𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 | roger taylor

XXXV

November 8, 1977

The American leg of the News of the World tour is to begin in three days, and the band isn't scheduled to return until Christmastime. Roger would've spent more of his time packing and planning, but there are two major distractions in his life that keep him from getting absolutely anything done.

Audrey and Thea.

When he isn't thinking about his daughter, he's thinking about Thea, and when he isn't thinking about Thea, he's thinking about his daughter. On one side of the coin, the thoughts are full and happy, replaying new memories between them and making his heart grow fonder and fonder. On the other side, it is a storm of mixed emotions he can barely sort out. The two have consumed his life and his mind completely.

The others have noticed, of course. He's blown off countless rehearsals to see them, promising he'd practice on his own, which didn't happen, either. Now with their first show just days away, he's hopelessly unprepared, but full of zero regrets. He only hopes that at Freddie's gathering tonight that they're not too upset with him.

Oh, what does he care? It's not like they knew what it was like to be a father, besides Deaky. And John wasn't even the one to be worried about here. It was the other two who were more likely to lash out.

Saying goodbye to Audrey had been... difficult. More for him than for her, for he was pretty sure she didn't know what was going on. Nonetheless, the girl had welcomed his big, swooping hug, and kept her arms looped around his neck when he went to put her down. In the end, Thea had to pry her off, so maybe she had understood after all.

Christmas. That was his promise. He would return for Christmas, and spend the evening with the two of them, armed with all sorts of gifts for his girl. Thea hadn't originally been too keen on the idea.

"We were gonna go to my parents', Roger," she'd said, an exasperated look crossing her face. As if saying, must you invade on our holiday plans, too?

"Then I'll come in the evening," he'd insisted, flashing her his brightest smile. As quickly as it came, it dropped. "You're gonna fight me on this, too?"

Thea's jaw had started to set, eyes hardening. Then she backed off. "No. I'm not."

He doesn't prefer to get his way like this, but she's so stubborn, he has no other choice. It's difficult to come to an agreement with her on anything, so he simply stopped trying.

And he knows it's wrong. But if Thea had her way, he'd hardly ever see Audrey.

Now, as he's squeezing all of his packing for the tour in the time slot of an hour, he's finding his thoughts quite distracting. They're leaving in the morning, and he's gotten practically nothing done. Now, his mind is preoccupied with the thunderstorm that is his child's mother, and his ex-girlfriend.

Sometimes she's sunny. Full of smiles, laughing and almost opening up. On these days, he can almost feel the girl he once knew, the girl he'd write songs about, to which he'd always scrap. The falling in love again part would seem horribly easy, if she'd let him in. Then, there's times when the clouds roll in, and she's lost in her mind, face dark. At these times, a conversation is rough and nearly impossible. He's used to both of these sides, having experienced waves of them while they'd been together. But now, she's unpredictable. Pleasing her is much harder than it used to be.

Roger much prefers thinking about his daughter instead. Audrey is a ball of absolute sunshine, yet witty and stubborn at the same time. He hasn't met many three year olds, but he's sure she's the smartest one in the whole world. The perfect mix of himself and Thea.