Descending the stairs, Stevie allowed a very light sigh to escape her. "She's asleep." She announced, tired eyes melting right into Lindsey's as she hit the bottom of the steps.
It had been a long night- a very, very long night. The emergency room kept Evee for hours, running tons of tests, even though Stevie had told them that she was allergic to peanuts... She told Lucy that too weeks earlier. And then they had to make sure everything had settled down before they finally let them take her home. But by then, it was three in the morning and exhausted was probably an understatement.
The whole night was just a nightmare, it really was. Lindsey told Stevie on the way there that they weren't going to speak to Lucy or her parents- they didn't deserve to even be acknowledged. And he stuck by his word- he didn't even look at them, that's how mad he was.
"I knew we shouldn't have let her go with them." Lindsey was so fed up with everyone and everything- he felt like drinking an entire bottle of scotch and crashing in his studio for the night.
"She's okay, dad." Kash was sitting on the piano bench, hardly even able to keep his eyes open at that point.
Levy, Janie, Kash and Elise had spent all night in the ER with them, even though Stevie had continuously told them to go home and go to bed... they wouldn't listen, like usual.
"Yeah," he nodded as he let off an unenthusiastic shrug. "This time." He rolled his eyes, not at all impressed with any of them at the moment.
"Come on, pops." Levy pinched the bridge of his nose, not in the mood to listen to the older man's antics that early in the morning.
"I told you, Stevie." Lindsey pointed an index finger right at his wife, who was still lingering close to the railing of the staircase. "I told you not to let her go with them, and now look!" He shouted, cold blue storms burning into her tear filled orbs.
"She's fine, Linds." Stevie whispered, a little more embarrassed that she was getting yelled at in front of their children more than anything else.
"Dad," Levy's voice shifted- he was now warning him to chill out before it got out of hand. "Don't talk to her like that." He was so tired- his eyes were literally burning, but that didn't mean he couldn't conjure up a little anger if he really had to.
"Go home." Lindsey reached out, yanking open the front door for the kids. "All of you, go home." He held out his hand, showing them the way out.
"Lindsey, stop it." Stevie couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him that upset- it been a lot of years. "Settle down, before you wake her up." She blinked a couple of times, trying hard to hide how upset she had gotten.
That was the last thing she needed- Levy realizing his father had already made her cry.
Glancing around the room, Lindsey let out a soft sigh as he closed the door gently. "I'm going to bed." He mumbled, venturing through the foyer and down the hallway to get to the safety of his studio.
Swallowing hard, Stevie bit down on her bottom lip. "We'll be okay, kids." She assured as she gave Levy a soft wink, just make him feel better about leaving. "Go home and get some sleep."
~
Holding onto Evee's hand, Stevie led the way down the sidewalk.
"Mimi, look." She pulled on her hand, pointing towards the neighbors rose bush as they continued to journey down the street.
"Those are so pretty, aren't they?" Stevie asked, a soft smile tugging at the corners of her mouth a moment later.
Nodding her head, she kept her grandmothers fingers laced with hers. "They're almost as pretty as you." Evee only said that because that was what Lindsey always told the older woman... And she knew that it made her smile, no matter what.
"I love you, sweet girl." Stevie's hand combed through her curls lightly as a soft sigh escaped her.
"Why didn't papa come with us?" She wondered, looking up at her grandmother just in time to hit a bump in the sidewalk, which caused her to hit the pavement instantly.
"Evee!" Stevie reached down, picking the little girl up off the ground quickly. "Oh my gosh." Her hand met her forehead as she helped her granddaughter sit down on the sidewalk.
"Mimi..." she whined, tears rolling down her cheeks as they both looked at her scuffed up knees.
Scooping her up, Stevie's heart was pounding as she hurried back to their home. "We'll get it cleaned up and get a bandage, okay? It's okay." She said it to assure Ev, but she was also trying to tell herself that as well.
They couldn't catch a break, not for one single second it seemed.
"Mimi, calm down." Evee was upset, but she wasn't nearly as upset as Stevie had gotten... "Take a breath." Her eyes were wide as she demonstrated how exactly to take a breath.
Chuckling lightly, she kissed the side of the baby's head as she pushed open the front door. "Thank you."
~
Laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, Lindsey thought about how much he hated the color of the walls in that studio... It was so blah.
"Lindsey?" Stevie's voice made him jump up, grabbing the half empty bottle of vodka off the stand as quick as possible. "Honey, can we talk?" She whispered, leaning up against the door on the other side.
He had hardly come out of that room since their argument a couple of nights earlier... He had even taken to sleeping down there so he could avoid her at night. Of course, Lindsey was present during the day- only because they were still meeting with the lawyers and preparing for their days in court... But if it didn't have to do with the baby, he was right back in his room, locked away.
Stuffing the bottle behind his pillow, he leaned back into it before he replied. "You can come in, baby." He wasn't necessarily mad at her- he didn't have a reason to be, but he also needed to drink and she couldn't know, so... He did what all good husband do, and hid it from her.
Stepping into the room, she let off a little smile. "I miss my cuddle bug." Stevie lingered, biting down on her lower lip softly.
She didn't want to argue- she actually really wanted to hug him.
But then he blinked... it was that long blink- the kind of blink that people only do when they're having a hard time seeing. He had double vision. "I-"
"You've been drinking." It wasn't a question- it was a statement.
They'd been married for far too long for him to get away with much.
"No..." shaking his head, he half smirked. "Me? Drinking? No..." He was trying to act as normal as possible, but it wasn't working. "I stopped, remember?" Lindsey couldn't look her in the eyes, because that would really give him away... He still thought he was being slick at that point.
"Lindsey..." raising a brow, she put one foot in front of the other to move closer towards him. "Let me smell your breathe." She knew how that sounded- weird, but after forty- years it wasn't that odd, really.
Creasing a brow, he gave her a funny look. "No, that's sick." Lindsey shook his head, watching as she put one hand on her hip.
"You promised me that you would stop." She was more sad, not so much mad... He couldn't even do that for them. "Lindsey, if I catch you drinking one more time before everything is settled, I will leave you." That pained her to say it, but she couldn't lose that little girl... At some point she had to pick.
"You wouldn't." He would have never said anything like that sober, no matter how mad he was at her.
"Watch me."
