Stevie hardly slept at all that first night. She tossed and turned for hours, before she finally decided to just get up and make breakfast.
It had been a long time since she'd had all of her children under one roof for any real length of time. Of course, they did dinner and the occasional sleep over, but for the most part, everyone really had their own lives. So to have them all together was a delight for her, even though they made it hard to feel that, sometimes.
"It smells like heaven." Crew was the first awake- fresh blueberry muffins was enough to get him out of bed at the crack of dawn.
She was sitting at the counter, a cup of coffee in hand and her journal resting in front of her. "Good morning, sunshine." Stevie flipped it closed, tucking her pen in safely as she watched him trail further into the room.
"Good morning, mama." He kissed the side of her head as he snuck a muffin off the plate on the counter. "Sleep well?" He knew the answer, but he thought he'd be nice and ask, anyway.
"Not at all." She admitted with a soft shake of her head.
He nodded, leaning into the counter across from her. "Maybe it's all the secrets..." Crews voice grew softer, blue eyes piercing into her brown orbs. "Weighing heavy on your mind, maybe?" His words caused her heart to sink into the pit of her stomach.
A part of her figured that the first one to sense something was off would have been Lola... That girl could smell trouble from a thousand miles away.
Pursing her lips to one side, she raised a brow. "What do you mean?" She wondered, shifting in her chair out of built up nerves.
He shrugged a shoulder, eyes falling towards the dessert on the napkin as he worked on pulling off the paper. "I haven't figured it out yet, totally." He admitted, but he still sounded determined. "Somethings going on though..." he lingered, a soft chuckle escaping him. "I mean, we haven't had a family vacation with Karen in..." he paused for a second, trying to even recall. "Not since Clancy was old enough to stay home by herself." Crew wasn't oblivious... He wasn't a total genius, but he also wasn't stupid, either. "And her niece, too?" He gave her a funny look, that smirk still on his face.
He reminded her so much of Lindsey, it was actually obnoxious at times.
"Crew..." the way his name left her mouth was almost scary. "Don't..." she warned, shaking her head softly.
He held up a hand in defense. "You know I'm always on your side, okay?" When he said that, he was serious.
No one held a candle to his mother... Never had, never could.
"But just know, I'm here..." he added, reaching out to take her hand in his. "But only because you make the best pancakes and blueberry muffins in the world." He teased, which caused her giggle, half heartedly.
The sound of feet hitting the hardwood floor and laughs echoing down the hallway is what caused them both to turn towards the door.
"Dad!" Clancy's loud laughs filled the room before she entered the kitchen, her father right in front of her.
They had raced all the way down the stairs, down the hall and into the kitchen.
"He pushed me!" She was laughing so hard, she let out a deep snort.
"I did not." He shook his head, laughing as well.
"You both cheated." Lola was not far behind, though she hadn't taken part in the race, she did walk behind with her baby in her arms.
Laughing softly, Stevie gave her sons hand a soft squeeze, silently thanking him for keeping whatever he knew between them. "You have to let the old man win." She joked, a soft smile on her face as her eyes met Lindsey's.
She didn't like arguing with him, or even being off on the wrong foot... She wanted them to be happy, of course, but it wasn't always easy.
Sometimes things just got unbearable and seeing eye-to- eye wasn't always as simple as she wished it could be.
Smirking softly, Lindsey leaned into the counter close to her. "I'll let the old part slide." He chuckled, feeling her slip her hand around his waist.
"Old, but handsome." Stevie grinned lightly, leaning into him to be held.
He leaned down, pressing his lips to hers as he pulled her in a little closer.
"Eww!" All three of the kids wrinkled their noses in unison, even a fake gagging noise to add to the drama.
Stevie and Lindsey both chuckled, pulling away slowly. "Eat breakfast." She mumbled, motioning towards the counter as she grabbed her cup off the marble.
Soon the entire kitchen was full of rowdy- talkative people. They were all going back and forth on what they wanted to spend the day doing- no one really agreeing on anything in particular.
The only person who didn't have an opinion, didn't say a single word except for good morning, and hardly ate anything was Vivian, who was sitting at the very end of the island, staring down at her plate.
Stevie couldn't decide if she was shy, or just not a very chatty person... She was leaning more towards shy, especially in that scene.
The other kids were all comfortable- they were talking loud, very opinionated, not afraid to disagree, or make fun of each other.
It kind of made Stevie sad.
"I was thinking we could do some shopping." She mentioned, which caused an over dramatic groan from all three of the men sitting at the table.
"Mom..." Crew creased a brow, a look of disgust written across his face.
"Not you." She rolled her eyes playfully, shaking her head lightly. "No one wants to go shopping with any of you." She added, motioning towards Jason, Crew and Lindsey.
"I like to shop." Lola grinned, cradling her cup of hot coffee close to her lips.
"You already know, I'm in." Cassidy agreed, leaning back into the counter to catch herself.
"And what about you, honey?" Stevie wasn't really worried about the other girls- she knew that was something those three could agree on.
Vivian, on the other hand, she wasn't too sure about. She didn't know what she liked to do in her free time, but she did know how self conscious she was... That just didn't go unnoticed by the older woman and it definitely didn't set well with her, either.
"Are you okay with doing some shopping?" She wondered.
She paused for a second, swallowing hard when she realized all eyes were suddenly on her. "Umm," her heart was racing a million miles a minute as she stared at Clancy, Lola, Karen, Cassidy, and then back to Stevie. "That sounds like fun." She assured, trying hard not to let the tears sting her eyes, but also keep them at bay.
"Good." Stevie nodded, another big smile on her face as she glanced around the room.
Her eyes met Lindsey's almost immediately, a look of such admiration written across his face... Some days he felt extra lucky to have her as his wife. "Thank you," he mouthed, giving Stevie a soft wink.
