~S~
It took a lot for me to venture out there, but when Lark called to tell me that she still hadn't mentioned anything to her father, I offered to drop by his house. It had already been three weeks since she had found out and every time she called Lindsey, there was too much chaos happening on his end and she got nervous... too nervous to tell him about the baby, which made me feel awful.
She wanted to be excited- I know she did, but it's difficult to do that when all the worry gets in the way. If I could take some of that stress away by having that conversation, I would... in a heartbeat.
Anyway, I hadn't been to his house in a while, so when Karen pulled the SUV down the driveway, I immediately started to get a little anxious. It wasn't because I was nervous to be in his presence, or tell him about our grandchild, but more so because I had never really been there with his family...
"I'll be out in a while." I didn't expect to be there long, but I figured it would be better if I swung by, instead of dropping a line...
"Send me a smoke signal if you need anything." She let out a soft chuckle, watching as I slipped out of the passenger seat and out onto the concrete.
They weren't expecting me, so I figured it would be a little chaotic... they had two kids under the age of four- how could it not be crazy on the other side of that door?
"Oh..." she was surprised to see me, of course. "Hi, Stevie." Natalie had always been a very pretty woman and that afternoon was no exception.
She might have been in her sweatpants with her hair in a loose, almost knotted ponytail with big reading glasses on her nose and small bags under her eyes, but she was still gorgeous, nonetheless.
"Hi, honey." I gave her such a warm, sweet smile as I watched her pull open the door to welcome me into their home.
"It's nice to see you." She closed the heavy wood behind me. "Don't mind the toys, we're in the middle of picking it up." She chuckled in a very shy way... she was also anxious about my company.
Shaking my head, I waved a hand. "Don't worry about it, sweetie." I assured, shifting awkwardly and trying hard not to stare too prominently at all the things scattered around the living room. "Where are the kids?" I wondered a second later as I glanced around the corner to see another empty room.
"Foster is taking a nap and Eleanor is in the kitchen with Lindsey." Natalie motioned towards the dining area, silently telling me to go ahead.
I paused for a second and then I let off one more gentle smile as I began to trail down the hallway.
I won't sugar coat it- it was weird being in that house at that time, it really was. And you might think it sounds a little bit over dramatic or silly, but I felt almost overwhelmed on my journey into the other room.
Natalie had been living with him for a couple of years- I can't even remember how long exactly at this point, but it was long enough for so much to change... It was crazy.
At one point that house was overrun with guitars, sheet music and sound equipment, but by then, any trace of his work was stuffed into the home studio. And in it's place, there were elaborate flower arrangements on the buffet table in the hall and photos of the four of them lined the walls, each picture depicting a perfect family...
"Well, look at you..." I couldn't help but grin when I stepped through the doorway, eyes melting into Eleanor's from across the room.
She was sitting at the kitchen table, chewing on cut up strawberries that sat in pink bowl as they listened to the sound of the radio for background noise. And Lindsey was standing across the counter, talking to her about something with a smile on his face...
He has always been a proud dad.
"Aunt Stevie!" Eleanor let out a gasp, slipping right off the chair to run towards me.
"Hi, sweet girl." I sank down to be at her level, holding out my arms for a hug as my eyes drifted up to her father, who was staring at me.
"Look!" She leaned back, showing off her newly pierced ears. "Look, aunt Stevie." She repeated with so much excitement lingering in her blue eyes and tone of voice.
She reminded me a lot of Lark at that age. Eleanor had those little blonde curls, the dimples on her cheeks and a set of orbs that could light up the room.
She was magic.
"Oh, my goodness." I playfully pinched her nose, which sent a soft giggle through the room. "You have to stop growing up so fast, El." I always told Lark that too... always, but they never listen.
"That's what I'm saying." Lindsey had been pretty quiet, but he had been listening the entire time with a little smile on his handsome face. "Honey, why don't you go find that new doll to show Steph?" He raised a brow softly, being as enthusiastic as possible to get her to hurry out of the room and it worked.
I let out a soft laugh as I stood back up, listening to the sound of those two bare feet run through halls. "I miss that so much..." I admitted as I began to trail through the room, towards the island.
I always thought that he was really lucky to have that again. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't jealous or anything like that, but I thought he had a lot to be thankful for... He had the second chance and I never blamed him for running with it.
"Seems like just yesterday...." Lindsey missed it too- of course, he did.
Even though it wasn't perfect, or easy all the time- it was still ours and that made it special to us...
"What's the matter?" He waited until I had taken a seat on one of the barstools before he asked and I wasn't shocked that he knew something was going on... It wasn't often that I made trips to his house.
Nodding softly, I slowly bit down on my lower lip as I looked deep into those eyes that I had loved forever. "We're going to be grandparents, Lindsey." There was no reason to tip toe around it... Lark had done enough of that for all of us. "She's due a week before Christmas..." I added just a second later as a little smile started to dance across my face.
It took me a couple of days, but by then, I was so excited for that new chapter in Larks life to unfold.
There is something special about having children, but there is something just totally incredible about having grandchildren.
So at that point, I had already started buying little outfits, soft teddy bears, sweet books and yarn for my mother to knit a baby blanket... I couldn't wait for that Angel to arrive.
Lindsey paused for a second, but the moment it sank in, a sweet smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Grandparents?" His voice was soft as we held eye contact the entire time.
I giggled lightly, nodding my head once more. "It would appear so, grandpa." I teased, giving him the most playful wink.
