Broken Promises

Part 23

Lindsey started questioning his decision the second he had stepped through the door of his temporary condo. Hopefully temporary. It was decorated in a very minimalistic, modern way and it felt like just a place, not a home. While Lindsey sometimes thought Stevie enjoyed buying little knick-knacks and placing them all around the house too much, now he realized he was missing all the tiny statues and whatever else covering every surface. However, he had convinced himself that he needed this. Back from the tour, not having to think about the upcoming show or an appearance, Lindsey believed that he needed to spend some time by himself.

Trying to explain it to Adam and Ella wasn't easy. Stevie and Lindsey didn't want to tell them the exact reason why their father had suddenly decided to move in somewhere else. Ella didn't take it well. She yelled at Lindsey that he was selfish, that he was leaving her mother, who was pregnant, alone and scared of each new day, afraid that something might go wrong again and he wasn't going to be there again. Stevie did her best to defend Lindsey, claiming full responsibility, but that didn't really help. Adam just hoped that whatever his parents were going through, they would be able to work it out.

As Lindsey sat in front of the TV in the living area of his condo, he looked around and it upset him. Several empty beer bottles on the table, a half eaten pizza still in the box. Silence surrounding him. Stevie wasn't there, she wasn't in the kitchen cooking a meal for their family. He couldn't hear Ella, walking from one room into the other, her phone pressed to her ear as she talked to one of her friends. He couldn't hear Adam, yelling in his room at the computer screen after he'd either lost or won at some game. He couldn't be near his wife and see his unborn child grow. Did he truly want to exchange all that for whatever he had chosen right now? Was this really the life he wanted?

Suddenly, Lindsey remembered the reason behind all of this. He frowned. Stevie was to blame, no question about it, but she wasn't in it alone after all. She could have said, no. Couldn't she? What if she couldn't? What if she was afraid of the consequences? What if in a sick twisted way she was trying to protect him from finding out by continuing with the affair? He sighed and cocked his head back, he rubbed at his tired eyes. He didn't believe everything that Don had told him, but he also wasn't sure what the truth was either. 

His phone brought Lindsey back from his thoughts. He picked it up and saw a message from Stevie. He bit into his bottom lip, considering whether he should open it. They hadn't had any contact for nearly two weeks and in all honesty, he wanted to grab his car keys and go see her.

'I've got an ultrasound tomorrow. I'd love for you to be there.'

His thumb hovered above the screen. 'Is everything alright?'

'Yeah, it's because I had that scare, the doctor wants to check on the baby more often.' Another text came right away. 'And it's also because I'm old.'

Lindsey laughed lightly, shaking his head. 'You are not old.'

'At least one of us thinks so.' 

Taking a moment, Lindsey responded. 'What time should I pick you up?'