Where I Belong

Part 23

"Why are you not ready yet?" Lori found Callie in bed, in her temporary room at Stevie's, staring at the ceiling.

"Because I can't get up." Callie replied calmly. She attempted to sit up again as if to prove she wasn't lying.

"You could have yelled for one of us to come." Lori walked towards the bed and firmly grasped Callie's hands, she took a step back helping Callie get up.

"It's embarrassing." Callie sighed heavily. "How is this the most joyous time of my life? I can't do shit!"

"Hey now..." Lori sat down beside her heavily pregnant goddaughter and lay a hand on her shoulder. "You're almost there, Cal'. Just a few short weeks to go. When the baby's born, you're gonna wish you could turn back time and just lay around all day."

"I don't want to dress up." Callie shook her head. "I don't care that it's my birthday. I'd rather stay here."

"You know you're mother would move the party in here." Lori laughed, standing up. She grabbed Callie's outfit that she'd picked earlier with Stevie's help. 

"I thought, it was dinner?" Callie asked, eyebrow raised. "She promised there would be no party. I don't want to watch you enjoy yourselves, while I-"

"It's not a party." Lori assured. "I swear, there are no surprises. Bad choice of words. Do you want me to dress you?"

"No." Callie replied. "But... come back to walk me out of the room." She added shyly.

Lori promised she would and left, giving Callie some privacy. Little did she know, she was in for a pretty huge surprise herself as she was making her way back to Stevie. Lindsey arrived, while Lori was with Callie, and she couldn't believe her own eyes, staring at him and Stevie kissing on the lips out in the open.

 "What the hell!" Lori shouted before whatever was going on could escalate. "What are you two doing!" Lindsey and Stevie immediately separated, staring back at Lori, almost as shocked as she was. "Explain yourselves right now."  She emphasized, shifting her gaze between them, waiting for either one to speak up.

"I'm..." Lindsey rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable. He glanced at Stevie then pointed in the same direction Lori had just come back from. "I'm going to see Callie." 

Stevie narrowed her eyes at Lindsey, when he turned around for a second to mouth, I'm sorry, to her, his hands put together as if for a prayer. She then looked over at Lori and suggested they sit down.

"There's no need to freak out."

"What do you mean-" Lori's voice still higher than usual.

"Seriously." Stevie interrupted. "It's not what you think."

"I literally just saw you kissing!" Asking not to freak out clearly didn't help. "Stevie, you've been down this road before. You know-"

"He's going through divorce." Stevie spoke over Lori, which shut her up instantly.

"Huh?" That Lori didn't expect. "What is this? How long has this been going on? Are you two together? How serious is it? When did..." She stopped to take a breath.

"Uhhh-" Stevie shrugged and replied as if it was not a big deal. "Months."

"Months? Are you fucking kidding me!" Lori exclaimed again. "Here I was, thinking that you and Chris secretly got back together and that's why you seem so happy all the time." She leaned forward in her seat, head in her hands. "Turns out, it's thanks to Lindsey freaking Buckingham you have that permanent smile on your face. Have we gone back in time? I-" Lori paused, shaking her head. "Stevie, are you absolutely sure that you know what you're doing?"

"I am." Stevie didn't have to think about it. "Trust me, I didn't see this happening either. He stayed over after the gender reveal party we had and-"

"And you two slept together." Lori gave her a disapproving look, absolutely judging her.

"No. There, uh... we did some stuff, but no." The disapproving quickly turned into disgust. "Then we started talking. A lot."

"And then you slept together."

Stevie sighed. "It's not about that. I don't know what it was exactly, but I-" She began, a hand on her heart. "Suddenly, I can't imagine living without him. I had my feelings suppressed for such a long time, once he managed to unlock them again... I love him, Lori. Think what you will, but this is what I want. You're right, I am happy and it is thanks to Lindsey." Lori didn't speak for a moment, letting Stevie's words sink in. "Before you ask, I had no idea he was even considering divorce. He made that decision all on his own."

"He did?" Another surprise, Lori saw Stevie nod. "Whoa... I thought-" She stopped herself. It didn't matter what her personal opinion about Lindsey was, Stevie was going to do whatever the hell she wanted to do and if it ended in tears, Lori would be there for her like so many times before. "Well, I'm... happy for you." It almost sounded like a question.

"Very convincing." Stevie rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, okay? I know what I'm doing."

"The heart wants what it wants I guess."

"Yes, yes it does." Stevie agreed. "My heart wants Lindsey." She added with a shrug and a smile on her face.

Having eavesdropped on the entire conversation, Lindsey turned to Callie, a wide grin on his face. "Did you hear that?"

"It's rude, you know? Listening on other people's conversations." Callie said, giving him a pointed look.

"I'll get your mother to forgive me if she finds out." Lindsey waved it off.

"Gross, dad." Callie held up her hands, indicating that she didn't want him to elaborate. "So, can we go? Or are you hoping to hear some more?"

"We can go." Lindsey approached Callie and helped her up on her feet, he put his arm around her back to slowly walk out of the room. "Is your mom and me getting back together the best birthday present or what?" He asked then laughed lightly, hearing Callie scoff. "Happy birthday, sweetheart." He said, pressing a kiss to her cheek.