⇾ 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐄 𝐈'𝐌 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐃 | 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐈𝐈

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙮-𝙎𝙞𝙭 ➪ 𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙄𝙩 𝘽𝙚 𝙈𝙚

ꕥ December 31, 1969 ꕥ

Ever since Paul and I had been together-starting all the way back when I was pregnant with Mary-we spent the new year with the rest of the Beatles. We'd all clamber over to someone's house and have a party.

This year, however, was different.

Tensions were too high between the band and they never wanted to all be in the same room. I'd lost any hope I may have had that this argument would work itself out. The Beatles really were over, and Paul was beginning to discuss publicly leaving the group. I knew that that would piss John off, so I kept trying to steer him in the opposite direction, but that was really hard with how stubborn he was.

This year, we were ringing in the new year (and new decade, for that matter) with a family event...that being a night on the couch watching TV for a while, then having a dance party, then intensely eating ice cream while the twins and Mary both went to bed. Paul and I had promised to wake Mary up before midnight, and so now we were just sitting in the living room, waiting for the clock to count up to 12:00.

"A lot has changed since the beginning of this decade," Paul said to me. Now that the kids were thoroughly asleep, Mary in her room and the twins in their bouncers across the living room, we were sipping on some champagne that Paul had bought earlier in the day. I was beginning to feel buzzed, and I knew that Paul was too, but that made everything we said seem so much more real. Everyone has a newfound confidence when they're on the verge of getting drunk. All the secrets you hide just come spilling out.

"Paul, I was thirteen at the beginning of this decade," I said and we both began to giggle.

"I was seventeen," he replied. "How bloody crazy. I never thought I'd ever, ever have kids! I always figured I'd just shag everyone in sight and life my happily ever after alone. But, now I know that I would never be so happy if it wasn't for you. I wouldn't be happy without you now, and I don't think I was ever really happy before I met you. I think you changed me, Juliette. You know that, baby?" He scooted closer to me, resting his free hand on my thigh, and I leaned my head against him.

"I wasn't happy before I met you either," I replied. "I thought I was, but now that I think about it, I see that I wasn't. You changed me too. Fuck, you shagging me that bloody night made me realize that there is so much more to life than no sex until marriage and all that rubbish. Who even cares about such things?"

Pul shrugged. "I dunno. I almost wished I'd never had sex until I met you," he said. "Would have made the first time so much more powerful."

"I wish we'd been married too," he said. "I would never get pregnant after a first meeting again. Was too stressful."

"I'm glad we can see all this change. I'm glad that we can tell that we've changed over the years," Paul declared. "We've changed so much and gotten so much stronger and so much better at just...everything."

"I do think we need to incorporate more alone time into this relationship, though," I teased.

"We could always use some more alone time," he agreed.

"I wish we still had some mistletoe," I hummed as I felt his face get closer to mine, his hot breath tickling my face and making a thousand nerve endings in my body light up in excitement. "I want an excuse to kiss those cute little lipsss," I hummed.

"Oh, Juliette, dear, I think you're starting to get a little drunk," Paul taunted and my mouth fell open in shock.

"I am not," I argued.

"You are too," Paul replied, leaning forward suddenly to steal a kiss from me. "This is a good song," he said as the song on the radio changed. "Care to dance with me?"