Forgiveness. His daughter deserved forgiveness. Freddie rested his head on the door of what used to be Belle's bedroom, thinking of what to write on the letter that he wanted to send her. He rushed downstairs and spent about ten minutes writing on the kitchen table, until the domestic worker informed Freddie about the visit of an unknown man to her.
"Mr. Mercury", she politely said. "There's a man outside who goes by the name of Rami Malek and he wants to talk to you".
Freddie raised an eyebrow and grabbed his chin, wondering why his daughter's boyfriend wanted to talk to him. He stopped for a few seconds to think about his decision and ultimately agreed to see him, rushing to the door to receive him.
The domestic worker opened the door again, and there he was. Rami was wearing a fitted suit, his hair perfectly coiffed. Freddie had to admit he looked very presentable.
"Good morning, Mr. Mercury", Rami greeted with a smile as he shook Freddie's hand, trying to sound as polite as he could.
"Good morning", Freddie replied with a toneless voice that showed no emotion. "Please come in", he said as he stepped aside, signalling Rami to go into his home.
Rami nodded and entered the house. He eyed the area as he stood in front of a sofa, unsure of what to do next. Did he have to sit? Did he have to stand? Would it make Freddie uncomfortable if he just sat without permission? Well, Rami being present was probably already uncomfortable enough for Freddie.
"You can sit down", Freddie awkwardly said as he tried to be polite to Rami. He was the father of his grandchild after all and Belle was right, he wasn't going away anytime soon.
"Well, as you can probably guess, I'm here to talk about something", Rami firmly said to Freddie, who was in front of him, as he sat down. "I want to talk about Belle's pregnancy. She came home crying yesterday after a small discussion she had with you. I want to know what's making you uncomfortable".
"She hid her pregnancy from me for I don't know how long. It hurts me because we are really close and you know, she's my only child. That's why I reacted the way I did, but I kind of regret being so severe towards her, I have to admit".
"I know, and to be honest I understand your reaction", Rami affirmed as he made strong eye contact with Freddie. "I just want you to let me know if you have any problem with me or my relationship with Belle. I'd like to be really straightforward with you, Mr. Mercury, because I want you to know I intend to marry your daughter and don't want our disagreements to cause any problems to Belle or my child".
Freddie was dumbfounded by Rami's sudden statement, from the wedding part to the way Rami acted so effortlessly calm around him. He was used to people freaking out when they were around him, not only because he was the biggest rock star in the world, but because his presence was strong and intimidating, even though he wasn't what he appeared to be.
"Well, you want me to be frank and honest and I will", Freddie stated. "I've always thought of you as a very conceited and egocentric man, but you know, we have lived totally different lives. You are someone who has always been surrounded by luxury and opulence and this type of personality is probably the norm for people like you. I'm sorry if this is a little too blunt, I hope there are no hard feelings between us after this".
"Don't worry, Mr. Mercury, I'm not offended by your words at all, nor will I try to change your mind or opinion about me", Rami politely responded as he fixed his the sleeve of his suit. "The only thing I'd like to ask you is to please try to keep our differences away from Belle and the baby. You know I will do it too".
"Of course I will, Belle and her child mean as much to me as they do to you", Freddie declaimed. "I promise to be at peace with you if you treat my daughter with love and respect, that's pretty much I ask. There's nothing that is as important to me as Belle's physical and emotional wellbeing".
"There's no need to worry about that at all", Rami calmly answered. "As I said before, I only plan to do great things for her. I'm looking forward to propose marriage to her and to buy a bigger house because we're obviously going to stop being just the two of us".
Freddie nodded, hiding his worry behind a little smile. Rami sounded really confident in his words, and he admired that, he had the money to do everything he was planning to do after all. But that wasn't enough; Freddie was worried about the emotional side of this new life, but he tried to trust in Rami's promise to treat Belle and her child with love.
"I wish you guys good luck", Freddie said as he took an envelope in his hands and changed the subject. "Look, Rami; I wrote this letter for Belle earlier today, and I would be happy if you could give it to her".
Rami nodded as Freddie handed him the envelope.
"I will", he said before tucking it into the pocket of his pants.
15 minutes later
Rami started driving as he thought of how awkward his encounter with Freddie was, however he was glad it was over and glad Freddie acceded to have a candid man-to-man conversation with him. He wasn't originally planning on coming back to his house, but he felt the strong responsability to give Belle the letter her father had written for her so she wouldn't stress about him any longer.
"Belle", Rami loudly called his girlfriend's name as he opened the door. "Come here, I've got something for you".
Belle walked out of the kitchen, looking very nervous as she held a glass of milk.
"Rami, how did everything go with my dad?".
"It went good, there's no reason for you to be nervous at all", he responded. "I just made it very clear to him that I didn't want you to feel any distress at all. He even asked me to give you this letter".
Belle raised her eyebrow as she took the letter, his concern towards her made no sense since he was constantly putting her in stressful situations.
"I'd love to stay for a while longer, but I have a important meeting soon and I need to leave now", Rami told Belle as he opened the door. "One of my lasts meetings, actually".
"What do you mean it's one of your last meetings?", Belle frowned as she held the door open.
"I'll explain later".
Belle shrugged as she closed the door and rushed to open the envelope that contained her father's letter inside of it. She was a little relieved to hear that Freddie had taken the time to write her a letter. It had to be a good sign.
"Belle:
I don't know if I have told you about this before, but I have always, always admired our bond. I'll be forever be grateful for the trust that you have decided to put in me, regardless of the fact that I'm your father. It takes a really trustworthy person to confide the things you have confided me and I feel honoured. That being said, when you became a legal adult, I expected you to probably become a little bit more distant, the way that I did with your grandparents — and I have to admit that I hated thinking about that. But it did not happen. We have grown closer over the years, and I feel like the way that I reacted to your pregnancy yesterday did not show how much I have supported you and will continue to support you for the rest of my life. Of course I felt betrayed when your mother broke the news to me, but that doesn't mean I love you less or that I won't love my grandchild unconditionally. God, I feel so old when I think about the fact I'm going to become a grandfather; But you know I'm going to be a sensational one, darling! I'd like to apologise for the way I reacted last night, Belle, I acted like such a rude and ill-mannered jerk. I love you so much and I wish your child already knew how lucky it is to have been blessed with the greatest mother ever.
Yours Truly,
Freddie".
Belle immediately started crying after reading the last sentence, but they were tears of joy. This letter meant to her more than Freddie could ever imagine and she couldn't thank him enough for that. She was a little disappointed to readher mother was the one who had told Freddie about her pregnancy, but she had no time to worry about that. She had to see him, she had to thank him personally.
----------------------------------------
"Dad", Belle hugged Freddie as soon as he opened the door. "Thank you so much for the letter you wrote. It says only the sweetest things".
"Oh, Belle hello!", he exclaimed after his daughter's sudden visit. "Of course, darling, and you're the only one who could be worthy of them", Freddie responsed with a smile. "But how far along are you? Is your baby bump showing yet?".
"I'm two months and a half pregnant, so not really", she responded as she pulled away and placed her hands over her bump so Freddie could see the outline of it. "It's a super small one".
"I can't believe this is happening", Freddie cooed, tears of joy starting to well up. "It feels so surreal. But I'm not going to cry, because there's nothing to cry about, right? Please tell me more about it", he said as he sat down. "Do you want a boy or a girl?".
"Well, since it's my first child, I don't mind", Belle answered as she sat down as well. "As long as it's healthy, I'll be happy".
"Something tells me that you're going to have a girl", Freddie said as he rested his head on his hand. "Mark my words, darling".
"Really?".
"Of course", he uttered. "When your mother was pregnant with you, I always knew you'd be a girl. And I'll be right again".
"Well, If you say so".
And that's the way Belle confirmed her relationship with Freddie was a great one. They did not even need to formally apologise to each other before acting as if nothing had happened.
"Are you still going to go to Barcelona with me?", Freddie asked with a worried tone.
"Of course I will, I know how much this trip means to you and I wouldn't miss it for the world".
Freddie smiled, he couldn't wait for it.
"Alright, darling. Do you mind if we grab some lunch to celebrate?".
"Let's go", she smiled.
Freddie and Rami when they met
Joke I don't think they look much alike