10: Unhappily Content

Pregnant. She was fucking pregnant. Sine still could not believe it, even though she had known for well over four months, now seven months along according to her obstetrician. That was amusing in itself, her obstetrician; Mark now had to take her outside the house. The downside to being seven months pregnant, and Mark loved rubbing this one in her face, was that it meant their first time together…. Well, he had dead on aim.

It was now February and Mark had informed he had absolutely no interest in returning to work until after the child was born, which hadn't made her happy. Not that she was very happy to begin with. Sine liked children well enough but they had never been in the cards for her. She supposed she should have considered all of that when he had married her but honestly, birth control hadn't even been on her mind. She got the feeling Mark would have told her to go without it anyway.

"Don't laugh at me." She cautioned when she glimpsed him coming into the bathroom behind her, busy massaging Shea butter into her skin, not bothering wearing a shirt. Instead she had started going around in sports bra and sweat pants, which were more comfortable than the maternity clothes he had bought her.

Mark simply grinned down at her, reaching out to take the tube from her and squeezed a small amount into his hands.

Sine stood there, leaning back into him as he took over the rubbing. "I hate you, Mark, really."

"I know." He said cheerfully, winking at her in the mirror, finishing the massage she had started and then rubbed the excess lotion off on his jeans. Slowly, he lowered himself to his knees, guiding her by the hips to turn her around. When her stomach was in his face, he bent forward to plant a kiss against the warm skin, nuzzling her. "I love you."

She wrinkled her nose, trying not to smile at the sight of the mighty Undertaker kneeling before her. "It would be so easy to knee you right in that pompous face."

He just laughed at her.

Paul was still working with the Federation, as a bookie at the moment since there were no angles for him to be a part of. That and 'Taker wanted an inside man to keep him up on the backstage politics. Paul would also admit he got a certain amount of satisfaction at rubbing it in Hunter's face that Sine wasn't available.

When he had first returned to work, right after that mockery of a wedding in Vegas, he had let it 'slip' that Sine Reneire was no longer Reneire but Mrs. Calaway, in front of Hunter. Hunter had immediately quit the Corporation and struck out on his own, cursing the McMahons, Bearer, and the Undertaker to hell and back the entire time.

It had taken the young man quite some time to simmer down and when he did, the McMahon's threw him a bone, placing him in an angle with Stephanie. Paul personally found the marriage bit, particularly the part where Hunter 'kidnapped' her and married her in Vegas rather amusing. He had point blank told Hunter so and the reasons why. That had set Hunter off all over again.

In some odd way, Sine and Hunter had connected during their brief visit together on the streets of Manhattan. It had been a short meeting and one that had occurred only by chance, but Paul hadn't missed the slight undercurrent of sparks, most of them on Hunter's end though Sine had responded in kind in her own subtle manner.

So, the way he figured it, he was doing the man a favor, reminding him every now and again that Sine was off the market. Just in case the idiot still thought about her in any way except one: as the wife of the Undertaker.

"Seven months pregnant." He crowed to Edge and Christian, both men on speaking terms with him simply because they didn't want to be on 'Taker's bad side when he finally came back. They were standing in near catering, Paul sipping a cup of coffee as his beady eyes surveyed the broad back of Hunter, who seemed to be taking forever fixing his own cup of joe.

"I bet she's LOVING that." Edge muttered the moment Paul began walking away, sharing a sideways look with Christian, both men glancing behind them at Hunter, who seemed to be staring at the table as if it had done him a personal wrong.

"For sure." Christian snorted, shaking his head as they walked away next. "Hey, as long as we don't have to go to some damn baby shower wearing tutus, I don't give a flying rat's ass if she's carrying a litter of puppies. Every time we get around that woman, we wind up dressed in drag."

Paul arched an eyebrow when he overheard that, turning to glance at dumb and dumber over his shoulder. Smirking slightly, he continued on his way.

What the hell had he been thinking, offering to have a baby shower for her? Sine stared at the decorated den with an arched eyebrow, wondering if her husband had lost his mind. She didn't need a baby shower, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, who was she going to invite? She had no connections with any of her old friends thanks to him and even if she did… there was no way she would ever even consider inviting them.

He had brought in the blonds to decorate, something they had been quite sullen about and she personally found the color scheme of hot pink and electric purple to be nauseating. She didn't say anything though, just passed by the den as the doorbell rang, knowing her single guest had arrived.

Inviting Monique had crossed her mind but she had a feeling the fiery Momo would have wound up dead for bad mouthing Mark. Sine didn't love him, but she had come to care for him, in her own way. Just as he loved her in his own twisted way.

A genuine smile spread across her pink lips when she opened the door and found Stephanie McMahon standing there, not surprised to find a tall, lanky man in a black suit standing behind her. Stephanie had been abducted by 'Taker before and was obviously still terrified of him, Sine was assuming this man in black was Stephanie's bodyguard for the afternoon. "Thank you for coming." She murmured, stepping back and gesturing the pair inside.

Stephanie nodded, her eyes doing a cursory scan of the room they had walked into before fastening on Sine. The woman looked… a lot different, and much of that difference was due to the pumpkin underneath the cream colored, scooped necked maternity shirt she wore. "How many are you expecting?" She blurted out.

"Just one." Sine groaned, looking down at the basketball she was carrying beneath the material, wrapping her arms around herself defensively.

"I didn't mean… I-" Stephanie frowned, knowing this was awkward for them both. Ex-victim, current victim and she stepped behind her bodyguard when the man that tied them together walked into the room. Her blue eyes widened when he merely walked to stand behind Sine, his long arms wrapping around her, hands resting on her stomach.

Mark was openly amused by her little display, his gaze raking the bodyguard and then instantly dismissing him as someone who presented no threat to him. "Don't worry, Princess," He just barely managed to keep from sneering. "I no longer have need of you."

Stephanie swallowed hard, peering around the guard's shoulder, wondering how Sine could just stand there, leaning back into him without even the slightest hint of trepidation.

"Your boys have set out the food for you and your… guest."

"Peachy." Sine replied with a sigh, hating how he had taken calling Edge and Christian her boys. More like her drag queens, more guys. When Mark started rubbing her stomach in slow circles, she groaned. "Stop it Mark, it kicks when you do that."

"It?" Stephanie blurted, wondering if she had ate some bad sushi the day before and it was now just catching up to her.

"It. It is a pain in my behind. It also happens to think it's funny to move whenever that moron touches me." Sine said, watching her husband disappear back into the living room. Sighing again, she guided Stephanie into the den.

It was… weird, but rather nice, having Stephanie there with her. It was definitely surreal. The table was spread out as if for a party rather than just the two women and the gift Stephanie had brought had been dwarfed by all the other presents stacked on the desk in the corner of the room. Gifts Mark had bought to make up for Sine's lack of friends. Sine had informed Stephanie that she wasn't planning on opening anything except for the present Steph had bought, finding it uncomfortably weird to open gifts that weren't gifts at all but a reminder. A reminder she had no one but him.

Sine simply listened as Stephanie began to relax without Mark in the room to terrify her, chattering about her storyline with Paul. She became aware she was smiling slightly, curling comfortably in Mark's huge leather chair and propping her chin in the palm of her upright hand, elbow braced on the chair arm.

She didn't care that this wasn't an actual baby shower so much as a simple luncheon. Her friends would have rather burned alive than come into this house, no doubt about it. That and she was truthfully enjoying Stephanie's company, even the way she babbled was rather endearing. That fact alone told Sine she had been without contact with anyone besides Mark and her doctor for way too long. She was by nature a person who enjoyed her solitude and now… after having it imposed on her for so long, she wanted to be around people.

Stephanie shut up when Edge and Christian literally danced into the room, their arms crooked over their heads, doing really horrible imitations of ballerinas. Complete with pink tutus and exaggerated make-up. "Oh… my… god…" She put down the cracker she had been about to pop in her mouth, knowing she would probably wind up choking on it.

This was the ultimate humiliation! Edge's face was burning a deep crimson color as he and Christian did the worst circles in the world, mindful of the tables and women. This was all that fat bastard's fault, he was the one who had planted this idea in 'Taker's already twisted mind!

Mark was leaning in the doorway, laughing his ass off.

"Mark, what the hell is wrong with you?" Sine demanded through her giggles, knowing this was his doing. "You guys, go… go take that shit off." She ordered, holding her stomach and knew if she didn't stop laughing, she was going to piss herself. Groaning, she pushed herself from the chair and waddled to the bathroom, making it just in the nick of time.

Stephanie just laughed even harder.

Stephanie had to admit, that had been one hell of a day. When sunset rolled around, she walked out to the waiting limo, her arm linked through Sine's, bodyguard trailing behind them. "Are you happy?" She asked softly, gesturing with her head back towards the ranch. "With him?"

Sine frowned, chewing on her full bottom lip thoughtfully. "I'm not unhappy with him." She said finally, honestly. "I don't love him and he knows this. I'm sure he doesn't love me in the conventional way either."

That would have to do. Sine wasn't exactly begging to be rescued so Stephanie didn't pry any further. She spared another glance over her shoulder and caught 'Taker leaning against the porch railing, his intense gaze fastened on his wife. Then again… maybe Sine knew it was pointless to try to run or ask for help.

Either way, Stephanie wasn't going to deny that she was glad it wasn't her in Sine's place.