★彡ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴅᴏᴡɴ | ᴘᴀᴜʟ ᴍᴄᴄᴀʀᴛɴᴇʏ彡★ ✅

★彡[ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 35]彡★

★彡[ᴛᴡᴏ ᴡᴇᴇᴋꜱ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ]彡★

Paul was upstairs in his and Abby's room, and he was stressing.

Downstairs, Mollie's party was in full swing - he wanted to go down and see her little smiling face, but he also didn't want to distract from her. Today was supposed to be her day. It was her birthday party, and he didn't know how the other kids would react to having Paul McCartney in the room with them.

He had told John that he didn't think there would be a big reaction, but he had been lying.

There was a knock on the bedroom door. Paul looked up and saw that Abby was peeking around the side of it.

"Hey, you." Paul gave her a small smile. She smiled back and came into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. "Are you okay?"

"Was going to ask you the same thing." Abby paused as she sat down beside him on the edge of the bed. "Why haven't you come down yet? Mollie wants to wait until you're there to open her presents."

Immediately, Paul felt bad. Mollie was putting her party on hold for him! God, he was so selfish.

"I'm sorry -" he made to get up from the bed, but Abby reached up and pulled him back down.

"It's okay." She told him with a kiss to his cheek. "Paul, if there's something wrong then you should say. I can send everyone home if you need me to -"

"No, it's nothing like that." Paul promised.

"Then what is it?" She waited expectantly for his answer.

Paul sighed.

"I just don't want the party to become about me, y'know? It's meant to be Mollie's day, and I worry that if I go down there then they'll all be more interested in me than her. I don't want that."

"I understand that, but Mollie wants you there. It shouldn't be about what the other kids will think... right?" Paul nodded. She was right, and she would talk sense into him - just like she always did. "And you knew this might be an issue when you decided to let her have the party."

He nodded and laced one of his hands with hers. "You're right, Abs. Thank you."

They both smiled at each other.

There was another knock, and together they looked up to see Cynthia Lennon coming into the room.

"Sorry, Paul, can I borrow Abby for a second?"

The two of them; Abby and Cyn, had not seen each other since they had been in America together.

Paul nodded and leaned over, giving Abby a soft kiss on her lips before he took a deep breath and ventured downstairs.

Abby waited expectantly on the bed. Cynthia took up Paul's space and smiled. "It's been a while, hasn't it? I was hoping you'd ring when we got back so we could meet up for coffee."

"Gosh, sorry Cyn," Abby said, feeling bad immediately. "I've had a lot on my plate." Julian was downstairs in the music room, asleep on a blanket on the floor. He was still only small, but Cynthia had locked the door behind her so she was confident that none of the children from the party would disturb him.

"I'm John's wife." Cynthia frowned, "and you're with Paul. They're best friends, so surely we should be close?"

Abby frowned. She didn't introduce herself as Cynthia - no, she was John's wife.

As much as Abby liked Cynthia, she wanted to be her own person - and not friends with somebody just because their partners were good friends.

Abby didn't ever want to be known as only somebody's wife. She would be Abby, who was also Paul's wife.

Paul.

She had put him into the scenario because they were together currently, but she loved the idea of being his wife... especially moreso since she was carrying his baby -

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Cynthia agreed in a slightly concerned tone.

"I know we haven't known each other long," Abby said, voicing what they were both thinking, "but you're the only girl friend I have around here - it's not like I can talk to my sister about this, can I? She's ten." Abby paused. "But what I'm about to say has to be a secret, okay? It can't go any further. You can't even tell John, because knowing him he will tell Paul."

Cynthia nodded and smiled supportively. "I won't tell anybody." She promised. She furrowed her eyebrows, "is it serious?"

Abby nodded. "You don't need too much context - partly because you've already been through something similar with Julian, but -"

"Are you..." Cynthia whispered the last word, "expecting?" She looked at the younger girl's stomach. There was no way of knowing whether or not she was pregnant since Abby was wearing a loose shirt and leggings with a pair of slippers.

Abby nodded and put her hands over her shirt, bunching up the material in her fists until it was tight against her skin. Only then did Cynthia notice the slight bulge; it could have been mistaken for bloating after a meal, but it was there, and it was clear to the two of them.

"H-how far along?"

"Almost four months now, I think. I last had my... my monthlies," she whispered the dreaded word, "i-in May. The doctor said I was about three months at the latest, and that was two weeks ago."

Cynthia frowned. "Paul doesn't know, does he? You're asking me to keep it a secret -"

"He doesn't know." Abby confirmed, "and I don't know what to do about it."

"You're not thinking about...?" Abortion. It wasn't yet legal, so if Abby had wanted to have the procedure done then she would have to go to a 'backstreet clinic'. It wasn't very safe.

"No!" Abby exclaimed. "I love it already... but I'm just overwhelmed. I have nobody to talk to about it, and I can't really read up on it unless I'm at the library - imagine if Paul - or even Mollie! - found a book like that hanging around."

Cynthia nodded sympathetically.

"Abby!" Mollie called up the stairs. Her voice was barely audible over the sound of the excited children, chattering parents and record playing on the turntable, but Abby was finely tuned to her sister and would have heard her if she had whispered. 

"I'm coming, Mol!" Abby stood up and went over to the door, turning back to Cynthia as an afterthought. She had been so rushed to get to and attend her sister's needs that she had forgotten she was having a conversation with someone who wasn't Paul or Mollie - pretty much the only two she ever spoke to. "We'll have to meet up for coffee one day soon to talk about this more. I need..." she sighed, "I need help."

"I'm here for you." Cynthia promised with a warm and comforting smile.

Abby believed her.