"I'm glad you changed your mind about coming along with me." Stephanie looked at Chris and smiled. He shrugged. "I didn't. Someone changed it for me."

"Can you not make this any harder than it has to be please?"

Chris shifted in his seat so he was facing Stephanie. "OK, let me clear up a few things. I don't want to be here. I'd much rather be having some of Chyna's kick ass chocolate chip pancakes. I'm only here because it's this, or an encounter with a rather nasty looking sledge hammer. As good as those pancakes are, they're not worth a couple of broken ribs. Are we there yet?"

"Damnit Chris..." Stephanie struggled to keep her temper which seemed to get shorter and shorter nowadays. He looked at her with a slightly smug smile. "Yes sweetheart?"

"Why do you have to be such a prick about this?" She cried in exasperation. Chris laughed. "I think I made my thoughts on the matter perfectly clear. I'm only here because I have to be."

"Nobody's forcing you to be anywhere."

"It's either this, or broken ribs Princess."

"Well you still had a choice." Stephanie pointed out. "Now shut up and let me drive."

Chris glared angrily out of the window. Why was she dragging this all up now? If only he could have been there through the whole thing... if only he'd known she was pregnant.. 'But you did know.' A little voice in the back of his head mocked. 'You knew something big was happening, deep down, you knew what was going on... and you did nothing about it.'

With a sigh, Chris rested his forehead against the cool glass of the window. The little voice was right, not necessarily about knowing Steph was pregnant, but he made no effort to track her down, or find her. He tried to tell himself that at the time, he didn't know enough about who Stephanie was to even have a vague idea of where to find her, but it didn't work.

Stephanie grew more nervous as they neared the park she'd arranged to meet Sally and Daisy at. Maybe this wasn't the best idea after all? What if Chris flew off the handle? God, he'd probably never speak to her again. Should she tell him before they got there? No, definitely not. For some reason she couldn't explain, she knew that telling him before they got there was not a good idea.

They pulled into the parking lot at the park. Stephanie could see Sally sitting on a bench, watching Daisy who was playing on the playground. Just the sight of the little girl brought a smile to her face.

Chris looked at Stephanie and was amazed at the soft look on her face. He hadn't seen her look so happy since... since early 1996. Since before he'd heard from WCW. She turned to him, still smiling. The look on her face did nothing to disguise the warning in her voice. "The woman's name is Sally Moroe. The girl on the slide is her daughter, Daisy. As far as Sally is concerned, you're an old friend and Hunter couldn't come because of business. Got it?"

"Whatever." Chris rolled his eyes. Stephanie glared at him, her good mood fading. "Chris, I've never asked you for anything important. This means a lot to me. Please, just be polite to these two."

Chris sighed and looked at the pleading expression on Stephanie's face. Something inside him melted and he smiled at her. "I'm sorry. I'll play the role of a close friend."

"Thank you." Steph smiled at him and climbed out of the car. Jericho followed suit. Together, they walked over to where Sally was sitting on the bench. "Hi Sally. How are you?"

"Stephanie!" She stood up, smiling. "I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm fine thanks." Steph smiled back. She grabbed Chris by the arm and pulled him forwards. "Hunter couldn't come today, he had important business meeting, so I brought our friend, Chris Jericho instead."

"Hi Mrs Moroe, how are you?" He said politely, shaking Sally's hand. She laughed. "Please, call me Sally. Mrs makes me feel like I still have a husband."

"Sally was widowed two years ago." Stephanie quickly explained. Chris noticed Sally looking at him carefully. He felt obliged to say something. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you." She replied. "He was a great husband... and a wonderful father."

As she said 'father' Sally shot Stephanie a look Chris couldn't decipher. Steph nodded almost imperceptibly in response. ~What's going on here?~

His question was answered a second later as the little girl, Daisy ran over. With a smile, Sally lifted her onto her hip. "Hey baby. Have fun on the playground?"

"Yup." Daisy nodded. She looked at Stephanie and smiled. "I remember you."

"Do you remember my name?" Steph teased gently.

"Stephanie." The little girl said seriously, her face screwed up in concentration. Steph's face broke into a wide grin. "That's right!"

Daisy smiled, proud of herself. "Who's him?"

"I'm a friend of Stephanie's." Chris smiled at her. "My name is Chris."

"Hi Chris." Daisy tried sounding adult and stuck out her hand to shake. Grinning, Chris shook her hand, then frowned as something occurred to him. Something about the shape of the girl's mouth. He looked at Stephanie, then back at Daisy. Suddenly he understood.

This little girl was his and Stephanie's daughter.

Chris stared at Daisy in shock for a moment, then turned to Stephanie. "Can I talk to you for a minute Princess?"

Without giving her time to reply, he grabbed Steph's arm and dragged her over to a tree about 20 feet away. Stephanie tried to wrench her arm free. "Let go you're hurting me!"

"Don't you ever speak to me about pain or hurting or suffering." Chris's voice was ice cold. Stephanie wasn't prepared for this. She'd been expecting him to fly into another rage, not this cold anger. He crossed arms and looked at her. "I want to know everything. And if I find you've lied to me, then god help me, I will not be held responsible for my actions. Now talk."

"I will tell you everything. The whole damned story, beginning with that last day." Stephanie said. "But not now. Later, in the car on the way back."

"Then what am I meant to do from now until then?"

"That's easy." Stephanie smiled. "Go and play with your daughter."

~~~

"Can we do that again?" shouted Daisy, who was flushed and out of breath, but in typical child fashion, still had plenty of energy left. Chris bent over, resting his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath. "I don't think I've got the energy."

"Don't tell me the Ayatollah’s been worn out by a four year old?" called Stephanie laughing. Chris glared at her, but there was no real anger in it. The afternoon they'd spent together, horsing around with Daisy had eased some of Chris's anger towards Stephanie. "Ok then Princess, your turn to amuse the hyperactive one."

He picked Daisy up easily and sat her on his shoulder. Stephanie felt tears prick her eyes at the sight of father and daughter together. She blinked them away as Chris dumped Daisy onto her lap. "Your turn to keep the rugrat amused."

"Are you ok?" He looked at her closely. She nodded, unable to express what she was feeling. Chris put an arm around her shoulders. "We'll leave that talk till your feeling up to it ok? In the mean time…" He grinned and tapped Daisy on the shoulder. "You're it!"

The little girl jumped up and chased after him. Chris made a big show of getting worn out and collapsing to the ground so she could tag him. With a grin, he sat up and called to Stephanie "Gonna join in Princess?"

"Why do you keep calling Stephanie Princess?" asked Daisy, looking confused. Chris laughed. "It's an old nickname I had for her."

"Which I hate." Stephanie said pointedly. "I like the other nickname better."

"What was that?" asked Daisy interestedly. Steph grinned at her. "Lioness. Which one do you think is better?"

"Lioness." She replied instantly. Stephanie shot a smug look at Chris, who didn’t look impressed. He bit back a nasty reply, realising that this was not the time or place. Quietly, so only Daisy could hear her, she whispered "That's what I prefer too."

"Um, I really had saying this, but it's getting late." Sally cut in. She'd spent the afternoon doing some needlework while Chris and Stephanie played with Daisy. During one of Stephanie's rest breaks Sally had told Stephanie & Chris that she and her late husband, William told Daisy she was adopted. Despite the fact that she was too young to understand exactly what 'adopted' meant, Daisy understood that it made her special. Stephanie looked at her watch. "We really should go."

"Can we have Burger King?" Daisy asked excitedly. Sally ruffled her hair. "Why not?"

"Can Chris and Stephanie come too?"

"We've got a long drive ahead of us..." Stephanie replied hesitantly. Chris understood her hesitation. Leaving Daisy with Sally was going to be harder the more time they spent with her. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "We really do have to go."

"I understand." Sally said softly. She turned to Daisy. "Ok missy, time to say goodbye."

"But I don't want to go!" Daisy screamed. Stephanie took a step back in surprise, she'd never seen a four year old in full temper tantrum mode. However, Chris had. He looked at Sally. "Can I try?"

"Knock yourself out."

He knelt down so that he and Daisy were at eye level. She threw her self at him. "Don't go!"

"I don't want to munchkin." He replied honestly.

"Then don't!"

"Sometimes people have to do things they don't want to. Even if they're grown ups."

"Like you and Stephanie?"

"Exactly like me and Stephanie." Chris answered, shooting a look at Stephanie. She bit her lip and turned away. "When we go home today, it's not because we want to, but because we have to. Stephanie's husband will wonder where she is, and my friends will get worried if I don't go back. We don't want to go, but we have to."

"It's like what happened with your birth Mommy and Daddy." Sally jumped in. "They didn't want to give you to me and Daddy, but they had to, so they did."

"And where ever my birth Mommy and Daddy are, they still love me very much and think about me every day." finished Daisy. She'd heard this many times before. Chris smiled. "Exactly. I don't know about you, but Steph and I had fun today. Now if your a good girl for Mommy and don't get too upset, then maybe we'll be able to see you again."

"I'd like that." Daisy said, hugging Chris tightly. Her two mothers, one by birth, one by a twist of fate, looked at each other and smiled. Sally put a hand on Stephanie's shoulder. "I would too."