Well you may not see me when ya come back
I could be sharing someone else's pillow
Stephanie sat in the car for a few minutes, watching the storm raging around her. She was hoping to wait until there was a lull in wind and rain, but from what she could remember, there was unlikely to be one.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the car door and ran for the wide front porch, getting drenched in the process. She'd been hoping that the porch would shelter her from the rain, but it was coming down on an angle that sent it driving under the porch. Cursing under her breath, Stephanie knocked on the door, quietly at first, then louder as she realised that she probably couldn't be heard over the storm.
After what seemed like hours, but in reality was probably only a few minutes, an upstairs light went on. Stephanie charted his progress towards the door as lights were flicked on and the shadow through the windows. Finally, the owner of the house made it to the foyer and opened the front door, wearing a pair of old jeans and a sleepy look. He stared at his guest in surprise. "Steph? Shit! You'd better get inside."
He guided her up to the guest bathroom, saying "Take a hot shower."
"I was only out there for a few minutes!" She protested. Her host shook his head. "I don't care. There's a robe on the back of the door, if you give me your car keys I'll run out and get your bags."
"Are you sure? I mean, there's no point in you getting drenched as well."
"I'll move the car into the shed, so it'll be sheltered from the storm. There's an underground tunnel that I can use to get from the shed to the house. I'll be fine." He grinned charmingly. "So you go shower, I'll get your stuff. Then I'd like an explanation on why you've appeared on my doorstep at this ungodly hour of the morning."
Half an hour later, they met in the kitchen. He was making a coffee, something else to warm her up, he explained. They sat opposite each other at the kitchen table, both wondering where to begin. Finally, Stephanie broke the silence. "Did you see the show tonight?"
"I saw some of it. The electricity went off for a while. I'm guessing the renewal of vows didn't go too well?"
Quietly Stephanie explained what had happened. She looked at the table. "After he stormed out of the arena, some of my friends came looking for me. They told me what had happened and what a foul mood Hunter was in. I needed to get away and I couldn't think of anyone else to turn to."
"Steph, you know you're always welcome here." He reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. "And you're not the first person by any means to show up on my doorstep when they have nowhere else to go. On more than one occasion I've walked into the den in the morning to find Chyna sitting there in her pj's watching cartoons."
Stephanie laughed at the mental image and he grinned. "That's what I like to see. Don't worry bout Hunter coming round, we rarely see each other and keep in contact sporadically. You can stay as long as you want and if you don't want anyone to know where you are, we can arrange that too."
"Thank you so much." She replied gratefully. He nodded. "No problem. You'd be amazed at who's shown up here for a few days R and R. Can I ask one question though?"
"Of course." There was no way she'd refuse to tell him anything he wanted to know at this point. He looked at her closely. "Are you or are you not pregnant?"
"I am." She replied without hesitation. "I am 9 weeks pregnant."
He nodded, looking somewhat satisfied. "Right. I'll take you into the doctor tomorrow and make sure our first DX baby is safe and sound. But for now, I think you'd better get some sleep. You've had a rough night."
Stephanie stood up, pausing when he made no move to stand. "Are you going to get some more sleep?"
"Nah." He shook his head. "I don't need a lot of sleep and it's not far off dawn anyway. I can't believe you drove the whole way here. Sleep as late as you want and I'll see you tomorrow."
"Alright then." Steph started to walk out, then paused in the doorway. "Thanks again. I cannot stress how much this means to me."
"You're welcome." He smiled at her gently. "Now get to bed before I beat you over the head with a frying pan. Now goodnight Steph."
"Goodnight Shawn."
