Bluebird

13

May 5, 2011

It was in March when Lindsey's divorce was finalized, he got the girls every second and third week of the month. It was Sunday so they'd be arriving at five in the evening.  William was over eighteen so he wasn't auctioned off in the custody battle,  and it was April when he finally talked Annabel into moving in with him. It was as simple as their lease was getting ready to end and Garrett had gotten into a decent relationship with Blake so they wanted to take next steps and William and Samantha were in the same boat. Lindsey was paying rent for the two of them to live in a one bedroom condo not that far from Wilshire, so she really didn't have any other option. 

Being that it was Sunday, Annabel was off, and when she emerged from her bedroom wearing a silky aqua tank top and short pajama set, her waves in a messy bun on the top, there were three men sitting on Lindsey's couch. She cocked an eyebrow and scratched her head before pouring a cup of coffee. 

"Lindsey whose this?" The one in the middle with white-blonde curly hair asks.

"Um, this is Annabel." He states.

"Annabel....Annabel." 

"Yes Waddy, that Annabel, but you don't even think about telling Stevie." Lindsey points out.

"But Linds...She'll..." 

"No, I'm not ready to meet her yet. I'll do it when I'm ready." Annabel jumps in, knowing very well that it's Waddy Wachtel, Stevie's guitarist. 

"Annabel, this is Waddy, you know who he is..." She nods as he says it, "And this is my assistant Ray Lindsey and this is my manager Tony Byron." 

"So should I go put clothes on?" She asks.

"If you'd be more comfortable you can but we don't care." Ray shrugs.

"We were just telling Lindsey here that Stevie wants him to perform with her on the 26th at the Wiltern. It's her album release party and he did a song with her." Waddy pipes in. 

"I'll do it with her, but do you want to go with me?" Lindsey asks.

"Well I mean..." 

"What are you thinking about?" He urges. He hasn't known his child that long, but he knows her well enough. 

"I'm a huge fan of Stevie Nicks so I want to go see the concert, but I don't want to meet her or anything. Not yet. I'm not ready for that yet." 

"I can get you a VIP ticket and you won't even have to go backstage." Waddy tells her.

"That'd be great." She nods.

"Box or front and center?" 

She looks at her dad and then she looks at the three men. "Front and Center." 

***

Annabel didn't know why she was so nervous to go see Stevie perform at the Wiltern. But she was. It was a mixture of nerves and excitement and she was just giddy. Very giddy. She had decided to dress up, she didn't know why, it's not like her mother was going to pay any mind to her it just felt like the thing to do. She was wearing a tan almost nude color body con rouged mini dress. She paired it with the necklace Lindsey bought her when they were in Hawaii, and light brown platform booties. 

She left her hair down and wavy and then she made her way out into the living room to wait for her dad. She could hear him shuffling around in his room but she wasn't going to bother him. 

When he was ready they hit the road, stopping for dinner first and then he dropped her at the front of the theater so he could go back and get ready. She had a giant smile on her face The Whole time Stevie performed, but when her dad walked on that stage there was almost a little hint of pain behind her eyes. She had talked about leaving Walter Reed as a mother in her intro to the song and when she said it, though some members of the crowd made noise in response, the mood kind of shifted like a gray cloud had formed over her head and when Lindsey got on that stage and she looked at him, there was a hint of pleading in her eyes and Annabel didn't know how to feel about the whole situation. 

Edge of Seventeen, though was the song that got Annabel the most excited and she finally gave into her urge of holding her hands up and dancing. She didn't even realize that Stevie was close to her until she felt her hand become encompassed by two warm, slightly sweaty leather covered hands. Her eyes shot open and she and Stevie Nicks made direct eye contact. puppy dog brown to puppy dog brown. And she felt a shock of electricity, almost like a connection through her arm. Their contact lasted at most 30 seconds but it left Annabel with so many feelings. The story of her birth coming back to haunt her and her eyes zeroed in on Stevie's left beast that was slightly coming out of her corset. She didn't know why it was her left breast that she was just drawn to look it, but she was and it was weird, but that's where her head went. 

But as the final song of the night came on, Love Is...despite the assholes screaming during the intimate moments, it felt like Stevie was singing right to her and there were several moments where she clutched at her stomach and she just had the urge to hug her mother. But she controlled herself and sat nicely through the end of the song. 

At the end of the night, she waited for her dad and when he finally appeared he had two pieces of cake in his hand. 

"What's the matter?" he asks.

She didn't answers all she did was she wrapped her arms around his thin waist. 

"What. what's wrong?" 

"She really did love me didn't she?" 

"Oh yeah, yeah she did baby." 

"I felt it, during Love Is...and she grabbed my hand. I don't think she pieced it together but I felt it." She nods. 

"Your mother went through a lot after you were taken from us. The night we found out we couldn't get you back, she almost drank herself to death because all she wanted was her baby girl. Her Baby Belle."

"Baby Belle? Like the cheese?" Annabel inquires her nose wrinkling just like her mother's does. 

"No, not like the cheese. You're name is Annabel, but she doesn't like the nickname Anna. She said it wouldn't have fit you and she's kinda right...I don't look at you and see Anna, I look at you and see Belle. But she had decided that your nickname was going to be Baby Belle. Belle Buckingham. When you were taken it was a chorus of, I want my Baby Belle. When we found out we couldn't get you back it was a longer sentence. "My Baby Belle is gone, they took my Baby Belle." 

"It is kinda cute and I've never had a nickname." She shrugs.

"You know, she refuses to perform on November 15th. Every year since you were born, if she had a tour to go on. She would demand that no date be scheduled for November 15th. She can't do it, it's too much for her." Lindsey explains rubbing her back.

"I...I want to meet her, but at the same time, part of me doesn't want to meet her either." She shakes her head. 

"Belle, I'm going on tour...if you want you can come with me. Maybe open up for me?" He tries to change the subject, because he knows she's still indecisive and he really wants her to think long and hard about what she wants to do. 

"Oh, I don't wanna open up for you...but I mean, what about my job?" She asks.

"I want to start funneling money into your bank account." 

"Oh, No.  I can't ask you too..." 

"I funnel about two hundred dollars into William, Leelee, and Stella's accounts every two weeks. I have all the money in the world. And I got the Hawaii house because Kristen got the Brentwood House. I'm thinking about selling that and that'll be about five million dollars in itself. If I do that for you, you rarely spend money so it'll accumulate. I want to do it. You won't need to keep your job." 

"Um, okay...but I have one condition." 

"What?" 

"I help pay for the groceries." 

"Deal." 

"Thanks Dad." 

"And please, from this point on, only ever call me that." He unlocks his car.

"What, Dad?" 

"Yes, dad." 

"Deal."