Beauty and the Beast

20

August 23

Stevie knew something was wrong as soon as she woke up in the morning. She also knew it was dejavu because she had felt the same dreadful feeling wash over her. She caressed her bump and then she slowly got out of bed and dressed in a white sundress. She meandered the castle and then when she got to the dining room everyone was solemnly eating. 

"How come no one woke me?" She asks feeling like all of a sudden she wasn't entirely welcomed. 

They just look up at her. Lindsey growls, and she huffs before stomping into the kitchen. She brews a cup of tea and then cuts up her own fruit for breakfast. She eats in the pantry of all places because there's a stool she can sit on and when she exits Christine is doing dishes. 

"Stevie, it's nothing personal today is the twenty-fourth anniversary of his family's deaths." She sighs.

"So...20 years ago on June 1st my mother passed away and I still put on a happy face and acted like nothing was wrong.  Lindsey just fucking growled at me." She states.

"Stevie, he was twelve. It's still hard on him. He lost his whole entire family in one fell swoop." She shakes her head.

"He's fucking 35 years old, it's not like they died yesterday." She spits walking out the back door towards the garden. 

She starts heading for the pond but she sees Lindsey sitting on a rock and she turn around and heads the other way. She hunkers down at the end of Lindsey's land around the waterfall and she takes comfort under a tree. 

***

It's around dinner when Lindsey finally speaks up. "Where's Stevie?" 

"I thought she was with you." Christine swallows thickly. 

"No, I haven't' seen her since this morning." Lindsey shakes his head. 

"Well, where do you think she is?" Christine asks.

"I don't know. But Chris she has my baby and if anything..." He starts biting his lip

"All I know is that she wasn't too happy with this morning." Christine sighs. 

"I need to find her and my baby." He bites his lip.

"I'm sure she's not." John begins to say but then the doors to the dining room fly open and Stevie looks at everyone before making a plate and then heading upstairs to eat in her bedroom. 

***

Christine had made Chicken, Broccoli, and roasted in seasoning baby red potatoes. She was popping a potato into her mouth when the bedroom door opened and Lindsey wrapped his arms around her. 

"I missed you today, Angel.  When you weren't here for dinner, I was worried that something happened to you." He kisses her head.

"Now, you're worried about me?" She asks.

"What do you mean?" He questions wrapping himself around her. 

"This morning, No one woke me up for Breakfast and when I asked you growled at me. You growled at me like an animal." She replies.

"Steph today is the anniversary of my family's deaths. It was horrible. First, it was Greg, then it was Jeff, and then my dad. My mother was going to be fine she was going to make a full recovery according to the asshole doctor that checked her out but she died after my brothers and my father died. The doctor says that it was from a broken heart. But she didn't love me enough to stick around to finish raising me. It was devastating." Lindsey replies.

"And it was the twentieth anniversary of my mother's death on June 1st but what did we do that day? We went for a walk and I was happy and I put on a smiling face. Lindsey this is going to sound cruel but it's been twenty-four years. You were twelve and now you're thirty-five. I know that you love your family and I know that you miss them, but Lindsey we matter too." She places her hands on her belly. "I know it's selfish of me to ask for your attention because normally I wouldn't care but you can't shut me out. I'm here for the long haul now. You're stuck with me for at least the next eighteen years. And you're adamant that this is a little girl, so when she's two or three and she toddles to you on August 23rd, are you going to growl at her and be snippy and broody and beasty or are you going to take her into your arms and cuddle her and laugh with her and talk to her and play with her?" 

"I guess you're right. I'm sorry Steph. I'm trying. Really I am." He sits next to her on the couch and pulls her into his arms. 

"Why don't you tell me about your mom?" Stevie questions laying her head on his chest. 

"My mom was special. She was an amazing cook. She didn't seem like a queen at all. She would normally make us all three meals. Always tucked us into bed at night, she'd read us children's books, there all shoved in a corner of the library and she'd lay with us until we fell asleep. Bedtime was never set we'd have to be in bed by like oh I don't know, eight but she might not have gotten to us until nine or ten. But she wanted that special time with each of her kids." Lindsey explains.

"Are you going to read for our baby or are you going to make me read to them?" Stevie questions.

"How about, you read, but we'll both lay with her in bed until she falls asleep," Lindsey suggests drawing shapes on her back.

"Okay, I can live with that. I want raspberry iced tea...come." She stands up and pulls him with her. 

"First can I show you what I've been working on?" He asks.

She knew he had been making a nursery as their baby was going to be there in two short months but she didn't know what his plans were and they had talked about ideas but nothing was settled on. 

"Absolutely." Stevie nods. 

He leads her across the hall and opens the door. It's a smaller room compared to hers, he told her that she had the biggest room in the East Wing, but it's still decently sized. The walls are painted a gray-white color. There's a light wooden crib in the middle of the room, a white the crib sheets are white and gold paisley. There's a little teddy bear sitting in the corner of the crib. The changing table is a light wood with a white changing pad. There are two light wooden dressers and a cream armchair with a gold brocade pillow.

"Lindsey it looks so royal." Stevie gasps walking over and thumbing at the gold chiffon curtains on the giant french doors and windows leading to a balcony that overlooks the garden. 

"Well I mean, it's a royal baby." He laughs.

"You know, I don't think of you as the king." Stevie shakes her head. 

"Well, I am." He kisses her sweetly.