They spent the next two weeks going about their normal lives, almost like nothing had ever happened. Lucy and Crosby went back to Chicago, Lindsey was in the studio and Stevie spent a lot of time at the restaurant, trying to get back into the swing of things.
She wanted to feel like they had their lives back and a part of her kind of figured they had... she didn't feel any different after her couple of days in bed. She felt like herself and that's what kept her going.
However, no matter how fine she felt, things weren't just going to snap back and her entire family reminded her of that every chance they could. Lucy and Crosby tried to call to check up on her every so often- maybe twice a week. But they called Lindsey, which really didn't sit easy with Stevie. She knew it was hard for him- hell, it wasn't the easiest thing for her to do either, but she felt like he could have at least asked to speak to her.
It hurt her feelings in a lot of ways, but then again, she spent a lot of time trying her best to avoid those sort of emotions. She had promised herself, many years earlier, that she wouldn't let the way those boys spoke to her, or how they behaved make her feel like any less of a mother.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" He was standing outside the bathroom door, having just spent five minutes pacing around their bedroom.
She pulled open the door, causing him step back slowly. "Now we just wait." Stevie patted his chest lightly as she moved around him. "We have about ten minutes," sitting down on the edge of the bed, she watched as he trailed towards her.
He sat down right next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to pull her in. "You're incredible, Steph." He wanted her to know that he was proud of her, even if he worried about her.
She sighed, melting into his side instantly. "I'm worried that it's going to come back negative." She had thought about that all day long and she was dreading it.
"Your doctor told you not to get discouraged if you aren't pregnant this time around." Lindsey kissed the top of her head, rubbing her arm up and down to soothe her in some way.
Shaking her head softly, she could feel the tears full her eyes. "I don't want to do it again." She admitted, heart sinking down into the pit of her stomach.
Stevie had figured that if she was meant to do this, it would happen right away... She didn't think she could do another go around. She wasn't sure she had it in her.
He wrapped his other arm around her, giving her gentle squeeze. "Then you don't have to."
"Crosby will never speak to me again and you know that."
"You don't have to do anything for any of those boys, Stevie." He didn't feel like they owed their children anything. "We only had to take care of them until they could take care of themselves... we did that, our job is over." He shrugged, knowing that, that was really the truth. They only signed on for an eighteen year contract and their youngest was twenty- six. They were done raising kids. "We don't have to save them from everything and if they can't understand that, then so be it."
~
The sound of her heels hitting the tile floor caused him to sink down in his chair, chewing on the inside of his cheek out of nervousness. "Did she sound mad on the phone?" He asked the security guard, who was slouched down in the spinning chair across the room.
There were four of them sitting in a row, all waiting on their parents to arrive... they were all in deep shit and they knew it.
"Oh, yeah." He assured, a simple nod.
"Are you kidding me, Crosby?" Her words crept up on him like a nightmare, or a migraine... she was both of those things in his opinion.
Crosby couldn't help but roll his eyes as he sat back in his seat. "I would rather go to jail then go with her." He told the guard, which caused his friends to chuckle in return.
"Get up," Stevie hit the back of his chair, silently telling him that if he didn't get his ass up, she just might have left him there to hang out with the officers for awhile. "Thank you," she gave the guard a little smile as her son stood up and began a journey towards the door.
He had asked her early that morning if he could go to the mall with some of his friends... He rarely ever asked to do anything- he would usually just do whatever he wanted, even at seventeen. But since he'd been so polite, she had agreed to let him go, which like usual, she regretted in the end.
"I can't even trust you to go to the mall?" She was furious... she embarrassed to have gotten such a phone call at dinner. "Huh?" She caught the door right before it hit her, since holding it open for her was the last thing he was worried about.
He didn't say anything, instead he just yanked open the passenger side door and slid in.
"You really did it this time, dude." Levy was sitting in the backseat with Kash, having already listened to their mother panic all the way to there.
Crosby creased a brow, wrinkling up his nose a little. "Shut up." He shook his head, thinking about how his younger brother literally knew nothing about anything. He was just a kid, after all.
"Hush." Stevie's heart was pounding as she started the car. "Just tell me what happened, please." She felt like she was begging... she hated that.
"Can we really just not?" He wasn't enthused, not with her... not ever.
Biting down on her lower lip, she shook her head softly. "I can't do this." She whispered, eyes stuck on the road as they headed out of the mall parking lot.
"Then don't, because you aren't even good at it anyway." He was trying to hurt her feelings and nothing pained a parent more than their own child telling them they weren't ideal.
"You're an idiot, Crosby." Levy leaned forward, smacking him on the arm. "Be nice to her, or you can walk." He sounded just like his father when he said that.
"Stop, please." She held out her hand to silence them both... she couldn't listen to it.
Later that night, Stevie called the hotel in downtown Atlanta, where the band had played earlier in the evening. She broke down- she wanted him to come home and help her juggle the boys, but it was just unrealistic at the time. He was in the middle of a tour and still had another month on the road. But he told her that she could send Crosby out with him... She knew that was the only option, or else he would have caused more havoc in their home and it wasn't fair for the other boys.
~
"Baby?" His soft voice brought her back to reality. "It's been ten minutes."
"Right," she quickly pushed herself up, hurrying into the bathroom with him not far behind.
He leaned to one side of the doorframe, staring at her intently. "What is it?" He was a little anxious, but not nearly as much as she was.
She looked back up, eyes melting right into his. "They're all positive."
