Fallen hero chapter 2

Continuing Stevie's angst through the episode Passage, it is the morning after Stevie was found by Daisy and she is now waiting for her brother and sister to return from India.

The next morning she had stayed in bed as her father left to pick up Jason and Allison, she just couldn't face him but she knew that she would have to be ready for them coming back from the airport. She stood under the shower, desperate to feel normal but it was so hard. This was going to crush all of them. Allison, was more a mommy's girl so would be devastated for her Mom but Jason idolised their Dad and this would change him forever. If their parent's relationship was so vulnerable then really nothing was sacred anymore. She tried to shake herself together, realising that she had been in tears under the spray, and got out, dried and dressed and checked her phone. Her father had left a message briefly telling her the time they were due back but nothing addressing what she had asked the night before. She made her way down the stairs determined to make things normal when the kids got home, they had just escaped an earthquake, they didn't need this on them.

She had been happy and relieved to see her brother and sister and had been glad that she had prepared their favourite comfort food. It had rankled when her father never tried to talk to her, so she brought up the archives again and the fact that he wasn't there. If he thought that an international crisis was going to stop her telling her mother, then he had to think again. She would wait for her to come home but she was going to tell her mother about the other woman she had seen.

It had been over a day since her brother and sister had come home and Stevie had yet to decide how to speak to her Mom. She had tried to keep everything normal with her siblings but that was stretching her emotions to the limit. Finally when the crisis was over her Mother had come home. She had arrived over an hour before and had gone to get ready for bed with her Dad, something was off. Her Dad still seemed strange, keeping secrets, but it was as if her Mom knew as well. She stayed on the couch, lost in her thoughts, unsure how to proceed. Then her Mother appeared down the stairs.

"Your father is not having an affair." She had stated.

Stevie had scoffed; her Mother had always been blinded to anything bad her Father could do, in the same way that she thought he was to her mistakes. However this was ridiculous, she knew better than her Mom, she had seen it.

"Wake up Mom, what did he tell you that she was a grad student. I saw them together Mom, did he tell you that. The way he looked at her, she wasn't his student or maybe she was before the affair started."

"If you want your privacy you have to respect ours." Her Mom had responded, although she could see that her comments had worried her.

"He hasn't worked the whole time you have been away, did he tell you that? The woman at the archives hasn't seen him? I went to get him for lunch, he wasn't there. He was with her. He told you he was going to be working on his book 24/7, but he hasn't been." She finished scornfully but her throat was so constricted that even she could hear the sob behind her words. Her mother never replied. So she kept talking.

"All my life, he has been the best father I could have but this is going to destroy everything. I don't know how he has convinced you that it is not an affair, it seems pretty obvious to me."

Finally her Mom joined her on the sofa. "Baby I'm sorry you saw what you did but it's not what you think. I'm ex CIA, do you think your Father would still be breathing never mind living here if he was having an affair?"

"I asked him Mom, he didn't deny that he hadn't been working and he was so guilty when I caught him with that woman, why was he there if it wasn't an affair?"

Her mom began to stroke her hair, "Sweetheart, I swear there is no affair, yes something else is going on but I promise you, your Dad is still the man you think he is, a great father and an amazing husband."

Stevie had no choice but to burst into tears, all she had wanted for the last few days was her Mom and here she was. She fell into her open arms and wept for the father she thought she had lost. "Ssh honey, I'm so sorry you had to go through this but your Dad is just as upset that you would believe this, he couldn't do this, and he didn't."

"But I saw…"

Her Mom wiped her hair from her face. "I know baby, but it wasn't that, I promise. Now I think we need to go see your father, he is quite upset up the stairs. Don't ask what is going on, we can't tell you but you do need to accept this, because he has done nothing wrong."

Her Mom stood from the sofa and reached out her hand for Stevie to take. This was the crunch point. Did she believe that this was a misunderstanding and that her father was innocent or did she assume the worst? Her eye trailed up her mother's arm from her hand to her shoulder and then she looked her in the eye. "You promise me, he is not with her?"

Her Mom nodded, "I promise, now come on." Her Mom pulled her up and began to lead her from the room. They walked up the stairs hand in hand and although Stevie tried to slow down her Mom was determined to pull her into their room. When she entered her father was on the bed surrounded by his laptop and piles of paper which he quickly cleared away when he saw he had company.

He could see that Stevie had been crying, "Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry you got involved in this." He sprung up off the bed and pulled her into a hug. Stevie held on as if her life depended on it.

"Mom…says….."

"Baby I promise I would never cheat on your Mom, she is everything to me, always has been since the moment I met her. You need to believe me."

"But…that woman…..the archives…." She stuttered to get out.

"I know what it looked like, but I swear it wasn't that. I can't tell you but I'm not having an affair."

"I never wanted to believe it but you were acting so guilty and that story about some kind of work you were doing together, it was all wrong." She tried to explain her point of view.

"I know, I will tell you that she was not my student, but that is all I can say. I didn't expect you to be there and you caught me by surprise. I promise your Mom knows everything and she is happy with my reasons. Sometimes there are things we cannot discuss with you but know that we love and trust each other."

Stevie started to cry again and hugged her father, yes she had no idea what was going on but her Mom believed him and for now that would have to be enough. Her Mom hugged them both from behind her and she found herself in a McCord sandwich that made her giggle for the first time in several days. As they all calmed down it was her mother who spoke first.

"Now that this is all out in the open, we do need to talk about your punishment for being drunk in a bar."

Stevie stiffened between them, crap, how had they found out? She was quickly given her answer without turning around, her mother continued. "Daisy told me everything, under duress of course, so you my darling, are grounded."

Stevie gasped, "But you can't I'm an adult."

"Yes but you still live in this house and we expect you to behave correctly."

"Don't worry honey, I expect your Mom will ground me too after all this, we can be grounded together." Her father answered and she could tell he was looking at her mother while speaking.

"If you insist, I may even make the detail watch over you to ensure that neither of you get into trouble again." She hugged them tight and for the first time in many days Stevie felt secure and loved and that her father was exactly who she thought her was, her hero.

AN: Sorry for the delay in posting this. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Please let me know what you think, I enjoy reading your comments.