The Gift of Girls

Chapter Twelve: Ringo

The lads told me they weren't happy with how things worked out with the girls. This put me in a rather awkward position. I was completely infatuated with Rhiannon and I wanted to be with her more than anything, but knowing the other lads were miserable made me feel awful. It wasn't fair for me to have all the happiness and leave them with nothing. I had to do something.

I arrived home from another perfect date with Rhiannon. I was met with an extremely sorry sight. John, Paul and George were lying around the living room, looking dejected. The only hint of a smile that I could see belonged to baby Serenity, who was being bounced on her father's knee. Other than that, not one glimmer of happiness was visible. It made my heart sink in my chest. I hate seeing people unhappy.

"Hi, lads," I said brightly, wandering into the room. "What's up?"

"I don't want to see Jodie anymore," John spoke up.

"I made a fool of myself in front of Polly," Paul added.

"And Gina dumped me over the phone," George said, concluding the topic.

"Oh." I stood there awkwardly, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. No one spoke for a few seconds, simply adding to the uncomfortable atmosphere of the situation. I cleared my throat several times before saying, "I saw Rhiannon again today."

There was a loud, unanimous groan. My heart sank further until it was practically on top of my stomach. I began to worry about what might happen if I said something else wrong. Would the lads get so angry that they'd hurt me? I hoped and prayed it wouldn't come to that.

"What do you guys want to do?" I asked delicately.

"Oh, I don't know," John said, lying face down on the couch. He sighed theatrically. "How am I meant to go on with a broken heart, wounded pride and squashed genitals?"

"Oh, shut up, you drama queen," Paul said scornfully. "At least you didn't look like an utter dunce and pervert in front of the girl of your dreams! I still cringe thinking about what happened!"

"What happened exactly?" I asked.

"I'd rather not say," Paul murmured, shuddering.

A hush fell over the room. I was desperate to lighten the atmosphere in some way, but everything I said seemed to upset the lads. I glanced around wildly for inspiration. Something tall and green was standing in a corner of the living room. It gave me an idea.

"You know what, lads?" I said.

"What?" answered three melancholy voices.

"Did you know it's going to be Christmas in a week or two?"

This caught their attention. George stopped feeding Serenity and let the teat of the bottle fall out of her mouth, making her cry. Paul's mouth fell so far open that his jaw nearly touched the carpet. John glanced up at me in absolute shock.

"It can't be!" he cried. "It's only November!"

"Nonsense," I replied. "We've been so distracted by our new found relationships that we completely lost track of what day it was! And if I'm not mistaken, it'll be Christmas sometime next week!"

I strolled over to the tall, green thing in the corner - our Christmas tree. We had set it up during the end of November (because Paul likes to do things early) and left it without decorations for days. The girls came into our lives in such a rush that we became sidetracked. The tree looked awfully sad and bare standing slightly slumped in the corner.

"Do you guys think we should do something?" I asked.

I hoped they would all say yes. Not only was it a ploy to get their minds off of the girls, I also really wanted to decorate the tree. I love Christmas more than anything. This idea seemed to cheer the lads up. They heaved themselves out of their seats and began dashing around.