If You Believe (George Harrison/Beatles FanFic)

Chapter 28

Hi dearest Beatlemaniacs and Happy Sunday! Thought I would post an update on George and Annie as she tries to resume a normal life in the midst of her nightmares. Smut is back so be forewarned :-) !! Enjoy! love, Lara xo

Annie began to get used to her new reality. One or two short cat naps during the day and maybe, if she was lucky and Ava cooperated, two or three during the night, curled up close to George. She was lucky he wasn't annoyed by her constant need to be next to him in bed. It didn't disturb his sleep and Annie could close her eyes for a while, training herself to wake before she fell into a deep slumber. This way, she could avoid dreaming.

She practiced meditation and prayer in the morning and at night with George, who was a patient, knowledgeable and even-tempered teacher. If Ava was awake, she stayed close to them, watching with her big, bright brown eyes from her bouncy seat.

Annie tried eliminating meat from her diet and both she and George went vegetarian. Unfortunately, because she was breast fed, Ava's system did not appreciate the change and Annie had to switch back to her previous eating habits. George decided to stick to vegetarianism in accordance with his religion, and he became a wonderful help in the kitchen, which Annie loved. When he wanted to work, he disappeared into his studio while Annie tried to cat nap and every day, rain or shine, snow or sleet, they did some work in the garden, collecting vegetables or flowers or planting new ones.

All this did was bring them closer. While they were almost always of the same mind set, they could now practically finish each other's sentences and anticipate needs before they were mentioned. While it was comforting, it did nothing to help Annie with her sleeping and dreaming issues. Her lack of restful sleep made her more anxious – most days she felt as if she had too much caffeine – and she struggled to avoid being short tempered and easily irritated by literally nothing. She decided to call Jeremy soon one cold evening in late September when George was in the studio most of the night and Annie stared at the ceiling as she laid in bed shivering. Annie was done living like this – still afraid of Steven even though he was dead.

.................................................

October 1, 1976

Friday

"Annie, are you ready?" George called up the stairs from the front entrance. "I've got Ava in her car seat and she's looking at me like I've just put her in prison. Hopefully, she'll fall into car coma when we get going because wailing is definitely around the bend in about 30 seconds."

"I'm coming, George," Annie called down from their room. She threw several diapers and change of clothes in a tote, an extra blanket and some baby wipes and flew down the stairs as Ava began to cry. "Let's go before the dam breaks," Annie said as she smiled at Ava and kissed George.

They were headed to Annie's 6 week post-partum appointment with her local obstetrician and they were both anxious.

"So what do you think he'll say?" George asked her nonchalantly as he drove past their front gate.

"I think I'll get the okay to resume our normal life," Annie told him sweetly as she laid her hand on his thigh. "He might tell me....um....I've lost some weight from my pre-pregnancy number, but not much."

"You think you lost weight?" George asked, glancing at her as he placed his hand on hers.

"Maybe. I think I lost it during my failed attempt at vegetarianism."

George smiled. "We'll stop at the ice cream parlor and get your favorite. Coffee flavored. I'll spoon it in small amounts into your mouth and I'll be careful you don't get brain freeze."

"You're very thoughtful," Annie laughed. "Brain freeze is a nightmare. And we must get your favorite. Vanilla. Straight. I'll feed it to you, but I have a whole other plan without utensils."