Baby

11

March 23, 1990

They had had the girls for a little over a month, Stevie cried a week prior when they took the girls to the pediatrician and Misty had to get her shots because the little girl was in pain and Stevie couldn't help her. But now, Stevie was scheduled to go in and record with Fleetwood Mac so she was trying to get a little bit of sleep and she hasn't been getting sleep because the almost two months old, cried every two hours for food. But that wasn't what woke her up, what woke her up was her bedroom door opening and Lindsey carrying in a crying little girl with tangled blonde waves. Lindsey had her in yellow pajamas with white polka dots on them and a koala which weren't the pink jammies with rainbows that Stevie put her to bed in. 

"What happened?" Stevie asks sitting up and turning her bedside lamp on.

"She puked in her crib. I cleaned her up, she's running a fever, but I don't know where she would've gotten sick from we've only brought her to the park." Lindsey shrugs.

"Oh, sunflower." Stevie coos taking her into her arms.

"I'm going to go clean up her crib...and toss everything in the laundry." Lindsey sighs.

"Indsey." She whimpers.

"I'll be right back bug, okay." Lindsey kisses her head.

"Lindsey, bring a bucket or a bowl when you come back." Stevie sighs running her fingers through Cordelia's knotted hair.

"Are you asking me to sleep in here with you?" Lindsey inquires. They've been married for three months and they still really haven't acted like a proper couple, but neither of them expected to. 

All Stevie does is give him an are you serious look and he chuckles before going to clean up the mess. Cordelia throws up once more in the night, but luckily Stevie was up feeding Misty when it happened so her bed wouldn't be soiled as well but then her alarm clock went off and she whined.

"Oh, Karen'll be here in three hours." She sighs.

"Go get in the shower, I'll watch the girls." Lindsey sighs. Stevie nods and shifts Cordelia off of her chest and into Lindsey's arms.

She takes a cold shower to try and wake herself up but it does no good and once she's dressed and slowly doing her makeup at her vanity, Lindsey sighs. "You weren't going to take Misty with you, but maybe you should...we don't need her getting sick do we? And I don't know if I can tend to both of them if Cordelia's puking I don't want to leave her and have to go feed, Misty."

"I guess your right...Linds, I haven't even told Fleetwood Mac about any of this yet." Stevie sighs.

"Well, now you're going to have to." Lindsey chuckles lightly.

"Oh god, they're going to kill me..." She states.

"They might, but I'm always going to be here." He points.

Stevie dresses her baby in a white onesie with a purple elephant in the middle of it, and a pair of purple leggings. And over top of the onesie, she puts on a grey sweater with a purple bow on it She checks the weather and opts not to bring her little snowsuit but she packs ample formula and the baby wrap and ample diapers and wipes and she kisses Cordelia's head for a goodbye and then she just looks at Lindsey and she takes the initiative to kiss him goodbye as well.

***

Before she walks into the studio, she situates the baby wrap and Misty, and then she pushes in. She was the last one to arrive and Mick was quick to pull her into a hug but he jolted back as a squeal of distress came from her midsection.

"What the Fuck?" Mick asks.

"I um...well, I have a baby." Stevie smiles rubbing Misty's back.

"You had a baby?" Mick cocks an eyebrow.

"No, I have a baby...this is my daughter...I'm in the process of adopting her and her two-year-old sister. But since sister is puking, we decided that I should bring her with me today." Stevie sighs still trying to soothe the baby.

"Whose we?" Rick Vito inquires. They had a small fling on the Shake the Cage tour, but that was as far as it went. 

"My partner...who else would I be adopting a baby with." Stevie rolls her eyes.

"I didn't think you were dating anyone." Rick shakes his head.

"It was um...very last minute." Stevie sighs.

"Alright love, now you've gotta spill." Christine stands up and makes her way over to Stevie peeking into the baby wrap to see the small creature with her fist in her mouth.

"Well, I'd like you all to meet Misty Buckingham." Stevie smiles.

"BUCKINGHAM! Like Lindsey Buckingham?" John asks.

"Lindsey and I...we talked after I got back from tour and I mentioned wanting to adopt and I just wanted his support but he looked into it and said we'd have a better shot if we were married. So we got married on January 8th...We got the girls on February 2nd. We're still in the process so they're not technically ours yet, but she is my baby. We knew as soon as we saw them that they were our babies so we're really trying our hardest." Stevie smiles.

"Well love you're glowing...motherhood looks good on you." Mick rubs her back.

"Can I hold her?" Christine inquires.

"Of course, let me get her out. She's a hotbox though be warned." Stevie smiles. 

She hands the baby over to Christine and the older woman just smiles at her. "She kinda...I don't know she reminds me of Lindsey. The brown hair,  the blue eyes." 

"Cordelia her sister has blonde curls and big brown eyes. It was almost like fate Chris." Stevie shakes her head.

"Well, do you have some songs for us. You can get in the booth while Chris loves on your baby." Mick chuckles. 

"I do...I have a bunch of demos." She pulls out the bag of tapes from the baby bag thrown over her shoulder. "There's like ten you can pick the three or four you really want out of them." 

***

When Stevie gets home, it's dark and quite late at night as she knew it was going to be and she had initially been dreading it because of Cordelia's nighttime routine but when she walked into her bedroom, Lindsey had shifted up more, but they were still in the same position.

"Did you move at all?" 

"We did, she puked right after you left, but she hasn't since. Her fever broke so she's sleeping and I didn't have the heart to move her. We had some apple sauce for lunch, she kept that down and some dried toast for dinner. She's kept that down too so I'm hoping it was just a twenty-four-hour thing." Lindsey sighs. 

"Well at least her fever broke. I would've hated having to bring her to the ER." Stevie sighs the statement that Marge told Lindsey about the doctor still ringing in her head.

"How did Misty do?"

"She's such a good baby. I think she was held more today than she has ever been held. John has a soft spot for her...he held her the most." Stevie explains.

"I figured Christine would." Lindsey chuckles lightly.

"Are you okay with all of this Lindsey..." She sighs sitting on the bed, laying Misty in her cradle. She had been changed into her grey sleeper with white polka dots on it, not long before Stevie headed home.

"Why wouldn't I be...it's your job," Lindsey shrugs.

"Because I'm recording with our friends and our band." She shrugs.

"Stevie, I was fired. Sure I miss it. I haven't spoken to John, Mick, Or Christine in a while...but it's not important to me anymore. What is important is being here with you and the girls. Honestly Steph...ever since we embarked on this adventure...I fell back in love with you so fast it's stupid. But I'm trying to be a gentleman and not push myself on you." Lindsey shrugs.

Stevie sits up at that. "Really, you've fallen back in love with me?"

"I have...yes." He nods.

"Good, because I did too...I love you, Lindsey." She admits.

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah." She confirms biting her lip and going in for a kiss only for it to be broken seconds later by a crying Misty.