Tango In The Night Part 2: When I See You Again

What Will Be, Will Be

Paradise Valley, Arizona
Saturday, September 12, 1987
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"Let 'em say we're crazy...I don't care about that...Put your hand in my hand, baby; don't ever look back...Let the world around us just fall apart...Baby, we can make it if we're heart to heart...And we can build this dream together, standing strong forever; nothing's gonna stop us now...And if this world runs out of lovers, we'll still have each other...Nothing's gonna stop us now..."

Lori and Christopher's house was alive with the sound of chattering family and friends and the radio playing "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Jefferson Starship, the new iteration of one of Steve's favorite bands of the 1960s, Jefferson Airplane. Lori's birthday was on Monday, and they had decided have a small amount of company come over to celebrate with dinner and drinks and a big chocolate cake. Stevie was hibernating in the kitchen, the lyrics of the song playing in the living room getting to her more than she'd imaged a song would now, over a month after the fight with Lindsey. She was standing near the big stainless steel coffee pot that was almost finished percolating so they could bring out the cake to sing to Lori and serve coffee along with it. She was looking down, hyper-focused on picking at a hangnail, willing herself not to cry and oblivious to the fact that Barbara had come into the kitchen to check on the coffee.

"What are you doing hiding out in here, Stevie? Brushing up on your waitressing skills?" Barbara smiled at her daughter, thinking she'd find her comment amusing, but instead, Stevie looked up at her blankly.

"What? I wasn't listening." Stevie looked dazed, and Barbara was instantly concerned.

"Spill it." Barbara sat down on a chair at the kitchen table. "What's the matter with you? You were here a month ago and all you did was sleep, and now you're here looking like you're on another planet. What's going on?"

"Nothing," Stevie lied. "Just...a lot on my mind. The tour starts in two weeks and I'm not packed...things like that." Plus I'm carrying your grandchild, and its father is the love of my life and I'll never see him again.

"Bullshit."

Stevie stood at attention. When Barbara Nicks swore, she meant business.

"I know you're upset about Lindsey leaving the band, honey, but honestly...it's for the best. I love Lindsey like my own son - it's not a matter if disliking him - but that whole situation was toxic. You know that."

"I know." Stevie had told her parents that Lindsey was out of Fleetwood Mac because he'd refused to tour, but she'd left many holes in her story - namely the physical altercation, the vicious insults and the screaming, and her pregnancy.

Barbara smiled, rising from her seat to give her daughter a hug. "I love you, Teedee-bird. You'll see...the tour will be great, you'll make a ton of money, and in time, maybe you and Lindsey could go out to brunch or something to catch up, see if you can be friends again."

"Yeah, maybe," Stevie said unconvincingly as Barbara released her from her embrace.

"I'm glad you're eating again, honey," Barbara said, her fingers pressing into Stevie's arm. "I was concerned about you, but you're filling out again. Actually..." Barbara stepped closer to her, lowered her voice an octave. "It feels like maybe you've been eating a little too heartily, Stevie. Don't get me wrong; you're beautiful at any size...but are you aware you've put on a few pounds?"

Stevie's determination not to cry was failing. She was a week away of being four months pregnant, the beginning of her second trimester, and Diana had told her that because of her "advanced maternal age" at thirty-nine, she recommended an amniocentesis to rule out any fetal abnormalities, but that the procedure would also reveal the sex of the baby if she wanted to know.