He answers it quickly, putting it on speaker, and Stevie watches him, biting her lip anxiously.
"Hello?"
"Hi, my name is Emmeline. I hope it isn't too late..."
"No, no, you're not too late at all. We've been hoping to hear from you."
"You're my biological father?"
"Yes. My name is Lindsey. Your mother is here, too."
"It's so good to hear your voice, Emmeline. I'm Stephanie."
"I got out of work and had this message from the agency on my phone... I didn't really know what to expect."
"We weren't sure if you'd be ready to hear from us," Lindsey says, letting Stevie squeeze his hand.
"Well, I'd sort of been looking for you, but the agency didn't have a lot of information."
"You were looking for us?" Stevie looks overwhelmed at the idea.
"Well, my mom died a few years ago. I guess I was sort of wondering if I had family, you know?"
"I'm so sorry," says Stevie, furrowing her brow. "That's so young."
"Cancer," she explains. "Where do you guys live? Are you married?"
"We live in Los Angeles, but we're on the road right now. We aren't married. We... work together," says Lindsey, trying to simplify things to the best of his ability.
"What do you do?"
"We're musicians."
"That's really cool. So you're like, on tour right now."
"Yes, actually we are."
"You're in a band?"
"Yes, we are."
"Tell us about you, Emmeline. You're working? Are you in school?"
"Well, I'm a waitress. I graduated in May, but I'm not in college yet. I'm trying to save enough money to go next semester. I play music, too. I guess I sort of got that from you," she says jokingly.
"What kind of music do you play?" Stevie asks, trying to get her to talk. Lindsey smiles, knowing that she wants to ask a million questions at once.
"Well, I play the piano and sing. I write songs. Pop/rock stuff, sort of."
"We'd love to hear some of your music."
"You can check out my Soundcloud if you want. Do you have an email address I can send it to?"
"Yes, I do," says Lindsey, spelling it out for her. Stevie grins, totally beside herself.
"Do you have any questions for us, Emmeline? We're not really sure how to do this either. We're just so excited to talk to you," says Stevie, trying to seem as open as she can.
"I mean, I guess I just always wondered what happened that you couldn't keep me," she says casually. "I always assumed there was a reason, and I made up a million stories."
"Of course there was a reason. Lindsey and I have known each other since we were 16. We have been together on and off over the years, but I was very sick when I got pregnant with you. It was a really dark time, and I was having trouble keeping myself alive, let alone another perfect little human. And our lives are complicated even when things are good, so we were just so afraid of making things hard for you. It was the hardest thing I ever did. A day has not gone by when I haven't regretted that decision."
"Why did you try to find me now?"
"The other day, Lindsey came in and told me he'd gotten the records and found you online. We found your Facebook page and I looked at some of your photos and knew I had to try to meet you."
"So you saw photos of me?"
"Yes, we did. You're so beautiful."
"Do I look like you?"
"Very much," she says, choking up.
"Can I find you guys online? With your music? What's your last name?"
They exchange glances, and Lindsey shrugs. "She's going to find out sooner or later."
"Well, you'd probably find me online as Stevie Nicks. And Lindsey's last name is Buckingham."
Emmeline is silent for moment, and Stevie squeezes Lindsey's hand so hard he winces. "Is this a joke?"
"So you know who we are?"
"Of course I know who Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham are. But this is not real."
"Yes, honey, it is," Stevie assures her.
"Do you have an iPhone?"
"Yes, I do," says Lindsey.
"Can we turn on Facetime?"
"Yes, absolutely," he says, picking up the phone. They scoot closer together as the camera boots up, and Emmeline's face appears on the screen.
"Oh my God," she says, and Stevie grins, waving into the camera.
"We weren't sure how to tell you... we know this is probably a bit strange," says Lindsey.
"And ridiculously awesome. Every adopted kid pretends their birth parents are famous. No one's actually are. Except mine, apparently."
"Emmeline, we've got a break coming up. Would it be too presumptuous to come meet you?" Lindsey asks.
"Or is there somewhere you'd like to go? We'd be happy to send a plane to pick you up," adds Stevie.
"I mean, where are you?"
"As of right now we are headed to Los Angeles for a week."
"I could go there? I've never been to L.A. before."
"Of course. When can we come get you?" Stevie is trying not to sound too eager and failing. Lindsey's snickering.
"Work won't care. I can go whenever."
"We can pick you up Friday?"
"That sounds... awesome."
"Let us see when we can get a plane. We'll call you," says Lindsey.
"I'm so excited to meet you," says Emmeline and Stevie about loses it.
"We can't wait."
They hang up and sit silently for a minute, letting the conversation sink in.
"Oh my God. We're going to meet our daughter," says Stevie, throwing herself into Lindsey's arms.
