Yesterday - A Beatles Fanfic

Chapter The Twenty-Fourth

The board game lay abandoned on the carpet as they breaked for a lunch of jam sandwiches. Jessie explained that they couldn't use much of the other stuff in the kitchen as her Aunt would immediately become suspicious - not that George minded at all. John opted for honey on toast. "It's jelly I love," he had said. "But honey beats regular jam any day!"

Thoughtfully chewing on his food, George silently examined the living room. There were several photos on the bookshelf in the corner and he moved closer for a better look. Some of the oldest were in black and white. In one, there was a smiling man and woman. The man had his arms proudly around the woman's shoulders while she sat in a chair, cradling a baby wrapped in blankets.

Then there were more photos, including some coloured polaroids. There was the same couple, but the baby was now a pouting toddler sitting beside another infant.

Following photos of the two girls growing up showed a clear sibling rivalry. It soon became clear to George that the youngest must be Jessie's mother - the resemblance was uncanny - and the other was this mysterious Aunt that they knew so little about.

Then there were two sets of wedding photos. One showed Jessie's mother gazing lovingly up at a man who had the same chin and sparkling eyes as Jessie. The other was of Jessie's Aunt and a man who was most presumably her Uncle - though they hadn't heard her mention one.

There was another family photo, this time of Jessie's Aunt and Uncle with a young boy who had a head of soft brown curly hair and sea-green eyes. Thanks for the clothes, mate, George thought.

There were more photos of the boy; his first day of school; playing in a rugby team; a thirteenth birthday; high school ball, accompanied by a fine date. But there was one thing that became apparent. No photo after the lad's thirteenth birthday showed the man from his mother's wedding photo.

A lot of the photos George had looked at were all stacked in front of each other at the back of the shelf, covered in dust. At the front there were just two. One was of the boy as a fine young man, heading off to university, hugging his mother goodbye. The other showed Jessie as a small child next to her Aunt, who had aged considerably compared to most of the other photographs. Jessie looked as if she was trying to smile for the camera, but there was sadness in her eyes.

"Photos can tell quite a tale, huh?"

George jumped back, still holding the last photo in his hands. "Christ, girl!" He gasped. "Ye' gave me a heart attack!"

Jessie took the photograph from him. "I remember this day," she frowned a little. "It wasn't long after my Aunt took charge of me. She'd barely brought me to England when that was taken."

George was curious by now. He'd never really heard much of Jessie's story, now that he thought about it. "What about the rest of the photos?" He asked. "What's their tale?"

"Well, Mum and Aunty were both born and raised here in Liverpool," she said. "Apparently my Mum could get away with almost anything and blame it on my Aunt. There was a lot of sibling rivalry, you see? Anyway, my Aunt married Uncle Josh and had my cousin Bentley and bought this house. Ben's an only child, like me, and he grew up and then went to Uni somewhere in America. Not quite sure what he's doing now. I've met him once and he seems nice enough."

Jessie stopped and picked up her parent's wedding photo. She carefully wiped the dust off with her shirt. She spoke to George, but her eyes were glazed over, like she was in another place entirely. "But on the other side, Mum fell for the exchange student - my Dad. And classic tale, she goes back to New Zealand with him, gets married and has a family - me. When she... Wh-when they..."

She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "My Aunt flew over for the funeral and stayed for a few weeks. I can remember getting so mad that she was sleeping in Mum and Dad's bed, and using Mum's special mug and sitting in Dad's chair... But there was nothing I could do! Then the papers were signed and it was official. I was hers. Within a week I was walking through that front door and standing in this very room. For the first time I felt completely alone." She placed the photo back on the shelf and wiped a hand across her face.

George just gazed at the child with a mixture of wonder and sympathy. Then a thought struck. "What about yer Uncle?" He asked. "Where's he?"

"I have no idea," she replied. "I think he and my Aunty split before I was born... Or maybe a year or two after. I dunno... I just know that I'm stuck in the care of a bitter middle aged woman, who doesn't like rock music or mess." she huffed. "I swear she's the exact opposite of mum!"

"I'm sure she loves you, really," George said. "She flew halfway 'round the world and looked after ye', didn't she?"

"It seems more like she believes it's her duty to look after me. Like it's a favour," Jessie walked away from the bookshelf and lay belly-down on the couch with her legs in the air, gazing vacantly at the game spread on the floor. "I may be at boarding school most of the time... But once I'm old enough..." She reached down and flicked a discarded game piece across the carpet. "She'll be shooing me out the door. I just know it."

* * *

John had been thinking hard lately. About his wife. About his son. He admittedly felt guilty about taking a few weeks break and living at Mimi's when he had a two year old boy at home. Previously he had thought that most little children all fell into a similar category - noisy, destructive creatures that ate you out of house and home. But spending the week with Jessie had opened his eyes, he guessed. He loved Cynthia - he really did, but now he was afraid they were drifting apart because of his own fears of fatherhood.

He really liked this smart young girl who had stumbled in on their lives, and now he realised that the only way he'd ever have a child like that, was if he made the effort himself. He needed to become the father that he never had. But it was with guilt that he was aware that he was dangerously close to becoming his own dad; a dad that was never there.

He decided then and there that that was going to change the moment they got back to their own time.