Buckingham Nicks A/U Series Part 7: Say You Will

For All The Love I Have For Your Life (Part One)

Hollywood Hills, California
Friday, October 4, 2002
(6:00 am)
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"Stevie...Stevie...the phone is ringing...your line."

Lindsey turned over in bed and let his arm drape over the tiny form of his wife, sound asleep under the covers. The bedroom was still dark, he noted with one open eye, half asleep himself as he settled in closer to her. He kissed the bare shoulder that peeked out of the blankets, his lips grazing the spaghetti strap of the little white silk nightgown she'd worn to bed the night before, hoping his lips on her skin would be enough to get her to wake up and stop the phone from ringing. They had long since had two phone lines installed in their house, each with a phone on their side of the bed, stemming from an argument in 1981 when she'd missed a call from Jimmy Iovine regarding Bella Donna, and as their separate solo careers had blossomed in the two decades to follow, keeping separate business lines had proven to be a marriage-saving idea. Lindsey relied almost exclusively on his cell phone these days, of course, but Stevie, wary of technology, still insisted on using the phone that had been plugged into her side of the bed since he'd surprised her with in before she'd left for the White Winged Dove tour.

"Ugh..." Stevie groaned at the incessant ringing and fumbled around with one hand in the dark until she answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, Aunt Stevie." Tired as she was, Stevie instantly recognized the voice of Robin's son Matthew. "I'm sorry...too early?"

"A little bit, kid," Stevie answered honestly in a garbled sleepy tone. "What's up? Did you have a nice birthday yesterday, honey?" Matthew had been born just two days before his mother died, taken by cesarean from Robin's belly at just six and a half months along, as her doctors had known the end was near. Matthew shared a birthday with Lindsey, and while the family had been together in the dining room the night before singing to Lindsey over cake as he'd turned fifty-three, Matthew had turned twenty at home in Minnesota, where he lived with his father and attended college - for which his Aunt Stevie paid the tuition.

"I forgot the time difference," said Matthew. "It's right here and I'm on my cell phone about to head off to chemistry lab...I just wanted to catch you before the day started and thank you for everything, Aunt Stevie. Seriously...everything you sent was awesome!"

"You're very welcome, honey. I'm glad you liked it." Stevie stifled a yawn, turning her head slightly towards Lindsey, whose eyes were closed as he attempted to fall back to sleep on her bare arm. Stevie had sent Matthew a birthday gift packet including cashmere sweaters, an X-Box and games for the new system, new Timberlands and a North Face coat for the coming Minnesota winter. "Did you do anything special?"

"Dad took me to dinner and then I went out for drinks and all with friends...and Amanda." The sheepish tone in Matthew's voice made Stevie smile.

"Amanda, huh? Is that the one you were telling me about?" Stevie recalled the way he had talked about the new girl he was seeing during their last phone conversation, and how she'd spoken to Robin in her head wondering if Amanda was The One.

"That's her." She heard his nervous chuckle. "Anyway, I won't keep you. Just wanted to say thank you for my birthday loot. I love you, Aunt Stevie. You're the best."

"I love you too, kid." She finally let out her yawn. "Listen, say hi to Kim and Jen for me and tell them they get first crack at tickets when The Mac hits Minneapolis, okay?"

"Will do. Bye, Aunt Stevie. Have a good day."

"You too honey. Bye." She was smiling as she hung up the phone, mostly because Lindsey was now playfully nibbling at her shoulder and up to her neck.