Say you love me

Decisions

Ring ring ring.
Stevie nearly slipped from the water dripping down her legs as she raced to answer the phone. With all the money going towards the bills and not enough towards decent food, she and Lindsey tried to never let a call go unanswered. She wrapped her towel tightly around herself before grabbing the phone off the hook. "Hello?" She said, freezing cold and missing the steamy warmth of the shower. "Hi, Stevie!" sang a little voice on the other end of the line.
"Hi Pearl," Stevie said, trying to sound friendly. She liked the kid, really she did, but there was a time and place for everything, and being wrapped in a thin towel with water dripping down your back wasn't the best time to talk. Stevie tried not to let her teeth chatter as Pearl happily started talking.

"Stevie, Mummy and Daddy want you and Lindsey to play music with them and you can sing and Mummy will play piano, she's good at piano. She says when I was in her belly she played the piano all the time for me, but then..." Stevie nearly dropped the receiver as she tried to realize what Pearl had just said, surely she's just playing, right? Kids play all the time.
"Pearl Beatrice Mcvie, I said you could dial the number, not tell our family history..." Christine's crisp English accent pierced the happy bubbling.

"Stevie? This is Christine Mcvie, from the hospital?" Christine's voice came on the line. Before Stevie could reply, Chris was talking, trying to nervously explain why she was calling. "Listen, I know we've only just met, but my husband John and I are in a band. Fleetwood Mac. I've told him and the other guys about you and your boyfriend, and they think it'd be great if you joined."

What. The. Fuck. She'd heard of Fleetwood Mac before, of course she had. Anyone hip had! The music scene had been rocked considerably when Christine had disappeared from the music scene for some reason or other, only selling them even more records.

Join? Is she seriously serious?

It took Stevie several seconds to remember Christine was on the other line.
"Gosh," she began, horribly unsure. She wished Lindsey were home, he was the melody part of Operation Music Career.
"Can I talk it over with my boyfriend first? I couldn't decide anything without him."
"Of course. Take all the time you need." Christine answered automatically before she gave Stevie her phone number. Stevie tried to resist the urge to squeal like a teenage girl. This was all too great to be true! Was this a dream? Had she slipped and cracked her head open as she raced for the phone?

"Oh, wait! Christine, before you go..."
"Yes?"
"What did Pearl mean when she said you played piano for her in your stomach?"
"Oh. Well, it was something my baby and I could do together, make music and bond before she was born. It was more for me, honestly. I was so scared she wouldn't... well, never mind. This is getting too heavy. I'll tell you some other time, okay? Goodbye." Click.

Stevie stood in the hallway dripping water in the cheap linoleum floor. She was freezing, her teeth chattering like a pair of those clunky toy teeth. Did that really just happen?!