Decades

Sleeping Over

Stevie dropped her bag, kicked off her slippers, and slid onto the mattress on the floor. She flopped back and stretched. She looked so happy and so cute, the same girl he'd fallen in love with. Her mannerisms still that same young girl. Lindsey thought this was the best he'd felt in a long time. He didn't want their time together to end. It would satisfy him if they lived like this in their little musical bubble forever.

He dove onto the mattress beside her and joined her in having a good stretch. They both lay on their backs and turned their faces to look at each other, grinning like kids. They agreed that this was a good idea.

"What's in the bag, babe?" Lindsey asked as he pulled it over to his lap to see what she'd brought. He spotted her hairbrush on top and some hair ties and chuckled. "Did you want to give me some pigtails?"

"Of course. I think you'd be cute with two," Stevie said, running her fingers through Lindsey's curls appraisingly.

He laughed and grabbed the brush. "Turn around, sit in front of me."

Stevie did as she was told and sat cross-legged in front of him as he began to brush her hair. "That feels so good, Linds," Stevie purred. After brushing it until it shined, Lindsey asked, "Fishtail, French, or Dutch?"

At this, Stevie laughed out loud and wheeled around to look at him. "As if you'd even know the difference!" she exclaimed, still laughing.

"Stevie, you may have forgotten, I have two daughters. I'm actually pretty good at braiding. I watched a lot of YouTube videos," he laughed. Stevie thought that might be the most endearing thing she'd ever heard.

"Dealer's choice," she said. And he set about sectioning off her hair and braiding it into a fishtail braid that draped down her back. After her hair was braided, he pulled on the braid to loosen it up and brought it over her shoulder. Stevie was left with a surprisingly nice braid. "There. All done!" Lindsey said, proudly admiring his work.

She hopped up to look in the mirror and came back into the room to brag on him. "If you ever quit music, I think you've got a future in hair, Mr. Buckingham! I can't believe you can do this!" Stevie laughed, "I'm going to be bringing a hair elastic and a brush to your room every day!"

"Tomorrow, I'll show off my Dutch braiding skills!" Lindsey chuckled.

"I don't think I even know what that looks like," Stevie told him.

"I'll show you tomorrow," Lindsey laughed out loud, popping some popcorn into his mouth.

"Come back and sit with me," he told Stevie. He liked having her close, and even her standing across the room felt too far away for Lindsey. How had he spent so many years without Stevie's warmth radiating around him? He felt a devastating sadness at all the time he'd been deprived of the warmth and light that she brought to his life.

She sat down facing him, running her fingers over her braid. "You never fail to surprise me. I suppose I should have assumed you'd be good at braiding," Stevie gushed. "You've always been good with your hands," meaning with his guitar.

Exactly like a 14-year-old boy, he said, "That's what she said."

And they both laughed at how it did feel like a slumber party with that joke. "Should we make prank calls next?" Stevie teased.

"I think your voice might be a little too recognizable for all that, Stevie. And I don't know if you knew it, but when you call people these days, they can actually see the phone number that's calling." Lindsey joked about her resistance to modern technology, and Stevie tossed a piece of popcorn at him, and it got stuck in his curls. She reached up to get it out and ran her fingers through his hair, smiling at him. He was still so beautiful to her.