Debbie Doll | Ringo Starr ✅

35

Three Months Later

We sat outside in the car, just looking at the house. I swallowed audibly for the third time in as many minutes.

Ritchie joined his hand with mine and gave it a quick, supportive squeeze. I looked away from the house - which was in no way imposing other than who lived inside of it - and smiled at him. My heartbeat immediately slowed to its regular pace and some colour returned to my previously pale cheeks.

"It'll be fine." Ritch promised.

"They don't even know that we got married, Ritchie," I cried, "how are they going to get their heads around that and a baby? We should have told them about getting married first."

"Should of, would of, could of." He paused, "it's a bit late for that, now, my doll."

I looked down at my baby belly, which was quite large considering that I was only three and a half months pregnant. It was definitely noticeable, and even more so if somebody was looking at me from the side or was hugging me, which Elsie was sure to do since she had never shown any ill will towards me in the short time that Ritchie and I had lived there together.

I nodded, taking several deep breaths and remembering that being stressed was bad for my baby. "I know, I know... I just wish we'd done it all differently."

"I do, too." Ritch agreed as he killed the engine of the car.

"I wish that we didn't have to hide everything in the first place."

Ritchie nodded. "I do, too." He repeated.

"I wish there was some way to ease them into it. Instead, they'll take one look at me and just know!"

"Maybe we should have come back sooner?"

Neither of us had had the bravery to come back to Liverpool to see our parents before now. It had taken us days and weeks of worrying to work up the courage as it was.

I looked again at the house and then took another deep breath, closing my eyes briefly as I prepared myself.

"Right..." I said, opening my eyes and looking back at my husband, "now or never."

"Now or never." He agreed as he got out of the car and came round to help me out, something that I had insisted he didn't need to do but something that he did anyway. "And this dress doesn't help, either." I pointed out as walked up the garden path together, "why do you insist on me wearing such tight clothes, now?"

He looked at me and smirked, "because knowing that you're carrying my child is a proper turn on."

I blushed, staying quiet because we had reached the front door.

Ritchie knocked and then took a step back to once again stand in line with me. It opened a few seconds later. Elsie was standing there, and when she saw that it was us, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

And then her eyes drifted down to my stomach, completely visible in my very tight clothes.

"Y-you're back..." she couldn't take her eyes off of my belly. I felt very self-conscious because of it, and it took all that I had not to cover it with my hands and arms.

"Elsie," Ritchie said in a serious tone, "we need to talk."

She snapped into action, nodding and turning around, walking away. We followed her in. I kicked the door closed behind us.

She was in the living room. We walked in and sat down, me on one side of the settee for the extra support that the armrest provided for my back, and Ritchie tightly beside me. He kept our hands laced together the entire time.

We sat in silence for several seconds before I asked, "where's dad?"

"Just popped out, Debbie darling." Elsie replied with all the air of somebody who knew that their partner had gone off of the rails but would never admit it to anybody else apart from themselves, "he'll be along, soon."

Ritchie cleared his throat, "right, well... as you can see, Elsie, Debbie's going to have a baby."

She smiled, "congratulations, darling... will we get to meet the father?"

Ritchie and I exchanged very awkward glances with each other before we both turned back to his mother.

"I'm the father." He looked his mother right in the eyes.

Her eyes widened and she sat up straighter.

"Y-you're...?" We nodded. "But you're brother and sister -"

"We got married." I held up my wedding finger, showing off the tungsten wedding band that matched Ritchie's exactly.

"But... but that's not legal... is it?" She looked at her son for the answer.

"We got married before you and dad did." I paused, "while we were staying at John's, actually."

"S-so when you came back here that night...?"

"We were already married." Ritchie confirmed.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Tell us what?" Dad walked into the living room. We all jumped - we hadn't even heard the front door open or close. He stood in the doorway, surprised or perhaps shocked to see Ritch and me - with my left hand still in the air, and the tungsten ring still catching the light of the mid-morning sun which filtered in through the net curtains. "Is that -" he cut himself as he stormed closer. I shrunk further into the seat, making myself as small as possible and wrapping my arms around my stomach to protect the baby... but I needn't have bothered.

Ritchie stood between dad and me. "One step closer," he said in the most frightening voice that I had ever heard him use, "and I swear to God that I will sit you on your arse so fast that you won't know what happened." Dad listened to him, for the first time ever. He stood stock still in front of Ritch. "Touch my wife - even speak to her the wrong way - and I will make sure that you don't walk again for the rest of your miserable little life."

Despite being a few inches shorter than dad, Ritch was more frightening and imposing at that moment. Dad sat beside Elsie on the other settee, looking down at the floor and not saying another word.

Ritchie retook his seat beside me and I returned to my earlier position, sitting more comfortably but still keeping both of my hands on my belly, feeling as though I had to protect my precious baby despite the fact that the threat was across the room and no longer even looking at me.

Ritchie relaxed slightly, but he still sat forward in his seat, ready to jump between danger and me if necessary.

"We got married before we left for London," I said, more to Elsie than dad, who still didn't even look at me, "Brian, John and his wife Cynthia were our witnesses. We then moved to London. About a week after we got there, I stopped eating so I went to the doctor, who told me that I was pregnant." I paused, "I'm about three and a half months along, now."

Elsie looked like she was going to cry.

"You look so much more than three and a bit months!"

"Mother!" Ritchie snapped, "you can't tell her that!"

It had shocked me that he had referred to Elsie as his mother, which never did.

"I guess our baby's just bigger than most." We were going to be attending another baby scan next week, so we would find out if that was normal or not, then.

"Have you thought of any names yet? Do you want a girl or boy? Have you had morning sickness? When your feet swell, the trick is to bathe them in cold water -"

"Elsie!" Ritchie barked, "stop stressing her!"

"It's fine, Ritch." I stroked his hand using my thumb. "She's just excited."

"Oh, I've always wanted a grandchild!"

"Gee, thanks." Ritch muttered under his breath.

I wanted to know what dad thought about his pregnant daughter and upcoming grandchild, but he still wouldn't look at me.

I didn't have the courage to ask him.