Miss Mercury

Roses

August 1993

Amelia is now eight years old and starts year three in just a week. Despite the summer holiday's usually being filled with sunshine and playing today is a rainy day and Amelia is stuck inside.

She's been on holiday with Brian and Anita two weeks ago and it was filled with stuff to do so now they're home everything feels a bit flat.

To make it worse Jimmy, Louisa and Emily are at Chrissie's because it's a weekday so she is bored. She's done all her chores, played with the cats and is now watching Jurassic Park again to occupy herself.

The film was released on VHS just three days ago and Brian had brought it to watch himself but was joined by Amelia and she loves it, this is her second time watching it.

Anita is working away for the week and Brian is upstairs in the studio. The remaining members of Queen are putting together one last studio album in memory of Freddie. Brian was on tour for the first few months of 1993, prompting his solo album and came back at the end of July.

When the film finishes she hears Brian's footsteps moving about upstairs, a sign that he's taking a breather and it gives her an idea.

Taking inspiration from the film she tiptoes up the first flight stairs missing the creaky section and quietly races across the hallway to the second lot of stair leading to the third floor where the studio is.

Rounding the bend in the staircase she sees that the door the studio is open slightly and Brian comes out going down the hallway to the bathroom.

She falls flat against the stairs so he doesn't see her and stays there until he goes back into the room, still, he leaves the door ajar.

Crawling on all fours up the last few steps, she peeks around the door frame. Brian is sat in the chair by the soundboard with his back to her, Perfect.

Sneaking through the gap she waits until she right behind the chair and stands. She just stands there waiting for him to feel her behind him looking over his shoulder at what he is doing.

It doesn't take long for Brian to sense her behind him, "I know you're behind me Milly," He smiles liking this childish side of her that has come back in the last year.

Trying to suppress her giggle she holds a hand over her mouth and when he looks over his shoulder to look at her, she moves too. She keeps doing this for a few moments and when he turns fully she runs round him before he sees her and stands in the recording booth.

It completely baffles him, he's sure that she was behind him but he turns back to the soundboard and jumps a foot off the chair seeing her stood in the recording booth. Chuckling he sits back on the chair and continues working just to see what she does next.

Her fun doesn't end there, ducking down out of sight she crawls out of the booth, like the raptor in the kitchen, she once again crawls over to the chair. "Roar!" She jumps at his back wrapping her arms around his shoulders giggling.

He looks at her out the corner of his eye biggest grin on his face, "You've been watching Jurassic Park again haven't you?"

"Yep," She nods sitting on the spare chair next to him, "When is mum home?"

Since reading the letter from Freddie, Amelia quickly took to calling Anita mum but she still calls him Brian, not that he minds. Personally, he prefers it this way or it would feel like he's replacing Freddie, "Should be next week."

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The next morning Amelia came down for breakfast she noticed a large rose bush near the front door that definitely hadn't been there when she went to bed.