Buckingham Nicks A/U Series Part 3: Storms

I'd Like To Leave You With Something Warm

Aspen, Colorado
Friday, October 19, 1979
(7:00 pm)
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Aspen never changed. It was they who were different every time they were there.

That was what Stevie was thinking as the car that picked them up from the airport that evening drove the last road down to the house they had rented for the weekend, the same house they had rented nearly two years before for their honeymoon.

The second honeymoon has been Lindsey's idea. He'd mentioned it to her the previous Friday evening, lying in bed with Stevie curled up in a ball in his arms like a tired child, holding her close as he felt her frail, tiny body relaxing to his touch and she was beginning to drift off to sleep. She'd murmured something about it being too early in their marriage to need to rekindle the magic, and he'd told her they'd actually been married for almost a decade in their hearts so they were right on schedule.

So with Julia, Aaron and Ginny all spending the weekend with Robin and Kim, they'd packed up and headed to Aspen for the third time in their relationship, and from the moment they stepped into the house, the overwhelming feeling of hope that had been with them the last time they'd been there washed over both of them, and they knew they had made the right choice.

The house, too, was exactly as they remembered it. Walking through the living room together once they were alone in the house, Stevie looked over at the carpet beside the fireplace and her mind instantly flashed to herself two years ago, five months pregnant, being told repeatedly how beautiful she was as Lindsey made love to her in a deep sea of blankets in front of a roaring fire.

"You're not upset that I'm big as a house on our wedding night, baby?" She looked at him almost apologetically.

"You are not as big as a house, Stevie. You are growing our child inside of you," he said. He took her face in his hands. "You are so beautiful I can't even believe it... right now, just like this. I love your little belly...and I love what's inside. and I'm resisting the urge to pounce on you right now, angel, because you are a vision. You are amazing."

He drew her slowly to him for a kiss. They kissed long and deep, gentle tongues caressing, Lindsey capturing her lower lip in his teeth for a little nibble, to which he heard her give a little whimper before licking her lips and going in for more. This time he slid two fingers under the shoulders of her robe and let it slide from her body before he kissed her bare shoulder, then the other, then began kissing up the side of her neck before whispering into her ear, "I'm going to make love to my wife now, Mrs. Buckingham."

"Will we be creatures of habit tonight, Mrs. Buckingham?" Lindsey nodded towards the fireplace, which had been lit by the caretaker for their arrival. She knew he was having the same memory as she was. Her entire face broke into a smile.

"Oh, definitely, Mr. Buckingham." She giggled, her gaze dropping to the floor, and Lindsey saw his wife again, his Stevie...his Stephanie...who he'd missed so much in the time he hadn't been able to reach her.

Stevie had crawled into his arms on their bed immediately the evening she'd come home from Christine's house the previous Friday. Lindsey had listened carefully and without judgment, stroking her hair as she'd cried and confessed she'd been using cocaine to muster up the energy it took to raise two babies and still be involved in Fleetwood Mac as they prepared the Tusk album for tour. She'd been honest about getting it from Mick, knowing that her complicated history with Mick would have been cause for alarm if her cocaine source had been uncovered later. She'd told him she felt tired and old and inadequate, like the lyrics to "Landslide" were haunting her and the landslide of their lives was falling in on her every night that she went to sleep feeling she'd failed at least one person she loved. When she was done, Lindsey had brought his hand to her cheek and guided her into a sweet, tender kiss that reminded her of their first kiss, also in a bedroom, a million years before at the Tropicana Hotel in Los Angeles where they'd been trying to get a record deal with Fritz and walked away Buckingham Nicks.