When I See You Again

Steal Your Heart Away

A few months later.

"Steph, baby?" Lindsey hollered from the living room. There was no answer. He walked down the hallway to the master bedroom and saw Stevie sprawled out on the bed staring at the ceiling.
"You doing okay?" He asked with a chuckle.
"Yeah. Just. Exhausted." She abbreviated each word with a sigh.
Lindsey walked around to sit on the edge of the bed. He placed his hand on her now evident bump. Stevie lifted her head up and smiled. Lindsey bent over and rested his head just below his hand.
"Hello in there. I hope you're behaving and you haven't been giving your momma a hard time. She loves you so much, we love you so much." Stevie's heart fluttered hearing the words come out of Lindsey's mouth. She sat up leaning against the headboard, placing her hand over Lindsey's.
"You amaze me you know that?" Stevie said after a moment.
Lindsey furrowed his brow in confusion.
"They way you love me, the way you love this baby." She paused for a moment. "Sometimes I wish it was our baby."
"Steph. I love this baby like it were my own. It is our baby, blood or not, it's ours."
"Lindsey, would you be upset if I found out who the biological father is?"
"You mean the donor? You want to find out who the donor was?"
Stevie nodded. Lindsey stayed silent for a moment.
"I don't think you can do that. I mean legally. You sign paperwork right? The clinic can't just go around giving out information like that."
Stevie took a deep breath.
"What if I told you I already knew?"
Lindsey's face turned pale.
"Stevie- Steph. What do you mean, how?"
"I called the clinic today at the University of Southern California, it's where I got the procedure done. I explained to them that I would make a hefty donation to the school of medicine if they- You know, helped me out."
"Stevie?! Hefty donation???"
"Look, I've already gotten it taken care of. Richard said he could front me the money from Polydor."
Lindsey gazed around the room, his eyes landing on the nightstand where he saw a sealed manila envelope that read 'confidential'.
Lindsey gulped hard.
"Is that it?"
Stevie shook her head.
"Now that I've gotten it, I've had second thoughts."
"Steph, why do you want to know so bad?" Lindsey asked. He was genuinely interested in her answer.
"Ever since I found out I was pregnant it's been nagging at me. I feel like I've created this little person and half of them is a mystery to me. I just- I feel like a piece is missing."
Lindsey and Stevie sat together for minutes without exchanging words. Lindsey couldn't peel his eyes off of the envelope.
"Do you want me to open it?" Lindsey asked after a while.
Stevie nervously shook her head grasping one of Lindsey's hands tight in hers. He took the envelope in his other hand carefully breaking the seal and removing a file folder. The folder read 'Donor- #1521, Date- 5/14/1975'. Lindsey's hands started shaking as he began to open the folder.
"Wait!" Stevie shouted, startling Lindsey. "Sorry. Just, whatever happens, I want you to know this doesn't change anything. I love you Lindsey, you are the father of this child."
Lindsey smiled flipping open the folder and running his eyes over the first page.
"It says 'general descriptors: hair- brown, eyes- blue, height- 5'10"."
Lindsey flipped to the next page as Stevie anxiously leaned in closer, her eyes glued on Lindsey's hands as the my fumbled through the papers. Stevie's stomach turned, if it weren't for the bout of morning sickness she experienced earlier she would probably have been bent over the toilet at this point. Thankfully, she had nothing left to throw up. Lindsey's hands were shaky, his own nerves taking over as he scanned the next page in the file.
"This is just your and Don's information from the application." He read through it quickly. "Mother- Stephanie Lynn Nicks, Date of Birth- May 26, 1948, Father- Donald Hugh Henley, Date of Birth- July 22, 1947..." Lindsey trailed off, the rest of the information he found irrelevant. He flipped the page once more reading the header, 'Donor Profile'.
"Steph. This is it." His voice was shaky. Stevie reached over and placed her hand on top of his.
"Are you sure? Stevie. Are you sure you want to do this??" He asked once more before letting his eyes wander further down the page.
Stevie squeezed his hand tight and nodded. Lindsey took a deep breath in anticipation. He looked at Stevie and glanced down, his eyes catching right where it said 'Donor Name'. Lindsey gasped, his eyes glazing over, all of the color draining from his face. Stevie looked up at him nervously.
"Lindsey?"
No reply.
"What does it say? Baby what's..."
Lindsey flew up off the bed.
"I- I just need some fresh air." He said leaving the papers displayed out on the bed. Lindsey left in a hurry. Stevie could hear Lindsey's retreating footsteps and then the patio door slide open and shut. Stevie sat cross legged on the bed in a state of shock. She looked at the disheveled papers laying around her not letting her eyes focus in enough to thoroughly read any of them, but her eyes were unintentionally drawn and focused on the paper in front of her, the name was familiar, 'Donor- Lindsey Adams Buckingham, Date of Birth- October 3, 1949'.