The Years Disappeared

Safe

I heaved Lindsey's arms from around me as I heard Sara's crying through the monitor. "Stay, you need to sleep better from now on, let me handle her." He insisted, referring to the pregnancy.
"What if she ne-"
"I'll manage it, sleep Steph."
I was in the unsettling intermediate between waking and dreaming when he returned, slipping into the latter state entirely once I felt his warm body beside me.

***

He was already working when I made breakfast, having to take it to him in the office.
"Don will be over soon," he mumbled after thanking me, kissing my cheek.
"I don't want him here."
"Steph, it wasn't his fault ok? The case will be over and done with in a week's time and we can..." He placed his tray on the desk, patting for me to sit on his lap, "Forget about all of this."
"Are will still going on that vacation you promised?" I inquired, bouncing Sara on my lap as he smiled.
"Whatever you want, if I have to climb the Eiffel Tower with these damn crutches I will, deal?"
"I was- um- thinking of Rome."
"Even better."
"Karen could come with the kids after a few days, we could visit our friends in England? A cottage in the French countryside?"
"That sounds fine, but I am not taking them to that stupid theme park, I can deal with our children but not other people's screaming brats."
"Oh but baby I wanted to go to Disneyland..." I joked, stroking his leg as Sara tugged his nose, making us giggle.
"You could literally suck me off right this second and I would still say no."
We gasped as we heard a cough, turning to see Karen at the door, blushing profusely.
"Um, sorry to interrupt but Don is here."
I rolled my eyes, passing him without a word as I went to handle the other children.
"Have you done all your homework Bella?" I asked, placing Sara in her playpen, keeping an eye on Joe and Leia who were lying on the carpet, getting along for once as they coloured in various pictures in the books my parents loved to give them- I noted a few advanced, monochrome sketches on one of the pages that Lindsey must have added for them.
"I have mommy, but the books we read are boring. Do you have any better ones?"
"I have lots of books in my cupboards, you've seen them haven't you? And daddy has a lot in his office." Karen came back in and I held Sara on my hip, taking Bella to find some more challenging literature, her running upstairs as I stepped carefully, overhearing the conversation in the office.

"Don, I don't have that kind of money to throw away."
"Ensuring those guys are found is not throwing it away, you said Stevie is worried about them coming back didn't you? And don't bullshit me, you're almost as rich as me."
"We're both worried! We're paying security guards to front the house 24/7, Stevie and the kids haven't left in weeks!"
"Exactly."
"Look, that fucking bitch is going down next week and she was the one who paid them right? They're not exactly going to hurt us for nothing."
"You're on crutches man! What are you going to do if they decide to?!"
"Look you're suppose to be here to give me those papers, not to lecture me about what's best for my wife and kids, Stevie didn't even want you in the house."
"You keep up in this job and you think something like what happened won't again? Stay away from DC Lindsey."
"I was planning too."

I heard footsteps and hid behind a pillar as Don walked out, slamming the front door behind him. I heard Lindsey cursing to himself and quietly proceeded upstairs, Sara luckily hush as she was distracted by tugging my hair; appreciating my presence remaining secret as I knew now was not the best time to approach him about what I'd heard.

As we rifled through my endless collection, I was hit with a string of memories, Bella caressing my battered edition of Triad, as I explained to her how it had inspired me to write one of the children's and Lindsey's favourite songs of mine.
"Those were the days," I heard Lindsey chuckle behind me as he came to weigh down the bed, his arms circling my waist as Sara lay in the centre of the sheets, shoving her teddy's arm in her mouth, all of us glad her teething wasn't proving painful today.
"I much prefer right now," I assured him, clasping his wrists with my hands as I inhaled his scent, Bella uninterested in us as she began to accumulate a few little piles of the books she wished to borrow.
"How are you feeling?" He whispered, tapping my abdomen.
"Linds, you saw me like twenty minutes ago, I'm fine."
"I'm just...I was reading up and, they say you need to be extra careful when it's less than a year since you gave birth."
"I know baby, just don't worry too much." Sara crawled toward us, as if already jealous of our talk of her younger sibling. Lindsey took her before I could, lying back as he held her giggling above him.
"Oh dear..." He said sniffing, "I think it's time for a change madam."
"I will assume you're talking to her..."