Torches

11

Stevie woke up to Lindsey's alarm and then he crawled out of the bed, giving her lips a sweet peck and she just sighs and rolls onto her back and huffs. 

"It's so early." She whines. 

"That's the problem with being a professor. I have to get up early." Lindsey tells her.

"Well, bring me Clara and don't wake her up." She states.

"Demanding now aren't we." He smirks.

"You're not my boss any more. I can be demanding." She replies.

"Let's talk about that...what now?" Lindsey questions.

"What do you mean what now?" She inquires 

"If you aren't cleaning my house anymore are you just sleeping with me. And are you NEVER going to spend the night at my house again." He asks.

"Well, I think if I'm working with you I'm going to be here for a while," Stevie explains.

"Oh good. So you'll still clean my house while you're here?" He asks.

"I guess I can clean your house while I'm here. Now go get your baby I wanna cuddle with her, but like I said...don't wake her up." Stevie replies. 

"Fine." Lindsey nods traipsing out of the room heading towards the nursery. 

When he returns Stevie holds her hands out for Lindsey and he places the sleeping baby in her arms. 

"Don't suffocate her, and don't let her roll off the bed," Lindsey warns. 

Stevie just rolls her eyes and places the baby on Lindsey's side of the bed and barricades her with pillows. She gazes down at the sleeping baby and then Stevie presses a sweet kiss to her forehead. When Lindsey gets out of the shower he kisses both of the girls and then he goes about his day. 

"Lindsey, you should wear that brown suit jacket and that silk blue button-up. It brings out your eyes." Stevie states.

"You're not going to even see me today." He tells her.

"I know but you still look handsome in that blue silk. Every time you'd wear it, it did something to me that I'm not comfortable saying in front of our sweet baby." She replies.

"Our sweet baby?" Lindsey questions.

"Shhh...I've been here for six months, I'm practically helping you raise her," Stevie tells him rolling back over and closing her eyes. 

"Fine, she's our baby." Lindsey kisses her again. 

***

When Lindsey gets home from work, he enters the living room and Stevie immediately stops him. He cocks an eyebrow and she just holds her finger up to her lips. 

"Clara, come see me," Stevie says shaking the little brown bunny stuffed animal that the baby absolutely loves back and forth. 

Clara's sitting up in the middle of the floor and Stevie's about six feet away from her. Clara thinks about it for a moment and then she slowly pushes herself to the floor. 

"Come on Clara." Stevie coos.

The baby pushes herself up on her knees and then she takes those first crawling movements and Lindsey's eyes well up with tears. This was the first time she was crawling and he immediately spotted the camera on the end table and he grabbed it before videoing the baby crawling very quickly towards Stevie and she eventually face plants into Stevie's lap and grabs at the stuffed animal. 

"When did she start doing that?" Lindsey asks.

"This morning, I got out of bed for two seconds to go to the bathroom and I barricaded her I swear I did but when I came back she was down by the foot of the bed and she was shrieking because I had left her and I didn't realize that she had crawled but then I brought her down here to play with her toys and she wanted her bunny and it was on the other side of the room and I didn't know what she wanted she was just making noise and I was sitting on the couch looking at my schedule for next semester and my book list and because I wasn't getting it for her she got frustrated and she got it herself. We've been practicing ever since then." Stevie explains. 

"That's amazing. I wish I had been here for it." He pouts.

"I know, but you're here now and you got to see her crawling. What are your plans for this afternoon?" She asks looking at the clock that reads four-thirty.

"I have to grade the exams that your class took.  What are you making for dinner?" He asks.

"I have a pork tenderloin in the oven. I just don't know what to make with it." She shrugs. 

"Make mashed potatoes and corn. We can feed the potatoes to Clara and introduce a new food to her diet." Lindsey explains.

"Baby reds or buttery?" She questions.

"The prepackaged ones...baby red." He replies.

"Alright, now go grade my test and I want to know what I got as soon as you're finished with it." She points as Clara makes herself comfortable on Stevie's lap. 

"Alright, you take care of my baby now." He warns her bending down and kissing her and Clara. 

"I always take care of our baby." She smirks.

Lindsey just laughs and then he makes his way to his office. 

"Alright peanut, what do you want to do...I know, let's read a book and start winding you down for the night huh?" Stevie asks.

Clara just shrieks and Stevie laughs standing up and placing her on her hip. 

***

After dinner, Lindsey and Stevie had made love a second time simply because she got an A on her exam and when he showed it to her she cheered and jumped up to straddle his waist and things picked up very quickly from there and then afterward Lindsey fell asleep and Stevie wrapped herself up in Lindsey's pajamas and headed downstairs to finish the dishes that she had been doing when Lindsey gave her, her grade and she was scrubbing the tenderloin pan when she felt two arms around her waist.

"I thought you were sleeping." She states.

"I was but then I reached for you and you were gone," Lindsey tells her.

"I don't like leaving messes." She states.

"Agh I see...well then, come on and let's go to bed. That pans almost done." He nuzzles her neck.

"I don't work tomorrow." She says.

"I know, I don't either I was thinking we could bring Clara to the park." He tells her.

"Is that safe. I mean I'm your student." She looks at him.

"We'll be fine...and like I said, you AREN'T my student anymore." He smirks.