It was later the next evening, after Stevie had come home from the restaurant with a pounding headache and just totally exhausted. It had always been a busy business to run, but the older she got, the more stressful it seemed. When they first opened the doors, they had kids that were so excited to jump in and help. They always wanted to be in the mix of everything, but as their business grew, so did their children and suddenly Stevie found herself hiring in more help. It was her pride and joy, but also one of the most tiring jobs besides raising children.
"I like that one." She whispered, eyes closed as she laid on the leather sofa in his studio, wrapped in a blanket. "It's so gentle." She added, brown orbs finally meeting his.
Nodding softly, his gaze dropped to the cords as the room grew totally silent. "You're the best." He knew that women who were willing to sit in the basement on Monday evening to help their husbands work were just few and far between.
She started to push herself up, biting down on her bottom lip. "Should we call him?" Her words almost stunned him, because he figured he'd be the one to bring it back up.
They hadn't talked about it much more after she agreed the day before, simply because he knew that pushing her wouldn't get them anywhere. He could only do so much and the rest was up to her.
The truth was, their boys were a lot like Stevie- all three of them. They were all very determined and if it wasn't their way, it was the highway... Lindsey wasn't the easiest to get along with either, but Stevie and their kids could really hash it out.
However, that wasn't the only issue in their home when the boys were growing up. They liked to cause trouble- a lot of trouble, especially as they got older. One night, many years earlier, Lindsey had woken up to the sound of Stevie going through every drawer in the house, ripping them all out and tossing them on the floor. She said she couldn't find her wedding ring- she had taken it off that morning to do a catering order and she swore she put it on her nightstand. They searched the entire house and after awhile, Lindsey even started looking through the grass right outside just in case it had slipped off.
It wasn't until Stevie broke down in tears when one of the boys finally admitted that since she hadn't forked over money for a weekend trip that they wanted to take, they pawned her wedding ring for cash.
It was bad, but it wasn't the worst.
~
"Crosby?!" Her feet hit the floor hard as she raced through the kitchen, tripping over the rug and letting out a squeal. "It's your dad." Lucy tossed the phone on the couch before she sat on the edge.
Sighing heavily, he reached out to grab the phone, trying to decide if he really wanted to answer it or just let it ring. "Hello?" He was certain his dad was just calling back to tell him that she was just too busy to chat.
"Hi, Crosby." He would have known that voice anywhere, even if he hadn't heard it in a million years. She had always had a soothing tone in his opinion... when she was talking, not yelling, of course.
It was the same voice that sang him to sleep every night and read the best stories in all these different tones to make it exciting. She was a good mom, but they didn't see eye- to- eye when he got to know her as a person.
"Hey." He glanced over at Lucy, trying to hold back from hanging up on her.
He could hear a scuffle on the other end- they were handing the phone back and forth. "Hey, I told your mom that you needed to speak with the both of us." Lindsey never played the mediator in their house- it was always them against the boys. It didn't matter how bad things were, his father would have never taken their side over hers, even if deep down he wanted to.
Swallowing hard, Crosby tried to remind himself that they wanted this. Him and his wife, they felt like they needed it. And even if his mother thought that he was totally insane, it would have been worth it. "Yeah, thanks for calling back." He couldn't just jump right into it, because it was big... the biggest thing he could have ever asked someone to do.
His parents were both completely silent on the other end, which just made it even more intimidating. Suddenly he felt like he was back in high school, trying to explain to them why he got into another fight in the hall, or why he had yet another black eye. He was nervous and he didn't like it.
"Lucy and I have spent the last two years trying to have a baby." He announced, certain they didn't know that... They hadn't even met his wife. "We've spent a lot of time and money on something that just hasn't come very easy, and we want nothing more than to become parents." He added, watching tears fall down Lucy's cheeks.
"I'm sorry," Stevie's heart sank, letting her eyes melt into Lindsey's.
"It's been hard, yeah." Crosby wasn't going to sugarcoat it, not when it was something that serious.
"What can we do for you?" Lindsey figured he was going to ask for money to push them through it... he had no idea.
Pausing for a short second, he tried to find the right words. "Lucy and I have spent a lot of time thinking about what we wanted and who we wanted to ask to do this for us." He wanted to tell them that this could very well be their last chance to have a family. "We were wondering if Stevie would be willing to carry our child as a surrogate."
