"Um... what are we doing here, Steph?" Lindsey asked, leaning closer to whisper to Stevie, as he looked around, seeing clearly expecting women.
"We have an appointment."
"We do?" Raising an eyebrow.
"Yes." She nodded, taking his hand. "Now sit patiently, please."
"But-"
"Lindsey."
Shutting up, he turned away frowning. What were they doing there? Yes, they had talked about children, but Stevie was pretty straight forward about it. She hadn't mentioned anything after that either. Maybe she had a change of heart and she wanted them to see a specialist together about their possibilities? Why keep it such a secret then?
Sighing, Lindsey cocked his head back against the wall, like Stevie asked, waiting.
Hearing her own name in about the upcoming hour, Stevie stood up, tugging at Lindsey's hand for him to come along. They walked in together, the doctor greeting them with a smile. This wasn't the first time Stevie was there, she had seen Dr. Lawrence once already, without Lindsey's knowledge.
"How are you doing, Stephanie?"
"I'm good, all is good." She smiled, giving a small nod of her head.
"Right then, could you please go and lie down for me over there?" Showing with a hand.
Stevie did as asked, not saying anything, although, while Lindsey wasn't completely sure, he had a pretty great hunch of what was happening. He stood by her side and she grasped his hand once more, smiling up at him, confirming his guessing. He brought her hand up to his lips, kissing the back of it, giving it a squeeze once a strong heartbeat filled the room.
"We're having a baby, Linds."
"Yeah." Laughing lightly, as he tried to mask the fact he was getting rather emotional. "I can hear that."
"That's a strong heartbeat." Dr. Lawrence assured as she continued with the procedure.
After the checkup, the two left the clinic, heading towards the car, Lindsey being very quiet. Stevie started thinking that maybe she should have told him in private, not let him basically found out for himself with a stranger in the room. Was she wrong to do it?
"Is everything okay?" Stevie asked, once they were out of the parking lot.
"Everything's fine." Lindsey replied, without adding anything else.
His answer didn't ease down her nerves one bit. "Aren't you going to say something more? How you feel for example?"
"I'm... I'm shocked. I am happy though, of course I am. I simply wasn't expecting for this to happen or at least not so soon, you know, especially since we've talked about it already and you told me all those things."
"Well, I have to be honest with you." Staring out the window for a second, Stevie then faced him again. "I've known about the baby for quite a few weeks. But I'm just so scared, I didn't know if I should tell you at all... Then we visited my parents and I spoke to my mother, who truly always knows the best thing to say, and she told me that no matter what, you have to know, you have the right to know. I've grown to love our baby so much and I'm sorry I didn't let you share it with me until now, I hope you can forgive me."
"Stevie... of course! I don't have anything to forgive you to begin with, I understand. I just wish you didn't have to live in this fear by yourself for as long as you've known. But please know that I am here for you every step of the way, whatever you need - I'll be there for you, because I love you."
"I love you, too." Smiling, she replied, feeling as if a huge weight had rolled off her chest.
Coming back home, they knew they had to talk to Will as well. He wasn't exactly little anymore and they doubted he would get overly excited about a much younger sibling though.
"Will?" Lindsey called his son, as soon as he and Stevie walked through the door. "Where are you, son, we've got something to talk to you about."
Grunting, Will got off his bed, walking out of his room as he asked. "What did I do know?"
"Nothing, no worries. Come in here, please." Lindsey asked him into the living room, the three of them sitting down. "I just found out about it myself, um... this is pretty big news."
"What, like, you're having a child together?" Laughing at first, Will then frowned, when neither Stevie nor Lindsey said anything. "Oh my God, you are."
Putting an arm around Stevie, Lindsey asked. "And how do you feel about that?"
"I mean..." Growing silent, Will scrunched up his face first. "It's disgusting that you two, you know... but..." Shrugging his shoulders. "I am excited that I'm going to be a big brother."
"That's good to hear, Will." Stevie said. "Sometimes I feel like I came into your life like without giving you a choice to decide if you wanted me at all, and just a few short months later, we're all living together and I'm carrying your child, and..." She looked at Lindsey, trailing off, her eyes welling up with tears. "I want you both to know, just how much I appreciate you and love you, how grateful I am to have you."
"You're not too bad either, Stevie." Will joked, making her laugh.
"With you two and now the little one, I feel like there's nothing else missing in my life anymore."
"I can only say the same back to you." Lindsey smiled, pressing a kiss to her temple.
The turn their lives took after they met each other seemed too good to be true sometimes, making them wonder if this is how it was always going to be from now on, if they were going to live in this bliss forever or after all, fate had some twists and turns ahead for them.
~
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