Fireflies (Double Love Series Part 2)

Prologue: In The Stillness Of Remembering

Santa Monica, California
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
(10:00 am)
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Twenty-five years ago tonight, I let this beautiful, amazing woman sacrifice her own happiness for me and send me away.

Lindsey sat at the edge of the bed, watching Stevie sleep. She was wearing her black silk pajamas, turned over on her side under the down comforter and the sun streaming in from the windows made her hair look like a halo, as it always did. He'd watched Stevie sleeping in the morning sunlight countless times in fifty-two years, but it never ceased to amaze him how he could fall in love with her all over again every morning he was there to see it. It still stung as it had twenty-five years ago to think of the first morning he'd woken up without her, alone at home after The Dance, the first morning he was home from the tour, knowing he'd never wake up and see that sight again, the sight of Stevie asleep in the morning sun after a night of making love and then falling asleep in each other's arms, looking like an angel illuminated by sunlight, so beautiful just lying there peacefully that it took his breath away and reminded him he was the luckiest man alive.

She stirred in her sleep, turning over more towards the center of the bed with a tiny moan, and he smiled, holding a mug of coffee in his hand for her. The coffee was only the beginning; he had a whole day and night full of special treatment and romance planned for her, hoping that one day, this sweet, beautiful, amazing girl sleeping before him would think of November 30 as the day he loved her so much he gave her the perfect day...and not the day he left her for another woman and the child of his she was carrying even though his heart was breaking.

"Time to wake up, baby girl," he said softly, leaning in to stroke her hair, then her cheek, with his free hand. He knew she had to smell the coffee in the other. "Coffee is ready and it's a brand new day and I want to look into your big, beautiful eyes while I tell you I love you."

"Coffee?" Stevie opened one eye, then the other, and the first thing she saw was Lindsey's smile.

"I love how that's the part you heard," he said with a chuckle, handing her the hot mug of coffee as she slid up a bit against the pillows.

"Oh I heard it all," she said with a sly grin. "I just need the coffee before I address the rest of it." She took a sip of coffee and placed the mug on the nightstand beside her and then said, "Okay, ready. Love me."

"Well since you're ready and all..." Lindsey leaned over her and kissed her long and deep, tasting coffee as his tongue slid gently past her lips. His kiss elicited a tiny moan, and Stevie was slow to open her eyes. He was smiling at her when she did, stroking her cheek. He said, "Why are you so beautiful right out of bed in the morning? I mean, it's not even fair."

Stevie giggled and said, touching his face, "Sweetheart, you've got me. You've won. I love you madly and I'm yours forever...you do not have to make all that up. I'm old as dirt!"

"It's a shame you'll never see what I see," Lindsey said almost wistfully. "I look at you and I see the most beautiful girl in the world, every day, every time." He was holding her hands in his now in his lap, and he smiled as their eyes met.

"Twenty-five years ago today, Linds." She sighed, dropping her gaze into her lap. Our hands always fit together so perfectly, she thought as she looked down at them. Fingers laced together like puzzle pieces...in perfect harmony. She knew he was trying to be even more sweet to her than usual this morning because of what day it was.

"I know, angel...I know," he said with a sigh. His forehead pressed to hers and they closed their eyes and just took in the moment. They didn't have have to say anything; they knew.

"Come back to bed with me for a minute?" She had an almost weepy, hopeful sound to her voice, and Lindsey wasted no time getting back under the covers he'd abandoned about an hour before to make coffee and feed the dog, in addition to setting up a few sweet surprises for her to lessen the blow of the unpleasant anniversary in which they found themselves. He pulled her close to him from behind and kissed her shoulder before settling in, Stevie sighing and closing her eyes to the simple warmth of his arms around her that twenty-five years ago today, she'd begun to pretend she could live without.

There was silence for awhile, each of them just enjoying the moment, until Stevie's voice broke into the morning stillness.

"There are red roses out there for me, aren't there?"

Lindsey began to laugh, which made Stevie laugh, and he said, "Like a million...actually a bouquet of exactly twenty-five because...you know."

"And..." She knew Lindsey; she knew there was more.

"And soooooooooo many Animal Crackers," he confessed, still laughing, as she turned over in his arms and held him close to her, laughing along. "But I'm no one-trick pony, angel...there's more to the cool surprises as the day goes on...just wait." He captured her lips in his for a kiss and the kiss lingered for one long, sweet moment. Stevie settled into the crook of his arm when she pulled away, and he held her tight, just as he had a million times before, but today it was different. Today they were both very aware of the fact that fate had stood in the way of this beautiful scene twenty-five years ago today, and they both knew they were done living in the past.

Lindsey felt her drifting back to sleep again in his arms and as he listened to her breathing, he smiled, thinking of the bigger, much more important surprise he had in store for her in exactly twenty-four days. In an old English castle on Christmas Eve, surrounded by the people they loved, he was going to ask Stevie Nicks to become Stephanie Buckingham. He'd already bought and hidden the ring.

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