Time Makes You Bolder (Sequel to No One's A Fool)

Chapter 6

"Jesus Christ, Aunt Stevie. Joe was trying to take you to get an abortion, Lindsey was asking when the appointment was. What a bunch of assholes. Was anyone sticking up for you back then?" Jessi scoffed. Steve smiled, pointing to Lori and Mick.

"Ask your mom what her nickname was." Stevie said, and Jessi looked at Lori.

"Sharon and Chris used to call me The Bulldog. Because if someone needed to be put in their place, I could do it. And I was always on Stevie's side." Lori explained.

"When I was pregnant Chris would call me and say, 'Okay, I'm going to Phoenix for a couple days, but you've got The Bulldog, so you'll be okay." Stevie laughed.

"The Bulldog scared me on more than one occasion." Mick admitted. "She was extremely loyal."

"You were too. You were just a little slower on the uptake." Lori countered. "But you played mediator a lot. And I've always appreciated that." Now, Stevie turned to Wrenna.

"There were a lot of times during that year that I didn't want to directly tell the band something. Your dad always did it for me. Well, you'll see."

~~~~~~~

1986

Stevie spent the following week laying vocals in the studio. The atmosphere was awkward, with most everyone knowing she was pregnant, but no one wanting to ask her about it. Lindsey barely spoke to her, but that was par for the course at this point – they hadn't been getting along before he found out she was pregnant. She did her vocals, sat quietly working on a drawing when she wasn't needed, and left the second she was told her part was finished.

The following day, Stevie phoned up Mick.

"I'm having the baby." She told him, as soon as he answered.

"I believe congratulations are in order, then." He said, and she could hear the genuine kindness in his voice. She tried, unsuccessfully, to keep the tears out of her voice as she thanked him. "We're done working on the album for the rest of the year. Everyone's going home for holidays, and we'll start back in January. We won't need you in the studio for any of it, though. We're looking at releasing it in April. There'll be a tour after that, but we can discuss that later. For now, I think you've got enough to worry about."

"I'm going to Phoenix later this week. I'll be there for a couple of months, at least."

"Where is Joe?"

"We're not speaking. He's not... he doesn't want to be involved. He'd rather do drugs than help me." Mick could hear the sadness in her voice.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but that's his loss. You don't need him in order to do this."

"But I want him to be involved."

"Of course you do. But you'll be okay. I'm sure of it. Here – hang on. I've got something that might cheer you a bit." He was silent for a moment, and when he returned, she could hear the click of someone else picking up another phone in his house. "Okay, Stevie, I've got Amy here with me on the downstairs phone."

"Hi Stevie!" Amy said, cheerfully.

"Hi sweetheart."

"Are you coming to Hawaii with us for New Year's?"

"No, I don't think so, honey. I'm going to be in Phoenix for a while."

"Aww, you should come, just for a few days! Daddy says the band isn't getting back together until January."

"I'll think about it." Stevie told her.

"Amy, do you think you're good at keeping secrets?" Mick interjected.

"Yes?" Amy answered, clearly unsure of why he was asking her.

"I think Stevie has something to tell you, if she wants to. But it's a secret, for now, so you must keep your mouth shut and not tell anyone else. Not even Lucy, not Sara, not your mum. No one."

"Ooh, okay! What is it?" Amy asked. She couldn't ever remember her father asking her to keep a secret before, especially not for another band member.

"I'm pregnant, Amy." Stevie breathed. It took Amy a moment to digest this, and then she yelled into the phone, "WHAT?!" Mick began to laugh, and Stevie smiled.

"Stevie, are you serious?!" Amy screeched.

"Yeah, I am. I'm due in July."

"Oh my GOD!" Amy began to scream. "For real? You're going to have a baby?!"

"Amy, I can hear you through the ceiling, please take your face away from the phone if you're going to continue to scream into our ears." Mick said.

"I'm not going to stop screaming! Stevie is pregnant?! Oh my God, this is so great! I'm going to have a baby cousin! Can I come to Phoenix? Daddy, can I go to Phoenix?!"

"No, you will not go to Phoenix." Mick said.

"She can come to Phoenix if she wants to." Stevie argued. "But maybe wait a month or so. I'm not a lot of fun right now – just throwing up a lot."

"Oh my gosh, Stevie! You're throwing up?! Are you okay?" Amy asked, concernedly.

"I think this is my cue to get off now. Stevie, I'll be in touch soon. You really should consider coming to Hawaii with us if you're feeling up for it. Amy, don't pester her too much."

Amy and Stevie talked for several more minutes, and Stevie found that Amy's excitement was contagious. For the first time since she had found out she was pregnant, she was thinking about all the fun details, not just how hard it would be without the support of Joe or the band. After a while, Stevie started to feel nauseous again, and she and Amy said their goodbyes, with Amy reminding Stevie one more time to think about Hawaii.