It had been three days since we had come back from New York.  It hadn’t taken very long for John to get comfortable in the apartment.  It was a little weird for me-having him there with Elise and me for days at a time-all of us living under one room-going along with our daily lives as if we were a typical family.  The truth of the matter was that we were anything but an ordinary family, but I embraced it while I had it.  If I had learned anything, it was that I needed to enjoy the now, because with John Lennon, anything was possible. 

It was my first day back to work since John’s accident.  I had dropped them off at my parent’s house for the day, just so John wouldn’t feel overwhelmed caring for Elise on his own.  I was aware that his temper tended to be volatile and I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted to leave him alone with Elise with everything he was going through.  Walking into my office, I noticed a pile of phone messages neatly set on my desk, next to another pile of documents I would need to sort through.  Emily, the girl who had covered me while I was in New York, had always been so organized, that I knew I’d be able to catch up on my work in a couple of days.  I looked through the phone messages and stopped at one that simply said Linda.  The phone number that was left was an international number and I soon realized this was from Linda McCartney.  I quickly dialed and after a couple of rings, a woman answered.  I smiled as I recognized Linda’s voice.

“Mirel! I am so glad you called!  How is everything?  We’ve been trying to get a hold of you!  We heard about John’s accident.”

“Hi Linda.  I just got back from New York.  In fact, I just got into my office right now and saw you had left a message.”

“Is everyone okay?  We heard on the news that John had been in an accident and there was a brief clip of you, Elise and him walking out of the hospital, but we haven’t heard anything else.  Is he okay?”

“He’s fine.” I said.  I thought about telling Linda the truth, but remembered John had been very firm about not letting the boys know about his amnesia. “He came back to LA with Elise and me.”

“Paul has been trying to get a hold of him for days now.  So has George and Ringo.  They’ve left messages with Yoko, but she hasn’t returned their calls.  We really didn’t know where else to call.  I called your apartment, but nobody answered.  We finally got the number to the art gallery and was able to leave a message with the girl that was there.”

“Thanks for being so insistent.” I said.

“Of course.  So John’s with you, then?”

“He’s here in LA…not physically here with me.  I dropped him and Elise off at my parent’s house.”

“Oh Mirel, I wish we could talk more- we have so much to catch up on, but I am on my way out to take Mary to a doctor’s appointment.  How about we call you and John in the next couple of days?  We’re usually up late anyway, so the time difference shouldn’t be a problem?”

"Sure.” I said

I gave Linda my phone number as well as my parent’s phone number, just in case. We agreed that they’d call us sometime in the next couple of days.

“Do you mind if we give Ringo and George these numbers?” Linda asked.

“No…go right ahead.” I said.

“Thanks, Mirel.  I’m so glad you called…and I am glad John’s accident didn’t have any serious consequences.”

“Me too.” I lied.

“Okay, we’ll talk soon.  Have a wonderful day!” Linda chimed before hanging up.

The truth was that I felt guilty not telling Linda about John’s condition.  I wanted Paul, George and Ringo to know what was going on with him.  I wanted them to know John wasn’t ready to let the Beatles go.  But if I did that, my relationship with John would surely suffer-and I was not ready for that.  Call me selfish, but as much as I wished for a Beatles reunion, my relationship with John was more important.

The day went by rather quickly, but by 3 in the afternoon, I was heading to my parent’s house.  I found my parent’s watching a movie in the living room.  They told me John was with Elise in my old room.  As I walked in, I couldn’t help but smile.  Both John and Elise were curled up together in my bed-asleep.  It was a sweet sight to see.  I sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Elise’s forehead, moving her hair slightly from her face.  I looked over at John and did the same to him.  He stirred slightly and slowly opened his eyes. 

“ ‘ello.” He smiled sleepily.

“Hi.” I smiled too.

“I guess I was more tired than I thought.” He said softly as he took a hold of my hand.

“Sleep well?”

He nodded and kissed my hand before shifting to a sitting position. Elise moved slightly, but didn’t wake up.

“How was your day?” John yawned.

“Busy.”

“After your two week vacation, I’d expect it.”

“It wasn’t that much of a vacation.” I laughed softly.  “While we were in New York though, Linda called. She heard about your accident and wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Who’s Linda?” John questioned. “…and please don’t tell me she’s another one of my wives…” he winked.

“Oh…that’s right, you don’t remember Linda…” I said realizing John knew Paul was married, but knew nothing more about the woman he had married. “Linda is Paul’s wife.”

“Oh.” John responded.

“Apparently, Paul, George and Ringo had been trying to get a hold of you after they found out about the accident.”

“Did you tell her-“ John began to say

“No.” I interrupted. “I said I wouldn’t…so I didn’t.  I told her you were fine…”

“Good.” John said.

"She said Paul would call you in the next couple of days…she’s going to give George and Ringo my number so they have a way to contact you too.”

John nodded but didn’t say anything.  After a few seconds, John looked at me and smiled.

“So you didn’t ask me how my day was.” John grinned.

I laughed. “Sorry.  How was your day, John?  What did you do?”

“It was pretty great.  Your dad lent me the Sgt. Pepper album…and I listened to it most of the day.”

“Oh yeah? How’d you like it?”

"I remember all the songs on the album…it was great just listening to the complete album, with the full arrangements…seeing the album cover…all of it finished.”

I smiled. “Great.  Did you listen to any other album? Because my dad has all the Beatles albums.”

“That’s great he’s such a fan.” John laughed. “He gave me the next one in line.  Mystery Tour or something.”

“Magical Mystery Tour.” I corrected John.

“Yeah that one.”

“There’s a movie to accompany the LP, you know?”

“Is there now? Any good?”

"Uhhhh….” I stumbled on my words.

“That bad?” John laughed.

“It’s…interesting.” I laughed. “You just have to see it.”

***

It was Saturday morning and I was awoken by a very awake Elise.  John and I had come to an agreement that although he and I shared a bed, there would be nothing else between us as long as Elise was in the house.  Since it had always been just her and me, Elise was used to bursting into the room at all hours of the day and night—this was not the exception.  I could hear John groan as Elise tried to get him out of bed too. 

“C’mon!  You promised to take me to the park!” She chimed.

“What time is it?” John asked sleepily.

Elise turned to me curiously.

I looked at my watch and couldn’t help but smile.

“7:30” I said.  I knew John well enough to know 7:30am was not a decent hour to be waking up on a Saturday.

“It’s too early to be awake!” John covered his head with the sheet, but Elise was not about to give up so easily.

“You said you would take us to the park!” she said tugging at the sheet.  “You promised.” Elise began.  John continued groaning and Elise kept insisting for him to wake up.  I was about to advise Elise to let John sleep when he abruptly got up, sheet still covering him and pulled her onto the bed.  Elise laughed as John tickled her. 

“Stop…stop.” Elise managed to say between laughter.

I smiled at the scene and wondered if John had ever acted the same with Julian. 

***

Elise smiled as she munched on her cereal.  She had successfully gotten John out of bed and now the three of us were having breakfast on a Saturday before 8am- an impossible feat for anyone other than Elise.  I cleared the table and hurried Elise to her room to change.  Before I could follow, John grabbed my hand and pulled me onto his lap.

He didn’t say anything.  He just looked at me without saying a word.

“This is nice.” He finally said.

I smiled, whole-heartedly agreeing with him.

“You know, Paul used to talk about wanting this...a wife and kids…everyone eating breakfast together before going out as a family.”

“Did you not want that?” I questioned.

“Not then.” John said simply. “Paul...he’d start talking about this…I told him he was daft for wanting it.” John chuckled. “He must have been 22 when he talked to me about it. I remember telling him he could take my family and then to tell me if he still thought the same.” John continued, now with a very sincere voice. “He wasn’t daft at all…he was so good with Julian…you’d think he was his dad…it came so naturally for him.  I’d see him and when I was with Julian, I’d try to mimic how Paul acted around him…but it was always an act for me…I didn’t feel it the way Paul felt it.”

“Is this an act too…you know, with Elise?” I asked.

“No. It’s real...and me wanting to have everyone eating breakfast together…as a family…that’s real too.  I miss Julian.  I want him here…eating breakfast with me…all of us together….”

The three of us spent the late morning at the park.  We pushed Elise on the swings, chased her around the playground and John even crawled into the slide with her.  It was such an incredible feeling to see John act this way.  But the funny thing was that he wasn’t acting…he was genuinely enjoying the time he was spending with us.  It was bittersweet to see him with Elise because I knew Julian had never gotten to experience this with him.  So during our quick trip to grab some food at the grocery store- Elise had wanted to have a picnic before going home- I made up my mind….it was essential to bring Cynthia and Julian to the States.  As Elise played and occasionally took a bite from her food, John and I discussed the logistics of bringing Cynthia and Julian.  It didn’t seem too hard to get them here- the real task was keeping them here.  The idea was for John and Julian to get to know each other- that wouldn’t happen in a couple of weeks.  John talked about asking Cynthia to move to the States for a few months.  He knew she wouldn’t allow Julian to just uproot and move in with John, but if he could convince her to move herself, he knew he’d be able to spend more time with Julian.  It was great to see John getting excited about the possibility of that happening.  He talked about what they’d do once Julian was here…where’d they go…what he’d ask his son.  It was a completely different John…it was as if I was hearing Paul talk about his family, not John….but it was wonderful.

***

As I carried Elise into her bedroom, I heard the phone ring.

“I’ll get it.” John said as I put Elise down on the bed and started taking off her shoes.  The few hours at the park had really drained her.  She had fallen asleep on the way back to the house, but it didn’t surprise me.  She had woken up very early and had played consistently all morning and into the early afternoon. 

"…yeah…fine.” I heard John on the phone.  He had made his way to the couch.

I raised an eyebrow, questioning who he was speaking with.

“Paul.” He mouthed as he continued listening.

I smiled and nodded as I sat on the opposite side of the couch. 

“…no…nothing serious, just a few bruises…yeah, I’m staying with Mirel and Elise…probably not for a while, it’s been put on hold for now...yeah…taking a break, what about you?....oh yeah?...where?....planning on coming to the states?...yeah, gotta take it a little easier now that you have the family….she’s fine…they’re both fine…we just came from the park, can you believe the little bugger actually woke me up before 8am…that’s what I said!” John laughed.

Paul and John talked for a few more minutes before John asked if I wanted to talk to Linda, to which I quickly jumped at the idea.  She and I spoke for about 10 minutes before we hung up.  It was a little hard to get into a lot of girl talk with John sitting next to me, so I wasn’t able to talk to her about a lot of the details about what was going on with John and me. 

“That was nice…that they called.” I told John when I put the phone down.  He had been in a pensive state since he had passed the phone to me to talk to Linda.

“Yeah.” John said.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing.” John said trying to sound convincing.

“I don’t believe you.  What did Paul tell you that’s got you so preoccupied?”

“He told me that the lawyers were finishing up the dissolution papers. They should be finalized sometime in the next couple of months…you know, a lot of red tape to go through.” John finally confessed.

“John…”

“He was so indifferent about it, you know?” John sat up, a little irritation in his voice.  “Like he was talking about a fuckin’ parking ticket.  Like it was nothing!  Like it meant nothing to him!”

“John…remember Paul and the others have been dealing with this for a little over 4 years now…you too.”

“Me too? I’ve been dealing with it for a couple of weeks, Mirel.  Don’t tell me I’ve been dealing with it for four fuckin’ years!” John snapped at me.

“That’s not what I meant.  Please don’t take it like that.  Just try to calm down, okay?”

John leaned back and ran his hands through his hair. 

“It doesn’t mean anything to him because he already has another band…and I’m….” but John didn’t finish.

“You’re what?”

“Nothing. Just forget it.”

“John…you’re what? Just say it!”

“I’m still a fuckin’ Beatle, Mirel!  You want to hear me say it?  There! I said it!” John stood up. “He has a new band and I am still a bloody Beatle! I never transitioned out of it!! Or remember it! I haven’t adjusted and he….he is saying he’s touring and working on a new album…and he’s doing it without me!”  John said angrily before heading to the front door and walking out.