"Where the hell is the doc?" Hunter paced around the room nervously. "He said he'd be back five minutes ago!"

"Honey, sit down. You're making me dizzy." Lita watched with an affectionate smile. "We're not the only ones here you know. He's probably off explaining to some other couple, that the reason he's behind schedule is because of some expectant father going nuts because the doc is running late."

"Good." Hunter sat on the table next to his girlfriend. "Then he'll know what to say to the couple after us."

"Behave!" Lita put her head on his shoulder. "Although this would make a great tale to tell at -"

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting." Dr Andrews slipped back into the room quietly. Hunter tensed, ready to tell the doctor that he had been waiting, but Lita unobtrusively elbowed him and he decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut. Lita smiled and shot Hunter a look. "Not at all doctor."

"Well I guess I'd better get on with it." He smiled at the couple, who were obviously anxious, despite their attempts to look calm. "Congratulations."

Hunter and Lita stared at him for a moment in disbelief, then looked at each other. The silence was broken when Lita let out a shout of delight as Hunter leapt off the table and wrapped his arms around her. "Oh my god. A baby! We're pregnant!"

"Actually I am." She laughed, hugging him back tightly. "But I couldn't have done it without you."

They turned back to the doctor, smiling the usual smile of people who had just recieved happy news. Dr Andrews smiled back at them. "As I said, congratulations. You're just on seven weeks along."

"Seven weeks." mused Hunter. Lita blinked. "Probably a good thing I hurt myself last month then. The Women's matches have been particularly brutal lately."

"Would you to make an appointment for later in the week? I can do an ultra -sound and discuss factors that may affect your pregnancy." He flipped open his diary.

"Actually doc, we're headed for Houston tomorrow for a wedding." Hunter replied. "Could you reccommend someone there?"

"Absolutely." Dr Andrews wrote down a name and contact number on a piece of paper. "Here you go. And may I say again, congratulations."

"Hello?" Shawn picked up the phone without taking his eyes off Stephanie playing with Charita.

"Hey man." A familiar voice came down the line. "Miss me?"

Shawn's eyes went wide. "Hunter?"

Stephanie's head snapped up, looking at Shawn with something akin to fear in her eyes. He nodded as the cheerful voice of his best friend came down the line. "The one and only. How are ya?"

"Not bad." Shawn tried to keep his voice steady. Stephanie picked Charita up and paced around the room, listening closely to Shawn's end of the conversation. "What news could you possible have that couldn't wait till Sunday?"

"Well... " Hunter dragged out the word playfully. "You heard that I've been involved with someone right?"

"Yeah, Chyna told me that - who? You're kidding me." There was no way Shawn could hide the surprise in his voice. Stephanie mouthed 'Who?' as she put her daughter in the bassinet. She felt her guts tighten at the look on his face.

"You and Lita? The Xtreme Diva?"

Stephanie gasped audibly. Lita huh? Well out of all divas.... Shawn shot her a concerned look, and she nodded, indicating she was fine. She and Hunter hadn't been in love for a while before they'd parted and she was with Shawn now, so she wasn't jealous. She'd known for seven months that Hunter had been involved with someone else and she was genuinely happy for him. However to say Stephanie was surprised was like saying Hitler hadn't wanted Jewish neighbours - a gross understatement.

"She's what?" Shawn's voice took on a strange tone. "Are you certain?"

"Lita said she was fairly certain, but we went to the doctors yesterday to make sure." Hunter sounded overjoyed. "Seven weeks along. Can you believe it? I'm going to be a father!"

"Congratulations." He replied, feeling a combination of happiness for Hunter and concern for Stephanie, and fear for what kind of reaction Sunday would bring. "I'm happy for you. I really am."

"What do you mean you don't want me to tell my friends?" Lita crossed her arms. "It's not like it's a big secret, people are gonna find out soon enough anyway. I know that the first thing you'll do when we get to Houston is tell Chyna - if you haven't told her already, and knowing her, she'll probably make an announcement at the reception!"

"I just want to keep it to ourselves for a while." Hunter replied. "Just in case - god forbid - something goes wrong."

"I know it's still in the early stages and that it's really too early to tell if everything is going well or not." Lita stood in front of him. "But if - as you said, god forbid - something does go wrong, then we are both going to need our friends to help up through it."

"Yeah, I know..." He hesitated. "It's just..."

"I know." She nodded in understanding. "That's why I made sure you came with me the other day. I'm gonna involve you in every little step of this, whether you like it or not."

"I love you babydoll." Hunter put an arm around her waist and spoke to Lita's stomach. "And I love you too."

Lita kissed him on the forehead. "I love you honey. I'll be back in half an hour."

"Where are you going?" Hunter asked as she headed for the door. Lita laughed. "I heard you on the phone to Kevin and Scott while you thought I was asleep. If you can tell them, then I get to tell Molly and Raven!"

"Steph, can you stop for a minute?" Shawn's gaze followed Stephanie around the room. For the past two days, she'd been on a cleaning frenzy. The hiacenda was spotless, but that didn't stop Steph from vacuuming and dusting almost obsessively.

"What?" Stephanie looked up from her dusting. "I'm just dusting your photo frames."

Despite the fact that she'd been living with Shawn for over a year, there were still few signs that there were any other people living in the house. Other than the nursery, Stephanie's clothes in the wardrobe and the few odds and ends scattered about the place, anyone who didn't know any differently would assume that Shawn lived alone.

"Baby, you've been cleaning ever since Hunter called." He gently took the feather duster out of her hands. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just nervous." Stephanie replied. "It's just sunk in that I'm going to be seeing Hunter again and to be perfectly honest, I'm scared about it."

"I see." Shawn thought about the best way to voice what he wanted to say next. "It wouldn't have anything to do with that fact that Lita's having Hunter's baby?"

Stephanie hugged him tightly. "No. I was just surprised. I'm not sure why though, he always had a large amount of admiration for her. I think it's because everyone expected Lita to end up with Jeff Hardy or Shane Helms."

"Kinda like how everyone expected Chyna to end up with me or Hunter." Shawn replied, remembering the rumours that had flown and how long the rumours had hung around after Chyna and Hunter had broken up. Stephanie laughed. "I remember that. Hunter was livid and that's one of the reasons I'm so worried about seeing him again. I don't care that he's in love with Lita now and I don't care that she's pregnant - I'm genuinely happy for them both."

"Steph, I know where this is leading." He took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. "He's been my best friend for years. I have to say I really think you're overreacting."

Stephanie kissed Shawn on the cheek. "And I was his wife for two years. I think you're under reacting."

"How come you didn't tell me?" Shouted Hunter. Chyna looked back at him calmly. "Because she was in no emotional state to deal with the shit you would have put her through. Steph had been through enough already."

"Yeah, because pretending to be pregnant for a week really takes it out of you." He replied sarcastically. She remained silent and refused to meet his eyes. Hunter felt his guts tighten. "She was pretending right?"

"We didn't want you to find out like that." murmured Chyna unhappily. "Stephanie planned to tell you herself at the wedding. We hoped that you'd hold your temper until after the reception, so my day wouldn't be ruined."

"Chy... I need to know..." He suddenly looked anguished. "Is it... I mean... the baby..."

"No. Your firstborn won't arrive for another eight months." She reassured him. "Stephanie did not have your child."

"Then who? Surely you know that."

"It's not for me to say." Chyna bit her lip. Hunter nodded reluctantly. "I understand. But Chyna - I'm never going to forgive you for this."

"Yeah, and there's a whole bunch of shit that I'm never gonna forgive you for doing either." She rolled her eyes. "Look, you wanna chew me out, do it after the wedding. Ruin my wedding and I will never speak to you again, I swear to God. "

Hunter rubbed his forehead, knowing that he was beaten. "Chy, I swear, I will not do anything to disrupt your wedding in the slightest. No matter what I find out."

"Got everything for Charita?" Shawn asked, throwing the last suitcase into the car. Stephanie nodded. "Yup. Just got to grab my camera. Can you take Char while I duck inside and grab it?"

Shawn took the travelling capsule off Stephanie and she ran inside to get the camera. Instead of getting professional photos taken, Chyna and Undertaker had asked people to bring their own cameras and take their own photos and said that they would pay for double prints. Stephanie had overheard Taker saying that if someone got the expression on Hunter's face when he realised Stephanie and Shawn were an item, then he'd give them a cash bonus.

At the time, Stephanie had laughed, but now she wondered if Shawn had any idea what kind of reaction Hunter would have. After all, X-Pac had been 'excommunicated' for blaming Chyna for the on screen disintergration of Degeneration X. Friendships in DX ran deep and loyalty and trust meant everything.

"Why so glum?" Shawn asked as Steph rejoined him at the car. "Shawn, are you completely fearless, or just plain stupid?"

"What?"

"Do you really think that when Hunter finds out about us, he's going to raise his glass and give us his blessing and best wishes for the future?" She shook her head. "It just doesn't work like that."

"Stephanie, I love you." Shawn brushed a lock of hair off her face. "I don't think I've ever been so happy as I am when I'm with you. If Hunter's is truly my friend, then he'll understand that."