I get home and my phone begins to ring right away.

"I'm coming, I'm coming" I shout to the person on the line though I know they can't hear. "Hello, this is Stevie" I say, out of breath as I've just ran to grab it before it goes to the machine.

"Hey there" he says and I smile.

"Lindsey...I thought you said you were going to call later"

"This is later. Listen, how about you send Karen on a little errand, I come over, we listen to music and have a drink"

"Bad idea." I say. "I just got sober, I'm not taking even a tiny sip. I won't do it"

"That's not the kind of drink I meant. How about a mocktail or those little blended virgin daiquiris you like?"

"I'm on a diet"

"You don't need to be. You look perfect. Come on, say yes" Lindsey says. He's extra flirty and I don't know what's changed. "Come on, Stephanie."

"Alright. Bring pajamas. Ooh- or wear them! I want to have a slumber party" I say playfully.

"Okay, deal. You're adorable. See you in a few"

We hang up and I squeal with excitement. "What was that about?" Karen asks.

"Lindsey is coming over!"

"You're like a teenage girl, totally boy crazy!"

"Hush, I'm excited."

"What ever happened to taking it slow?"

"Maybe it's a date. I don't know, but he was acting super cute on the phone."

"Be careful, Stevie. You told me he used to be hot and cold all the time. I don't want your heart to get broken"

"I will worry about my own heart, thank you"

"Suit yourself. I'm going to bed. Don't be too loud"

"I won't" I say and rolls her eyes, not believing me for a second. "Good night."

"Good night, Stevie"

I take my makeup off and brush my hair, lastly pulling on some pajamas and my robe. I pop some popcorn in the microwave and make sure I have a lot of fruit juice, not really sure what else you'd need to make virgin daiquiris. I dump the piping hot popcorn into a big bowl, burning myself. I suck on my finger, cursing, when the door bell rings. "Shit!" I say under my breath. I put the popcorn down on the couch and answer the door. "Why didn't you just come in?" I asked, seeing Lindsey on the step.

"Seemed rude."

"You are my husband, after all"

"Well, I didn't want to offend you or do anything to upset you"

"That's sweet of you. What's that?" I ask, pointing to the assortment of things in his hands.

"Double Fantasy record, a couple of movies...I don't know" he says with a shrug and he looks awfully handsome.

"I like your pajamas. I've never seen these."

"New"

"Ooh! New pajamas! Are you trying to impress me?"

"Maybe. You really like them?" The bottoms are a soft grey material and the tee shirt looks cozy and it's a deep blue color.

"This color makes your eyes even more beautiful" I tell him. "They haunt my dreams"

"Ouch, haunt your dreams?"

"In a good way...or maybe not. I dreamt about you and the girls every night and I missed you all so much. I was a mess without you but I guess that's nothing new, considering..."

"Don't be so down on yourself. I know I should have answered your calls. I feel like an asshole. I know you were lonely and felt like you had no one. I shouldn't have shut you out"

"You did what you thought was best"

"Well, I was wrong. I was doing pretty bad without you too"

"You were?"

"I missed you like crazy, the old you. I wanted my wife back. You weren't the woman I knew, the one that's in here" He points to my chest where my heart lie and tears spring to my eyes. "Stop...God, you're killing me"

"I'm sorry" I say, wiping my eyes. "I just think about how much I missed out on and how I affected my daughters. Willow was so sad and so scared and Aria, when you told me she cried for a week and thought I was dead...how could I do this to them?"

He embraces me tightly and let's me cry into his chest. "You're better now, baby. They saw that and they were so happy to see you. They won't ever have to go through this again and maybe after a while they won't even remember. You're a great mom, Steph and I don't want you to take this hard"

"I just can't believe it...it really wasn't me."

"It wasn't but you're you now, I can see it"

"Why are you being so nice to me? This afternoon I thought you wanted to take this really slow and learn to love me the way you used to again"

"I started reading your journal. I get it, I understand you so much better now. I am upset that the thing with Don happened but when I put your little book down, I forgave you. I want to move forward. I want to be a family. Neither of us deserve any more time apart and those girls deserve to have two parents in love"

"Are you saying....?"

He laughs. "I'm not sure what I'm saying. I guess I want to throw that going slow shit out the window" he says and I laugh through my tears. "I want to date you and woo you and make you feel so fucking special, baby, but I don't want a friend or a girlfriend or whatever. I want a wife, my wife, and I want you"

"Wow..." I say, not really believing what I'm hearing. "Just like that?"

"Just like that" he says and walks to my little turntable. "Listen to this" He takes the record from the sleeve and places it down, puts the needle down and the music comes on. As the song begins to play he leads me to the couch, he puts his feet up on my coffee table and I relax into him. His arm is around my shoulders and he kisses my hair softly.

Our life together is so precious together,
We have grown - we have grown,
Although our love is still special,
Let's take our chance and fly away somewhere alone

"Lindsey, this sounds like a break up song" I say.

"No way, listen..."

It's been so long since we took the time,
No-one's to blame,
I know time flies so quickly,
But when I see you darling,
It's like we both are falling in love again,
It'll be just like starting over - starting over,

Everyday we used to make it love,
Why can't we be making love nice and easy,
It's time to spread our wings and fly,
Don't let another day go by my love,
It'll be just like starting over - starting over

"It's saying they had it good and it went bad so let's go back to the good times. Let's start over. You and me, we had our time apart but now it's time to come back together and be better than ever" he explains and I nod.

"I'd like that, Linds" I lay my head on his shoulder and he tightens his grip on me.

Why don't we take off alone,
Take a trip somewhere far, far away,
We'll be together all alone again,
Like we used to in the early days,
Well, well, darling,

It's been so long since we took the time,
No-one's to blame,
I know time flies so quickly,
But when I see you darling,
It's like we both are falling in love again,
It'll be just like starting over - starting over,

Our life together is so precious together,
We have grown - we have grown,
Although our love is still special,
Let's take a chance and fly away somewhere alone.

"Still kind of sounds like a break up song" I tease.

"Well maybe it is. Maybe we can break up with our dumb, immature habits and fall back in love."

"I don't need to. I fall in love with you every time I see you, think of you, hear you...I'm so in love with you, Lindsey. So in love" I tell him.

"Baby, I'm the same way. You took the words right out of my mouth"

And then it happens. That kiss that took my breathe away just a couple of hours before, is back again and it's so beautiful, it makes us both cry.

It's been so long since we took the time,
No-one's to blame,
I know time flies so quickly,
But when I see you darling,
It's like we both are falling in love again,
It'll be just like starting over - starting over

A/N: Happy New Year! Looks like a new chapter for our favorite love birds! I think this will be my last chapter of the night. I'm not sure how many that makes but I hope you all enjoyed. #edgeoftwentyseventeen