The phone was ringing. It was entirely too early for the phone to be ringing. Danny rolled over to check Caller ID. Bozeman, Montana, it read. "Linds," he said groggily. "It's for you." He half handed, half threw the phone at her and closed his eyes again.

Lindsay answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Lindsay! It's LeeAnne!" Lindsay's stepmother was entirely too happy. It was 7 AM in New York, meaning that it was 5 in Montana.

"Hi, LeeAnne," Lindsay greeted sleepily. "It's early."

"Well, I did the calculation and it's 7 in New York!" As if Lindsay didn't already know that. What LeeAnne failed to put into her calculation was the fact that Lindsay and Danny had been on shift until four that morning. A case took entirely too long and they hadn't gotten home until nearly five.

"So, what did you want?" Lindsay knew that she sounded rude, but frankly she didn't really care. LeeAnne definitely wasn't anywhere near the top of her favorite people list.

"We got your wedding invitation in the mail the other day," LeeAnne chirped. "It seems awfully soon, don't you think?"

Yeah, well I wanted to get married before I got fat, Lindsay thought to herself. She didn't say this out loud, of course. LeeAnne and Lindsay's father knew nothing about the baby. Bill Monroe would have a fit if he found out that his daughter was pregnant before she was married. "Yeah, well I just couldn't wait any longer," Lindsay said, telling her the first excuse she could think of.

"Well, isn't that sweet?" LeeAnne gushed. Lindsay could hear the false enthusiasm in her stepmother's voice from thousands of miles away. "It's just so unfortunate that we won't be able to make it."

"What?" Lindsay exclaimed so loudly that Danny was startled awake.

LeeAnne didn't even seem fazed. "The wedding's two days before Becky's birthday," she said, naming Lindsay's much younger half sister. "I'm not sure if we'll be able to be back home by then."

"Becky could always celebrate her birthday here," Lindsay suggested, "I could take her shopping and to all the sights."

"No," LeeAnne simpered, "it just wouldn't be the same for her if she wasn't at home with all her friends. You only turn 17 once, you know."

Lindsay scoffed. Seventeen. It wasn't that important of a birthday anyway. If it was her eighteenth birthday, or even her sixteenth she'd have understood, but seventeenth? That was just Becky's unbelievably spoiled treatment showing through. "LeeAnne," she protested, "you only get married once."

"With you we could never ensure that, now could we," LeeAnne said

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lindsay snapped. She hated LeeAnne right now. "This is my wedding we're talking about!" Danny had fully woken up and was sitting up in bed now, trying to figure out what the conversation was about, exactly.

"I'm sorry, Lindsay, I really am," LeeAnne apologized, "But we have poor Becky to think about. Besides, we don't really know if this marriage is going to last," LeeAnne scoffed.

"Poor Becky?" Lindsay exploded, "The girl never lifts a finger! She's a spoiled little brat! And of course my marriage is going to last! Why wouldn't it?"

"Lindsay!" LeeAnne gasped, horrified, "Don't talk about your sister like that! You are such an ungrateful child, Lindsay! You push people away and don't let them get close! That's why this marriage isn't going to last! You're not cut out for love. "

"I am not your child, LeeAnne. I want to speak to my father," Lindsay said through clenched teeth.

"I'm afraid that just isn't possible," LeeAnne replied.

"Let me speak to my father, right now!" Lindsay practically yelled.

"No! We are not coming, that is that! Your father and I talked about it and decided together that this is the best solution. Nothing you can say to your father will change that."

"Fine," Lindsay said, close to tears, "I don't want you here anyway. You're not my mother. You are not family to me. And I don't want that spoiled little brat of a daughter of yours here anyway. Tell Becky happy birthday for me," she spat bitterly and hung up the phone.

"What was that all about?" Danny asked, as soon as Lindsay was finished with LeeAnne.

"They're not coming." Lindsay said shortly, laying back down and pulling the covers up to her chin.

"Who's not coming to what?"

"My family is not coming to our wedding," she snapped, tears brimming in her chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm so sorry," he said, taking her into his arms.

"It's ok. I don't want them here anyway. LeeAnne and Becky aren't family to me anyway." Lindsay rarely spoke of her family, even to Danny. All he knew is that her mother died when she was a teenager, and her father had almost immediately married LeeAnne, who had Becky shortly after. Lindsay and LeeAnne were constantly battling it out and Lindsay's father always took LeeAnne's side. He let her control him and make all the decisions for the family, always in hers and Becky's favor. A lone tear slid down Lindsay's face. "I wanted my daddy here, though," her lip trembled but she refused to let any more tears fall.

Danny pulled her closer. "It'll be ok," he crooned into her ear. "Let's just get some sleep. We'll talk about this later." With that, they both fell into exhausted sleep.

A/N Sorry. I just had to create one of those characters that everybody loves to hate. I love them. Writing them is just so fun! Anyway, R&R!

xoxo

Lia