Pushing his food around his plate, Lindsey's eyes scanned over the table, where everyone was sitting, completely silent.
None of them could remember the last time they had all eaten dinner together, at the kitchen table. Usually the kids ate randomly- whenever they got home from school and finished their homework. While Lindsey normally disappeared into his studio with dinner and Stevie had a tendency to eat much later in the evening, long after everyone else had settled down for the night.
It was just odd that Stevie's one request for the evening was to sit down and eat together... Even Clancy thought it was kind of strange.
"When I went to Katie's house after school, her mommy made us sit at the table, too." She announced, breaking the awkward silence that had only consisted of light chewing and the wall clock ticking.
"This is what normal families do, Clancy." Lola raised a brow, bringing her glass of juice up to her lips to take a sip. "When we were normal, we did this too." She added.
Setting her fork down on her glass plate with a clink, Stevie cleared her throat as she shifted in her seat from how uncomfortable it felt. It was just so overwhelming to her.
"We're normal." Lindsey didn't even bother looking up from his plate- it was easier to lie that way.
"Don't listen to that, Clancy. We aren't normal." Lola argued with a soft shake of her head.
Finally looking up, Lindsey's eyes met the set of identical blue ones. "Enough, seriously." He didn't want to hear anymore of the bullshit...
No family's perfect- they all have their flaws, whether it's visible or hidden under the surface... their's was a little bit of both.
"Crew, did you have a good day at school?" Stevie was trying- she really was.
She really wanted to ignore the harsh comments made by their oldest, and pretend like she was actually enjoying their time together. But it was hard for her- harder than it should have been, that's for sure.
"Umm," glancing up from his food, he gave her a simple nod. "Yeah, it was pretty good." He assured, not at all interested in telling his mother that he had gotten in trouble for skipping his seventh hour, yet again... He was perfectly okay with her finding out when she got the letter on the mail. "But my hockey team is looking for a new coach this season, so-"
"Dad should coach it." Lola cut him off mid sentence, a soft, mischievous grin trailing across her face.
"I have to work." Lindsey stated quickly, not at all enthused with that idea.
"You work during the day." She pointed out. "And hockey practice doesn't even start until like six." Crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowed.
She was waiting for another excuse- another stupid reason not to do what she felt was right.
Nodding her head, Stevie finally glanced up. "I think that would be nice for the two of you." Her voice was gentle- far nicer than it usually was.
"Seriously?" His hands hit the table with a thud. "I actually leave the house during the day." Holding a hand to his chest, he stared at his wife with an unimpressed expression trailing across his face.
"Be nice." Clancy whispered, worried that the calm wouldn't last much longer.
"You leave the house all day, but I'm not sure what you do." Stevie mentioned before she took a sip of her wine.
Pushing himself away from the table abruptly, he tossed his napkin on his plate. "Drink some more, Steph. That's what you do best." He was being hurtful- he knew that, but he really didn't care in that particular moment.
"Is spending time with your family really that bad?" She said that like she was some super mom- always there, always one hundred percent supportive and she wasn't.
His jaw settled, eyes burning into hers from across the long dining room table. "If I coach the team, you have to come to every game." He raised a brow, almost certain she wouldn't agree to that.
Biting down on her lower lip, she thought about it for a long moment. "Fine." That was a big promise- one of those promises that wasn't always easy to keep.
~~~
"I don't know what's gotten into her." He was sitting on the couch, holding a beer in one hand as he stared blankly at the television. "I mean, one day we're only speaking because we're forced to and then the next, she's making dinner and acting..." he lingered for a long moment, trying to think of the right word. "Acting like we should be some big, happy family." His eyes traveled towards the living room doorway, watching as the younger woman headed back in from the tiny kitchen.
With one hand on her hip, Carrie leaned into the doorframe. "I don't know, Lindsey." She half shrugged, not sure what he was expecting her to say.
Stevie was mysterious. She was one of those people that only allowed you in if you were invited... It wasn't easy to read her, not in the slightest.
Sighing heavily, his head fell against the back of the sofa. "Has she said anything to you that's been out of the ordinary?" He knew that his wife shared personal stuff with the nanny... Carrie had told him.
She thought about it for a second and then, she shook her head. "She's just sad, ya know?" Cradling a glass of red wine in one hand, the twenty- five year old slipped further into the room. "It sounds to me like she's trying to work things out." She added with a soft smile.
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he grew incredibly quiet in just that split second. "No one tells you just how confusing marriage is." He really thought that before they had signed on for the whole for better or worse thing that they should have been given a pamphlet, or an instruction booklet... but no, that would have been too easy.
"Lindsey, you have to decide what you want in life." She was standing right in the center of the room, deep blue eyes melting right into his. "If you don't want to be married to her anymore, you have to be the one to make that first step towards a divorce."
