Esther, Be Tender With My Love

Eight

Sunday - The Next Morning

Last night I called my grandpa and asked if it was okay if I came over to let him meet the boys. He doesn't know that they're the Bee Gees. Grandpa is actually the one who introduced me to them when I was younger. I remember "Stayin' Alive" was on the radio and he told me about how he thinks they are his favorite songwriters. If only then he knew he was going to meet them in the future.

I knocked on his door with the boys behind me. Grandpa finally answered opened the door with a smile on his face.

"Esther! Come on in guys!" He greeted, giving me a hug and shaking the others' hands. He led us into the living room and sat down in his rocking chair. I sat next to Robin on one couch while Barry and Maurice sat on the other. "Now you boys look awfully familiar. What are your names?"

"I'm Barry. Barry Gibb, sir. These are my twin brothers Maurice," Barry pointed to Maurice beside him who waved, "and Robin." Robin smiled warmly at my grandpa.

"Huh. That's weird. Esther, am I seeing things or do the resemble the Gibb brothers?" Grandpa turned to me and gave a nervous chuckle.

"Actually, Pops, that's why we're here. These are the Bee Gees." His jaw dropped in disbelief. The face he made was actually kind of funny. "We're here because we wanted to know if you could help us send them back to 1968."

"Well I'll be damned. How did you guys get here in the first place?" He asked, still in shock.

"We don't really know. We were on our way to the studio in England to record for our new album but when we walked through an ally way we ended up in Esther's house." Barry explained.

Grandpa looked at the boys in thought. Then he began muttering to himself and stood up from his chair and disappeared in to his giant office room. The boys gave me a hopeful look. He then walked out of the room with a small.

"I may have a solution to your problem," he began. "Lucky for you I've been working on the first ever time machine and I'm getting really close to finishing it. The only problem is that it may take about a week or more to finish up."

The Gibb brothers smiled and high fived each other. Robin turned to me with his hand up to which I forced myself to slap. I guess I should be happy that I have at least another week with them.

Grandpa asked the boys about where they came from. They told him about growing up in Australia and stories from their childhood. It was awesome to hear from them in person and not in an interview on television. Grandpa looked as though he was in heaven. He kept asking them questions like, "how did you come up with this?" and "how long did it take for you to write that?" The boys were happy to answer him though. They didn't seem to be overwhelmed or annoyed by his asking.

After a few hours of chit chat, my mother called me, asking where I was.

"Hey mum? Would it be alright if I had a few friends come over for dinner?" I asked, biting my lip.

Hesitant, she replied, "Sure... how many is a few?"

"Just three." She said a quick 'alright' and hung up.

I informed the boys that we should probably get going and we said a quick goodbye to grandpa. One by one, they all shook his hand while I gave him a big hug and promised to come over again soon. Once in the car, the boys cheered in excitement again.

"We get to go home!" Robin laughed.

"Yeesh. You coulda just told me you didn't like me." I joked.

"Oh, Esther, we didn't mean it like that. We love you! I mean, we wouldn't have survived an hour without you!" Barry gave me a reassuring smile and patted my shoulder as I drove onto the main highway.

"It's okay guys. I was just pulling your leg. I get it. I'd be excited to go back home, see my family, and publish that record too." It was silent for a few minutes as we'd all calmed down. "I wish I had more time to spend with you guys throughout the week but I have school."

From the rearview mirror, I saw Maurice and Robin give eachother mischievious smiles. Then they both turned to look at me.

"You could take us with you." They said in unision. I looked to Barry with a questioning look to which he just shrugged.

"It's not that bad of an idea. It'd give them something to do while we wait for your grandpa to finish with the time machine." Barry said.

"But what about you? You're like twenty one right? Surely they'd be suspicious if you showed up to school and claimed to be a senior."

"Are you saying I look old?" Barry dramatically turned in his seat to look at me, acting offended.

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying." I replied, trying to keep a straight face but I couldn't help but laugh when he scoffed and crossed his arms like a drama queen.

--

We sat around the dinner table, awkward silence surrounding us. I sat next to Barry with my parents at both heads of the table, Maurice across from me and Robin next to him.

"Mum, Dad, these are my new friends. This is Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb." I said pointing to each brother as they greeted my parents with a silent wave and smile.

"Esther said she was having a few friends over for dinner but I didn't think they'd all be boys." My mom said bubbly as she poured some green beans onto her plate and passed the bowl to Robin. My dad looked at Maurice with an intimidating look on his face. Maurice gave a nervous smile and then looked to me for help. "So how'd you all meet? I don't recognize you from Esther's school."

"Uhh," I stopped to think of a lie.

"We just moved here from Australia. Red Cliff, Australia, ma'am." Maurice said, thinking the same thing as me.

"Esther saw us moving into our new house a few days ago and stopped by to help us." Barry added, catching on.

"Yes, exactly! I was walking through their new neighborhood after school and saw Robin struggling to carry a box so I decided to see if he needed help."

My mother's face lit up and she smiled big.

"Oh that sounds just like our little Essie May! Isn't that right, Wesley?" Mum said, reaching over to pinch my cheeks. My father grunted from his side of the table and slapped food onto his plate. I rolled my eyes and swatted my mum's hands awy from my face. "So are any of you attending school here?"

"Yes, ma'am. My twin brother and I are in the same year as Esther." Robin spoke up, flashing her his award-winning smile.

"Ahh, that's nice. What about you dear?" She asked, smiling at Barry.

"I finished school about three years ago. I'm just staying for a month or two to help my family move in and then I'm back to Australia." I heaved a quiet sigh of relief when she finished asking so many questions. For a few minutes it was quiet as we dug into our food.

As I took a drink out of my water, I felt a foot rubbing against my leg. Startled, I choked on my water and began coughing uncontrollably.

"Esther, are you okay?" Mum asked, concern lacing her voice.

"Wrong pipe." I said between coughs. From across the table, I saw Maurice eyeing me with a faint smirk as he continued rubbing my leg with his foot. My stomach was swirling with butterflies and I tried not to squirm from his touch. I shot daggers at Maurice who just smiled innocently back.

Dinner continued on like that. Mum thought of more questions to ask the boys and kept interrogating them. Maurice kept his foot on my leg for most of the dinner and watched amused as I shuffled in my seat uncomfortably. When we were finished the food, I helped mum clean the table and dishes while my father talked to the boys about God knows what.

"Those boys are pretty cute." My mum said with a wink. I rolled my eyes and groaned.

"Mom, they're just my friends. I just met them two days ago." Yeah Es, you just met them two days ago. You can't fall in love with someone that quick. But the truth is, I think I was starting to fall for Maurice that quick.