"I love it." Elise followed her mother- in- law down the hallway of the hotel, reaching out to casually help her pull the silk white blouse down a little more.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Stevie turned around to make eye contact. "I won't be able to walk by the end of this." One hand met her stomach, while the other held onto her bottle of water and heartburn tablets... the only two things keeping her going.
She was twenty- six weeks pregnant, but it felt more like a hundred. Her feet were huge, her stomach had popped and the only time she was even slightly comfortable was when she was laying flat on her back.
"It'll be fun. You'll be fine." Lucy mumbled, trailing close to Elise as she watched Stevie carefully.
Lucy was a little sick of the complaining- she felt like all Stevie did was get sick and then lay around on a heating pad because her back hurt so bad... she thought she was being far too sensitive. After all, she still had quite a bit to go before the baby arrived and she had done it three times before. It wasn't her first rodeo.
Stevie couldn't help but roll her eyes as she led the way. "Yeah, I'll be happy when it's over." She assured as they all stepped into the elevator to head down to the lobby.
It had been a long couple of weeks for Stevie and her tolerance level had begun to wear thin... for everyone, especially after Lindsey went back on the road. He had started calling less- a lot less and when they did speak on the phone, it was really rushed. But that was always how it was when he was on the road, even when she was with him and the boys traveling, she hardly ever spent time with him. It wasn't unusual, but when she felt incredibly out of place and uncomfortable- he was the only person she wanted to be with and he couldn't be there. It was hard for her.
"Hey," Kash greeted the women as soon as the double doors opened, a gentle smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Is pops on his way?" Levy had a cocktail in one hand as he wrapped the other arm around his mother.
Sinking into his side, Stevie shrugged her shoulders softly. "I think I'm just going to ride with you, since I haven't heard from him since early this morning." She felt better with Levy and Kash in the city, she really did- she felt safer in many ways. "Anyway," Stevie didn't want to talk about it, so as they headed for the parking garage, she decided to change the topic. "How's my dog?" She wandered, a little smirk trailing across her face.
Patting her arm, Levy chuckled softly. "Janie is taking great of it." He didn't even know if the dog was a boy or a girl, let alone what it's name was.
"My hero." She gave him another little grin as she watched him open the passenger side door for her to slip into the rental car.
"Anything for my mama." Levy teased before he shut the door and crawled into the backseat with Elise.
It wasn't long before Stevie found herself sitting on the edge of her seat, flinching each time Kash slammed on the breaks in backed up traffic as they headed towards the venue. He was almost as bad a driver as his father and Stevie mentioned that a couple of times, in between her casually pointing out the break lights in front of them every now and then just in case... it was quite scary.
And of course, they spent the entire car ride chatting about the baby shower- the one Stevie specifically asked to plan the weekend Lindsey was in Chicago, which didn't go over well with Lucy. She threw a huge fit that Stevie wasn't far enough long to have the baby shower and she felt her mother- in- law was even being a little selfish. Lindsey didn't have to be there, it was supposed to be just women anyway, but since Stevie decided to change her plans and ask her boys to come, Lucy invited her father as well... It was only fair that way.
