"I'm so happy to have you here." Barbara gushed for the tenth time since Stevie and Lindsey had arrived. "It's not every day we have two famous rockstars in our home."
"We're not, Mom, not tonight." Stevie smiled lovingly at her mother. "Right now, we're no different from those two kids, who used to sit in your kitchen all those years ago."
Lindsey sought out her hand under the table and laced their fingers together. "That's exactly right. Thank you for having us. Well, me. This is Stevie's home." He suddenly felt like that awkward young man, who Stevie had mentioned a second ago.
"Nonsense." Jess waved it off. "You're always welcome here, son. You've never turned away from our daughter."
"Yeah, sometimes I could have taken better care of her, though." Lindsey said with a hint of sadness in his voice.
"I'm very pleased that these are the exact four people sitting at this dinner table tonight." Jess added. "It feels right."
The smile faded from Stevie's face. Her parents, at least her father, disapproved of her marriage idea from the beginning. She felt Lindsey's hand squeeze hers.
"You look great, honey." Barbara noted, sitting across from Stevie. "Healthier."
That was a subtle way of asking if Stevie possibly stopped partying as much as she used to and putting everything she could get her hands on into her body. It was true. It wasn't easy. It was probably one of the hardest things Stevie had to do in her life. The thought of going to rehab freaked her out and if she wanted another chance with Lindsey, she knew, she had to get her act together. He too, was no longer drinking as heavily.
"Yeah, well, I had a wakeup call. A normal person doesn't decide to marry her dead best friend's widower." Stevie shrugged and reached for a glass of water. "I'm trying to make some changes in my life." She said and glanced at Lindsey, who seemed so very proud of her. The adoration on his face did not go unnoticed by her parents.
"What about you, Lindsey?" Jess directed his attention over to the man sitting by his daughter's side, whom he hoped would stay there. "The last I hear was that you had a girlfriend."
"Oh, uh..." Lindsey faked a cough and shifted in his seat. "That relationship was doomed from the start. I broke it off some time ago."
"For good, I hope?" Jess leaned in a little closer.
"Absolutely. She was never right for me." Lindsey admitted and it felt good hearing those words coming out from him as Stevie brushed her thumb over the back of his hand.
"Please, don't think that I'm trying to interfere-" Barbara began and everyone's eyes settled on her. "I just want to ask you, please, give it a serious try this time. You belong together."
Stevie tucked a strand of hair away from her face and cast her eyes down. "Uh, Mom, Lindsey and I... we're not, you know, a couple, we're..." She didn't know, what they were.
"Not yet, anyway." Lindsey finished for her and she faced him. He winked and turned to look at her mother, smiling. "We've got a long road ahead of us. One thing I can promise you is that I will always look after your daughter."
That answer seemed to satisfy both of Stevie's parents. "Well. You had a long drive, I'll go, sort out the sleeping arrangements."
"Lindsey can sleep on the couch downstairs." Jess suggested.
"Dad, Lindsey's not sleeping on the couch." Stevie disagreed, shaking her head. "We'll sleep in my room."
"Not while under my roof." Jess gave her a pointed look.
"Steph, it's fine." Lindsey promised, but she wasn't having it.
"We'll sleep in my room." Stevie repeated herself. "I'm not 16, Dad."
Barbara stood in the doorway, waiting for her husband to add something else, but he remained quiet. "Alright, then. I'll have your room ready, sweetheart."
Lindsey couldn't maintain eye contact with Jess, who stared right back at him. "I'm going to use the bathroom." He pushed his chair back, leaving father and daughter alone.
Stevie gave her father a look and Jess just shrugged his shoulders. "I'm your father, I had to try."
