It's Up To You

Part 17

It had been several weeks, since Stevie put all of her anger towards Kim aside and went to have a serious talk with him. Only that he wasn't hearing any of it...As expected, an agreement between Stevie and Kim wasn't reached. Needless to say, Stevie came home boiling mad. All she wanted was get divorced as quickly as possibly and forget she ever had anything to do with Kim. However, no such luck. Instead, lawyers, court appearances and hearings were to follow and she absolutely hated the thought of that. There was also no knowing of how long the divorce process would take. Stevie couldn't believe she got herself involved in such a mess.

"Steph?" Lindsey spoke up quietly, because Matthew was taking a nap and Stevie was working around the house, cleaning a little bit here and there, adjusting and readjusting things. He knew she just wanted to keep busy, so she didn't have time to think. Stevie barely acknowledged Lindsey, only lifting her eyes up briefly. "Mick called."

"I'm not going to the studio, Lindsey." She said, knowing what it was about.

"Please? We've got your songs recorded, we just need your backup vocals on a few songs. Let's just get it done, huh, babe?"

"I'm not in the mood. Fleetwood Mac and that album... they're the last thing on my mind."

"I know that." Lindsey nodded, approaching her, placing his hand over hers, hoping to get her full attention. "But we've got to do it. We've signed contracts."

"Isn't there enough of me on that record already to call it a Fleetwood Mac album? I've got three songs, that's enough for me."

"People have certain expectations when buying our albums. They know they'll hear all three of us together and there's very little of that at the moment. I know you'd hate disappointing our fans."

"Are you actually guilt tripping me right now?" Stevie glared at Lindsey, her arms crossed over her chest. "Lindsey, I'm going through a messy divorce, I've been to court just a few days ago, I have a freaking drug test coming up, I can barely sleep at night, thinking whether Kim will be given the custody of Matthew! Recording some stupid song isn't my priority, okay?" She moved past him, feeling slightly light headed as she entered the kitchen for a glass of water.

"You don't mean that." Lindsey appeared in the doorway a minute later, Stevie's features had softened already.

"No." She shook her head, sighing, as she took a seat. "Of course I didn't mean that, I'm just so angry, Lindsey..." She covered her face with her hands, swallowing back tears. "What have I ever done so wrong to deserve this?"

Kneeling in front of her, Lindsey placed one hand on her thigh, stroking, while he reached to cup her cheek with the other, making her look at him. "You've never done anything to deserve being in this situation. You just came a cross a horrible man, who wants to ruin your life."

"I wish I had never broken up with you. I could have dealt with it better. I could have looked past your jealousy, maybe it's not even such a bad thing. I mean, you loved me and you didn't want anyone else looking my way."

Shaking his head, Lindsey smiled sadly. "You don't mean that either. I was an asshole back then."

"I'm sure Robin is so disappointed in me." Stevie sniffled, covering Lindsey's hand with her own, kissing his palm. "I wasn't capable of doing something so simple as loving and caring for a child."

"But it's not simple, Steph. That's probably the hardest job in the world. It's not that you don't want to take care of Matthew, Kim is going out of his way to not allow you to do it. Sometimes, I think he's doing this just to spite you. What kind of father would drag their child through something like this? Sure, Matthew doesn't really understand, but he still hears when you and Kim are fighting over the phone, he sees how irate you are. Don't you think it upsets him?"

"It's a shame Kim doesn't see it this way." Stevie sighed, the two of them growing quiet. "Call Mick back. Ask him if I can have a few days, then I want to finish everything in one session. I don't care how long it takes."

Doubting that would be possible, Lindsey nodded anyway. At least she wasn't against doing it anymore. "Do you need any help?" Lindsey asked before walking away.

"No, I'm not really doing anything. I think I might go lie down."

"You do that." Lindsey stood up and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "And I'll go swim for a bit. Love you."

"Love you, too." Stevie smiled a little, thinking how lucky she was to have Lindsey by her side. 

Slowly making her way upstairs, Stevie entered her and Lindsey's bedroom, but before she could lay down, the phone started ringing and Stevie picked up quickly, so it wouldn't wake up Matthew.

"Hello?"

"Hello to you, too."

Stevie groaned, rolling her eyes. "What do you want, Kim?"

"Now, don't get short with me. I have a proposition for you."