Lonely People

The First McCartney Family Expansion

"You don't find it a little weird that he invited us to dinner now?" I asked, "I mean, he's had opportunities before, why now?"

Paul shrugged, "Because he's Da, I dunno. Why does there have to be a catch?"

"You said it yourself, because he's Da."

Paul rolled his eyes. The train jerked to the left, causing me to slam into the wall. I rubbed my head and grumbled a few obscenities while Paul laughed.

He might not find it weird, but I did. Dad had so many opportunities to reconcile with us, but he chooses now, nearly five years after he kicked us out. I hadn't seen him since the dinner with Paul, Michael, and Jane, and I wasn't looking forward to tonight. For Dad to invite us to his house without any holiday or previous inclination, something had to be up.

Dad could easily be trying to make things right with us. It was about time he got his head out of his arse and realized we weren't kids anymore. He had missed a large portion of our lives, it seemed a bit late for him to be realizing this. It also seemed to be coincidental that Dad finally invites us back when The Beatles are at the height of their popularity and Revolution just got their first number one single. 

My biggest guess was that he wanted to mooch off of our success, more specifically Paul's. Had he truly wanted to make up with us, he would have already tried. He had my number, I told Michael to give it to him, and he still hasn't called me. Paul was the one to receive the call for us to come home that Sunday in November.

There was no way this would be an ordinary family dinner because we weren't an ordinary family. Two of the three kids were famous musicians, one of the two being world-famous, the third was steadily growing his musical talents, and the Father had proved more than once that he never truly cared about his children. Something else was afoot here, I could smell it, even as we pulled into the familiar Liverpool train station.

"Christ's sake, Lia, stop reading into this," Paul sighed, "He's just inviting us to dinner, is all."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "There is something fishy going on, I tell you! There's some sort of catch."

"Maybe he just wants to make it right with us. You can't tell me you don't want Da back."

He and I connected eyes for a moment. His hope for Dad's return blinded him to logic. I wanted Dad back just as much as he did, but I could see through the lies. If Dad really and truly wanted us back, he would have already done it, and he would have come to us not the other way around.

"Fine," I replied, "I want him back too."

Paul clapped my shoulder, "There ya go. Just keep your hopes up, Lia, maybe we'll get Da back after all."

He stood and grabbed both of our bags, handing mine to me. We had made plans to stay with Michael for the night. Dad had invited us back to our old rooms, but we both jumped to deny. Going home for dinner was one thing, staying was another step none of us were ready to take.

Liverpool never changed. I hadn't been back since Mr. Mackenzie died, which was only a few months before. The same gray clouds covered the sky to where the sun seemed like nothing more than a fairy tale. People wandered around with the same dull expressions and pale complexions.

"We should pop by The Cavern, for old time's sake," Paul suggested.

He slapped on a hat and sunglasses as well as pulled his coat tighter around his body. Having started out as a hometown band, The Beatles had more fans in Liverpool than anywhere else in the world. It was more imperative for Paul to keep his identity hidden there than any other city. I was guilty by association and had to hide as well. I wrapped my scarf around my neck to where it also covered my mouth and pulled my stocking cap over my ears. The only thing people could see was my eyes, and I covered that with sunglasses.