; it somehow felt wrong.
"So you seem to be in better spirits," Amy directed her comments towards Chris, "how are you feeling?"
"I like to think I'm doing okay. This picture thing is going to be weird though," Chris said with a shrug. "I mean, it's just I'm not sure where I really fit in with this family, the McMahons I mean, not with Stephanie, I get what I am with Stephanie. We're friends, we're going to raise our kids, everything is going well on that front, but when Linda said she wanted to take family pictures, I don't know, I guess I thought to myself, where do I fit? Do I even really fit at all, and I'm not sure. So I'm going there with an open mind because that's all I really can do."
"Have you talked to Stephanie about it?"
"I don't want to burden her," Chris shook his head, his lips pursing ever so slightly after he answered. "She's getting to that point in the pregnancy where she's feeling really crappy a lot of the time, and she's moody and stressed, and she doesn't need to hear me talk about that kind of thing. With the twins, they're really monitoring her, making sure she won't need bed-rest, and we're both fully aware that she probably won't be carrying Amelia and Brant to term, so I don't want to make it any harder on her."
"But don't you think she could help you?"
"Maybe, but just being around her is enough. I just want to make everything easier for her, and then I can think about myself later, when the kids are here."
"You look beautiful," Linda said, coming over to Stephanie and Chris as they walked in the door of the studio. Linda smoothed Stephanie's hair down. "You are simply glowing, sweetheart, you're beautiful."
"Thanks, Mom, I wasn't entirely sure what to wear," Stephanie looked down at her blousy tank top and stretch pants, the only pants she could wear comfortably.
"Well, you look gorgeous," Linda patted Stephanie's stomach, "how are my grandchildren doing in there, behaving I hope."
Stephanie laughed, "They're both doing well. Amelia is apparently the bigger of the two and she's already bossing around Brant, so they're going to be a handful, I can tell already."
"As long as they're healthy," Linda told her before she turned to Chris, giving him a hug, "Hello, Chris, it's so nice to see you again."
"Thanks, Linda," Chris said in greeting.
"Come on, come on, we've got to get pictures taken, we've only go so much time with the photographer and I wanted to get the family portrait in first before we take some shots of you. I want to put them on display at the house."
"Mom," Stephanie whined. "Why are you going to put them on display? Isn't it bad enough you're making me take these pictures?"
"Nonsense, what's the point of taking a picture if you're not going to show it, and I guarantee you're going to want a picture to remember this by. I wish I'd done that with you and Shane. It would have been a special memory."
"Fine," Stephanie said, "let's get this over with."
They walked into the backroom where the rest of her family was waiting. Vince was adjusting his tie, trying to straighten it while Shane was trying to make sure Kenny wouldn't start unbuttoning his shirt. Marissa was trying to smooth down Declan's hair and everything looked to be in general chaos. Stephanie gave a pleading look to Chris, like she wanted him to save her, but he just shrugged, at a total loss for what to do.
"Well this is something you don't see often," Chris whispered to the cameras. "The McMahon family is in complete disarray. I don't think I've ever seen them look like this, that's how you know this is reality. I doubt they would let themselves look like this if they knew they were being filmed."
"You guys know we're filming right now, right?" Stephanie said to her family after overhearing what Chris was saying.
"Oh my God," Marissa yelped, standing straight and smoothing out her dress. "Why didn't you tell us?"
Stephanie laughed, "I thought you guys realized we were filming because well…we're going to be on a reality show so of course we're going to be filmed."
"Warn a girl," Marissa laughed, trying to look presentable and normal. "Shane!"
"Oh yeah, hey everyone!" Shane waved at the cameras.
"So Shane, we've got reactions from pretty much everyone else in both Stephanie and Chris's family, what are your thoughts on your sister's pregnancy."
"I'm fine with it," Shane shrugged. "She's my sister, I love her, and I know she knows what's best for her. She has been independent since she was a little girl, believe me, she was constantly trying to do everything herself. This is kind of like that. Chris is a good guy, she's an amazing woman, I don't see why their decisions should affect anyone else but themselves. I'm just looking forward to meeting my niece and nephew."
"I think it's going to be great," Marissa gushed. "I can't wait to see the babies, they're going to be so cute because Stephanie is gorgeous and Chris is, well, let's just say if I didn't have this guy right here, I would be mighty jealous of Stephanie."
"Hey, that's not cool," Shane told her, nudging her in the shoulder.
"I'm just saying, I didn't say you were bad," Marissa looped her arm through Shane's. "I agree with him though, people just need to quit their talking about the tow of them. Gossip is not becoming of everyone, and the two of them are going to be great parents."
"Okay, everyone, let's figure out where we want everyone to be," the photographer said, guiding each person to a specific spot. Chris felt out of place and kind of just hung back near the cameras filming this going on. He wasn't really sure what to do with himself, but he really didn't want to intrude on the moment. He wasn't exactly part of the family, and he didn't want to make any assumptions about it.
"Chris, come over here!" Linda said, waving him over. "You are part of this family now, now get over here."
"Linda, that's alright," Chris said, thinking she just felt bad for him because he was standing by himself. He could see the camera flipping back and forth between them. "I don't need to be in the picture."
"No, you're in the picture, you're here for the long haul, Chris," Linda said, coming over and pulling him into the shot. "You stand behind Stephanie, that way all the women are in front of the men."
Chris gave Stephanie a look and she smiled at him. He wondered once again what was going on here. Now he was part of the family, like he and Stephanie were together. It felt like the forces that be were trying to push them together, but he just didn't know what he felt for Stephanie. He'd never sat down and thought about it, but the universe kept trying to squeeze an answer out of him, but he just didn't know how he felt. He went and stood behind Stephanie, pressing his hands into her shoulders, emulating the other poses. He smiled because it was a picture, but it didn't reach his eyes.
He was confused about everything in his life right now. Stephanie could feel Chris's hands tense on her shoulder, and she looked up at him between shots. He was smiling, but it came out looking more like a grimace. She reached her right hand up and place it atop Chris's hand, rubbing it comfortingly. He snapped out of it to look down at her, his face becoming serene as she continued to rub his hand.
"You okay?" she mouthed and he nodded imperceptibly. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" he mouthed back.
"All of this," she rolled her eyes and he gave a short laugh. Neither one realizing they were being filmed at the moment. They were just trying to have a moment to themselves, but nothing was really to themselves anymore. Everything was going to be shown to the world, all their moments, all their interactions, it was all going to be shown to everyone who wanted to see. They were now an open book.
"I'm fine," he told her, shaking his head. She smiled at him again, but then had to look away when the photographer was ready again. He took a few more shots before letting Linda look at the pictures to choose their favorites. In the meantime, Stephanie grabbed Chris's hand and took him into a corner, away from the cameras to get a moment's peace.
"I'm sorry you had to go through with that."
"It's okay, it's a nice gesture on your mom's part, and she's right, I am a part of this family now."
"Does that bother you?" she wondered curiously. He thought about it, looking down at her stomach. He loved his children. He hadn't even met them, and he loved them to pieces. He would do anything for them, even accept being in this crazy family, even if it was just on the periphery.
"No, it really doesn't bother me at all."