"Auntie Stephy!"

"Hey, boys," she said, embracing her nephews, kissing both of them on their temples. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"You haven't!" Declan announced. "You're going to stay for dinner, right?"

"Yup, I'm going to stay for dinner, I hope I get to sit next to you," she told him, and he nodded eagerly, his wide smile showing that he'd lost a tooth. She ruffled his hair playfully.

Declan looked over Stephanie's shoulder to see Chris standing in the doorway to the room. Declan recognized him because he wrestled for his daddy's company, but he didn't know why he was here. "What are you doing here?" Declan asked.

"This is Chris," Stephanie looked over her shoulder to her husband, "you know him from wrestling, right?"

"Uh huh," Declan nodded, but he still didn't know why he was here. It wasn't wrestling tonight, and he couldn't understand why he would be here. He was too young to recognize that he might be here for different reasons. He only thought of Chris as a wrestler, and as a wrestler, if he was here, he was here to wrestle.

"Well, Chris is here for dinner too," Stephanie told him.

"Oh…okay," Declan said. "You can sit with us too."

"Thanks," Chris said, watching as Shane and Marissa came into view.

"Declan, what have I told you about answering the door without telling one of us first?" Shane asked, tapping his son on the shoulder companionably. "You can't just open the door for anyone, buddy?"

"It was Auntie Stephy," Declan argued, tilting his head up to look at his father.

"Still, sometimes it's not," Shane said. "Hey, Steph, Chris." He nodded towards the other man, who was still hanging back. He wasn't necessarily nervous, but this was unfamiliar territory and he knew this was Shane's turf so he was going to be on the defensive all evening.

"Hey," Chris nodded.

"Chris, it's really nice to see you," Marissa added, "unexpected, but nice to see you." In a gesture of good will, she walked up to him and gave him a light hug. He awkwardly patted her back, feeling Shane's eyes scrutinizing him. He wondered at what point in the evening Shane would come to him and demand to speak with him alone.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Declan asked curiously, peering over at Chris.

"Um, sort of," Stephanie told him. "You see, well, Chris and I are married, so he's my husband, kind of like how your mom and dad are married. So he's your Uncle Chris now, like your Uncle Matthew, your mom's brother."

"Oh," Declan said then shrugged easily, "Okay." Then he grabbed Kenny's hand and nearly dragged the littler boy down the hallway to the playroom, leaving the four adults alone. The tension amped up now that they didn't have the kids for a buffer and Stephanie took a couple steps back to take Chris's hand.

"We have some hors d'oeuvres in the kitchen," Marissa offered up, as she waved her hand to follow her into the kitchen. Shane stared at his sister's hand joined with Chris's as they walked to the kitchen. Shane walked behind them, and they could both feel his eyes boring into their backs.

There were a few dishes laid on the high counter and Marissa pulled out a couple chairs for Stephanie and Chris to sit down. Stephanie took the initiative and sat down, Chris following close behind. Marissa swung around the counter and leaned on it, Shane still hanging back. Marissa gave an eager smile and looked between the two of them.

"So I need to know how this happened," she waved a finger between the both of them. "I mean, not that it's wholly unexpected, but really, how did it finally come about."

"Not wholly unexpected? What do you mean?" Shane asked.

"Oh come on, sweetheart," Marissa chuckled, "like you didn't see this happening. I mean, I didn't quite expect it to happen this fast, but I knew once you two got over whatever childish flirting game you were playing, you would get together and be good together on top of that."

"You saw this coming?" Shane asked.

"I've mentioned it to you before," Marissa argued.

"I thought you were joking."

"Clearly, I was right," Marissa said, "so come on, spill, also, thanks for inviting me, Steph."

"Sorry, Rissa, it was…well, it was unexpected to us too," she glanced at Shane, who looked satisfied that he'd been right in at least part of this. "I asked Chris to help me, and he did when he certainly didn't have to—"

"Because you love her," Marissa teased.

"I do," Chris looked over at Stephanie, "which is crazy, right?"

"Not so crazy," Stephanie pouted, "crazier things have happened."

"Okay, seriously, tell me before I die!" Marissa said.

"I was…well, I had to convince Trump that Chris and I were for real, I had to convince Paul too—"

"Wait, Paul?" Marissa asked, and Shane's ears pricked up. He hated Paul, and what part did he have in this story? If that man ever hurt his sister, he would kill him. He'd already done so much damage.

"He was there, when I said Chris and I were engaged, and well, Chris was going to his family's for a few days because it was his mom's birthday, and he was different around them, he was like this different guy, and he was great."

"She stood up to my father for me," Chris smiled serenely at Stephanie, thinking about that scene. He still couldn't believe she'd stood up to his father for her, not even when they were together either, just because she was Stephanie and didn't want to see that. She was amazing.

"It was nothing," she said.

"It was everything," Chris said, "after that, I couldn't help but fall for her, but maybe I've been falling for her for a while."

"Sentimental fool," she nudged him in the arm as Marissa beamed at them. Stephanie had forgotten that she did have a support system within her family. It was difficult sometimes when her family was at odds, but when they were a family, they were a great one. It was nice to find that again. She'd felt abandoned before, when they'd all left her there, alone, but they weren't bad people, and she loved them.

"So then you got married," Shane pushed himself off the wall and walked over, "just like that."

"Well, we did have a small ceremony," Stephanie said, "we didn't just go down to the courthouse or anything, we did things like we would have done them if we'd waited longer."

"What about your little ruse?"

"They knew, I told them," Stephanie said, "I wouldn't have felt comfortable if I hadn't told them what I was up to."

"And they still supported this endeavor?" Shane asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Stephanie nodded, effectively shutting Shane up.

"They understood that things had changed," Stephanie said, "things have changed, Shane, and I hope you know that, I hope you understand that. I don't need you to be okay with this, but it would be nice if you were."

"Give me time, alright?" Shane asked. "I have to get used to this, you have to understand that, right? It's not that I don't like you, Chris, but you show up, married to my sister, it's not something that I'm going to get used to off the bat. I'm trying, but I've seen her get burned by guys who thought they loved her, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm wary of you for a while. I want you to prove me wrong, I'd love for you to prove me wrong."

"I will," Chris told him, "trust me, I will."

After that, the dinner went smoothly. Shane did try to make the effort to accept his sister was married again. He felt a little better after dinner while seeing Chris and Stephanie interact. There was definitely something between them, and Shane wondered if he'd always been so blind to it because he certainly wasn't blind to it now. It seemed obvious to him now that there was something between them. He still wasn't happy they'd rushed into anything, but he couldn't deny that at least right now Chris was into his sister.

When they left Shane's house, Chris felt a little drained. He wasn't individually grilled by Shane, but he still felt a little on display. Even Kenny had been staring at him, wondering why this guy was sitting there. Declan, at least, asked him questions about wrestling, which were easy to answer. The kid was a fan, and he felt like that worked in his favor. At least Declan might talk him up to Shane.

"So you're still in one piece and you haven't run screaming into the night," Stephanie said as Chris wrapped his arm around her as they walked back to Stephanie's…his house. He had to get used to that. It was no longer Stephanie's house, but he lived here too.

He had to get used to living in Connecticut. The weather was different up here, and he knew it would be a drastic change come winter. Luckily, he was more than familiar with harsh winters, so it wouldn't be anything new to him, but it had been a long time since he'd faced one head on like this. Plus, Stephanie's house was large, extremely large, a mansion really, and that also took some time getting used to. If they had a fight, and he knew they would, they were still Chris and Stephanie after all, he could go to a whole other part of the house and not have to seen for days. There were two kitchens, two kitchens. He would never have to see her again.

"I told you, I can handle your family."

"This is just one member."

"Hey, I think I made quite the impression on Declan," Chris joked.

"That's true, so you've got that one down pat," she said, leaning into him further. "Do you want to sit outside for a second?"

"Sure," he agreed as they sat on the front step of their house. They had a large front yard that extended down a long driveway to the gate. "Your brother didn't seem to hate me quite so much by the end."

"He doesn't hate you, he just doesn't know you as my husband, but I mean, I know we rushed it, it'll take some time, hell, it's still taking me some time to get used to it. It's hard to think about how much time I probably wasted hating you."

"It made it better, we can identify when the other is getting pissed off now."

She laughed, the sound carrying as the sky faded above them into a purplish hue. They didn't need words for a few long moments as they just shared the same space. She rested her chin on his shoulder, taking in his profile as he watched the last vestiges of the day fade beyond the horizon. He had a strong profile, but there was something soft in it too. This was the man she'd chosen to open her heart to, someone she never thought would accept her heart in any capacity.

"We're going to be deliriously happy," he told her, turning slightly kiss her forehead. "We're going to prove them all wrong, and we're going to rub Paul's nose in it every chance we get. And now that Trump is out of the picture, that blowhard, you're back to being the Billion Dollar Princess."

"Who has prince now," she told him.

"Okay, no, that was too cheesy, I like the Ayatollah better, sounds more manly then prince."

"So you're not a prince then?"

"No way, maybe King, King of the World," he joked, and she groaned at his silliness. "What? It's true. I'm the King of your world at least." She groaned again, and he laughed before kissing her properly.

"You're right, we're going to have a great life," she laid her head down on his shoulder, "Right?"

"Right."