Almost two months had gone by since the separation, Lindsey came by to play with the kids and take them places. Lindsey didn't acknowledge Stevie, and Stevie didn't acknowledge Lindsey. Plain and simple. They communicated through the kids and that was it.
It was still pretty painful but neither one had a clue of what else to do. As far as they were concerned, they were over.
Lindsey waltzed in one day and silently presented her with divorce papers.
She was drying a few dishes from dinner the previous night and immediately dropped the plate that had been in her hands. It crashed to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces. She clamped her hand over her mouth as her eyes glazed over with tears.
"I can't keep doing this, Stephanie," using her full name to indicate that he was deadly serious about this.
She just shook her head and stared at the papers. "I'm sorry...it's just..."
"Oh come on- don't say it's unexpected because you knew this was coming. You said it yourself...we're over," he shrugged, scratching the back of his head awkwardly
"Tell me you believe me when I say I'm sorry." Her request caught him a little off guard. He hadn't heard that much sincerity from her in forever.
"I do believe you-and I'm sorry too, but I just can't live like this," Lindsey said, "I'm taking the kids out for a little while...I'll try to explain things to them."
She shook her head, "No. Lindsey please, that's something we need to do together."
"Well...there's something else I need to explain to them," he told her
She looked up at him questionably. "What's that?"
"Just...let me talk to them first," Lindsey waved the question off
"Lindsey. Tell me."
"I'm moving forward with Kristen," he sighed
She felt like her heart had broken completely in two. He really had given up. "Y-you, you're....you are... Wow. Well, congratulations I guess. I'm guessing you knocked her up too?" Her anger finally pulsing through.
"Don't start. This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you," Lindsey threw up his hands
She almost said more. She almost went completely off on him. But she bit her tongue and decided to only say the truth. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I know I told you to leave...but you have to understand, I still love you. Regardless of what has happened in the past two months...I really do. I just can't risk being with you. No one said this was going to be easy... I really don't want to hate you Linds.." She wiped away the few tears that managed to slip down her cheeks as she fumbled with the dish towel that was in her hands.
"I'm still going to be here for you and the kids. I mean we've always been a package deal and I would never walk out of your life...things just don't always go according to plan. I could never forgive myself for harming you and I think about our baby everyday, but I am moving on and trying to be happy again."
She nodded. "I know...you deserve that. You deserve so much more than I could ever give you. If I could give you the world I would. I hate to be  cliché but.. "I wish you all the love in the world"..." 
"Thank you, same goes to you. In the papers you get everything, but I would like to get joint custody to the kids," he winced, not knowing her reaction
Her head snapped up to his. "Now wait just a sec-"
"Steph. They're mine too."
"I can take care of them way better than you can! I will not allow my children to even be near the woman that helped break up my marriage. The answer is no, Lindsey," she finalized
He slammed his fist against the counter top. "I'll take you to court. Don't make this ugly Stevie, you'll regret it!"
"Lindsey Buckingham I will hate you for the rest of my life if you do that, do you hear me?" Her voice was calm, which meant way worse than when she was yelling
They just stared each other down for the longest time. "I hear you Steph, but I won't let you keep them from me. "
"I would never completely take you away from your children, I would allow visitation whenever you wanted, but they are not allowed to be near Kristen."
He sighed heavily with his head now in his hands. "I don't want it to be like this."
"It's the way things are now. We need to sit down later and discuss this properly," Stevie replied
He nodded. "When I bring the kids back?"
"Yes-and Lindsey," she sighed, "please respect my wishes and do not let them around Kristen."
"I'll make the decisions outside of the house."
"Then you will NOT take them out anymore," Stevie emphasized
He rolled his eyes. She was boiling at this point.
"I am serious, Lindsey. If I cannot trust you to do that then I will not allow you to take them out of this house until our court date with the divorce."
He shook his head. "Fine."
"So what'll it be? Are you staying here with them or are you going to agree to my proposition?" She crossed her arms
He kicked the cabinet, making her wince, and cursed beneath his breath. "I'm not agreeing but I promise I won't have them around her until we talk about this more."
"That's all I'm asking," she held up her hands
He took a deep breath as silence then filled the air for a decent amount of time. He looked up finally and their eyes met. He carefully walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her tight.
"No Linds, get off," she gently backed away, wrapping her arms around herself
He took a step toward her again and tried again. "Please, just...let me hold you a minute?"
"I don't think that's appropriate," she looked down at her feet, rubbing her hands together
"When have we ever been appropriate? I need comfort and so do you. Can't we just hold each other a minute."
"The kids are waiting for you," she backed away and proceeded to clean up the glass from the dropped plate
He stormed out of the room.
Lindsey planned a big day with the kids, taking then to the zoo and dinner, then for ice cream in the park. He planned to merge Kristen into the scene that day but knew that the kids would spill everything to her mother so that was out of the question.
The kids had a blast.
"Daddy?" Will spoke up from the backseat
"Yeah Will?"
"When are you coming home...so Mommy will stop crying," he asked
Lindsey nearly hit the brakes. He quickly collected himself and focused on the road. "Well, you see....I don't know Will. I really don't know."
"Oh," he said sadly
Lindsey sighed, "Mommy doesn't want me around anymore Will, I would be there if I could."
"I hate her! All she does is cry and get mad at us all the time! I wanna live with you!" He yelled in frustration at the situation
Lindsey pulled the car over right then. "Will stop that right now! That's enough! You do not talk badly about your mother do you hear me??" Lee was incredibly silent. Just watching and listening.
"She's mean to us now! She always tell us no when we want to play," his voice grew softer,
"Mommy didn't give us our bath one time because she had a guy over, and he was there the next day so we didn't get breakfast." Will confessed
Will definitely had Lindsey's attention now. "I'll talk to her, you two don't need to worry about grown up stuff okay?" He was calm on the outside but on the inside he was about to lose it.
"I wanna live with you, Daddy," Lee spoke quietly
Lindsey's attention automatically turned to her. "Guys...I want you to live with me too but...what about mommy? She'd be very sad."
"She wouldn't care," Will huffed
"Will. Look, I promise you two I'll talk to mama about this as soon as I can but for the moment you really shouldn't say anything to her about this-it'd break her heart. Okay?"
"Okay," he sighed, looking down at his lap, "I'm ready to go home."
Lindsey nodded and they eventually made it back to the house. He let himself in and sent them up to their rooms.
Stevie came out of her bedroom as he was closing Lee's door. "Let's go to the living room."
He nodded.
Stevie trudged downstairs and took her seat in a chair across from the couch
Lindsey sat across from her.
"So...have you said anything to the kids?"
"Not really but they sure said a lot to me."
Stevie stiffened, "What exactly did they tell you?"
"Not much, just that you know..all their mother does is cry and yell at them all the time. That she's been neglecting their needs just so she could shack up with some guy."
"They told you that?" Stevie gasped, starting to tremble
He dialed it down a bit at her reaction and simply nodded. "Stevie...what's going on? The stuff they said..that's not you."
"I don't think that any of your concern anymore," she looks away, bouncing her knee nervously
"Stephanie Lynn Nicks Buckingham." She shot him a glare. "That's right, we're not divorced quite yet. I may have not shown it lately but I do care about you and you know it. Please, just tell me what's going on? It's obviously not good-the kids want to live with me!"
"I haven't been coping well with what's happened between us and with the....baby, I just started to lay in bed until the kids needed something. Chris returned to England and so I had to take care of them and shut my feelings off. Everything I was holding inside of me just seemed to fester and I was-am depressed. I sought comfort in a friend to make me feel something again and now I think I'm pregnant..." She finished, leaning back in her chair and giving him time to absorb everything.
He just sat there. Complete silence. "Who's is it?"
"Joe Walsh."

Authors note: Sorry for mistakes and for moving fast, I got bored with this one and decided to spice it up!