"What number did he say?" Stevie led the way up the staircase of the apartment complex, wrinkling her nose at the sound of yelling coming from behind one of the doors. "Jeez," she reached back, grabbing Lindsey's arm just in case.
"It's that one." He cocked his head towards the door with a cute little mat and a warm flower wreath.
"Hi!" Her voice made them both to jump as she quickly pulled open the door.
Lucy had short blonde hair, curled softly, but not too much. She had a cute smile and a little button nose. She was gentle and really bright.
Lindsey couldn't help but chuckle, giving Lucy a quick hug as they all stepped into the walkway of the apartment. "It's good to see you." His words caused his wife to pause... Had he seen her before? Because she surely hadn't.
"Come on in." She motioned around the room, but just as they trailed in a little further, Crosby appeared in the kitchen doorframe.
She could feel her heart sink as her eyes met his for the first time in what felt like forever but it was just a split second and then he glanced back at Lindsey. "Hey, pops." Crosby gave his dad a quick handshake before he actually turned to his mother. "Hi, mom." He waved gently, one hand in his pocket as a soft smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
He had the deepest blue eyes- the only one of their boys that had gotten them and they pulled on her heartstrings every time, no matter what. He reminded her so much of Lindsey- stubborn, sweet and sometimes just stressful. He was everything to her, even if they struggled to see eye- to- eye more often than not.
However, looking at him in that moment, for the first time in a few years, she realized that they could have been better. They could have wanted to be apart of this a little more...
"Hi, sweetie. It's good to see you." She bit down on her bottom lip, trying hard not to cry. "And you must be Lucy?" She said, quickly turning to face her daughter in law, who had already started talking to Lindsey.
"It's so nice to meet you, Stevie." She gave her this smile- one that could have just melted the whole room.
"You're so beautiful." She looked over at Lindsey, and then right back to her.
To Stevie's surprise, Lucy pulled her in for a hug, which caused her to flinch almost instantly. "So are you!" She was bubbly, and excited... it was a little overwhelming.
"That is very sweet, my dear." Chuckling softly, Stevie slowly started to back away.
And before she knew it, she found herself sitting on the accent chair in the living room, while Lindsey disappeared into the kitchen with Crosby to get a drink.
Their home was warm, really welcoming. There were flowers on every shelf, books sitting on the stands and of course, there were guitars hanging on each fall... Even the one they spent hours picking out for his sixteenth birthday.
All he ever wanted was to make music and all they wished for him was success...
"We're so happy that you're here." Lucy handed her a glass of red wine before she sat down on the sofa across the room.
Swallowing hard, she wondered if she was just saying that to make her feel better, or if somewhere deep down, Crosby really was happy to see them... to see her."Lindsey and I are glad you both agreed to this visit." She was certain that he wasn't jumping for joy when Lindsey told him that she wanted to talk about all of it in person... She knew he rolled his eyes and grumbled.
"I have just heard so much about you from the guys. I'm so thrilled we have this time to get to know one another." Lucy said "guys," like Stevie knew who she was referring to.... certainly not her other sons.
But just before she got the chance to reply, both boys trailed back into the room, each one holding a crystal glass of brown liquor. "Dad wants to hear my new song." Crosby had a huge smile on his face- he loved music, all of their sons did.
Everyday after school, until they eventually thought their parents were totally lame, all three of their kids would sit in the basement- before it was even a studio and watch their father work. They thought it was so cool, especially the shows and that's when everything started spiraling out of control.
She couldn't keep up with it once they'd gotten old enough to decide what they wanted to do and how many rules they wanted to break. One summer, the summer before Kash went to high school, all the boys went on the road with Lindsey. Stevie was going to go too, just to make sure they all stayed in line, but the night before, she had gotten sick and decided she would stay back... She saw them twice the entire summer. After they had gotten home that Labor Day weekend, Lindsey and Stevie got into this huge argument and after that, she told herself that she couldn't worry about it. She had decided that wouldn't bother herself with what he did on the road and she didn't care if the boys went or not, all she wanted was for them to come back home to her when it was over. And they did.
"I think I'm gonna start lunch." Lucy pushed herself up, patting Crosby's shoulder as she headed for the kitchen.
Stevie glanced from her son, towards her husband, who was much more focused on some sheet music. "I'll give her a hand." She didn't want to sit there and feel awkward... she would have rather been cooking them feel out of place in their presence.
"She looks really good." Crosby mentioned as soon as she was out of sight.
He loved her, of course he did. He always thought she was total saint, even when they were pulling her leg and driving her nuts, but no matter how much he admired his mother, that didn't they understood one another.
Nodding his head, Lindsey smiled weakly. "She's happy to see you, buddy." He knew she was happy, even though she had made herself pretty distant since they'd arrived.
They had a complicated relationship. Raising kids had never been a walk in the park for anyone and it didn't come with an instruction booklet at the beginning- it's all literally trial and error. It was hard and they both had issues with our kids... It wasn't just Stevie and Crosby that couldn't get along.
"I know it isn't easy." He was right- it wasn't, not for any of them.
When Lindsey was gone, Crosby could really put his mother through hell. There was one night, many years earlier when Lindsey was playing in New York when he got a call in the middle of a show. She was hysterical, begging for him to come home because Crosby never came back from school and no one in the neighborhood had seen him. She had the very worst scenarios running through her mind and she voiced them all. It was a mother's worst nightmare- a missing child.
However, Crosby just ended up spending three days on his friends couch before he finally came home, just to argue with her about how she folded his t-shirts. And Stevie wasn't a push over- not for any of them, so of course that didn't go over well either.
That wasn't the worst fight, but it was still enough to push them further apart.
In the kitchen, Stevie was leaning back against the counter, watching the younger woman cut up vegetables. "We're thankful that you're thinking about doing this for us." Lucy was beyond grateful for that, even if Crosby seemed a little nervous about it.
She sighed softly, staring around the tiny room before she replied. "I was going to ask you if you'd considered finding someone else to do this for you?" She wasn't trying to make it seem like she didn't want to do it... she just felt like they had other options that would be safer and more reliable.
With heavy eyes, she nodded a little. "We tried to find someone else, but it's really hard... and we even thought about Elise, but she hasn't even carried children of her own yet." She shrugged, eyes melting right into Stevie's. "After everything, Crosby told me that you are the only person he trusts to do this."
