Start Again

Part 19

Present day

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Eliot had been preparing himself for days. He had to put his feelings aside, he could not bring them along to a kid's birthday party. It was not the time or place to get jealous because his girlfriend's ex was going to be there too. The same ex, who was also her son's father. Maybe he was simply overthinking. Stevie had assured him many times that Lindsey was married, he had a family with someone else. Lindsey had every right to attend the party, it would be weird if he didn't. He was just being a good father. 

Another thing that worried Eliot was that Stevie hadn't really introduced him to anyone yet. Not as her boyfriend anyway. He knew that a lot of people had been invited besides Luke's friends. Eliot was about to face a bunch of A-list celebrities and he had no idea how he was supposed to act. If he came up to her and kissed her, would she be okay with that? Or was he supposed to just hang back and get to be with his girlfriend after everyone left. 

"Welcome!" Lori was the one to let Eliot in.

He smiled politely at her, he knew her. So far, so good. "Hi. Definitely sounds like a party." He laughed lightly, walking into the house, he then stopped abruptly when two kids nearly ran into him.

"Oh, yeah. It's insane." Lori nodded, leading Eliot out into the back garden. "Luke kept inviting friends and Stevie was not going to say, no."

He nodded, knowing that Stevie rarely ever said, no, to Luke. A present still in his hands, Eliot sought out Luke, who was surrounded by several other kids, waving water guns at each other. He didn't want to interrupt, so he looked around to catch Stevie, but she was nowhere to be seen. 

"Hi!" Luke ran up to Eliot a short moment later. "You came!"

"Of course." Eliot nodded with a smile. "Wouldn't have missed this! Your mom did a fantastic job."

"And dad!" Luke added and the smile on Eliot's face was no longer so sincere. 

Eliot shunned the thought of Lindsey away and held out the present he brought for Luke. "Oh, I've got something for you. I hope, I got it right. I know, you like superheroes."

"Whoa, thanks!" The boy grinned, ready to tear into it.

Eliot was a bit lost, when Luke ran back to his friends. He noticed Lori again, talking to a couple of people he didn't recognize. She saw him too and waved him over to join. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Here, have a drink." Lori handed Eliot a beer. "Just don't leave it unattended. You know how curious children are."

"Thank you." He said, nodding his head. "So, uh, is Stevie around?"

"Yeah, she went into the house like half an hour ago with Lindsey." Eliot gritted his teeth. "She asked me to keep an eye on things because Lindsey wanted to talk."

"Oh, I see." Eliot responded to that calmly, though he wasn't on the inside. 

Before he could go and search, Stevie walked out. With Lindsey. She spotted him right away and grinned widely at him, which calmed him down a little. Lindsey was left behind as she made her way over to Eliot and hugged him, she then pulled back to peck him on the lips. Okay, so she doesn't want to hide, he thought. 

"Nice to see you, Lindsey." Eliot held out his hand, when Lindsey approached the small group. Eliot's arm was firmly wrapped around Stevie's waist and a sly smile settled on his lips.

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AN: Things are going to start getting messier in the next chapter:)