I Can't Stop (Part 2)

Part 13

Coming up to Stevie from behind, Lindsey wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. She smiled at him through the mirror and turned her head for a quick kiss on the lips.

"You look pretty." 

"You always say that." Stevie turned around, placing her hands on his chest as he clasped his on the small of her back. "And you look very handsome."

"Are you still convinced this dinner is a good idea?" Lindsey asked, despite the fact Don and Sharon were supposed to arrive in less than half an hour.

"I do." Stevie nodded. "My relationship with Don was... slightly different compared to you and Kristen, Linds. He's still very important to me."

"I get it. I just want to make sure you're not doing this because you have to."

"Not at all." She assured him, kissing him briefly. "I'm doing this for Alice too. She's not a child anymore, but I want her to know that her parents get along in spite of everything that happened." Stevie tilted her head, looking up at Lindsey. "Are you okay with this?"

"Yeah, surprisingly I am. I believe that this back and forth is behind all of us. For your sake, I can be civil with Don."

"The competition is over, Linds."

"I've won?" 

Rolling her eyes, Stevie nodded. "Well, you've got the grand prize right here, don't you?" 

Laughing lightly, Lindsey completely agreed. "I absolutely do."

Shortly, the doorbell rang and Stevie took a deep breath on her way downstairs. There were a number of reasons, why this night could very well go to hell, but she hoped nothing was going to happen. She was honest, saying that Don was important to her and she did want him to be a part of her life. She believed that this night was going to be a step into the right direction.

"Come on in." Stevie greeted their guests with a smile on her face. Lindsey soon joined her side, saying a polite hello to Don and his girlfriend. 

"I believe this is your favorite." Don handed a bottle of red wine to Stevie and she thanked him, nodding her head. 

"You remember." She said, a small smile forming on her lips. "Dinner is almost finished, so why don't you take seat in the living room and I'll be back shortly."

"Is there something I could help you with?" Sharon offered and Stevie didn't disagree, leaving the two men on their own. Stevie was quite certain, she was going to have to listen to Lindsey's complains about it later.

"Would you like a drink?" Lindsey was the first to break the silence.

"Uh, yeah. Whatever you're having." Don said, taking a seat. 

Lindsey poured two glasses of whiskey, handing one to Don, he sat down as well. "I'm not really sure, what we're supposed to talk about."

His honesty made Don laugh, but he had a similar feeling. "I know. I guess, I can start by saying that the reason we're here tonight is because Stevie and I have as much history as you have with her. I don't have some sort of plan to get her back, Lindsey. I've loved her for a very long time and I don't want to cut all ties with Stevie. She was my wife, she made me a father and..." He sighed. "I know that I've never really had her, but she's always been my friend and I don't want that to go away. It's not like we wouldn't have run into each other at some event at some point anyway and I don't think being uncomfortable around each other is necessary."

"I can agree with that." Lindsey nodded, taking a sip. "I feel like I should tell you, I'm sorry. Not for a particular thing, just... for everything, over the years."

Don waved it off, shaking his head. "What's the point of bringing it all up, Lindsey? I think that we're all, where we want to be. It hurt, it really did, when I realized that Stevie and I were done for good, but..." He shrugged. "I wasn't going to dwell on my failed marriage, I wasn't going to be miserable for the rest of my life. I didn't plan on getting involved with someone new so fast, Sharon just came into my life out of nowhere and I'm happy. She makes me happy. I'm not sure if you believe me, but I'm genuinely glad for you two as well. I just wish, all of us wouldn't have wasted so many years, when we knew the inevitable end."

Lindsey could count on his fingers of one hand, the times he spoke to Don one on one and everything he had just said, made a lot of sense. Lindsey looked at Don in a completely different way. Maybe because the competition was over.

Meanwhile, Stevie was trying to get to know more about Sharon. She asked, how Sharon and Don met, how long had they been seeing each other, what Sharon did for a living, where was she from and the like. Stevie hoped that Sharon was going to be good for Don, but most importantly that she was going to get along well with Alice.

"It's pretty intimidating." Sharon admitted, causing Stevie to raise an her eyebrow.

"What do yo mean?"

"Well, you and Don stayed married for decades. I know that he still cares about you a lot. I'm afraid that something will happen and I'll lose him."

With her full attention on Sharon, Stevie approached her, taking her hands, she held onto them and looked Sharon in the eyes. "I promise you, you're not going to lose Don to me. I don't know what the future holds for any of us, but you can be completely sure that he and I are over. He seems happy with you, even though I haven't been around you two much, but, you know, Alice tends to talk as much as I do." Stevie smiled, making Sharon chuckle. "And I'm committed to Lindsey. We have fought long and hard to be together. There is nothing I would do to jeopardize our relationship. You don't have to worry about me, Sharon."

Nodding her head, Sharon breathed a sigh of relief. "I- I needed to hear you say that."

"I understand." Smiling, Stevie pulled the other woman in for a hug. "Now, let's go get those two and sit down for this lasagna before it gets cold." 

None of the four knew what to expect and they were all pleasantly surprised to have had a pretty great night together. Maybe this time Stevie was wrong to worry.

~

We're approaching the end of the story. I think, we had enough drama in the 1st part and I'm writing this to wrap everything up. One or two cute moments between S&L and I'll start working on something new :)