Minutiae

Todays

She'd been more than a little nervous about this during the past week and hated, really hated, the sinking feeling low in her stomach that told her this was a huge mistake. Surely they needed to be meeting on neutral territory. Yes, the past year or so had been incredibly peaceful between the two of them (she clings to the memories of some of the phone calls they've had recently) and maybe she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop but...

"Stevie!"

And suddenly Stella's arms were tight around her waist and she was being smothered in a thousand words about school and horse-riding and tennis and some new music video that's just 'SO AMAZING!' and god knows what else. Lindsey's oldest daughter wasn't far behind with a sweet greeting and hug, and Stevie swore she'd grown an extra few inches since she last saw her. Will was nowhere to be seen but she wasn't surprised at that judging by Lindsey's recent complaints that he spent ALL his time with his friends now and not his family. She could hear her bandmate's pout through the phone that particular evening and had made a concerted effort not to laugh loudly at the whine in his voice.

Speaking of...

He was waiting for her, standing on the top step, leaning against the doorframe. Taking a deep breath, she removed Leelee's arms from her body after a final hug and trudged (no, pranced spryly? floated like a butterfly? dragged her feet along the ground like weights were attached to them?) towards the girls' father. With a hesitant but genuine smile for him, she walked straight into his open arms, closing her eyes and burying her head in his soft T-shirt as she felt his hands low on her back. It was like being home again.

"Stevie," he said softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head (and had he already gotten a tangle in her hair with those nimble, searching fingers of his?). "I'm so glad you're here. I've missed seeing you."

And the sincerity in his voice almost made her cry.