They tell you not to buy a house, sell your house, start up a new relationship, or have a child for the first year after getting clean and sober. Stevie obeyed all of those, but one.
Stevie had always said that her music career was her life, her passion, and joy, her child. Yet, she wondered what being a mother would be like. Would she fall in love more with her child than her career? It sounded impossible to her, but she still wondered.
She felt that it was obvious she would never have a child of her own, not after a miscarriage and an abortion. She couldn't bring herself to feel the feelings she had felt during those times.
Her miscarriage was with Lindsey. She was oblivious to the fact that she was pregnant, and with the stress of their new record, the parties, the drugs, and the alcohol, she lost their unborn child. Her heart was broken into a million pieces when they spent the night in the emergency room.
Her abortion was during her short-lived relationship with Don. Neither of them was ready to be parents, and neither of them wanted to be parents. She knew to have a child would have been a bigger problem than having the abortion.
Then, years later, her mindset changed. She was ready to be a mother.
Over the course of two months after leaving Betty Ford, Stevie looked into different things she needed to have, and be done or fixed in order to adopt a child. One of the main factors was her past with drugs and alcohol abuse. They wanted to make sure she wouldn't return to that lifestyle.
Stevie sat across from a social worker for one of the orphanages to talk. The two sat in Stevie's home on Hollywood Blvd. and the social worker was in awestruck of the home some lucky child might be able to call home.
"So, Miss Nicks," the woman started with as she opened a new file. "Why are you wanting to adopt?"
"I want to give a child who doesn't have a home or a family anything and everything they could ever need, want, or ask for." She answered in a soft, cheery tone.
"Okay," the social worker said as she started writing things down in the file. "Do you have any ideas what you want in a child?"
"No," Stevie shook her head. "I don't think I need to know. I just want to go in and hang out with the kids for a while and see what happens." She explained.
"Miss Nicks, you do understand this isn't like going into a dog kennel and picking out your next pet, right? This is serious. You're wanting to adopt a child, a human being that you will be taking care of from here on out... right?"
"Yes," Stevie nodded understandingly. "I didn't mean it to come out that way. I meant I don't feel I need to know what I want. I'm going into this with an open mind."
"Okay," the woman returned back to her notes before continuing. "Are you going with that for ages too?"
"I think so... I would rather adopt a child who is potty trained if I can. I don't think I can handle diapers."
There was a small chuckle from the care worker. "I understand. That's actually good, most people want to adopt babies or toddlers under the age of two. Meaning, older children are less wanted, and there are more of them."
"Well, that gives me even more momentum on adopting someone a bit older than that then."
"Well, Miss Nicks, everything seems to be in the perfect place. You have a stable home, a steady income, you're reliable and clean and sober. So, I think you're the perfect fit to be a mother. I'll send you the paperwork within the next month, and you will get a call letting you know when you can come by the adoption agency."
"Great!" Stevie said happily, almost squealing with delight.
The two got up from the dining room table, and Stevie escorted the woman toward the front door. "I'll see you within the month, Miss Nicks."
"Thank you again," the singer grinned.