"Shawn!" Stephanie stuck her head out the door of the dressing room. "Can you come here and tell me -"

"You've got a four and a half month old baby Stephanie. Chances are you will not be happy with how you look in the dress, so there's no point in asking me." He replied, rocking Charita in his arms. She glared at him. "Come here!"

"Did you hear that sweetie?" Shawn spoke to Charita. "This is Mommy in 'Princess mode.' I'm really hoping you didn't inherit that from her."

"What would you prefer? My 'princess gene' or her fathers 'show pony gene'?" Stephanie asked drily. Shawn groaned. "Do I have to choose? One's just as bad as - wow."

Ignoring him, she had stepped out from behind the curtain and turned a slow circle. For the first time in memory, Shawn Michaels didn't know what to say. "Whoa... wow.. whoa."

"I take it you like this one?" She asked, sounding a little worried as she looked at herself in the mirror. "It's not trashy in any way is it?"

"Trashy? Oh lord no. You look every gorgeous inch the lady you are." He replied honestly, staring. In the 11 months Stephanie had been living with him, he'd never seen her in anything more formal than jeans and to see her in a formal dress took his breath away.

"I'll get this one then." Stephanie still had trouble believing that she'd agreed to go to the wedding. "Are you sure it's totally classy?"

"What's with the - ah right." Shawn understood. "If this is about Jericho, then the better you look, the more of a jerk he's going to be."

"Fantastic!" She replied sarcastically. "So not only to have to worry about Hunter being an asshole, I've got to worry about Jericho as well."

Shawn's answer was interrupted by a wail from Charita. He sighed. "I think she's tired. Better buy the dress and hopefully the car ride home will send her to sleep."

~~~

"How do you do that?" Stepanie asked later in the car, looking at her daughter, who was sleeping peacefully. "How do you know exactly why she's crying and how to settle her down?"

"I don't know." He replied honestly. "I just do. Does it bother you?"

"Sometimes." She admitted, turning around in her seat. "Maybe I wasn't meant to be a mother."

"Bullshit!" The force behind Shawn's voice took both of them by surprise. "Steph, you and Charita have a bond already. She might be only five months old, but she's very much tuned into your moods. You've been stressed the past couple of weeks and she's picking up on it. That's all it is."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm certain." He reassured her. "You're a wonderful mother. You're just under a lot of stress about running into certain people who will remain nameless at the moment."

"You know, I don't know what I'm more worried about." Steph reflected, her moment of insecurity fading. "Hunter finding out about us or Jericho getting on the microphone at the reception."

"Jericho won't do a goddamned thing." Shawn replied confidently. "Chyna made him promise to behave himself. He really got to you over the years, didn't he?"

"It's not easy to retain dignity and self respect when someone comes out every week and calls you a whore and is cheered by millions of people for doing so. He wasn't the only person who didn't really like me back then, but at least most of them saved the name calling and insults for backstage. To know that he really thought so little of me really hurt." She said quietly.

There was a moment’s silence, then Shawn started laughing. "I'm sorry, I know it’s not funny. I'm sorry that your self-confidence took such a beating, you didn't deserve that. But Chris Jericho didn't think you were any of those names."

"You could've fooled me." Stephanie replied bitterly.

"He fooled most of us." Shawn took his eyes off the road and glanced at Stephanie and tried to keep his voice light. "So you never figured out that Chris Jericho was in love with you?"

"What?" Steph started to laugh. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Ever study much psychology?"

"Just the basics at high school. Why?"

"Well it's a textbook example of grade school psychology. Little boys would always make life hell for one little girl who they thought was fantastic. I did it myself. And let's face it - Jericho isn't the most mature of men." He explained thoughtfully. "It's like... He wanted to make sure he had your attention in any way possible."

"By calling me a skanky ho and insinuating that I slept around?" She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No offense honey, but the male mind is beyond the understanding of an average female and you shouldn't even try. Not that you're the average woman, but you know what I mean."

Stephanie smiled at him. "Jericho's not a bad looking guy. In fact, he's pretty damned good looking. But I'll never forgive him for what he said about me. That was just horrible. But it's good to know that he won't cause any trouble at the wedding."

"If he starts, I'll rip him a new one." promised Shawn. His face hardened a little. "That goes for Hunter too. I don't care how long we've been friends."