Only Love Remains - Paul McCartney Fanfiction

Chapter 15 - Young Love

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Thanksgiving dinner was nice. We had some of the family come over, our dining table was huge, so there was lots of space for people to come. I got to see some of my cousins and even my Papa. He was 72 now but he was doing better than most people 10 years younger. Even though he was deaf in one ear and a bit troubled by the wars he had seen, he still smiled throughout the whole dinner.

He was still very witty and had a fast mind for his age. Apparently the doctors had said he was a bit of a rare case with how healthy and youthful he seems to be at this age. His only problem was hearing, other than that, he was like a young man. I guess it runs in the family, because his parents lived to be old too.

Papa tried to keep up with my music no matter how bad his hearing got. Thankfully, he hasn't lost much hearing since he fought in the war, it was all mainly from the loud gunshots and explosions and all that kind of stuff. He said he loved hearing my more country or ballad stuff but didn't mind the rock stuff. Papa really liked my new song though, he said he was so incredibly proud of me and that he always knew I would be able to make such good music.

I couldn't stop thinking about my beloved husband even after I knew he wasn't mad at me. It was probably because I couldn't get out of my head the way he begged for me to return home and how the sound of his voice made my heart wrench.

When I spent time sitting with Papa to talk to him on the couch while everyone was dancing to some old records, he started talking to me about love and marriage. He didn't believe a word of my story about why Paul wasn't here. I guess older people are wiser than most.

Papa said that this is a time that would very easily put some obstacles in front of our marriage. I had told him about how Paul was recovering from the devastation of the band breakup. He said it was supposed to be challenging and things didn't have to be sunshine and rainbows at a time like this.

His wife, my Grammie, died 10 years ago to pancreatic cancer. We knew she was gone as soon as she got the diagnosis, people don't really live when they have pancreatic cancer. Papa loved her very much, they met just before he had to go off to the war and managed to keep in contact and get together after. They wed as soon as they could and it proved to be a very successful marriage.

He told me about the many times they fought and argued to the point where they didn't know what would happen to them as a couple, but every time, they reconciled and learned from the experience.

"Love is supposed to make you think and learn. If it was so easy, then everyone in the world would be married and there would be no breakups and divorces. This is a time when both you and Paul gotta think and learn, and you have to talk. Some things can't be found once you've lost them, and love can be one of those things."

That's what Papa told me. I knew it would be wise to take his advice. He spent many years with the one woman he loved, and I've learned that no matter how much you love someone, you still have to work for the relationship.

Joshua invited me over today to listen to the new song he wrote. He ended up getting really excited at the idea of making a solo album and has been working hard to write stuff. He's a bit embarrassed because he's written a lot of love songs and a few ballads, but I told him it's not wrong to be interested in different kinds of music.

His girlfriend had apparently been quite the muse to him. Joshua said he couldn't help but write something after every time he's seen her because there's always something new and inspiring that comes to him. I couldn't wait to take a listen, he always came up with great stuff. In the years we've worked together, he's come up to me with songs that he wants me to sing and he wants recorded, and I've always been impressed with them.

Joshua lived in a small house he had bought for himself once he had money from the music and touring. I remember the day he moved in and how proud of himself he was.

I knocked on his front door and was greeted by a young lady who had fluffy blonde hair just like Joshua.

"You must be Ramona! I'm Brenda, Joshua's girlfriend. It's so amazing to meet you," she said excitedly.

Brenda was a very pretty girl, her dimples were deep and appeared at the slightest movement of her mouth. She was definitely someone you could write about for ages, she seemed like a sweet person and was gorgeous. No wonder Joshua seemed so smitten with her whenever he would talk about his relationship.

"It's great to meet you too. Joshua is here?" I asked.

"Yeah, come on in," she said.

I followed her to the back of the house where Joshua had all his music stuff set up. There were his many guitars all proudly displayed on a nice big rack where they stood. Next to it was his big selection of amps. He was definitely a Marshall guy, you could tell just by looking at all the Marshall heads and cabinets everywhere, but he had a variety of others too.

He looked up from his guitar, a gorgeous blonde Fender Telecaster, and Brenda chuckled as she went to move his hair from his eyes. "You came! You ready to hear my songs?" Joshua asked. He looked at Brenda and smiled. "I know Brenda here likes them. I've sang and played them to her."

"He's very romantic with his music," Brenda gushed.

I giggled. "Well, let's have a listen."

He fixed up his amp settings before he started playing. The thing about Joshua was that he had a great knowledge of music, he knew a variety of styles and techniques thanks to his diverse tastes in music. If you wanted him to play jazz, he would play jazz. If you wanted him to play classical, he would play classical. Same with blues, country, rock and quite a few others. It was important to me that I worked with someone who had the knowledge that Joshua did, because I had studied music intensely and wanted to be able to communicate with him and have us both understand.

Joshua was also someone who liked to use all these different chords. He took something simple and gave it a wow factor by having chords with beautiful sounds that not many other people would be too bothered to use. He was young, but when it came to music he was very mature. I guess he was very mature in all areas of his life. It's very admirable.

He played through these gorgeous chords that fit together to create something amazing. I looked over at Brenda and noticed the way she looked at him. She stared at him with a small yet loving smile on her face while her eyes sparkled. They really had something special going on. He would look up at her constantly and something about his face made him look blissful.

It's always fascinating to look at two people together who are clearly in love. It seems so obvious yet the signs are so subtle. In fact, it's so subtle that the people themselves don't realise how obvious their love looks.

I wondered if people ever saw me and Paul like this. Sometimes we would be in a room full of people and would just prefer sitting down and talking to each other or would be constantly looking over at each other if we were apart.

I hoped these two would keep their love alive. They look like the kind of couple that just fits one another so well. It seemed that it was like they had to meet and they had to fall in love because of how natural it was.

It made me think about how much I really loved Paul. No matter what, I couldn't see myself not loving him. There isn't anyone who could take away or overpower the love I have for him. I think the only contenders would be if we had kids together.

I wanted to go home. I wanted to start that family we always dreamed of and lived the married life we both would talk about for hours. I wanted to be on that farm and wake up everyday to see him there while sun shines through the window and onto his beautiful face. The trouble was that the things I wanted seemed to slip away more and more each day.

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