With a soft smile on her face, Barbara pulled Lindsey in for a quick hug as soon as he stepped through the front door. "We're so glad you could make it." She announced in a quiet tone.
It was late in the evening- a little after ten when he had finally arrived. It isn't that easy to get a flight last minute on Christmas Eve- no matter what connections you might have. He had tried early in the morning, not too long after their midnight chat, but it wasn't simple and the only flight that they had departing into the entire state of Arizona that day wasn't until the evening... He figured getting in late was better than not going at all.
"It's good to see you." He assured with a weak smile. "Everyone's asleep?" He wondered, setting his bag down on the chair in the foyer to take off his shoes.
"We had a busy day, so the kids went to bed early and TeeDee fell asleep on the couch." She half chuckled, holding out her hand to take his jacket. "She spent a couple of hours wrapping gifts." She added.
With a soft smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, Lindsey nodded his head. "How's Lola been?" He hadn't really spoken to Stevie, just that once and they didn't talk much about any of the children... He just wanted to make sure she wasn't being too difficult, especially for her mother.
Barbara couldn't help but let out a very sheepish laugh. "She's giving you a run for your money, isn't she?" She had to tease, only because she knew that it wasn't easy... she had also raised a little rebel. "She'll understand one day, honey." She assured as her hand met his shoulder to give it a gentle squeeze.
"I hope so..." he lingered with a soft shrug.
"It'll all pass, I promise." She added with a faint wink.
She wasn't just talking about the kids... she was talking about everything.
"Now, I'm going to bed, so I'll see you in the morning." She gave him a gentle push towards the living room door, silently telling him to get a move on.
"Goodnight, mom." He pulled her in for another hug, suddenly aware that she knew what he had done as well.
But Barbara wasn't one of those people that instantly made all of her children's problems, her problems. She knew it wasn't moral of Lindsey to have an affair, but she also knew that it couldn't have been easy to deal with even half the stuff that they had dealt with.
People cope differently and it wasn't her place to judge that.
"Goodnight, sweetheart." She replied as she trailed through the foyer. "I hope you sleep well." She added before she disappeared down the hall.
He stood there for a minute, one hand in his pants pocket while he ran the other through his hair. And then, without much more thought, Lindsey finally headed into the living room, eyes instantly traveling to his wife.
She was on the couch, wrapped up in a throw blanket, fast asleep. She was beautiful, she really was.
He stared at her for a moment, realizing just how much he had missed her... She was everything to him, even on the bad days.
Grabbing the remote off the coffee table, he turned off the television, which caused an immediate silence to flood the room.
"Linds?" She whispered as she slowly started pushing herself up.
Turning back, he cracked a little grin. "I didn't mean to wake you up." He really didn't, but he was kind of happy that he accidentally did.
Reaching over, she pulled the cord on the lamp to illuminate the room just a tad. "Don't worry about it. I tried to stay up to make sure you got here okay." She waved a hand as she slid up the couch a little further. "Was Karen there on time to get you?" She wondered, considering the fact that traffic was probably insane on Christmas Eve.
"Yeah and then we argued all the way back about which way was quicker." He rolled his eyes playfully, both of them laughing a little.
"Of course you did." She shook her head, even though she wasn't surprised at all. "Did you have a good flight? I bet it was crazy." Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Stevie sank back into the cushion.
Nodding his head, he set the remote back down before he replied. "This is definitely the highlight of it." He admitted as he watched a sweet smile dance across her pretty face.
"I'm glad you came to be with us..." her eyes followed him to the accent chair across the room, where he took a seat.
"I wouldn't wanna be anywhere than right here, with you and the kids." He really wouldn't have.
Lindsey had taken it all for granted and he realized that- thankfully not too late. After all, he had a beautiful wife- one he didn't always see eye- to- eye with but she was still perfect... She was still the only woman who had ever understood everything about him. And he really didn't always appreciate it, especially thinking the grass would be greener on the other side.
He regretted that more than anything.
Her heart started pounding as she slowly slipped off the couch. "Thank you," she dropped the blanket to the floor, revealing her matching pajama set as she ventured his way.
He stood up as well, a sigh of relief immediately escaping him when she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in to be held. "I'm so sorry." He whispered, pushing some of her long blonde hair out of the way to press a couple of kisses to her temple.
One hand met his cheek as her eyes stayed glued to his. "I thought we weren't going to talk about it anymore..." she scanned over his face, seeing a look of pure regret lingering in his eyes. "We've had a really tough couple of years," she lingered, "We owe each other more happy ones, Lindsey." She really believed that they could move on from it all... Actually, she knew that they could, because they'd been through far worse together.
His forehead met hers as he closed his eyes for a moment. "You're all I've ever wanted." His voice was low.
Laughing softly, she nodded her head very lightly. "I'm glad, because you're stuck with me." She teased, running the tips of her fingers up and down the back of his neck.
"I love you so much." He cradled her face in one hand as his other stayed wrapped around her waist.
Pushing herself up on her tiptoes, her lips instantly locked with his. "I love you."
