Unexpected Turn Of Events

I would do everything

"I'm stuffed." Max pushes his empty plate away, thanking Stevie for lunch, as she takes it and puts it in the sink for now. "Dad only orders food now. I miss home cooked food, the smell of it when I come home after school."

"Well, he's never been known to be a good cook." Stevie says, also slightly taken aback by what Max said.

"I could live here. I feel a lot more welcomed and wanted, when I come to visit you than at home."

Stevie and Lindsey have been living together for well over a month now and Max has been a frequent visitor. Lindsey doesn't mind at all and Stevie is happy to be spending time with her son to say the least.  

"What makes you say that?" Stevie pulls out a chair and takes a seat. "Is your father living in his office now?"

"Ugh... not exactly." Max suddenly feels like he should have kept his mouth shut. 

"Come on, honey, you can talk to me, you know that." Stevie encourages Max with a smile.

"I'm not sure I'm supposed to tell you." Max looks away and remains quiet for a moment, before breathing out heavily. "It's not just me and Dad at the house."

Frowning, Stevie sits back, crossing her arms over her chest. "Go on."

"Almost as soon as you moved out, Dad's mistress and their kid moved in with us now."

Stevie can't speak for a minute, jaw clenched as she tries to hold back some swearwords. "I hope you haven't become less important to him than the woman and their girl?"

Sighing, Max shrugs his shoulders. "I don't really know how to answer that. I kind of stay out of the way. It's like they're a family, the three of them and then there's me."

"That isn't fair. He can have them living with you, but he shouldn't abandon you, Max. You're his son, you're as much his child as that girl is." Placing a hand on Max's shoulder, Stevie says. "You should tell him how it makes you feel."

"The truth is, Mom, I don't want to. I just don't care about the way Dad treats me. I still love him, because he is my father, but that bond we used to have when I was little... it's just not there anymore." 

"Oh, don't say that..." Standing up, Stevie moves behind Max and bends to hug him from the back. "I'm sure that's not true."

"But it is. It's not just his and yours relationship that went to hell, ours has two. He's not a family man, I can't say what kind of husband he was to you, but he sure hasn't been a great father. He thinks stuffing our pockets with money is enough. It isn't... I mean, look at Taylor, he moved away, he barely comes home and when he does, have you seen him talking to Dad at all, besides saying, hello, to each other? Ruby is the only one who is alright with Dad, sort of."

"I don't even know what to say." Stevie can tell that Max is just putting on an act. What child doesn't want attention, love and care form their parent? "Maybe I should have a word with him?"

"Don't." Max shakes his head. "It's not worth it, he won't listen."

"But I can't let you go back, when I know you feel like a... like a burden to your own father."

Swallowing uneasily, Max rubs his hands nervously together as if he is about to ask something impossible. "I don't want to go back." He says. "Can I please stay here with you and Lindsey? I'm already seventeen, it won't be for long anyway."

"You can stay with us until your twenty or thirty, or until you find yourself a wife and have kids of your own, Max." Both, Stevie and Max turn to look at Lindsey, who has just come into the kitchen. "As long as I'm concerned, this is your home, too."

"R- Really?" Max stutters, then faces his mother expectantly. 

Stevie smiles and nods her head. "Well, if Lindsey is fine with it, then I don't see any problem with you living with us. However, your father? Shouldn't we talk about it with him first before we get excited?"

Max scoffs, shaking his head. "He won't notice I'm gone."

"Honey, please, he is your father..." Stevie says, leaning into Lindsey, when he comes to stand next to her, his arm wrapped around her back. "I don't want you two to fall out completely."

"I don't want that either, but..." Max trails off, shrugging. He then sighs. "I guess, I should call him, tell him he shouldn't be expecting me after all."

"You do that." Stevie nods, moving away from Lindsey, pulling Max into her arms. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Max smiles weakly, his eyes then settle on Lindsey. "Thank you."

"Nothing to thank me for. If you're unhappy, I know your mother is unhappy too. I will do everything in my ability to change that. Always." Stevie looks at Lindsey lovingly. 

What Max says next, surprises Stevie and Lindsey both. "I wish you two had met each other sooner."