It was later that evening, after Stevie had picked up Evee from the mall, made dinner, and even watched a movie with her daughter before she had found herself sitting on the couch in the basement with Lindsey.
It was something they did quite often- snuck downstairs in the middle of the night to just spend a little time alone together... Something they both still craved more often than not, even after a million years of marriage.
"I think that sounds good, baby." She was laying on the leather couch, wrapped up in a blanket as her eyes stayed glued on her husband, who was sitting on the floor just a couple of feet away.
Smirking softly, Lindsey let off a subtle wink. "You're just saying that." He had his guitar in his lap as he sat crisscross applesauce on the fur rug.
She slowly turned on her side to face him, a sweet grin trailing across her gorgeous face the moment her eyes melted into his. "Did you have fun with the kids today?" She wondered, having just realized that she didn't ask him that at dinner a couple of hours earlier.
"Oh, it was good." He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders softly. "I would have loved it if my girl had tagged along." Lindsey knew Stevie wasn't interested in golf... hell, he wasn't even interested in golf, but it kept him relevant with his kids, which was a plus.
Biting down on her lower lip, Stevie kept that smile on her face. "You're just saying that." She repeated the same words he'd used just a moment before, only because she knew it was true... He wouldn't have wanted her out there with him- asking questions, not paying enough attention and especially pestering him about taking it slow- it would have driven him totally crazy.
"Did you have fun at lunch with Becky and Carol?" He wondered as he slowly pushed himself up off the floor to trail towards the couch.
Stevie smirked lightly as she slid back for him to slip in next to her. "It was good, yeah." She lied, tossing part of her blanket over him.
He slid one arm around her waist, kissing the top of her head as she snuggled into his chest a little more. "Where'd you go?" Lindsey asked, running his fingers through her long blonde stands softly.
"Umm," patting his arm, she glanced up to look at him. "We went to that little restaurant, the one Becky always talks about." Stevie shrugged lightly, rubbing his shoulder as her head fell back on his chest.
"Nice." His voice was low, eyes growing incredibly heavy as he continued to play with her hair.
"So, did either of the boys talk about Crosby?" She had been thinking about that all evening, but she was just too nervous to ask until they were alone.
It had been months since she'd seen her oldest, not since he'd left for tour and totally stopped calling home... He never checked in on them, or at least not with his mother, which always worried her to no extent.
She just wanted to know that he was doing alright, that was all.
Lindsey let out a deep sigh, pressing his lips to her forehead once more. "Levy said he had tried calling a couple of days ago and Kara told him that she'd have him call back..." he lingered, closing his eyes as he took in the sound of her soft breathing. "And he never called." He stated, which wasn't at all surprising to his wife. "But he's fine, Steph. He's just busy." Lindsey always did that- he always tried to assure her as best he could. "Don't let it bother you." He added.
Crosby didn't want to call home, and there nothing anyone could do about that, even though his father really did try to get him to understand where Stevie was coming from when she left voicemails, messages and even contemplated buying tickets to a show just to see him... But there was no getting through to him, there never really was.
With a soft sigh, her heart sank instantly as she reached up to feel his cheek. "I'm so thankful that you're mine." She bit down on her lower lip, secretly happy to know that he cared enough to make promises that he wasn't actually sure about.
Crosby wasn't that busy, he just didn't want to talk to his mother and they both knew that.
"I love you, baby." He whispered as he gave her a gentle squeeze.
~
Reaching out with one hand, Stevie turned down the radio in the car to talk. "I'm going to the restaurant for awhile this afternoon, but Janie said that she'd pick you up." Her eyes were glued on the road as the early morning sun beat down. "Is that okay?" She glanced over, only to realize her daughter had been too captivated by her cell phone to hear what she was saying. "Earth to Everleigh." She let out a little laugh, shaking her head a moment later.
"Oh, yeah." She nodded, not even sure what her mom had said. "That's cool." Evee kind of shrugged her shoulders as her eyes drifted towards the window.
"Is something on your mind?" Stevie never wanted to overstep- not in the slightest, but she also didn't want Evee to think her silence went unheard either.
It was hard to be a mom, it really was... But it felt a hundred times worse at Stevie's age.
"Was I adopted?" She said it so mundane, it almost seemed like a normal question.
Without really thinking about it, Stevie giggled softly. "Adopted? Why would you think that you're adopted?" It really hadn't processed in her mind, not in that exact moment at least.
Swallowing hard, Evee waved it off. "Never mind." She shrugged her shoulders, turning up the music once more in hopes Stevie would just drop it.
But of course, like most mothers- she didn't. "Why would you ask that?" She turned the music off again, finally looking over to see those blue eyes... the blue eyes that were identical to Lindsey's and all of her sons.
"I don't want to talk about it anymore." She mumbled, pushing open the car door as soon as they'd come to a complete stop outside the school. "I'll see you tonight, mom."
