After he dropped her off at her townhouse, Lindsey headed back to the hotel for the night, though it was getting awfully boring there.
He had lived alone for a while, but suddenly the silence was engulfing him and he wasn't sure he liked it... it was too quiet, almost.
When he was alone, he started thinking about all the things he'd done and mistakes he'd made along the way... He could have been better.
Luckily, after a couple of drinks, he fell asleep and morning came quick.
Stevie had invited him over, and told him that he was more than welcome to come as early as he'd like. She didn't want him to get too comfortable, but she also didn't want him to feel like he was alone in an unfamiliar place.
No matter what, they still had each other, even if their relationship was on the rocks. Her home would always be open to him... nothing would change that.
"Good morning, Linds." Stevie was in the living room, sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee in hand and both kids curled up right next to her.
"Good morning, Lindsey." Lyric repeated, eyes still sleepy as she watched him trail into the room.
"Good morning," Pierce piped in, showing off a toothless smile as he moved off the sofa to play with the cars on the floor.
Lindsey chuckled, loving that scene more than he had realized. "Everyone sleep good?" He wondered, sitting down in the chair.
Stevie's house was cozy and warm. She had throw blankets stacked in a basket, shawls draped over lamps, books on the table and candles lit. She had always known how to make a house a home, but this place felt so special.
It wasn't extravagant- not like their homes in California had been, but she didn't need that anymore. She didn't want anything over the top- she wanted somewhere that made her feel safe.
So that little townhouse, tucked away on a street with all old people, was her place to make it happen.
"Yeah," Lyric nodded her head, staring over at him intently.
"Do you wanna do a puzzle?" Pierce asked, mind already racing at only ten in the morning.
Stevie let out a little laugh, pushing herself up off the couch as she shook her head. "Let Lindsey get a cup of coffee first, okay?" Her eyes met her husbands, motioning for him to follow her into the kitchen.
Her days of motherhood had really changed her. She used to stay up all night long and sleep most of the day away, but that wasn't viable anymore. These days, she was up with the birds and her head hit the pillow before midnight most of the time. And that morning was no different.
She was up early- earlier than normal, because her mind wouldn't stop. So she made danishes, muffins and pancakes... She was antsy, but she always was when it came to Lindsey.
It was his words the night before that really had her losing sleep. He told her that he had begun to regret not fighter harder for her, which stung... a lot.
When she'd first left, she'd hoped that he'd come to France to beg for her forgiveness... It sounds cheesy, she knew that, but that's what she wanted. She wanted to feel heard in their marriage and when he didn't even pick up the phone to call, that was the end for her.
So for him, to show up out of the blue, almost three years later and tell her that he should have fought harder wasn't easy to hear... It was confusing and honestly, she didn't appreciate it.
But she wasn't going to argue with him- not right before the holidays and definitely not in front of the kids.
"Help yourself to breakfast." She pulled out a plate from the cabinet, setting it down on the island for him. "I'll get you some coffee." She added, wrapping her silk black robe around herself tighter to reach up and grab a cup.
He smirked softly, watching as she poured some of the steaming beverage into a mug. "Do you remember the last Christmas Eve we spent together?" Lindsey had been thinking of so much from the past, it was really beginning to haunt him.
Smiling softly, she slid the cup across the counter after she'd poured the perfect amount of creamer in... she could remember everything, even how he liked his coffee. "Lyric had cried all night long, and I was so exhausted." She recalled, staring at him intently. "You drove me up the coast to that restaurant I used to love and we sat by the live band that was playing on the patio..." she lingered, slouching to one side as this little hint of emotion hit her.
She hardly ever thought about anything like that... It just didn't cross her mind anymore, but that didn't mean that she didn't hold it in a special place. She kept those memories tucked in there, even though they were behind some others.
"We stayed out all night long, snuck back in at sunrise..." she chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief.
It wasn't all bad, all the time... No, there was some good moments, but in life, sometimes the bad just out weighs them, and theirs did.
"First night we'd gone out after you had Lyric..." he lingered, also finding that to be one of the happier memories.
"Yeah," she nodded. "And the last time we went out, too." Stevie recalled with a soft laugh. "Oh, but things happen." She shrugged, not at all in the mood to dwell on things she couldn't change.
Their marriage was rough and to fixate on it would make her miserable, so she didn't. She never had.
He sighed softly, biting down on the inside of his cheek as he brought the coffee up to his lips.
"Anyway," she didn't want a moment of silence to wash over them, because that would mean thinking and she didn't want him to think, not about their relationship. "I'm making dinner tonight for a couple of the neighbors and the kids have already been asking if you were eating with us..." it made her happy that they felt connected to him, but it also worried her.
"I couldn't think of anywhere else I'd rather be."
