Petty Little Beatles

Act II: Scene ii

Tom's eyes opened. He recognized that he was in the guest bedroom, which was not becoming unusual. He felt a slight pang of guilt when he thought of Kay awakening alone, but he let the thought leave just as quickly. He was not sure how she had taken in his proposal of not letting the press bother them; he had not said everything, either. Still, he had the thought that she would accept the information, regardless that he had not mentioned the words the previous day. Of course, he had no idea how she would have taken in the news then, which only added to his doubt. He cursed the doubt. He had felt such emotions before, but it was new to feel it about his marriage. He shook his head and went to the bathroom. In the shower, his mind was more awake than the rest of him. He could let the thoughts consume him, but he had to admit he was looking forward to having at least part of the day off. It would be nice to have a break from practice, even if working on the album was possibly exactly what he needed to distract his thoughts onto something else.

He shut off the water, stepped out, and dressed quickly. While he brushed his teeth, he could hear the boys excitedly talking about something he did not quite catch. It amused him, nevertheless, because what he did hear was filled with pure and utter, naive joy. It was a nice feeling and the complete opposite of his doubt. The exact thing he needed in the moment. He stepped out of the restroom, combing his hair as he did so. Somehow, he returned the smile his wife gave him as she placed a plate of pancakes onto the table.

Tom's smile widened as he saw John slowly inch the plate towards him. "Stop it, you all have got to share." He chuckled in spite of this.

John reluctantly slid the plate back to the middle of the table. He gave it a funny look. "What is it?"

Kay tried not to smile. "They're pancakes."

John wrinkled his nose. "That isn't like no pancake I've ever seen, but if it is what you say..." He took his fork, stabbed one of the pancakes and stuffed it promptly into his mouth. His eyes widened. "This is delicious!"

The other boys followed suit. "Mhm," George simply said. Kay and Tom shared a laugh at that.

They set away their dishes, and got into the car. Tom still had not said what he wanted to; he was not a procrastinator and typically was straightforward in most manners, but he did not want to upset his wife. Not that Kay was upset easily. It was just he did not want to, perhaps, get her upset. He would tell her later, though even now, in the early hours of the day, a knot of something started in his stomach. He should have told her last night, but his mind had been elsewhere. He tried his best to keep his mind focused as they drove down the road. What he wanted to do was blurt out the words that were threatening to pass freely through his lips like a rushing stream, but he thought it was be inappropriate to say when they were all in a good mood. He wanted to keep things simple as they could be, and if this was the way to do that, so be it.

He drove a little longer, listening to the chatter of the boys in the back, but not really listening all the while. He heard their words, but did not understand them. It was almost as if he was listening to foreigners talking in their own strange language, which was not exactly true. The British babes had their British accents, but it was nothing new. Tom's own drawl stood out a bit in California, but it wasn't much of a difference anymore. He knew it would be amusing to hear a small mixture of British accents in an otherwise American-accented classroom.

"I'll have you know they're Liverpudlian."

Tom jerked out of his trance. "Huh?" He glanced briefly in the mirror to take a peek at the boys; Paul, especially, was giving him a pointed look.

"I don't have any ol' British accent; it's a Liverpudlian."

"Liverpudlian?" Tom repeated, trying out the word on his tongue. "Like...what?"