Lindsey was allowed to have his kids over at his and Stevie's house as often as he wanted to, now that tour plans had been cancelled, Will, LeeLee and Stela were even allowed by their mother to spend some time with their father on weekdays too. Lindsey was thrilled and Stevie loved seeing him like that. She also enjoyed having the other three Buckingham children at their place for her own reasons, she felt she was a part of a big family, something she had always wanted, but her wish had not been granted.
It was Sunday morning, only a few more hours before Lindsey would have to take his kids back to Kristen's. He hated Sundays for that reason. He often thought how much he would want Stevie to be their biological mother. Especially now as he was sitting at the breakfast table with Stevie and his youngest daughter, while the older ones were still alseep.
Stela was eating her breakfast while Stevie stood behind her and braided her hair. Lindsey couldn't remember the last time he saw Kristen do it while they were still married. LeeLee would always do her sister's hair and help her get ready for something. He sighed sadly and wished to turn back time.
~
It was the beginning of April when Stevie picked up the phone and called Dave Stewart. She had had enough of sitting around and doing nothing. She was eager to start working on her record. Dave didn't like dealing with these things over the phone, but at the time he was away, he suggested her to think about what kind of album she would like to do and then they could meet up and talk things over. Having four kids in the house made days disappear and Stevie found herself standing on Dave's doorstep.
"Hello, darling. I've been looking forward to seeing you." Dave smiled brightly while hugging her.
"Hi, yourself!" She greeted him back and he showed her to come in.
"Can I get you something?"
"No, thanks. I don't have much time. Lindsey's alone with all our children, I can't leave him for too long or he will go insane literally." Stevie pushed her sunglasses on top of her head and followed Dave into his studio, where they could have some privacy.
"Well, then. What's your vision, Stevie?"
One of the reasons she loved Dave as her producer was that he was never messing about, he always got straight to the point. It saved nerves and time. "The other day I was going through my old boxes and I found so many tapes. They're old demos or just plain melodies, or vocals. I was thinking that maybe we could listen through those tracks and I could write lyrics."
"Old demos, you say?" Dave rested his chin on his clenched fist. "And do you have a lot of them?"
"I don't have any idea, there are lots, I know that much. The majority of them are posted all over the Internet and people are familiar with them. Fans have been asking me to record some of those demos, I think that might not be the worst idea?"
"Oh no, not at all. As a musician you want to sell what people would want to buy and if they already know these songs, of course they will want to buy them, when you record them as new and polish them."
"I'm glad you see it that way. You know, I wrote those songs decades ago and for one reason or the other they aren't on any of my albums yet, but I think it's time to look at them in another light. I'm sure they might need some work and corrections, but together, I'm absolutely certain we'll get there."
"If you say you have a bunch of them, how do we narrow them down?" Dave knew how much she loved her music and fighting over which songs should make it onto the record would be really hard. He hoped she had a plan.
"I need some serious assistants. They all hold a special place in my heart, they were my babies when I didn't have Sara."
"This will be the hardest task, I see." He was in a thinking process and Stevie could tell by how he was chewing on his lip.
"You don't have to bleed for me, Dave."
"What?"
"You're biting on your lip as if you haven't eaten for weeks!" She laughed and so did he.
"I give it my all, Stevie." He joked. "Anyway. How about we throw a listening party, mm?"
"I could see that happening. That actually might be fun, I've missed our disco parties, you know..."
"Oh, those bloody disco parties!" Dave cursed, he must have been the only person, who wasn't a big fan of them after long recording sessions. "But for you, Stephanie, I'll do it."
"Thank you!" She beamed and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I'll pay you back."
"I don't need money, sweetheart."
"We'll think of other ways."
"When can we do this?"
"I have a few meetings to attend to this week, how about next weekend? Lindsey won't be bringing his kids to our house, Kristen's taking them somewhere, our place will be free for that."
"It's settled then." Dave nodded in agreement. "By the way, what about time? Do you have that?"
"I would like the recording process to take up as little time as possible. Lindsey has been having some health issues again and I don't want to leave him all alone and besides, I would miss him too much." She said, almost embarrassed.
"Then there's only way out for us, we'll go to Nashville. I know some of the most incredible session musicians who live there, you'll have your album done in no time and they will do it exactly as you want it."
"Is that even possible?"
"Don't you doubt it, darling."
"I trust you completely, Dave. If you think this is the best way to do it, then that is how we're going to do it."
"I swear to you, you won't be disappointed." Dave assured and then frowned as they were interrupted by a phone ringing. "No... You have a cell phone?!"
"Don't mention it." She held up her hand. "I was forced to by my very technology friendly husband and daughter."
"I will send them a thank you card." He laughed as Stevie rolled her eyes at him.
'Hello, am I speaking to Stephanie Buckingham?'
'Yes, that's me.'
'I am calling you from a hospital, we have your husband.'
