Taking Chances

21. Lonely

It was the next morning that Stevie was slowly making her way through the front door, holding her shoes in her hand.

Since it was so early, she decided she didn't want to wake anybody with her shoes hitting the hard wood floors, even if she had a hunch Lindsey would be awake. Though much to her dismay as she came through the foyer and into the living room, he was nowhere in sight when normally she would see him in the kitchen at this hour. She then took it as a win and she raced up the stairs to change and shower.

In his room, Lindsey had heard her come in and it only made his heart sink, but the truth was he had no idea what she was out doing all night. Of course he only imagined the worse, but if it made her happy, he couldn't really stop her and he already told her he wouldn't. Even if it made him feel incredibly down.

···

Upstairs; Stevie was throwing on a black velvet tracksuit over a camisole underneath. With it, she wore her platform tennis and that was it since she wasn't sure what her day would contain thus far.

As she was brushing her hair, Devyn came into her room---pajamas still on.

"Morning, sweetheart," the blonde smiled at her from her vanity mirror.

"Morning," she bluntly responded as she looked around her mother's bedroom. Spotting her evening attire, "Did you have a good time last night?" she asked.

Glancing back at the black dress, she turned back to her daughter. "I did..." she paused. "How about you, the boys and grandma?"

"We did too. Grandma made cookies, dad ordered pizza and we watched some movies."

"Far out," she smiled and stood up. "I'll be down in a few minutes, I just want to blow dry my hair."

"Okay."

"If dad's up, tell him I'll be down to make breakfast and make sure he doesn't eat anything sweet."

Eyebrows furrowing, she said not another word and just carried on with whatever orders were given to her. She then made her way down the stairs, only to be met by her brother and father.

"Hey, kiddo," Lindsey put his arm around her as soon as she came close enough. "Was your mom up?" he asked.

"Yeah, she just told me to tell you not to eat anything sweet and that she'd be down to make breakfast."

Chuckling ever so lightly, "Okay... Sounds good. So, what do you guys wanna do today?" he looked at his son.

"Don't we have to ask mom?" Isaac asked.

"Well, I was thinking we could give her a day off. She needs time to herself," he assured mostly for his own benefit because he didn't think he could look at her today.

"Didn't she just have a date, last night?" the boy continued.

"That's not a day off," the older teen rolled her eyes.

"Besides that, we haven't hung out elsewhere," Lindsey switched topics. "We should go to an arcade or something. Find trouble," he smirked.

"Can we go shopping?" Devyn piped immediately.

"Yeah, there's a cool arcade across the street from the mall and then there's these Nikes I've been wanting," Isaac added.

"Alright, sounds good to me. And if there's anything your mom might want or need, we can pick up those things as well."

"Her birthday's coming right after mine, why don't we get her something?" Isaac asked.

"That's a good idea," the girl replied. "Daddy?"