Lotto

19

June 6, 1978

Lindsey was home late. He usually averages getting home around 3:30 while he's working at the Record Store with John and right now it was about 4:45 and she was starting to panic but she went right ahead and started making dinner until she heard a loud thud and a scream. She ran to the sound and saw that Freya had missed the last step on the stairs and had fallen. 

"Oh, baby let me look at you." Stevie squats down and examines her child. 

"You're alright just a bit banged up, do you want me to kiss your knee?" Stevie asks her finger running lightly over the skinned up knee.

Freya just shakes her head and latches around Stevie's neck climbing onto her thighs. Stevie faultered for a bit not expecting the weight on her legs but then Freya situated herself around Stevie's hips and she sighed before standing up. It would be difficult shake and baking the chicken with Freya on her hip but the little girl wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. She was shaking the little bag when Lindsey came walking into the kitchen.

"Where have you been you scared the hell out of me for being late." She pouts when she sees him.

"Daddy Late." Freya adds.

"I know, I'm late because I went to the bank. Steph look." He shows her a pay stub for 150 dollars. 

"Lindsey...." She looks up at him.

"John pays five dollars an hour, he paid me for the three hours I was there on Wednesday, and he paid me for Thursday, Friday and Saturday and for this week. This is what's left after tax. I put 100 in our account and I have fifty dollars on me. It'll be more next paycheck because I'll be getting paid like you do, bi-weekly." Lindsey explains.

"Honey, I'm proud of you." Stevie gets on her tip toes and kisses him. 

"It feels great to have a steady job you know." He sighs.

"I'm sure it does, but can you please take her, I can't really cook dinner with her on my hip." Stevie sighs.

"Sure, are you watching mama cook dinner?" He asks pulling Freya into his arms. 

"No daddy, I fells." 

"You fell? What happened?" 

"Missed step."

"That's why we always tell you to hold the rungs of the stairs when you go down them." Lindsey sighs.

"Was tryna hold Ginny, she was in my room and left so I followed her." Freya explains.

"I see. Come on do you want to watch some cartoons?" Lindsey asks. She just nods her head and he kisses her cheek before taking her into the living room. 

"So you're the cause of all this?" Stevie asks looking at the small dog who's begging for food at her feet.

Ginny just yaps and Stevie sighs before going over to the backdoor and opening it, the dog quickly going out too potty. 

***

Stevie jolted awake and she sat up quickly, her abrupt motion startling Lindsey because she had been laying on his chest in his arms. And then she saw the little girl in her footie jammies at Stevie's side of the bed.

"Sweet Girl what's wrong?" Stevie asks.

"Scary dweam." She sniffles. Stevie wasn't going to ask what dreams she had so she just sighed and laid back down pulling Freya onto her side of the bed and she cradles her against her stomach and chest, Lindsey also rolls over and starts spooning Stevie, one hand resting on Stevie's lower stomach the other caressing Freya's hair. 

"Momma, what's a baby?" Freya asks just as Lindsey and Stevie were drifting.

"What do you mean what's a baby?" Stevie asks.

"I heard Aunt Liza talking about how she was having a baby and she didn't feel good when I was playin with Sherri Sunday." 

"Um well, you're a baby, Daddy and I are babies. Sit up for a second." Stevie sighs sitting up and turning her bedside table on Lindsey whining and covering his eyes with his pillow because he had to be up in a few hours. 

Stevie leaned on top of Lindsey and plucked the little book from the drawer in his night stand. She opened it and the first page was of Stevie pregnant. She wasn't aware that picture had been taken she was laying on the lounger by the pool, had to have been August. She had her floppy hat on and sunglasses and she was reading a magazine. She was dressed in a yellow bikini and her belly bump was showing. 

"See that's momma, the reason my belly is round like that is because you were in there." 

"You ate me!" She gasps.

"No munchkin I didn't eat you. You...Lindsey how do I..." She starts.

"A seed, daddy gave mommy a seed that only daddies can give mommies. We had to plant the seed in her belly and you grew from the seed in Mom's belly" Lindsey sighs knowing he definitely wasn't getting any more sleep until Freya fell asleep. 

"So you grew and you grew in my belly until you were ready to come out," Stevie flips the page to a picture that Lindsey took of Freya in the hospital. Stevie was just laying in her bra the blanket over her hips and Freya was laying on her chest. Stevie did skin to skin with her for at least two hours every day while she was in the hospital and that was one of the days. 

"Mommy your belly looks like my knee." She points out. A healthy bruise had formed on Freya's knee where she fell and the impact of the doctor and nurses pushing on her stomach to deliver the placenta quite hard had actually made her stomach bruise badly in little fist marks.

"I know, because you were in my belly they had to...they had to give me a shot in the belly so they could perform a special procedure to get you out."  It wasn't necessarily a lie, Stevie had gotten a shot of Pitocin in her thigh after she was born and she had an IV in her hand. 

"That little tiny person right there is you. You were a newborn baby." Stevie points out. "You'll always be my baby you just get bigger as you get older." Stevie explains.

"Oh, Aunt Liza's going to get a round belly like that?"

"If she's having a baby yeah she is." Stevie looks at Lindsey and he just shrugs making a mental note to call Greg when he got off that afternoon. 

"Can you have another baby so I can have someone to play with?"

"Oh um...daddy and I aren't having another baby, You're all we need and there's plenty of kids for you to play with at school and when we go to the park." Stevie explains.

"Oh, Otay." she looks down sadly and Lindsey just laughs at Stevie rolling onto his side and trying to close his eyes again. 

"Come on, let's look at the picture until you fall asleep." Stevie changes the subject flipping the page in the photo album.