It's been awhile...

I wish I could

The sound of Lindsey and Liam playing together in the living room brought a smile to Stevie's face. She was walking from one room to another, cleaning the condo up, while the two were occupied together and hearing their son chuckle at this or that melted her heart. Sure, Liam still occasionally asked for his 'Daddy', but not so much anymore. 

Several days had passed since the morning Lindsey found his restaurant ruined. The police didn't have anything to say to him yet, but things in general were quiet. Although, Stevie couldn't rest easy, when she went to bed every night. She knew if this was indeed Ryan's fault, he wasn't going to go away just like that. 

Only a couple of hours later, Maria came home from school, going straight to her room, after barely mumbling a hello to her mother. Stevie frowned, thinking that something had to have happened with some other kids at school, but it didn't give Maria the right to treat her this way. 

Knocking on Maria's door, Stevie then opened it since she didn't get a verbal answer. Seeing her daughter sat at her desk, head buried in a book already, Stevie approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder, hoping to get some attention. She guessed Maria only tried to appear busy, so she closed the book.

"Why did you do that?"

"Why didn't you talk to me?" Stevie asked, walking over to the bed to sit down, patting the space beside her. "Come here." With a heavy sigh, Maria did so, fidgeting with a bracelet she wore, waiting for Stevie to speak up again. "Well? What happened?"

"Nothing happened." Shrugging her shoulders, Maria answered. Stevie just gave her a look. "How do you know me so well?"

"Oh, sweetheart..." Stevie smiled lovingly, wrapping her arm around Maria's shoulders. 

"I want to tell you, but I don't, because I don't want to stress you out. You probably think that it was something at school, but it wasn't, Mom..."

"But it still obviously bothers you, so don't you worry about me, baby. Tell me."

Looking up, somewhat afraid, Maria said. "It's Dad."

Stevie tensed up, swallowing uneasily. "Okay. And?"

"Well, after school, a couple of friends and I were chatting, waiting for the bus, when I heard someone call my name. I thought I misheard, but it happened again and I turned around to see Dad coming towards me."

"What did he want from you?"

"At first he just asked me how I was, if things at school are going well. Then... he asked about you and if we're living all together, with Lindsey, where we're living."

"And what did you tell him? I surely hope you didn't-"

"Of course not, Mom." Maria shook her head. "No, I didn't tell him. I just said that yes, we're living with Lindsey, but that's it. Dad asked me if I wanted to have lunch with him, showing me to go to his car, but I said I was hurrying home, that I didn't want to miss the bus."

Hugging her, Stevie said. "You smart girl." Pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I'm sorry you had to get involved in this mess, Maria. You shouldn't be." Rubbing her back, Stevie looked at her daughter sadly. "Did he let you go easily?"

"Yeah. I basically ran away from him and got on the bus. I do feel bad... Like you said, he's been a good father to me and I love him, but knowing that he's hurt you, it hurts me, too."

"I can't tell you what to do here, sweetie. He's your Dad. You're allowed to have a relationship with him if you want to. It won't hurt my feelings, because if I said it did, it would be unfair. Of course, I'd prefer to get a restraining order instead, so he couldn't approach any of us, but it's just because I can't stand the thought of you and your brother getting hurt."

"I hope he doesn't come to me again." Maria admitted. "It made me feel so uncomfortable. I just can't look at him the same way anymore."

"I understand, baby. But like I said, it's totally up to you. You don't have to take me into consideration when it comes to spending time with your father if that's what you want to do."

Smiling a little, Maria said, hugging Stevie. "Thanks for being the best Mom."

"You make it easy, honey." 

While Maria felt relieved after talking to her mother, Stevie felt nowhere close to that, leaving Maria's room in search for Lindsey. The second he saw her, he knew something was wrong. Again. She took him away from Liam and told him everything she heard from Maria, seeing his expression change the more she spoke. 

"I don't know, maybe he really just wanted to see his daughter. They've always been close." Stevie said, but Lindsey didn't think so. 

"And the way I see it is that he was probably hoping you would be picking her up, so by catching Maria, he would be able to get to you, too."

"Linds, I really don't want to think like that." She shook her head slightly. "I've been on edge for weeks and it's only getting worse. I thought it was bad enough when I was with him, but now... I don't think I can do this, Lindsey. I don't want to be scared all the time."

"I know that, babe." Coming to stand in front of her, placing his hands by her sides on the counter top against which she was resting. "I wish I could change it. I wish we could be together and not have to think about Ryan all the time, be afraid of what he might do."

"I doubt that's possible." Her eyes welling up with tears, she hung her head low, as Lindsey embraced her in his arms, hers lazily locking around his middle. 

They held each other for a little while, before they were interrupted by the doorbell. "I'll get it." Lindsey said, but Stevie shook her head.

"It's probably our next door neighbor, our mail got mixed up again." She said, stepping away to go to the door. 

Without even checking to see who was on the other side, Stevie opened the door and her heart stopped momentarily, finding Ryan in the hallway, who just winked at her with a wicked smile on his face, before disappearing. 

Since Lindsey couldn't hear anyone talking, he went to see if everything was alright, finding Stevie, who had fainted, lying on the floor.