Whatever It Takes

Part 15

Lindsey felt guilty. Even though Stevie assured him it was okay, he still felt guilty about leaving his heavily pregnant wife alone. Since morning, he tried to come up with a good enough excuse that would convince her and let him stay at home. Have fun while you can, Stevie told him. That much was true, while he still could. Baby Buck was only two short months away from joining their family and Lindsey was prepared to right all the wrongs he made when Avery was born. He was going to get up in the middle of the night, change diapers, do whatever he could to make things easier for Stevie this time. When he promised that to her, she laughed and said, we'll see.

"Are you absolutely sure-"

"Yes." Stevie rolled her eyes, lying comfortably in bed, her back resting against a mountain of pillows. "Avery's going to join me once you leave and we're gonna watch stupid romcoms and eat snacks until we can eat no more."

"I promise, I won't stay out until late." Lindsey swore, spraying some cologne on. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"You don't have to. I'll be fine." Stevie said, she then looked over to him when he reentered the room. "Oh, wow."

"What?" Lindsey frowned. "What is it? Do I look like a clown?"

"Not at all." Stevie shook her head, she looked him up and down. "You look hot." 

"Oh." Lindsey gave her a sheepish smile. "I've been wearing sweatpants for months, thought I'd change things up a bit."

"If you flirt with someone tonight, I'll know." Stevie gave him a pointed look. "If another woman approaches you, remember that you have a pregnant wife at home, who loves you very much." 

"I won't, I swear." Lindsey walked over to her side of the bed and gently took her face in his hands. "I love you, too." He said and kissed her lips. "Alright, I've got to go, don't wanna be late."

"Say, hi, to Mick from me." Stevie added as he was on his way out of the bedroom.

A call from Mick Fleetwood was an unexpected surprise, given the fact that neither Stevie or Lindsey were on speaking terms with him. The last time they had had any contact, was when he sent that drum set to Avery for her birthday, which didn't do him any favors either. Nevertheless, Mick heard that they were expecting and called to congratulate. Lindsey stayed on the phone for at least an hour, one thing led to another and they agreed to meet in person. Stevie joked that Mick was probably running out of money and he needed Buckingham Nicks to rejoin Fleetwood Mac, while Lindsey chose to believe that there was no ulterior motive. And he'd also missed his friend.

"Avery!" Stevie called out her daughter's name. "Come join me, daddy's already left."

Minutes later, Avery appeared with a huge bowl of popcorn in one hand and a bunch of other snacks, put into a bag, in the other. She put the bowl on the nightstand and tossed the bag onto the bed before she crawled in and took up Lindsey's side. 

"When's daddy coming home?" Avery asked, no more than 10 minutes into the movie.

"I don't know." Stevie shrugged. "He said, he wouldn't stay out too late, which means that you can't sleep in here." She looked at Avery, having guessed, why she asked. 

"But, mommy-"

"Focus on the movie, baby." Stevie showed at the TV. "We don't want to miss any important details."

Hours passed. Avery ended up sleeping in her parents' bed and Lindsey didn't come home.