The Dream Is Not Over

Idyllic Childhood

Stevie's POV- 1980's.

I sit between the plush couch and the coffee table nursing a glass of wine, or should I say the bottle. It has been an especially rough day and I need to decompress, to unwind. I find myself poring over old photo albums. I flick open the first page to find a pressed wildflower and immediately feel my eyes misting over. It may seem silly but it was the first flower my son ever picked for me. It was perfectly preserved after all these years and I carefully pinch the next page with the previous so it is not disturbed. The first photo is one Lindsey had taken of me in my parent's backyard. I was heavily pregnant with River and miserable but he always made me feel so beautiful. We were young when we had our son, just out of high school. He was born during the Summer Of Love, on June 16th to be exact, and all we could think about then was how bummed we were about missing Monterey Pop, especially Simon and Garfunkel's set the evening our son came. I sigh, turning the page. The next picture is of Lindsey and I together. He's peering over my shoulder lovingly at our baby boy in my arms. I run my fingers over the faded writing. River Adams Buckingham. Our parents had begged us to choose a normal name, something our son could be proud of. We made a decision early in our pregnancy and stuck to our guns, even though no one else liked it. We compromised with his middle name, naming him after Lindsey. I remember the smile on his face when our baby was born, running out of the delivery room to announce to our waiting families that it was a boy, just as we had thought. The moment everyone saw him, they accepted the name because it was just so perfect for him. No one tried to tell me to think it over anymore. He was River.

I feel myself smiling through my tears as I turn to the next page. River as a platinum haired curly-top toddler with a bottle hanging from his teeth. I remember how hard it was to get him off the bottle after we stopped nursing. Everyone told me his gorgeous pearly whites would take years to correct when they came in but they were always so straight and perfect. I flip through pages of a messy River eating the baby food I handmade for him at home, or playing with wooden and felt toys, my boys covered head to toe in mud after wrestling in the backyard  after a rainstorm, Lindsey cheering River on when he became the captain of his high school swim team...I pick up my glass and take a hearty sip. So much had changed from our flowing, colorful clothes, our long, wild hair, to the love in our eyes. Everything was different now. The front door opens and I wipe my eyes.

"Mom?" It's River, my pride and joy, and I stand up. "Hey!" He rushes over to me and wraps me in a bear. My platinum blonde baby is now an almost twenty year old, dark-haired man.

"Hey, honey. You're home late. I have leftovers in the oven. Are you hungry? Have you eaten?"

He shakes his head, chuckling. "Mom, chill. I'm alright."

"Are you sure?" I ask again, the mothering instinct in me not ceasing, even though he no longer lives at home. He's a college man now and I'm thankful he didn't choose to move cross country. I don't know if I could handle him being so far away. Lindsey joked that he chose to stay in state because he wasn't ready to cut the apron strings yet. I don't mind one bit.

"Okay, I mean, I guess I could eat."

"Of course you can, you're a Buckingham." I drag him into the kitchen and sit him down.

"There was actually something I came here to talk to you about."

"Yes?" I pull the containers out of the oven and begin to make him a plate. Chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots and green beans. Just like his father, I know he will complain about having to eat all of his veggies.

"Um...is dad around? I didn't see his car."

"He's probably at the studio, honey." I reply sadly. He's always at the studio these days. "Why? Is it big?"

"Yeah."

"Is someone pregnant?" My eyes double in size, as do his.

"What?! No!"

"Oh good!" I press a hand to my chest and breathe a sigh of relief.

The door opens again and I turn around, rolling my eyes. "Hey dad!" I hear River's chair scoot across the floor as he gets up to hug his father.

"Speak of the devil."

"Hey, Steph" Lindsey said, kissing my cheek and I tense up, forcing a smile, if only for River.

"Hey, Linds. Riv has something to tell us."

"Cool" Lindsey steals a small piece of chicken from the plate I'm making for River and I swat his hand away. "Got any extra?"

"Help yourself." I tell him, placing River's plate down before him. "S0! What's your news, baby? Are you coming back home?" It's Lindsey's turn to roll his eyes and I'm visibly annoyed by his presence already. River's forehead creases, his brow furrows.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Lindsey and I say in unison. River still looks confused and I bite my lip.

Lindsey has made his plate by now and practically falls into the chair opposite our son. River's eyes look deep into mine. They're so intense I almost have to look away. He's always had a powerful gaze. "Mom, dad, I proposed to Olivia." Lindsey stops eating, his fork falling from his hand and clattering onto the glass plate.

"You...what?" I look to my husband, then to our son.

"She said yes!" River jumps up form his chair and I stand slowly, knowing it is what I'm supposed to do. He hugs me tightly, Lindsey mirroring my action in preparation for River to hug him as well. "Isn't this fantastic?"

"Yeah, great son." Lindsey says and my mouth falls open.

"What do you think, mom? God, I can't wait for you to meet her! From the moment I saw her, I just knew she was the one." he says excitedly, but I have no words.

A/N: I thought I would possibly try something a little different. What do you guys think so far?