She jolted at the sound of the loud cries filling the room, eyes adjusting to the darkness as soon as she sat up. "Shh, baby." She whispered, pulling the comforter back to toss her legs over the edge of the bed.
It was only five in the morning- the storm that had started brewing the night before in full effect with the wind howling and lightening cracking right outside the windows... Stevie wasn't shocked to get an early morning wake up call, not with storms like that.
But before she even got the chance to stand, Lanes cries subsided and the sound of footsteps traveled down the hallway. "He's okay." Lindsey had their baby wrapped in a blanket, holding a bottle as he rocked him gently.
Letting out a soft sigh, she cracked a little grin as she watched him take a seat on his side of their bed. "Hi..." Stevie pushed herself up on her knees, crawling through the blankets to get the other side. "Hi, sweet boy." She peaked over Lindsey's shoulder, eyes instantly melting into Lanes deep blue orbs as he drank his bottle.
"Hi, mama." Lindsey used his best baby voice, trying to mimic what he imagined Lane was thinking.
Tossing her head back, she let out a deep giggle as she slipped one arm around his shoulder from behind. "Good morning, Linds." She whispered, leaving a couple of kisses on his cheek.
He smiled softly, turning his head to the side to look at her out of the corner of his eye. "Good morning, pretty woman." His voice was gentle as he stared into those brown eyes. "Did you sleep okay?" He wondered, feeling her lightly rub his neck with one hand.
Nodding lightly, the side of her head met his as she stared down at Lane. "I did." She admitted, very thankful for him in moments like that.
He was really proving to her that something had changed and this time around, things would be better. For instance, he was a saint through the night.
Lane wasn't nearly as fussy as the older two kids were, but some nights were worse than others... Typical life with a newborn. However, this time around, Lindsey was the first one up, letting Stevie lay in bed as he went next door to get their son out of his crib.
He was good at being a dad, which didn't surprise his wife one bit. She knew he had it in himself- he just had to try.
"Mommy? Daddy?" Lyrics little voice crept through the room as she lingered in the doorframe with her teddy bear in hand and a sad look written across her face.
"What's the matter, sweetie?" Lindsey creased a brow, motioning for her to come in.
"You alright?" Stevie sank back, holding out her hands for her daughter.
Shaking her head, Lyric used the bench at the foot of the bed to climb up. "I had a bad dream." She announced, brown eyes full of tears as she sank into her moms arms.
"Oh, no." Stevie frowned, kissing the top of her daughters head lightly.
"Hey..." Pierce was also standing in the doorway just a split second later, which caused everyone to glance up. "The storm is loud." He mumbled, trailing in further to sit with them.
"It's alright, buddy." Lindsey ruffled his sons curls softly, also feeling bad for both kids.
Stevie couldn't help but smile as she leaned back against the headboard with Lyric tucked under her arm. "We can watch a movie, maybe that'll cheer us up?" She was thankful that when they were scared- their parents were their safe place in the world.
She would do anything in her power to protect them from nightmares and bad storms... so would their dad.
The older two kids agreed right away, which made both of their parents chuckle.
So with that, Lindsey kept Lane on his chest, Lyric curled into her moms side and Pierce sat at the end of the bed, everyones eyes glued on the television screen, where a classic movie that they had all seen a million times played.
And suddenly the bad dream was forgotten, the storm seemed like it had settled and the only thing that really mattered to any of them, was their time together... It had never been that simple.
"You get prettier every day." Lindsey had been staring at his wife for a couple of minutes, falling in love all over again.
Tilting her head to look at him, she let out a little giggle. "I am so proud of you, Lindsey." She whispered, being that all three of the kids had fallen back to sleep. "You are incredible at this." She added, knowing that he needed to hear it... All parents need the reminder on the occasion and he deserved it.
He bit down on the inside of his cheek, blue eyes melting into her brown orbs. "I'm sorry for failing you, Steph." He had never, not in all their years of marriage, apologized for something like that. "You have always been the greatest thing in my life and I took you for granted for a long time." He admitted something that he normally wouldn't, but it was true.
There had been many times when she didn't get the recognition that she deserved, but he promised himself that he wouldn't let that happen again.
With tears in her eyes, she reached out slowly to take his cheek in her hand. "We're here now." She shook her head, not wanting him to feel bad for things they couldn't change.
She hadn't always been the best either.
"The four of you are my entire life." He told her, even though he had made it pretty obvious.
