He's Leaving Home

Chapter 14

The mere fact that Julian had to ask that burned inside John and Paul's look of utter heartbreak didn't help any either. It left a couple things to wonder, though. Had Cynthia told him about the child, would he have ever had Paul back in his life? Part of him believed they would never had met again, leaving John to believe that Paul was dead or to forget him altogether. The other part, and by far the biggest, knew they would have met again. Paul was his soulmate. John had to shake away the thought of Paul possibly being a 'homewrecker', because let's face it, John wouldn't have been able to 'just be friends' and the ol' Lennon Charm was Paul's kryptonite. Realizing he hadn't responded, John left his thoughts at that. The small human looked at him with pleading eyes and all he could do was envelope Julian as tight as he could.

"I don't think I would want you to call me anything else." John whispered to him. "And Jules," he pulled away, "he's your dad, too."

The child's expression turned to wonderment, his familiar almond eyes darting between Paul and John.

"Pretty nice deal, huh, kiddo?" John laughed as Paul reached back and patted Julian's knee.

"I love it, daddy."

Ruffling his child's hair, he replied without so much as a second thought, "Me too, Jules. Me too."

****

Julian Lennon turned out to be just. Like. His father. One moment Paul and John would be enjoying a relaxed evening, curled up on the couch watching T.V. and next Julian would come barreling through the room, screaming about being a Viking and slaying his enemies. His enemies? Almost always, no always, Paul and John. That is, until John defected and Paul got tackled. Though, John used it as an excuse to touch Paul without Julian asking questions. More than once, Paul walked away with heavy bruising on his stomach and butt. Julian was ruthless. But it didn't make either of them love him any less.

Paul once asked Julian after a particularly rough battle and during some post-battle cuddling. "Why not Ringo as your enemy?"

Julian responded, "He's my trusted advisor and wizard." As if Paul couldn't have asked a more ridiculous question.

"That sounds more like King Arthur than Vikings, love." Paul observed and then instantly regretted it because that did it. Soon enough Julian wanted to know more about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and Excalibur and Magic. All this information meant more staged battles and new roles. Julian was obviously King Arthur and John Lancelot. When George came over, he assumed the role of Galahad with Ringo as Merlin. Even Mike got to be Gawain. All noble knights, leaving the role of Morgan le Fay, the villain, to Paul.

"Can't I be Uther or Kay?" Paul complained.

"Papi and Grampa are Igraine and Uther." Came the answer and "I need an evil person to defeat." The argument had only one victor and it certainly wasn't Paul. And that, John constantly held that over him.

Paul wouldn't trade it for anything. Even after all the paperwork was complete, Paul and John kept waiting for something to happen that would rip their happiness from them, but none came and Julian grew content and comfy with his parents.

Money got tight especially after Ringo moved out and in with George. He had been paying half of the bills and groceries and when that stopped, John's limited hours at the tutoring center weren't enough, resulting in him picking hours working at Brian's record store.

George also worked there as well as Ringo when he wasn't session drumming for a friend of Brian's. For John, working in a record store he used to steal from ignited a spark. Music. John wanted to be famous. That was always his dream. He bet Aunt Mimi just wanted to scream 'I told you so!' at him. John knew he could still achieve his ambitions. He only needed Paul.