One More Time

Part 8

Hanging up the phone, Lindsey cautiously approached Stevie. He was unable to look at her, while her eyes were on him. Clearing his throat, Lindsey pulled out a chair and sat down. Stevie heard his side of the conversation with Sharon and she was patiently waiting for an explanation. 

"I've been wanting to tell you, Steph. I just didn't know how." Lindsey clasped his hands in front of him, still avoiding eye contact. "I'm not sure why I'm so afraid about telling you this."

"Who is she? Are you having an affair?" A justified question from Stevie.

"God, no! Nothing like that." Lindsey shook his head. "It's kind of a long story." He locked their eyes at last and it was clear to him, Stevie was ready to hear it. "After I left Fleetwood Mac, more or less sorted my life out, I realized that I wanted a family. Well, I wanted a child. I dated several women, but it didn't work out." He shrugged his shoulders, brushing his tongue over his lips to moisturized them. "I had a pretty good idea why. They just weren't you. But you and I weren't on the best of terms and uh... I knew that ship had sailed. I genuinely thought you and I were done for good. Since none of my relationships lasted longer than a few months, I basically gave up on the idea of settling down and starting a family." She could sense the sadness in his voice and she wanted to comfort him, but not until he got to the Sharon part. "Some time had passed until I bumped into an old friend. We hadn't seen each other in a long time and we met up, had a couple of drink and he told me about his family. He and his wife had trouble getting pregnant and that's when they decided to look into surrogacy. I became obsessed with the idea. I realized that I don't have to be in a relationship in order to become a Dad." The more of the story Lindsey was sharing, the better he felt, the lighter his heart felt, yet when he glanced at Stevie, he couldn't read the expression on her face and it worried him. "I started looking into the whole thing, I wanted to find out of it was possible for a single parent and so on. And I found out that it was. It took some time before I found a surrogate mother, but I did and that's Sharon. When I was told it had worked and she was pregnant..." Lindsey paused, getting rather emotional reliving the moment. "I didn't care about anything. I didn't care about my solo album I was working on, I didn't even consider Fleetwood Mac reuniting, nothing. I lived each day solely focused on the fact I was finally going to become a father. That's all I ever wanted." Lindsey added honestly. "Then Mick said, hey, what do you think about having the Rumours lineup back together? I knew it wasn't something I could pass up. You came back into my life. You, Stevie." He emphasized. "Not someone I parted ways back in '87, not a shell of your old self I saw at the inauguration. You. Happy, beautiful and loving life. Of course, that's what I assumed, because I didn't know anything about David." He half smiled and reached for her hand, relieved she didn't pull away. "I fell in love with you again. I was so happy when you let me in, when you gave me a chance."

Stevie had to interrupt his monologue. "It's been months, Lindsey. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. If I'm honest, I have no idea. I guess, maybe because we decided to try for a baby of our own, I pushed Sharon to the back of my mind. I wanted to focus on us. I was also terrified that you'd leave me again having found out the truth. I have also told you numerous times that you've always been the only woman I've wanted to have kids with. And it's... a lie. Sort of." Shrugging his shoulders Lindsey shook his head. "I genuinely don't have a good answer to that question."

"Have you ever slept with her?"

"No. There's a procedure for that."

"No romantic relationship between you two?"

"Never." Lindsey answered with a hand on his heart. 

Taking a moment to process it all, Stevie then spoke up again. "How far along is she?"

"Seven months. It's a boy." Lindsey couldn't help but smile a little at that. "I've taken Sharon to a doctor's appointment and she was told that everything's absolutely fine, that he's healthy."

Stevie found it hard to return his enthusiasm. "Why did she call? What did she want?"

Sighing, the smile faded from Lindsey's face. "She needs an answer. Because I couldn't speak to you about it, I left her in the unknown as well. Her due date is coming and she wants to know what I plan to do."

"What do you mean?" Stevie frowned. 

"Well... If I decide not to-" Lindsey began, but she cut him off midsentence.

"That's your child, Lindsey. There's no question, you are the baby's father. I know you and I know that's what you want. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you decided to give him up."

"You're right." Lindsey nodded. "I'm already attached and I... I love him. He is mine."

"I just..." Stevie trailed off, pushing her chair back, she got up to her feet and started pacing around. "That's a lot to take in. Your son will be born in just a few months and I'm only five weeks pregnant. How are we going to do this? I have no doubt this pregnancy will be extremely hard on me and..." She hugged herself around the middle, shrugging her shoulders. "Taking care of a newborn while expecting? I don't know if-"

"Steph, we can do it." Lindsey sounded confident. "No, it won't be easy. But I believe that we can have them both."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she let out a heavy breath. "I'm not so sure I'm capable of that. It scares the hell out of me." She admitted. 

"What do you suggest?"

"I don't know. I just don't know." She said, her heart breaking for him. "I need some time. I'm sorry." She added, passing him on the way out.