With Theo on her hip, Stevie descended the stairs and made her way into the kitchen. Becoming a mother had changed her a lot and being awake at 7 in the morning and fully functioning was no longer an issue. Actually, there was something about the peace and quiet of the early mornings that Stevie learned to enjoy. Sitting Theo down in his chair, Stevie proceeded to make herself a cup of coffee. After putting the kettle on, she moved on to making breakfast for her baby boy. It still amazed her how much her life had changed in the past couple of years. She was absolutely certain that having a child was no longer possible, but there she was, smiling at her son, while her fiancé was upstairs, still asleep.
"Good morning." Mark walked in, with a lazy smile and his hair messy. He pecked Stevie on the lips before picking up Theo and sitting down at the table with him.
"Looks like you slept well." Stevie said, leaning against the counter after she washed the dishes.
"I did." Mark nodded. "Didn't even stir when you got up."
"I tried to be careful." She smiled at giggling Theo as Mark bounced him on his knee. "What do you want for breakfast?"
"I'm not really hungry yet, but I'll have some coffee."
Stevie opened one of the cabinets' and reached for a mug before boiling the water. She opened her mouth to say something, when the doorbell rang. She immediately froze, unable to move. Karen would have let herself in and no one else was supposed to know she was back.
"Aren't you going to answer the door?" Mark asked, his eyebrows slightly creased.
"Yeah, yeah of course." Stevie shook herself mentally, but she was still hesitant to move. She just had a feeling.
And the hunch was right. Stevie felt as if someone had squeezed all of the air from her lungs, leaving her unable to breath. He looked exactly like the last time they'd seen each other, only that the expression on his face told her he felt hurt and angry, switching their roles.
"Lindsey."
"You're back."
Stevie nodded her head. "As you can see. How did you know?"
"A friend called me or actually, someone who I considered to be my friend." Lindsey spoke through gritted teeth. He was shocked, but mostly hurt, when Mick called him the day before. Mick told Lindsey that Stevie was in California, that this whole time she was with him and that he was very sorry he couldn't tell the truth sooner. "I can't believe you. I know that I acted like a jerk that night, but to completely shut me out of your life for two years? Two years?"
"I did what I thought was best for me at the time." Stevie attempted to defend herself. "Why do you care anyway? You had a family, unlike me. From what I heard, you're a married man now. What do you need me for?"
Lindsey scoffed, shaking his head. He held up his left hand. "I didn't go through with it. I couldn't."
"But-but Mick said... he told me, you were getting married. I-"
"I was supposed to. With minutes to go before the ceremony, I decided that I didn't want to settle for second best. Despite what everybody told me, I knew in my heart, it wasn't the right thing to do."
Stevie could tell Lindsey was trying to keep his emotions in check. However, his voice, the way he struggled to speak told her that he wasn't doing a very good job. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Right." Lindsey rolled his eyes.
Mark promised himself he wouldn't interfere. But hearing Lindsey's raised voice and all the accusations he was currently throwing at Stevie, he couldn't sit calmly and let her take it.
"Is everything alright here?"
Stevie held her breath, hearing Mark's voice behind her. She saw Lindsey lifting his eyes up and looking past her, he frowned.
"Who are you?" Lindsey asked.
"I'm Mark." He replied, holding his hand out. Lindsey didn't shake it. "Okay..."
"You found someone else." Lindsey's gaze shifted back to Stevie. "I can't believe you're with someone else."
"Why? Why can't you believe it? Lindsey, you were in a relationship with another woman, who was pregnant with your child! You told me that, right after you fucked me!" Stevie didn't know where that came from, but Lindsey clearly wasn't the only one, who had his emotions bottled up for too long. "What was I supposed to do? Wait around for you, again? I'm sorry, I left without saying goodbye, but that's what I had to do at the time! I wasn't going to get myself into another affair, especially not with you."
Before anyone could speak up, Theo started crying. Mark turned his head, seeing the boy crawling his way towards him, with his bottom lip trembling. Theo wasn't used to yelling, all he'd ever heard was his mother's warm, soothing voice.
"Who- what-" Lindsey struggled, watching Mark bend over to pick up a baby boy. His eyes focused on Stevie, who avoided looking back at him. "Stevie?" Suddenly, he was calm, his voice a lot softer than minutes earlier.
"This is my- our son." She corrected herself, taking Theo from Mark, pressing him close to her chest as she kissed the top of his dirty blonde curls. "Theodore."
Lindsey looked from the boy to Stevie, then at the boy again and looked up at Mark. "How old is Theodore?"
Stevie swallowed uneasily, gently stroking Theo's back. "He's fourteen months old."
"Your son..." Lindsey said, trailing off. Theo turned his head at the sound of Lindsey's voice, a curious expression on the boy's face, before it turned into a smile. It was as if Mark didn't exist in Lindsey's mind, all he saw right now was Stevie and Theo. "Is he mine?"
