How Could You?

Wait, so...

Stevie didn't hear from Lindsey until the next day. She was sick with worry and she had no idea where to look for him or how to reach him, since he didn't answer his phone. She had already come up with various scenarios in her head of what might have happened to him, praying none of them would come true. When she finally heard his voice, she couldn't believe what he was saying.

"You're where?" Stevie asked, certain she misheard. 

"In Florence."

"You're in Italy? What the hell are you doing in Italy, Lindsey? You decided to go on vacation, while leaving me hear in complete unknown?" 

"I need to get away from all of it, Stevie. I should have told you, but I know you would have tried to stop me."

"Damn right I would have!"

"See?"

"But why get on a plane and fly all the way to Florence? I mean, you could have just gone to one of our other properties." 

He knew the answer why, but he didn't want to tell her. It only made sense to him, besides, he didn't want to hurt her feelings. So, he lied. "I don't know. I just... I got in my car and drove to the airport, buying a ticket to the first flight coming."

Stevie wasn't sure she should believe that. "When are you coming home?"

A pause followed. "I'm planning on staying here for a while."

"For a while? What do you mean? Like, three days, a week, six months?"

"I don't know, Stevie!" Lindsey snapped and she grew quiet. "I'm sorry, but I don't know. I wanted to let you know I'm okay. Goodbye, Stevie."

Lindsey hung up and lay back on the king size bed of his hotel room. Running a hand over his face, Lindsey exhaled heavily, shutting his eyes for a few minutes. Yes, his decision to go to Florence was haste, but it was where he and Stevie spent their honeymoon. He wanted to escape reality for a little while and go back to easier times. He wanted to go back to when they were newlyweds, completely and utterly in love with each other. They were happy, they were inseparable. They couldn't get enough of each other. Now he felt emotionally so far away from her, he wanted to somehow reconnect, yet he knew that he couldn't do it with her, so he was going to try and do it with a memory of her. He wasn't ready yet to forgive and forget. So, in Lindsey's mind, coming to a place of fond memories only, was a good start.

"Is everything alright?" Sheryl asked, seeing the blank expression across Stevie's face.

"Uh... Yes and no. Apparently, Lindsey had to get as far away from me as possible." Stevie swallowed the lump of tears that formed in her throat. Although, she didn't want to concentrate on that, because if she did, she was going to breakdown in front of Sheryl and Alice, which they didn't need to see.

"Maybe we should go and come back another time."

"No. No." Stevie repeated, shaking her head. "I'm glad you're here, especially after the stunt Mick pulled, coming to see you, without talking it through with us first. I... I was afraid he had already ruined what we've started."

"There's no reason for you to worry about that." Alice spoke softly, a smile on her face. "I was a little taken aback, I didn't expect it, but..." Shrugging her shoulders, she added. "But it's okay. There's a chance he's my father, I would have had to meet him sooner or later anyway."

Stevie wanted to tell Alice the truth, but she wasn't sure if she should. The right thing would be to wait for Lindsey to return and do it together. 

"I must say, however, I felt nothing." Hearing Alice say that, Stevie glanced at her daughter, before diverting her eyes again, chewing on her lip as if to stop herself from talking. "Is there something you're not saying?"

"What makes you think that?" Stevie's heartbeat picked up pace. 

"Because I do that, too." Alice refer to Stevie biting her lip. 

"Oh..."

"Yeah, oh." Alice laughed lightly, placing her hand over Stevie's. "Please, no more secrets. I think... if it's something to do with me, I should know."

Sighing, Stevie nodded. "You're right. You're absolutely right. My God you seem so grown up and so intuitive for a thirteen year old." She then turned to Sheryl. She couldn't be mad at her letting Mick into her life. She knew Sheryl struggled; she had financial problems and going through a divorce, having to take care of a toddler at the same time, couldn't have been easy. "Can I be completely honest?"

Swallowing uneasily, Sheryl took a deep breath, then gave Stevie a nod. "I think you should be."

"What's going on?" Alice frowned, looking between the two women.

"After Mick left your home, he came here." Stevie began. "He wanted to tell us the truth. He said that he was a part of your life, when we agreed neither of us would be, until you were old enough and if you wanted, you were the one to find us. Mick told us that he and your Mom were a couple for a while, after John left." Referring to him as Alice's father just didn't feel right. Since Alice knew that, more or less, she didn't really react to it. "We know he stayed with you until you were about two years old."

"Then he disappeared."

"Yes, honey, then he disappeared. The reason why he did that is because he... he had a paternity test done."

"What?" Both Alice and Sheryl gasped, confusion evident on their faces. 

"Mick knew ever since then. He knew for over ten years."

"Wait, so..." Alice frowned, her mind going crazy. "He's not... Lindsey..."

"Lindsey is your biological father." Stevie confirmed with a nod of her head. "That is why right now he's not here with us. He needs to deal with it his own way."

At last, Alice gave in and let the tears flow. She had been so strong since day one, but she needed to let all these emotions go. Just a short time ago, Alice lived happily, with her mother Sheryl, her father hadn't been around for years. She was a good girl, a great student, she was interested in arts and life seemed so easy. Now, there she was, sitting in the living room of a multimillion dollar mansion, which belonged to her real parents, whom she met not even two weeks ago, who also happened to be worldwide superstars. It suddenly was too much.

"Can we go, please?" Alice tearfully looked over at Sheryl. "I want to go home."

"Of course." Sheryl gave Stevie a sympathetic look, bidding her a quick goodbye, before she and Alice were on their way out.

With the door opened, Stevie stood, her eyes following the car out of the driveway, a sole tear escaping, when it disappeared. She didn't think it was possible to go from having everything to having nothing so quickly.