7pm

Monica fixed the lobster clasp onto the chain around her neck, watching through the mirror as Phoebe came in to pull the bedroom curtains together.

"The Deacons have just arrived" he said.

"They're early! Do you think I look okay?" She turned around, adjusting the shoulders of her figure-hugging Bardot LBD.

"You always look okay," Phoebe kissed her cheek as he drifted past. "I think Freddie said he wanted you to help getting the children ready"

"He always does," she shook her head, rushing to the mirror. "Why didn't he just leave it to me?"

"Because he wants to keep distracted from Lenny" Phoebe casually said.

"What do you mean?" Monica murmured obliviously, reapplying another layer of red lipstick.

"Oh no, I've slipped my mind..." Phoebe thought.

But she was too distracted to suspect anything, for Roshni ran through the slider doors of the master suite, wearing her pink Japanese bed robe, "Johnny took my hair clip and won't give it back!!"

"I did not, she left it and I picked it up!" Her son ran in, dressed in his smart blue shirt.

Freddie followed, flustered as he gave Monica a pleading look for her to intervene.

She bent down to Johnny and silently opened her palm, and reluctantly the boy placed the sakura hair clip in his mother's hand.

Freddie watched with jealousy, "And she didn't even have to open her mouth that time!"

"Now... there you go," Monica clipped a raven black lock away from Roshni's face and behind her ear, the way her daughter always liked it, "Now go downstairs and play with the cats or uncle Lenny or something-and no more fighting!"

They toddled out, Phoebe in tow.

"How come they always do as you say..." Freddie went to the mirror and undid his top button.

"I've told you before, just zip your mouth and glare at them slightly." She went to sit on the mattress and adjust the straps of her sandals.

"I can't bloody do that-I mean look at those little faces. They throw me off!" He pointed to the photograph of them sitting on her bedside.

"You know what your issue is?" She slipped her arms around him from behind.

"What?" He spat, hands instinctively slipping to her arms around his chest.

"You're too soft" she pulled his shirt collar down slightly and kissed the back of his neck.

"Mhmph..." he grunted, closing his eyes as her kisses seemed to consume him.

She reached over to the box of Kleenex to wipe the lipstick stains off of his skin.

But his hand grabbed her wrist, "Leave them on"

She giggled, "Soft, see?" then bent down to put the box lid over her new super 8 camera and sound recorder and tuck it under the bed, "I must start operating and testing my new toys tomorrow... or Monday when the children are in school"

He put his hands on her hips from behind when she was still bent over, "I don't think I'm in the studio on Monday. We can stay at home and make our own sex tape"

"Hey, no!" She grabbed his hand and quickly led him out as he chuckled.

"Have you had a birthday drink yet, dearie?" He asked as they made their way to the stairwell.

"Maybe I'll just start with a Buck's Fizz" she eased her way down the steps, for she wasn't used to wearing heels much these days.

Freddie scooped her up into her arms by the time they both reached the half level.

"Here comes the birthday girl!" He chanted, and Phoebe shook his head as he placed a bowl of snacks on the small side table in the hall.

"The Deacons are just in the lounge" Phoebe pointed through the doorway, and indeed John and Veronica were chatting to Lenny, their children playing with Johnny and Roshni in the background.

"They're early" Monica heard Freddie mutter behind her.

"My thoughts exactly" she thought, but regardless she was happy to see them, "Hello!"

"There she is!" The happy couple briefly pulled her into a hug, careful not to spill the drinks in their hands, "We were talking to your brother"

"Lenny, this is John Deacon, Queen's bassist, and Veronica his wife" she introduced her brother, whose jaw dropped.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't realise you were a member of Queen when you walked in" Lenny put his hand on his mouth, "Awww god, that's embarrassing"

John shook his head and pat his shoulder as his wife giggled, "Not to worry, I like to keep it that way"

"That's how humble John is... you'd forget he was famous" she thought, smiling as she watched.

"HEY! NO!" Freddie darted to the drinks and beverages table set up at the end of the room where Johnny and Roshni were sipping from glasses of wine, the Deacon boys standing and watching obediently, "Away from the grown up drinks!"

"Unfortunately we can't stay long," John turned to Monica. "Veronica's mum is over from Poland minding little Laura"

The woman nodded, "And we have church in the morning"

"My goodness, their family is much more godly than mine" Monica watched as Freddie gently snatched the glasses from his children's hands and wiped their mouths, "Phoebe, can you get the children something to drink please?"

His assistant sighed, and whispered to her as he passed by in the direction of the kitchen, "Let the fun and games begin..."

***

Later that night...

Freddie sat slumped on the settee, watching Lenny deep in conversation to Brian May as they stood by the mantlepiece of the room which was crowding up quickly.

"Monica did say he does environmental studies... he's talking about that with Bri, no doubt," he downed the third spirit he'd had in the last half hour. "Why is there anything for him to talk about when he's with me?"

So far the rest of the band and their spouses had arrived, Jim Beach, a few studio executives that Monica had rubbed shoulders with since 1977, Elton John (which caused Lenny to nearly spit out his drink), and Peter Starker pulled up with a pair of energetic New Yorkers in tow that Freddie didn't recognise. He didn't see them much after that, so he assumed that they'd left for a club.

Nonetheless, Garden Lodge was now warm and casual with Queen's children weaving in and out of the open rooms and up and down the minstrel gallery, but it was not as lively as Freddie would've liked. He downed whatever he was offered or laid his eyes on, even if it wouldn't agree with him in the morning.

"Are you alright?" He felt a hand on his shoulder.

Monica was standing above him, noticing he was sitting on his own.

He sat up straight, and pat his lap silently.

She sat down and slipped her arms around his shoulders, "What's wrong?"

He simply planted in his face in her neck and hid.

She giggled, and pried the empty glass from his hands, "That's enough"

The room turned around and cooed at his open affection, but Monica didn't like how slow it was taking him to respond.

"Ah, and what have you two love birds been up to?" Peter sat himself down next to the couple, Elton by his side.

"Not much... I think somebody's having too much though" Monica pat her lover's cheek.

Freddie kissed her lips, hands on her waist, "She's beautiful, isn't she boys?"

She blushed, tasting the alcohol in his breath as she felt his hand sneaking into her bare thigh.

Elton noticed, "Easy, tiger!"

Freddie sat back and laughed, still holding onto her, "She's so... so fucking irresistible"

She saw the look in his brown eyes change from mildly alert to distant as he looked across the room, and judging by his grip on her he was losing control to his motor skills.

"You know... Monica's family, good-looking people! Real stunners!" he slurred.

"Well, yes! No doubt" Peter nodded.

"Her brother," Freddie waved in Lenny's direction. "Her brother has only been here for a day or two and I am already falling in love with him"

Monica felt things taking a weird turn, and the chatter died down. Lenny and Brian's conversation was interrupted by the singer sitting on the sofa in the middle of the room.

Freddie suddenly boomed, "I mean, look at that sexy fuckable motherfucker!"

Lenny stared back at his future brother-in-law with eyes like saucers, cheeks burning.

As for Monica, her ears were numb as she sat on his lap, instantly paralysed with disbelief by his words.

"Come 'ere!" Freddie coaxed him, but the poor boy shook his head and backed out of the now silent room, heads turning to stare at Freddie.

"Fred, please let go" Monica pleaded under her breath as she tried to release herself from his grip.

"Where are you going, sexy?!" He whined as she pried away.

"Oh, so now I'm the sexy one?! There really is no stopping with your appetite," She hissed, pushing his hands off of her. "I can't believe you'd say that in front of everybody... including me!"

She was going after her brother, but she didn't dare tell Freddie that.

Eyes were on her as she rushed out of the room, and concerned chatter erupted.

"She'll have your balls for supper later, do you know that?" Elton glared at him.

"She can have my balls for supper anytime, Sharon!" Freddie grinned back deliriously.

"Not like that! You just said you wanted to fuck your fiancée's brother!" Straker exclaimed.

"Honestly, why would you let that out-"

"Because he is, and I can't have him... He's like bloody Eros," Freddie slurred. "It doesn't mean I don't desire Monica about a thousand times more though, I'd fuck her in a heartbeat...I'm only getting temptations, just to get into bed with that boy"

Peter and Elton stared at him in shock and disgust.

"I-on your fiancée's birthday? I can't believe you!" Straker stood up.

Elton shook his head slowly as Straker stumbled away into the crowd, and leaned closer in a low, chilling voice, "You're dead meat tomorrow if you don't act fast and apologise..." and stood up and followed.

Before he could cry for them to come back, he felt Phoebe haul him up from the sofa with ease, "Right you, I think you need a glass of water"

"Then can I go get Lenny?" He slurred.

"No!" Phoebe hissed.

"Don't speak to your boss like that" Freddie spat.

"Freddie, I'm only doing what's best for you" Phoebe lead him to the bench and sat him down before he ran into the pantry where the children were surrounding Monica's birthday cake high up on the counter, "You'll get a slice later when we cut it, now off you go!"

He watched Phoebe rub their heads and urged them out of the room, "Go on up to the minstrel gallery and see how many balloons you can count down below for me"

"Is daddy tired?" Johnny asked, grabbing his father's limp hand.

"Yeah" Freddie lied, eyes squinting against the bright kitchen light.

"Out you go" Phoebe ordered, and his son skipped out after his sister and the Deacon boys.

Freddie knew how much trouble he was in, but at that point in time he was too woozy and drunk to care about the next day or confronting Monica.

"You'll thank me later" Phoebe put a glass of water and a few pain killers in Freddie's hands.

The moment his assistant vanished from the room Freddie swallowed the pills, but retorted to a half full gin and tonic sitting on the sideboard instead of water to down them with.

Soon his bladder was getting pretty full, and he'd need to head for the bathroom...

Upstairs

"Lenny, can you please just come out?!" Monica banged on the locked guest bedroom door, for the music blaring through the upstairs speakers was drowning her voice out.

No response, but a note quickly passed under the door gap moments later.

"I think best I stay away from Freddie and the party so that he gets the picture when he sobers up!!
Off to bed. Please try and have a good night Xx
-Len"

She crumpled the note up. The man she loved had singlehandedly ruined everything.

With blurry eyes, she took a deep breath and headed for the bathroom across the way to so that she could have a cry to herself with the intention of going back down to enjoy whatever was left of her birthday night.

Swallowing her tears, she dabbed a tissue under her eyes to remove the makeup residue.

"Mummy?!" A small voice whined behind her.

She spun around to find Johnny and Roshni both standing at the doorway in a pout, red wine splashed across their party clothes.

"Oh no, for goodness sake," she fell to their height. "What happened?!"

"We were running to the minstrel stairs and he knocked it over on my princess dress!" Her daughter pouted.

"No, she threw a glass on me first!" Johnny snapped back.

"No I didn't! It fell by accident!" Roshni lunged at him, dragging him to the ground.

"Liar!!" He growled and yanked her hair, and she screamed.

Monica pried them apart, "Stop! Get up!"

They reluctantly got back up onto their feet.

"I don't care who started it," she continued firmly, taking the biological powder out from under the sink. "Now take your clothes off and find something else to wear in your bedroom."

Their heads hung low as they began to unbutton and untie, and Monica immediately filled the bathroom sink with cold, soapy water to get rid of the stains quickly.

"Now hand them over" she demanded, and wearing only their vests and knickers they bundled it into her hands and ran out of the room, eager to rejoin the party.

She watched as the clouded water turned pink from the wine, and felt a tug on her dress.

She looked down to find Roshni back by her side, "There are two noisy men fighting in our room, how come Johnny and I aren't allowed to fight?!"

"What do you mean?!" She shook the water off of her hands and onto the sink, and ran to the conjoining bedroom door as Johnny peered through the crack.

"Johnny, get away, sweetie" she pulled her son away from the door.

Her heart stopped the moment she heard a pair of masculine grunts getting louder and louder.

"They have no clothes!!" She heard Johnny exclaim behind her, and she was filled with a sense of dread.

Roshni made it for the other bathroom door, "Let's go through the other door and see-"

"No! Stay here!" Monica grabbed their arms in a panic.

"Why?!" They asked.

She ignored them, and this time she managed to get a better eyeful.

The mystery of where Straker's two New York friends had vanished to had been solved, for now underneath the lamp light two naked men were now writhing against one another on top of their bed as their orgasmic moans filled the room.

Monica wanted to scream and grab them by their hair and pull them out. She'd just about had it.

But somebody pushed her out of the way before she could reach the light switch.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" Freddie boomed, storming into the room.

Monica grabbed her children and pulled them close to block their view.

"FUCKING ANIMALS! THIS IS MY CHILDREN'S BEDROOM!" He roared, throwing the duvet off of them. "GET OUT! GO!"

Monica watched with horror as they both scrambled for their clothes on the floor, Freddie trying to grab them, only to be pulled away by Phoebe.

The two men fled out the door, and she felt her confused little children trembling into her side, clutching onto her legs.

But Freddie wasn't done yet, she could see the madness in his eyes and veins popping out of his neck.

"IF I CAN'T GET ANY FUN, NOBODY'S GETTING ANY!" He stood at the banister and screamed at the spectating guests below.

Phoebe tried to get a hold of him again, but he escaped his grip and ran downstairs to make things worse, hands waving in the air.

"CLEAR OFF! OUT! EVERYBODY GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" He grabbed one of his antique vases and hurled it down towards the door as they rushed to the entrance. Even his beloved felines who avoided company the whole evening had darted into the nearest room.

Phoebe grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back, shouting below pleadingly, "I'm sorry folks, I'm awfully sorry..."

Freddie caught glance of John going after his wife trying to soothe his crying boys, simply glaring straight back up at him in distraction.

It only took a few seconds for the house to turn empty, with only the sound of Billboard Top Hits 1982 blaring in each room and corridor littered with balloons and glasses.

In his intoxicated state, Freddie felt his heart shatter at the sight through the bathroom door frame of his shaken family crumbled together as he felt Phoebe drag him further away, struggling to get the words out through his mouth that was now filling up with alcoholic bile from his spinning stomach.

He hadn't seen such hurt in those blue eyes since that fateful night he learned that he was going to be a father.

The eyes that told him he had just lost everything...