Wrestling 1. Got Kayfabe?

I tried not to post anything new but I couldn't help myself. Besides, this will just be a collection of one shots so it doesn't really count lol. This is going to be where I will store all the one shots I write that have been based on snippets or comments on the McMahon Family, mostly HHH/Steph of course. Rather than have a whole bunch of one shots I thought it would be cool to put them under the one heading and thus - Got Kayfabe? was born! You can count a McMahon Family Dinner in here even though I missed the boat with that one! This is also my chance to write about some cute little moments that I have read about that wouldn't fit in anywhere else.

But this isn't just about me. If there's something you read that you would like turned into a fic, just let me know and I'll see what I can do for you!

So I've just got one question people..................Got Kayfabe?


	2. Table Scratch

**A/N** - To kick things off I decided to write about one of my favourite little McMahon family snippets. It's mentioned on the McMahon DVD and it's basically about how competitive Vince can be, especially when it comes to pool lol. I hope you like it!

* * *

**Table Scratch**

"You know this is exactly what we needed," Stephanie sighed appreciatively as she stretched her long legs out over her husband's lap. Her head tilted back against his shoulder and she took in the last remaining rays that the sun had to offer before it finally disappeared behind the ocean.

Paul swallowed the little lump that developed in his throat at the sight of his wife's exposed neck. His eager eyes travelled to her equally exposed legs and he smiled. "I couldn't agree more, babe," he said lowly, reaching out to touch the silky smooth skin that had completely captivated his attention. His fingers caressed her calf, then her knee and finally her thigh which he began to rub softly.

"You had better be talking about this vacation and not me by the way," she mumbled lazily, barely able to lift her head to look at him. With what little energy she had, she ever so slightly raised her head long enough to see the little smirk on his face. He was most definitely talking about her and despite her previous protest, it always made her feel warm inside to know that he found her beautiful. Yeah, he told her more often than not and she believed him. But it was times like these when she caught an expression on his face, just like the one he wore now that really made her feel special and wanted.

"Of course I'm talking about this vacation and not about your incredible legs. I mean, why the hell would I be talking about your legs? They are only the most amazing pair of legs I have ever seen on a woman in my entire life. Who cares about that?"

"Paul!"

He chuckled at her modesty at the situation and also at the fact that she still couldn't even be bothered to move. When his wife switched off, she switched _off_! "I think I should use this time to talk more about how much I love your legs seeing as you seem to be half out of it right now!"

"I am not half out of it!" she protested. It took her a few seconds but she was finally able to muster herself into a seated position on his lap rather being sprawled all over him. She settled herself before looking into his eyes, the playful glint she saw there making her smile in spite of herself.

"Well, half out of it or in full swing, you still have the sexiest legs I've ever seen in my life!" he continued, even giving them a gentle squeeze to emphasise his point.

Stephanie giggled as she tried to push his hands away. In just a few short seconds they had fallen into a tickle fight with Paul working his long fingers over the points he knew would get her most while she tried with everything to stop him from doing so.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"Paul!"

" PAUL!"

"Is that the best you can do?" he challenged playfully as his fingers went to work on her ribs.

"Oh I can fight fire with fire, baby!" she replied hastily, immediately digging her fingers under his arms to the exact spot that she knew always sent him into a fit. He began to shuffle beneath her for a few seconds until she was startled by the feel of his lips pushing insistently against her own. She laughed into his mouth when she realised what he was doing. He couldn't beat her at tickles so he decided to distract her, the bastard! But she didn't mind one bit. After all, any excuse to make out with her husband was reason enough. She wrapped both arms around his neck before pulling back slightly. "You're cheating!" she mumbled against his lips.

Paul kissed her a few times as a huge smile spread across his lips. "I don't hear any complaints. Besides, I'd much rather be doing this. Wouldn't you?" Her hushed moan was his answer before she tightened her grip around his neck and kissed him deeply, both of them getting lost in their own little world.

* * *

"Vince McMahon! Get off that phone right now!"

Vince jumped slightly at the sharp tone in his wife's voice. He looked up from the coffee table to see her standing there, arms crossed and face red. "Listen Mike, I'll call you later," he said to the person on the other end of the conversation before promptly hanging up and setting the phone onto the dark wood. "What?"

"You said there would be no more phone calls. For God sakes we are supposed to be on vacation!" Linda fumed.

"But it was importa.........."

Linda threw her hands in the air as she stormed away. "They're all important, Vince. I just don't see the point in you coming with us when we go on vacation anymore. All you do is work anyway!"

Knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere in this argument, Vince decided it was best if he just agreed. He followed his wife to the kitchen area and stood behind her. "Look, I'm sorry. I really promise this time, no more calls."

"Well that's just wonderful! You finally decide you're ready to spend some time with the rest of us at nine in the evening! Just in case you didn't notice, Paul and Stephanie left about an hour ago. I should have gone with them."

"Well where did they go?" Vince asked, his face screwing up slightly. "Go on get them back here and we'll..............we'll............" he stuttered as his eyes scanned the area to find something they could do. His face lit up when he spotted the thick black table legs in the other room. "We'll have a game of pool!"

"Pool?"

"Yes, pool! Come on, it will be great. Me and you against Steph and Paul. We'll kick their asses! What about it?"

Linda managed a small smile at her husband. She bit back the bigger one that was threatening to form on her face though. "Alright. You set up and I'll go and get them!" Finally, they were going to spend some family time together. She would have gone with her daughter and son-in-law earlier but decided to let them have some alone time. It was their vacation too after all. But she'd always fancied a game of pool every now and then. And with her husband's full attention seemingly focused on pleasing her, their evening looked set to be a good one. She was just about to head towards the front of the beach house in search of the missing duo when she heard a high pitched squeal followed by some serious giggling coming from the back of the house.

"Paul!"

"PAUL!"

"What on earth?" Linda wondered as she promptly made her way through the kitchen and out onto the patio. She pulled back the door to find them bundled up on one of the massive beach chairs locked in quite the embrace by the looks of it. She shook her head and cleared her throat to get their attention. It worked as they immediately broke apart and she bit back the laugh at the horrified look on her daughter's face. It wasn't every day your mother caught you sucking face with your husband!

"Mom! What's up?" she coughed nervously.

Linda smiled and held open the patio door. "Your father and I were wondering if you wanted to join us for a game of pool?"

Paul sat up as Stephanie got up off his lap. He smiled sheepishly as he got to his feet and reached for the shirt that was sitting on the small table next to the lounger. "He's finally off the phone?" he asked, pulling the worn grey t-shirt over his head.

"I made him get off the phone! Now come on you two, get ready to get whipped!"

Paul turned his head to the side and glanced at his wife for a moment before they both burst out laughing. "Get ready to get whipped? I actually think I'm quite scared to go in now. Those were fighting words from your mom!"

"Oh come on!" Stephanie laughed as she took his hand and dragged him through the door. "I'll protect you!"

* * *

The room was silent as the tension mounted. Vince could feel the sweat dripping off his brow as Paul lined up to take the shot. He watched as his son-in-law quickly worked out the angle and masterfully potted his and Stephanie's penultimate ball. His teeth ground together and he angrily punched the air. "God dammit!"

"Yes!" cried Stephanie in delight. She smiled at her husband as he turned around after successfully potting the ball. They high fived each other and he placed a quick kiss to her cheek.

"You're up, Linda," Paul said happily. He glanced at Vince and laughed out loud. He loved his father-in-law to death but his competitive streak was beyond ridiculous sometimes. This was their third game of pool now. Stephanie and Paul had won the first one fair and square. But that didn't sit well with Vince so he demanded that they play again. But the patriarch of the McMahon family was beat then too, this time through sheer pot luck for his opponents who happened to pot their final ball and then the black right after it in the one go! After two straight defeats, Vince was practically livid and so they were all forced to play another game. Paul got the feeling they would be here all night until Vince finally won. In fact, he even felt like throwing this game until his wife had shot him a death glare. Stephanie was nearly as bad as her father. The only reason she was revelling in it right now was because she was winning!

"Come on, Linda! Number 5, right in the corner, come on!" Vince coached from the side of the table. He was level with the green felt, his eyes trained on the shiny ball as Linda sent the white in its direction. He held his breath and willed the balls to connect properly. But to his dismay, the white only knocked off the side of the defiant number five and as if in slow motion, rolled further and further away until it fell down the far right hand pocket.

Stephanie laughed at the horrified expression on her father's face. "Oh you're tied to the whipping post! You're tied to the whipping post once again!" she sang causing everybody but her dad to laugh.

Vince glared at his daughter. "Stephanie I swear if you sing that song one more time....."

"Oh relax, dad!"

"It's only a game of pool, honey," soothed Linda although it was to no effect as her husband pouted in her direction.

"Only a game of pool? ONLY A GAME OF POOL! Well if it's only a game of pool to you then why don't I just finish this game on my own? I sure as hell would be doing a lot better without you potting the damn white ball every shot!"

Paul buried his face in Stephanie's hair in an attempt to hide his laughter. Vince was seriously cracking up and all because he couldn't win in a family game of pool! It was hilarious!

"Me putting the white ball every shot? You've had your fair share too mister but you seem to be forgetting that. Here," Linda sighed as she handed the cue to her husband before standing back, an amused grin on her face. "You want to win so badly you can do it all on your own!" She turned to her daughter and smiled. "It's your shot, Steph."

"Let me show you how it's done daddy!" she said cockily as she lined up her shot. With one swift movement she pushed forward and watched as the white ball knocked off the number two and sent it into the lower left pocket. She strutted around to the other side. "We get two shots. You knocked in the white!" Her earlier shot left her in perfect position to pot this one. The shot was easy and she happily watched as yet another ball was put away.

"Would you look at that?" Paul smiled. He stepped forward and took the cue from his wife's outstretched hand. He glanced at his father-in-law with a playful smirk on his face. "Only one ball left, Vince!"

Vince snarled and tensed himself for what he knew was about to happen. He secretly began to wish death on all of the pool balls. "Just take the shot!"

Paul shrugged his shoulders before getting into position. "You asked for it!"

"Woooooooo!" Stephanie yelled in satisfaction as Paul potted the black ball. She quickly rushed over to him and kissed him on the lips. "Well done baby!" She wrapped her arm around his back and smiled in her father's direction.

"You know what...............I............screw you guys!" Vince hissed before he stormed out of the room and headed towards the patio. They could practically see the steam gushing out of his ears.

"Serves him right!" Linda chuckled as she gazed after her husband's retreating form. In her eyes, Vince got his just deserts for ignoring them all day long.

* * *

Stephanie admired the view as her husband pulled his shirt off and stripped down to his boxer briefs. She pulled a cotton tank on and moved to stand at the foot of the bed, smiling as Paul unceremoniously flopped onto it and shuffled his way under the covers. If he wasn't so damn big he would have looked exactly like a little kid just then.

"You going to stand there all night or are you gonna get in?"

"NIGHT YOU TWO!"

Paul glanced at the door, half expecting Linda to stick her head in to say goodnight. After a few moments he heard her footsteps pad on down the hall. "There, your mom's away. You can take your top off now!"

Stephanie lightly smacked his arm as she sat down beside him. "Perv!" She turned to her side in order to pull the covers further around her when the small grey box on the wall caught her attention. She smiled evilly and gently pushed away his approaching hands as she leaned across and held in the intercom button.

"What are you doi......." Paul screwed up his face as his wife's hand covered his mouth, effectively shutting him up. But he immediately burst out laughing when she began to sing.

"Ohhhhh you've been tied to the whippin' post dad! You've been tied to the whippin' post!" Stephanie half sang, half laughed. She looked at Paul to find him burrowed underneath his pillow, his body shaking with laughter.

"!" came Vince's unmistakeable angry voice as it travelled throughout the house.

"Oh my God, Steph! That was classic!" Paul managed to get out between laughs.

Stephanie smiled, extremely pleased with herself as she cuddled into bed and into her husband's waiting arms. "Now we just have to hope he doesn't come down here and try to kill us!"

"Kill _you_! I wasn't the one signing that God damn song to him all night."

"You would throw me to the wolves? I'm disappointed in you, baby."

"I'm joking," Paul offered as he pulled her closer. "You know I'd Pedigree every single wolf on this planet if they tried to get to you!"

The serious tone of his voice made her chuckle. "I have no doubt that you would. But the question is, would you Pedigree a maniacal, knife wielding father trying to kill his daughter?"

"You're a nut, you know that?"

"But you love me right?"

"Of course I do. Even in spite of the maniacal, knife wielding father that's trying to kill you!"


	3. Tokyo Tokyo

**A/N** - Thanks for your response to the last chapter. This one is based off an interview Trips did a few years ago and I just thought it was hilarious so I decided to write about it. I can't remember the exact interview it's from but credit for the quote below goes to MLF. I wasn't sure what year it was from either so please excuse any mistakes about who was on the tour etc. And thanks for all your suggestions for future chapters. I definitely plan to write about some of them so keep them coming if you think of anything lol.

* * *

Q. Before marrying Stephanie, you were involved with Chyna for a long time. Did women still come to you even when she was there?

A. There were a few times. With Steph, it's a bit different. The only time it was an issue was when we went to Japan and we were getting off the bus, and there were about 1,000 fans, mostly women, and they started swarming me, yelling, "Hunter!" and Steph just got bowled over. They knocked her down, and she was so mad. I caught shit for that one!

* * *

**Tokyo Tokyo**

The feel of the cool air as it squeezed through the tiny slot above him was a welcome change from the hot and clammy atmosphere of the bus. It continued its journey from the airport to the hotel. Most if not all of the other people on the bus were sleeping or just resting up after the long flight to the Far East. It was the WWE's first trip to Japan in a long time and while there was a definite excitement surrounding the trip, the length of the journey had taken a lot out of the roster. Paul sighed and tried to stretch his legs under the seat in front of him. He sure as hell didn't want to accidentally kick it and wake up Show. His body felt limp from being stuck sitting in a chair for so long.

"I didn't know you were awake," a soft voice mumbled against his shirt. He looked down to see Stephanie's not-so-wide blue eyes staring back. She was currently half lying on him with her head pressed against his shoulder and her arm linked through his. She stretched out her tired limbs, her fingers gripping his a little tighter as they lay entwined together on her lap and then softening when she relaxed back into position.

"I've been up for a while. I can never sleep on these damn buses," he replied, his face screwing up slightly.

Stephanie chuckled at the expression on his face. "It's times like these when you wish we flew with dad and got chauffeured to the hotel right?"

"Yeah," he grumbled. "Speaking of Vince, does he want to meet with us right away or do we have time to just chill in the room?"

"I don't know. I'm sure he's left a message at the desk for us so we'll find out when we get there."

"How much longer is it anyways?" Paul half whined. He loved this business to death but he could sure as hell do without the travelling sometimes.

Stephanie was just about to look at her watch when the bright lights of Tokyo city immediately caught her attention. An excited smile crossed her face and she craned her neck to see out the window. She had never been to Tokyo before and when told about the tour a few months ago had jumped at the chance to go. Despite the fact that it was a working trip, she would still be provided with the opportunity to spend almost two full weeks with her husband which was certainly more time than what they got at home.

"Steph?"

Feeling his soft nudge on her shoulder, she tipped her head in the direction of the window and smiled. "Not very long now. We're almost in the city and the hotel is right next to the arena so......" she trailed off.

"Well nearly there or not, I'm too lazy to move so get your head back down there so I can lean on you again," he joked, then smiled triumphantly when she lightly thumped their joined hands against his knee before laying her head back down on his shoulder. "Thank you," he mumbled into her hair as he laid his head against hers and settled in for the remainder of their journey.

* * *

It took around another half hour or so but soon enough the broken English of their supposed guide crackled over the radio informing them that they were pulling up to the hotel now. Although he wasn't needed at all because the huge amount of screaming fans swarmed outside the hotel gave it away. As soon as they saw the bus they began screaming and jumping up and down causing a lot of the superstars to chuckle.

Paul turned to his wife and smiled. "This is mad! I don't think we'll be able to get off the damn bus!"

Stephanie could only nod her head in agreement. As they got closer and eventually pulled up to park, the screeching and wailing of the fans, mostly women, engulfed the otherwise silent atmosphere of the bus and she cringed. There had to be at least a thousand of them out there. She had never seen anything like it in her life!

"Saddle up boys, this is going to be tough getting through this lot!" called Dusty Rhodes from the front of the bus. Paul chuckled along with a few others as he got to his feet and began preparing his things. He reached up and pulled both his and Stephanie's bags from the overhead space.

"Thanks honey," she said as she took her handbag from his grasp and stood up. She stretched her arms above her head before quickly covering her ears when the door opened and the high pitched squeals from outside were heard full force. "Good God that's loud!"

Paul's face looked worried as he motioned for her to step out into the aisle in front of him. "I'm afraid to get off now," he joked. His expression turned from one of faux fear to that of pain as an even louder squeal worked its way into his ears. He glanced out the window to see Jericho completely swarmed by the fans before they quickly moved on to Edge who had just stepped off the bus himself. He turned back to his wife and gulped. "Now I'm really afraid to get off!"

"Oh come on!" she laughed, moving along slowly as the people in front of her got off the bus with Paul right behind her. As they reached the door the noise only got louder and louder. But that was absolutely nothing compared to the HUGE amount of high pitched cheers when Paul finally stepped off the bus. Stephanie physically winced and felt Paul's hand on her lower back as he tried to manoeuvre her through the quickly forming crowd. She didn't get two steps before the thousand or so rushing fans descended upon her in hot pursuit of her husband.

"HUNTER!!!"

"HUNTER!!!"

Paul shook his head with a small smile on his face. These women were damn near hysterical and all just because he stepped off the bus! He nodded at a few, even reaching out to shake the hand of a group that had tears streaming down their cheeks. Forget near hysterical, they _were_ hysterical! So engrossed was he in their reaction that he failed to notice the even larger crowd headed his way. He looked up just in time to see them getting closer and closer, completely ignoring his wife and knocking her down in the process! His shocked expression quickly turned into one of amusement as he laughed out loud at the sight of Stephanie on her ass on the ground with one of the most pissed off expressions he had ever seen in his life on her face. He moved to try and help her up but the thousands of fans swarming around him made it impossible to move. He was legitimately stuck. Where the hell was security? At this rate he would never make it to the hotel. He tried his best to focus on his wife as the screaming women pulled him in every direction. Inevitably he lost sight of her until he heard her screaming her head off at some poor hotel worker. He could almost see the steam rising out of her head and he winced. Oh she was pissed alright. Deciding that he needed to get to her as soon as possible if he wanted to avoid getting his ass chewed out, he began to push forward in the hopes that the swarm would move with him.....

* * *

"I can NOT believe that just happened!" Stephanie fumed to herself as she stormed through the hotel entrance and marched towards the reception desk. She could see a few of the guys snickering at her and glared in their direction. That quickly shut them up! She couldn't believe those fans and she couldn't believe her husband. He had actually laughed! Laughed! So he thought her getting bowled over by a bunch of hormonal women was funny? She'd show him funny. Let's see how funny he found in when he had to find another hotel room to sleep in tonight!

"Stephanie! You finally......made.....it....." Vince trailed off. His initial delight as seeing his daughter turned to confusion when she turned around and shot him a death glare. "What's the matter?"

She laughed mockingly as she flicked her hair angrily over her shoulder. "What's the matter? Why don't you ask your _son_-in-law what's the matter, huh? Why don't you go ask him?" With another angry flick of her hair she promptly left him standing there dumbfounded and moved to the reception desk.

"He's _your_ husband," Vince said to himself as he shrugged his shoulders and looked at her strangely before the loud squealing from outside finally caught his attention. What the hell had Paul done to piss her off this badly he wondered as he walked towards the entrance. He could vaguely make out a tall blonde figure amongst the mass of screaming women as his son-in-law. A look of disbelief crossed his face at the sight of a 6'4 man stuck amongst all these tiny little women! He was about to go out to try and save him when Paul finally broke free and practically ran for the hotel entrance. He stumbled inside, his eyes wide and face dishevelled.

"Jesus Christ!" Paul hushed as he wiped himself down. That was insane! He hoped the other guys had to go through that although when he looked at their amused faces as they stood near the reception desk he couldn't help but think that somehow they missed out.

"I would stand here and talk pleasantries with you son but if you don't apologize to Stephanie ASAP I think she's going to kick your ass!" Vince explained quickly. "And what the hell did you do?" he called after Paul when he took off in the direction of the reception.

"NOTHING!" Paul called over his shoulder. Cutting in front of a few of the production guys, he asked what number his room was.

"Your wife just collected your key, Mr. Levesque. You are staying in room 5110, it's on the 5th floor. Have a nice stay."

He never heard the end of her sentence because he bolted as soon as he got the room number. Thankfully an elevator was ready and waiting for him and in no time he was on the 5th floor and in search of room 5110. A flash of long brown hair lead him in the right direction. He followed down the corridor until he saw Stephanie stepping inside a room.

"STEPH!" he yelled and lunged at the door to keep her from closing it right in his face. "It's me!"

"I know it's you, why the hell do you think I'm trying to close the door!"

Paul grimaced at her icy tone. "Oh come on babe. You can't seriously be mad about that. It was nothing!"

"Nothing?" she fumed. "They knocked me on my ass, Paul! ON MY ASS!" She threw her hands into the air and walked into the room, rather, suite and began to pace.

Despite her anger and how much he was in the doghouse right now, he couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction to the whole thing. She was blowing this way out of proportion but God help him he loved that about her. Not to mention that she was extremely cute and sexy all at the same time when she was pissed off. He ventured in after her and reached to take her arm, smirking slightly when she didn't push him away.

"They were just excited, that's all. It was all in good fun, you know that," he soothed using his best suck up voice. He wasn't beyond sweet talking her. And hey, it usually worked!

"You call getting knocked down by a group of crazy women fun?"

She wasn't going to let him off easy but at least her tone had dropped and she was talking to him instead of yelling which made a small smile cross his face. "You know what I mean." He pulled her around to face him and when she didn't try to shove him off, he tentatively placed his hands on her hips. "So...........you're not mad at me anymore?"

Stephanie tried to stay annoyed at him but she couldn't, not when he was looking all kinds of cute with the puppy dog eyes and pouting lip. She managed a smile which turned into a chuckle. "Maybe," her shoulder shrugged indecisively even though she knew her answer.

"Well then why don't you let me make it up to you," he murmured against her neck as he pulled her against him and placed soft kisses to her skin.

She lightly slapped at his shoulder and fought the urge to close her eyes and just let the feeling wash over her. "Don't try and ply me with your kisses!"

"I thought you liked it when I ply you with my kisses." They stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. "I'm glad you're finally seeing the funny side of this, you know. I legit thought you were going to slam that door in my face."

"Well you would have deserved it for laughing at me like that," she huffed, her earlier anger at the situation coming back.

Paul frowned when he saw the flash of anger in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed at you. Now please say you forgive me because I can't take you being mad at me for much longer."

"I'm not mad at you anymore. But......" she turned on her heel and headed for the door. "That doesn't mean you're getting off easily." She walked on out of the room with a triumphant smile on her face and left him standing there. She had already forgiven him but knew from experience that she would do well to make him think she was still pissed as it was all the more motivation for him to make it up to her later. And he would more than do that when it came to it. In her eyes, she just had to keep this thing going until they came back to the room later tonight.

"But....." Paul threw his hands into the air with a sigh before quickly following her out of the room. He had thought he was off the hook. Clearly not. "Damn you Tokyo!" he muttered to himself.


	4. Something Blue?

This one (is long overdue lol) for you, Jess. You requested that I do one about when Steph faced Vinceat No Mercy 2003 and the backstage reactions. I hope it did it justice for you, buddy!

* * *

Stephanie smiled as she stared down at her engagement ring for the millionth time that day. The wedding was drawing closer and closer, it was only two weeks away now and she was so excited. She couldn't wait to be Mrs. Paul Levesque. She got giddy every time she thought about it actually. So did Paul. And speaking of which, she rustled in her bag and pulled out her cell phone. He would be here in a few minutes and she wanted to meet him first so that he wouldn't get stopped and pulled into a conversation with anybody before he got to her. She was starving so she figured they would go for lunch before the pre show meeting. Before she got the chance to press in his number, the phone sprung to life, flashing, vibrating and ringing in her hand with his name on the call screen. She grinned and flipped it open. "Hey! I was just about to call you, where are you?"

"I'm walking into the arena right now. Where is this meeting at? I don't want to stroll in late and get dirty looked by your dad again!" Paul joked as he quickly made his way through the parking lot and up into the backstage area.

"What are you talking about? The meetings not for another two hours, Paul."

He frowned and came to a stop. "But Vince called not an hour ago and told me it was happening now." He absently scratched at his head. "Alright, now I'm confused!"

"I...where are you? I'll come meet you and we can sort this out," she asked, getting to her feet and gathering the various bits and pieces scattered around the makeshift office.

"I'm..." he spun around on his heel and tried to spot something he could direct her to. The blacked out area up ahead caught his eye and he began walking towards it. "I'm at the Gorilla. Meet me there, ok?"

"Ok. See you in a minute!"

Not five minutes later he spotted her as she turned the corner. He felt his breath catch at the breathtaking smile on her face when she saw him. God he loved her.

"Hey!" She smiled as she leaned up and pecked his lips.

Paul smiled as they broke apart. "Hey yourself. So, what's going on with this..."

"Paul! Steph! There you are!"

They both turned around at the sound of Vince's booming voice. Linda was walking beside him and as they came to a stop in front of them, Paul and Stephanie could only stare in confusion.

"What are you guys doing here?" Stephanie asked curiously while she hugged her parents. Talk about bumping into everybody at once!

"We're going out for lunch, come on!" Vince replied with a huge smile as he walked off. "I've got something I want to discuss with you," he threw over his shoulder happily.

Paul shook his head and smirked. "He is in WAY too good of a mood. He's up to something."

"Don't I know it. But I'm too hungry to care!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him in the direction of her parents. "Come on, let's go see what this is all about."

"YOU WANT TO WHAT!" Paul sputtered as he almost choked on his water at what he had just heard.

"Paul, calm down!" Vince said in his best convincing tone but it was to no effect.

"Calm down? I'm not going to calm down! Are you serious?" He turned to Linda, his eyes wide with shock and hers were no different. "Is he serious?"

"Just hear me out, OK?"

"NO!" Paul cried incredulously, his face scrunching up in defiance.

After the shock of her father's suggestion wore off, Stephanie finally got her ability to speak back. She reached across and patted Paul's hand as it rested on the table. "Honey, just let him talk. The least we can do is hear him out."

"You actually want to hear this crazy idea?" Linda asked in disbelief. She was just as shocked as her future son-in-law and she couldn't believe that Stephanie was even going to humour her father, not when he had an insane notion in his head like this one.

"He hasn't even said it all yet, guys. Let him finish!" She motioned to her father to continue and glared at her fiancé when he tried to protest again. She rolled her eyes at the pout that appeared on his face. "Go on, dad."

"Well, as I was saying," Vince paused to glare at the man across the table from him and his wife before continuing. "I think it's a great idea to end the storyline and get Steph off TV. It really won't be all that bad, just think about it.

Paul's ears were bleeding! He couldn't believe he was hearing this right now. "So let me get this straight. You want to wrestle Steph...in a match...FIVE DAYS BEFORE OUR WEDDING!"

Vince nodded curtly. "Yes."

"NO!"

The older man could only screw up his face at the reply. "Well it's not exactly up to you now is it?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, huh? You seriously expect her to have a match, with you of all people, just five days before we get married? What if something happens? What if she ends up with a black eye or seriously hurt? I'm sorry but the answer is..."

"PAUL!" Stephanie practically yelled to cut his rant off.

Paul turned to her and couldn't help but gulp. She was giving him 'the look' but this time he had no idea why. He hadn't done anything wrong. She should be directing her gaze to her lunatic father. He was the one coming off with crazy ass plans like this. "What?"

"If we could all just calm down here," she began affirmatively. "I actually think I'm with Dad on this one." She could see both her Mom and Paul getting ready to protest and again she raised her hands to silence them. "Guys! Just think about it for a second. I've been wanting to get off TV for a while now and this is the perfect way to go out because it ends the storyline, leaves room for me to come back if I want to and the fans will love it. I think it's great!"

"Thank you, sweetheart," Vince said smugly as he leaned over and pecked her cheek.

Linda couldn't believe her ears! Her daughter, after finally meeting the man of her dreams and only two weeks away from her fairytale wedding, was actually agreeing to go out and wrestle a match with her not-so-athletically-gifted father. This had disaster written all over it. She saw the look on poor Paul's face and grimaced. He looked horrified.

"I can't believe this. Steph, what if something happens? What if you get hurt or get a black eye or..." Paul began but he was silenced when Stephanie slipped her hand into his and her expression towards him softened.

"Honey, I know there's a risk of something happening but, I've been in the ring before and everything went fine. Besides, we aren't going to do anything crazy, just the basic stuff. Around ten minutes tops and it will be over. Surely we can get through that?" Deciding that a change of tactics would be best if she wanted to win him over, she switched from glaring at him to giving him her very subtle version of puppy dog eyes. It worked every time. Sure enough, his wonderful eyes gave away the fact that his defences were starting to crumble. "And then when it's all over we can go, get married and then be off on our honeymoon for two weeks. You won't even remember it."

Vince exchanged amused glances with his wife across the table. They both knew what was going on here. Their daughter was working her magic on her helpless fiancé, the same magic that she used on them when she was a kid and it looked like she had perfected it because Paul was a goner. He could only shake his head and bite back the laugh that was threatening to escape him. She had Paul wrapped around her little finger. Somehow he didn't think this version of Triple H would go down too well with the fans. He caught Linda's eye again and she ever so subtly told him to quit smirking. It was hard though because this was just too damn funny!

Paul took a moment before he sighed heavily. "Alright. Let's do it." He shook his head in defeat and silently cursed her for looking so damn beautiful. She knew how to tug on his heart strings that was for sure. And then there was that secret glint in her eye that told him that she intended to make it up to him when they were alone. Any thought of resistance quickly went out the window with that one.

"Great! I'm glad you're on board, Paul. And now that we've got that out of the way, let's have lunch!" Vince was all smiles as he summoned the waiter, fully happy that he had got his way. Linda sat there bemused by the whole situation. Paul was none too happy about it but accepted it none the less and Stephanie was only now starting to realise what she had just agreed to. What if she really did end up hurt? They would have to postpone the wedding. Or even worse, she would have a broken leg or something in their wedding photo! A shiver ran down her back at that thought. Maybe Paul did have a point. But there was no use in fretting over it now. A deal was a deal.

* * *

The roar of the fans made her jump. Stephanie cringed. The Acolytes and Bashams were already out there. She was on next! God, why the hell did she agree to this? It had seemed like a great idea at the time but now that it finally came to executing it, she felt sick to her stomach. "Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! What am I doing?"

"Hey! There'll be none of that." Paul saw her worried face and immediately came to her side. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her square in the eye. "Just calm down. You can do this OK."

Linda smiled fondly at her future son-in-law. Ever since their infamous lunch meeting, Stephanie had seemed to take on all of Paul's worries from that day while he had became the calm and rationale one. She had lost count of the number of times that he had reeled her in. She knew her daughter was pretty excited to have him as her husband. If she was being honest, she was just as excited to have him as her son-in-law. Another addition to the McMahon family was more than welcome. She got up from her seat and joined the pair in the centre of the room. "Listen to your fiancé honey. Just calm down and go out there and do what you guys planned to do. I'll be right there with you."

"Do you still think it's too late to get Triple H written into this storyline? I could run out there and kick Vince's ass..."

Stephanie managed a small laugh. "I wish you could be out there too, babe. And I wish you could kick my dad's ass for ever coming up with this!"

Paul bit his tongue. He was about to tell her how she didn't have to agree to it in the first place but decided that, for the sake of his health he had better keep his mouth shut. "Don't worry, your dad has been well warned. If..."

"If there is even a hair harmed on your beautiful head I WILL KILL HIM!" Linda butted in adamantly.

Paul glanced at her with a partial mock look of fear on his face before turning his attention back to Stephanie. "You see. Vince has got Linda, myself and Shane to deal with if he screws this up. You guys will be fine. Just, try not to get a black eye or something. I don't want our kids thinking that daddy beat up mommy on their wedding day!"

Stephanie smiled and pulled him into a tight hug. He was just what she needed. She breathed him in and closed her eyes, hugging him close.

He wrapped his arms around her just as tightly and kissed her hair. "You'll be fine. I know you will."

"Hey guys! Are we ready to get this show on the road?"

Everybody's attention turned to the open door to see Vince strolling through decked out in his wrestling gear and with Sable already by his side.

"Vince McMahon! I am giving you a final warning. If anything, ANYTHING, happens to her during this match, I swear to God I _will_ kill you," Linda fumed at him. She was so nervous and the match hadn't even happened yet.

"I promise, nothing will happen, right Steph?" He screwed his face up at his wife. Why the hell was everybody on his case? He had just been scolded down the phone by Shane for the third time that day. This was Linda's umpteenth warning and Paul was now staring at him like he was the plague.

Paul walked forward and stared the older man right in the eye. He had so much respect for Vince and would never dare to threaten like he was about to do. But so help him he would kick his ass if anything happened to Stephanie out there. He tried to be jovial about it as best he could as he offered a not so friendly slap on the shoulder. "You just be careful out there, you hear? Otherwise you'll have two McMahon's and a Triple H lining up here ready to kick your ass if anything happens to her."

"Alright! Alright! Everybody stop with the God damn threats and warnings! Nothing is going to happen. We have rehearsed this a million times." Vince glared at his wife and Paul before turning and strutting out the door. "Come on Steph!"

Sable looked at the three of them and shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry!" she mumbled before scurrying away after him.

"OK. This is it," Stephanie sighed. She was just about to psych herself up with a pep talk but Paul beat her to it.

"Now, just remember what you guys have planned. And remember, if you're taking an overhead bump..."

"Try to land on my side, I know!"

"Good," he continued with a proud smile. "Just watch your step, remember to move out of the way of his punches and kick his ass for this, OK? You're gonna do great, babe. I love you."

Stephanie grabbed his head and pulled him down for a much needed kiss. She held him there for a few moments before finally releasing him. "I love you too. OK. I can do this. OK. Let's go."

Paul watched as Linda followed her out the door. Only when they were gone did he allow the worried frown to cross his face. God damn Vince and his crazy mind! He said a silent prayer that everything would go off without a hitch before taking a deep breath and sitting down on the sofa to watch the match.

He smiled when Stephanie and Linda walked out to the ring.

He breathed deeply at how beautiful she looked with that sad expression on her face as she began to pace about.

He chuckled at the snarl that appeared when Sable came out.

He couldn't help but laugh as Vince's larger than life 'Mr. McMahon' character made his appearance and strutted down to the ring. He'd be damned if the man wasn't entertaining.

And he about died when Vince hammered her in the back and she fell to the mat.

The bell rang. This was it.

She began screaming like a crazy woman as she jumped on his back. She was going for it. He let out an uneasy breath. Vince dragged her over his head and slammed her to the mat. He swore every time that happened he lost a few years off his life. By the time she was beating the crap out of him with the lead pipe he was practically watching through his fingers. But despite his nerves, he was so proud of her. The fans were eating it up and Cole and Tazz were selling the shit out of it on commentary. He made a mental note to thank them at some stage. Vince always said that he enjoyed watching his family on TV and he had to admit, the McMahons knew how to entertain. He just wished they would stick to doing it with microphones and not in the ring. Stephanie hit a running bulldog and even though he knew the outcome, he almost jumped out of his seat at the two count. The fans were going nuts. They had them in the palm of their hand. He always told her that that was one of the things he loved most about wrestling. There was no greater feeling than knowing you controlled the emotions of twenty thousand people. That you could make them love you, make them hate you, make them want to see you win or get your ass kicked. He just hoped that she was experiencing everything that he did every time he stepping foot in the ring.

Suddenly, Vince grabbed her by the throat and threw her to the mat hard. She was clasping at her back and he frowned, already feeling the anger building within him. He didn't have to be so fucking rough! 'Asshole' chants started up when he hit her with the pipe. Vince was in his element that was or sure. He couldn't watch as he started to choke her out. It was over now anyways and he quickly ran out of the room and to the gorilla to wait for her when she got back. He got there and found a monitor just in time to see Vince pie face Linda. His character was such a dick but it was great!

"Man that's gross!"

Paul turned to find John Cena standing behind him. He had a match against Angle next. He smirked. Vince had just tongued Sable and it was actually disgusting. "Tell me about it. Vince is always making out with the diva's the pervy old bastard!"

Cena smiled and nodded his head. "You got that right!"

But Paul was barely paying attention to him by that stage because Stephanie was back on the screen surrounded by trainers and referees. All he wanted to do was go down there himself but he couldn't. The fans would get the shock of their life if Triple H ran out to check on his ex-wife. So he waited for what felt like forever until she got to the back. Vince came through first and walked straight over to him.

"How was it? How did it go?"

"I think it went great. The fans ate it up. But I swear to God, Vince, if she's hurt I'm going to kick your ass right here, right now," Paul said seriously.

Vince glared at the various people standing behind them, including Cena and Angle who were smirking. "What the hell are all you looking at!" he scolded. "She's fine, Paul. I swear it."

"She better be."

A final roar came from the fans as Stephanie gave one last wave before walking through to the back. Paul was at her side in a second.

"Are you OK? Are you hurt? Steph?"

She smiled and rubbed his arm reassuringly. "I'm fine, really. "

He wrapped his arm around her and rubbed her back. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." She gave him a squeeze before moving to pull her father into a hug. "Thanks dad, for not breaking any of my bones or giving me a black eye, you know!"

"You're welcome. Now can you get those two off my case? I haven't stopped getting dirty looks for the past two weeks!"

Stephanie smiled and grabbed her fiancé by the hand. "I'm sure that won't be a problem. Come on, I need to shower and then we can get out of here." She dragged him down the hallway and into their locker room. The final obstacle to their wedding was now out of the way. The next event on the calendar would be the big day and neither could wait!

"You can stop glaring at me now," Vince barked defensively to his wife who was still standing there giving him all sorts of dirty looks.

"You're lucky! That's all I can say, Vince. You're lucky!" She quickly turned her back to him and stalked off, waiting a moment or two before letting the smirk appear on her face. She knew it would drive him nuts thinking that everybody was still annoyed. Well, it was the least he deserved after putting herself, Stephanie and Paul through a match like that. But now it was on to bigger and better things. The wedding was next on the agenda and she was so excited. She was just so thankful that Stephanie's 'something blue' hadn't ended up being a black and blue eye!


	5. The Princess and The Spaceship

**A/N** - Alright, so this was a request and finally I have come through on my promise to write it lol. The snippet that it's based on is below so refer to that if you want. Syd, I hope you like it!

* * *

_**You went to art school earlier in your life. Do you still draw a lot?**_

_You know what, I wish I had the time. I really don't have the time to do it on any kind of level. I doodle a lot. [Laughs] When I'm supposed to be paying attention in a meeting or something at the office, I'm doodling feverishly. What's great about it to me, and to go back to the kids, now I kind of have that art background so when my kids want to make something or do something creative, I can do it with them. A month ago, I made my kids a spaceship out of a cardboard box that they were playing with. They play with it all the time and it's sitting in their room. It's cool, we did it together — we made it and then they drew it on with me and made the design and stuff. I know this is not the Triple H that you're thinking of, but that's my life now._

* * *

"Look Murphy! Princess Belle is going to the ball with Aladdin!"

Paul smiled softly as he watched over his daughters while they played with their dolls. They were sitting on the floor and Aurora happily marched Princess Belle and Prince Aladdin towards the large playset beside the coffee table. For a few moments he wondered why Belle was going to the ball with Aladdin. It was supposed to be Belle and the Beast and also Aladdin and Princess Jasmine. Then he immediately started laughing out loud. Jesus. He had spent so much time watching movies and playing with his daughters that he pretty much knew every Disney fairytale by heart at this stage. He shook his head before sighing heavily. His eyes dropped to the paperwork that lay on his lap. He had been reading over it for the past hour or so while they had played and he was more than bored with it by now. While he wouldn't give up the free time being away from the ring gave him to spend with his kids, he didn't like some of the more mundane aspects of taking up a desk job at Titan Towers had to offer. It also didn't help when Vince had him trailing after him like a damn lapdog trying to give him a crash course in marketing and some of the more business-y side of things. Yes, he had helped run a few gyms before he broke into the business but that was a long time ago. The only thing he knew how to do these days was wrestle. It was a whole different ballgame working fully behind the scenes. It also gave him a little more perspective on just how hard his wife had been working all these years. Don't get him wrong, he knew she worked hard, harder than anybody he knew bar her father. But actually getting to see everything for himself made him appreciate her contributions more than ever. When he had told her so it had resulted in a night of her showing her appreciation to him instead of the other way round. A sly smirk crossed his face as he remembered. Black lace underwear. Heels. Sexy as hell smile on her face. Oh yeah, that had most certainly been a night to remember. He was so lost in his memories that he failed to notice that Aurora was tugging on his leg.

"DADDY!"

He visibly jumped in his seat at the sound of his daughter's agitated shout. He looked down to see her glaring up at him with a fistful of his shorts gripped tightly in her hand. "What?"

"Can you play with us now? You said you would before you started reading the pages," she said, more like guilted him into it by tilting her head and giving her puppy dog eyes. She may have been young but she was well versed in getting what she wanted, especially from her father who never seemed to be able to say no.

Paul watched as her eyes grew big and her lower lip jutted out ever so slightly and managed to hide his chuckle. He'd be damned if she didn't have him wrapped around her little finger. "Alright," he sighed as he tossed the papers to the side and carefully slumped onto the floor beside them. His arm was in a sling and still recovering from the bicep injury he had received a few months ago. Besides, it wasn't like she was tearing him away from something he needed to be doing. He'd get to the report later. Right now his full focus was on Aladdin as the doll was quickly thrust into his hand.

"You be Aladdin daddy! Murphy, you be John Cena and I'll be Belle!"

This time he couldn't stop the laughter and promptly laughed out loud as Aurora dished out the toys. What a bunch! Belle, Aladdin and a God damn John Cena Mattel action figure! His kids weren't weird at all!

"What funny, daddy?" Murphy mumbled, her eyes big and wide as she looked up from the figure to her father.

"Oh nothing, sweetheart. Daddy's just being silly. Come on, let's play." He smoothed the light brown strands from her face and stretched out to lie on his stomach on the floor, once again being careful not to bump his arm off anything. He propped Aladdin upright and began walking him in the direction of Belle as Aurora started rambling on about the ball.

* * *

"Oh no! Look, the spacemen are trying to get us!"

"Quick daddy! Hide in here!"

"Wait for me, Rora!"

Stephanie didn't know what to expect as she listened to the voices coming from her daughter's bedroom. She had arrived home to a mass of WWE Mattel action figures and Disney princess dolls scattered across the living room floor but the culprits were yet to be seen. At least until now. After placing Vaughn into her crib in the other room, she returned to still yelling voices. She cautiously nudged the white wooden door open and peeked inside. She bit back the chuckle threatening to escape at the sight in front of her. Paul was sitting on the ground with his knees tucked under his good arm and the most ridiculous looking tin foil…..thing, on his head. He was leaning back against one of the beds while Aurora and Murphy, both with matching tin foil things on their heads yet strangely enough both in princess dresses, were packed into what appeared to be a cardboard box that had been turned into some sort of spaceship. It was painted in bright colors and she could make out both Aurora and Murphy's handy work on the side. She could also see where Paul had obviously decorated it with various designs and cartoons. Both girls were cowering down inside it as if they were hiding from something.

"Daddy! Come or dey get you!" Murphy shrieked and flailed her little arms in his direction.

Paul laughed, pulled his knees tighter to his chest and moved from side to side as if he were dodging bullets. "No, no! You and your sister stay in the spaceship. I'll stay out here and try to fight them off." He raised the arm that was in the sling and tried his best to make a gun shape with his fingers through the wrist support wrapped around it and pretended to shoot all around him, complete with sound effects to boot.

Stephanie held her hand over her mouth at his ridiculous gunshot noises and exaggerated movements. Aurora and Murphy were dodging bullets of their own as they too shot at the supposed attackers. Suddenly, Paul grabbed at his chest and scrunched his face up.

"Oh no!" he groaned, slowly dropping to the floor. "They got me!"

"Daddy!" Aurora cried as she climbed out of the box. She quickly helped her younger sister through the small door they had created on the front and they both ran over to their fallen father. But they both cried out and started screaming in laughter as he tugged them close and started tickling them mercilessly.

Stephanie felt a warm sensation tingle throughout her body. She never got tired of seeing her husband and children interact with each other. It was a special feeling that she only ever got from them. Paul was such an amazing father and it was times like this when she swore she fell in love with him all over again. Deciding it was time she move in and rescue her daughters before they could laugh no more, she pushed the door open a little further and walked inside the room. The two young girls were instantly on their feet and running towards her as soon as they realized she had come into the room.

"MOMMY!" They cried in unison and practically ran right into her legs.

Stephanie smiled and bent down to greet them. "What are you guys getting up to in here?" She playfully reached over and tugged on the mass of foil on Murphy's head and smiled affectionately at her. She looked so damn cute right now in her little tin foil hat!

"We were playing spaceships!" Aurora said excitedly and began pointing out the various things as she talked about them. "The spacemen were trying to get us so we had to hide in our spaceship but daddy didn't fit in so he had to stay outside and they got him!"

"They did, huh?" She looked past their enthusiastic nods to find her husband slowly getting to his feet. His eyes met hers and he smirked as he walked the short distance to stand in front of her, his hand fiddling with his sling.

"Yep, they got me," he said simply as he leaned down to press a gentle kiss on her lips. "Where's our third little alien?"

She beamed back at him as she ran her hand over his jaw for a moment. "She fell asleep on the ride back so I put her in her crib."

"And everything's okay?" The concern in his eyes was apparent as he looked at her with a slight frown on his face. Vaughn had been running a fever these past few days so Stephanie had taken her to the doctor and received some medicine to help get rid of the mild infection.

"She'll be fine. They gave her some drops to take in her bottle. She should be looking good in a day or two."

"Vaughny OK?"

Both parents smiled fondly at Murphy's soft worded question. Once again her big blue eyes were wide as she looked between them. Stephanie smiled and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "Your sister's just fine. She's sleeping right now though so how about we move downstairs so that we don't wake her up?"

"Okay mommy!" Aurora muttered as she tiptoed towards the door and motioned with her hand. "Come on everybody," she said, creeping on out the door.

Paul let out a small chuckle at her antics and placed his hand on the small of his wife's back as she walked out of the room with Murphy in her arms.

"So what did you do all day?" Stephanie threw over her shoulder but was quickly silenced.

"Shhhhhhhh!" Aurora hushed from the top of the stairs.

Stephanie frowned and bumped her husband on the hip at the sound of his laughter.

"That's you told!" Paul joked as the foursome made their way downstairs and into the messy living room.

When they were finally inside Paul plopped onto their large sofa and let out a content sigh. The girls quickly took up their previous positions on the floor and went right back to playing. Stephanie switched on the baby monitor before taking a seat beside her husband. She turned to look at him and it was only then that she noticed the small specks of pink and green paint on his face and shirt. She reached out and playfully rubbed at a rather big smudge on his temple.

"Got paint?"

"Got lots of paint actually," he joked back, holding out both arms as best he could to show the damage created by painting with two young children.

"So I take it you spent the day making spaceships then, huh?"

He nodded his head and shuffled on the sofa so he could see her better. "Well first of all we started out with those two playing and me trying to work. Then I ended up playing with them. Then we had lunch where Aurora saw some space cartoon. She went up to their room and brought that damn box they're always playing in down here and asked if they could make it into a spaceship. So then we spent a few hours doing that before we took it upstairs to play aliens."

Stephanie chuckled lightly and moved over to rest against him. "Sounds like fun. I only hope that you haven't destroyed our kitchen in the process."

"Don't worry. I made sure to clean up while the box was drying out. I couldn't have my wife coming home to a messy kitchen. I'm pretty sure she'd kill me," he teased, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

She couldn't help but laugh back as she played along. "And what would she say about this, huh? You, sitting here with another woman."

"Oh I don't think she'd mind," he mumbled as he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her neck. "She values her kitchen over her husband you see."

With that remark she nudged him in the stomach and rolled her eyes. "I'm sure she does."

"She does," he continued. "In fact, she values it so much that she is just dying to get in there and start cooking dinner."

This time he let out a soft yelp when she promptly slapped his arm. "Lazy bastard," she playfully muttered under her breath as he began laughing hard.

"Now, now, dear, not in front of the children!"

Her reply was to stick her tongue out before she dragged herself to her feet and let out a sigh. "I guess since you looked after them alone all day…"

"And with pretty much only one arm," he cut in with a smirk, holding up his sling.

"And with pretty much only one arm," she mimicked. "I guess I can make a start on dinner."

He grinned before tilting his head to the side and pouting his lower lip. "Awwww baby. You know I would help you if I could but somebody's got to stay here and watch our beautiful children."

"Yeah, yeah," she called over her shoulder as she walked through the swinging kitchen door with a smile on her face.

Paul let out a small chuckle and watched her walk away before turning his attention back to his daughters. Once again they were lost in their own little world. He was so happy that they spent time today making the spaceship. He loved being with them. They really did mean everything to him and he loved them more than they would ever know. To be able to share his artistic talent and actually create something for them and with them made his heart surge. It also made him feel good to see that they were interested and especially that Aurora exhibited quite a flare for drawing herself, even at such a young age. To know that she just might exhibit the same traits and interests as him made him feel proud. And he was proud. A soft smile crossed his face as he watched them for a few moments. With his mind made up he carefully slid to the floor and just like they did this morning, he accepted the doll given to him by Aurora and they played together as a family while they waited for Stephanie to cook dinner.


	6. Raw X

**A/N** - This one is for lita101matt101. She asked that I write something on the more mature side. I immediately thought of the Raw Tenth Anniversary, her slapping him on the ass and what possibly happened when they walked behind the curtain lol. Here's to hoping! I hope it's alright or you and everybody who reads it. Btw, SMUT warning. This one ain't for the kiddies.

Side note, I added a new banner for this series because the old one was bugging me. Not that it really matters but I thought I'd announce it none the less lol.

* * *

Stephanie laughed in part shock, part amusement as Rock told her to, "blow the candles, not the pool boy" on the big screen. The fans in attendance let out a loud 'Ohhhhhhhh!' as Rocky called her nothing more than a filthy slut! God damn she hadn't been expecting that. But she couldn't help but laugh it off. During that time period she was the ultimate bitch, a title she had earned by getting under the nerves of every fan along with her 'husband' Triple H. Speaking of which, her eyes discreetly glanced to the back of the room where he was sitting. She noticed the smirk on his face and shook her head. He probably got a kick out of that. If the show weren't in kayfabe they would no doubt be sitting together. But alas, it was and therefore her dad thought it best that they be kept apart. She looked back at the big screen to see that Rocky had moved on to his next victim and with a smile on her face she settled back into her seat and waited until her time to go on stage. They were set to win the Shut Up And Kiss Me Award. When she had asked him before they left the hotel what he planned to say, all she got for her answer was that wicked smile of his and a wink before he kissed her on the cheek and walked out the door. She had absolutely no idea what that meant but she knew in her gut that he was up to something. He always bloody was. All too soon Michael Cole and Tazz had appeared on screen and she straightened in her seat. It was almost time.

"We are here to present the award for best on screen duo," said Michael Cole.

"Yeah, that's us, that's us," replied Tazz.

"No, romantic couples, _romantic!_"

Tazz looked at his companion for a second before shaking his head. "Like I said, Cole, nothing like us! Nothing!"

She smiled as she watched the video package begin and start to run through the various couples that had graced WWE television over the past few years. Lita and Matt Hardy, Eddie Guerrero and Chyna, Vince McMahon and William Regal of all people and of course, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. She bit her lip and tried not to smile as she watched them on the big screen. Damn they looked good. And they _were_ good. She would be lying if she said that she didn't miss working with him on screen. Even if she didn't have a lot to do, it still meant that she could just be with him and they wouldn't be separated by working on different shows. She almost choked on her water when the clip of him 'teaching' Trish some moves appeared. God damn his facial expression was priceless. Things quickly moved on to show clips of their demise and she shook her head at how soap opera-ish the whole thing was! The video package came to a close and the cameras focused back on Cole and Tazz. They sold the awkwardness of the situation as they announced the winners and she put on her best why-are-you-making-me-do-this-face as she glanced over her mother's shoulder to see him slowly getting out of his seat and walking to the stage. She followed suit and accepted the award from Lilian, giving him a pretend glare when in fact she was looking to see if she could get a read on what he might be up to. His poker face held true as always though and she got nothing.

Paul looked at her in fake annoyance as he finally joined her at the podium and she began talking. But inside he was close to losing it. Oh he so couldn't wait for this.

"And I would just like to say that it's truly an honor to be a part of Raw's ten year anniversary," Stephanie began. "I mean really, where else can you have four wedding ceremonies, get drugged on your real wedding night, marry….a loooooser!" she bit back her laugh as her gave her an "Oh no you didn't!" look and tried to continue her speech without bursting into laughter. "Together take over a billion dollar company, get fired, fake a pregnancy, get left at the altar and divorced only to make a triumphant comeback as the general manager of the greatest show on network television today, Smackdown!" She nodded as she looked at him with a proud smirk on her face. She couldn't wait to hear his response.

Paul choked back his laugh as he moved closer to the microphone. She was so proud of herself. He'd soon change that. "What do you say ah, we give these people a kiss for old time's sake?" Her shocked expression and raised eyebrows told him everything he needed to know.

"Are you serious?" she asked truly in shock. Of all the things she was expecting to come out of his mouth_ that_ had been the last one! What the hell was he up to? She was quickly shocked once again as he took her hand and tugged her into him in one smooth motion. She smiled up at him as she ran her hand along his chest to the lapel of his suit coat. Her fingers began to run up and down the soft material as he looked her in the eye with that look on his face.

"Oh yeah," he smirked. "I'm serious." He could tell that she was thrown by his suggestion and he delighted as she tried to mask her shock by giving that sexy damn smirk of hers. Once again he tried not to laugh as he leaned in. "Go ahead and ahhhh, pucker up!"

Stephanie watched in amusement as he quickly stepped back, turned around and started pulling his pants down. The bastard! She knew that he was up to something. Some women were screaming in the audience and she couldn't help herself this time as she ran her tongue over her teeth and then started laughing at his exposed white cheeks. He slapped his own butt, obviously waiting for her response. With a gleam in her eye she playfully lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers. Oh he was going to get it alright! She reared back and gave him a good smack on the ass to the delight of the screaming women and most everybody else in attendance.

Paul immediately stood upright and clenched his sore cheeks in pain when he felt her slap. He should have been expecting that! But her reaction was well worth it. He turned to look at her and grinned when he saw that she was doing just the same. She had grabbed the award and was walking to the back all the while smiling at him cheekily over her shoulder. He grasped at his loose pants and held his shirt at the front and started to walk to the back after her with his ass hanging out. With one final glance over his shoulder, he smirked one last time before he was in the backstage area with her amused face looking back. She promptly slapped him on the arm.

"I can't believe you did that!" she hissed, keeping her voice down as they weren't fully away from the TV area yet. She watched as he worked on his pants, trying to zip them back up but he wasn't doing a very good job. Instead his shoulders were shaking because he was laughing so hard. So help her but she started laughing too. "You're such a bastard, do you know that?" she got out between breaths.

"I am not a bastard!" he cried in defense. "That was funny. And you didn't have to slap me so damn hard" he said as he rubbed his hand over his backside with a pout.

"You deserved it," she replied nonchalantly, the twinkle in her eyes belying her serious tone.

"Well you have slapped my ass before and I never complained." He reasoned with himself, trying to tuck his shirt into his still loose pants.

"That's because we are usually doing something a lot more enjoyable," she hushed seductively, her hand reaching up to toy with his tie. She looked him dead in the eye and saw the flash of desire there. Their usual hazel color turned dark as he took a step closer and breathed in her ear.

"I'd much rather be doing that certain something round about now." With a playful wink he stepped back and once again continued tucking in his shirt. He lifted both ends of his belt and tried to fix it back up when suddenly her hand covered his, effectively stopping him from going any further.

Stephanie glanced down at his unmade belt and then lower to his crotch before her eyes raised slowly to lock on to his. "Don't," she said simply. Maybe it was the fact that he was standing so close to her right now with desire in his eyes or maybe it was the rush from just having slapped him on the ass on live television. Whatever it was, it had quickly taken over her to the point where she had to have him and now. Her thumb stroked against his hand and she watched as he glanced up and down the hallway.

"Come on," he all but growled as he took her hand and let his belt drop from the other. He pulled her away from the main backstage TV area and down another corridor until they were in a more deserted area of the building. His eyes scanned the surroundings until he finally spotted a door up ahead. He tugged her along, rapped on the door and entered when there was no answer. She quickly followed him inside and couldn't help but smirk when she heard him lock the door.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked as he advanced on her. He kept walking until she was backed against the wall with nowhere else to go.

"Oh nothing," she said with a shrug of her shoulders, trying desperately to fight off the growing tension between her legs. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. They would be expected back at their seats by now. But when he placed his hands at either side of her head and leaned in close she knew she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Paul grinned at her, almost deviously as he gave a brief nod between his legs. "You asked me stop….. I stopped."

"I can see that."

He watched as her eyes grew dark and that sexy smile crossed her face. He'd be damned if she didn't know how to push his buttons. "Well, what are you going to do about it?"

She shrugged her shoulders innocently. "Maybe I'm not going to do anything."

"Oh no?" he asked with a smile.

She shook her head in response and smiled back. "But then again….." she leaned down and set the bulky award on the floor, making sure to rub the side of her face against the growing bulge in his pants as she rose back to her feet again. Her hands reached out to rest on the waistline of his pants as she looked him right in the eye. "…..maybe I am." Her eyes slid closed as he leaned down and captured her lips with his. His mouth moved against hers slowly, his tongue running along her lower lip. She instantly parted her lips and welcomed his tongue as it began to tangle with hers. Her hands unfastened his pants button and slowly lowered the zipper as they continued to kiss passionately. She suddenly lost herself as his hand cupped her cheek and he kissed her hard, their tongues winding together endlessly. Very quickly the tension between them had turned from teasing and playful to serious and heated in no time at all. As he broke the kiss and moved his lips to suck on her neck, in the back of her mind she couldn't help but think that they _really_ shouldn't be doing this. They were supposed to be back in their seats and on live TV for God sakes! She gripped his neck and gently tried to push him off. His hand had worked its way up her dress to stroke the side of her thigh and she threw her head back against the wall, completely forgetting her resistance for a second as his fingers squeezed her behind.

"See," he mumbled against her throat. "I'm nice to _your_ ass."

She heard him snicker and thumped his back in part annoyance and part pleasure. He really wasn't helping here and to be honest, it was her own damn fault. After all, she had initiated this in the first place. How was she to know that he would completely disregard the fact that they were in the middle of a live show to sneak to an empty locker room backstage so they could have sex! "Paul….I….." she half whined, her hands running over his back while his had busied themselves with pulling her dress up to her waist.

Paul pulled on her earlobe with his teeth before moving his lips back to hers and kissing her softly. "What?" he mumbled in between kisses, barely giving her a chance to reply. He locked his mouth on to hers and kissed her deeply, his tongue dueling with hers over and over again until they were both left breathless. He slowly pulled back and looked at her hazily. His hands were now planted firmly on her behind which he was stroking and squeezing.

"Baby we can't do this," she whispered huskily, her mind telling her that they had to stop but her body thinking something completely different as her hips began to slowly rock into him. She looked into his heavy lidded eyes and felt her stomach drop. Damn him for looking so God damn fuckable right now. She wanted him. But the thought of having sex while the whole damn company, not to mention her entire family, were sitting merely a corridor away _and_ live on the air was…hot as hell. She sighed heavily, partly because of her current predicament and partly because his hands were now moving to the place that she was crying out for him to touch and if he did, there was no way she would be able to stop this.

"Mmmmmm, why not?" He said against her shoulder. He was barely even listening to her anyways, his mind too focused on getting her God damn dress off and quickly.

"Because…..we….because we're…..Jesus, Paul," she panted, completely unable to finish her sentence when she felt his hand run over the front of her thong. His thumb plucked at the lacy material before he pushed it to the side. She knew what was coming next and so help her she wanted it. But with every ounce of will power she had she reached down and removed his hand from under her dress. This immediately got his attention and he pulled up from her neck and looked at her in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

She ran a hand over her face and sighed before looking at him again. "We're supposed to be back in our seats right now, that's what's wrong," she managed to get out as she tried to compose herself.

Paul half-laughed as he grabbed her hand and brought it directly to the stiffness between his legs. "I really don't think that's possible right now."

"Well…get rid of it!"

"Get rid of it?" he asked in shock, an incredulous expression crossing his face. "What do you want me to do, cut it off?"

"I don't know but we have to go back out there!"

"You started this, dammit!"

"I know and I'm sorry baby," she said as she reached out and stroked his cheek, ignoring the growing pissed off expression that was spreading over his handsome features. "But we have to go back."

He held out his hands and gestured to his crotch one more time. "Uhhhhh, I don't think so!"

"Paul!" She was starting to get pissed off herself.

"Stephanie!" he mocked, managing to fully piss her off now.

"We can pick this up when we get back to the hotel, I promise. Now come on, let's go."

Paul looked at the ground for a moment and ran his ran his tongue over his teeth before looking her right in the eye. "There's only one way I know how to get rid of my little 'problem' here, honey and it sure as hell isn't going back out there." With that said he promptly grabbed the back of her head and captured her lips once again in a torrid kiss, his tongue instantly stealing into her mouth. She tried to resist for all of two seconds before she realized that it was useless. She wanted him badly and he obviously wasn't giving up. There was no point in delaying the inevitable.

"You son of a bitch," she panted heavily when they broke apart, reaching up to grab his face. They momentarily locked eyes before she pulled him down and kissed him hard while her hips began to buck against him. Paul groaned into her mouth and quickly pushed her dress up her legs once again, bunching it around her waist. His fingers moved to her lace thong and this time he didn't hold back as they instantly started working over her.

"Oh God," she sighed, throwing her head back and letting the feeling wash over her as her hands went back to the waist of his pants, pulling the zipper down and pushing his pants to his knees. She reached into his briefs and delighted in his deep groan when she pulled him free. His hand came to rest on top of hers as he picked her up with one arm and positioned himself at her entrance.

"I knew you'd see it my way," he whispered.

She felt his smile against her lips and very lightly slapped his face with her free hand. "Shut up," she smiled back, then let out a sharp sigh as he slipped inside her in one slow, smooth thrust.

"Jesus Steph," he groaned again, his eyes shutting tightly at the intense wave of pleasure that washed throughout his body the second he felt her wrapped around him. His forehead rested against hers for a few moments before he pulled back and thrust forward again. They both sighed deeply as he continued to move, his hips gaining a slow rhythm as they pushed into her over and over.

Stephanie threw her head back against the wall and pulled him close as she rocked her hips back against him. He felt so good, he always did. She brought her hands to the lapels of his coat and pushed it back off his shoulders. His arms gripped her tighter and he pushed her harder into the wall, enabling himself to thrust deeper inside of her. She moaned loudly in absolute pleasure, her body swimming in ecstasy as he picked up the pace, his hips beginning to grind into her more quickly.

"Fuck, you feel so good." His mouth was dry as he lost himself in her neck, his lips nipping and pulling at her skin. He moved his hands to grab her ass cheeks and started pushing into her harder. Her back rubbed against the wall as they moved together, bodies pushing back and forth, each thrust taking them closer and closer to the edge. He felt it building in his stomach and started thrusting even deeper, making sure that she felt every inch of his hardness.

"Paul…oh God baby," she panted, her hips thrusting back at him desperately as their movements quickened. They fell into a fast paced rhythm, their bodies heaving against the wall and each other as they neared their climax. She bucked her hips at him hard and bit on her lip to stop herself from screaming at the pleasure coursing through her veins. "Jesus," she groaned through gritted teeth. She was so damn close and she knew he was too from the way his hips were plunging into her. She caught his stare and gazed into his eyes deeply as he continued to move. Their eyes stayed locked and she reached up to cup the side of his face softly. He gazed back at her until he was forced to shut his eyes. He groaned heavily and felt the climax start to take over his body.

"Fuck," he managed to get out. "Oh fuck, Steph." His hand gripped her ass hard as he pumped into her almost viciously.

She felt the tremors in his body and knew he was close. His sharp movements almost immediately caused a ripple effect and her body began to shudder in his arms. She gripped his cheek tightly with one hand while the other grasped at his neck. Her hips bucked at him for all she was worth and she cried out as her release took over, completely over powering her body.

Paul pressed his forehead against hers and ground his hips against her. He gave a few final frantic thrusts before he felt his stomach contract and then release as he let go. He panted heavily against her lips, his body pressing her right up against the wall as they both tried to regain their breath. "Jesus," he swallowed hard, his hand letting go of her behind and coming up to brush her hair from her face. His head pulled back and a tender smile crossed his face as he looked at her. After a few moments he kissed her softly a few times then pulled back. "See, problem solved."

Her body shook with her laughter as she pulled him in for a hug. She breathed him in deeply and kissed a line from his ear to his lips. "I love you. And I hope you aren't tired because when we get back to the hotel I'm planning on keeping you up _all_ night."

"When have I ever complained about having sex with you, Stephanie?" he asked with a grin, lowering her back to the floor and reaching down to pull up his pants again.

She smoothed her dress down and tried to work out the wrinkles. "I'm just letting you know."

"Well I have absolutely no problem with that. In fact….." he stopped when her hand covered his mouth.

"Save it! We need to figure out an excuse as to why we're so God damn late going back out there!"

Paul tucked his shirt into his pants and this time quickly did his belt back up. His eyes lifted to sweep over her and he immediately started laughing. Her dress was wrinkled, especially at the waist area. Her hair was tousled, lips swollen, cheeks stained with a nice blush and she had that just fucked glow radiating off of her. "I hate to tell you this but there's no way you can go back out there without everybody knowing that you just had sex!"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean? You're glowing if I do say so myself!"

His playful wink did nothing to make her feel any better. He was sitting at the back beside nobody important. She was sitting beside her fucking mother! Not to mention that Shane was at the same table too. "I have to sit beside my mom! I can't go out there like this!"

"You'll be fine," he tried to assure her, his hand once again gently pushing her hair out of her eyes. "Just tell her that you were busy playing the game."

She almost missed what he said until it registered in her head and she looked into his twinkling eyes. So help her but she couldn't help but laugh too. He was right after all. "Oh fuck it!" She reached down and grabbed the little television award at her feet before turning and exiting the room with him following along after her, his body shaking with laughter as they walked back down the corridor and prepared themselves to face the music.


	7. Happy Birthday Baby

**A/N** - First of all I'm sorry about taking so long to do this. But a lot of you requested that I write about Trips 40th birthday and all the tidbits we got from that interview he did so here it is. I eventually had to cut some stuff out because it just kept growing and growing on me lol. But I think I got all the important stuff in. Anyways, any reviews are much appreciated and to whoever requested it I hope you like it!

* * *

Paul smiled as he watched his daughter run around their yard with her little friends. She was three today. Honestly, it still felt like she had just been born not too long ago. Now she was walking and talking and being a little menace when she wanted to be. His eyes softened, following her across the crisp green grass. Her little pink dress would no doubt be stained pretty soon. But he couldn't tell her to stop; it was her birthday after all. Besides, the stains would come out anyways. If not they could always buy her a new dress. He caught the eye of one of her friend's parents and nodded at him politely. Truth be told, he thought the guy was an arrogant douche. The second they met he had started boasting about his booming medical practice and how he wasn't aware that Aurora had a 'celebrity' for a father. Then he looked a little too long as he introduced himself to his wife. He couldn't stop the scowl that crossed his face. "Asshole," he muttered under his breath before shaking his head and looking back to his daughter. This time a big grin spread across his face as he watched Stephanie plod and pluck at Aurora's dress. He shook his head in amusement. Why was she even bothering? That thing was going to get a hell of a lot dirtier than it was now. Suddenly she raised her head and caught him smiling at her. She immediately frowned which forced a chuckle out of his mouth. "Uh oh," he mumbled to himself. A few seconds later and she was standing in front of him with a somewhat serious expression on her face. But the twinkle in her eye gave her away right from the get go.

"And just what exactly do you find so funny?" Stephanie demanded, putting her hand on her hip and flicking her hair back. She bit her lip to keep from laughing at the amused smile on his face.

"Oh nothing dear," Paul grinned as he quickly put his arms around her waist and tugged her right into his chest. "I was just running through the various types of detergent we have in my head. But then I thought to myself, why should I even bother when I know that that little pink dress is probably going to be green by the time it sees the inside of a washing machine."

"Shut up!"

Paul just laughed out loud. He loved it when she couldn't think up a comeback. "Good one babe, you really got me there."

"Oh you are just full of yourself today, huh?" she mused, draping her arms around his neck.

"Well I have every reason to be!" he chuffed, puffing his chest out a little in obvious pride. "My little girl has turned three, my other little girl is turning one in a few days and I have the most beautiful woman in the world in my arms right now. What reason do I have _not_ to be full of myself?"

She was about to come up with something witty to say back to him when his words created that ever familiar flutter in her chest. Sometimes she thought he wouldn't be able to stop complimenting her even if he was getting paid for it. Needless to say, she absolutely loved it and loved him for doing it. She beamed up at him and raised her head, her eyes shutting at the feel of his lips on hers. They joined together in a soft, teasing kiss before breaking away slowly. His eyes shone brightly at her as he started to twirl a stray strand of her hair around his finger.

"You know, it's my birthday in a few days. I wouldn't be against receiving an early present…." He left the sentence hanging.

"Now why would I do that when I know that you're really going to appreciate your present on your actual birthday?" Stephanie teased. She had been driving him crazy about her gift to him for weeks and she knew that it got right under his skin. The scowl that appeared on his face made her chuckle.

He pecked her on the lips once more before pulling back and taking her hand as they turned to the yard and their daughter again. "This damn present of yours better be worth it!"

"Trust me, it is," she hushed against his ear before sucking the lobe into her mouth and biting on it gently. Just as quickly as she did it, she smacked his ass and walked away.

Paul groaned and watched her walk over to her mother who currently held a sleeping Murphy in her arms. His eyes shamelessly dropped to her legs and followed every movement of her swinging hips. The woman would be the death of him one day. His mind was just about to go into overtime with madness thinking about her birthday gift when he felt something bump into his shins. He looked down and spotted the pinky green mess immediately.

"DADDY! DADDY! Can you put me on your shoulders, please?"

Her half toothless grin and beautiful smile instantly warmed his heart and with a grin of his own, he reached down and in one swift movement, swung her up and onto his broad shoulders. "Where to, birthday girl?"

"Ummmm, go to Pop!" Aurora exclaimed excitedly, bouncing on her father's shoulders.

Paul looked around the vast back yard and spotted Vince playing on the grass with Declan, Shane and another couple of boys from Aurora's class. He pretended to shake out his limbs, acting as if they were parts of a robot and made the appropriate sounds before he took off for the other side of the garden to the squeals of delight from his daughter above. Stopping suddenly, he instantly reached up and lifted her off, holding her up high in the air and shaking his head no as she yelled for him to let her down.

"Let me down daddy!"

Vince looked up and smiled hugely at the sight of his grand-daughter hovering in the air above him. He started to get to his feet.

"Grandpa Vince! Daddy won't put me down!" Aurora screamed, trying to wiggle her way out of her father's grasp.

"I'm not putting you down until I get a big hug and kiss from my little mud stained princess!"

Aurora smiled happily and leaned down. Paul pulled her in to his chest and felt her little arms wrap around his neck. She placed a big kiss to his cheek before he kissed her forehead and placed her into the able arms of his father-in-law. "Here you go, Pop. She's all yours!" He heard the sound of their laughter from behind as he left them to it and walked to join Stephanie, Linda, Marissa and Stephanie's friend Jessica on the decking. His wife currently sat, no doubt gossiping away with the other women while she nursed Murphy in her arms. He received four smiles as he came to a stop in front of them and peeked down at his sleeping daughter. He reached out and with one finger gently ran it across her tiny pink cheek. Even now at almost one year old he still looked at her and got blown away by the fact that he created her. She was so perfect. He glanced up and smiled at his wife. "This one's turn in a few days then."

"Yeah, but it's your turn first," Stephanie grinned.

As he noticed the wicked glint in her eye he swallowed hard and wondered just what the hell she had in store for him come his birthday.

* * *

"God damn cake," Paul muttered to himself as he surveyed the damage in the mirror. He was absolutely covered in the stuff from head to toe. But at least he had managed to get Vince and a couple of others too. A slow smile spread across his face as he started removing his wrestling boots. Although Stephanie wasn't there, it was still a pretty cool way to spend the night on your birthday, getting caked by your father-in-law and your friends in front of twenty thousand people or so. Dave showing up had been a nice surprise too. He really hadn't been expecting that. After finishing up with the boots, he grabbed the small shower bag from his case and made for the bathroom connected to his locker room. The cake was starting to dry on his skin and it felt gross. "Ewwww!" he whined when he felt a bit drop into his ear. He quickly flicked it out and went to work on the knee pads covering his legs. It would be good to get cleaned up so he could go back to the hotel and rest.

Almost ninety minutes later and he was dropping his case next to the large King bed in the hotel room and flopping down onto it. As soon as his head hit the pillows there was a knock on the door. He sighed and dragged himself to his feet.

"Good evening sir. Room service," said the young man on the other side of the door as he wheeled a trolley inside. Paul eye's followed him curiously, watching him walk further into the room and then look around for a place to leave the tray.

"Ummmm, I didn't order room service," he said in confusion.

"That's right. But somebody ordered for this room. I believe it was your wife sir. She also asked that I give you this," the man replied, pulling a red envelope from his waistcoat and smiling.

Paul took it from his hand, immediately recognizing Stephanie's neat handwriting on the front. He glanced at the two huge silver domes covering whatever the hell they were covering on the tray and a small grin formed on his lips. "Thank you." He reached for his wallet and handed the guy a fifty for his trouble.

"Oh no sir, thank _you_," the man said wide eyed as he placed the tray on the bedside table along with a bottle of champagne inside a bucket of ice and made for the door. "Have a good evening," he threw over his shoulder before disappearing and leaving Paul alone in his room once again.

"What in the hell is she up to?" he muttered to himself, looking over the envelope. His thick finger worked its way under the sealed flap and started to tug, ripping the red paper open to reveal a birthday card. He pulled it out and immediately started laughing. It was that damn picture of him she had created, the same one that had been put on all of the invitations to his party on Wednesday and the same one that portrayed him as some hundred year old man practically dripping out of his own skin with long white hair and glasses. After getting a few chuckles from the picture on the front, he opened the card itself and couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face.

To my darling husband on his 40th birthday,

40 years on this earth

10 of them spent knowing me

9 of them spent _loving_ me

All of them as precious as you

I wish we could have the night together but you're just going to have to wait until tomorrow. Until then, I thought I'd finally cave and give you a hint as to what you're present is. Enjoy and please, have one on me.

Happy Birthday baby, I love you,

Stephanie xx

He read over it once more and felt his chest physically ache. God damn he wished she were there with him right now. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and just breathe her in. He got lost in thoughts of her for a moment or two before his eyes lifted and fell upon the tray on the bedside table. Curiously, he lifted the lid off one of the silver domes to reveal a platter of ruby red strawberries, some dipped in chocolate and some just regular. Under the second dome was an assortment of dips; chocolate, cream, honey. Then there was the champagne chilling on ice beside them all. He let out a groan as downright filthy images started to swirl around in his head. If this was any indication, when he finally got his present tomorrow it was most likely going to be the best thing in the whole world ever! As if on cue, he felt a faint vibration in his pocket and sure enough, her name was lighting up the screen of his cell phone. He pressed the answer button and brought the phone to his ear with a huge grin on his face. "Somebody's been keeping themselves busy."

"Who me?" Stephanie teased, knowing right away what he was talking about. She had a quick peek into the girls' rooms on the way to her own bedroom before settling onto the huge bed and pulling the covers around her. "Why whatever do you mean?"

"Oh I think you know exactly what I mean," he laughed. His eyes travelled over the tray and card once more as he sat down on the bed and plucked a chocolate covered strawberry from the pile. "Nice card."

Stephanie let out a small chuckle. "I'm glad you like it."

"Well it's not exactly what's on the card that I like the best, it's what's _in_ the card that has me all excited," he said, biting into the luscious fruit and shuffling himself further up the bed to rest on his back, his head buried in the mass of pillows. "I don't think I've ever wanted a present more in my life."

"It will be worth the wait then, right?"

"Absolutely. Just so you know, I plan on making it so that you can't even walk straight come my party on Wednesday," he half joked.

She felt an excited tingle flutter throughout her body at his very welcome warning. "Mmmmmm, I think I like the sound of that, Mr. Levesque."

"You had better," he groaned, suddenly feeling like this line of conversation wasn't exactly a good one. He was already feeling horny as hell yet there was nothing he could do about it. "I only wish you were here to give it to me right now."

"Like I said before, it'll be worth the wait," was her simple answer. She didn't want to say anything more. Actually she couldn't. She was already desperate for him. If they continued on like this it wouldn't do any of them any good at all. "Anyways, I heard you had a run in with a few cakes tonight."

He nodded his head and silently thanked her for changing the subject. "You did, huh? And I don't suppose that you had anything to do with them, right?"

"I did not!" she cried defensively. "It was all dad's idea actually. Then he roped everybody else into doing it too."

"Yeah well, at least I managed to drag his ass down when they were all pelting me with the stuff. He was covered too, we all were."

"I can't wait to see it. They filmed the whole thing!"

"Great. I'm sure it will find its way onto a future DVD release of mine," he chuckled softly. "How are the girls?"

"Sleeping. They were great all day, just missed you though. Rory thought it was terrible that you had to spend your birthday on your own." Stephanie smiled at the memory. Their eldest daughter was most definitely daddy's little girl.

Hearing that brought a huge smile to his face. He loved his children with everything in him. "And Murphy, is she excited for her party tomorrow? Well, as excited for a party as a one year old can be I guess."

Stephanie chuckled and ran a hand through her chestnut tresses. "Aurora's more excited because she practically gets another party, then another one for you on Wednesday. She thinks it's great."

"That's what you get for getting pregnant on our anniversary all the time," he teased.

"Ha! Very funny. I don't seem to remember any complaining on your part when you were whisking me off my feet and charming me into bed on any of those nights!" she teased back.

His eyes lit up at the memories. "Charming you into bed? Is that what they call a crazy, passion filled sex session these days?"

"I wouldn't know. I'm still pretty partial to the old crazy, passion filled sex session myself."

He instantly burst out laughing at her retort and was reminded of why he loved the hell out of this woman. Damn her but she could put up with his grief and dish it out even better. "I love you."

"I love you too," she murmured, her voice softening. "And I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Good night, babe. Sleep well."

"You too. And Paul?"

"Hmmm?"

"Happy Birthday baby."

With a soft click, she was gone. Paul smiled absently. He glanced at the strawberry filled trays and the champagne beside him and thought for a few moments. "Ah, what the hell," he said aloud. It was his 40th birthday for crying out loud. If that wasn't cause for celebration then what was? He filled himself a small glass of the sparkling liquid, grabbed a few strawberries and settled back into the soft pillows in silent congratulations.

* * *

"Murphy's party today! Murphy's party today!"

Stephanie let out a chuckle as she watched Aurora practically bounce around the living room and every so often adjust her little yellow party hat. The room was filled with her parents, Paul's parents, Shane, Marissa, their two sons, Paul's sister and her kids and a couple of other distant family members. Considering the fact that she was only turning one, neither she nor Paul felt the need for a huge party. Besides, they were getting their fill of parties this week anyways. This one was just for family to relax in each other's company to celebrate little Murphy's first birthday.

"Mommy! When is daddy coming? I want to give him his birthday present," Aurora cried across the room drawing practically everybody's attention. She suddenly noticed everybody smiling at her fondly and quickly ran to her mother, ducking between her legs and hiding her little red face.

"He should be here any minute, sweetheart. Come on, let's go give him a call and see where he is." She leaned down and lifted her up before walking out of the living room and heading for the kitchen. On the way there however, the door leading to the garage slowly opened and a familiar face peeked around the corner. "DADDY!" Aurora immediately squealed and Stephanie was forced to set her down on the ground. She instantly ran the short distance and practically leapt into Paul's waiting arms.

Paul just about managed to catch his daughter as he stepped fully out of the doorway. The soft thud of his suitcase hitting the floor was lost on everybody. He pulled the little warm body in his arms closer and pressed a kiss to her dark golden strands. "Well hello there, Miss. Aurora," he joked, causing her to lift her head from his neck and plaster a great big kiss on his cheek.

"Happy birthday, daddy! Me and Murphy got you a present. Do you wanna see it? Do you?" Aurora exclaimed with all the excitement in the world.

Both parents looked at each other in amusement until Stephanie leaned down and smoothed her daughter's hair. "Why don't you go get it and mommy and daddy will be there in a minute, ok?"

"OK!"

In a flash, she sped out of the hallway towards the living room leaving them alone. Stephanie smiled slyly at her husband and tilted her head to the side a little. They locked eyes and her smile turned into a gentle laugh as they just stood there looking at each other. "Come here," he grinned, reaching out and tugging her into his arms where he placed a searing kiss on her lips, effectively turning her laugh into a deep moan. She instantly brought her hands to his face, one hand cupping his cheek while the other moved to gently rub the back of his neck. Absolutely needing to taste him, she opened her mouth and reveled in the feel of his tongue as it glided against hers. They stayed locked together for a few more blissful moments until he gently broke away and caressed the side of her face. "You have no idea how badly I wanted to do that last night," he said lowly. "And more."

She let her arms dangle over his back and leaned into the wall, pulling him into her. "What makes you think you're the only one?" She cocked her eyebrow and couldn't help but chuckle at the big smile that spread across his face. He moved in for another kiss and she happily obliged. The fact that she was pressed up against the wall making out with her husband while both of their families, not to mention their children, were just a few rooms down the hall was completely lost on her as she pushed her tongue into his mouth and swirled it around. Just as his hand dropped from her hip to her ass which he started to squeeze softly, the sound of little footsteps scurrying around the corner instantly forced him to raise it again. He pulled away from her for the second time to see Aurora running towards them with a small blue box in her hand.

"Later," Stephanie whispered, pressing a final quick kiss to his lips and letting her hand run down his chest.

"Here it is, daddy! Happy Birthday!"

Paul smiled down at his daughter as he bent down to her level and scooped her up. "Wow. This looks nice. How about we head inside, find your sister and I can open it, huh?" At the vigorous nod of her head, he started walking towards the living room with Aurora in one arm and Stephanie holding the other.

* * *

The loud beeping of the alarm clock that he instantly deemed to be way too close to his head forced a heavy groan to rumble out of his mouth. His eyes slowly opened and met a deep blue pair sparkling back at him. The sour mood that gripped him upon wakening was instantly gone and he flexed his arm tightly, pulling her warm body right up against his and leaning down for a slow, languid kiss. "Mmmmmm," he murmured as they broke apart. His eyes opened once again, twinkling in her direction as he remembered the night before. To say all the waiting for his gift was worth it was the understatement of the century. After Murphy's party, his parents had taken the girls with them back to New Hampshire at around five which gave them the rest of the night to spend together. Just like in the hotel there were strawberries, chocolate, cream, honey and champagne only there was no need for trays this time, not when they had each other to eat off. What followed was one of the best nights in recent memory for them both and one that wouldn't be easily forgotten.

"Mmmmmm, what?" Stephanie teased, almost laughing at the dreamy expression on his face. She felt completely relaxed, satisfied and happy. Although she had to admit, he might have come through on his promise to leave her unable to walk straight today. Her thighs were burning. Not that she cared. The reason behind her exhausted muscles was more than worth it.

Paul moved to roll on top of her, a wolfish grin spreading across his face. "Mmmmmm you." He wiggled his eyebrows, and then ducked his head into her neck, his lips and teeth working over the sweet spot there. He swore it still tasted like the chocolate he had poured on it last night. "And mmmmmm chocolate!"

"Are you ready for your party today then?" she chuckled at his remark.

"Of course! Although if last night was all you had planned for me I'd still be the happiest man on the planet." He rested his elbows at either side of her head and looked her in the eye. "I swear to God I could make love to you for the rest of our lives and it still wouldn't be enough."

Despite his joking tone, she knew he was being deadly serious from the softening of his eyes. She pushed forward and rolled him onto his back, her hands coming to rest on his hard chest while she sat just in front of the hardness she knew was raging right behind her. Leaning forward slightly, she pulled him into a wet, tongue filled kiss before gently pushing him back with a sly smirk on her face. "You know why I set the alarm so early?"

"Why?" he squirmed beneath her, his hands palming her bare ass and slowly starting to rock her against him.

"So we could have more time together this morning before the guests start arriving," she whispered back, delighting in the impatient growl that passed his lips. She let out a playful squeal as he quickly flipped her on her back and grabbed her leg, throwing it over his shoulder. The look on his face was downright mean and she loved it.

"I knew there was a reason I married you," he mumbled into her mouth before pushing his length inside her with one smooth thrust. She let out a heavy sigh, instantly caving to the pleasure of his movements and they once again lost themselves in each other.

* * *

Aurora watched on as more and more people started to fill up the backyard of her house. It was her dad's birthday party today. Another party. She thought it was awesome! She walked towards the open patio doors and was instantly scooped up by a huge pair of arms she'd recognize anywhere. "Daddy!"

"Hey shorty! You ready to party…again?" Paul smiled, turning her in his arms and walking out into the garden. He spotted Stephanie over by one of the various tables that had been laid out and started walking towards it.

"I'm ready. Are you?"

He nodded his head and pressed a kiss in her hair. "I sure am. Although I think this must be like my fifth party this week. What is your mommy gonna do next year when I turn forty one? She's gonna have to have like twenty parties!"

Aurora giggled as she looked around the vast back yard. But the smile on her face soon crumbled when she saw a piece of paper sitting on one of the half full tables. She instantly started wiggling and asked her dad to hold up.

"What's wrong?"

"I want that," she said, pointing to the piece of paper and accepting it from her father when he snatched it up then handed it to her. She looked at it and felt the tears springing to her eyes. It was a picture of a scary old man. He was very old with horrible long hair and small glasses. On the side she could make out her dad's name and a big arrow pointing towards the yucky old man. Suddenly she got very scared and a few little tears spilled down her cheeks.

Paul watched his daughter look at the card and almost instantly she was on the verge of crying. "Hey, hey! What's this, huh? What's wrong, Rory?" He took the paper from her hand. It was an invitation to his party today, the one with the old man on it that Stephanie just seemed to find hilarious along with his mother, sister and a few others. Apparently the humor was lost on little Aurora who looked terrified, her big hazel eyes open wide with fear. "Is it this? You're scared of the man?"

"Are you going to turn into him? Are you going to look like him daddy?"

Instantly realizing what she must have thought when she looked at the picture and then saw his name beside it, he started laughing and tried to talk the whole thing down. "No, no, no, sweetheart! You don't have to worry about that at all. Daddy's not going to turn into him." They finally came to a stop at Stephanie's table. She was sitting with her father and her and grandmother when she immediately recognized the sound of her daughter sniffling behind her. She turned around and saw her husband standing there nursing Aurora to his chest.

"Paul? What's wrong? What happened?"

He sat down next to her and nodded at Vince and Evelyn with an amused smile on his face. "She saw your wonderful birthday invitation here and thought that I was going to turn into the guy on the front." He gently tossed the paper onto the table where Stephanie picked it up and started laughing. She moved closer and tugged Aurora out of his chest.

"Oh sweetie don't cry," Stephanie sighed, rubbing at her wet cheeks. "That's not going to happen. Mommy was just playing a joke on daddy, that's all."

"A joke?"

Stephanie nodded her head and smiled reassuringly while smoothing her daughter's soft hair. "It was just a joke, baby, nothing to be worried about. OK?" But she frowned when Aurora suddenly pulled back and hugged Paul almost defensively.

"I don't think it's funny," she huffed, cuddling as close as she possibly could to her father while shooting her mother death glares.

Paul immediately burst out laughing which earned him a prompt slap on the arm from his wife who now felt terrible. He pulled Aurora closer and laid it on thick, leaning down to snuggle into her cheek. "It isn't funny is it, Rory? Mommy's just being mean, isn't she?"

"Uh-huh," Aurora agreed before finally letting go of her father long enough to face her mother. "I don't like your joke, mommy. It's not funny," she said as a matter of fact sending Paul into another round of hysterics and this time Vince went with him, both men laughing hard.

"What's so funny over here?" asked a confused Shane as he took a seat next to his grandmother and nodded his head at his father and brother-in-law. Stephanie was about to answer when she was quickly cut off by her daughter.

"Mommy played a joke on daddy. I don't think it's funny," Aurora huffed and once again snuggled into her father's warm chest and hugged him tight.

Paul wiped at his eyes and tried to fight off another round of belly aching laughter. The whole thing was so hilarious that even his wife was starting to laugh now. "Oh My God, that was great." He leaned down and kissed his little girl on the cheek. "I love you baby. And if mommy's ever mean to me again I'll come and tell you, alright?" Everyone at the table let out another chuckle at the nodding of the little head smothered against his chest. He glanced at his wife and shrugged his shoulders. "Daddy's little girl, huh?"

Stephanie looked to her own father who sat with a grin on his face and couldn't help but grin back. She turned to face her husband once more and smiled. "Daddy's little girl."

* * *

A few hours later when everybody had left and both girls were fast asleep; Paul was pulling off his socks while Stephanie finished brushing her teeth. She walked out of the en suite bathroom just in time to see her husband tugging his shirt up and over his head giving her a perfect view of his wonderful chest. She admired him for a few seconds until he grabbed a black tank and pulled it on, marring her view. "Today went really well, don't you think?" she asked as she made her way to their bed and climbed inside, settling into the deep red sheets.

Paul glanced up in the middle of pushing his pants down and smiled at her. "It was a great party, babe. Thank you. You've outdone yourself by way too much." He lightly shook his head and started pulling a pair of black shorts up his legs.

Stephanie's eyes twinkled as she flicked on the TV and smiled wickedly. "And how does it feel knowing that you've finally reached the big four-oh!"

He narrowed his eyes as he hopped into the bed beside her, playfully bumping her shoulder. "You know, I was talking to that guy, Dean or whoever he is from accounting at the party. We were talking about baseball and stuff and it reminded me of this quote from Satchel Paige."

"Who?"

"Satchel Paige. You know, he played for the Cleveland Indians until he was like fifty or something." At the shrug of her shoulders her waved his hand and continued anyway. "That's not important. But he said this quote that I think is pretty cool. He said, how old would you be, if you didn't know how old you were? Isn't that good? It's like, if I didn't know my birthday and that I was forty, would I actually feel forty?"

There was a beat before Stephanie started laughing. "Awwww baby! Look at you, using all these old man ideologies. You're starting to sound like an old man yourself now!"

Paul glared at her from the side for a second before letting a smile cross his lips. He snatched the remote out of her hand and started flicking through the channels, knowing that it annoyed the hell out of her. "You get way too much enjoyment out of calling me old. It hurts, Stephanie, it hurts."

She instantly cuddled into his side and ignoring the constant changing of the channel, grabbed his face and made him look at her. "I could make it up to you," she murmured seductively, pulling on his lower lip with her teeth before letting go and watching it snap back into place.

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't think this old man could keep up with a hot young thing like you," Paul said nonchalantly, turning his head back to the TV. He could practically sense the pouting of her lips beside him and tried not to chuckle.

Stephanie grabbed his face back to look at her and yanked the remote out of his hand. She switched the TV off before taking his hand once again and slowly leading it between her legs. "Well I happen to know for a fact that you are anything but old when it comes to things like this?"

At this stage he had completely forgotten about any notions of teasing her and instead took control, moving his hand to her stomach. He dipped it underneath the pajama bottoms she wore and dropped it lower, palming her through her silky underwear. "Things like what?" he whispered, his face hovering over hers. He didn't even give her a chance to respond before his lips crashed down on hers and his fingers pulled at the silky material between her legs, eliciting a deep moan that echoed from her mouth into his. Little did he know that this wasn't the end of his birthday celebrations. She had devised a huge plan to get him stuck in Denver on Friday for a final surprise party that was sure to end the week with a bang. But that was the last thing on her mind as he fully rid her of her pajama bottoms and underwear. A slow smile crept across her face at the feel of his soft hair tickling her stomach and thighs. It had been a perfect week and from where she was sitting, it was only set to get better.


	8. Family Business

**A/N - Been a while since I updated this one but I have a few new additions in the works. This is the first. It's short, it's sweet, it's 150% fluff but I thought it was cute so I wrote on it lol. Enjoy...**

* * *

**_Q. I was wondering if she knows if you're famous yet? _**

_A."No, but you know what, the other night She just came to a - well She's always at the shows but uh Steph brought her in for like, we were just at a live event somewhere she just brought her in for the second half of my match and as far as a 20 months old but she understood the whole concept. She got all excited when Shawn made the tag, you know what I mean. And it was just, she gone all crazy. And we got on the bus afterwards and it was all that she talked about for 45 minutes, she just kept saying the same stuff over and over you know. Yeah, she enjoys it. You know Steph had said she has been a wrestling fan before she was born. Coz you know it must be some adrenaline thing but every time when Steph would be on TV when she was pregnant, you know she would sit down when the show is getting ready to start the pyro would hit and the baby would start moving all crazy."_

* * *

"Are you excited, sweetie?"

"YES! Excited! See daddy!"

Stephanie smiled warmly and tried her best to contain the little jiggling ball of enthusiasm in her arms. They were currently walking through the backstage halls of the arena. Paul had promised Aurora that she could get to see him in his match tonight and ever since their almost two year old daughter had been even more hyper than usual. To say she was excited was an understatement. The noise from within the arena started to filter through the backstage area and Aurora started wiggling even more fervently.

"Listen, mommy. Listen noise," Aurora almost squealed as she bounced in her mother's arms.

"I hear it, honey," Stephanie chuckled, pressing an absent kiss to her daughter's light brown locks. When she lifted her head she caught the eye of John Cena standing off near the gorilla and pointed in his direction. "Look, there's John. You want to go talk to him?" Aurora simply snuggled in closer to her mother shyly causing Stephanie to laugh. She always got that way around John. It drove Paul nuts! "Well, do you?"

The youngster thought for a moment and was about to answer yes when she heard a huge roar from inside the arena quickly followed by a 'TRIPLE H' chant. Her attention instantly went to her father and she shook her head no. "I want to see daddy, I want to see daddy!"

"I thought you might," Stephanie said to herself, an amused smile on her face. She walked past the various people gathered at the gorilla, including Cena who offered a little wave in her daughter's direction but she didn't pay him any heed at all. Instead, she was too busy craning her neck to see through the black curtains blocking her view from the packed arena on the other side. "Are you ready?" she asked, the irony of the situation dawning on her and making her laugh. About to watch DX and saying their catchphrase!

"Ready, ready! " Aurora bounced excitedly and her eyes grew wide when her mother drew back the curtain so she could see and see she did. She saw all the people watching and cheering what was happening in the ring. She saw Shawn getting held back in the corner by Big Show and her expression quickly turned to a frown. Why was Big Show being mean? Suddenly Shawn managed to get him with a big kick to the back of the head and the arena sprang to life, everybody cheering and willing him on to make the tag to his partner. Aurora could hardly contain herself as a HUGE roar erupted when Triple H got the tag. "DADDY! DADDY GET TAG!" she screamed excitedly.

Stephanie's heart melted at the look of sheer joy on her daughter's face. She hadn't ever seen her so excited and bursting with happiness like this before. Her blue eyes gazed between the ring and the little bundle bouncing in her arms. She looked at her husband, watched his fluid movements around the ring, watched the way he morphed into his character and exuded such presence and couldn't stop the surge of pride that filled her heart.

"Boom! Boom! Punch!" Aurora tried to mimic the actions of her father in the ring, her little hands jutting out in a striking motion. She watched as he kicked Jericho in the gut and then set him up for his finishing move. "PED-GREE! Mommy! The ped-gree!"

"Yes, honey, the pedigree," she laughed at the innocent slip up. The arena erupted once again as Triple H hit the pedigree on Jericho and simultaneously Shawn knocked Show off the apron with sweet chin music. He made the cover and she counted the one, two, three along with practically everybody in attendance, including her daughter.

"Daddy wins! Daddy wins! Yeah!" Aurora finally tore her eyes away from the ring to look at her mother, her young face beaming as she looked up wide eyed. "Daddy wins, mommy!"

"Yep, daddy wins. And now he's going to come back here and give you a big victory hug," she joked, giving her a playful squeeze of her own. Aurora squealed in delight and wiggled away, her neck once again craning so she could get the best view from behind the curtain as she could manage. Stephanie's blue eyes glanced out and saw both DX members doing the rounds and slapping hands with fans around the ring and along the ramp until finally they stopped just before them and did one final pose, the fans going crazy for the whole thing. She had to physically restrain Aurora from running out there and it made her laugh. The girl was going crazy herself!

Aurora could see her father, almost within arm's reach and wiggled furiously, desperately trying to get to him but she didn't even have to move anywhere because a second later, he stepped back through the curtain and caught her as she practically jumped from her mother's arms into his much larger ones. "DADDY!"

"Woah!" Paul joked, catching her with a smile on his face and sitting her up so he could see her properly. "There she is, my little, Rory," he grinned before burying his face in her neck and pretending to bite her. His heart leapt with joy at the sound of her wonderful giggling. It was the best sound in the world to him, even better than the 20,000 screaming fans just behind them who were still buzzing from his match. He slowly pulled back and looked into her sparkling eyes. "So, did you enjoy the match?"

"Uh-huh! You won and you ped-gree Jericho and then everybody cheers and it was really cool and…," Aurora rambled causing both her parents to share an amused glance.

Paul grinned once again and nodded his goodbye to Shawn while taking his wife's hand into his. "Somebody's excited, huh?"

"You have no idea," Stephanie laughed in response. "I practically had to restrain her from running out there. I've never seen her so excited before. It's great!"

"It sure is," he smiled in response, his attention turning to their daughter in his arms. She was still waffling away, talking about how 'cool' it had been. That was a new word. He wondered who she had picked it up from. "Hey," he jiggled her about to get her attention. "What was your favorite part?"

Aurora thought hard for a moment, her eyes squinting in concentration before she beamed back up at him. "When you ped-gree Jericho and then win and everybody cheers!" she said excitedly, acting it out with her own little motions to boot.

"Let me see that again," he laughed out loud. Her pedigree motion just might be the cutest thing he had ever seen. She did what he asked and it sent him into another round of laughter. "Man, that was great!" He turned to Stephanie, his eyes sparkling. "You see that?"

Stephanie nodded her head, smiling at the both of them. Paul was getting a kick out of their daughter being excited when he was just as bad when it came to getting in the ring. She didn't need two guesses to figure out where Aurora's enthusiasm came from. Hell, before she was even born she would kick like mad when the opening pyro for Raw would open the show. She joked with him that whoever was in there was born a wrestling fan and how could they not be considering who their parents were? The trio continued talking amongst themselves as they walked towards the parking lot and their travel bus. Tugging on her husband's hand to get his attention, she smirked at him playfully. "Just so you know, if she doesn't calm down it's your job to get her to sleep since you're the reason she's so hyper in the first place."

He scrunched up his nose and shook his head before a smile crossed his face. "I have no problem with that. But, you need to take her first so I can grab a shower!"

His tongue poked out between his teeth and Stephanie lightly slapped his arm as they reached the bus. "Whatever," she rolled her eyes, stepping on to the bus before him and walking into the considerably large living room area of their home away from home.

"….and then daddy gets the ped-gree and everybody counts one, two, three and everybody cheers and it was really cool and…."

Paul looked at his daughter and shook his head. She was still buzzing with excitement and even now was still acting out what she had seen when he set her down on the couch.

"See what you've started?"

He turned his attention to his wife who stood to his left with that same smirk on her face. Quickly jutting his hand out he wrapped it around her waist and tugged her against him, laughing when she screwed her face up.

"Yuck! Honey, your daughter may not have a problem being covered in your sweat but I do. Let me go!" she slapped at his arm which of course only made him tug her closer. She felt his hand run down her back and lightly tap her on the ass as his lips hovered around her ear.

"I thought you liked being covered in my sweat?" he teased, this time giving her ass a quick squeeze before jumping out of the way of her encroaching hand. "You see that Aurora? Mommy's trying to beat up daddy."

The little girl looked up at her parents and immediately shook her head with a toothy grin on her face. "Mommy no beat up daddy. Nobody beat up daddy or push him down. Daddy ped-gree everybody and win!" she said with conviction.

Paul instantly burst out laughing at her remark and smiled triumphantly at his wife who try as she might, was also laughing at what their daughter had just said.

"Oh I love you," he smiled as he leaned down and gave her a tight hug. She smacked a big kiss to his cheek and gazed up at her mother almost proudly. "Love you, daddy. Love mommy too," she added and then reached her free hand up.

Stephanie recognized the gesture and knew that she wanted her to join in and so she did, sitting down on the other side and cuddling in to her husband and daughter with a huge smile on her face. "I love you too, sweetie."

"And me?"

Her amused blue eyes gave nothing away as she glanced at her husband and then shrugged her shoulders. "You? I tolerate you." His faux shocked guffaw broke her demeanor and she reached around the little brunette head between them to stroke his cheek, gently tugging him closer so she could press a lingering kiss on his waiting lips. "And I guess I kind of love you too."

He kissed his daughter on the head before kissing his wife one more time. "Only kind of?"

"That's all you're getting out of me until you get that shower so move it!"

"Yes, ma'am," he joked, springing to his feet and heading for the shower at the back of the bus.

Aurora had sat between her parents, watching them interact with a silly smile on her face. She knew that now her mommy would get her ready for bed. After that she would probably let her draw for a little bit and she couldn't wait to draw a picture for her dad, a picture of what she had witnessed just a short while ago. She had been waiting to see her father wrestling for a long time and now that she had she wanted to do it again and again. Feeling the excitement still coursing through her veins, she looked up at her mother and she was off again. "Mommy, you see when daddy get the ped-gree….."


	9. Inside Out

**A/N** - It's been a while for this one. I've been working on this for forever lol. I just couldn't think up a way to round things off so if this sucks, I apologize. Anyways, it's here and it's posted. Now I can work on the next update. I've been given some pretty great ideas for new chapters. You guys are very creative lol. Enjoy...

* * *

_**WWE Star Triple H told Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald that his wife Stephanie McMahon did not enjoy his kissing scenes for the movie Inside Out. "When the kissing scene comes up, my wife just leaves the room," Hunter said. "It would be very quiet for a long time. The [Triple H] kissing scenes don't go over very big in my house."**_

* * *

"Come on, come on, come on!" Paul yelled playfully as he rounded the corner with Murphy in his arms. He looked back and saw Aurora hot on his heels, her little face scrunched up into a scowl.

"Daddy! Daddy STOP running away!" she scolded, coming to a sudden stop when the trio reached the living room and crossing her arms over chest. She glared at both her father and sister.

"You look scary, Rora," Murphy teased, giggling at the, "Oh snap!" look that appeared on her father's face. "That's why we run away."

Paul continued to look between both girls, his mouth hanging open wide. He had playfully pinched Aurora's hair again which prompted their chase through the house. Murphy had been picked up along the way.

"Your sister doesn't look scary, Murphy."

All three of them turned to find Stephanie sitting on the sofa nursing a sleeping Vaughn in her arms. She threw her husband a dirty look before glancing to her eldest. "Come here, sweetie. Tell me what your dad has done this time." Her mouth formed into a smile and she did her best to bite it back as her daughter trailed her feet along the floor, her bottom lip sticking out in an uber pout. She certainly didn't want for sympathy.

Aurora climbed onto the sofa beside her mother with a huff, her eyes wide and accusatory as she sent another glare in her father's direction. "Daddy pulled my hair again, mommy! Then he and Murphy ran away and I couldn't get them."

Stephanie hid her smile well and tugged her daughter closer. She shot her husband another look but she could tell he wasn't buying her act. "Stop pulling our daughter's hair, Paul or else we'll all start pulling yours."

At that statement, Aurora instantly lifted her head, a great big smile on her face. "Yeah daddy. We'll all pull your hair!"

Paul frowned and ran his hand protectively over the back of his head. "You wouldn't dare!" He chuckled, laughing the threat off until he felt a small tug next to his ear. It happened again and he turned to Murphy in surprise. "What's this? Do we have a traitor in our midst?" She shook her head vehemently and then burst into a fit of giggles when she was flipped upside down. He walked over to the sofa and held her up in the air. "Say sorry!"

"You say sorry!" Stephanie chuckled, getting a laugh out of Murphy's high pitched cackling.

"SORRY! SORRY!" Murphy yelled between laughs. The blood was rushing to her head and she was desperate to be set back down again.

Aurora curiously looked at her sister and shook her head. "What are you saying sorry for, Murphy? You didn't do anything."

"I want down!"

"Paul! Apologize for pulling Aurora's hair and put Murphy down! God you're a menace!" Stephanie scolded, nursing Vaughn a little closer to her chest when she felt the little one starting to wiggle around.

"Alright, alright!" Paul huffed. He set Murphy down on the sofa and then fell to his knees in front of his other daughter. Reaching out to make her look at him, he made the biggest possible puppy dog eyes he could and ducked his head for effect. "I'm sorry. If you promise not to pull my hair I won't pull yours ever again ever, ever, ever."

Aurora couldn't stop her giggle at how silly he was being and nodded her head. "OK. No more pulling hair."

Stephanie let out a sigh of relief and got to her feet. "Good. Now that we've got that out of the way, girls, you need to start settling down and get ready for bed. Go on upstairs and get your pajamas ready. I'll be in in a minute." She watched them take off before turning her attention to her husband who stretched out comfortably on the now empty sofa. "Give me ten minutes and then we can watch it, alright?"

"I can come help if you wa….."

"No! I'm not letting you get them all excited again. Just sit there and wait until I come back" she half laughed before making her way upstairs to tuck their daughters into bed for the night.

* * *

"_Why did you leave us?"_

"_Why did you never come to see me?"_

"_I was alone, I was broke, scared, pregnant and heartbroken….and….Jack was there for me, and he loved me and I loved him. But it wasn't like it was with us. We knew that and the guilt was just eating us alive"_

"_What did you just say?"_

"_He couldn't face you…."_

"_No, no, no, no…before that you said you were pregnant and Jack was there for you."_

"_Pepper's yours, AJ. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I….I honestly thought it would bring you more pain."_

A deafening silence engulfed the room as the kiss came to an end and transitioned to the next scene. Paul openly grimaced at the sight of himself in the movie lying in bed with Parker Posey's hand on his chest. He could actually feel the tension radiating off his wife as she lay curled up next to him. Having said that, she wasn't cuddled as close as she had been before this particular scene had come on. Wonder why? Turning his head, he was just about to speak to her when she abruptly shuffled away from him and got to her feet. "Steph?" Without a word she simply walked out of the room and left him sitting there in confusion. "What the hell?" he muttered to himself, absently reaching for the remote as he too got to his feet. He paused the movie and quickly took off in the direction of the kitchen where he found his wife standing with the fridge door open.

"Babe? Everythinnnnnngggg….OK?" he asked cautiously.

Stephanie closed the refrigerator door shut and took a long pull from the water bottle in her hand. She then looked at her husband and shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Yep. I'm fine, why?"

"You're fine?"

"Of course I'm fine."

"But you just….you're really fine?"

"_Paul_!"

"Alright! I'm just checking. Gotta make sure you're not….jealous or anything," Paul said cheekily, his eyes fully focused on her face to gauge her reaction. He wasn't disappointed.

"Jealous? Why the hell would I be jealous!" Stephanie replied in delusion because she knew she was kidding herself. The sight of her husband kissing another woman, even in a movie, turned her stomach.

His smile turned into a grin and he took a few steps closer so he could reach out and rub her arm. "I don't know, why don't you tell me. You're the one who got up and left the room for no reason."

"I was….thirsty."

"There's a bottle of water in the living room."

A brief silence fell upon the duo before Stephanie let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. "Ugh! Alright. I didn't like seeing you kissing in the movie OK? There!"

Paul chewed on his lip and successfully held in his laughter at her outburst. He knew that was why she had left. He had been expecting some sort of negative reaction but not her walking out of the room! "Well, now you know how I felt having to watch you kiss God knows who on TV. I guess we're even."

"I did not kiss God knows who!"

"Test, Angle, Jericho, Orton, _Bischoff_…"

She held up her hand and cut him off. "First of all, Test was before we even got together so he doesn't count. Orton was an unconscious peck and the other two….well…..it's different for women!"

"What! It is _so_ not different for women!"

Stephanie laughed at his high pitched retort and shook her head at the ridiculousness of their conversation. "Yes it is. Women are emotional creatures. A woman watching her husband kiss another woman is much worse than a man watching his wife kiss another man."

"Alright, first of all," he quipped, mimicking her previous statement. "It's other _men_, plural. And that is so wrong, especially Bischoff of all people. I almost never wanted to kiss you again after watching that. Jesus. Luckily for both of us, I enjoy kissing you way too much to let anything stop me from doing it."

"Well why don't you do it right now if you enjoy doing it so much?" she grinned, leaning back against the counter and raising her arms in anticipation of his embrace.

He moved into her arms, his face hovering just next to hers, their lips brushing together ever so softly. "I was going to but I can't now. I'm still thinking about Bischoff." The prompt slap he received on the chest made him laugh and his eyes were bright with amusement.

"Paul…."

"Yes, dear?"

"Are you gonna kiss me or not?"

"Huh," he sighed playfully as he pressed his mouth softly against hers. "I guess so," he mumbled against her lips before taking her in his arms and giving her what she wanted. Her mouth opened to his touch and their tongues collided, twisting and winding with each other over and over again. They stayed locked in their embrace until they could no longer breathe and were forced to come up for air. Paul looked into her eyes and noticed that all familiar darkened tone to them. He knew what that meant. "Let's go back to the living room and finish the movie." He went to tug her hand but was tugged right back by her refusing to move.

Stephanie smiled slyly at him as she took the lead and started tugging him towards the living room. "We're going back but not to watch the movie?"

"No?" he whispered as they came to a stop against the wall in the long hallway.

"No," came Stephanie's no nonsense reply. She wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and pulled his mouth to hers once again. Maybe she was being foolish. Maybe she was being silly. But right now all she wanted to do was prove to her husband, remind him even, that nobody could kiss him like she did and further than that, nobody could love him like she did either.


	10. Time Well Spent

**A/N** - Ask and you shall receive. Right, Angela? Lol. This is for your pestering ass, haha! I was going to call it daddy/baby time but thought I'd go for something a little more...significant. I can only hope this lives up to your expectations after all this waiting. Just to clue in everybody else, this is a request based on the quote below, about baby number 3 only starting to sleep during the night. Enjoy...

* * *

**"This one (Vaughn) just started sleeping at night so….." **

**(Heavy Muscle Radio Interview. Jan 3rd, 2011)**

* * *

The faint murmuring and babbling Paul was certain he had heard grew louder as he slowly opened his eyes. He lay still, glancing down at his wife currently pressed against his side, her arm strewn across his abdomen and steady even breaths filling the silent room. That is, until the babbling started to turn into tiny whimpers.

"Ba ba ba….brrrrrr..brrrrrra ba ba."

Silence…and then a loud wail. Stephanie flinched in her sleep and Paul cautiously and gently tried to wiggle his way from under her embrace before the all too familiar crying of their daughter woke them both up. With one final tug, he removed himself from under her and involuntarily shivered as the cool air of the room made contact with his skin. The whimpering continued and he rubbed at his eyes, knowing that he was going to be up for a while. Vaughn was 6 months old and still not sleeping. Needless to say, the little one was driving her parents up the wall. They never had this problem with either of their other two daughters. He finally understood what everybody meant when they told him how lucky he was to have kids who slept through the night. He thought all those people had just been exaggerating. Now he knew. His big hand wiped at his eyes once again as he absently tugged on a stray tank and followed the sound to his daughter's bedroom. They had only just moved her in there last week in the hope that she would sleep better without distractions. They had hoped in vain. Just as he stepped through the door, the wailing turned into proper crying and Paul cringed.

"There, there, sweetheart," he hushed gently as he quickly reached into the cot and lifted her tiny frame into his arms. "Shhhh, daddy's here." His lips absently pressed against her soft hair as he bounced her up and down, praying that she would fall back to sleep quickly. It didn't happen and the crying continued, forcing him to pull her back and hold her up, his hands underneath her arms. All of a sudden the crying stopped and her big watery eyes stared him right in the face. Father and daughter looked at each other for a few moments until the quiet of the room was interrupted by the sound of giggling.

"What the…" Paul could only chuckle himself at the cheeky little grin that had crossed her face while she laughed. Only his child would wake him up crying in the middle of the night only to start laughing when he came to get her. "I see what you're up to, little missy. You think this is funny, huh? Waking your dad up at God knows what time only to laugh at me? I'm hurt."

Vaughn stared at him as if she were actually listening to what he was saying before patting his face with one hand and gurgling against the other with her tiny fist stuffed into her mouth as she gnawed and chewed.

He knew what that meant. "I should have known this would be about food." Stephanie had tried feeding her earlier at her usual feeding time. They both had but little Vaughn was having none of it. More had ended up on the floor than in her mouth. Maybe this time she would actually eat the damn stuff since it was apparently the reason she had woken up in the first place. "Come on, let's get you fed."

Around five minutes later and after checking her diaper to make sure that she was indeed hungry, Paul carried both baby and bottle into the living room. He had already set her bowl of strawberry shortcake mush on the coffee table along with a fresh batch of baby wipes. He'd try her with the bottle first and if she decided not to go for it then he had a backup prepared and ready to go. Usually they only gave out deserts as treats but it was after three thirty in the morning. He wasn't above using trick tactics to get this little one to sleep. Besides, for the past two weeks she had been refusing to take most of her bottles anyways. So long as they mixed the formula into the baby food, she could eat that and she seemed to prefer it. Whatever worked.

The leather of the sofa let out a puff of air as he fell against it and propped her up against the arm rest. She was fully awake now and looking all around her. "There's nothing to see down here. Not at this time of night." Paul quickly flicked on the TV, turning it to the twenty four hour news channel. It didn't matter, it was just for background noise anyways. Taking the bottle into his hand, he brought it to her mouth and let out a chuckle when she pushed it away and practically frowned at him.

"Guess not."

This time he took the bowl and incredibly tiny spoon into his large, fumbling hands. As soon as it was presented to her, Vaughn opened her mouth and took a big mouthful of the pinky mush with a gleeful smile on her face.

"I take it you definitely don't like bottles anymore, huh kiddo?"

"Yaaaaaa! Braaaa ba ba ba brrrrrrrrrrr."

He could only look on in dismay as she practically knocked the next spoonful intended for her mouth all over his hand.

"Ba ba ba mmmmmmmmm."

"Yes, mmmmmmm," he mimicked, successfully getting some of the food into her. "Come on, open up again….mmmmmmmm, that's good isn't it?" Deciding to find out for himself, Paul licked some of the splattered mess from his hand and instantly screwed his face up. "Yuck! How the hell do you eat this crap?" His head shook in disgust as he spooned another mouthful in, catching the bits that fell down her chin and shoving them in too for good measure. "Mmmmmmmm look at you eating it all up. Aren't you being a good girl for daddy? Yes you are. Yes you….." A large drop of pink mush slowly dripped down his cheek as the sound of riotous giggling drowned out whatever the newsman was talking about. He had clearly spoken too soon.

"Braaaaa ba ba braaaaaaaaaaa," Vaughn yelled in glee, thumping her fists against her legs.

Paul could only shake his head as he lifted a baby wipe and wiped his face before wiping hers too. They were both covered in the stuff and it didn't even taste good, not to him at least. "You had better not get any of this on mommy's sofa or she will kill me. Is that your plan? To get your daddy killed? Evil baby!" It took a moment for him to realize what he had just said before he burst into laughter. It was too damn early in the morning for this stuff. With a shake of his head, he continued the stop start feeding routine until the entire bowl was gone. Vaughn let out what sounded like a satisfied whimper before wiping her dirty hands all over her face. Once again, Paul set the bowl down and reached for the wipes. Hands, mouths and faces were soon gleaming and he tried to see if she was ready for sleeping by taking her against his chest and gently bouncing her up and down.

It worked for thirty seconds until she started squirming all over the place. Her little hand connected with his face as she patted and banged against it. He simply propped some cushions together and lay back against them with her little frame sitting on his stomach. "What are we gonna do with you? Not sleeping, not eating your dinner then getting it all over everything, beating me up?" She continued to lightly thump against his chest and he reached up, his index fingers fitting perfectly into her tiny fists as he started to play around. Maybe he would wear her out.

Over thirty minutes later and he was struggling to keep his eyes open. Luckily for him, he wasn't the only one. Vaughn's hand fisted into his hair as she snuggled into his chest. Paul blindly reached for the afghan he knew was hanging off the back of the sofa and tugged it around them both. He wasn't going anywhere. With his hand on his little girl's back and the other practically dangling on the floor, he finally let his eyes slip shut and welcomed the long awaited sleep that descended upon them both.

* * *

Stephanie's face lazily morphed into a frown when she ran her hand along the bed and discovered that her husband wasn't beside her. She had been expecting to feel him under her touch, not the cool cotton sheets. Letting out a yawn, she kicked off the covers and sat up, her head looking to the adjoined master bathroom but no lights were on in there. Where the hell was he? If Paul didn't have to be awake, he wouldn't be that much was for sure. That could only mean one thing. With a sympathetic smile, she climbed out of the bed, pulling on her robe as she made her way to her youngest daughter's room only to find it empty. She stalled for a moment until the faintest of noises drifted through the open door and into her ears. It was coming from downstairs so that's where she went next. The noise grew louder until she came upon the living room, the lights of the TV casting a bluish glow on the two sleeping figures lying on the sofa a few feet away. This time her smile was nothing but pure affection. She walked closer and knelt down in front of them, her hand absently reaching up to fix the afghan that had fallen wayward during the night. She wondered just how long they had been down here for. From the looks of the bottle, empty bowl, used wipes and various toys lying all over the coffee table, quite a while. Unfortunately it was time for at least one of them to get up.

"Paul."

He didn't even budge at her calling his name.

"Paul," she tried again, this time giving his shoulder a gentle nudge. "Honey, wake up."

She watched his face and cringed as his bleary, bloodshot eyes slowly started to open. It took him a moment to realize she was there and when he did, a small smile played on his lips.

"Hey."

"Somebody's had a long night."

"Tell me about it," he mumbled in response as he lifted his hand to rub at his tired eyes. Fuck, he was exhausted.

Stephanie caressed his face before letting her gaze trail to their still sleeping daughter dead to the world on his chest. "Why didn't you wake me up? We could have taken turns."

"There was no point in us both being up all night. It's fine."

"All night?" She immediately felt guilty and looked at him with concern as he continued to rub at his eyes and forehead. "You OK, baby?"

Paul dropped his hands and smiled at his wife. He felt like a zombie but she didn't need to hear that. He'd catch up on sleep later. "Yeah. I just need to throw some water on my face is all. Where are the girls? They up yet?"

"They will be soon. I woke up when I realized you weren't in bed beside me."

"Missed your human pillow, huh?"

"You know it." Her smile was soft as she got to her feet when he started to shift from his position. His movements were slow and deliberate so as not to wake their sleeping daughter as she passed from father to mother. Stephanie pressed an absent kiss to her soft golden locks and looked down at the sofa in amusement at the sight of her husband still lying there as if he were actually dead. She didn't blame him for a second either, even if he was acting like a drama queen. "Look at your daddy. I think you killed him, sweetie." The deadpan dirty look she got in response was enough to let her know that she probably wasn't far from the truth.

Paul let out a groan as he slowly sat up, took a moment to stretch, stood up and then stretched some more, his grey tank riding up his tanned abdomen. He couldn't stop the yawn that escaped him either and simply spoke through it. "Next time I'll be sure to wake you up too so we can both sit up until all hours of the morning."

Immediately feeling bad, Stephanie closed the short distance between them and ran her free hand along his chest. "How about you wake me up so we can stay up late for a different reason entirely later tonight?"

He let out a brief chuckle and shook his head at her before looking her in the eyes, his own even managing a slight twinkle despite the tiredness behind them. "Trying to ply me with sex I see."

"I absolutely, positively _am_ trying to ply you with sex."

"Well I have it on good authority that sex is the sure fire way to man's heart, especially sex with you. I mean, how else could we create such wonderful non-sleeping babies together?" He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her close, careful not to squash their sleeping child now nestled between their joined bodies.

Her face crunched up into a cute frown. "I thought food was the sure fire way to a man's heart?"

"Whoever said that was a liar!"

"Or whoever said it just wasn't a horny bastard like you!" she whispered the second half of her sentence. Even though Vaughn was sleeping, it was still important to her not to swear in front of any of the children. She couldn't, however, hold back her laughter as he nuzzled her neck and mumbled how much she loved that little fact into her ear. And she did love it. She wouldn't have him any other way.

His head slowly pulled out of her neck and he stood upright again, running a hand along his daughter's tiny back and taking comfort in the steady rise and fall as she slept. He had no idea what the hell time it was but he was sure Aurora and Murphy would be up pretty soon and they all had to get ready for work and school. Since he was up so early, he figured a nice long shower would do nicely to kill the extra time. Giving his wife a lengthy peck on the lips, he grinned at her amused expression and started making for the stairs after kissing his daughter too. "Batter up, baby. I'll just be in the shower while you do…whatever it is you're gonna do now."

Not missing a beat, Stephanie turned and walked towards him. "Maybe I was planning on getting in that shower with you?"

"That would be fun. Me, you and the baby here. You know when I imagine us having a threesome this isn't exactly the wa…"

"Just stop right there!" she said, holding her hand up in his face and giving him a prompt shove towards the stairs. "I do not want to hear the end of that sentence." His laughter followed him up the stairs and she simply shook her head, glancing down at her sleeping child and pressing another gentle kiss to her head as she rubbed her back. "Your daddy is a pig!"

Having finally stepped into the hot stream of water some five minutes later, Paul let out a long, deep sigh. His eyes were almost burning with exhaustion but it was the price of fatherhood and no matter how tired he was, he wouldn't change that for the world. He had plenty of time to sleep. Spending the night feeding, comforting and then falling asleep with his baby daughter in his arms, well, that was time well spent.


	11. Possibilities

**A/N** - Alright, this is the result of constant badgering by **PunkRockGirl, Brit7000 and Adeeba** on twitter for me to get off my ass and write something lol so this one is for you guys. This thing just kept growing and growing on me so it's a bit long and veers off on somewhat of a tangent. Hopefully you don't mind, he. Enjoy...

* * *

**_"I was dating a guy at the time, during the storyline and I would always talk to my dad and brother for advice and whatever. We'd always be chatting after the show watching reruns of Nitro and we were laughing about a lot of stuff and we would just talk and I would say, 'Is this normal, is this whatever?' and my dad would always say, 'You know, you need to be with a guy that's more like Triple H.' And I'd be like, 'Really?' and my brother would immediately jump in and say, 'A guy like Triple H not actually Triple H.' You know my brother's very overprotective, as is my father. So then my dad actually gave us his blessing to date…" (Heavy Muscle Radio, 2012)_**

* * *

He watched them from behind the curtain, his eyes taking in every movement and quite honestly, not liking what he was seeing one little bit. They were all over each other, hands roaming, whispering, cuddling. He swallowed the lump in his throat and glanced away for a second before forcing himself to look back. She had just pulled his arm around her waist and leaned her head back against his shoulder. His eyes burned, unable to tear his gaze away as they shared a quick kiss. What the hell was going on here? He wasn't an idiot yet he sure as hell felt like one standing there right now. Matthew Goldman was being played for a fool if you asked him. The sudden roar of the crowd made him jump and he looked back down to the ringside area. It was full of guys talking to each other. Quite honestly, Matthew thought they talked more than they fought which he found rather odd for a wrestling program and all. Kurt Angle, Kane and Chris Benoit were outside the ring while The Rock was inside with Mick Foley and of course, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. His gaze fell upon her once more and he frowned. They had been dating for a few months now and things were going great. In fact, things were going really great so long as he stayed away from the WWF. But every time he came here he was left with the uneasy feeling that he was being played and it seemed like he wasn't the only one who thought that either. Just earlier today whilst walking down the hall he had overheard a bunch of wrestlers gossiping about how Hunter, as he was commonly referred to around these parts, was getting it good with Vince's daughter. Naturally, nobody knew who the hell he was and he was thankful for it otherwise he probably would never have heard them say that. If they thought it, it must be true. Well, he was no idiot and tonight he was going to confront her about it.

"Hold on, hold on a second here, Foley. "

Triple H's voice boomed over the speakers set up around the arena, immediately drawing Matthew's attention.

"I don't know what the hell everybody is doing out here right now. I came out here because I want a shot at that." The fans booed as Triple H pointed to the title sitting on Rock's shoulder. "I don't care what that burned freak Kane has to say about it. I don't care what that toothless idiot Benoit has to say about it. And I sure as hell don't care what that son of a bitch Kurt Angle has to say about it! I earned my shot last week, and I want it TO-NIGHT!" The cheers were deafening as Rock whipped off his sunglasses and the two men stared each other down in the middle of the ring. Matthew rolled his eyes. The whole thing was ridiculously cheesy if you asked him. Unfortunately, Stephanie loved the damn thing so it had become a major part of his life. She also seemed to love or at the very least, strongly like and care for the guy she was currently fawning all over in the ring and he didn't like it one damn bit.

"Just Bring It!"

This time it was The Rock's voice that boomed over the speakers but Matthew ignored everybody in the ring apart from Stephanie. Before he knew it, a brawl had erupted and all too soon he was left watching as Triple H stood in the ring holding up the title belt with an evil smirk on his face to thunderous boos as Rock paced angrily on the outside. Stephanie was practically joined to his hip while she ran her hand up and down his now bare chest. He felt the anger welling up inside of him. Yes, later tonight they were definitely going to have a little chat.

* * *

"I swear to God I could put Hunter and Rock against each other for the rest of the year and we'd do record business. They're like peanut butter and jelly together. God damn!" Vince McMahon boomed with a delighted smile on his face as he held the door open for his children. The McMahon siblings walked into the office and both plopped onto the comfortable sofa with equally delighted smiles. The main event for the title had been off the charts crazy but that was to be expected. Stephanie in particular was beaming. She was so proud of Paul. Well, she was proud of Rocky too but she didn't have the same relationship with him that she did Paul. They had become very close…..friends, over the duration of their storyline together. Being able to stand at ringside and watch him do his thing was unbeatable to her. She wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

"Steph?"

"Huh?"

"Daydreaming as usual," Shane joked as his sister came back down to earth.

"I was not! I was thinking."

"About?"

Stephanie gulped and tried to laugh it off. Yeah right she was about to tell her brother and father that she had been thinking about Paul. Again. It seemed like lately she couldn't get him off her mind, even when she was with Matthew. Shit! Matthew! He was here and she had barely said two words to him all night. Crap.

"STEPH!"

"What!"

"I said how are things going with that Michael guy?" Vince quizzed as he too finally plopped into his office chair, the air making a whooshing sound as it puffed out of the leather. He grinned to himself at the roll of his daughter's eyes. He did that just to piss her off and it worked every time.

"He's called Matthew, dad."

"Yeah well, how's it going? Do you love him yet because honestly, if you don't, I don't know why you continue to waste your time staying with him when there are plenty of other possibilities on the table."

Stephanie almost fainted. Had her father actually just said that right now? Plenty of other possibilities on the table? Oh, this she just had to hear. "Well since you seem so well informed about who I should date, dad, why don't you enlighten me?"

Shane let out a muffled laugh at the road this conversation was headed. He knew their father didn't like Matthew. Hell, he didn't like any guy Stephanie ever dated and probably never would. She was his baby girl after all and he didn't think he'd ever see the day where his father thought somebody was good enough for her. As for him, well, he thought Matthew was alright. A little dry but alright, harmless. Kicking his feet onto the coffee table in front of him, he settled back into the soft leather with full intentions of enjoying this debacle as it unfolded.

"Alright then, I will," Vince stated with an indignant look on his face. "This Michael guy…"

"MATTHEW!"

"Whatever! This _Matthew_ guy, he's just….I don't like him." Well he wasn't lying. He didn't like him. The guy seemed nice enough but that was it. He was boring. An investment banker she had met God knows where. He wasn't good enough for her. With that thought came another one. Who _was_ good enough for her? She needed somebody who matched her personality, somebody fun, somebody hardworking, somebody like….well like Paul. Now there was an idea Vince chuckled to himself. And it wasn't the first time he had thought about it either if he was being honest. He had watched them together since this whole storyline began. He wasn't blind nor stupid and could clearly see that something was there. A definite spark if you will. The only people who didn't see it were Paul and Stephanie themselves it seemed.

Stephanie rolled her eyes again. Her father didn't like her boyfriend. Surprise, surprise. "Of course you don't like him, dad! You never like any of my boyfriends."

"That's because they're not good enough for you. I mean, why can't you be with somebody that's more like….why can't you find somebody like…..somebody like Paul for instance?" There. It was finally out in the open. If the two of them needed somebody to kick them in the ass with this thing then he'd gladly be the one to do it. To him, there was nobody better for her than Paul. They'd be great together, heck, they already were.

"Paul! _Paul_? As in, Hunter, Triple H, Paul?"

"Yes, as in him." Now it was Vince's turn to roll his eyes. Why the hell did she seem so shocked? Maybe she really was that clueless. God save him! "He's hardworking, he's fun, he's honest, you know, he'd just be….he's level headed, he'd just be great for you."

To say that she was stumped would be an understatement. Her father had not only decided there _was_ somebody out there good enough for her but had actually gone and named him too! Paul! She looked at him wide eyed. "_Really_?"

"Really. Don't you agree? You guys get on perfectly, you have chemistry inside the ring and more importantly, outside the ring too. He'd be great for you."

"Uhhhhh, dad?" Shane had quickly sat forward upon hearing his father apparently fly off the handle. Was he actually suggesting that she date a wrestler? Had he lost his mind! "You mean someone _like_, Paul, right? Not actually Paul himself?"

Vince scoffed and let out a hearty laugh. Trust Shane to put a damper on things. "Oh yeah, someone _like_ Paul." Despite his agreement with his son, he made sure to look at Stephanie as he spoke, his gaze openly defying his words. Her own narrowed gaze told him that she had gotten the message.

The outright strange vibe in the room was broken by the sudden knocking on the door. All three McMahon's turned and their eyes grew wide at the man who stepped inside. Paul walked into the room and immediately felt like he had done something wrong. They were all looking at him like he had three heads right now. "Whaaaattttt are you all looking at me like that for?"

"What! Oh, nothing. Haha, come on in Paul. What's up?" Vince chuckled at the absurdity of the situation. With any luck the other man had heard their conversation and would do something about it. Fat chance.

Paul looked from Shane to Stephanie to Vince with an unconvinced expression on his face. He'd just have to find out what exactly they had been talking about from Stephanie when he got the chance. "You wanted me to swing by so you could ask me something, remember?"

Vince suddenly did remember that he had wanted him to come by after the show to help him out with something in the gym. "Yes, that's right. It's nothing much. I just wanted your opinion on something I read in Muscle and Fitness over the weekend."

Shane shook his head in amusement. If there was one person worse than his dad when it came to working out, it was Paul. He wasn't sticking around to listen to them geek out over some new diet regimen or something. "Well I'd love to stay and chat guys but quite honestly, you'd bore me to tears."

"I don't know. Maybe you ought to stay and listen, Shane. You're getting a bit of a gut there, man," Paul joked as he reached across and slapped the other man on the stomach.

Stephanie smiled at their interaction, her eyes drawn to one man in particular and it wasn't her brother or her father. His head turned and he caught her gaze, his smile practically taking her breath away. That had been happening a lot lately too now that she thought about it. She smiled back and held his gaze, perhaps a little too long before looking away. Her eyes glanced over his shoulder and she was shocked to find Matthew standing there. "Matthew!"

All eyes turned to the man standing in the doorway fidgeting uncomfortably. Matthew's feet shuffled awkwardly. He felt like he was interrupting something. "Hey. I was beginning to wonder if you had left already," he offered with a small smile, all but ignoring the looks thrown his way from the men in the room. Truth be told, her father scared the crap out of him. He was probably the most intimidating man he had ever met.

"Oh no. I was actually just about to come find you. Just give me a second here."

Matthew watched as she kissed her brother on the cheek, then her father and then gave Triple H a small hug. The other man's hand lingered just a little too long on her lower back as they broke apart and smiled at each other. He bit his lip and tried not to frown as Stephanie finally took his hand and they were out the door after saying their goodbyes. Little did he know, he hadn't been the only one paying attention to detail.

Vince was almost grinning at the expression on the other man's face as he walked away. He hated cowards and he was pretty certain that this guy knew something was up but clearly hadn't done anything about it. That made him a coward in his book. He just hoped his daughter finally came to her senses about him, especially when she had a much better guy standing right in front of her. Speaking of which, Vince motioned for Paul to sit on the sofa and they both lost themselves in their conversation about the article he had read.

* * *

Matthew chewed thoughtfully on his lip for a few seconds before running a hand over his face and finally deciding to bite the bullet. "Look, Steph. Can we talk?"

"Sure," she replied in confusion. "Is everything alright?" She sat down on the bed and crossed her legs. They had gone out for a nice meal and were now in his hotel room where she had thought they were going to cap off the night with a bang so to speak. Judging from the look on his face right now, she guessed not.

"I'm not going to lie to you. It's not. I don't even know how else to say this so I'm just going to say it." He took a moment and a deep breath before looking her dead in the eye. "Is there something going on with you and Hunter?"

Stephanie's eyes almost popped out of her head. He had to be joking. Twice in one day! First her father and now Matt. What the hell was wrong with everybody? "What! No! Matt, I don't even….no! What makes you think that?"

"I'm not stupid, Stephanie. I see you guys on TV every week. I know something's going on."

"We're just acting. We're a married couple for Christ sakes!" she cried in disbelief.

Matt tried not to let his anger get the better of him. He had actually cooled down after their promo earlier tonight but then he had seen them in the office and it had started up again. "I don't think you are. There's acting and then there's what you two get up to. Every week he's touching you and kissing you and I just….I don't know if I can deal with this. Something's going on, Steph so please, stop treating me like I'm an idiot OK?"

She sat there with her mouth hanging open. Was this actually happening right now? They were just acting. All the touching and the kissing, it was acting, wasn't it? Sure, they flirted like crazy but that was normal, at least it felt normal to her. Paul was a massive flirt in general and nothing ever came from it. It was harmless. "I don't know what to say to you, Matthew. Nothing's going on. We're just friends and we play a married couple on TV. That's it."

"That's it?"

"Yes."

He wasn't convinced and he was starting to think that she didn't even see it herself. That Hunter guy was very obviously interested in her and he had no doubt that she felt something for him. Any time he had been around the two of them he had literally felt the chemistry between them. What if she legitimately didn't see it though? Was he prepared to stick around in a relationship that was doomed to fail when she eventually figured it out? "I don't believe you. And if you are telling the truth then, Steph, I think you're either lying to yourself or you honestly can't see what's going on around you. Triple H, Hunter, whatever the hell his name is, he's into you. I can see it and I'm not the only one either."

Stephanie frowned at his statement. He wasn't the only one who could see it? Had her father said something to him? She was so fucking confused. Yes, she was close with Paul, incredibly close actually. She enjoyed spending time with him, they had fun together. She truly admired him and considered him one of the true friends she had on the road. But she couldn't deny that Matthew was right when he said that there might be something there between them. There were times when his gaze lingered a little too long for a friend, when he would say suggestive things and not look away, when his touch would literally burn into her skin and make her feel so alive. She brushed it all off as adrenaline but more and more lately she was beginning to think that wasn't the case. It happened outside the ring too. Hell, even just tonight when he had smiled at her she felt her chest tingle. Jesus, this was all so new and confusing to her. Did she have feelings for Paul? She knew she cared about him as a friend but could those feelings develop into something more? Had they already? Her father sure as hell seemed to think so. She didn't know what was up or down anymore. Taking a deep breath, Stephanie looked into his accusatory eyes and was surprised by what she felt; nothing. He was borderline breaking up with her and she barely cared. At all. If that didn't tell her something then maybe nothing would. "Matt, I honestly don't know what to say."

"Do you have feelings for him?"

The silence in the room was filled with tension and uneasiness as they stared at each other. When she didn't answer, Matt simply shook his head and coldly motioned for the door.

"Then we have nothing to talk about anymore. I'm not gonna wait for you to eventually realize he's what you want, Steph. I'm nobody's second best. I'm sorry but I think it's best if we stop seeing each other."

His words hung in the air for what felt like an eternity. Stephanie felt like she had just been kicked in the gut. He hadn't even given her a chance to defend herself. Well, actually, he had given her a chance to deny if she had feelings for Paul and she had remained silent. Her head was spinning and she could feel a headache coming on. They looked at each other for a few tense moments before Stephanie simply shook her head. "I'm sorry," was all she could muster before the door clicked shut behind her. Her body slumped back against it and she took a minute to gather herself. Her boyfriend had just broken up with her. That was a nice way of putting it. She had just been dumped was more accurate and all because he believed that she had feelings for somebody else. Oh Paul. Paul, Paul, Paul. She couldn't get him out of her damn head.

"Stephanie?"

Great, now she was hearing him speak to her in her mind.

"Steph?"

Stephanie opened her eyes and almost fell back against the door when she saw him standing there in front of her. "Paul!" He was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt but his hair was damp and hanging around his face, his gym bag dangling from his shoulder. "Paul! What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? You're the one standing in the middle of the hallway for no reason," he chuckled, his hand reaching into his back pocket for his key card. "I'm going to my room."

"Just now?"

Paul rolled his eyes playfully. "Your stupid dad talked me into going for a workout."

"Oh."

He frowned and looked at her sceptically. "Steph are you alright? You look….I don't know. Everything OK?" She was standing in the hallway at this time of night for no apparent reason. He was curious to say the least.

"I'm fine," she half laughed but when she looked up into his eyes she knew he wasn't buying it. Letting out a heavy sigh, Stephanie shook her head almost in disbelief. "Matthew broke up with me."

"He what?"

"He broke up with me."

"What? Why?" he spluttered out in a desperate attempt to hide the fact that his heart had jumped for joy at hearing the news. Matthew was out of the picture. That meant she was single. And that meant…..no. It didn't mean anything.

She shrugged her shoulders and pretended not to know why. There was no way in hell she was telling him the real reason. She wasn't quite ready to have that conversation yet, if there was even a conversation to be had at all.

"What a fucking idiot. He had gold and he just threw it away? Fucking moron," Paul muttered rather angrily this time. He hated to see her hurt but looking at her right now you wouldn't know it. She didn't really look all that bothered if he was being honest. Surprised but not bothered. Before he knew it, his hand had shot out to caress the side of her face. "Are you alright?"

The second his hand touched her skin she felt something tight grip her stomach. Their eyes locked and she simply couldn't look away, not when he was looking at her the way he was right now. His face broke into a gentle smile when she nodded her head but he didn't remove his hand. She actually felt like she was floating if it were possible.

"He really is an idiot you know," his hushed voice broke the magical spell that had fallen over them. Paul dropped his hand but kept her gaze. "You're quite the catch, Steph."

"Well I guess that just means somebody else is now able to snatch me up, great catch that I am and all."

Paul's eyes lit up at her giggle, the hidden meaning behind her words not lost on him for a second and before he knew what he was doing, "You want to go grab a coffee?"

She looked as surprised as he did and they both looked at each other wide eyed for a second until they started to laugh nervously. "Ummmm….." she trailed off, not quite believing that he had asked her out…sort of. His expectant brown eyes were enough to give her the courage to do what her heart was crying out for her to do. With a bright smile, she playfully bumped his shoulder and nodded her head. "Sure. It's not every day a girl gets asked on a date by Triple H."

"It's not a date."

"It isn't?"

Suddenly his expression grew serious. He sighed and ran a hand over his face before looking at her again. "Not if it makes you uncomfortable. I know you're only joking and you just broke up with…"

"What if I'm not joking?"

Her question threw him for a loop. "What?"

She reached out and rubbed his arm softly. "What if I'm not joking?" She wasn't sure what the hell she was doing anymore. Nothing made sense. The only thing that did was the feeling she got when she looked into his eyes. "What if I want it to be a da…."

"Steph…" He glanced around the hallway and safe in the knowledge that it was empty, he took her hand and pulled her the short distance to his room before disappearing inside.

Stephanie stood there in total confusion. Her eyes darted around uneasily. First of all, she had no idea what the hell he was doing and second of all, if anybody saw her near his hotel room the rumour mill would no doubt spontaneously combust from gossip. Almost a minute passed and she was just about to rap on the door when it opened and he stood before her again, this time with his hair pulled back and a striped white dress shirt on.

"Oh hey! You must be Stephanie. Triple H told me all about you. I'm Paul." He stuck out his hand and tried not to laugh at her confused expression as she shook it. She had all but admitted that she possibly wanted something more than friendship from him and despite his initial shock, it was music to his ears. If she wanted this to be a date then so be it. "I was surprised when he said his friend wanted to go on a date with me but now that I see you, well, he certainly wasn't lying when he spoke of how beautiful you are."

It finally clicked in her head what he was doing and she bit back her laughter, her eyes sparkling in amusement and her cheeks stained a nice pink blush as their handshake slowly broke. "Ah. Paul, right? It's nice to finally meet you."

They both stared at each other while the rest of the world simply disappeared. They were actually going to do this. It was new. It was exciting. It was what they both wanted and now it was actually happening. As Paul's hand gently caressed her lower back as they headed back down the hall, Stephanie sent a silent thank you when she passed by Matthew's door. Neither of them knew it but he had just kicked off a chain reaction that would change her life forever. The possibility of a life with Paul had always been there in the back of her head. Now she was taking the first step into making that a reality.


	12. What Happens In Vegas

**A/N - So this one is based on the little trip to Vegas that Trips and Steph made last year when Brock Lesnar 'broke' Hunter's arm lol. There's no specific quote for this one but we all know it happened. He was at the Mayweather fight and did an interview with Criss Angel so that's enough for me. Besides, this is a request for HHHereComesTrouble because she's a pervert and demanded that I write smut against my will. ITS ALL HER FAULT! Enjoy and beware I guess...**

* * *

"_We've now reached our cruising altitude so feel free to get up and move around the cabin if you wish. We should be hitting Nevada in around four hours. Until then just sit back and enjoy the flight."_

The slightly crackled sound of the pilot's voice rang around the small private jet, informing its few occupants of the latest travel details. Stephanie let out a poignant sigh causing her husband to look at her, his eyebrow raised. Catching his movement out of the corner of her eye, she rolled her head against the padded luxury seat to face him and let out another sigh, this time causing him to lightly chuckle.

"What is it?" Paul managed to get out without rolling his eyes. He knew what was coming. Every time they went away for a night or two she would get upset about leaving the kids. Then when they finally arrived she'd forget all about them and enjoy herself and their time alone.

"It's just….I feel so awful leaving the girls!"

Paul once again was forced to bite back his laughter. He could read her like a book. Taking a moment, he pouted along with her and took her hand in his. "Oh they'll be fine, they're always fine. Besides, you were the one who organized this trip in the first place and as a chance for us to spend some time alone together no less. I, for one, am looking forward to having you all to myself." He wiggled his eyebrows for good measure and it had the desired effect as she began to smile.

"You are, huh?"

"We haven't had sex in almost two weeks. Of course I am!" he all but blurted out, this time making her burst out laughing.

She swatted his arm and looked at him wide eyed. "Jesus, Paul! Tell the whole damn plane why don't you!"

"Maybe I will and then we can sneak to the toilets and….." her hand clamping over his mouth stopped him mid sentence.

"Just stop. God, I can take you nowhere," she rolled her eyes.

"Actually, you can take me wherever you want….see what I did there?"

His delightfully dorky smile made her chest flutter and she couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah, I see what you did there, smartass." It really was ridiculous how much he still got to her after nine years of marriage and three kids to boot. And it wasn't like he was telling lies or anything. They actually _hadn't_ had sex in what felt like forever and any marriage thrived on healthy sexual relations…well, at least theirs did. Sometimes it amazed her that they still wanted each other so badly. From speaking to her close friends it seemed as if it should take more effort. Not for her, or him either. She had lost count of the number of times he had told her that he'd want her forever and it was exactly the same for her too. To put it simply, while she would no doubt miss their daughters, they needed this time for themselves otherwise they'd both end up going stir crazy. "I guess the countdown is on then, huh? Only four hours to go…"

Paul's eyes lit up at her statement and grinned deviously. This flight couldn't go fast enough as far as he was concerned.

* * *

"Wow! That's some contraption you've got on your arm, man. How the hell did you do that? Did Brock Lesnar really break it?"

Stephanie was forced to turn to the side in order to keep from laughing at the expression on her husband's face. Oh, the things they put themselves through for their crazy business. He didn't know it but the poor guy standing in front of them right now had been about the umpteenth person to ask Paul about his arm since they had arrived at the MGM Grand for the fight tonight. This was on top of the fact that he was already pissed to hell before they even left the hotel. Everything had been going fine. They had arrived, checked in and things were getting seriously hot and heavy in their hotel room when the phone started ringing incessantly. Finally having enough, he was forced to answer it only to find that it was his friend Mister Mayweather himself with impeccable timing of course. Floyd knew he had been coming to watch the fight but wanted him to be part of the Money Team entourage that accompanied him to the ring. As a result, they had to leave early which cut their alone time short. They had to shower and leave immediately to get through all the checks and security.

And so here they were, her standing off to the side and her husband standing in front of her trying not to scowl as he posed for photos with various fans and media personnel, all the while his arm was cooped up in that God damn robotic looking cast. Couldn't the props people have come up with something less…over the top? She couldn't even hold his hand for God sakes! Then again, he could have just not worn anything but he'd never do that. His dedication to the WWE was one of the many things she loved about him. If he was required to wear an arm cast to sell his angle with Brock then he'd wear it and take everything that came with it too.

"Thanks, Hunter. I hope you kick Lesnar's ass man!"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the fan's departing words and she gently trailed her fingers along his good arm. "Stop scowling, honey. You're going to scare everybody away."

"Good. Maybe then they'll leave me alone. It doesn't help that I've got this fucking attention magnet on my arm either. I swear to God somebody is ribbing me with this thing," Paul frowned and awkwardly moved his arm. It was starting to hurt from being so stagnant and there wasn't even anything wrong with it. Sometimes his mother told him he was an idiot for taking wrestling so seriously when others in his position wouldn't. This was one of those rare occasions when he was inclined to agree with her.

His wife's gentle laughter as she leaned against him drew his attention away from his sour thoughts and he looked down at her to find her laughing at him. He was just about to question what she found so funny when the atmosphere in the room changed as a rather large group of people entered. A bunch of huge security men appeared to be surrounding the figure in the middle. Paul wrinkled his nose in confusion. It wasn't like Floyd to come greet his own people surrounded by that much security. But his confused expression was quickly replaced with an amused yet surprised little smirk when he saw the small teenage boy in the centre of it all. If he wasn't mistaken, the one and only Justin Beiber had graced them with his presence and all of a sudden the room became a lot smaller as his cronies squeezed in amongst the rest of them. With a playful glint in his eye, he leaned down to whisper in his wife's ear. "Oh my God, it's Justin Beiber, ahhhhhh!" he mock squealed, imitating millions of young girls around the world, not to mention three little girls no doubt sleeping back in Connecticut right now.

Stephanie snorted in laughter at his high pitched squeaking, thankful that he had the sense to whisper it in her ear rather than say it out loud. She tried to look at him sternly and failed miserably. "Control yourself, young lady!"

"Ha!" he chuckled out loud this time already reading the changing expression on her face. His head began to shake and he tilted it as their eyes locked in silent conversation. "At least let him get settled before you make me go over there and ask him for an autograph or whatever the hell it is you want me to bring back for the girls." All she could do was smile sweetly in response.

In the end, they didn't have to go anywhere because a photographer had quickly requested that Floyd's three main guys get a picture taken together. Paul posed for the picture with 50 Cent and Justin and before the latter left, asked him if he could do him a quick favour for his kids. The young man obliged before making the rounds in the room just as he had when he had entered. Shortly after that it was show time.

"I'll see you when I get to our seats then, I guess."

"Yeah. I'll just sit like a loner…."

"Whatever," he chuckled, giving her a quick kiss before disappearing down the hall along with the other people called by one of the Mayweather handlers.

Stephanie took a moment and watched him as he walked away before shaking it off and heading towards her own seat. She was looking forward to the fight just about to take place but even more than that, she was looking forward to picking up where they had left off earlier today.

* * *

The hotel room door didn't even get a chance to close before two figures stumbled inside. Paul absently flung his leg back, ensuring that it did indeed shut before practically stalking his wife towards the bed. They came to a stop at the foot of the large king and he instantly tried to reach for her when she stopped him, her hand firmly pressing against his chest. Their eyes locked, hers amused by his impatience and his darkening by the second. He wanted her and wanted her bad. Stephanie slowly trailed her hand down his chest, stomach and finally to the waistband of his black dress pants which she grabbed tightly. She then yanked him right into her and moved her head to whisper in his ear.

"I've got a present for you…"

Her sing song voice, her intoxicating perfume and her body pressed right up against him made his eyes slide shut and he slowly opened them to catch her gaze once again. He was about to ask her what it was when her hand quickly moved up to cover his mouth. Stephanie pressed her fingers against his lips, her thumb running over his bottom lip in particular and delighted in the expression that crossed his face. It only grew darker when she removed her hand and started stripping out of her clothing to reveal the deep blue lingerie she had purchased specifically for this occasion. His eyes drank her in, lingering over her legs, her curves, her breasts and she felt like the most beautiful woman in the world when his eyes connected with hers, his gaze full of longing and pure naked lust. Her husband wanted her and she'd be damned if she didn't want him just as bad. Time seemed to freeze for a few moments as they stood there, neither moving, until almost simultaneously they reached for the other and fell into a desperate kiss, their tongues meetings before their mouths.

Paul grabbed the side of her face and tilted her head to kiss her deeper. His beard scratched against her skin, the fingers of his other hand biting into her hips as their tongues wound together endlessly. It was hurried and passionate, the growing need that had been building between them for the past two weeks completely taking over. They broke for air, only for a second, before their lips fused once again. Stephanie brought her arms to his neck, securing them firmly before jumping and wrapping her legs around his waist. He easily caught her, his hands spread and palming her ass as he took the few steps to the bed. He laid her down gently, his mouth dipping to her collarbone. Her back hit the mattress and she slowly trailed her hands down his back, pulling the dress shirt he wore out of his pants so she could then run her hands across his skin. It felt hot beneath her fingers and she lightly scored her nails into his shoulder blades when he brushed his hand against her breast. Her nipples stiffened at the contact and she grew desperate to feel his skin against hers. She brought her hands to the space between them and quickly began undoing the buttons of his shirt. In no time it was hanging open and she pulled him into her, her eyes slipping shut at the feel of his skin and the taste of his tongue as he caught her lips in another torrid kiss. She absently tried to rid him of the garment when it got stuck on his left arm.

"This fucking thing," Paul groaned, forced to break their kiss. He had completely forgotten that he had been wearing the stupid brace until it got in the way of course. Angrily, he undid the velcro straps and practically ripped it off, flinging it to the floor without an ounce of care. It was followed by a flash of white cotton.

Catching him glancing over his shoulder in irritation, Stephanie simply grabbed his face with both hands and brought his lips crashing back down to hers. In an instant the arm brace was forgotten and she was free to let her hands roam freely over his muscled torso. Her husband had similar ideas for his hands were soon all over her and she welcomed his much needed touch. A heavy sigh escaped her as he snapped open her bra and didn't even wait to fully take it off before dropping his mouth to her breast, his tongue making her back arch off the bed. He kissed his way to her other nipple and tortured it in kind while his hand dipped between her legs. They immediately opened to his touch, his thumb plucking against the scrap of blue lace while he cupped her gently. With one firm stroke, his thumb connected with her and she cried out, her hips jerking in response. She swore to God she was about ready to explode if he didn't touch her and quickly. Instead however, his hands moved to her hips, holding them to the bed as his mouth slowly trailed its way down her body…to her abdomen…her belly button…below her naval where he stopped and looked up at her. As if she knew what he was doing, she lifted her head and caught his gaze. She could feel his warm breath on her skin, his head hovering between her legs and reached down, her fingers pulling the band from his hair. He finally dropped his head and gave her what she so desperately wanted, his mouth clamping down around her swollen flesh and sucking gently. Her hand quickly became entangled in his golden strands as he went to work, his lips, mouth and tongue setting her body alight with the most incredible sensations. He slowed his pace, loving every buck of her hips against his face as he tasted her, removing one hand from her hip to snake its way up and entwine with hers.

Stephanie gripped his fingers tightly while tugging on his hair at the same time as he took her with his mouth. His slow movements were driving her crazy. She felt his head move, the prickles of his beard scratching the soft skin of her thighs as his head dipped lower, torturing her entry for a few blissful moments before moving back up to continue his assault on her swollen core. In all her life, nothing ever felt this good. Well, one thing did and she'd get it pretty soon but she could more than happily stay like this forever. His pace began to quicken, the force of his mouth upon her growing harder and she couldn't stop her hips from arching into him. He gently removed his hand from hers and brought it back to her hip using both hands to pin her down as he himself grew restless and began to pick things up. He was certain he was about to poke a hole through his pants if he didn't get inside her and now. From the way her body was reacting not to mention her heavy panting and moaning, he knew she was close. Rather than continue his sweet torture, he gave in and suckled hard. He was relentless, his hands holding her in place while he brought her higher and higher. She began to thrust against his face, her other hand tangling in his hair as she pushed him into her, desperate for release.

"Ahh….oh fuck…..oh fuck, Paul, don't stop…..don't stop baby….ahhh."

Her frantic cries only served to spur him on and he continued, working her endlessly until she began to shudder against him, her hips jerking violently into his face as the orgasm took over her body. She cried out in pure pleasure, one hand with a fistful of his hair while the other grabbed on to the bed sheet for dear life. Jesus she was spent, her lungs gasping for air as she continued to shudder and find her release. His mouth was still fastened around her and he let out a low growl when he finally let go. A moment passed where they both took the chance to get their breath back before he ascended her body and kissed her hard. She could taste herself on his lips and could feel him pressing against her stomach through the pants he still wore. Deciding to put him out of his misery, she reached between them, undid his belt, button and zipper and reached inside to take him into her hand. He abruptly broke their kiss and rested his forehead against hers. She stroked his face with one hand and started stroking his length with the other. They kept their faces close as she worked him over, her hand pumping at just the right pace to force his eyes shut.

In a flash, she rolled him to his back still clutching him in her hand. Her nails raked over the contracted muscles of his stomach as she pressed a long kiss to his thick neck. Her lips moved lower until she was teasing her tongue at the base of his shaft. His hand came to thread through her hair at the same time she took him into her mouth, the warm and wet sensation coaxing a heady groan out of his open mouth. He lay there, his face contorted in pleasure as she began to suck. "Fuck, Steph.…ahhh…..Jesus Chrrr…." his breathy moans filled the room. He knew she was only returning the favour but he honestly wasn't sure he could last much longer. He had waited long enough. Letting her have her way with him for a minute or so longer, he tugged on her hair to get her attention and gently drew her up against him, their mouths once again entangling together as they kissed heatedly. "I can't wait any longer," he hushed gruffly against her lips. He wanted her, _needed_ her so badly that he was literally having to stop himself from bursting all over the place. Listening to her find her release and feeling her fall to pieces under his touch had taken him right to the edge. The feel of her mouth surrounding him was enough to send him toppling over.

Stephanie sucked on his lower lip, pulling at it with her teeth for a moment until she let it go. She planted a hand firmly on his chest while reaching between them with the other. Her fingers wrapped around him once again and slowly guided him to the place she needed him most. He easily slipped inside, filling her whole and drawing heavy moans of pleasure from both of them. She grabbed his hands, entwining their fingers and started to rock her hips against him, grinding down, gaining a slow and steady rhythm. His grip tightened when she arched her back and bore down hard, making sure to milk every inch of him buried deep inside her.

"Stephanie…."

The sound of him calling her name and the look of pure ecstasy on his face made her chest grow tight and she started to move a little more quickly. Their hands slipped apart, hers resting on either side of his face as he sat up and kissed her hard while slapping his hands to her ass. He held them there, squeezing her cheeks and pushing her into him while he pushed back, the sensation sparking a deep sigh from within her. She threw her head back and he took full advantage, burying his head in her neck and placing wet, open mouthed kisses to her skin. Her hands found their way around his neck, one straying into his hair as they continued to move together. Their pace quickened again and soon they were both breathing hard.

Paul could feel the sweat starting to gather on his back and he rolled them over, needing to feel her completely wrapped around him. He grabbed her left calf and threw it over his shoulder allowing him to slide deeper inside her. They both cried out as he began thrusting faster still. He planted one hand at the side of her head, steadying himself while the other palmed her hip, grasping her skin tightly and holding her in place as they moved together. His hair was sticking to his neck as he leaned down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. He buried his head in her shoulder and started to slam into her. He could feel it building deep in his gut.

"Oh God, Paul…" Stephanie cried almost in sheer desperation. Every nerve ending in her body was on overdrive. She felt every inch of him as it slid into her over and over again. Faster. Harder. Faster. Harder. Their bodies began to heave against each other, hips thrusting and heats full. She wrapped her arms around him and gripped his shoulders tightly as she felt herself beginning to shudder. Her leg almost fell to the bed but she kept up with him as he continued his relentless thrusting. She knew he was close, could tell from his short heavy breathing and the way his hand dug into her hip. The other was squeezing the life out of the pillow next to her head. She ran her hand down his face and he looked at her, their eyes catching and locking on to each other as they moved together even quicker still. He drilled into her and let out a moan of his own as she shuddered around him and called his name hard. Her body was shaking with her orgasm but he didn't stop. Stephanie scratched one hand down his back as she felt it building inside her yet again. He was slamming into her almost viciously now and she loved every second of it, loved the borderline feeling of pain mixed with the absolute pleasure of her husband taking her places only he could take her.

"Fucking, ahhh….oh fuck….oh fuck, Steph….." With a few final deep strokes, Paul finally found his release and emptied inside her, his hips slowly coming to a stop as she too came one final time. He collapsed on to her chest and gasped for air, completely overwhelmed by the force of his climax. "Jesus," he muttered somewhere into her hair. His body was legitimately spent. Hell in a Cell, Elimination Chamber, Ironman matches, he'd been through all of them and they'd never leave him as exhausted as making love to his wife did. She had a hold over him something ridiculous, he swore it. The gentle feel of her hand running along his spine was calming and he let out a sigh, gingerly rolling off her but keeping a hand wrapped firmly around her waist. He pulled her tightly against him, not wanting to break their contact and started pressing little kisses to her shoulder and neck.

Stephanie sighed and cuddled into him. She loved this part just as much as the part before, where she lay in his arms and he showered her with a different type of affection, a loving and gentle kind rather than the carnal and passionate kind they just shared. Her body was still tingling in the aftermath and she pulled his arm tighter around her, entwining their fingers and snuggling back into him. His whispered profession of love drew a tender smile and she turned to kiss him, their mouths moving slowly together this time, unhurried and gentle, taking their time without the desperation of before. They broke away slowly and cuddled in once more.

"I hope you're ready for more when I get some of my energy back. You wear me out, woman," Paul mumbled into her hair.

Her shoulders shook in a light chuckle. "I wear _you_ out? I'll be lucky if I'm able to walk straight tomorrow thank you very much." She could practically feel the huge smile that encompassed his face at her remark and couldn't help but shake her head. If there was one way to compliment a man it was to stroke his ego when it came to bedroom skills. Her husband was no different.

"Would that be so bad? We could blow off Criss Angel and just spend the whole day in bed together," he said almost dreamily. He wished that they didn't have other things planned for this vacation. It was rare they ever got away and truth be told, while Floyd and Criss were his friends, he'd love the chance to just spend some time completely alone with his wife without having to worry about anybody or anything else. Maybe next time.

"It wouldn't be bad at all. But unfortunately we can't which means we'll just have to get our fill tonight." She said it anyways knowing what his response would be and it didn't stop the smile from creeping onto her face anyways.

Paul tightened his arm around her and startled nibbling on her neck. "I don't think I'll ever get my fill of you, baby." His leg slid through hers, his mouth finding that sweet spot on her neck. He smiled against her skin at the soft mewls he drew from her. Her body was starting to respond to his touch and he knew it was only a matter of time before they made love again. While they couldn't get the entire weekend to themselves, he was determined to make tonight count. With that thought in mind, he gently removed his fingers from hers and trailed his hand between her legs…

* * *

"Mommy! Daddy!"

The high pitched screams brought huge smiles to the faces of both parents as they walked into their home. They were immediately hit by three little bundles running into their knees. Paul was grinning from ear to ear as he reached down to pick up his two youngest daughters while his wife dealt with their eldest. "Did you guys miss us?"

"Yeah, yeah! Yes we missed you, daddy!" cried Murphy, her blonde hair bouncing excitedly around her head.

"Miss you, daddy," came the soft mumbled voice of little Vaughn from the vicinity of his neck which she had currently burrowed into. He kissed her tenderly and looked to his wife who was holding a wide eyed Aurora. She reached out for him and he skilfully managed to give her a quick kiss whilst holding his other two daughters in his arms. He held them there long enough for them to exchange hugs and kisses with their mother before they all started walking towards the living room.

"We drew pictures for you! Can I go get them, mommy, please?"

Stephanie gave Aurora another quick kiss before setting her down on the floor and watched her sprint towards the kitchen. With her hands now free she took Vaughn from her husband's arms and showered her baby with kisses. She had missed them all so much.

"You guys have a good trip?" asked Nora, their nanny.

"It was great. Just good to get a couple of nights away, you know?" Stephanie replied and immediately blushed when she caught her husband looking at her with that…._look_ on his face. It never failed to stain her cheeks a nice shade of red and it was the exact same look he had during the interview with Criss yesterday when he had glanced over in her direction. For whatever reason it made her blush every time and he knew it.

Nora simply smiled at the two of them, certain in her thoughts of what that little look meant and couldn't help but shake her head as she took a step back to let the family interact with one another.

"Look at our pictures! Look!"

Aurora came flying into the room at warp speed yet managed to stop just at the right time to prevent crashing into her father's legs. She offered him a toothy grin and held out the paper in her hands.

"I'll look at your pictures in a second but first I have a gift for you…"

Murphy frowned as her father sat her down on the floor and shared a curious glance with her sister.

With a smirk, Paul pulled out his iPhone and quickly scrolled to the video message that he had recorded just a few days ago before the fight. "You guys ready?" Upon their nods, he hit play and held the screen out in front of them.

"_Aurora, Murphy and Vaughn. This is Justin Beiber just saying hi to you guys. Your dad tells me that you're all big fans of mine and I want to say thank you and hopefully I'll see you all at a show pretty soon. Thank you guys for being fans, I love you!_"

A strange silence fell upon the room for all of two seconds before both girls screamed in sheer joy at the fact that one of their favourite popstars had just recorded a personal video message for them.

"Play it again, daddy, play it again!"

"Of course," he chuckled but first motioned to his wife standing beside him with a huge smile on her face. "But first you guys should thank your mother because it was all her idea."

Stephanie was immediately set upon by both girls as they hugged and squeezed her tight. "Thank you, mommy! You met Justin Beiber? I didn't know you were going to meet Justin Beiber, that's so cool! Mommy, can I show it to my friends at school?"

"I want to show it to my friends at school!"

"Me too!" cried Vaughn, finally joining the conversation. "Juthin Beeb-er," she managed to get out.

Both Paul and Stephanie smiled tenderly at their youngest daughter and her attempts at pronouncing the young singer's name.

"How about we do a trade, huh? How about you let me see your pictures and I give you guys my phone. Then you can watch it as many times as you want," Paul suggested. The phone was instantly snapped out of his hand and all he could do was chuckle as Stephanie set Vaughn down and the three of them huddled around the small device on the floor.

"Told you they'd love it," Stephanie teased, sidling up to him and running her fingers along his arm. "So, despite the Robocop arm, I hope the weekend wasn't a total bust?"

He frowned and wrapped an arm around her waist, tugging her into him. "You kidding me? It was worth it for the se…" Remembering that their kids were in the room he was forced to come up with something different to say. "It was worth it for the….time we got to…..spend some time…..sleeping?"

His jumbled mess of a sentence made her chuckle. "Yeah…..sleeping…that sounds about right."

"Next time there'll be no boxing and no magicians though. When I say I want you all to myself I _mean_ I want you all to myself. I'm not quite finished with you yet."

"Who says you have to wait until we go away again to get me all to yourself?" was her whispered reply before she simply pecked him on the cheek and joined her daughters on the floor.

Paul simply shook his head and took a moment to watch his family all together again before joining them on the floor himself. It was good to be home.


	13. Valentines Day

**A/N - Since it's Valentines Day and all, I figured this was appropriate. I'm sure everybody has read that interview or at least heard of it where she mentions how he proposed to her. Well, if it's in an interview it's getting the GK treatment so here we are lol. Enjoy...**

**PS - I begrudgingly dedicate this to the BITCH. You know who you are. #bitch**

* * *

Paul fiddled with the black box in his pocket as he watched the melee erupt some ten stories down. It was Friday evening, rush hour in New York City. People were running around like headless chickens all trying to kick start their weekend. The signature yellow cabs weaved through the streets, picking customers up and dropping others off. His eyes wore an amused glint as they peered through the window and down to the streets below. Pretty soon he was set to join the madness because tonight wasn't just any regular Friday night. No. It was Valentine's night; a time for the lovers of the world to celebrate with tacky gifts and chocolates while their single counterparts stormed around in a fury. He imagined half of the people bustling around below were desperate to meet their significant others while the other half were just desperate to get away from it all. For him, tonight was even more special because it wasn't just a regular Friday night; it wasn't just Valentine's night. Tonight he was going to change his life forever. Tonight he was going to ask the woman he loved to become his wife. Yes, tonight was very special indeed.

"I'm ready."

His eyes quickly changed from amused to besotted when he turned his head and saw her standing there. As usual, it had taken her forever to get dressed but looking at her now it was more than worth the wait. The simple black dress she wore hugged her curves to perfection, her long legs were on full display and her hair fell in soft waves about her face. She was simply breathtaking and he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, his fingers once again trailing over the black velvet box hid inside his trouser pocket. Finally gathering himself, he cleared his throat and stood up from his leaning position on the window with a gentle smile on his face. "You look incredible."

"You don't look too bad yourself," Stephanie joked, bringing her hands to his neck and fiddling with the open collar of his grey shirt. She tilted her head, her tongue poking between her teeth playfully as her right hand smoothed down his chest. "In fact, I'd say you're looking pretty darn hot tonight, Game."

"Game?" His hands lazily wrapped around her waist, his grip relaxed. "You haven't called me that in a while."

"I feel like I need to keep reminding you of how good you are after those Steiner matches."

He suddenly pulled back and frowned at her, his expression faux hurt. "_Wow_. That was a low blow."

Stephanie enjoyed the little pout that formed on his lips and instantly tugged him back into her, this time nuzzling his neck. Her hands ran down his sides and just before they could dip any lower he instantly grabbed them and entwined their fingers. "You'll always be the Game to me, baby."

He scoffed playfully, his head shaking and heart beating. She had almost run her hands over his pockets. He couldn't risk her feeling that he had something in there and ruining the night before it had a chance to begin. That had been close. "I see what you're up to, you know. Cut me down just to build me back up again. You're a cruel woman, Stephanie McMahon." It wasn't lost on him for a second that pretty soon she would hopefully be called Stephanie Levesque and it made him grin.

"Something funny?"

Paul shook it off and shrugged his shoulders. "I just remembered the Steiner matches. God they sucked." He wasn't lying either. They were no doubt some of the worst matches he'd ever had and while he bore some responsibility for that, he wasn't exactly at his best at the minute; he thought a lot of the blame fell with Big Poppa Pump himself. As a matter of fact, Steiner had been so bad that the fans turned and ended up booing the face and cheering for Paul as the heel. What a mess.

His expression changed from that cheeky grin of his to a long frown and Stephanie immediately felt guilty. They were supposed to be celebrating tonight, not lingering over something like Scott Steiner of all people. Pressing a quick kiss to his lips, she tugged on his hands and led him towards the door of her apartment. "Come on. I'm hungry and I can't wait to see where you're taking me for dinner."

"Feeling guilty are we?" He chuckled, grabbing his suit jacket on the way to the door.

"A little bit but don't worry, I'll be sure to make it up to you later."

Her voice dropped and the sultry look she threw his way almost made him change his mind about dinner. Almost. But it was all part of the plan. First dinner, then hotel, then popping the question. Sex could and most definitely would come later. "I'm looking forward to it."

They stopped to put on their coats before exiting the apartment hand in hand.

* * *

"God, I'm so full," Stephanie half whined as she leaned her head against his shoulder. Tonight had been perfect. He had taken her to her favourite restaurant and she completely pigged out on everything. If there was one way to win Stephanie McMahon over, it was with food. Then he had completely surprised her by booking them into the Waldorf Astoria for the night. She really hadn't been expecting that and was positively beaming as they walked towards their suite.

"I'm not surprised. I think you ate more than me," he joked and caught her hand before she could hit him with it. He brought it to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. "You can't hit me. Look where we are right now."

She frowned and bumped her head against his shoulder instead. "Fine. I'll just have to ravage you instead." Her hand dropped from his grasp and trailed down his chest.

Paul's shoulders shook lightly from his chuckle. From the looks of it, he had better get her in there and get this whole proposal deal out of the way before she jumped his bones. Not that he was complaining. He wanted her just as badly and always would. First things first though. "You'll have to hold back on the ravaging for just a little bit." Her eyes were confused as they looked up at him and her expression quickly turned to one of shock when he opened the door and motioned for her to step inside.

The suite was lit with a subtle glow from the dimmed lighting combined with the natural light of the moon shining in through the windows. A light and flowery smell drifted in from the open bedroom door and Stephanie was immediately drawn to it. Her feet carried her there as she gently nudged the door open fully, her hand covering her mouth and a soft gasp escaping her. The large bed was tastefully littered with red, white and pink rose petals. It looked beautiful and she couldn't believe he had done all of this for her. "Paul…."

His lips formed into a small smile at her response and he took a deep breath to calm his nerves. This was it.

"I can't believe you did all this," she said softly, finally turning to look at him. He wore the most adorable smile on his face and if she wasn't mistaken, he also looked a tad nervous too. The feeling passed on to her and she slowly began to frown, her eyes watching his Adam's apple bop up and down in anticipation of….something. "Paul?"

Clearing his throat, he took a step forward and reached for her hand. He quickly glanced to the ceiling before lowering his gaze to hers, their eyes catching and locking on to each other in a way only those deeply in love with one another can. "Steph I…" He had prepared a speech of some sort but now that the moment was here, he felt his throat going dry. A nervous chuckle spilled from his mouth and he looked at her somewhat awkwardly. But she was looking back at him with the most beautiful and sincere expression on her face and it literally took his breath away. God he loved her and was so _in_ love with her. With a newfound courage, he smiled and dipped his hand into his pocket.

Stephanie tried not to feel confused about his actions when her eyes caught sight of the black box he held in his hands. She felt her heart begin to race as the meaning of that little box slowly started to dawn on her. Her free hand once again covered her mouth and was unable to stop the gasp that escaped when he got down on one knee and smiled up at her. His hazel eyes were looking at her with such emotion and it made her breath catch. He was going to propose, he was going to ask her to be his wife, and she couldn't ever remember feeling so happy.

"I had a speech prepared and everything but to hell with that," he muttered, clearing his throat for the final time. He licked his lips, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Steph, you've come to mean everything to me. You make me happy, you give me a sense of fulfilment that I..…I simply can't get from anything or anybody else. This life that we lead, the success, it all means nothing without having somebody to share it with and you're it for me." He paused to give them both a moment to gather themselves. He was slowly but surely becoming overwhelmed by the depth of his feelings for her at that moment while she stood there brushing tears out of the corners of her eyes. "I simply can't imagine my life without you, I really can't. I need your beautiful smile to lift me up when I'm feeling down. I need your touch to get me through the tough times. God knows I needed you to get me through rehabbing my injury or I probably wouldn't be wrestling right now. In a sick way I'm glad it happened because it brought us even closer together and made me realize just how important you are to me. Losing wrestling I'd eventually get over. Losing you isn't an option." His eyes bored into hers and he could literally feel a current running between them. If she said no it would destroy him. "I'm asking you to make me the happiest man in the world by becoming my wife. Will you marry me?"

A beat….then another until…."Yes! God, yes!" she half cried as he got to his feet and pulled her into a passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, pulling him as close to her as she physically could. Their tongues wound together endlessly until they couldn't breathe and slowly broke apart.

"I love you," he hushed against her lips, his forehead resting against hers.

She ran her hand down his cheek and kissed him again, her heart brimming with joy and complete love for the man she held in her arms. "I love you."

Her whispered words brought a huge smile to his face and he pulled back, bringing the box between them. The sparkling diamond glinted in the semi-dark room, drawing both sets of eyes to its beauty. He had spent the last two months looking for the perfect ring. He wanted her to love it. Judging from the expression on her face right now, it was time well spent. "Do you like it?"

"I love it!" Stephanie gasped, her eyes glued to the ring. She brought her shaking hands in front of her and smiled up at him. "Let's make this official." A fresh batch of tears threatened to fall but she held them at bay as he slid the band on her left ring finger and they both took it in. It was absolutely stunning, the large single cut gleaming diamond sparkling in the centre of a diamond encrusted white gold band. She loved it and simply couldn't stop staring at her newly decorated finger.

"Official it is," he grinned back before letting out a low chuckle. "Time to open the champagne."

Tearing her gaze away from her hand for a moment, she raised an amused eyebrow at him. "You're drinking?"

Paul was already popping the bottle and pouring them each a glass. "Of course I'm drinking! We just got engaged, babe. It's time to celebrate."

She watched him knock back the glass almost in one gulp and a sly smile crossed her face. She moved to stand in front of him and with grin still in place, simply took the now empty glass out of his hand and set it on the bedside table. Not breaking eye contact with him, she lifted her own glass and knocked it back before setting it alongside his. She fought the urge to laugh at the wicked smirk that now adorned his face. He knew where she was going and brought his hands to palm her waist. Before they could get near her however, she shoved him onto the bed and quickly straddled him. "I'd much rather celebrate like this, wouldn't you?" Their smiles were lost as their lips joined together in what would be the first kiss of many that night. The coloured mixture of rose petals fluttered and danced their way to the floor as the soon to be wed couple above them engaged in their own sensual dance, their engagement marking the next stage of their lives together.


	14. The Twitter Game

**A/N - I had other things on the list but this just had to be done. Trips joining twitter and then convincing Steph to join too is the best thing to happen in the history of the world lol. To say I freaked the hell out would be an understatement. DA GAWDS on twitter. Anyways, I have 3 more updates in the works for this. Hopefully I can post them in a timely manner. Enjoy...**

* * *

He sat there staring at the device in his hand, completely dumbfounded. The fact that he was actually about to do this was driving him nuts. Home. Connect. Discover. Me. Twitter. Fucking twitter. What was the point? To let people all around the world know your personal business all day every day? In one hundred and forty characters or less of course. Stupid fucking concept. Who even thought of it anyways? For practically two years now he had been getting asked by everybody imaginable about twitter. Fans at shows or when they bumped into him; _Triple H can you follow me on twitter!_ Media people when he was interviewed at various events; _do you have twitter and I can tweet this to you?_ The boys in the back; _hey man you get a twitter yet?_ It was complete nonsense if you asked him, sending out little messages about what he was doing for absolutely no reason yet here he was, his fingers hovering over the keypad on his phone and his mind unable to think of a single thing to say. God he hated this.

"Hunter we need you down in the ring. Some of the guys want to run over a few things with you."

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute," Paul called distractedly over his shoulder. The tapings for Smackdown started in a couple of hours but he needed to type something, any fucking thing, in here so he could tweet it and be done. Then Vince and the digital/social people would get off his back and he could live in peace. Quickly typing in the first thing that came to his head, he hit the tweet button, locked his phone and headed for the ring.

"_Time to play the Twitter game… #Raw"_

* * *

"Please."

"No."

"Steph, please!"

"No!"

A loud scoff followed by an agitated sigh. "Why do I have to do it and you don't? That's not fair!"

"Because I'm not one of the biggest WWE superstars of all time, that's why."

Silence. Another loud scoff. Another agitated sigh.

Stephanie looked at her husband, his pouting lip and crinkled forehead and simply shook her head in part amusement part annoyance. She honestly didn't see what his problem was.

"What's wrong, daddy?"

Both parents glanced into the rear view mirror at the same time to catch their eldest daughter looking at them wide eyed. Paul continued to frown while Stephanie merely smiled at the almost mirror image looking back at her.

"Daddy is acting like a little baby because…."

"I am _not_ acting like a little baby you…it isn't fair," he huffed, a third annoyed sigh leaving him in the span of a minute as he turned his attention back to the road.

Stephanie made a face at her children sitting in the back seat, rolling her eyes dramatically causing the three of them to giggle. They were five minutes away from the school and then on to the office for a hard day's work. She sincerely wished her husband would snap out of this funk and stop whining. If he didn't she was going to end up killing him by the time they made it home later tonight.

* * *

The phone buzzed around the office, causing her to jump slightly at the startling noise. It hadn't been filtered through her secretary so it had come from a direct line, somebody who didn't need a filter, somebody like…..she sighed, lifting the receiver and shaking her head. "Paul, I swear to God if you ask me one more time I'm going to…."

"Stephanie?"

Her father's confused voice interrupted her spiel. "Dad? Thank God!"

"What the hell is going on? What's wrong with, Paul?"

"He's doing my head in, that's what's wrong with him," she muttered in annoyance.

Vince leaned back in his chair some few offices down and tried not to chuckle at his daughter's very clearly irritated tone. He could only imagine what his son-in-law had done to piss her off to this degree. And she wasn't easily annoyed. "How? What's he doing?"

"Ever since he joined twitter yesterday he's been asking me to join too."

"So? What's so bad about that?"

"Dad! He's asking me all the fucking time. I'm going to strangle him if he does it again, I swear."

The expletive that slipped from her mouth drew a chuckle from Vince, one that he couldn't hide and it didn't seem to impress his daughter one little bit.

"It's not funny!"

"It sounds pretty funny to me. Why don't you just join then? What's the problem?"

Her father's question left her feeling rather perplexed. "The problem? Well, I'm an executive. I hardly think it's appropriate for me to be tweeting about…whatever the hell people tweet about on there." She made a face even though he couldn't see it.

Vince thought about her answer for a second before replying. "He's an executive too. How's that any different from you?"

"Ugh, seriously! Has he talked to you about this? Dad…."

"Oh calm down, Stephanie! He has not talked to me about it. I'm just saying that if you being an executive is your reason behind not getting a twitter, then you can hardly expect him to have one."

Stephanie shook her head, her eyes narrowing. "Funny, that's exactly what he said." She didn't believe her dad for one second when he said he hadn't been speaking to her husband. They were obviously in cahoots. "Well if I were to get one then why don't you get one?"

"Me get one? Why the hell would I need a twitter!"

So help her God. She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a calming breath. She'd been having the same conversation for almost three days now with two equally stubborn men. "I don't know, why does anybody need a twitter, dad?"

"Damned if I know. Jesus. It took me long enough to understand what the hell the damn thing was, remember? I wouldn't know what to say. Besides, I'm the CEO. CEO trumps EVP. If you don't have one then I don't have one."

"And Paul has one because…."

"Because…"

"Because he's a WWE superstar and should have one like all the rest of them?"

Vince nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so. But just so you know, I don't think it's a bad thing at all if you get one. It would actually be rather fitting for the both of you to join at the same time, don't you think? The McMahon Helmsley Era…comes to twitter!"

"I'm hanging up the phone now…"

"Wait!"

"What?"

"I did actually call you for a reason you know."

"Oh yeah, right. Sorry," she said sheepishly and settled into her chair as they ran over some numbers together, her husband and his current tantrum pushed to the back of her mind.

* * *

They stared at each other across the dining room table, his eyes pleading and hers doing their best to ignore his pleas.

"You finished with your dinner, sweetie?" Stephanie called to Murphy as the little girl took a huge gulp from her water glass. Her spaghetti covered face grinned back and she couldn't help but chuckle at the mess. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Think of it as less of a responsibility and more of a….hobby."

Aurora let out a giggle at the look of contempt that appeared on her mother's face. She'd seen that look before and knew exactly what it meant. Her eyes crossed to her father and he looked back, flipping her a wink, before placing the fork full of food into his mouth. "What's a hobby, mommy?"

"A hobby is something like, I don't know, say taking up twitter and tweeting to the masses," Paul quickly interrupted before his wife could speak earning him another glare. "What?"

She was actually one second away from hurling her spaghetti right at his face. Completely ignoring him, she turned to their daughter instead and smiled. "A hobby is something you do in your spare time, honey. Something like cycling or painting or reading."

"What's twitter?"

This time the question came from Murphy, her face still stained a nice orange from her food.

Paul couldn't even stop the loud scoff from escaping him at the innocent question. He reached across the table and smoothed her golden strands from her forehead, his nose wrinkling at the state her face was in. He grabbed a napkin and started wiping, trying to clean her up but mostly in an attempt to avoid looking at Stephanie who was no doubt fuming at the minute. "I don't know, smurf. Why don't you ask, mommy?" He just couldn't help himself.

She saw the look of smug satisfaction on his face and almost growled in response. "Oh for God's sake, fine! Alright? Fine! I'll join with you, OK? Now can you please stop badgering the hell out of me with this? I can't take it anymore, God dammit!"

There was silence at the table for a few moments after her little outburst with four pairs of eyes all staring in her direction before they all started speaking at once.

"What's twitter?"

"You said a bad word, mommy."

"I'm thirsty."

"Badgering?"

Paul's smirk was all encompassing as he silently thanked his children for their unintentional help in the matter and asked her once more, his head tilting and tone light. "_Badgering_?"

"Badgering, annoying, pestering, driving insane. Pick one, they're all relevant," Stephanie hurled over her shoulder as she passed by him on her way to the kitchen to dispose of the girls plates.

He watched her disappear through the swing door and quickly issued high fives all around the table, his daughters eagerly slapping his hand back. "Well done, guys, well done," his whispered voice congratulated them and he immediately pulled up and stopped when he heard the footsteps behind him. He subtly held a finger over his lips and grinned when they all sat up straight acting like nothing happened. Damn he loved these kids.

* * *

"I can't believe you actually had the graphics guys design a background for me before I even agreed to this," Stephanie shook her head with a smile on her face. She couldn't even lie at this stage; his persistence was winning her over. He'd even gone and tweeted to the world that she was now part of the 'nerdfest' as well. His use of the word 'badgered' wasn't lost on her either. Cheeky bastard. "How did you know I'd agree?"

Paul stretched his body out over the bed and grinned as he rolled his head on the pillows to face her. "I knew I'd eventually annoy you to the point that you agreed or…"

"Or….."

"Or I'd try something else, something much more sordid."

His goofy expression and wiggled eyebrows drew a chuckle from her and she grinned back, settling against the soft pillows herself. She held his gaze, both of them simply staring at each other for a few moments before she suddenly reached over him to the bedside table and snatched up her phone. Puzzled brown eyes followed her movements until he saw her likeness staring back at him from the device and smirked. She had logged into her account.

"Tweeting something, are we?"

"I figured I'd get it out of the way before we engage in those sordid activities of yours," she replied all but ignoring him as she typed into the box and hit tweet. She set the phone down on the table closest to her side of the bed and turned back to find him looking through his. Her eyes were light, content to just sit and watch while he obviously went to see what she had said. A few moments passed before his head turned towards her, a slow grin spreading across his face and she couldn't stop herself from once more grinning back. "What?"

"Another responsibility, huh?"

"Yep." Her head simply nodded. "One of the many responsibilities I have on a daily basis. You know, like mothering three children, running my departments, unfortunately being married to you and catering to your needs…"

Paul snorted and set his phone back down. "If you really catered to my needs it wouldn't have taken you so long to just join the stupid thing."

"I love to see you sweat, baby." This time she wiggled her eyebrows at him and snuggled under the covers, knowing fine rightly what was coming next. She bit her lip to keep from laughing when she felt his large hand brush her forearm as he reached under and tugged the blankets back. He was hovering over her in an instant, propping himself up on his arms so as not to squash her. Their amused eyes locked together, her hands reaching up to dance along his neck.

"Is that right?"

"It is."

"How about you see me sweat right now?"

"I think I'd like that," she hushed against his ear, playfully biting it and sucking the lobe into her mouth as his head dipped to tease her neck and throat. His left hand started a slow trail down her side and pushed up the hem of the strap top she wore when it reached her hip. The feel of his warm hands kneading her flesh combined with the prickles of his beard on her skin drew a heady moan and she sighed, suddenly needing to feel his lips on hers. As if he could read her thoughts, his head gradually lifted, their mouths meeting in a slow, sensual kiss.

Their affections were short lived, however, as a loud bang emanating from down the hall startled them both. It was quickly followed by the sound of little footsteps running along the carpeted hallway. Seconds later, a small head of blonde hair whizzed into their bedroom trailing a little pink bear behind it.

"Daddy! I heard a noise in my room. I'm scared!" Murphy cried, completely oblivious to what she had just interrupted.

Paul hung his head and blew out a frustrated sigh.

"_Daddy_!"

"I'm coming, sweetheart." He pulled himself up and got out of the bed, thankful that things hadn't got too heavy with his wife otherwise there was no way he would be able to stand in front of his daughter without having to explain himself right now. Her small hand fit into his and she began tugging him towards the door.

"Responsibilities, huh?" Stephanie simply smirked at him, enjoying the grumpy look on his face. "Why don't you tweet about that?"

"I'm coming back to _tweet_ you in a minute so don't you worry," he threw over his shoulder as he exited the room and lifted his daughter into his arms. "Alright then, about this noise…"

Stephanie chuckled and once again settled down into the pillows. Her husband was coming back to _tweet_ her apparently. Maybe this twitter thing wouldn't be so bad after all.


	15. Birthday Sex

**_A/N - Alright peeps, this has finally arrived and it wasn't without its headaches lol. As some of you will already know, this story is the result of Stephanie's epic tweet on Trips birthday about her giving him his present later complete with winky face. As you would expect, a lot of us lost our shit over that, Kristen and I got to talking and here we are. By the way, the title of this chapter is exactly what it is so take that as your warning lol. I will not be writing smut for a while after this because it was draining to say the least. Also I want to say thanks to BITCH for her end of this. As usual, it's awesome stuff and together we have created a story for you all yays. #istatylurve So enjoy and I suggest that you don't read this with other people around, just sayin!_**

* * *

Today was going to be a long day.

He knew that the second he woke up, knew it at the breakfast table, and he damn well knew it now as his wife bent over right in front of him to pick up one of his presents that she'd so ingenuously "dropped" on the floor a few seconds prior. What a fucking tease. Most birthdays flew by fast, and just like the years, they were gone and done with before you ever realized they were underway. Well, Paul didn't exactly want his birthday to be _over_ with. What he really wanted was to just fast-forward to the very end, to the part his wife practically hinted at every other minute, killing him in the process. And there he was, silly old him, thinking that she would keep the innuendos to a minimum today since their kids would be around, but nope, the woman had no self-control as he'd seen for himself all day. Stephanie was dropping hints like mad, hints that the girls were too naïve to comprehend, but hints that were dirty enough to get his imagination running wild, dirty enough to leave him wondering what the hell she had in store for him once night covered the sky and they shipped the youngsters off to their grandparents' house.

Desperately trying not to ogle at his wife's legs and ass (which were both painfully alluring), his eyes darted downward, and as they did, it became clear that she wasn't the only one in the room lacking self-control. The growing bulge beneath the fabric of his shorts was…well, it was just that. Growing. And it was growing fast. Honestly, he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up, how much longer he could suppress this lust and keep all this desire at bay. This woman was going to be the death of him, of that he was sure, and he was pretty sure she knew it, too. She liked teasing him. She liked trying to kill him, liked trying to make him beg for mercy. And the absolute worst part?

It wasn't even noon yet.

"It's a good thing this one's not breakable," Stephanie joked as she finally stood straight up again and turned to face her husband. She offered him a sweet, childlike smile as she held out the small, neatly wrapped gift for him to take, but Paul didn't fail to notice the tiny smirk tugging at her lips or that devious glint hiding behind the innocence in her stare. She was transparent. So. Fucking. Transparent. "Here you go, babe."

Even the way she addressed him made him sick.

"Thanks, _babe_," he shot right back at her while setting the thing down in his lap. She sat back down on the floor between Aurora and Vaughn, swinging her hips with clear intentions as she made her way over there. If he could just get through this day, that would be a miracle. Desperately, Paul's eyes flickered from Stephanie to the package. He silently snorted at the fact that this one, just like the rest of them, was decked out in bright pink wrapping paper, pink ribbons, pink glitter, pink everything basically. In other words, the oestrogen level in this room was at an all-time high right now…but he wouldn't have it any other way. He loved his girls to death, and quite frankly, he had learned to love the color pink as well. Not that he had much of a choice. "Okay," he began, clearing his throat, "so who's this one from?"

"Me, Daddy!" Murphy shrieked, rising from her spot on the ground and eagerly sprinting towards her father. "That one's from me!"

"Well, why don't you climb up here and help me open it then?" Paul suggested, ruffling her blonde strands with his hand.

"Okay!" After briefly meeting eyes with Stephanie, who was smiling at him warmly instead of seductively for a change, he lifted their daughter up onto his lap. He was cautious to ensure she sat more on his leg rather than on…_other_ regions that at the moment were extremely…_sensitive_. Yeah, that was the word for it. Sensitive.

"I hope you like it, Daddy." His daughter grinned up at him cheekily. It was a grin that warmed his heart and a grin that made him melt every time she sent one his way. In fact, all his kids had that effect on him. And so did Stephanie when she wasn't trying to murder him with all this taunting. "Open it faster," Murphy ordered as he started to fumble with the paper, kind of hopelessly.

"Daddy _always_ takes long to open his presents," Aurora commented from across the room. She tucked a loose strand behind one ear and scanned the floor trying to decide which gift she wanted to give him next. "I'm really good at opening presents though," she continued on. "I can open like five in one whole minute. Remember how good I was at opening presents, Mommy? Remember on my birthday?"

Stephanie nodded and couldn't help but find it amusing that Aurora had to ask if she could recall something that had happened literally just three days ago. "Yep, sure do. You did a way better job at opening your presents than your father is doing right now. It'll be_ my _birthday before we get through all of them."

"I'll choose to ignore that, honey."

She stuck her tongue out at him, mischief evident in her stare.

"But…you do realize that if we're stuck here until my birthday, you'll miss out on receiving your present from me tonight, right? I mean, I'm sure it's something you'll be looking forward to…_unwrapping._"

Paul cringed and forced himself to take a deep breath. Right when he thought he was safe, right when he thought they could finally drop this topic for a little while and act like normal, disciplined human beings, she had to bring it up again, just like that. He was so hard and ready for her, and fuck, he swore that if the kids weren't present he would take her right now. He'd take her and slam her against one of these walls and make _her_ be the one to beg for mercy. God knows the woman deserved it.

"What did you get for him, Mommy?" Aurora wondered before crawling closer over to Stephanie. With her hand, she gestured for her mother to lean down towards her. "You can whisper it to me if you want so that you don't give away the surprise to Daddy. I'm good at keeping secrets, pinky swear!"

The brunette purely smiled at her seven-year-old.

Oh, bless her curious heart.

"Well, you see…my gift to Daddy is pretty special," Stephanie explained, briefly glancing over at the birthday boy himself. The poor guy looked to be suffering an awful lot, and for a moment, she actually pitied him, but the feeling subsided almost as quickly as it arose – because she was going to make this gift worth the wait. Without a doubt, this would be one birthday he would not forget. And neither would she. Stephanie looked back to her eldest and resumed her explanation. "But it's so special that only he and I are allowed to know what it is."

"So it's one of those grown-up things we aren't allowed to know about?" Aurora queried, wrinkling her forehead in somewhat confusion, somewhat annoyance.

"Exactly!"

"Oh my God, can we just get back to opening the damn presents…please?" Paul spoke up, glaring directly at his wife.

"You're cranky," Aurora said.

"Open it already!" Murphy whined.

"Daddy said a bad word," Vaughn pointed out, causing both parents to look at their youngest and chuckle to themselves softly. The two-year-old was currently holding random, discarded pieces of purple wrapping paper in her tiny fists, her pale blue eyes wide and attentive as she watched the scene unfold.

"Okay, okay, for real this time, let me open this thing."

"_Thank you_," Murphy grumbled below her breath, adding in a theatrical eye roll.

So after another moment of tearing paper and untying ribbon, Paul pulled out what looked to be one of those bracelets the girls were always giving Stephanie. They'd gotten some kit with instructions a while back and had recently become obsessed with making them, wearing them and giving them away.

"Do you like it? Do you like it? Huh, huh?" She excitedly bounced up and down in his lap.

"I _love_ it, princess," Paul told her, leaning down to press a thoughtful kiss to her temple. "Thank you."

"You're welcome! I picked purple and pink because you told me they're your favorite colors. Well actually they're my favorite colors," she rambled. "Plus, now you and Mommy have matching bracelets!"

"Wow, wait until all the guys at work see me wearing this masterpiece."

Murphy frowned. "Do you want me to make more so you can bring them to your office?" At that, Stephanie laughed rather loudly.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it, kiddo. Personally, I don't think they'd be able to pull off the look."

"Most guys can't," his wife added with a wink.

"Why don't you put it on?" Murphy proposed. She signalled for Stephanie to come over and join them. "Here, Mommy can tie it for you and cut off the long ends like she does for me and Aurora all the time. She's the best at it."

"I'm sure that's what she tells everybody," he chuckled lowly, but loud enough for his wife to pick up on.

"Would you just be quiet and hold still?" Smirking, she grabbed a hold of his wrist decisively and wrapped the bracelet around it before tying it off with a tight knot. Murphy wasn't kidding when she said they would have matching bracelets. She had literally made Paul one just like the one Stephanie wore, same exact colors, same pattern and all. Truthfully, Stephanie thought that was adorable beyond words that their daughter planned it out like that, and she thought it was even more adorable that Paul was going to wear this thing around to work and whatnot. "Sweetie," she called out to Aurora, "can you hand me the scissors on the floor over there?" Aurora nodded.

"Oh, boy," she heard him mutter.

After retrieving the scissors from their daughter, Stephanie narrowed her eyes at Paul and asked, "What?"

"Nothing. I just don't know if someone like you can be trusted with sharp objects…around me especially."

"You know, baby," she began, carefully cutting off the remaining string, "I can't _wait_ until it's time for the cake. You're just going to love it." Her eyes lit up, and Paul knew she'd gotten some idea, some wicked, crazy idea that only Stephanie herself would think up since she was scheming like that. "In fact, why don't we do it right now?"

"Um, okay, if you want?" Paul replied, still perplexed by what she was getting at. Hey, at least if they were eating cake they'd all be seated and Stephanie's legs would be hidden under the table.

"But what about the rest of the presents?" Vaughn wondered, jutting out her bottom lip.

Tenderly, Stephanie placed a hand on the little one's back and placed a quick kiss on the top of her head. "We can finish up after we eat. I know Daddy has got to be starving over there. He always is." Though she couldn't see his face, for he was already headed for the kitchen, she suspected he'd rolled his eyes at that remark. "Thirsty, too," she chortled.

It was actually a little sad how much she enjoyed torturing him like this. Sometimes she contemplated toning it down given that her own birthday was only two months away and her husband was a vengeful maniacal asshole who would undeniably strike back. But really, she was just having too much fun with all this. And to be honest she would love to see Paul find a way to top what she had planned for tonight come September 24th.

Stephanie licked her lips, considering all of the delicious possibilities as she padded over to the fridge. Grinning, she grabbed the cake from the top shelf, carried it over to the table, and set it down only to have three girls immediately jumping forward to stick their fingers in the frosting for the first taste.

"Pink and white frosting," Paul noted, an amused smile forming on his lips as he examined the cake.

"The girls helped make it," Stephanie told him.

He parted his lips to respond to that, but Murphy interjected before any actual words were able to leave his mouth.

"Mommy, I think we have a big problem."

Stephanie tilted her head to one side inquisitively at the sulking child. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I don't think all of Daddy's candles are gonna fit on here…" Murphy elaborated.

"Oh yeah, aren't there like forty-five?" Aurora asked, lifting her head up.

"I AM FORTY-_FOUR_!" Paul finally clarified, though his outburst was kind of overshadowed by Stephanie's shrill laughter. She clutched at her aching ribs as she walked over to the cabinet, grabbed a plastic bag and then took a seat directly across from her husband.

"Don't worry, baby," she started, wiping at her eyes, "I've got you covered." From the plastic bag on the table, Stephanie pulled out a pair of four-shaped candles and held them up in the air for everyone to see.

"You know, I really want to hate you for all this, Steph, but…I just can't."

"You love me too much," she boasted.

"Uh-huh," Paul mumbled, and she swore she noticed the corners of his mouth upturn into a genuinely happy smile in spite of his sarcastic tone.

"Can we have the cake now?"

Paul and Stephanie both directed their attention to their three pleading daughters and nodded simultaneously.

So in a matter of minutes, everyone had a piece of cake and they were all too busy eating away to say anything or to even so much as look up from their plate – all of them but Stephanie of course. Holding the frosting covered fork up to her mouth, she broke the silence.

"So honey," she said, causing his eyes to routinely meet with hers. "What do you think?"

And she put the fork in her mouth, sucking at it slowly, licking away all that was left of the frosting, moaningever so softly as she eventually pulled the utensil from her lips. Paul's eyes widened a little as his own fork fell to the table. And now eating was the last thing on his mind – eating _cake_ anyways. He watched Stephanie intently for he couldn't seem to draw his eyes away from her, even though that seemed like the safest option right now. It took every ounce of self-control he had to not leap across this damn table and tear those clothes right off of her. Stephanie had somehow made all of her prior innuendos seem harmless, especially when she poked her tongue out and licked the remaining white frosting from her lips in a seductive manner. Paul exhaled deeply.

"I think…" He paused and shook his head at her. "I am going to get you for this, McMahon."

Stephanie smirked. "Oh, we'll see."

* * *

Paul ducked his head in an attempt to hide his burning cheeks. His daughter had innocently just uttered the most inappropriate thing in front of his mother in law and now he was left standing there feeling the heat.

"Is that right, sweetheart?" Linda asked an oblivious Murphy who was too busy trying to fix the clothes on her doll.

"Uh huh," the youngster responded absently. "Mommy said she has a special present for daddy and that's why we have to stay at your house tonight."

Awkwardly clearing his throat, Paul gave the little blonde a light shove and started urging her and her sisters to head towards the door. His hazel eyes avoided Linda at all costs.

Linda simply chuckled at her son in law's clearly embarrassed state and scooped the youngest of her granddaughter's into her arms. "Come on girls. We don't want to keep daddy away from his present, especially when it's somebody else's turn in the morning, huh?"

Three loud cheers erupted and Murphy beamed excitedly. It was her birthday in the morning and she wanted her presents badly. That's why she was happy to get going so her daddy could have his special present too. Her young mind began to run through a check list of things it could be; toys, sweets, maybe a new puppy, as the trio were ushered through the door and safely packed away into the car.

"Enjoy your night," Linda smirked before disappearing into the front seat.

Paul watched them drive away and lightly shook his head. Was it any bit of wonder Stephanie was constantly busting his balls. It was obviously in her genes. Fucking McMahon's. He locked the door and headed up to the master bedroom, his eyes narrowing suspiciously upon entry. There stood his wife wearing one of his old gym shirts and a shit eating grin on her face. There was also a concealed plate of…..something sitting on the dresser along with a box. What the hell was this all about?

"So your mom just had way too much fun embarrassing me there."

Stephanie's blue eyes were playful and slightly darker than usual given her plans for this evening. To say she had carnal intentions regarding her husband would be quite the understatement. "How so?" she asked as she closed the distance between them and rested her hands on his chest. He was way over dressed if you asked her. That would soon change.

"Murphy said something about this special surprise of yours and that's why they had to leave," Paul mumbled against her neck, his arms wrapping around her and hands resting just above her behind. "Speaking of which…"

"I have your present right here." Stephanie let her hands trail down his abdomen, taking him by the hand and leading him to the bed. They both sat down and she presented the plate to him, theatrically removing the lid and biting back her laugh at the look on his face.

"Cake? Wow….this is great," he deadpanned, knowing full well that she had something else up her sleeve. There's no way that's all she had in store for him tonight, not with all the constant remarks and teasing touches thrown his way all day long.

Stephanie grinned and set the cake to the side for a minute. "Don't you want to open your other gift?" She already had the box waiting in his lap before she finished the sentence. Her eyes eagerly awaited his reaction as he opened the lid and held one of the items up for inspection. Once again, she had to bite back her laughter at the look on his face.

"Ties?"

"Don't you like them?" she countered, nonchalantly running her fingers over the smooth silk. Bless him he was probably starting to think that was actually all he was getting.

Paul couldn't stop the frown from forming on his face. Cake. And ties. This was…not what he was expecting. "No, no, they're perfect. Just what I needed….more ties….."

She held his confused gaze for a few seconds longer and with a seductive smile, leaned forward and plucked at his lip with her thumb. "These aren't just ordinary ties." Shoving him back on to the bed, she straddled his lap and slowly trailed her hands to the waistband of his shorts.

"Magical ties, huh?" he grinned up at her and she grinned right back. His hands lifted and began rubbing her thighs, eager to get her out of his shirt and flat on her back. He raised himself upwards but was immediately pushed back down as she rubbed her body against him and started nibbling on his ear.

"You ever think of the many ways you can use a tie?"

At this his head shot up and he looked at her wickedly. "I like the sound of this present."

"I bet you do," was her amused response just before their mouths joined together in an ardent kiss. It had been building between them all day and with the kids gone for the night, Stephanie intended to make full use of that freedom by giving her husband a birthday he would never forget. She rolled her tongue with his, letting that familiar rush take over her body and moaned into his mouth at the feel of his hands running over her ass. She ground her hips against him and his hands moved to rest on her waist, guiding her movements as they rocked together in a breathless heap on the bed.

Paul groaned lowly at the feel of her rocking into him over and over again. Fuck he needed to get out of his shorts and get her out of that shirt ASAP. But before he could do anything, he felt her hands working on his belt. In a flash he was lying there with his shorts and boxers at his ankles. He kicked them off and sat up, hastily removing his t shirt and chucking it to the floor with them. When she didn't immediately climb on top of him again, his dark eyes, almost black in colour now, looked at her in confusion. She was rearranging things on the bed and grasping both ties in her hand.

"Move up."

He followed her simple command and felt his hardening length twitch in response to her moving over him again.

"Hands up," she uttered this time, pinning his arms above his head when he made no motion to move. She could feel him watching her as she took his right hand and tied it securely to the headboard before repeating the action with his left. The bracelet from Murphy had given him earlier caught her eye and for a brief second she thought of their children and while she loved them to pieces, she thanked the lord that they weren't here tonight. It was one thing to potentially walk in on your parents having sex. It was completely another to walk in while your father was tied to the bed stark naked and standing tall. Satisfied that he couldn't unshackle himself after a few hard tugs, she settled herself and smiled down at him.

"Got me where you want me now?"

"Not just yet but that'll come later."

His deep laughter rumbled throughout the room and came to a slow halt when she finally whipped the shirt off, his eyes growing wide in appreciation and even darker in sheer lust.

"Jesus," was all he could muster in response. Paul hungrily drank her in, the exquisite purple lingerie working in perfect tandem with her sun kissed skin. Her breasts were temptingly concealed by a silk and lace part bra-part bodice that would drive any man crazy while her endless legs were accentuated by the matching scrap of lace obviously meant to be a thong but barely passing the mark. It was infinitely small and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Stephanie's eyes softened as she watched him take her in. She swore sometimes, the way he looked at her, it made her breathless. Nobody made her feel like this. Her husband was looking at her right now like he needed her to survive, like he needed her to breathe, and it never failed to make her chest grow tight.

"Purple is definitely your colour," he managed to choke out, his hands pulling at the restraints lightly. His body was responding to her the only way he knew how as his strained member rose to attention. He had a feeling he was about to experience the sweetest form of torture known to man this birthday evening.

"Time for your other present."

Paul opened his mouth when she presented her cake frosting covered finger to him. He held her gaze intently as he licked the sweet substance off. A second passed and this time she smeared a bit of the cake across his lip, not letting him think about it before she leaned down and pressed her mouth firmly to his, her lips and tongue licking and sucking it all away. They repeated the process a few more times until there was only a small piece of frosting left on the plate. He opened his mouth, fully expecting her to offer it to him again and instead jumped at the feel of her rubbing the sticky substance on to his most sensitive area. It wouldn't be the only sticky substance down there either pretty soon because he was certain she was trying to kill him. With one final searing kiss, she slowly began to descend his body, her nails lightly scoring his skin and mouth leaving hot kisses all the way down until she reached his navel. Watching as her head nestled between his legs created a deep pang in his gut. There were few things in this world that drove him absolutely crazy. The sight of his wife going down on him was one of those things. His hands gripped the bars of the headboard tightly, bracing for impact.

Stephanie smirked, flicking her tongue out to run just over his swollen tip. She practically heard him gulp at the contact and it spurred her on. To have complete control over someone's pleasure, her husband's pleasure, turned her on beyond belief and she revelled in the heavy groans that fell from his lips. After almost 10 years of marriage and 12 years together, she knew everything about this man. She knew how to wind him up and used everything in her playbook because she knew he couldn't stop it. Her teeth lightly scraped along his thick shaft while she used her finger to circle the head.

"Shit…" he practically growled. She was teasing the hell out of him right now and there was fuck all he could do but lie there and take it. Stupid ties! Her finger running around him like that with a feather light touch was just torturous. His hands gripped the restraints hard in frustration. This was going to be a long night, a long glorious night.

She kept the teasing going until his hips began to push at her face and he literally looked like he couldn't take any more. His head was pushed back against the pillow and his eyes were shut tight, his face contorted in agony. Deciding to put him out of his sweet misery, Stephanie finally took him into her mouth and slowly began to suck, her hand holding him steady. His deep sigh of relief and the taste of him made the heat between her legs throb. He was hard as a rock, frustrated and tied up. When she released him she was pretty sure he was going to physically maul her. Not that she cared. In fact she was counting on it. She wanted him to be aggressive. Like make up sex without the making up. Their love life was varied and she was more than satisfied but every now and then she just needed something rough and dirty. She didn't want him to make love to her tonight. She wanted him to fuck her. The kids were gone and the house was theirs. Torturing him like this was the perfect way to raise his ire among other things. With that thought in her mind she began to suck harder and deeper.

"Jesus Christ," Paul swallowed hard as his wife just went to town. The guttural noises she was making were sending him over the edge. His knuckles were white as he squeezed the life out of the restraints above his head. He glanced down, caught sight of his throbbing member slipping in and out of her mouth and lost it.

"Untie me."

His voice was ragged but deadly serious. Stephanie made sure to catch his gaze as she slowly let him slip from between her lips, her tongue giving him a teasing lick before she crawled up his body. She settled herself on his lap and took him into her hand once again. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, a heated and intense eternity that left her aching with desire, while she teasingly removed her bra, then her thong.

"No."

Paul was just about to bark his command again when she lowered herself and threw her head back at the feel of him sliding inside. He closed his eyes and it took everything he had to keep his composure. He was dangerously close to losing it already and the feel of her wrapped around him after her mouth had just done the same was almost too much. Fiery hazel eyes snapped open to find equally fiery blue eyes staring back. She was watching him, waiting until she had his attention before she rocked her hips and slowly started to move. He wanted nothing more than to flip her on her back and take control but he couldn't. Instead he moved with her, holding her gaze and pushing himself as deep as he could go. It sparked an ardent moan to pass from her lips and she pressed her hands against his chest, gaining some leverage before she started to pump herself up and down at just the right pace to make him see stars. His head grew dizzy as he lay there and let her go to work. Her eyes were closed, head thrown back as she chewed on her lip. For a second it seemed as if she was in her own little world until her blue eyes once again locked with his and she smirked. She fucking smirked. And it angered and pleased him all at the same time.

"How long do I have before you break your hands trying to get out of those things," Stephanie whispered into his ear. She slowed her hips and took to swivelling ever so gently while toying with his bound hands.

Finally having her over him again, he took full advantage and pushed his tongue into her mouth, needing to taste her with everything he had. Hell, he needed to do more than taste her. He needed to _take_ her, every part of her, and make her his. They broke apart and he made sure to look her dead in the eye. "Untie me."

His voice was so commanding and his stare so powerful that she almost came then and there. He had that look in his eye, like a wild animal about to devour his prey. She was his prey and there was no doubt in her mind that he would devour her. Stephanie threaded her fingers through his, the soft silk rubbing against her wrists as she began to pick up the pace, not quite ready to release him just yet. His fingers gripped hers as they moved together once again. He was almost over the edge but she knew she had to wait for the moment, that crucial moment right before he tipped over to release him for maximum effect. God help her when she did.

Paul inhaled deeply and steadied himself as her pelvis rocked into him endlessly. She was being deliberately slow and he just couldn't take it anymore. "Stephanie, untie me," he said breathlessly. "_Now_."

And there it was she thought to herself, his point of no return. Stephanie held his hands and captured his lips. She could feel the urgency in his kiss and it passed to her. She needed him and not like this, not in a teasing way. She needed him, all of him. They kissed until they could no longer breathe and Stephanie untied his right hand. He didn't even give her a chance to do the other before he grabbed her face and kissed her desperately. His tongue stole into her mouth, winding with hers and taking her breath away at the force of his passion. Paul aimlessly reached across and untied his left hand leaving him free of any restraints. In a flash he had her on her back with her legs over his shoulders. Stephanie lay there completely at his mercy as he lined up and slid home, drawing sighs all around. But he didn't waste any time and quickly picked up a hard and steady rhythm, his hips slamming into hers. The intense foreplay leading up to this point had both of them ready and they easily fell into step together.

Paul closed his eyes and buried his face into her shoulder, letting the feel of her tight walls wash over him. He actually had to contain his rage at being denied for so long. She had made him angry and as his eyes opened, he saw that she was lying under him, body heaving and lips upturned into a pleasure filled smirk. They locked stares and Paul felt his anger welling up again. It suddenly turned to shock when he felt the sting of her hand on his face. She did it again and on the third try he caught her hand, throwing it back on the bed and pulling out of her. Stephanie purred as he whipped her into position at the side of the bed. He stood behind her, his chest pressed tightly to her back and his hand lightly gripping her neck. The other trailed down her body, over her stomach and between her legs.

"You wanna slap me?" he growled lowly into her ear and promptly slapped her heated core.

She cried out at the bittersweet rush of adrenaline his hand created. His fingers pushed inside and stroked her deeply for a few agonising moments before he withdrew and lightly slapped again. It was the perfect sting of pleasure and pain mixed into one and in that heated moment, she never wanted her husband more. Reaching her hand back, she pulled him into a blazing kiss that she felt all the way to the tips of her toes. "Oh God, Paul, fuck me."

It was all the encouragement he needed. His thick fingers twisted into her hair and he sucked at the sweet spot on her neck, his beard scratching her skin before pulling back and pushing her face onto the mattress. Paul could sense that she wanted this. She wanted what she had asked for. She wanted him to fuck her and that's exactly what he was going to do. His hungry hazel eyes travelled over her back as he took his hardness into his hand. He could hear her practically mewling on the bed at the feel of his rigid length slowly running over her swollen flesh. He took his time, letting her feel him, before inching himself inside and holding still. The feeling was almost overwhelming. Their sex life was anything but innocent but this was something else all together. With an agonising slowness that drove them both crazy, he withdrew until only his tip remained before pushing back into her depths with a powerful thrust. It sparked a guttural moan to pass from her lips and he felt himself harden even still at the sight of her hips pushing back at him so wantonly, so effortlessly. He was buried to the hilt inside her and it still wasn't enough. It never would be. He needed this woman like the very air he breathed. Another tortured cry echoed around the room and his eyes slid shut as he started to thrust, working into a rhythm and losing himself in the feel of her.

Stephanie clawed at the sheets under her hands, gripping them tightly and moving her body in tandem with his. She could feel his fingers biting into her hips, his thick length sliding into her over and over and it sent her head spinning. He picked up the pace and it was too much. She started to unravel, the orgasm rocking her forcefully as she shuddered in his arms but he didn't stop and she didn't want him to.

"Fuck," he growled at the feel of her gripping him powerfully. He could hardly move but kept thrusting, not willing to let up for one second. If she wanted to slap him then he'd damn well make sure that he broke her in half if he had to. He didn't care. The only thing that mattered was her screams of pleasure as he took them both to another place. Paul gripped her hips tightly, his knuckles turning white. The sound of their bodies slapping together filled the room. He was so fucking close but he held it in. Any self respecting man made sure to please his woman before he found release and he wasn't quite done with her yet. His eyes were glued to her body, to the way it twisted and contorted at the feelings he was creating inside her. He needed to see her face, needed to look into her eyes as she reached her climax.

Slipping from her again, he flipped her over and pushed her onto the bed, this time on her back. Her legs instantly opened and he pushed inside but not before placing a firm pillow beneath her hips. The slight elevation increased the sensation tenfold and once again he was forced to hold his release. Stephanie didn't have such problems and began to shake, her body responding to him forcefully. She was almost blind with satisfaction. It went beyond satisfaction. She simply couldn't get enough of him as her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him to her for a passionate kiss. His tongue wound with hers while he pounded into her endlessly. Thrust after powerful thrust sending her to the stars and back. Stephanie reached up and ran her hand down his face, catching his heated gaze. She lost herself in his eyes, the feelings inside her multiplying in the knowledge that they were joined as one. She never wanted it to end but knew from the look on his face that he was close to letting go. His big hand thumped the pillow beside her head in sweet frustration as he tore into her deeply, one, two, three times.

"_Fuck_."

His deep lunging thrusts touched her in all the right places and she cried out, calling his name as the most intense orgasm rocked her body. Paul's head exploded as he pushed one final time, his hips heaving as he emptied into her. He groaned loudly and buried his head in her shoulder completely and utterly spent while she shuddered violently beneath him, her body in spasm from the force of her climax. His hips were still gently rocking from the residual motion before slowing to a stop. Jesus he couldn't move but the fear of squashing her took over and he tried with everything he had to roll away but she didn't let him, instead stroking his neck and holding him close. He was breathless.

"Don't," Stephanie whispered, her throat raw. She wanted to savour the moment because Lord knows that was one of the most intense experiences of her life. Maybe she should slap him in the middle of sex more often if this was the result. She could still feel him pulsing inside her while his heart beat frantically against her chest. His warm breath and stubbly beard tickled her neck while his body pressed her into the mattress. She was cathartically delirious and wouldn't change this moment for the world. It was what she lived for, those intimate moments with her husband where it was just them and he well and truly reminded her what it meant to be a woman in the most simple and purest of ways, although pure probably wasn't the best term to describe what they had just done.

"I gotta shift, I'm squishing you," he muttered into her neck. With what little energy he had left, he rolled to his back and let out a deep sigh of contentment. "That was some fucking birthday present, I'll give you that."

His deep chuckle made her smile and she rolled to her side, her fingers absently running over the grooves of his chest and abs, his skin lightly shining from sweat. "Did you like it?"

"_Steph-anie_…"he drawled in amusement. "I'm pretty sure I threw my back out just now."

She giggled and toyed with his fingers as they lifted to tangle with hers. "I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for slapping you too." With her free hand she reached out and rubbed at his slightly red cheek. She hadn't meant to hit him that hard but had obviously got caught up in the moment.

Paul kissed her palm and shook his head. "Is it weird that I enjoy you hitting me? God that's so fucked up."

"It is but hey, I thoroughly enjoyed getting manhandled by you just now so we're even." A light blush stained her cheeks at the thought of what transpired between them over the course of the night and she was suddenly struck with the urge to kiss him. She leaned forward and caught his lips in a lingering kiss, briefly sucking on his lower lip before tangling her tongue with his. "Mmmmmm," she moaned into his mouth as they slowly broke apart.

"I love you," Paul hushed against her lips.

"I love you too." She gave him a quick peck and stoked his face softly. "Happy Birthday."


End file.
