Title: Magic in Their Eyes
Characters: Lindsey, Lily, Greg, & Gaby
Word Count: 2253
Rating: PG  [cuteness]
Warnings/Spoilers/Summary: Lindsey needs to woo his fiancee back after quitting the band in a rather... explosive manner. He does through by spending quality time with his family...




August 8, 1987
Los Angeles, California

Sitting at the breakfast table with her three-year-old daughter and six-year-old son, Lily was slightly concerned she had yet to hear from Lindsey. Considering she banned him from the house until he calmed down and got his act together after the previous night’s meltdown, she was not entirely surprised. Regardless, he had a family, two young children who expected to see their daddy when they got up in the morning. His absence did not bode well at all.

“Mom?” Greg looked up from his pancakes.

“Yeah?” her golden eyes went to his as she placed sliced bananas on Gaby’s plate.

“I thought Dad was done working,” he commented.

“He is. Why do you say that?”

“He’s not here,” Greg pointed out.

“You’re right,” Lily replied, sipping her tea. “You know how sometimes Daddy gets mad and needs a break to calm down?”

“Yeah,” he reached for a slice of bacon.

“Well Daddy had… to go calm down last night,” she declared.

“Is he coming back?”

Before Lily could answer him, the door from the garage opened and in stepped Lindsey. In one hand, he had a bouquet of red lilies, tied with a red and white polka dot bow. In his other hand, he held a bundle of balloons with Mickey and Minnie Mouse printed on them and a paper bag. He approached the breakfast table, handed the flowers to Lily, the paper bag to Greg, and tied the balloons on the back of Gaby’s chair. The boy looked to his mother for encouragement to open the bag. With a nod from Lily, who glanced at Lindsey as he moved to make himself coffee, Greg tore open the bag.

He gasped, pulling out a plush Mickey and Minnie as well as two pairs of mouse ears, “Dad?”

“As soon as you’re done with breakfast,” he paused, retrieving a coffee cup from the cupboard, “we’re going to Disneyland.”

As the children squealed in delight, Lily suppressed a sigh, her eyes going to her fiancé. If he thought he was going to win her favor by charming their children, he was sorely mistaken. Not to let them down, she forced a smile when they looked at her and promptly declared they were done with breakfast.

“Oh don’t you even try that,” she looked at them both. “You’re both going to need your energy to go to the park. Finish up your breakfast.”

Getting to her feet, she motioned Lindsey out of the kitchen. He ruffled Gaby’s curls before following her from the room. When she turned to face him, able to still see their children though confident they could not hear her, Lindsey knew she was still mad at him. His mouth opened to explain away… anything she would allow him.

Instead, she instantly interjected, “If you think that I’m just going to—”

Lindsey cut her off by kissing her. Her eyes narrowed and she pushed him away gently.

“Lil, I’m sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have—”

“You’re right. You shouldn’t have. Flowers and Disneyland is not going to smooth this over, Linds. I told you a long time ago I will not tolerate any violence, even more so now that we have children. If you’re going to—”

“It will never happen again.”

“You said that last time.”

“Well this time I’m doubly sure of it. I’m not even in the band anymore. So all that stress is gone. Now I can devote all my time and energy to you and the kids,” he declared. “Starting today with treating everyone to the happiest place on earth.”

She sighed, “It’s not that simple, Linds. Last night…”

“I know,” he reached up and cupped her cheek. “I know, Lily. I knew the moment you kicked me out of the car at the hotel. You were absolutely right to do that. I certainly did not need to be in this house, near the kids, in that state. And I did not deserve any of your attention at all. I get that. I saw the fear in your eyes. I never want that again.”

“Lindsey, this isn’t just going to—”

“Mommy! Greg won’t give me Mickey!” Gaby whined.

Instantly dropping her conversation with Lindsey, Lily stepped around him and headed back to the children, “I am absolutely certain that neither of you need Mickey to finish your breakfasts. So I’ll just put him away for now.”

An hour later, the family piled into Lindsey’s BMV and headed to the park. Though she did not like how Lindsey was using a trip to Disneyland to smooth things over, Lily easily hid her annoyance with her fiancé for the sake of the children. Perhaps the day would win her over too; she was at least open to it.

As they arrived at the park closer to noon than opening, Lindsey drove circles around the parking lot, trying to find a parking space close to the entrance. After a third loop, the kids began to whine, getting antsy. Lily tried to assure them that Lindsey would park in the first spot that he saw, but even she did not really believe that. However, he did just that — even though they were out in the Sleepy parking lot.

“Here we are!” he chirped. “Are you guys ready to go to Disneyland!?”

“Yay!” both of the kids cheered in the back of the car.

“Deep breaths, guys,” Lily stated, unbuckling her seatbelt. “We’ve got a walk before we reach it.”

Unloading the kids while Lindsey retrieved the cloth stroller from the trunk, Lily double-checked the kids’ shoelaces. Rather than placing Gaby in the stroller, she instructed Greg to drop his small backpack in its seat before closing the car door. With the three-year-old on her hip, Lily turned and started to head towards the park entrance. A few steps behind her, Lindsey pushed the stroller. Greg held onto the stroller’s curved handle and happily chatted with his father, listing all the rides he wanted to ride.

By the time they finished the short walk to the entrance, Lily was uncertain she would be able to hold thee squirming, excited little girl any longer. She quickly passed the child off to Lindsey and snatched his wallet from his hands. Leaving him standing to the side with the two excited children, Lily quickly paid their admissions before returning to her family.

“Okay, guys. Let’s go to Disneyland,” she smiled.



Sitting next the stroller, Greg sighed while waiting for Lily and Gaby to ride the carousel. After a few hours of doing whatever he wanted —with some minor concessions as no one wanted to trigger Lindsey to have a seizure — the young boy was forced to concede to his little sister’s desires after they had a late lunch. He sighed and wiggled on the bench, making Lindsey glance over his sunglasses at the young boy.

“What’s the problem, Greg?” he asked, waving as the girls passed them once more.

“Why do we have to go on the baby rides?” he whined.

Lindsey struggled to hide his amusement before responding, “We went on a bunch of the rides you wanted to, Greg. Now it’s her choice.”

“But Daaaaad.”

“Don’t ‘but Dad’ me,” he declared, getting to his feet as the carousel stopped. “It’s only fair to let your sister choose some too.”

From the carousel, the small family ventured on a few more rides, working their way through Fantasyland. Lindsey had to remind Greg about his behavior a couple of times. It was not until the family paused to discuss where to go after ‘It’s a Small World’ that Greg’s attitude began to lighten up once more.

“Well,” Lily shifted Gaby on her hip while looking at the map Lindsey held, “we did the couple of rides we could in Tomorrowland, so I think we should head to Adventureland. That will probably be enough for today.”

“I wanna drive the cars again!” Greg declared, jumping up and down.

Lily’s eyes met Lindsey’s, “Do you want to do the cars one more time and then hop on the train to skirt around the park?”

“There’s not a stop in Adventureland,” he pointed out.

“But there is one in New Orleans Square,” she commented. “And that will put us close enough.”

“Okay, yeah, sure,” he nodded.

Lily watched as he folded up the map and stuck it back into his pocket, “How are you feeling, Linds? Do we need to take a break and sit for awhile?”

“I’m fine,” he quickly responded.

“No… lightning?” she asked softly, referring to the visual spikes his epilepsy sometimes caused.

“I’m fine,” Lindsey repeated.

Lily nodded cautiously before glancing down at their son, “Okay, you and Dad are going to go on the cars once more before we head to another part of the park, okay?”

“Yay!” he cheered, before turning and bolting in the direction of the ride.

Eyes wide, Lindsey quickly trotted after his son, grabbing the boy by the back of his shirt, “Greg! You know better than to run off like that.”

“Sorry, Dad,” he frowned, flushing slightly.

“Come on, bud,” he moved his hand from the boy’s collar, grasping his instead. “Let’s go drive.”

After riding Autopia again, the family climbed into the train that circumnavigated the park. The children delighted in the ride, the parents in the brief respite from park excitement. Though Lindsey would not admit it, and had actually denied it, Lily worried that his exhaustion was beginning to impair him. As he had not slept at home, she doubted he slept at all the night before. Disneyland was the last place she wanted him to have a seizure, especially in front of the children.

“You know,” Lily spoke softly so as to not draw the children’s attention, “we could just sit at one of the restaurants and have a relaxed, sit-down meal.”

“If that’s what you want,” he replied. 

“We have been going pretty nonstop all day, Linds. The kids could use some downtime too,” she stated, glancing at the station as they arrived.

“Whatever you think is best.”

“Let’s sit and eat. Then we can go on the Jungle Cruise and through the Robinson Family Tree,” she declared, pulling Gaby into her lap as the train stopped.

Heading into the Blue Bayou a few minutes later, the children gasped, pointing out the fireflies. Lily could not help but grin at the wonderment on their faces. After hours at the park, she thought they were immune to the magic. Even Lindsey noticed, smile lighting his face as well.

“Daddy,” Gaby pointed at one of the lit up cups at a nearby table as they were seated, “I want one of those!”

He chuckled, slipping the booster seat into a chair for her before slipping her from Lily’s arms, “I’m sure that can be arranged.”

Once seated and their order placed, Lindsey shifted his chair slightly closer to Lily. Though the tension between them declined drastically through the day, mostly due to their children’s smiles, Lindsey still felt like she was not completely back on his side. He knew everything he did the night before was so beyond wrong and she was right to kick him out last night. She certainly had learned how to not only work around his moodiness, but to snap him out of it, in the years they had been together. Yet as that thought crossed his mind and he watched her chat with the children while they colored their pirate pages, he knew that was not the reason she kicked him out the previous night. She had done it to protect their children… from him.

“Lil?”

Her eyes went to his, “Yeah?”

Without saying anything, he leaned over and kissed her gently, “I love you. You are an amazing mother and an amazing woman. I am so very lucky to have you in my life. I don’t… I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Linds…”

“Last night I was… out of my mind. Thank you for protecting our family from that. Thank you for doing exactly what was needed,” he muttered softly. “Please… please forgive me.”

She leaned back slightly before picking up a crayon from the floor and returning her attention to him, “I don’t need to forgive you. Someone else needs to.”

He was silent for a moment, “I don’t think she ever will.”

“Give her a chance.”

He sighed, “I don’t know.”

“Maybe not right now, but some day,” Lily said.

“I know… I know…”

She leaned over and kissed him, “You and I and the children are going to be fine, good even. We’ve got you now, no longer sharing you with the band.”

He smirked, “Yes, that’s very true. It’s about time for me to really be dad to our kids. And maybe…”

“Yes?” her eyes barely broke away from his as their salads were delivered.

Lindsey picked up her left hand and kissed her ring finger, just above her engagement ring, “Maybe we should start planning a wedding finally.”

Her eyes brightened, but before she could respond, Gaby knocked over her cup, spilling her lemonade all over the table and floor. Though her attention instantly shifted back to their daughter, Lindsey knew his words made impact. He had seen magic in her eyes too.

Disneyland was the most magical place in the world to him right then. But Lindsey had a feeling he would think that of any place where Lily was.