With her elbow resting on the table and her forehead in her hand, she stared down at the stack of papers in front of her.
It was two hours after closing and once the staff was out the door for the night, it was her time to sit down in the dining room to go over the weekly bills... they were all stacking up quickly.
"Oh, my gosh." She whispered, rubbing her tired eyes as she shifted in her chair and picked up her glass of wine.
It was after midnight, and since she was so short staffed, she'd been there since ten that morning... Waiting tables, helping in the kitchen, seating customers and even doing some of the dishes at the end of the dinner rush.
It was nights like those, where she wondered if her dreams of owning a restaurant was really worth it anymore... sometimes it felt more like a nightmare.
"My girl..." his voice crept through the room, causing her to flinch instantly. "Didn't mean to startle you." He chuckled, watching as she turned around in the wooden dining room chair slowly.
With the most gentle smile on a sweet face, her eyes lit up at the sight of her husband, carrying a dozen roses in one hand and a single lit candle in the other. "Hi..." she wasn't necessarily surprised to see him, but she was surprised that he came bearing such gifts.
Many times, if he knew it was just her that was there to close the restaurant, he'd come in, not only to help her with the last minute tasks that needed to be done, but to also make sure that she was alright... Something about her locking up and walking out to her car in the middle of the night, all alone just didn't settle well with him.
Lindsey smirked softly, setting the stick candle down on the table as he leaned in to kiss the top of her head. "Happy anniversary, baby." He said in a low tone as he patted her shoulder lightly.
With a really soft smile, her face turned a light shade of red as she glanced over at the clock on the wall. "It's been our anniversary for fifteen minutes..." Stevie announced, tiny butterflies forming in the very pit of her stomach.
He smirked, shrugging a shoulder. "The earlier we start celebrating, the longer it lasts." Lindsey mentioned, staring down into her eyes as she carefully took the vase out of his hand.
"Such a charmer..." She slipped her arm around his neck, giving him a soft kiss before he stood back up.
"Anything for you." He winked as a sigh followed his words. "What are we working on here?" He wondered, picking up a piece of her scattered computer paper to see where they were at in their night.
That was how she spent every Saturday, and while he didn't love the restaurant scene, he loved her, so it was worth it.
"We'll be out of here in time for some witching hour pancakes at the diner." He teased, taking a seat right next to her as picked up one of the five pens she had on the table.
She sat up in her chair, pouring more red wine into her glass and handing it over to him. "Happy anniversary, honey." Stevie whispered, biting down on her bottom lip as she watched him get down to work right away.
He had been in the studio all morning, finishing up a couple of demos, before he headed off to spend the afternoon at football practice with their two oldest sons... And now here he was, sitting there with her, well into the night, helping run the business that she had devoted her entire life to.
Thankful was an understatement.
"Oh, baby..." his hand met her leg from under the table, softly squeezing her thigh. "You've given me the best 21 years." Lindsey really believed that, even though their marriage had never been totally perfect... it was still special, especially to him.
She slipped her fingers in his, thumb running back and forth along his knuckles as she stared over at him. "You and me..."
~~~
They snuck in through the front door of their home just a little after four in the morning. They had spent over two hours in Denny's, laughing over everything and anything, while they recounted some of the better moments in their marriage... After 21 years, they had some stories.
"Shh," Stevie had been giggling the better half of the evening, but only after she cracked open the second bottle of wine at the restaurant.
He had his hand on her hip, smiling softly as she leaned back into him. "Let's get your sweater off..." his voice was so soft as he carefully worked on pulling her arms out of the sleeves.
"I'm so tried." She admitted, even though it was incredibly obvious... She should have been home and in bed hours earlier.
"We'll get your shoes off and get you upstairs, Steph." He had always been very patient with her, but in moments like that, it really came through.
"I-" she was getting ready to tell him something when the sound of loud yelling made her flinch.
"Give me the remote!" One of the boys shouted from the living room, where the three kids had spent the evening.
Sighing softly, she tilted her head to the side to look up at her husband. "Let's just go to bed...?" She didn't want to deal with it- she didn't have it in herself that night and she really hoped he didn't either.
He kissed her lips softly, finding it nearly impossible to ignore the sound of all three of their sons in the other room- yelling.
"Mom!" Levy flew into the room on his socks, holding out his hands in a very flustered manner. "Tell Crosby to stop being a-"
"Stop it." Lindsey cut him off before he got the chance to name call. "Enough of this." He held out his free hand, still holding his wife with the other. "Give me the remote and go to bed." His voice was stern, not at all in the mood to listen to their fighting at that hour.
Creasing a brow, Crosby let out a soft scoff as he lingered in the doorway. "They were watching something stupid and-"
"Go to bed." He repeated, tossing the television remote on the stand once Levy handed it over.
There was a couple of mumbled complaints, eye rolls and the boys even shoved each other back and forth on their way up the stairs, but within just seconds, they were all slamming their bedroom doors for the night.
Biting down on her bottom lip, Stevie stayed exactly where she was- leaning back into him to be held as she stared at the rug. "Can we go back out to the car?" She wanted to be joking, but she wasn't.
He chuckled softly, tired eyes falling closed as she ran the tips of her nails up and down his arm. "God, I love you."
