May 1999
Stevie whipped around quickly, as did Lindsey, "excuse me? What did you just say to me?"
He looks at her, arms cross and in a stance that told her he wouldn't be backing down this time. "I said we either give the kids my last name or I can go and you can have them all to yourself; because clearly that's what you want."
Tears started forming in her eyes but she wouldn't let them fall, "what the hell are you taking about?"
"I don't know, Stephanie. Something is going on here. Either you're still too afraid to let me in or you're embarrassed that I'm the father of our children; but not letting them take my name and have this one little part of me? It hurts. You're hurting me." He replies.
"I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to protect our kids."
"No. You're being selfish, because you're not an idiot. You know that we did nothing wrong when we had either of these babies. You're just fucking afraid." Lindsey wasn't yelling anymore, he'd grown too tired of that.
Stevie scoffs at him, "after that stunt you pulled last night, why shouldn't I be? You just walked right out the door on Max and Lizzie and me. That's not how this works. You say you want to get married, Lindsey; but that's not how marriage works either. You can't just run away when things get bad."
"Yeah, and you can't force me out of your life. I swear when we fight it's like you're shoving me out the door. Do you even love me? Hell, do you even like me or are you just with me for the kids?" He looks at her so seriously when he asks and she can see a bit of fear in his eyes.
"You know what? Fuck. You. You don't get to come in here giving me ultimatums about changing our kids' names or you'll leave. If you want to go then just fucking go! I'm sorry I trapped you with the son you tried so hard to give me!" She yells.
"That's it? You just want me to go?" He asks.
"Well I certainly don't want you in my house when clearly you've got better fucking things to do than be a father! I told you when this all started that we didn't need you and that's not any less true now. I can raise my kids on my own without some deadbeat father who doesn't give a shit."
He takes a slight step closer to her and for a moment she can see that old spark of anger in his eyes; the one she hadn't seen since he left the band. "Don't you dare call me a deadbeat father. I love our kids with everything I have."
She stands her ground, feeling as strong as ever, "really? I wouldn't know because you don't act like it."
"I do everything I can for them," he says, clenching his fists.
"Like what?" She asks defiantly.
"I provide for them!"
"Actually, I don't know if you realize this, but I provide for them too and am perfectly capable to keep doing so for the rest of their lives."
"You can't just take my kids away from me because you're being a selfish bitch!" This earns him a hard slap across the face.
"Call me a bitch again, Lindsey. Then see what happens. Get out of my house."
He's holding his cheeks, his eye watering from the sting, "what?"
"I want you to go," she repeats.
"Where?"
"I honestly do not give a fuck."
He looks at her one more time as if he's making sure this is absolutely what she wants. He nods a little and grabs his keys before kissing Max on the head and walking out of the house.
Steve stands there, not saying anything, just watching him say goodbye to their son and go. She rests her hands protectively over her stomach. When she feels Lizzie kicking, that's finally when she breaks down. She runs to the door expecting to see Lindsey's car gone.
Instead he was sitting on the porch swing waiting for her, "I was wondering how long that was going to take."
She sits down next to him, "you're a prick."
"You didn't really want me to go," he pauses before he speaks again, "If you wanted me gone so badly then why be with me?" She doesn't have to look at him to know that he's smirking
"I'm with you because I love you and having two children with you only makes me love you more," she replies.
"Then why can't we be honest about who they are?" He asks.
Stevie sighs, "people will speculate and ask questions and I don't want that for our children. They'll have to live their rest of their lives with that."
"There's a million things we can do to set the record straight, Steph. We could go on TV and do an interview. We could call up a magazine and do an interview with them."
She scoots closer on the swing and rests her head on his chest, "you hate doing things like that."
"I'll suffer through it for you and our children." He says, kissing the tip of her nose.
Stevie looks up at him, "Lindsey, I'll go along with this plan, but if you ever walk out on us again, this is over and you're not coming back."
He nods, "deal. I know that's a bad habit of mine that needs to change immediately."
"Yes, it does. You want to marry me? Okay, I'll marry you; but only if you can go one year without walking out on me during a fight." Now it was her turn to give an ultimatum.
"I can do that," Lindsey says.
"We'll see. I want Kristen to be part of this interview too; however we decide to do it. The world should hear her side of the story too. We don't want them to think we're hiding anything."
"I don't know if she'd be comfortable with that, Steph." He responds.
"Just let me handle it."
"Why do you have to be so fucking stubborn?" Lindsey sighs.
Stevie laughs, "oh, I'm the stubborn one?"
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes! I am total pushover when it comes to you and you know it and you always get your way. That's not how relationships are supposed to work, you know," she keeps talking to him as she leads him inside. She's making dinner and he watches the way she gracefully moves around the kitchen to set up.
He watches her with a smile, "you are but I have to wear you down first."
"You know, I'm pregnant. I shouldn't even be doing this, but do you offer to help? Nope."
Lindsey looks at her a little guiltily, "actually, you know what angel? You're absolutely right this time. I've been a shitty partner. I've barely been helping you out at all. Let me finish up her. Go sit with Max and then when I'm done I'll come rub your back."
She smiles so brightly at him, "really?"
"Of course." He says with a smile. If that was all it took to make her happy he'd do all the chores and give all the back rubs she needed for the next three months.
