⇾ 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 | 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐈

𝚇𝚇𝚅𝙸𝙸𝙸

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝙴𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 → 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚗 𝙵𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝙰 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔

⊹ 𝟿-𝟿-𝟷𝟿𝟼𝟾 ⊹

"Hey, Jude, don't make it bad / Take a sad song, and make it better / Remember to let her into your heart / Then, you can start to make it better..."

I strolled into the living room where the record was spinning. Julian had found a new favorite song, and it had been written, fittingly, for him. John sat on the couch, his left ankle draped over his right as his left hand held a coffee cup to his lips, and his right held onto the morning paper. When he heard me enter the room, he looked up with a grin. "Morning, Lissy. Might I say, you're looking a bit on the chubbier side these days?" he teased.

I wrapped my arms around myself insecurely and frowned. "Could say the same about you, John. You putting on your winter weight or summat? Don't you think it's a little early for that?"

John rolled his eyes. "Was only kidding," he said.

I went over and sat next to him, leaning my head against his shoulder and pulling a fleece blanket around my shoulders. "Have you already woken Julian up?" I asked. Today was the little boy's first day of school. He had thrown a fit when we had put him to bed last night, but we were able to calm him down.

"You get to see your friends!" we told him, but he wasn't having it.

"Yes, I have. He about started squallin', so I told 'im that he could just wait for his Mummy, then." He grinned at me. "He'll be up in a heartbeat if you just work a little of your pregnant lady magic. Always keeps me in line. Anyway, until then, I thought it was worth it to try and coax him out with his favorite tune."

"Right," I said. "My back hurts, John. Can ye fix me some of whatever is in that mug of yers?"

John chuckled. "Yeah, but I'll have to leave the shot of Scotch out of yours, huh?"

I looked at him and scowled. "Bloody hell, John, seriously? You're about to roll up to a damned primary school."

He shrugged. "Thought I needed to prepare myself to see those people. Bet they're gonna judge me, Liss. I didn't bring Julian to school once last year."

"And whose bloody fault is that?" I tutted, placing both of my hands against the couch to push myself to my feet. My belly was already beginning to get in the way of things, and my symptoms were only getting worse as time went on. I was mentally preparing myself for the absolute worst, hoping to dampen the way it all made me feel later on.

After my slow ascent to my feet, I put a hand on my back again, then turned to John. "Get me a damned heating pad while you're in there too," I said before turning to go to Julian's bedroom.