Within the next month, Stevie really tried to push everything to the very back of her mind, not dwelling on things that she couldn't control or change.
She wasn't fully over any of it, but she did start to ponder the idea that maybe another baby really wasn't in their future and the dreams she'd been having were just a coincidence. Maybe she'd been thinking about it so much, it played over into this other universe that she'd created while she slept...
She didn't really know, but she also felt like she couldn't bother anyone else with it either... Not even her husband, who was just a few weeks away from hitting the road and leaving her behind- another thing that made her feel incredibly uncertain.
Stevie was used to that, but even after that many years of being married to a music man, she still absolutely dreaded the moment he got on a plane and headed to a different city without her. It never got any easier, but she felt like this time it would be worse than ever before.
~~~
"I put it on the counter last night." Stevie was totally frantic, pulling open all of the kitchen drawers so hard, they almost came right off the track. "I was washing dishes and I set it right here." Her hand hit the marble top, heart beating a mile a minute as she spoke to Levy in such a panic.
Raising a brow softly, he came further into the room. "It'll be alright." He nodded, holding out a hand to calm her down some. "I'm sure it's around here somewhere." Levy was trying to be gentle with her, but she'd get so worked up, sometimes he wasn't sure what to say... that was one of those moments.
"I had it right here." She repeated, nearly shouting it as she smacked her palm against the top a couple of more times for emphasis.
Levy swallowed hard, moving around her to look through some stuff in the drawers that she might have overlooked.
"I don't ever take it off." Stevie shook her head, tears lingering in her eyes as she pulled open the cabinet under the sink to make sure her wedding ring hadn't fallen.
"Hey..." Lindsey appeared in the doorway just a moment later, having come up from the studio when he heard the sound of chaos... not unusual in their house, but always a little concerning. "What's going on?" He wondered, brow creased as his eyes traveled from his son, back towards his wife.
She had just gotten home from the restaurant, after a morning shift that was so busy, her head was pounding and her feet hurt, but she was still as beautiful as ever.
"She can't find her ring." Levy replied, shifting awkwardly as he glanced around the room... there wasn't anywhere else to look- they'd already dug through nearly everything but the fridge.
Carrying his cup of coffee in one hand, the other met the small of her back as he trailed around her. "Did you drop it down the drain?" Lindsey was calm- someone had to be.
She paused for a moment, a really annoyed huff coming before her words. "If I knew that I had dropped it down the drain, I wouldn't be ripping apart the house." Stevie was so anxious, she felt like she could scream... and it was going to be at him if he kept talking.
In an all actuality, that was really the icing on the cake for her- the last straw of the day. She had already spilled her coffee on herself before eight that morning, broke a dish in the kitchen at the restaurant and slipped in the dining room in front of customers... She wasn't having a great time as it was and that really pushed her over the edge.
Glancing over Levy, who was lingering around the room in a really strange way, Lindsey arched a brow. "Why don't you run upstairs and make sure you didn't leave it on your nightstand, or on the sink in the bathroom?" He gave her hip a gentle squeeze, silently reassuring her that it was okay... Getting that worked up wasn't going to solve the problem any faster.
Looking into his blue eyes, she immediately began soften up just a tad. "I'll go look." She whispered with tears still lingering in her orbs as she slowly pushed herself away from the island to head up to their bedroom.
She hardly ever took it off, but it felt incredibly uncomfortable the day before- really tight and she was worried that if she didn't let her finger breath, it would get stuck.... One of the many irrational fears she seemed to be having. So for the first time in years, she held it under the water, twisted it around her finger and then finally was able to pull off her gold ring.
She began to regret it the moment she had arrived at work that morning and realized she didn't have it on.
"Where's the ring?" Lindsey asked as soon as she was out of earshot. "What'd you do with it?" His eyes narrow as he stared at his middle child with a look of disappointment...
Levy's blue eyes fell to the floor, sinking back into the counter as he pursed his lips to the side. "Crosby took it to get pawned for our trip to Cancun." He admitted, very ashamed that he hadn't mentioned it earlier.
He had tried to talk his brother out of it, assuring him ten times over that they would have the money by the time they left for their Spring Break trip the following week, but Crosby wasn't having it. He was annoyed, so when she had wandered upstairs for the night, he took it off the counter and slipped it into his pocket... He figured that by the time they got back from their trip, he could get it out of the shop with his money from working at the restaurant and "find it" for her.... He'd be the hero.
"Come on, dude." Lindsey was super pissed- it was obvious by the tone in his voice and the look on his face. "I thought I had asked you guys to give her a break." He yanked open the same drawer that his wife was just digging through, pulling out his car keys. "Your spring break is canceled." He added, motioning for Levy to lead the way to the garage, so they could track down her ring.
