Buckingham Nicks A/U Series Part 7: Say You Will

That You Love Because You Become Someone Else In An Instant

***Note...Stay tuned for some serious emotion!!!!!!***

Los Angeles, California
Monday, October 7, 2002
(10:00 am)
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One of the goldfish in the tank behind Richard's desk was dead and floating upside down.

Stevie was focusing all her attention on the fish tank, her hand clasped tight to Lindsey's between their two knees as they sat in the two leather chairs. They were waiting for Richard to come back in with the results of her biopsy, while in the distance she heard the radio tuned to a light pop station playing an old Celine Dion song, the one Julia used to play on repeat in her bedroom when she and Jodie first started dating.

"'Cause I'm your lady...and you are my man...Whenever you reach for me...I'll do all that I can...We're heading for something...somewhere I've never been...Sometimes I am frightened but I'm ready to learn for the power of love..."

"Lindsey! I didn't expect you to be here today!" Richard closed the door to his office and turned to shake Lindsey's hand, a manila folder in his other hand. He walked around his desk and sat down with an audible grunt. He opened the folder and said, "So."

"Richard, you're stalling." Stevie has known Dr. Richard Feinman for almost thirty years, and she knew he was being evasive.

"Out with it, Richard," Lindsey said, his grip on Stevie's hand not letting up as he'd promised last night in bed. "What's the verdict?"

Lindsey was trying to remain calm and collected for Stevie's sake, but as Richard looked at them and began to deliver the biopsy results, his mind was not in the office...

It was in a church basement in Palo Alto where a tiny girl with blonde streaked hair was singing "California Dreamin", prettier than Michelle Phillips and a hundred times as talented.

It was on the floor of his father's coffee plant in San Francisco, watching that girl sit cross-legged with her little white poodle as she crocheted an endless scarf, waiting for him to finish the overdubbing, as he desperately wanted to kiss her.

It was in a motel room in Los Angeles, looking down at the beautiful girl in his arms and telling her he would never let her go, that they were not just going to be partners for the music, but partners for life, because he couldn't imagine life without her anymore.

It was on a mattress on the floor on a gray winter morning, holding the same beautiful girl under the covers and telling her it would be okay if she stayed home from work today and stayed in bed; he wouldn't spend a dime for a week to make up for the lost tips.

It was on a beach in Maui at sunset, watching the love of his life walking towards him, barefoot in the sand, to the guitar instrumental that bore her name, about to promise in front of everyone they knew that she would love him forever.

It was in front of a fireplace in Aspen, looking up at her from a tangled sea of pillows and blankets, his hand caressing their baby in her belly, telling her the baby would have to come out beautiful because she was its mother.

It was in a hospital room filled with flowers, watching her cradle their baby girl in her arms and thinking that if their babies were going to be so beautiful, they should have a dozen more.

It was on a stage in a Midwestern city, watching her shake and tambourine and twirl around like a ballerina to songs she'd written about how much she loved him, winking at him in between verses and letting him know that when they got back to the hotel room after the show, they were definitely not going directly to sleep.

It was at the Thanksgiving dinner table, four children of various ages talking over each other, and him looking up over the chaos and catching a glimpse of the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen, and a pair of deep brown eyes that reflected his past, his present and his future all at once, and knowing as their eyes met that they both had the same thing to be thankful for.