Elisabeth exited her studio and climbed the stairs leading to the house. She and Andrew had moved less than a month ago, but each day the Craftsman style house felt more and more like home. Libba loved the brick and shingle exterior of the house, the natural light in nearly every room, and the quiet tree lined street. To her, it was 1,438 square feet of bliss nestled in Oakland.
As she stepped inside, Red Hot Chili Peppers hit her ears. She shook her head in amusement. Her love had finally stopped listening to Nirvana at least. Elisabeth padded into the kitchen and over to the sink, filling a glass with tap water. She stepped backwards as the music became louder. The young couple didn't need a noise complaint from the neighbors. Her baby blues widened. Libba bit down on her bottom lip in a lame attempt to hold in her laughter as she witnessed her boyfriend launching himself off the couch, dancing around the living room in his plaid boxer shorts and singing along to Suck My Kiss.
Andrew turned around, tossing his long, disheveled raven hair out of his eyes as he demonstrated killer air bass skills. He opened his eyes, cheeks flushing heavily with embarrassment. He ran a hand through his hair and curled his lips into a smirk as Libba's laughter faded. "Enjoying yourself?" he asked loudly over the music, walking over to the stereo and turning it down before sauntering over to her.
"Not as much as you were," she answered with laughter, grinning as his fingers hooked around the straps of her paint splattered overalls and tugged her closer to him.
"Wanna take a break from painting?" he asked softly as he rubbed his nose against hers.
Elisabeth shook her head and pulled away. "No. I only came in for a glass of water. I want to get finished, so I can do absolutely nothing tomorrow."
Andrew let out a disappointed sigh. "Lib," he whined, letting go of her overalls. "A little break can't hurt."
"Don't guilt trip me. You have that huge test on Monday. You should be studying, and we have to clean this place up before Daddy gets here. We'll have plenty of a break tonight at the party."
Her boyfriend rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Playing beer pong with your Uncle Jeff and hearing about his insurance sales. Fun times."
She giggled, shaking her head. "I think you secretly love it. Besides, you don't have to hear about how you're wasting your time getting an art history degree."
"Lib, you could always go into the insurance business. It's pretty lucrative from what I hear," he declared sarcastically.
Libba smacked his shoulder. "You're terrible, but I love you." She gave him a peck on the cheek and turned, walking away. Elisabeth stopped at the back door. "Give me another hour or so. I'll help you clean up the house."
Andrew mumbled and scratched the back of his head, looking around. The rooms looked lived in, but he knew she wanted them completely spotless since it would be Lindsey's first time seeing the house since they had moved in. He cranked the music back up and snagged a slice of pepperoni pizza out of the box on the coffee table. Andrew cracked open his books and let his green eyes glaze over the pages for ten minutes until he slammed the thick book shut. He simply wasn't in study mode. He tossed the pizza crust into the box and heard a car door slam outside. "Shit," he mumbled and straightened, glancing out the window. His eyes fell on the black Mercedes pulled in behind Libba's red convertible. "Fuck!" He exclaimed, noticing the blonde passenger. Andrew leapt off the couch and ran out to the cottage that Elisabeth had converted into a studio. "Lib! Libba! Elisabeth!" He screamed, jerking open the door. "Libba!"
Elisabeth pushed her headphones back, letting them hang around her neck. "Andrew, what's wrong?"
Andrew caught his breath and leaned against the door. "Your parents are here."
"What?" she whisper-shouted, glancing at the clock. "Jesus Christ! He's early! Andrew! You need to get clothes on! Did you let him in? Did he see you?" she inquired, throwing the questions out rapidly. Her father knew they lived together obviously, but she knew he'd be horrified to see her boyfriend in his shorts. She moved towards the door, glaring when Andrew stepped in front of her.
"Lib!" Andrew groaned in frustration, taking her by the shoulders. "Your parents," he spoke, dragging out the s.
Elisabeth's eyes bugged out of their sockets. "Parents. Andrew, that's plural. That's...mama? What the fuck is my mother doing here? She's with him?"
He nodded his head slowly. "She didn't fly in on a broom," Andrew cracked. He loved Stevie to death and enjoyed giving her a tough time about the witch rumors. She always found the humor in anything. "She came in a Mercedes."
"Don't be funny! You're joking. She wouldn't come with Daddy. They hate each other. They only get along because of me like fifty percent of the time."
"Lib, I know. Right now, they're probably ringing the doorbell."
"Oh my God," Libba breathed out, running a hand through her hair and tugging hard. She felt like pulling her hair out from the roots. "I can't deal with this," she whispered, meeting Andrew's eyes. She'd accepted a long time ago that her parents would always be separated. It would be abnormal for them to be back together if they were. Maybe her mind was jumping to conclusions like it always did. Her mother just tagged along to see the new house. That was a simple explanation that Libba could easily wrap her head around.
"Baby, just because they're here together doesn't mean that they're back together," Andrew said softly in a pacifying tone, pulling her hand away from her long locks. He gave her fingers a comforting squeeze. "Do you want me to answer the door?" he offered in an effort to ease her anxiety.
She shook her dark head, yanking the headphones off and pulling the Walkman out of her pocket. She set them onto the table. "No. God, no. You're in your underwear. I'll do it," she said firmly, taking a deep breath and drawing courage. Libba hesitantly marched through the house and stopped near the front door, listening to the hushed whispers on the other side.
"Lindsey, I told you this was a bad, terrible idea," Stevie whispered sharply.
"You did. The whole drive. All 370 miles," he mumbled glumly, putting his hands in his front pockets and stretching his legs by briefly standing on the balls of his feet. It felt good to be out of the car even if Stevie was still complaining. Lindsey settled his feet solidly on the ground and turned his head, looking at her. "It's better just to rip the band-aid off. Should I ring the doorbell again?"
Stevie rolled her brown eyes, gasping when the door opened. She wondered if Libba had heard anything. Maybe she hadn't. It seemed like a decently dense and heavy door.
"Hey," Libba greeted brightly and flashed a smile. She threw her arms around her father and kissed his cheek. "Happy Birthday in person this time."
"Thanks, baby," Lindsey whispered in return and kissed her head. "I missed your hugs."
Libba smiled and stepped out of his grasp, letting her small hands rest on his arms. "You're here super early," she stated disapprovingly.
"I know," Lindsey said apologetically. "Traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."
Elisabeth looked at her mother. "Hey mama. Surprised to see you're here."
"I know you are," Stevie answered, giving Lindsey a mean look before wrapping her arms around her daughter. "Your daddy drove like a maniac," she whispered into Libba's ear, letting out a raspy chuckle.
Libba laughed and let her parents inside the house, stopping in the small foyer. "It's a mess," she warned. "I wanted to finish a project before we started cleaning. Andrew stayed up late last night studying, and I went straight out to the studio after I got up."
"Baby, it's fine," Lindsey told her. "I'm glad you're out of that apartment in that neighborhood."
Elisabeth nodded her head without a word. Her parents hadn't been thrilled about the previous apartment building she lived in with Andrew or the area. It wasn't the best neighborhood, and everything was constantly broken in the building.
"Give us the tour," Stevie requested excitedly, slipping her arms around her girl's waist. It was her first time seeing the house. She'd only heard Libba's description of it since it had all been done while she was on the road. "Where's Andrew?" she inquired, surprised to not have seen the young man yet.
"Right here," Andrew piped up, coming down the hall. The twenty-one-year-old was fully dressed and presentable after a quick shower. He walked over to Stevie and kissed her cheek. "You get more beautiful every time I see you," he told her with a sly grin and waved at Lindsey.
Stevie smiled warmly at him. "Thank you, Andrew. We're trying to get Libba to give us a tour."
"Oh, c'mon," he said, looping his arms with Stevie. "I'll give you the grand one. Better than Lib could."
Libba let out a sigh of relief and let her boyfriend take over with showing her parents around the house. She darted off to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. With a sigh, she leaned against the counter and pushed her bangs off her forehead. She heard her father ask Andrew about his new computer and knew he'd receive an earful. At times, she wondered if Andrew loved computers more than her. Libba smirked at her silly thoughts and looked up, staring at her mother. "Didn't want to hear about the PowerBook 100?"
Stevie shook her head. "No. He's showing Lindsey how the floppy dick goes into it. I'm not interested," she informed her daughter, raising her eyebrows in confusion when Libba erupted into laughter. "Why is that so funny?"
"Floppy disk, mama. D-I-S-K," she spelled out, laughing until her sides ached.
Her mother snickered at her mistake with the terminology. She shrugged her shoulders and waved her hand. "Either way, I'm not interested in floppy dicks or floppy disks," she stated with a wink, cackling wildly and walking closer to Elisabeth.
Elisabeth howled at her mother's joke and doubled over as she laughed harder. Tears sprang out of her eyes as she completely cracked up with her mom. The girl straightened and wiped at her eyes, recovering from her mom's dirty sense of humor. "I haven't laughed like that in days."
Stevie chuckled. "Glad I could help," she replied, opening cabinets until she found coffee mugs. She took four out and set them near the coffee maker. She stilled when she heard Elisabeth say her name, recognizing the uncertain and reticent tone.
"What are you doing? Are you and daddy back together?" she questioned, watching her mother sigh.
"Libba, we're...I suppose we're back together. We're working on it. We've been spending a lot of time together since after your birthday."
Elisabeth crossed her arms over her chest and chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "What does this mean?"
"Baby, I don't know."
"I don't want you to get hurt like the last time you two tried to get back together," Libba admitted honestly. "It never ends well."
She moved closer, rubbing her daughter's back. "That was a stressful time. I was out of rehab. I wasn't in a good place and neither was he. We're older and wiser than we were then."
"Mama, that was four years ago. You might not have told me about the fight, but Aunt Christine gave me all the details when I asked her."
Stevie cursed Christine McVie under her breath and stared at the shiny metal of the sink basin, gathering her thoughts. "Libba, have some faith."
"I do when it counts. Look, I know I should be over the moon about this, but I'm sorry I'm not. I realized a long time ago that you two weren't ever going to get back together. I stopped dreaming that dream when I was ten years old, mama," she finished, locking eyes with her mother.
Stevie stared deeply into her daughter's eyes, seeing the truth and the pain. Her daughter was the opposite of her in so many ways. Libba was grounded - always firm in reality, discerning, and critical. She never based her thoughts on emotion and fantasy. She encircled her arms around her little girl, pulling her close against her. "It's different this time, Libba. We're taking it a day at a time."
"Mama," Elisabeth spoke into her mother's hair as she took in the scent of her perfume. "I don't want you to get hurt. I'll never forgive him if he does."
"I won't let myself. Don't be so hard on us, Elisabeth Rhiannon. Please for me?"
Libba lifted her head from the crook of her mother's neck, nodding gently. "Only for you."
Stevie smiled and tucked her daughter's hair behind her ears, kissing her forehead. "Thank you. Now, let's enjoy the afternoon together and the rest of the evening," she said, forcing herself to sound happy as she poured the fresh coffee into the cups.
Her positive outlook about the weekend had changed since the talk with her daughter moments ago. She wished she could travel back in time and turn down Lindsey's invitation for the weekend. She felt like calling a cab to take her to the airport, but she wouldn't do that to him. Stevie would soldier through and hope the rest of the Buckingham's took the news better than Libba had.