Every time you make a move

Betrayal-pt.1

This chapter contains details which some readers may find upsetting.

Around 8pm, sometime in January 1986

"Do you feel how firm it is? That's your little brother or sister in there" Monica's hushed voice spoke tenderly.

"Can I have a baby too, mum?" Roshni innocently asked.

Leaning against the wall outside the twins' bedroom door, Freddie listened closely and quietly as her mother chuckled and simply answered, "When you're much older, yes"

It was Johnny and Roshni's bedtime, and so for the past few minutes he had been eavesdropping on them as they were both cuddled up to their mother and pressing their small hands on her bare stomach to feel for their unborn sibling who had been cooking in Monica's womb for almost three months now.

Although Freddie was excited and feeling more prepared for the arrival of the new baby, in the back of his mind he was dreading that day six months into the future when he and Monica were going to be outnumbered by their children. After all, it was beyond him how Deaky and Veronica were able to manage with so many children of their own and he still felt unprepared. What if he repeated the same mistakes that he had on Johnny and Roshni?

"But why can't I have a baby now?" he heard Roshni insisting, obvious disappointment in her tone.

To which their mother continued, "You are not ready yet and neither is your body, love... but at least having a baby brother or sister will help you practice for when you're older, won't it?"

Freddie smiled to himself; oh, how he liked the way in which Monica explained things about the world to them in such a way that they could understand.

She even had an answer for what Johnny asked next, a question which completely caught him off-guard:

"Yeah, boys in my class say that you need boobs to feed a baby anyway, is that true?"

Freddie widened his eyes as Monica teased their son, "Why so surprised? You used to love boob milk"

"No I didn't!" Johnny answered back in disgust.

Freddie could see Monica smirking already as she continued to taunt him, "Oh yes you did! You wouldn't drink from a bottle until you were at least two, don't you remember?!"

"NO!" the boy exclaimed in outrage and embarrassment as his mum and twin sister giggled.

Freddie struggled to hold back his laughter, quietly tiptoeing back down along the corridor before they could hear him....

Mid-March, 1986

Little did Freddie know that that moment in time was going to be the last happy and cherished memory of his family that he'd have ever since.

Several hours later, in the early hours of the morning, he found Monica on the bathroom floor and called Phoebe to ring an ambulance.

But it was too late, she had already miscarried.

Now he was sitting in the back of his Rolls Royce in the late afternoon on his way home from Queen's London-based studio, his notebook of lyric ideas on hand as he tried to forget about the loss yet again.

He didn't care if his handwriting was so wobbly and undistinguishable in the back of a moving vehicle, for Inspiration appeared so suddenly. For the first time in a while Freddie was properly able to creatively express himself and produce new song-writing material, only this time the lyrics collectively came along first in order before he even had the melody chewing at his ear: