Now, clean and clad in fresh clothes, he stepped out of the bathroom, steam from his shower billowing out with him.

Jay had returned to the room after a quick breakfast in the downstairs cafe, and he stared at the taller man speculatively when he saw him.

"Hey...so, what happened to you last night?"

Adam ran a hand through his damp blond locks.  "I had a bit of an emergency," he admitted.  "I was with Amy all night."

The other man's eyes widened in surprise.  "Amy?  Whoa!  Back up a little - you were with Amy Dumas?  Tough, spunky, redhead - forfeited her Women's title last night, witnessed by millions during WrestleMania?"

"None other..."

Jay's blue eyes sparkled devilishly.  "You lucky man!  So, how was she?"  He crossed his arms over his chest, a huge grin on his face.

"It wasn't like that, man..."  At least not this time, he thought.  Then, facing his lifelong friend, he said, "She's pregnant, Jay..."

The shorter Canadian's eyes widened.  "She's what?!"  After a beat, he said, "Well, that would explain why she gave up the belt and refused to wrestle..."

"It's mine..." Adam blurted.

"What?!"  Now Jay was really in shock.  He stared at the taller man in silence for awhile before finally speaking again.  "Holy shit, Adam...How did it-"  Then, realizing how stupid a question that was and seeing the unamused expression on his best friend's face, he rephrased himself.  "Okay, I know how it happened, but...well, when did you and she...?"

"The night of No Way Out," Adam replied, again running his hand through his long hair.  He sighed before continuing.  "We ran into each other at this club...not the one you guys went to that night, but one a couple of blocks from the hotel.  We saw each other there, got to talking and dancing, and...one thing led to another..."

"You both got really drunk, didn't you?"  Jay asked the question with no trace of humor, but meant it seriously.

"No...actually, we didn't," the tall blond said.  "We were both very sober...she even made the first move..."  He looked down as he went through his bag.  "...but she was feeling really lonely that night..."

Jay didn't know what to say to that.  "Oh...Well...she'd only dumped Shane a couple of months before, right?"

"Exactly," Adam replied as he met his friend's eyes.

"Shit...I'm in shock," Jay said.  "I'm...speechless."  After a beat, he asked, "So, what are you going to do?"

The taller man felt his heart pounding at the mere thought of his response to that question.

"Amy's going to have my baby..."

"Wow...I...I can't believe you're going to be a father!"

"Me neither..."

As they stood there, both silent as Jay absorbed all the news, Adam realized that despite his initial shock, he was finding himself happy about the baby.  He was being given the chance to be everything his own father had never been.  He considered that to be quite a gift.

Nonetheless, something was still bothering him.  It stung to know that Amy didn't have any feelings for him - other than friendship, that is.  He was in love with her, and he could swear that the depth of it had increased tenfold since the previous night...

*

Stephanie padded to the door of her hotel room and stifled a sleepy yawn.  When she opened it to see Chris Benoit standing out in the hall, she self-consciously ran a hand through her slightly messy long brown hair.

"Chris...hi.  I mean, good morning."

"Good morning, Stephanie..."  He took in the appearance of her still in her nightgown, a robe thrown over it.  Her feet her bare, a hot pink shade of polish on her toenails.  She looked like she'd just rolled out of bed.  "I'm sorry if I woke or disturbed you..."

"No, not at all," the brunette said as she held the door open a bit wider for him to step through.

They'd talked for hours the previous night after retrieving Amy from that clinic.  The Wolverine had gone to Stephanie's hotel room after spending a little time with his sister and having a heart-to-heart with her.  When he'd met up with the brunette again afterward, he'd asked her to go to coffee with him.

Stephanie had been more than glad to do so.  She'd found herself enjoying every minute with this man and even felt as though they had some special bond between them because of the pregnant redheaded diva.

"I just wanted to thank you for last night," Chris said as he met her blue eyes.  "For spending that time with me and listening to my ramblings when you probably wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.  I really appreciate it, Stephanie..."

The brunette smiled gently, warmly.  "Oh, there's no need to thank me, Chris...believe me, it was my pleasure."

The man's lips stretched into a smile, and Stephanie's grin increased.  The man was typically known for being sort of cold - brusque, even - but she found him very warm and kind - even gentle.  It was obvious how deeply he loved his baby sister, and that touched her profoundly.

"Well...that's nice to know," Benoit said as he continued to gaze into the young woman's eyes.  "Also...I enjoyed every minute I spent talking with you last night..."

"So did I, Chris...I mean, I enjoyed every minute with you..."

They stared at each other in silence for a beat before the Crippler spoke again.

"Would you like to go to breakfast with me?"

The brunette smiled again.  "I would love to..."

*

A half-hour later, showered and dressed, Amy went to Adam's hotel room and knocked, waiting patiently for the blond man to answer the door.  She glanced around nervously, relieved that no one was around in the hallway.  She wondered what kind of questions she was going to receive from everyone now that she was going to be in public view.

The door suddenly opened, and Adam instantly met her worried-looking hazel eyes.

"Hi..."  He gave her a gentle smile as he stepped out into the hall with her.  "Ready?"

She nodded weakly as she ran a hand through her still slightly damp red hair.  She was absolutely starving, but her stomach churned a bit as she dreaded having to face everyone and their concern and questions.  How in the world was she going to explain her actions at WrestleMania last night?  How was she going to tell her friends that she was pregnant?  Damn it - it wasn't as though she and Adam were a couple...

The tall blond man gently wrapped an arm around the redhead's waist as they walked together toward the stairwell.  He noticed how preoccupied she was, which was only natural.  He knew that, although she was no longer alone and had him, Chris and Stephanie, she had to still be terribly scared.

As they made their way into the cafe, the redhead was relieved to note that no WWE superstar was currently dining there.  She breathed a sigh of relief, although she knew she would have to get back to some of the friends who had called her the previous night.  She did owe them at least the knowledge that she was all right.

They were promptly seated and handed menus, and Adam watched Amy as she studied hers, noting the way she licked her lips while she read.  He figured she had just started experiencing those weird cravings pregnant women often had.

Several minutes later, they'd gotten their meals, and just as the redhead dove into her stack of blueberry pancakes, she heard Stephanie McMahon's voice.

"Good morning, you two."

She and Adam both looked up from their plates to see the brunette and Chris standing a few feet away.

"Hi," the Canadian said as, with food stuffed in her mouth, all she could manage was a smile and a wave.  "Why don't you guys join us?"

Chris and Stephanie slid into the booth with them, the Rabid Wolverine beside his half-sister and the brunette beside Adam.

"How are you holding up this morning?" Benoit asked as he eyed the redhead.

"All right," she managed.  She reached for her cup of herbal tea, took a sip and then spoke again.  "I feel much better than I did yesterday."  Amy shifted her gaze to the blond man sitting directly across from her, and a feeling of tenderness swept through her as she thought about everything they had discussed the night before.  The mere sight of him actually calmed her down immeasurably.

"How about you?" he asked as he looked at Adam.  He knew how shocked the tall man had been last night, when he had barged into his locker room and yelled at him before he'd realized he hadn't known what was going on.

The blond smiled.  "I'm good...actually, I'm great."  He gazed into Amy's hazel eyes as he continued.  "We had a long talk last night, and we've been talking about the future...I'm looking forward to becoming a father..."

The redhead kept her eyes on Adam's green ones, a small smile playing at her lips.  She wondered what she'd done to be so lucky, as to what she'd done to deserve such a wonderful man... But then, they weren't a couple - she couldn't help wishing they were.

As she'd thought a few days earlier, she wished things had been different between them.