July 1999
Lindsey had been gone for nearly three weeks now. Stevie was....well, she was falling apart. The only thing that kept her going was her children. Max needed his mother and Lizzie needed her to stay strong enough to carry for her another month.
Her own mother was currently staying with her to help out with Max when Lindsey didn't have him. They still hadn't really faced the press yet, as there was enough distress and frustration going on with the break up. At this point, all their dirty laundry was out anyway. The press even got word of their break up.
When Lizzie was here and the time was right, they would sit down and be honest about everything. Until then, it was more than Stevie could handle.
Today was a rough day. Stevie was by herself; her mother had gone to get some last minute things for the nursery and Max would not stop crying for his father. Stevie hated calling Lindsey. It was painfully awkward and he was back to living with Kristen and Will.
"Do you want to snuggle with mommy?" She asks her crying son.
He wipes his eyes, "daddy."
Stevie sighs and picks up the phone. She dials the familiar number and Lindsey picks up after only two rings.
"Hello?"
Stevie clears her throat, "hey."
"Hey, is everything okay?" He asks, sounding surprised to hear from her.
"Yeah....well, no. Max is crying for you and has been for the past hour. I can't seem to comfort him. He just wants you," she explains, holding Max against her and rocking him gently.
"Oh....well, I wish I could be there. Kristen and I got a babysitter for Will and we were getting ready to go out," he says.
Stevie doesn't say anything for a moment; the shock of his refusal to come to his son hitting her hard, "okay. That's alright; I understand."
"Let me talk to him," Lindsey says.
She puts the phone against Max's ear, letting him hear his father's voice. For a moment he stops crying, seemingly soothed by whatever Lindsey is saying to him. Max snuggles closer to Stevie's chest and closes his eyes.
She puts the phone back to her ear and whispers, "thank you. It worked. Have fun on your date."
Stevie doesn't give him time to respond before she hangs up. She sits back against the headboard of her bed, holding Max, too afraid to move and wake him.
Lindsey was going out with Kristen. On a date. What the hell? Stevie and Kristen were supposed to be friends. Why would she agree to go out with Lindsey? More importantly, how could he be ready to date so soon after their breakup? How could he even focus on dating when they were about to have a baby in a month?
Selfishly, Stevie couldn't help but wonder if she was that easy to get over. After everything they'd been through; they were about to have their second child. Hadn't they been in love? They were finally back together and they worked so hard to get there. All that counseling they had been through to get their relationship on track was for nothing. She knew it was mostly her fault. No, it was all her fault. She hadn't been treating Lindsey like he deserved because she couldn't let go of the past, which was apparently something no amount of counseling could help her get through.
Stevie fell asleep with Max. At some point her mother came in to take the baby from her and when she awoke she dragged herself out of bed to shower and change her clothes. She made her way to the kitchen, ignoring her mother's protests about being out of bed.
