Modern Day;

Lindsey is finally finished for the day, a little earlier than he expected and is ready to play after working so hard. He walks past the kids' rooms, peeking through the open door. Dylan's friends are over now, and they seem to be talking about something enthusiastically but they're all talking at once. He shakes his head, a smile on his face. Next, he peeks in on Callie and Sara.

"Hi daddy" he hears from inside the room.

"How'd you know it was me?" He asked, knowing he was out of sight.

"I could feel you there" she explains.

"Jeez, you're just like your mother" Lindsey tells her.

"You say that like it's a bad thing" Callie raises her eyebrows, wondering how he's going to work his way out of this one.

"Okay, you can stop doing that now" he says. He feels like he's dealing with his ex instead of his daughter and it freaks him out. She even gives him the same crooked smirk Stevie does.

"So what's up?" she asks.

"Do you know where your mama is? She said she wanted to hang out"

"Um...I think she's in the garden."

"Painting?"

She shakes her head. "No, watering the plants."

"Oh okay"

"Is that it?"

"Why? Are you trying to rush me off?" Lindsey asks. Then he spots the pizza box on her study desk. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Her father gives her a look "Fine, its pizza" Callie says with a sigh.

"Did mama buy it?"

"No, it was free" The girls start giggling and he knows instantly what happened.

"Ted's kid David?" Lindsey asks, and Sara nods.

"It was so funny, Mr. Buckingham"

"Lindsey" he corrects. "I bet it was..."

"Don't worry, no one is moving in on your territory" Sara says, noticing him standing a little straighter and more proud. He shakes his head. Where do they come up with this stuff?

"Are we in trouble?" Callie asks.

"Is there an extra slice?"

"Yeah, its all yours" Callie presents him the box and he gladly accepts the last slice, taking a bite.

"Nah, you're off the hook"

"Thanks dad"

"But your mom's not. I'm going to go bug her. Don't say a word"

"I won't" She demonstrates zipping her lips and throwing away the key and he nods.

"Be good, girls" he says as he leaves.

"We will" they call after him and he smiles, finishing his pizza.

He grabs a paper towel from the kitchen as he's passing through to wipe his hands clean of grease then goes to Stevie's side to poke around. As Callie said, Stevie was watering her copious amounts of plants. Going to her side of the house was like entering a different world. It smelled of sandalwood and nag champa, abandoned vintage piano shawls and pieces of jewelry strewn about, or hung on statues. She's just as she always was and it brought a certain warmth to his heart. He remembered coming to her room often very late at night to reconnect. Her fluffy white bedding and lace curtains felt like home to him. He smelled her perfume as the breeze blew through an open window, and he inhaled deeply. On her desk were notebooks and journals, unable to tell them apart because she took such special care with her writing. Her projects were important, all of them. Painting, drawing, jewelry making, writing...the kids.  They were all top priority. His wife the artist, he thought but she was no longer his wife. Sometimes that thought made him especially sad and today was one of those days. He could feel tears coming but he managed to stop them thankfully, as Stevie came skipping up the walk.

"Came to spy on me?" She jokes, putting down the watering can.

"No, baby" he says. Something about him is different but she can't put her finger on what.

"Are you okay? Are the kids okay?" She asks, panic in her voice as she really got to look at him. His expression worried her.

"Yeah, everyone's fine. Calm down" he reassures her and she presses a hand to her chest.

"Oh good!" She breathes. "What's up?"

"Callie and Sara are eating pizza" Lindsey said.

"Oh are they?" Stevie said, playing dumb.

"Ted's kid has the hots for you. I already talked to the girls. Got a slice out of the deal too" he says, sounding pretty proud of himself.

She swats at him playfully. "I thought I was in trouble, you big jerk"

"If you keep it up you might be" he jokes and her expression changes, grabbing a shawl and wrapping it around herself. "I'm sorry, that was crude. Sometimes I forget you're not mine" Lindsey turns and leaves the room, disappearing down the hallway. Stevie chases after him.

"Don't go"

"It's too hard sometimes." he says.

"You were fine before...It's hard for me too" she confesses.

"But you're happy" he tells her, turning back.

"You can be too" she says and he shakes his head, continuing to walk.

"Don't run away from me, Lindsey" Stevie says, pleading in her voice but he doesn't say anything. She sighs, the girls passing by her wordlessly. They gather their swimsuits and a cover up to change for the pool and sunbathing.

"What's the story with your mom and dad?" Sara asks, noticing a weird tension as she walked past her friend's mother.

"What do you mean?"

"I guess first off, they have different last names"

"They're divorced" Callie says with a shrug.

"What?" Sara sits down, confused by what she's hearing. "But they're so lovey. They like each other more than my parents do" she says with a laugh.

"That's how they've always been. I guess the whole story goes like this: My mom and dad were like super fiery lovers. They had this cool band in San Francisco and they were going to college and stuff. Anyway, my mom got pregnant with me and my brother. She dropped out of the band, so did my dad.  She withdrew from her program at school to focus on us. She was always, you know, painting and writing and stuff. She's a total hippie, flower child but like in a cool way. I mean, my name is Calliope. She's supposedly the one responsible for poetry in Greek mythology and my brother is named after Bob Dylan. A poet and a muse, she says. Anyway, my dad finished his program and he proposed to my mom. He's super traditional and he wanted to make an honest woman out of her." Callie rolled her eyes. "They got married but my mom is a total gypsy. She needs her space and her freedom and my dad back then was kind of different. He's traditional, like I said, so he wanted dinner on the table and was kind of controlling. I don't even like to think about this part. I'll skip forward. So they divorced but this house was already being built. My dad designed it for my mom. He's an architect. They both loved it so much and they loved us so very much that they moved in here together to take care of us. We have two parents just like my dad wanted but they have their own space like my mom wanted. They compromised and it works really good, I've rarely seen them fight in my entire life. Not saying it doesn't happen but y'know...I've had a great life"

"Wow, that's kind of cool"

"Yeah, I think so too"

"But what happens if one of them wants to date or something?"

"My mom has a boyfriend. His name is Brock Mason. He's the heir to something or another...I don't know. He's a Texas cowboy kind of guy. Tight jeans, flannel shirt, muscular..."

"So he's super hot?" Sara asks and Callie makes a face.

"He's my mom's boyfriend! Gross!"

"Yeah, he's totally hot."

"I'm not talking about this" Callie says.

"Fine, so how does that work? Wouldn't your dad get mad?"

"No, he has no right. When she first started dating him, we didn't meet him. We didn't get for like 4 or 5 months. She wanted to make sure it was really right. She would go out with him and not really say too much but when the time came, we went out with her for dinner and we talked. He's cool. He's kind of like a much older brother, honestly. I could see him and Dylan being friends"

"Hmmm..." Sara says, processing the information. "What about your dad?"

"What about him?"

"Does he date?"

"Why, are you looking?" Callie says, laughing hysterically when her friend's jaw drops. "Just kidding"

Both girls regain their composer and continue to talk. "Does your mom get jealous?"

"No. He just dates around, nothing serious."

"How do you know all this?"

"They tell us....and sometimes I read my mom's diary." She says giggling. "But she would literally kill me if she found out. She guards it like a rare jewel"

"Your secret is safe with me" Sara says.

"Better be, or we are no longer friends" Callie says, whacking her friend with a pillow.

"Hey!" Sara says, hitting her back. "Are you trying to start a pillow fight?"

"What's it look like?" She asks, giggling and hitting her friend with the pillow again.

"It's on!" They both jump up, ready for battle, no mercy.