Some Things Never Change

Relax, baby

The next few days passed by slowly. Stevie was still a mess since she had found out what her mother had done to her. And Sara was completely disappointed in her grandmother who had, beside her mother, always been an example to her. Both of them still couldn't believe how Barbara could do this to them for all those years. There was an unbearable tension in their home, not between the three of them but they were all very occupied with their own thoughts and feelings. Unlike Stevie had imagined it, Lindsey had been the one who had taken the outcome of Barbara's secret by far the best. He had shed a few sad and angry tears but he, unlike Stevie, understood where Barbara was coming from and why she had acted the way she had done.

After a few days, he had decided it was the best to move on. They couldn't change what had happened and should instead focus on their future and be happy about finally being together and looking forward what was going to come for them next. Stevie couldn't deal with his new positive attitude at all. She was still too much of a drama queen to let her mother get away with her actions just that easily. Lindsey found himself calming the two most important women in his life down on a regular basis. At least one of them freaked out once or twice a day. It was pretty nerve-wracking but he knew both of them needed time to adjust to what had happened.

Stevie was mostly angry and furious, she would throw a tantrum, screaming and yelling when Barbara once more tried to get to talk to her on the phone. Sara on the other hand, was much more sensitive than Stevie. She locked herself and her dog in her bedroom and wouldn't show up for hours, even though Lindsey heard her crying. Barbara had really hurt her.

Jess had driven Barbara to their home at least three times to make his wife, daughter and grandchild talk about what had happened. He hated tension in his family and had always been in need of harmony. But Stevie had forbidden Lindsey to open up the door while Sara had yelled at Barbara to “shut up and go” through closed doors. Both of them were anything but ready to talk to her.

It was Friday afternoon, nearly two weeks since Barbara's secret had been revealed, Sara had diappeared to a friend of hers to escape the unpleasant situation and Stevie was still anything but easy to handle. Lindsey was sitting in their bed, his back against the headboard, playing his guitar, when Stevie rushed into the room. He sighed as he saw her tensed up face.

“She doesn't stop fucking calling!”, she yelled.

She was Barbara. Stevie had refused to call her by her name or any other motherly term since the very day she had found out what Barbara had done.

“Steph, calm down.”

“What?!”

“I said, calm down, baby. Relax!”

“Lindsey, are you fucking kidding me?! You want me to relax?! To calm down? I cannot calm the fuck down, right now!”

“Baby, it's been nearly two weeks..”

“Exactly, TWO WEEKS!!! And that's why I can't calm down!”

He sighed again, heavier this time. He loved her more than anything but Stevie's negative mood lately was disturbing and he had tried everything to calm her down. Nothing had helped. He had yelled, had been thoughtful and caring, had been quiet and held her, had been the talker, the listener, anything. You call it, he had tried it. Nothing worked.

“Steph, come here!”, he said softly, put his guitar down on the ground, opened a space between his legs and held his hand out for her.

“No, Lindsey!”

“Steph, please! Come here!”

“What for?!”

“I'll rub your back, make you relax!”, it was the very last idea he had.