If It Happens

12

February 14, 1991

Stevie was 31 weeks along and she was struggling. Her baby was pressing against her lungs, and her diaphragm and she felt miserable but she was so happy because she was closer to getting her baby. She was reading through some comps, pacing around her office, when the hem of her red chiffon handkerchief was grabbed by someone. 

"What?" She asks turning around to see Lindsey holding the hem of her skirt. 

"Come here." He smiles. 

She sighs but walks over to him and he places his hands on her black long sleeve clad stomach. "So you know how I've not been here all day?" Lindsey questions.

"Yes, I thought you were at that flip job in Westwood?" She questions.

"Nope. I've been home preparing your Valentine's day present." He smiles. 

"Oh?" She questions as he pulls her into him tighter. Lindsey, feeling their baby kicking against her where they're stomachs are pressed together.

"Yeah. Come on, take the rest of the day off and come home." He kisses her. 

"But I..." She starts.

"Please. For your husband?" He questions.

"Alright, let me put my stuff away." She sighs. 

When they get to the house Lindsey takes her black peacoat off of his wife and then turns to her.

"Alright, so I stole your sketchbook." He explains.

"You stole my sketchbook for what?" Stevie inquires. 

"Come on." He leads her up the stairs. 

The door to the soon to be nursery was shut but the light was flooding through the bottom of the door. Stevie looks at Lindsey and then she pushes the door open and her hands fall to her mouth. 

The walls were a blue-gray. A little bluer than she originally had wanted but it was perfect. There was a gray wooden crib against the wall next to the closet. There was a little bookshelf against the wall that's shared with the master in the same gray wood as the crib. In the middle of the floor, there was a white rug with Gray lines creating diamonds on it. There was a gray wooden changing table and a white armchair in the corner. There was a gray fuzzy blanket draped against the back of the chair with white diamonds on it and there was a framed picture on the wall above the crib with a little donkey with a butterfly on its nose. The crib sheets and the changing table pad were white with gray diamonds on it. 

"Lindsey you...oh, it's perfect." She says tears rolling down her cheeks as she turns around and wraps her arms around him. 

"I was thinking when we decide her name I could make more of these little letters. We don't have to put them up in here if you don't want to." He holds out to her a wooden B.

"It's gorgeous, let's put them on the wall above the changing table." Stevie smiles.

"Yeah, you like it." He smiles.

"I do, I love it." She nods. 

"I'm glad." Lindsey kisses her before grabbing his hammer and a couple of nails before going to hang up the B. 

"So why did you have me take the rest of the day off for just the nursery?" She asks once she stands on her tiptoes and straightens out the B. 

"Because we're going to take the day to spend it together. She's going to be here in about two and a half to three months and we need to spend some time together before our life changes drastically." Lindsey explains.

"And what are we going to do?" She asks.

"Downstairs in the kitchen." He kisses her cheek. 

When she gets downstairs she sees the chocolate covered strawberries in the kitchen, the giant bouquet of red roses and the picnic basket. 

"Please tell me you didn't cook." She looks at him.

"It's just turkey and swiss and some chips and carrots." He shrugs. 

"Well, it's sweet. Thank you, where are we having this picnic?" She asks.

"Just the park down the road." Lindsey rubs her back.

***

As they were eating their sandwiches sitting on the bench, Stevie looks at Lindsey and bites her lip. 

"Are you mad?" She asks placing the sandwich down onto her plate.

"Mad, why would I be mad?" Lindsey questions.

"I got pregnant." She looks down at her stomach.

"Steph..." Lindsey sighs.

"I've been thinking about it for a while...And as much as I love that you did the nursery did you do it because you felt like you had to?" She asks.

"No, I did it because I wanted to. It's my opinion that the father should do the nursery for the mother. I've never been mad that you're pregnant. When you told me it was like a slap in the face. I didn't know how to react. I mean, yes I was upset that we didn't talk about it and that you had stopped your birth control without warning me. But the day you told me there was a whole bunch of emotions. I was shocked, my heart fell to my stomach, but there was a flicker.  A weird flicker." Lindsey states. 

"Weird Flicker?" She questions.

"A weird flicker. This is my daughter Steph. And I'm going to be there for her." Lindsey states. 

"But you're not mad." She sighs.

"No, I'm not mad." He leans over the table and kisses her.

"Lindsey, will you please take the month of April off. Stay here in California, don't go to another State." She pleads.

"Alright, I think I can make that work. I promise you, I'll be there Angel. You're about to go through the worst pain in your life and I'm not going to let you do it alone." He grabs her hand.

"Thank You." She smiles 

"Like I said Steph, She's my daughter." Lindsey smiles back at her. 

"I know. And I hope she has your eyes and your curls." Stevie looks down at her hand and starts playing with her wedding rings.

"No, your eyes and your hair." He shakes his head.

"How about your eyes and my hair." She tries to compromise. 

"No...your eyes." He tells her.

"I want her to have your blue denim eyes." Stevie states.

"We'll just see when she's born. But don't hold a grudge if she's born with brown eyes." Lindsey smirks.

"I won't." Stevie sighs.