"Knock, knock..." Lindsey smirked softly, making his presence known after having spent a moment watching the two women from the doorway in silence.
They were both in bed- Penny leaning back against the headboard as Stevie sat right next to her, crisscross applesauce with a bottle of nail polish in hand... They were two peas in a pod- doing hair, doing makeup, giggling and chatting about everything and anything that came to mind.
And had been just about inseparable from the time Penelope was released from the hospital a few days earlier, just like a couple of best friends.
Glancing up over the edge of her reading glasses, Stevie kept one of Penny's hands in hers as she stared at him with a soft set of brown eyes. "Hi, honey." She cracked a soft smile as she watched him trail further into the room.
"Look at how good mom did on this one." Penny flashed her free hand as she let a grin dance across her face too.
She was still tired and bruised up, but that wasn't holding her down, not too much, at least. Being home helped a lot and having the support of Jess, Barbara, Lindsey and now Stevie too made it feel like it was simply just a bump in the road... She knew she'd be fine and figure it out- she always had before, but this time felt a little more promising.
"Oh, yeah." He nodded his head lightly, both hands meeting Stevie's shoulders from behind to give her a subtle squeeze. "They look really nice." He assured, causally rubbing her neck before he pressed a kissed to the back of her head.
Believe it or not, Penny didn't question a thing... she didn't have to- not the affection, not the kindness, and not even the fact that for the first time in her whole life, Lindsey didn't stay in Jess and Barbara's guest room while he was in town.
Instead, Stevie and Lindsey were both staying at a hotel not far from their home and even though that was more convenient for them, they were still at her parents throughout the day to spend as much time with them as they could.
It felt like a real family for the first time ever, so Penelope wasn't going to even begin to speculate what was actually going on... not aloud, anyway.
Stevie chuckled softly, slowly leaning back to let herself sink into him a little more than before. "Did you have a good time?" She asked as she began to carefully run the brush of the red polish over Penny's pinkie nail once more.
"He cheated." Jess's voice caught their attention as soon as he stepped into the room, a silly grin on his face as he gave the ladies a playful wink.
They had spent all afternoon out golfing with a group of Jess's friends, while Stevie, Penny and Barbara all went downtown to have dinner, just the three of them.
They needed some time to catch up and since Penny was still a little sore and not feeling super great from her medicine change, they decided to stay close. But it was perfect- the entire afternoon together was something all of the ladies really enjoyed.
Laughing lightly, Lindsey nodded his head as he patted Stevie's arm very gently. "Can't help it that I got such a great swing." He teased, which caused everyone in the room to chuckle... Sports wasn't his best past time.
"Yeah," Jess smirked as he took a seat in the accent chair in the corner of Penny's room. "That was it." He added in a joking manner as his eyes traveled to his daughter, who was looking right back at him with the sweetest smile on her face.
He had already told her that he was happy to have her home, and he had also mentioned, the night before, when they were cleaning up the table after dinner, that he was really proud of her for sticking around, even though things hadn't been easy.
