The end of her Shangri-La tour. She wasn't sure how she should feel about it. Part of her was so excited to be getting home to her family. The other part was dreading getting into the studio with Fleetwood Mac in four very short days. She sat in quiet contemplation on the ride from Sky Harbor to Paradise Valley. She was happy to be home. She missed the desert. It made her feel whole.
"Stevie? Did you hear anything I just said?" Karen said, obviously annoyed.
"Um, no, sorry. I was lost in thought." She replied.
"I said are we going to your house or are we going to Scottsdale first?"
"Oh, no, we'll go home. I think Mom and Dad were planning on being there when I got home." She replied and went back to looking out the window. Maybe some people didn't find the plants of the desert appealing, but she loved them and though she had lived there a good majority of her life, she was still enthralled with their beauty. She rolled down her window and breathed deeply, inhaling the sharp scent of the sagebrush. It was good to be home.
Karen handed her a bag and went around to get the rest of her things when they arrived at Stevie's home. As soon as she opened the door she heard a loud yell.
"Mommy! You're back!" her son yelled as he practically leapt across the living room into her arms. She held him closely and kissed his head.
I am! Did you miss me, baby?" she asked as she pulled him back from her to get a good look at his face.
"Yes! You were gone for too long!" he exclaimed.
"You were only not with me for a week, son. Grayson, where is Grandma?"
"She's outside with Grandpa and Lil." He answered before hopping down and running off to his room.
Well that didn't last long she thought to herself and made her way through the house, placing her bag in the hallway before going outside to see her parents and baby. She approached her mother who immediately was happy to see her.
"Honey! We're so glad to see you. Liliana has really been missing her mother. Lil, look it's Mommy." Barbara said to the baby and turned her around to face her mother. Her face immediately lit up in a smile, brown eyes shining, and she quickly reached for Stevie.
"Hi sweetheart. Oh, are you bigger in a week? Mommy missed you so much!" Stevie exclaimed while pressing kisses all over the little girl's face while the baby giggled.
"Hi Stevie, good to have you home." Jess said as he approached them and she walked over and kissed his cheek.
"Hi Daddy. Good to be home. I've missed all of this." She said sadly, knowing she would be leaving again soon.
"How long are you here for this time honey?" he asked.
"I'm due in the studio on Monday." she said with a sigh.
"Wow, four days. That's a turnaround. Are you sure you have to go?"
"You know I do, Daddy. But I'm not going to let them work me all day and night. I have to be home with Grayson and Liliana."
"That's going to go over really fucking well." Called a voice from behind her.
"Too bad. They can get over it or fuck off. Hi Christopher." Stevie called to him as he walked over to them.
"You two and your mouths! I didn't raise you two to talk like that, God knows I can't stop you now, but Stevie, do you want Lil to be swearing as soon as she can talk? Because that's exactly what will happen if you don't stop swearing in front of them." Barbara scolded them.
"Grayson doesn't swear, but if it makes you happy I'll try to stop swearing when you're around Mother." Stevie said trying to appease her. "OK, I can't stay out here much longer or I'm going to be sunburnt. I'm going in" Stevie said, walking back through the French doors aware that Christopher was closely following behind her.
"What is it Chris?" Stevie asked knowingly.
"Buckingham has called no less than 100 times this week and at least 15 times this morning." he replied, giving her a look.
"And why exactly is he calling?"
"Wants to talk to you. Keeps checking that you're coming back today. He says he's just wanting to make sure that you're going to be into the studio on time because his wife has scheduled a vacation and he needs for you to get some work done before they can leave."
"Ah yes, that's exactly what I want to do; everything on Lindsey's schedule so his wife can accidentally get pregnant again. Yes, that's exactly what I want to do. Cut my time with my family short so he can have time with his family even though he's not been doing shit for the last who the fuck knows." Stevie ranted.
"Stevie, I know it's annoying and God knows I think he's an asshole, but that's not the wife and kids' fault. You can't begrudge him his kids and he can't you yours. It's just unfortunate that your kids ended up with a deadbeat Dad and his didn't."
"Wow. Thank you Christopher for that lovely assessment of my life. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to unpack." She said, turning away from him and walking down the hall to her bedroom. She baby talked Liliana until she reached the bedroom and sat her up on the bed to watch while she unpacked. She heard the phone ringing, but decided to ignore it while it kept ringing.
"You might as well answer it Stevie. It will be Buckingham and I can assure you, he doesn't stop calling." Christopher yelled down the hallway. Stevie sighed heavily and picked up the phone.
"Hello?" she said, trying to mask her annoyance.
"Stevie, hey, you're back. It's Lindsey." His voice said over the line.
