One week later
"I'm finally here", Brian exclaimed as soon as he entered Belle's house, breathing heavily. He was ready to hug his best friend, assuming she was the one who opened the door to him, but stopped himself when he saw it was actually a butler.
"Good Afternoon, Sir", the manservant saluted. "Are you delivering the antiques that Master Rami Malek ordered yesterday?".
Brian frowned at the steward.
"I'm afraid not", he responded. "I'm visiting Gabrielle Bulsara, she's my best friend".
"I'm sorry, but Mrs. Malek has not authorised any visit yet. Good afternoon", the butler answered as he got ready to close the door, stopped by his boss.
"Let him in, please", Belle was heard saying as she walked to Brian. "I appreciate your politeness, Mr. West, but Mr. Brian May is a dear friend of mine and he will be visiting frequently. Please tell all the workers to allow him to enter this house every time he visits", Belle instructed, opening the door again to let her best friend in.
"I've never heard so many honorific titles in my life", Brian uttered, looking confused as he entered the house. He eyed the place, only to find himself flabbergasted by the great amount of servants working in the house. Some of them cleaned the windows, some others vacuumed the carpets. He turned to Belle, and looked at her in deep confusion.
"I know, I know, Brian", Belle sighed, knowing exactly why he was so disoriented. "Rami hired a whole bunch of domestic workers after I gave birth, now we have a butler, chauffeurs, chefs, a security team, and a maternity nurse. The latter was actually needed, though".
"You know, it's great to have all this help, it's just that this house is buzzing with activity. I hope my niece is able to sleep well", Brian stated. "By the way, where's my niece? And will I keep referring to her as "my niece" or "the baby" for the rest of my life? It's been a week Belle, when will you tell me her name?".
"She is not having any problems at all right now, don't worry about that. And calm down", Belle laughed as she stood next to Brian in the middle of the living room, proceeding to walk a few meters away to grab a document on a table. "Remember I didn't want to tell you what her name was over the phone because I wanted to see your live reaction. Rami and I registered her birth this morning. I'll let this piece of paper let you know her name, it always will be more official than my word anyways".
Belle handed her daughter's birth certificate to her best friend, his eyes directing to the baby's name straightaway.
"Oh my God", he squeaked as his eyes brightened, a beaming smile forming on his face. "Alice Malek-Bulsara. I love it so much".
"Thank you, Brian. We spent so much time discussing about what we'd name her, and he suggested Alice in honour of his great-aunt. I immediately knew that would be her name. I've always loved the name but I didn't suggest it myself because I didn't have any other meaning for it aside from the fact that I really liked it and you know, upper-class families always need to add some deep significance to their offspring's names".
"And like every good upper-class name, it has a double-barrelled surname. So they don't forget the fact that her grandfather is Freddie Mercury and her mother is the biggest fashion icon of this country".
"Of course", she smiled. "Do you want to come and see her?".
"I think that's the only reason why I'm here", he jested. "I'm not coming just to see you anymore. I have a niece now. Move over!".
Brian and Belle walked to Alice's nursery, where she was sleeping. The nursery was big, with art hanging on the walls, decorated in lovely light pink tones. It was also well-equipped, furnished with several items including a bassinet, a changing table, a baby monitor, a baby swing. Everything was so nicely put together, and even though he loved everything that Alice was getting, Brian strongly wished he could have provided such luxuries to his own daughter Diana.
Belle and Brian greeted the maternity nurse who was keeping Alice company as she slept, the redhead woman kept tossing the baby's socks inside a drawer.
"Here she is", Belle said as she lovingly looked at her sleeping daughter, dressed in a small yellow dress, her tiny hands balled up into fists as her eyelids fluttered.
"My God, she looks so peaceful", Brian crooned, resting his forearms on the cradle's side to take a better look. "Even her breathing sounds peaceful".
"I know", she said. "And I like that she has a lot of hair already".
"Of course you do - she's going to continue your ribbon legacy".
Belle and Brian sat in both of the nursery's rocking chairs, facing each other.
"But where are Beatrice and Diana? I thought they'd be coming with you", Belle asked as she fixed the hemline of her long green dress.
"There's something I need to tell you about me and Beatrice, Belle", Brian stated, his joyful expression vanishing.
"What - what happened, Brian?", Belle asked with a concerned look on her face.
"Beatrice and I have broken up. For good", he confessed, his eyes instantly welling up. "We're not living together anymore. It's over. She promised me I'd see Diana regularly but I overheard a call she had yesterday saying she wanted to move to Newcastle with her father. I don't know if she was talking to Rami, but if he mentions this to you, please tell him to convince her not to leave London".
Belle narrowed her eyes, heartbroken by his statement. A separation wasn't new to Brian and Beatrice, but they had a daughter now. She stood silent for a moment, before proceeding to ask him the obvious.
"But what about Diana?".
"That's why I'm so concerned", he muttered. "I don't want Beatrice to take Diana away, you know?", he paused as he started to cry. "I want to watch her grow up. I want to be with her every day".
"Hey, Brian, it will be alright", Belle said as she stood up and got closer to him, rubbing his arm. "Beatrice is not the type of person to just leave and avoid you from seeing your daughter. Whatever problems you both have, I'm sure they are not bad enough to restrict you from being close to Diana".
"Well, I still hope they can come here and visit Alice. At the end of the day, Diana and Alice are biological cousins, which is so very crazy to think about", Brian digressed, trying to talk about something else in order not to break down in tears.
"I know. It's a fact that blows my mind".
Belle comforted Brian, and they both asked for a warm cup of coffee as they chatted about the situation. Several minutes after that, Brian felt better, so they changed the subject into one that would turn out to be a controversial topic.
"So after seeing that you've got all this help, I mean, all of your people decorated this nursery in less than a week", Brian uttered, referring to the domestic workers. "I assume that you guys hired them in order not to bother your parents and ask them to come and help with Alice".
"Not at all", she said. "I actually never knew that Rami would hire domestic workers until they were here. It was all his idea. I wanted my parents to be here".
"And why aren't they here?".
"Because Rami told me they had said they wanted us to do our own thing and they didn't want to intervene", she stated.
"How can you be sure of that?".
Belle frowned, wondering why Brian sounded so conflicted.
"Because Rami said my parents let him know that they had changed their mind and they wouldn't be helping us".
"Belle", Brian murmured, leaning forward as he sat with his elbows on his knees. "Your father called me yesterday asking me if I knew why you didn't want him and Mary to say here. They were not the ones who refused to come".
"But Rami told me they did".
"Well, he lied".
"Why would he lie about it?".
Belle didn't know why Rami would want to stay away from Freddie.
But Brian did.
"You know the way he is. You have to call your parents, Belle", he adviced. "Call your father first".
Belle grimaced.
"Why? You're scaring me, Brian".
"He'll let you know why".
-------------------------------
"Daddy!", Roger's daughter, Victoria, shouted as she threw her hands in the air, waiting to be picked up.
He did as she wanted, feeling really happy to see his daughter again after hectic days at his company.
"Hello, Princess. What are you doing?", he asked Victoria as he saw her hold two boxes of crayons in her hands.
"I was colouring, Daddy", the little girl replied. "I was colouring with Damian".
"That's sweet, Tori", Roger cooed, holding his daughter close to him. Looking at how carefree and happy his daughter was gave him hope: The last weeks had been extremely painful, from his chaotic divorce process to remembering he still loved Belle. But knowing there was someone in this world who wasn't as shattered as he was gave him hope, and most importantly, reminded him about who his priority were: His children.
After a few seconds, Victoria innocently knitted her eyebrows.
"Why are you sad, Daddy?".
"Oh, I'm not sad, my love", Roger responded, smiling to his daughter again. "I'm happy because I'm with you".
"I'm happy too. Will you come to the park with us tomorrow? With Damian, Matilda and Mummy?", his daughter slurred, looking at him with hopeful eyes.
Roger stopped to think about Victoria's request for a moment. He obviously wanted to spend time with his children, but he wanted to have some time alone with them. He was overwhelmed to think he'd be with Catherine, but he decided to go since his priority was to keep the children as unharmed by their divorce as he could.
"I will, Tori. Count me in".
Roger put Victoria down and walked her to his children's bedroom, proceeding to spend a few minutes with his son and two daughters before they went to bed.
After making sure they were asleep, Roger walked to Catherine's bedroom. He shut his eyes for a brief moment, rubbing the bridge of his nose as a result of his despair. He knew that talking to her would bring him a stronger headache, but he hoped that Kate was still willing to come to her senses.
He knocked the door, and Catherine opened it.
"Ew. What are you doing here?", Kate grimaced, giving him a dirty look.
"Don't look at me like that. I've done nothing wrong. I've actually done everything you have asked me during this divorce, you are keeping this house, you are keeping the cars, and I agreed to increase child support. But you're asking me for a monthly £8,500, which is an insanely huge amount considering we have three children under the age of five".
"We discuss that in court, bye", she intended to close the door.
"No", he stopped her. "Listen to me, I know that you only want that money to fulfill all of your personal whims, and I'm not going to do that. I'm only willing to support my children, and you don't need any more money, you will keep your job at the company. What else do you want?".
"I want you to shut your mouth", she lashed out, her face contorting. "I want to take revenge for everything you did to me, for how much you hurt me after deciding to go after Belle, how you disrespected all the time and love I've given you", she snapped. "I know you cannot understand, because you're senseless".
"What are you even talking about, Catherine?", Roger panted, gawking at her, trying to understand her logic. "Belle isn't in my life anymore, she is married and she has a daughter now, how do you think I'm still seeing her? You're obsessed with her, it's insane".
"That makes two of us".
Roger rolled his eyes, trying not to yell as he loosed a shaky breath. Yes, Catherine was his wife, the mother of his children, but it was almost impossible to think of her fondly again. He couldn't keep up with her, her greediness and selfishness had taken over the woman he had once loved so much. He looked at her again, only to give her a fake but painful smile before trudging off to his bedroom.
He closed his eyes. He missed Belle.
He only hoped that she would be doing alright, living her best life with her husband and her daughter.
She wasn't.