Debbie Doll | Ringo Starr ✅

23

When we got back to John's, George and Paul had gone and Micky and Suzie were out. Cynthia was there; John's date from a few nights before and the girl that would be going to London with him.

With us.

"Hey," Ritchie and I chorused as we came in. John and Cynthia had been cuddled on the settee reading a book together, but when they heard us, they looked up.

"We have something to tell you, John... and Cynthia, I suppose, since you're coming to London?" Ritchie said.

"Who told you that?" John asked defensively.

"Brian." I paused, "but he didn't say why, so don't worry."

John breathed out a sigh of relief and then looked at us, "what is it?"

Ritchie and I exchanged glances before we chorused, "we're getting married!"

Cynthia and John's jaws dropped.

"What?" John asked, blinking a few times as he processed what he had just said.

"This weekend," Ritchie elaborated, "Deb and I are getting married. We're making it official."

"Is this some kind of joke?" John paused, "how did you know about me and Cyn? We were going to get married this weekend."

"You're joking." I paused, "no way."

"John," Cynthia said softly, looking at her fiance, "you haven't told them, yet? You said that you had."

"I didn't want to tell them before we were married." John answered her quietly, taking her hand in his own and patting it.

"Tell us what?" I asked, looking between the two of them.

They looked at each other for several seconds. They were silently arguing.

And then John turned to look back at us, "Cyn's having a baby."

And now mine and Ritchie's jaws dropped, the roles reversed as they dropped a bombshell on us.

"Is that why you're getting married?" Cynthia asked kindly, a wide smile on her face as somebody mentioned her baby. She was already quite attached to it, clearly, because she moved a hand to her nonexistent baby bump and stroked it back and forth.

"Uh..." Ritch looked sideways at me. I gave him a small smile, "no..."

"Brian wouldn't let me go to London with Ritchie if I wasn't his wife, so we just decided to get married." I paused, "the lads won't be very happy, but -"

"Fuck everyone else," John said, "as long as you and Ringo are happy then it shouldn't matter what everyone else thinks, should it?" He paused, "I live by this thing, right, and I think it's quite helpful."

"What is it?"

"Well it's a saying." John answered.

"What is it?" Ritchie repeated.

"Everything will be okay in the end, and if it isn't okay then it isn't the end."

Ritchie and I both looked at each other, and then we looked at John. Cynthia was staring at him, too.

"That's powerful, John." Cynthia breathed.

We nodded in agreement.

"You're going to do such great things one day." She said in a tone that sounded like she was almost pleading with him.

John looked at her momentarily.

"I know." He told her.

Cynthia sat back, moving away from John and going to the end of the settee.