"Not the mother, too." Lindsey tossed a hand out to his side as his other held onto his toothbrush.
Sighing softly, she shook her head. "We just have to be nice, Lindsey." Stevie was standing in front of her sink, staring at herself in the mirror as she leaned in to dab wrinkle cream under her eyes.
They had gotten home an hour earlier from dinner with their kids, which wasn't nearly as horrible as it could have been. Even though Crosby, nor Evee even spoke to their mother, it was still nice to have all the kids together... It made Stevie happy.
He creased a brow as he set his toothbrush down on the marble counter. "We have to be nice?" He scoffed lightly. "We've always been nice to those people-"
"Maybe we shouldn't refer to them as those people." She cut him off, a soft smile trailing across her face.
Lindsey rolled his eyes as he leaned into the counter to watch her brush her long blonde hair. "I don't think we've ever been unkind to them..." he protested. "I think we've actually been very understanding and..." he paused, trying to find the right words. "And tolerant of the bullshit." He concluded as he tossed his hand to his side lazily.
"I agree," she nodded as she fell back on her heel. "But we need to be supportive, too." Stevie had already had hours to think it over while they were at dinner- she had prepared herself for the conversation with her husband. "Evee wants to meet them, and I think it's only right that we keep an open mind." She added, eyes finally meeting his from half way across the bathroom.
He grew quiet for a moment, looking into those deep brown eyes before he replied... There was something about those orbs that just made him feel soft. "First time your feelings are hurt," he held up an index finger, pointing it at her. "I'm telling them all to fuck off." He warned with a gentle shrug.
Laughing softly, Stevie slowly trailed towards him. "Always trying to protect me." She whispered, slipping one arm around his shoulders as the other met his chest. "My man..." she lingered, teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she leaned into him to be held. "It'll be okay." She lightly rubbed his back, grazing her nails up and down.
His lips turned up as he pushed some blonde curls behind her ears. "Oh, how the tables have turned." He teased.
She chuckled lightly, nodding her head in agreement before she continued. Also," she lingered, eyes dropping to his chest. "I was thinking..." Stevie's fingers traced the collar of his shirt as she thought about how she was going to bring it up to him. "I should tell Evee the whole truth." It was time- she could feel it and she was hoping he wouldn't make it hard on her... "If she doesn't find out from me, she'll just find out from someone else and that wouldn't be fair." She quickly added after he'd grown quiet.
She knew her past with Lucy and her mother hadn't been the best, and with fear that they'd tell Everleigh something out of spite, she figured it was best that she told her daughter the truth, herself... Even though it broke her heart, she knew it was the right thing to do.
He let out a subtle sigh, looking down at her, she already knowing her mind was made up. "Are you okay?" He knew it couldn't have been easy.
"I'm okay." She assured, hand meting his cheek to lightly push herself up and give him a soft kiss. "I just remind myself that even if we have no one else... at least, we always have each other." She whispered against this mouth.
~~~
Early the next morning, before anyone else in the house had begun to stir, Stevie was already up with a cup of coffee in hand.
She hadn't been able to sleep too well the night before- something that wasn't totally uncommon for her, but had become much worse in the weeks prior.
"Good morning." Her voice was in a hushed tone as she stood in the dark kitchen, watching their housekeeper trail in.
"Good morning." The younger woman chuckled softly as she set her bag down on the chair. "It's so early..." she mentioned, motioning towards the clock on the stove that read just a little after five.
She usually got there early the couple of days she worked, only to get in and out before she had to deal with any of the chaos...
"I tossed and turned all night, so I just decided to stop trying." The blonde announced. "I made coffee, so help yourself." She added as she reached out to turn on the lights in a low dim.
"I bet you've had a stressful couple of days." She ventured towards the counter, opening a cabinet to pull out a mug.
Shrugging lightly, Stevie leaned back into the island. "I'm adjusting..." she chuckled, not sure if that was the truth, or if she was just being hopeful. "Anyway, don't worry about downstairs today..." she waved a hand lightly, not in the mood to talk about the ongoing drama that seemed to surround her family. "I made the mistake of going down there the other day, and...." she shook her head, a little laugh escaping her. "I can take care of it." She added with a playful eye roll.
The burnette paused for a second before she shook her head. "Don't worry, Stevie." She kindly protested. "I don't mind at all." She brought her cup up to her lips, hoping her boss would just accept that.
But of course, like always, it just wasn't that simple with Stevie.
"I'm actually missing a house phone, so don't worry, honey." She chuckled lightly as she carried her cup of coffee through the kitchen. "But wish me luck." She joked before she flicked on the stairwell light.
She didn't go down there much anymore- once in a blue moon when they got a moment alone, but other than that, she spent a lot of her time away from the studio... it was easier that way.
It was his passion to be hauled up down there, not hers.
"Okay..." she mumbled as she ventured into the room.
It wasn't that bad- only a couple of balled up t-shirts, sheet music scattered around, and some empty coffee cups... She'd seen it worse, that's for sure.
Bending down, she grabbed one of his shirts to toss it by the door before she headed for the sofa in search of the missing phone.
She looked around for a second- pushing some papers around the coffee table, then she moved on to the sofa.
And as soon as she pulled back one of the cushions- tucked as far under as possible was a glass bottle....
