You Always Have Me

Part 4

It was a rather early Saturday morning, a little over a week later. Clearly having not expected anyone at this hour, Jeremy frowned, hearing the doorbell. He had just got out of bed, still in his pajamas, as he walked into the hallway, already seeing who it was on the other side through the window. 

"Hi." Lindsey said, holding out his hand, as Jeremy shook it, letting him in.

"Well, hi to you, too. I'm sorry, but has Stevie forgot something? She hasn't mentioned you were coming."

"No, no." Lindsey shook his head. "I was actually driving by and we haven't heard or seen her in over a week now, so I thought, I'd visit." Driving by, yeah right, Jeremy thought. "Is everything okay?"

"Just fine. Why don't I go upstairs and tell her you're here, so you two can talk."

"That would be great, thanks." 

Jeremy showed Lindsey to the living room, where he could wait. While doing so, Lindsey was looking around, of course, his eyes catching the pictures of Stevie and Jeremy together first. Sighing, he took a seat. He was dealing with everything a little better now, but...

"Lindsey?" 

He looked up at the sound of her voice, standing up to great her. "Stevie, hi. I'm sorry, I'm here so early. I was just driving-"

"... by, yeah, Jeremy told me. Can I offer you anything?"

"Uh, no, thank you. I only wanted to ask if you're okay? You left that day so urgently and you've been ignoring me and the rest of the band completely. We're worried about you, Steph."

"Maybe we should take a seat." 

"You're not sick, are you?" Lindsey asked, something about the tone of her voice telling him that she had something to share.

"God no, no." Emphasizing, Stevie shook her head, as she was trying to figure it out in her head of how to tell him, because she had to. Like he said, she had been ignoring everyone, but she had to let people know sooner or later anyway. "I'm not sure where to start. Um... A few months ago, Jeremy and I, after long consideration, agreed that we want to become parents. Yes, he has a daughter and she's almost eighteen now, but we wanted to experience it all together. I'm not going to get into details, but that day we were supposed to start working on new Fleetwood Mac, Jeremy got a call. We went to see Mrs. Davis, the woman, who has been helping us through this whole process. She told us that it had been decided that he and I are fit to adopt a child. We brought Lilith home with us on that same day."

Lindsey was silent, staring at her, opening his mouth as if to say something, then closing it again, turning to look straight ahead, before facing Stevie once more. Yet, the words still didn't come.

"I know you must think I'm crazy, being my age and taking the responsibility of caring for a three year old. It hasn't been easy, first couple of days were just..." Shrugging her shoulders, she didn't know how to put it. "I kept questioning it, despite how badly I wanted her, did I make the right decision, you know. But I'm happy. Truly, I don't think I've ever felt this way before. I denied it for years, but having Lily now, I can admit that a child was the missing piece in my life."

"That's... wow." Lindsey managed just about that. "I mean, my opinion doesn't matter here at all. I can't say anything to you about it, it's what you wanted. But... how are you going to manage everything that's going on in your life and now with a kid?"

"Honestly, I don't know, Lindsey. Neither do I really care. I'm not alone in this, Lily has a father, too."

"What I worry about is that we're going to lose you, because being a mother is the one thing you've always wanted the most."

"You're not going to lose me. Yes, things are going to change, but I'm not leaving the band or anything like that. You just have to take into consideration that I have someone way more important to me than music. I know you have things on your mind you're not telling me and most likely never will, but Lindsey..." Trailing off, she then smiled looking at him. "From the second I saw that girl... I love her. I know it's not even been two weeks, since Jeremy and I took her home, but I already can't imagine not having her with us."

The smile wasn't just on her lips, her eyes were smiling, too.

Taking her hand, Lindsey said. "Can I meet her?"

Her eyes welled up, as this simple request meant a lot to her, as she nodded, giving him a hug. "I'll just be a second."

Jeremy was listening for Stevie to come back upstairs and he thought he heard her sniffle, coming out of the bedroom, he saw her wipe under her eyes. "Are you okay? Was he being an asshole?"

"No, not at all. He asked to meet her." 

Embracing her, Jeremy pressed a kiss to her hair, rubbing her back. "I told you it would be fine."

Pulling back, Stevie went to Lily's room, where the girl was playing with her new dolls. Stevie approached her, asking. "Sweetheart, would you like to meet a friend of mine?" Lily thought for a second, before nodding her head, as she stood up on her feet, taking Stevie's hand, as they walked downstairs and into the living room. "Lily, this is Lindsey." The girl held onto her hand, pressing herself up to Stevie's leg, trying to hide. "You've got nothing to worry about, honey. He's really nice."

"Hi, Lily." Lindsey said, smiling at the girl, who with a bit of encouragement from Stevie, took a few steps towards him. "You're so beautiful, did you know that?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah?" Both Stevie and Lindsey laughed lightly. 

"Mommy tells me." Calling Stevie her Mom came instantly to Lily, while she was still tossing between calling Jeremy by his name and sometimes her Dad. "You have funny hair."

"Trust me, sweetheart, I've heard that too many times." Lindsey replied, as Stevie watched the two.

"Can I touch it?"

"Can you... well, sure." He sat down on the floor, so Lily could reach. 

Bouncing her little palm on his curls, she giggled. "It tickles!" Doing it a few more times, Lily then stopped, returning to stand by Stevie's side. "He's nice." She nodded, as if confirming what Stevie said earlier. 

"He'll come visit us again, okay, honey? I just want to talk about something with Lindsey and then I'll come back to you so we can play."

"Okay!" Lily beamed as she ran up the stairs.

Again, they found themselves in silence for a moment, Lindsey having to take a minute to let everything sink in. 

"I don't think that's quite possible, but she looks like you." Seeing her become emotional again, Lindsey put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "I'm sorry for having doubts. You were meant for this, Steph." His words making her sigh in relief.