"There he is Linds, lane 5." Kristen pointed out as William prepared for his final race. They were in Sacramento for the junior high state swimming meet and William, being quite the accomplished swimmer had sailed through the earlier heats with ease. He was an extraordinary swimmer for a 12 year old, his build perfect for it. Swimming was in the Buckingham blood and Lindsey just knew that William could be as great as his older brother had been.
"Lindsey, are you even paying attention? The race is about to start." She said, annoying him as per usual.
"Of course I am." He snapped, but she didn't have time to respond before the starting pistol fired and William dove gracefully into the water and began a furious pace, quickly pulling ahead of the others. Lindsey was sure that the win was his until the second to last turn. A swimmer two lanes over began to gain on Will and Lindsey couldn't help but stare at the strength behind the strokes. At the final turn the other boy had taken the lead and it was clear William would not be catching up.
As soon as he exited the pool William dejectedly rushed to the locker room and Lindsey watched as the winner practically ran over to a large group of people and saw him embracing his mother, who he had already overtaken in height. The kid was huge. Was he even in the right age group?
"Breaking the state record time and becoming the youngest state champion in California history, 10 year-old Grayson Nicks-Fleetwood is the 800m Freestyle champion!" the announcer's voice rang over the PA system. Lindsey felt Kristen stiffen at his side and he was in shock. Nicks-Fleetwood? When did this happen? He felt a slight prickle of pride as his son was the youngest state champion ever with the fastest time. He's not yours. You didn't want him, remember? A voice sounded inside his head.
"Let's get Will and go now." Kristen muttered and Lindsey nodded his head and grabbed their things. He hadn't seen Mick and Stevie in years and he sure didn't want this to be the place he saw them again, if he ever decided he wanted to, that was. After he found out that Stevie was expecting Mick's child it had been too much and he had refused to speak to them and was unwilling to hear anything of them. It had been the end of the band. Though he knew the relationship wouldn't last long (neither one of them did well with monogamy) he felt the betrayal was too much.
"Top three swimmers report to the podium for awards and an official photo."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Kristen said and Lindsey sighed. Of course getting out of there wouldn't be that easy.
The Buckingham family made their way to the podium, Lindsey holding his 5 year old, Stella, while checking out the crowd of people with Mick and Stevie. He recognized the two blonde adult women as Mick's oldest daughters, Amy and Lucy. There were two girls who looked to be about Leelee's age, one a brunette and one blonde. He assumed those were Mick and Lynn's twins. Beside them stood a girl who looked to be about 6, very petite with blonde ringlets and Stevie's big brown eyes. She was beautiful. Was this the girl that was half Buckingham? Was this Liliana? It had to be. Mick held two younger children, a boy and a girl in his arms and they were obviously younger and definitely a mix of Mick and Stevie. He looked away from their family when the boys took their places on the podium.
"Jesus Christ." Kristen muttered when the boys were next to each other. They were almost identical. Only small differences that only their parents would notice, the differences were the features they had received from their mothers, Lindsey had had no idea the boy looked so much like him and his oldest son. He could hear the same thing rippling through the crowd and pretended not to pay attention.
"And in 2nd place is William Buckingham" they announced and Lindsey and Kristen cheered. Lindsey saw Mick and Stevie look his way and their eyes met. Lindsey gave a slight nod and watched as they turned back around and Mick almost instinctively stepped closer to Stevie and wrapped his arm around her. Lindsey felt his insides burn with jealousy. He shook his head as if to rid himself of the thoughts from his mind.
"What a diva. Can you believe how ridiculous she is?" Kristen said, nudging him and pointing out the security guards who were unsuccessfully trying to go unnoticed, while keeping an eye on Stevie at the same time.
"She has to have them or she'd be bombarded. See?" he pointed to the guys turning people back that were coming to approach her. He knew Stevie enjoyed fan interaction, but she also enjoyed her privacy. "Come on Kristen, just ignore them please." He said and she nodded. Lindsey actively worked to ignore his former lover and former friend until they were able to leave. They collected William and made their way to their vehicle but couldn't help but be distracted by a chorus of cries they heard to their left.
"Shh. Lil, please don't cry. You know Mommy has to work."
"No, Mommy, you just got here. Please don't leave."
"You know I have to Lil. Just a couple more months and Mommy will be back for good, OK?"
"Let me go with you Mommy, please?"
"You have school Liliana. You need to stay and help daddy with Bella and Kellan."
Lindsey looked on with pity for the little girl and her siblings that clung to their father crying. He watched Stevie hug and kiss all the younger children before she pulled Grayson to her for a hug.
"I am so unbelievably proud of you Grayson. You have worked so hard for this."
"Thanks Mom. Come home soon, OK?"
"As soon as I can, baby, I promise." She told him and ruffled his hair before kissing Mick goodbye and getting into the waiting SUV with her security guards and assistant.
Later in the car Lindsey flipped his mirror back to look in on his son. He could tell he was still down.
"Doing ok back there, Will?" Lindsey asked.
"Yeah, I'm OK. I guess if I had to lose that would be the kid I would be OK with losing to. He was going on and on in the locker room about how his mom hadn't seen him race all year and she had flown in from Germany this morning to watch his race. So, I guess I'm glad for the kid that his mom got to watch him win. Besides, I talked to him and I think we're going to start training together, he said his mom had an Olympic sized pool put in for him to train, plus he has a private coach in the off season. They live in Malibu, you think you could drive me over tomorrow?"
"No!" Kristen practically shouted. "It's not good to train with the competition. They don't need to know your weaknesses." She added sheepishly.
"Oh, he won't be my competition next year. They live somewhere else when his mom is home." Will added.
"Well. Let your dad and I talk about it first Will, OK?" Kristen sighed and then turned the music up, effectively ending the conversation.
oM��;*)�J
