Crystal (Original Series Prequel 1)

You Remain Ageless

Atherton, California
Wednesday, May 26, 1971
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"Thanks for coming along to give me a hand, Stevie. I'm sorry I had to drag you with me to do this on your birthday."

Greg Buckingham had been assigned the task of keeping Stevie out of the house while Lindsey picked the Nicks family up from the airport and his mother set up for Stevie's birthday dinner. Without Stevie's knowledge, Lindsey had secretly left one of his guitars, as well as some lyric sheets and notes for songs they were working on, at the apartment she and Robin had shared not too long ago and Robin now occupied alone. It had all worked out simpler than they'd even imagined it would - Lindsey had left the house to go to the airport, telling her he had to "pick up her birthday present", and shortly thereafter Greg had asked her if she wouldn't mind letting him into the apartment to retrieve some things Lindsey needed for their next trip to the coffee plant to record. Stevie and Robin had spent some time together while Greg gathered everything, and five minutes after they left to go home, Robin left the house to go to the Buckinghams' house so she could be there too to shout surprise at Stevie when she arrived with Greg.

"It's cool," Stevie said, staring out the car window as the streets went by, the sun shining through the half-open window and the wind blowing through her hair as the car radio played Three Dog Night's "Joy To The World. "I feel like I've been neglecting Robin, anyway, since I moved with you guys...it was great to see her. She told me we'll go out for belated birthday drinks Friday night...got to tell Lindsey so he doesn't plan on recording that night."

"That's nice," Greg mused, trying to keep the knowing grin from his face.

Stevie began to tap her hands against her thighs in the hig-hugger bell bottom jeans she wore with a navy peasant top and a wide white belt that matched her platform wedge sandals. She was tapping to the beat of the song that was the current number one song on Billboard, "If I were the king of the world, I tell you what I'd do...I'd throw away the cars and the bars and the wars, and make sweet love to you...Sing it now...Joy to the world...all the boys and girls...joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea...joy to you and me..." Lindsey loved this song, she thought as she sang along, thinking back on how he's sung to to her on Friday night when they'd come home from the coffee plant a bit earlier than normal at around nine, exhausted, and then gone up to bed to cuddle up with the dog and watch The Odd Couple. They had dozed off after Stevie's beloved Love, American Style and woken up at around two o'clock, when his hands had begun to roam her body under the covers, followed by his mouth, and he'd sung her the part about "making sweet love" as he'd peeled her panties slowly down her legs under the blankets and nuzzled her neck while she giggled. She tried to keep the lovesick grin from her face sitting in the car next to his brother, and busied herself with looking through his folder of songs, reading titles and a few lyrics - "Without A Leg To Stand On", "Don't Let Me Down Again", "Lola, My Love". She had to fight to stop her smiling again next to Greg, thinking of exactly how and when he'd come up with "Lola, My Love", who "Lola" was, and exactly how little time it had taken him to reduce her to moaning and whimpering the night they had invented that little game.

"We can leave everything in the car for now," Greg said some time later as they pulled into the driveway. "Lindsey said he'd put everything where it goes later."

"Sounds like Lindsey," Stevie said, rolling her eyes at his need to have everything just so. They walked up the path to the front door, and Stevie burst into tears almost immediately when she saw what - and who - stood waiting for her on the other side.

"Surprise!" There stood Morris and Ruth and Jeff, and her eyes quickly turned to see every person in her life that she loved - Robin, Barbara, Jess, Christopher, and Lindsey, holding Ginny the dog in his arms and waving her little paw at Stevie, a huge smile across his face. They all sang in unison, "Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday, dear Stevie...Happy Birthday to you..."