It was early the next morning when Crosby and Lucy made it to Santa Monica, where they would spend the entire week at Levy's condo... the whole place consisted of two pull out chairs, his parents old couch, a bed on the floor, a flat screen and a blow up mattress still in the box- he loved it. And even though it was the definition of a bachelor pad, they had thought about getting a hotel, and Lucy even brought up the idea of staying with his parents... Crosby wasn't having it. He told her that he would have rather slept at the airport than spent seven days hanging out with them.... and he was serious.
"Getting excited?" Levy stood behind the kitchen island, making bloody Mary's for each of them.
He had offered to tag along with Lindsey to get them from the airport and after they swung by a little diner for breakfast, they decided to have a couple of drinks and hang out.
"We're so excited." Lucy emphasized, taking a seat at the barstool. "How's Stevie?" She turned her attention to her father- in- law, who was lingering in the living room doorway.
Nodding his head, he gave her a gentle shrug. "She's doing alright, staying busy."
"I wish she would have come." She smiled softly, trying hard to win the approval of them both... she wanted them to like her.
She had asked Crosby about them the entire flight, even though she had met them just weeks earlier. She still felt like she didn't truly know them, not like a daughter- in- law normally would... She didn't even invite them to their wedding, which definitely didn't win her any brownie points.
"She was working this morning, right?" Levy knew his mother was sitting at Donna's dining room table, dealing a deck of cards and gossiping over tea.
"Yeah, she wanted to be here." He lied, taking a big sip of his drink.
Crosby had actually asked Lindsey to keep it on the down low when they arrived, so his dad didn't mention that he was going to pick up the kids with Levy... he told her that he was going to meet Kash for coffee.
He was really pushing his luck at home and he knew that.
The night before, after she had pointed out the fact that he had a few drinks, she left him in the guest bedroom and spent all night out on their bedroom balcony. She had come to the conclusion that things weren't going to get better unless they talked about how they felt with everything happening all at once, yet by the time she woke up, he was already out the door.
Lindsey sighed lightly, shifting all his weight from one foot to the other. "She can't wait to see you all."
~
"What did the doctor say?" Elise fell back into the chair, eyes following Stevie through the living room.
"I'm not at an age to have babies, and he really didn't recommend it." She was starting to get nervous, but she didn't want to admit that to anyone else, especially not her husband. "But it isn't impossible, either." She added with a simple shrug of her shoulders.
Nodding her head, Elise set her mug on the coaster. "Are you nervous that something is going to go wrong... or?" She was trying hard to sympathize, but it really wasn't easy. She had never imagined they would find themselves in that sort of situation and besides that, Elise had never even had children of her own... she had no idea what Stevie was going through, even though she really wanted to help.
"I don't know." She sighed, so uncertain of everything in that moment.
It felt like there were no "right" answers. It wasn't a totally ordinary situation with only straight forward solutions. It was complicated and she felt overwhelmed.
"You are the strongest woman I know." Elise wasn't exaggerating, not in the slightest.
She had first met Stevie and Lindsey at one of Kash's hockey games their freshman year at Berkeley. They had been dating for just a month and Stevie offered to take them both out to dinner that night. Elise spent almost three hours straight talking to her about everything she could think of... She didn't have a great mom growing up and she thought Stevie hung the moon from the moment she met her.
Chuckling softly, she shook her head. "You're a sweet girl."
"I better be your favorite daughter- in- law." She brought her cup back up to her lips, raising a brow jokingly.
"Oh, please." She waved her hand in the air, rolling her eyes softly. "You're the daughter I never had." She admitted, a gentle smiling tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"And you're the mom I was never blessed with." She threw back, a light laugh escaping her.
Stevie bit down on her lower lip before she replied: "Did you see your fabulous father- in- law this morning, too?" She was being sarcastic, of course.
"No, why?" She creased her brow, shaking her head casually.
"Oh, I was just wondering since Lindsey met Kash for coffee."
Scrunching up her nose a tad, Elise thought about it for a short moment. "No, Kash was with me all morning." She had put two and two together in just a second and she decided that she wasn't going to lie... She knew they weren't together.
It got quiet for a long moment as Stevie's heart started pounding. She sank back, a feeling of dread washing over her. "Will you be honest with me?" She glanced over at Elise, who just gave her a little nod. "Do you think he's cheating?" She had tried not to go to that place, but it had felt like she was on a roller coaster of lies and drinking that she couldn't find the exist for.
"Why would you think that?"
Her eyes fell to the floor, lips curling up. "He's been acting different and I can just tell that something's changed."
"Don't do that, Stevie." Elise warned instantly. "He adores you." She added, certain of herself.
Just as she opened her mouth to reply, the sound of the side door opening cut her off. "Baby?" Lindsey half shouted, seating his keys on the counter as he ventured through the house.
"I'm in here," She piped up, eyes melting into Elise's, silently telling her that their conversation was over.
"We have about ten minutes to soak up the quiet before all those crazy kids start rolling in." He chuckled, stepping into the living room just be met by both women. "Looks like one already made it." He teased, hands falling on his wife's shoulders as he leaned down to kiss her head.
Elise stuck her tongue out playfully, rolling her eyes a little. "I was just telling your wife how beautiful she looks today." She mentioned, throwing the spotlight back at Stevie.
He looked down, a grin on his face. "She's very beautiful." He assured, lightly patting her arm.
She just laughed as she pushed herself up to head into the kitchen. "Can you order the pizzas?" She asked, leading the way. "I'm really tired and I think I just need to take a nap." She didn't feel like entertaining, not even Crosby and Lucy... she figured she'd be seeing a lot of them in the months following anyway.
"Are you feeling okay?" He asked.
Her eyes grew wide as her jaw settled. "I'm fine." She snapped. "I just have a lot on my mind." She didn't understand how everyone was acting so normal... her life was about to change forever in just a day and everyone else was worried about what they were going to eat.
"I'll come check on you in a little while."
