Minutiae

Yesterdays

She was holding back her impulse to just rip the present's wrapping paper herself for her younger cousin and thus was very proud. Lindsey's firm possessive hand on her thigh helped, of course. Stevie wondered if she even knew he was doing that. Certainly, for the past half hour, his attention had solely been on the small child currently standing between his legs, playing with the chain around her boyfriend's neck. She found it endearing, really, how absorbed he'd become in keeping Lydia happy.

"C'mon, Jeremy, just tear it!" she encouraged, a hand on the boy's back to keep him upright. He'd been walking for a few weeks now, his parents had said, but he still seemed pretty unsteady on his feet from the amount of times she'd seen him crash-landing on his ass today. Thankfully, he did as requested and soon was sitting at her feet, playing with some colored bricks, attempting to build a tower. She turned to her boyfriend to check he was coping - this was the first big family bash he'd attended, after all,  and she'd been a bit concerned that he'd feel uncomfortable or awkward. He'd barely had to make conversation, though. Apparently, his ability to keep a small toddler happily chortling away at him had endeared him to the entire family. And her too, if she were being honest.

Stevie had never exactly been one of those young girls who thought up a million names for the babies she planned on having but, certainly, watching Lindsey play with the cute blue-eyed, blonde-haired little girl made her stomach clench and her fingers itch to touch him.

"Linds, you alright?"

"Never better," he grinned, trying to stop Lydia from pulling out his dark curls. "Apparently, the little one likes my hair almost as much as you do."

"Impossible," she said, laughing as he winced. "She's stronger than you'd think."

Lindsey chuckled and lifted the little girl into his arms, cuddling her tight, her hands in his so they weren't grabbing at him. "I'm stronger," he said firmly. And so he was. And even more adorable than she'd previously thought. She wondered if, if *they* ever had a baby, whether it would get Lindsey's beautiful blue eyes.

She hoped so.