Fleetwood Mac-Part III of Fritz Series

The Chain

***A/N NSFW warning***

"Listen to the wind blow watch the sun rise, running in the shadows damn you love damn your lies-" I stop the tape making a few adjustments "Let's try it again from the top, vocals only". Stevie sips her Oolong tea in a large mug "Do you want it higher or lower" rolling a joint I play back the second line "Try it high first...figuratively speaking" she laughs into her mug as I light up "You ready?" setting down her tea she shakes her arms "Okay,". Counting her in I listen as she sings her part of the harmony it needs to be a bit lower so I stop her again and she adjusts "Okay start again".

It's near five-o'clock and we have about thirty minutes to pick up Sara from the daycare center. Before we leave I'm convinced we can at least get her harmony perfect so tomorrow I can work on mine and Christine's. Ken and Richard don't really know about this little session, after our nine o'clock band meeting this morning we got some work done on a song Christine's been writing called "Songbird" but since it's largely a solo piece with her and her piano, the rest of us watched and waited while they worked. I have to say it would sound a lot better if she performed it in an empty concert hall it's a pretty ballad. Caillat liked the idea but didn't say anything else.

"It sounds great sweetheart I'll work on the guitar tonight when we get home" she jumps off the stool excitedly, looking so much like Sara I do a double take. I have a feeling she's going to be just like her mother when she grows up. She's waiting for us on the steps of the daycare when we pull up, her white top sneakers and denim jeans still neatly in place from this morning. Something else she gets from Stevie, because after a full day of work my clothes are in a hectic state of disarray. Usually spotted with food and beverage stains and depending on the day reeking of grass.

She's got her brown curls in pig tails, soft blue ribbons keeping them up. But unlike other days when she typically bounces into the car, immediately telling us every detail of every mishap and adventure she's gotten up to, she's quiet. Pensive almost. And as I buckle her into the back seat I notice a red mark on her temple. "Sara sweetie how was your day?" Stevie in mom mode turns around smiling at our little girl, Sara sniffles and shrugs "Okay". Red flag. Sara's days are never just "Okay" she has a gift for story telling bordering on fantastic, putting ketchup on a hot dog is usually a spectacular journey worthy of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing.

"Everything alright baby girl?" she shrugs again saying nothing. Our second red flag "Sara, did you get in trouble?" her eyes dart to her mother and she sniffs again nodding her head "What happened honey?" she starts to fidget and I finally get to see a bit of myself in her "Nothing". We haven't left the parent pick up yet and I turn the car off turning all the way around in my seat "Sara be honest, what happened?" she looks at me almost pleading "One of the big boys pulled my hair. And I told the teacher so he got in trouble. Then he kicked my chair so I told the teacher again and he got in trouble, then he knocked my juice over and I told him to stop. And he said if I didn't stop tattling he'd beat me up...so I pushed him down and he cried. And I had to sit in time out"

Why weren't we called about this? "Is your teacher still in there?" Sara nods, and I step out taking her with me. Stevie's not far behind the two of us wearing twin expressions of anger. The teacher's office isn't far and I knock on the glass door until one of them gets up "Can I help you?" she's a dowdy woman with graying hair and a floral pattered brown dress, she reminds me of a librarian for some reason. "Yeah, I'm Lindsey Buckingham this is my wife Stevie I'd like to see our daughter Sara's teacher Ms. Rachel" the woman folds her hands pleasantly "Is there a problem?" yeah there's a fucking problem some mouth breather is picking on my baby.

"I'd just like to see her teacher okay, and the head mistress too." We pay way too much money to this place to have to worry about our daughter being picked on and nothing being done about it. We take a seat in the waiting area, Stevie holds Sara in her lap kissing the red mark on her temple where the bully pulled her pig tail. "Mr and Mrs. Buckingham you can come back" I'm already prepared to start chewing someone out, and I have a feeling Stevie won't be far behind me. We're shown into a big office with leather couches and a large mahogany desk, the head mistress Mrs. Goode is waiting there along with Ms. Rachel.