------

A few hours passed, and it was almost dinner time. 

Heather felt so proud of herself. She knew that by the evening, she was going to impress everyone. 

Mary had been following Paul around most of the day, and he figured out she just wanted to cuddle. 

"Baby, I have to get up to help Mummy cook dinner." Paul gently attempted to take Mary off him, but she refused.

Linda had noticed Mary's excessive clingy nature towards Paul. "Mary, dinner will be done soon. Remember, John and Ringo are coming over." 

"Oh, yeah." Mary sighed softly, but listened to her mother, going off to play in her room. She played patty-cake with Stella, who happily played whilst Heather practiced.

--

 Paul got up and started to cook dinner along with Linda, and he couldn't help but wonder. "Do you think Mary's okay? She's not normally like this..?" 

Linda sighed. "Must be going through a phase. Y'know, just wants her Daddy. She'll grow out of it. She's at that age."

"Hm, good point. I'm just surprised Stella hasn't gone through many phases yet, y'know, she seems to be more happy by herself.." Paul commented as he chopped vegetables.

"You're right. I guess she's just a more independent child..." Linda agreed.

--

Ten minutes later, dinner wasn't quite ready, but there was a knock on the door. "Heather, will you get that, please?" Paul called out.

Heather goes and gets the door to see Ringo and John outside. "Oh, hello! Nice to see you both here!"

"Hello, Heather! Thanks for having us over." Ringo says as he suddenly feels a child at his legs. When he looks down, it's Stella. 

"You girls are all growing so much. You'll even be taller than me." The drummer jokes.

-

John chuckles. "You sure have. I remember when you were just playing in our studio, Heather."

 Heather blushes and invites them inside. 

Mary came out of the bedroom when she heard the knocking, and she smiles up at Ringo and John. "Hello."

John looks at Mary coming out of the room. "Hi, Mary! How are you?" 

"I'm fine, how are you?" Mary asks John, observing details. "And you cut your hair?"

"Fine," John laughs. "And yes, I did. Very observant, you are."

"Hey, glad you could make it. Richie, wanna taste test the soup?" Paul greeted his friends, and Ringo went over to try the veggie soup. 

"Mummy, why'd Daddy call Ringo 'Richie?'" Stella asked, confused.

"It's just a nickname, Stella. He used to call him that all the time." She explained.

 "Oh!" Stella said in amazement.

-

Mary giggled and relaxed, happier. "Martha got her hair cut too!"

John looked down at Martha and pet her. "Oh, she did!" Martha wagged her tail happily, sitting down. 

"Dinner is ready." Paul pointed out, pouring soup into bowls that went on the table.

 Ringo saw that Stella looked sleepy, so he carried her over, trying to sit her in her own seat. "Wanna be wi' you, Ringo." The toddler informed.

The drummer looked at Linda and Paul for approval.

Linda looked back at Ringo. "Well, does he mind?"

Stella looked at Ringo as if to ask, and he shook his head. "I don't mind at all, just be careful."

 "Ok, Stella, you can sit with Ringo. But he's right, be careful."

"Yes, Mummy, I be careful." She said and cautiously drank her water. 

Ringo settled the girl on his lap, keeping his left hand on her and using his right to eat soup, as everyone else began eating. Linda smiled and ate her soup, glancing over at Stella and Ringo occasionally.

Stella and Ringo were very happily chatting and didn't make any mess. 

-

Mary had been trying to be tidy, but got distracted talking to John, and accidentally spilled soup on her lap. Luckily, it wasn't hot.

John gasped. "Are you all right, Mary?" He had gone to get some napkins to clean up the mess.

"Yes, I'm okay." Mary answered, some tears in her eyes threatening to fall. Stella leaned over and helped clean up with John, doing her best. 

Paul took Mary to the other room for a minute to get a dry shirt on, and soon they returned to the table. 

"It's all right, Mary, accidents happen." Her dad assured her.

John frowned and hugged her. "Aww, don't cry, sweetheart. Happens to everyone."

"Sorry.." Mary spoke quietly, hugging John in return. It was rare that he hugged anyone, so it cheered her up.

 "It's fine, dear." John spoke softly.

--

"Heather has some exciting news," Paul mentioned when they were cleaning up from dinner. "Tell them what you learned, darling." 

Heather jumps up and down in excitement. "Daddy taught me guitar!" 

"Wow! That's really cool." Ringo bounced Stella on his knee, which made her giggle. 

Paul makes sure they're all in the same room and then hands Heather the right-handed guitar. Heather had the biggest smile on her face, playing every note of Love Me Do perfectly.

She looked up at Paul and the others as she finished for approval. 

John's jaw dropped. "Wow, Macca, you taught her well." He pat her on the back. "You're going places, sweetheart."

Ringo applauded with a grin, and even Stella and Mary clapped too. "That is amazing! How long has she been learning?" He asked Paul. 

"Just this morning! She practiced all day!" Paul said proudly and thanked John for the compliment. 

"She learned that in one day? That's amazing." John was surprised, to say the least.

-

"John, wanna see me pway piano?" Stella asked after a few minutes of everyone praising Heather.

"Oh, I'd love to see you play, Stella!"

Stella nodded and went over, then hit each note of Mary Had A Little Lamb, only missing one key. She looked back at John after, as Ringo clapped.

John applauded too. "Wow, Stella! You're really good at that!"

Stella bowed with a big smile, "Ta. Daddy and Mummy helped me practice."

-

John looked back up at Paul. "You're doing a good job at teaching them, Macca."

Paul glanced at John, also giving a smile. "It's easy, really. They want  to learn, that's what's important." 

"I'm really glad they were all interested." Linda chimed in.

"Mary plays a little bit of drums, I heard?" Ringo asked, something Paul had told him over the phone.

"Yeah, he taught her a few months ago." The woman confirmed.

"Ah, that's nice. I bet you're good at it, Mary," Ringo tells the girl. "Not as good as you." Mary replied shyly.

"Oh, Mary, you want to show him?" Linda suggested.

"Well, I don't know.." She hid her face in Linda's lap.

Linda rubbed her back to reassure her. "Oh, come on, Mary. We've heard you, and you're good. I'm sure Ringo will be impressed." Mary thought it over and got up, going over to the drum set.

-

"Okay.. Daddy, come here, please." She needed help to reach the kick drum and hi-hat pedal.

 Paul walked over and sat Mary in his lap, keeping his right hand to steady her. Mary began to do a simple beat while Paul did the pedals, she even used the tom-toms.

"That's my girl, Mary!" Linda cheered.

Mary played confidently and managed to get through the whole song. When she finished, she went to sit near Linda, looking proud.

Ringo gave her a standing ovation, really impressed since she was only 5-years-old. "That was fantastic! We should drum together at my house some time."

Linda hugged Mary once she finished. "I'm so proud of you, Mary!"

"Thank you, Mum!" Mary snuggled into the hug.

---

After some more conversation, Ringo looked at the time. "Oh, I have to go home, now, put my kids to bed.. Thanks again for having me, Paul and Linda."

John nodded. "Yeah, I should probably go too. It was great seeing you all again."

"Right, we enjoyed having you over.." Paul gave John a handshake and then hugged Ringo, seeing them out.

Heather waved goodbye to Ringo and John, still happy that they approved of her performance.

"You did so well, Heather. I can't believe how fast you learnt." Paul tells his oldest daughter. Stella waved to the other musicians too, now starting to get fussy the later it was growing.

"Thank you, Daddy. I'm so glad they liked it."

Paul nodded in agreement, having a surprise in mind in for tomorrow; he had phoned George the other day, and the guitarist was coming in the afternoon.

"I want to keep learning now!"

"Yes, I can help you practice more tomorrow. " Paul agreed, not revealing his surprise.

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