"No wine?" Creasing a brow, Donna took a seat across the patio table.
"No, thank you." Stevie smiled softly, shaking her head as her eyes wandered towards the swimming pool.
It was her Friday to host and it felt really tiring for some reason. She had always looked forward to it, but in the weeks leading up, she had started making excuses not to go. It was hard to see them doing things she couldn't do, but it was even harder not being able to tell them what was going on in her life.
She wanted to, she did, but she also wasn't ready for all the questions and concerns that would come after the initial shock. Besides, according to her doctor, she was only measuring in at six weeks... she had plenty of time to share the news. But until then, it would just be her little secret.
"You didn't have wine with us last week either." Carol mentioned, a soft tone lingering in her voice.
They had spent the last couple of weeks tossing comments and concerns back and forth already. It was out of character for Stevie to just disappear for a couple of days, or cancel on them, especially multiple weeks in a row.... they weren't trying to gossip, but they were a little worried about her.
She was different and that didn't go unnoticed by her closest friends.
Stevie chuckled, giving them all a simple shrug. "I'm just doing a little detox." She wasn't lying... she was detoxing, for an entire nine months.
"Just checking." Becky assured, a soft wink following her words.
They had promised each other that they wouldn't push her to tell them what was going on- they figured she'd eventually come around on her own.
"Thank you, but I promise, there is nothing to be worried about." She didn't want to talk about it any longer, so she quickly threw the attention back on Carol. "Anyway, how was your date the other night? Was he nice?" She smirked, shifting in her seat as she suddenly grew extremely uncomfortable.
"Well when I was looking out my window, I saw him come to the front door, and he looked like a cutie." Donna swirled her wine glass as she started picking apart her plate that had different lunch meats from the charcuterie board Stevie had made that morning.
Carol began talking about the man that she'd started seeing, but it played like background music for Stevie, who had started to feel her stomach churn as the scent of salami and olives burned her nostrils. "I'll be right back." She cut Carol off, abruptly pushing the chair out to hurry into the house.
She yanked the sliding glass door open, basically jumping over the dog and shoes sitting on the mat.
"You alright?" Lindsey was standing in the kitchen... eating salami.
Shaking her head, she held up a hand to silence him as she ran into the bathroom to get sick... it had been a long time since she had felt that. Twenty- six years to be exact and she didn't miss it, not at all.
"Steph?" He bent down next to her, looking away as he twisted his hands in her curls to pull them back.
It was only a minute later when she fell back against the tub, head pounding and heart racing. She hadn't felt sick up until that moment... It was smooth sailing and then suddenly all hell broke loose.
"That happened so quick." She whispered, head hitting the wall softly.
He sighed, leaning back against the door as his stayed glued on her. She looked tired, really tired and it had literally just begun... she still had almost eight months before the baby was due.
"I have to get up." She added, holding out her arms lazily to get his assistance.
Lindsey could feel his heart sink as he bent down to help her up off the floor. "You're alright, baby." He wasn't certain of that, but it sounded good and it was what he needed to hear... even if it was him saying it.
She melted into him once she was up, head meeting his chest for a long moment. "I know," she knew she was fine, but it was still an adjustment... she was certain, at her age, that she would have never found herself in that predicament. "I need to go back outside." She knew that if she sat around in the house too much longer, questions would start to arise.
Little did she know, they already had.
"I'll be right here if you need anything." He kissed the side of her head before she slipped out of his arms to quickly brush her teeth.
He left her alone for a minute, heading back into the kitchen to find the house phone. He waited until she slipped back outside to see her friends before he dialed the number.
He was a little upset... maybe a lot of upset, actually.
"Hello?" Lucy picked up on the first ring.
"Hey, is Crosby around?" Lindsey could feel his jaw settle as he glanced out the kitchen window, just to make sure Stevie had sat down alright.
"I can get him for you, is everything okay?" Her voice had grown sympathetic, hoping that he wasn't calling with bad news.
"Everything is fine." It wasn't, but he wasn't going to burden her with that... He was going to let Crosby know.
"Okay, one second." She shouted for him, making Lindsey flinch on the other end. "Please let me know if Stevie needs anything, okay?" She was trying, she really was. She wanted to be apart of it, but she wasn't sure she knew how.
"Yeah," he nodded as if she could see him.
There was a shuffle on the other end and then Crosby picked up. "Hey, pops." He had just talked to his father a couple of days earlier, so he was a little worried.
"Crosby, you need to stop calling me to ask about your mother." He had enough of it and he would have been damned if he let those boys walk all over her more than they already had. "She's doing something huge for you and you're still scared to talk to her? That's lame." He wasn't impressed, he never was when it came to stuff like that. "I think she would like to know that she's being appreciated for what she's doing." He wasn't going to lecture him, but he also wasn't going to take his side.... His wife deserved better.
Crosby let out a soft sigh, eyes dropping as a moment of silence filled both ends of the phone. "I know and I'll call her."
