⇾ 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 | 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐈

Chapter Ninety-Two: The Beatles' Number One Fans

September 10, 1962

"We're doing what?" I asked Brian, choking on my glass of milk.

"It's not official, official yet," he scrambled to explain. "But, I've been thinking about it. I mean, we're there so much now. It seems like it's a good idea."

"So, you're just ready to leave? Would we sell our house?" I had so many questions. "What about—?"

He made a wild hand gesture that told me to stop talking. I put my fork down, suddenly feeling like I could vomit.

"No, no, we wouldn't sell our house. We's still be spending time here. I just thought that it is a good thing to start thinking about."

I nodded, leaning back in the chair I was in and scooting my plate away lightly.

He wanted to move to London. I'd seen it coming from miles away. Even so, hearing it said aloud, from Brian's mouth, made it even more real. I wasn't ready to give up the Liverpool life I had just adjusted to, though. Even so, it made much more sense.

Just as we fell into an uneasy silence, a fist pounded on our door. I went over and put my plate of food on the counter for Brian to get and rushed over to it, thankful for an excuse to leave. Unsurprisingly, I found four boys dressed in slacks and overcoats on our doorstep.

"Hey—?"

"We're going to that bakery," said Ringo excitedly. "That one we went to last time, remember?"

"Yes, I remember." I looked at my watch that read 8:00. "But why so late?"

"Doesn't matter," quipped John, reaching in the door and picking up my jacket. "Because you're coming."

I shook my head and called out to Brian as I was pulled helplessly outside. John scrambled to wrap me in my coat as I began to shiver and the other three were off, running through the hallway towards the stairwell excitedly.

"Brian's gonna kill them one of these days," said John, leaning down and whispering as he finished putting the jacket around my shoulders. I shivered again as his lips brushed my neck slightly. I heard him chuckle as he walked ahead of me. I didn't move for a moment, but when he turned around with a cocked eyebrow, I ran frantically to catch up.

~~~

"Hi!" We heard an unfamiliar voice call to us as we opened the door to the bakery. A moment later, a young girl who looked to be around three ran out from behind the counter wearing a slightly oversized apron across the front of her yellow sundress.

"Clara!" Josie ran out of a door behind the counter, chasing after the young girl frantically. When she saw us, she smiled.

"You're John Lennon!" the young girl said happily, pointing to John as Josie came and took her into her arms.

"That I am," John responded, a wide grin plastered on his face. "And who might you be?"

The little girl buried her face in Josie's shoulder, laughing ecstatically. "This is Clara, our little sister. She's usually at home by now, but mother's out."

"Nice to meet you, Clara," said George with a toothy grin.

"Fancy it if we call you Clare?" asked Paul.

The little girl squealed again and the four boys laughed.

"Janet went and saw you guys tonight," said Josie. "Passed out as soon as she got back. I wager she had a good time."

The boys laughed. "Well, we enjoyed the company," he said sarcastically.

"Would you like anything?" she asked. "It'll be on us." She sat Clara down and the little girl pulled her arms to her chest, smiling endlessly.

"I'd like another of those croissants," said George timidly. "But, we can pay, honest."

"Nonsense," said Josie with a laugh as she went back to get the pastry. "You gave Janet a good night, so I can give you some food without a price. Just don't tell anyone." She winked.

John laughed. "Thank ye, love."

Paul looked around at the wooden trimming around the small shop intriguingly. "Are you just working here?" he asked. "Or does your family own it?"

"Yeah—uh—it was my grandparents. They opened it when they were in their twenties. Our parents kept it open for a while, but when our father passed away last fall, Mother passed it down to me because it wasn't paying the bills. I've been working here for as long as I can remember. I love it. It really reminds me of our grandparents...and father." She gave a feeble smile.

"I'm sorry," said Paul quietly, feeling awkward towards bringing about such a subject.

She shook her head dismissively. "We don't want it to close down. We all love it. Sometimes it feels like it's not gonna last much longer."

"We'll, it's a lovely little place," I said optimistically. She gave a grateful smile in return.

"And you can always remember that the Beatles are your number one fans," quipped Paul.

"Number one fans?" asked Clara. "Really?" Her eyes were wide in wonder.

"Yes, really," said John, leaning down to be on her level.

She laughed. "And we'll be the Beatles' number one fans, right?" she asked.

"Of course you will be!" exclaimed John. "Only if you want to, though."

"You're funny," said Clara, laughing. "Who wouldn't want to be your number one fan?" She ran up and put her arms around John's neck eagerly, continuing to giggle hysterically as John stumbled backward, clearly caught off guard.

"She's attacking John!" said Paul sarcastically.

"He's finally met his match!" added George.

We all laughed.

"We gotta help him!" finished Ringo and the three lunged playfully at Clara and John.

Paul succeeded in getting the little girl off of John and picked her up, spinning her around and placing her on his shoulders. John stood back up and put a teasing smirk on his face. "You'll pay, little one," he said and ran over towards her, holding her steady on Paul's shoulders with one and hand tickling her until she had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard.

I migrated over to Josie as she was packing a few bakery items into a paper bag.

"I'm sorry they attacked your sister," I said to her and she laughed.

"It's no big deal." I saw her smile at the boys and Clara, who were now all on the floor in a somewhat heap. How they'd ended up there, I had no idea. "They seem nice, though," she added. "Are they always like this?"

"Always like what?" I asked with a snicker. "Always trying to intimidate little children? If that's what you're asking, I've never seen them act like this. They're a load of buffoons, to be frank," I said.

She laughed. "It must be nice to go around with them? Do you get to see a lot of cool stuff?"

I thought around to every place I'd been with them. "Well, we haven't seen much outside of England yet. We've been to Germany. That's the farthest so far. They're getting bigger though, so I suspect that might change soon." I smiled at the thought, reminiscing on how far they'd come since this time last year.

Josie nodded thoughtfully, scooting the bag over towards me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out some money, slipping it to her. She began to shake her head, but I beat her with my words. "I insist." She shook her head slightly, but accepted without another word.

Finally, I saw the swarm of bodies on the floor separate and John surfaced with Clara on his lap and the other three around him, panting.

"I guess we'd better be on our way," said John to Clara. "But, we definitely hope to see you around." The little girl nodded happily in approval.