Moonlight

Part 15

September, 12, 2011

The alarm rang, but Stevie already had been awake. She hadn't been able to sleep, her mind not giving her any peace. She had tucked the girls into bed, watched some mindless TV show on DVD with Will. But for once in her life she hadn't really cared about what Will had chosen to watch. And against her nature she had immediately put off the TV after Will had gone to bed.

None of her children knew exactly what the reason for her mood was. Stella hadn't been born and Will and Leelee had been too small to have even distant memories about being in New York ten years ago. But Stevie had. And the memories of total destruction and devastation had been what hadn't let her sleep the last two nights.

She thought back to a time when that had been nothing out of the ordinary for her. The 'Rumours' tour, the making of 'Tusk', the time she had spent putting together her first solo effort. It felt weird having talked to Lindsey about this a couple of days ago and now experiencing it. But the Gold Dust had kept her awake during that time. And now, twenty five years after she had saved her life for the first time by kicking cocaine right in the ass, the tempting call of the white power was bigger after not being able to sleep a single minute in over 48 hours. So she did what she did for the last quarter of a century, ignoring the call, recalling all the moments she had passed out on coke so much she had nearly died until the call of the drug subsided to the familiar faint whisper in the back of her mind she lived with for so long.

Shaking her head to will the thoughts away, she began her daily routine of first getting herself and then her kids ready for the day.

One and an half hours later, Karen stepped into the kitchen where Stevie still sat, the sixth or seventh coffee in hand, Will meeting his mother's silence while Leelee and Stella were chatting a thousand miles a minute.

"Good morning lil' Bucks." Karen greeted.

"Auntie Karen." The girls squealed while Will just muttered his greetings, not really being awake yet.

"Morning Karen." Came Stevie's response.

"I'm glad to see everything just as I left it before the weekend." Karen joked.

"You're all ready for school?" Stevie asked. "Everything's packed, all homework done?"

"Yeah."

"Then up and out with you." She shooed the three up from the table and got up herself.

Of course she knew they were all packed and ready to leave for school, making sure every evening they had packed their schoolbags properly.

Following Karen and the kids out into the entrance hall, Stevie hugged and kissed her children good bye. "I love you."

"Love you, mom."

She watched as her children already made their way to Karen's car while Karen stood on the porch, waiting for the kids to be out of earshot.

"You really look like hell." She told flat out.

"Believe me, I feel like it as well." Stevie sighed. "I couldn't sleep for two nights."

"So bad?" Karen asked, concerned.

"I couldn't get the images out of my mind." Stevie confessed. "Every time I close my eyes, I was back in New York, back in my hotel suite. I've written something yesterday I'd like you to send to my homepage. Maybe some people can find peace in my words, even though I can't."

"I will." Karen smiled slightly at her boss and friend. "I'll be back here as soon as I dropped the monsters at school."

"Why does everybody call my babies monster?" Stevie playfully explained.