Whatever It Takes

Part 17

Taking a few deep breaths first, Lindsey slid the key into the lock and opened the front door. He listened for any kind of sound, but the house was completely quiet. Guessing that Avery was in her room and Stevie in theirs, Lindsey let out the breath he was holding, thinking that he wasn't about to get yelled at right away.

"Get in here." 

Lindsey jumped at the sound of Stevie's voice coming from the family room. He clutched at his chest then wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. Stevie was on the couch with her feet up under a blanket, a book in her hands, which he doubted she was reading.

"Hey." Lindsey smiled nervously, giving her an awkward wave. "I'm sorry-"

"You should be." Stevie nodded, not even letting him apologize for anything in particular. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"I know, I'm-"

"Worrying is not good for me right now, Lindsey." Stevie interrupted him again with a pointed look. "Avery too." She added. "Your daughter kept asking, where you were, until eventually she tired herself out and fell asleep." She emphasized, possibly exaggerating the situation. 

"Stevie, I said, I'm sorry." Lindsey repeated. "It was stupid. I should have at least found a way to call you and let you know that I was okay."

"You should have." Stevie agreed. "But Mick called instead at a time of night, when I should have been peacefully resting because as you know that's what I'm supposed to be doing until-"

"I get it." Lindsey threw his arms up in the air, they then landed heavily against his legs. "I didn't consider you, Avery or the baby. I'm sorry." He apologized again. 

"You don't get to interrupt me." Stevie shook her head, pointing at herself. "You were going out for a couple of hours, that's what you said! That's why I kept telling you it was okay. You weren't supposed to party until the early hours of the morning and not come home. Those days should be behind you. Us."

"Oh my God." Lindsey whispered, pinching the bridge of his nose. Stevie's raised voice was bringing back his headache that had only just started going away. "It was one night and I only went because you did say it was okay!"

"Because I thought that you were going to see Mick, catch up, maybe have a few drinks and come back to your family." Stevie shrugged, folding her arms.

"You make it sound like I was doing God knows what." Lindsey scoffed, doing his best to ignore the nausea slowly becoming more intense. 

"That's right. I don't know what you were up to." Stevie hesitated for a short moment, but she was angry and slightly insecure, so she asked, needing to know. "Who else was with you?"

"What do you mean?" Lindsey frowned, having already erased Cheryl from his mind.

"Do not fucking lie to me, Lindsey." Stevie narrowed her eyes at him. "When Mick called, I heard some woman cackling in the background."

It took him a minute before his face relaxed as he shook his head. "I had nothing to do with it. Her." Lindsey swore. "That was all Mick. He brought someone home along with me. I promise, I was out cold. I wouldn't have been able to even if I wanted-" He knew, he shouldn't have said that as soon as he opened his mouth. "That came out wrong! Stevie, please, you gotta believe me."

"Why should I? You also promised that you'd be home in a couple of hours and you didn't come back, so." She tried to appear pissed off more than anything else, but she wasn't really fooling him.

Quickly realizing that yelling back wasn't the way to go, Lindsey moved over closer to Stevie, he knelt right beside her. "I can swear on anything- I swear on my life that I didn't do anything with anyone." Somewhat carefully, he reached for her hand. "Stevie, I love you with all of my heart. I would never ever do something like that. We're a family, we're going to have another baby soon. I don't need more than what I already have. And what I have is pretty damn perfect." He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, which she then withdrew. 

Letting him suffer in silence for a moment, Stevie reminded herself that getting so worked up wasn't in fact good for her. She lay one hand on her belly and picked up her book with the other. "I don't want you so close, you stink."

Her response was promising and feeling relieved, Lindsey moved to stand up. "I'll go jump in the shower." He closed his eyes for a second, hoping the dizziness would go away soon. "I should probably get a few more hours of sleep too."

"In the guest room." Stevie said as he turned to leave.

"Huh?" Lindsey frowned, looking back at her. "I can't sleep in our bed?"

"No." Stevie shook her head. "It's not our bed, not today. Or tonight." She added. "I love you, but I'm still mad at you."

Sighing heavily, Lindsey hung his head low as he walked out of the room. At least, she still loved him.