⇾ 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐄 𝐈'𝐌 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐃 | 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐈𝐈

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙀𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣 ➪ 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝘼 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝘿𝙖𝙮'𝙨 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩

Sorry I'm late, I was at a funeral😳

ꕥ June 1, 1969 ꕥ
8 weeks

A week-and-a-half into our vacation, and everything was going perfectly. I was sick just about every morning up until about noon, but in general, we were having a blast. Mary loved the ocean. We wouldn't let her go in alone, so she'd constantly drag Paul out there to play with her. I'd be in the middle of a conversation with him, and suddenly he was gone and a little girl as dragging him away. He wouldn't trade it for the world though. He loved that little girl.

The food was also quite delicious. Usually, I wasn't a huge fan of seafood—and I encountered a lot of seafood here—but it just all tasted so good right now. Every time we went out, I was in Heaven. But, I always paid for it the next morning. I would regret every moment of it as I was bent over the toilet bowl time and time again. I never learned my lesson, though. It was too good to give up!

We were all curled up on the couch in our villa. The sun had set outside and we had decided to watch a movie. I had popped us some popcorn, and now we were flipping through some channels to find something worthwhile. To our surprise, we found one of Paul's movies playing on one of the channels. Luckily, we caught it right at the beginning.

I looked over at Paul, whose cheeks were now a deep shade of red, and laughed out loud, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. "Don't change the bloody channel," I told him.

Mary squirmed out from in between us and made her way over to the TV, mesmerization in her expression. "Daddy!" she screeched when Paul lowered a newspaper, revealing himself in a fake mustache, and she got closer to the TV, placing both of her hands on the screen as if to get closer to Paul.

"Uncle John!" she yelled again when Ringo and John appeared in a photo booth.

I giggled as she turned and scampered back over to us, sandwiching herself in between us and pulling the blanket stretched to across all three of us up to her chin as she watched.

"When I'm hooome / Everything Seems to be right / When I'm hooome / Feeling you holdin' me tight, tight, yeah!" Paul sang to us, causing Mary to laugh again and lean against his side. She kept her eyes on the movie as the music finally faded out and the talking began. I looked down at her and as soon as Paul began to talk onscreen, her lips turned upwards in a smile. That was her daddy, and he was on a movie! How amazing was that?

I looked up to watch the movie too. I'd only ever seen it one other time and it had been quite some time ago. Every time I saw pictures or videos of Paul from before we knew one another, it felt pretty strange. It was weird to think that when this movie was filmed, he was with another woman, and at the time, I was with another man. We didn't even know one another, and just about two years later, we were suddenly expecting a child together. It was amazing how much could change in just a couple of years.

"Ah, but what?" Paul recited, snapping me out of my thoughts and earning another giggle from Mary. "They don't take kindly to insults, y'know? C'mon, let's go have some coffee and leave the kennel to lassie."

I laughed. "You're such a dork."

Paul smiled dopily. "I know I am," he answered.

ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ

As the credits for A Hard Day's Night began to roll, I carefully stood up, trying not to jostle Mary, who had fallen asleep on Paul towards the very end of the film.

"Where are you going?" Paul whispered as I went towards the hallway. "Aren't you gonna help me get her to bed?"

"Oh, calm down," I advised. "I'm just going to pee. I'll be right back."

"You pee entirely too much," he grumbled. "And always when I need help!"

"Blame it on the two babies you decided to impregnate me with. They've destroyed my bladder." I chuckled.

"Okay, hurry, now. I need help!"

I rolled my eyes and made my way to the bathroom, taking care of everything as quick as I could manage to go back and help Paul. To my surprise, he had too fallen asleep when I returned. It was pretty impressive, actually. I'd been gone for less than five minutes.

I wondered if I should wake him. I finally decided to go and take Mary out of his arms. I carefully pried her away from him and cradled her against my chest, waiting for a moment to make sure she didn't wake up. Paul shifted slightly on the couch, but his eyes didn't budge.

I carried Mary into her room and stepped up onto one of the steps at the foot of the bed, carefully leaning over to lay her down. Then, I pulled the covers over her body and slipped back out to the living room.

Paul was snoring now, and clearly comfortable, but I knew he'd hate me if I allowed him to sleep on the couch, so I went and nudged him lightly. "Paul, love, come lay in bed," I whispered, pushing my fingers through his hair.

"Carry me," he said jokingly. Even half-asleep he had the ability to act like a complete moron.

"Nope. Stand up like the big boy you are, please."

"I hope we have a boy," he said randomly. "So I can have a son that I can teach to be the best man he can be."

"That's nice, Paul," I said, standing up and tugging on his hand. "Come lay down."

"Oh, alright." He let me pull him to his feet, rubbing his eyes.

As we were going towards our bedroom, I saw Mary come out of her room.

"What is it, love?" I asked her gently.

"I wanna sleep in your room," she said. "I don't wanna be lonely."

"Well, we'd be happy to have you," I responded, leaning down to pick her up. She was also rubbing her eyes. Paul collapsed in the bed and reached his hands out for me to lay Mary down next to him.

I obliged, sitting her down so that she could situate herself in between us as I climbed in behind her, pulling the covers over all three of us. Mary settled in close to Paul, curling her arms against her chest. Pal rested his arm across the top of the pillow we were all laying on. We were all laying together, close as sardines in a tin, and we were happy that way. We always felt the safest when we were together. And, not only was it us three, but it was our newest baby too. The baby was feeling the love just as much as we were. I was sure of it.

Family was like magic. It was amazing how three individually vulnerable people could come together and their bond could strengthen them. I felt like we could go into war together and come out unscathed. That's how strong we were together. It was such a dizzying feeling, and it left me in awe each and everyday. I'd give up every single thing I owned—including my own bloody life—to please my family and to protect them. I wouldn't even have to think about it. That's how powerful our bond was.