"Wow. I never expected you two to actually have a story together", Rami exclaimed, with a pillow resting on his lap, staring at the ceiling with a perplexed look because his words were supposed to be taken seriously: he really didn't think Roger and Belle actually had story together. "I thought it was only a crush".
"Well, it wasn't", Belle smirked. "Now, after this bedtime story, I'm ready to sleep. I'm way too tired and I'm not sure why", Belle said as she took a final glance at Alice before covering her face with a pillow.
"Your voice is so soft and it made me sleepy so, good night", Rami turned off the lights. "Or should I say; 'Sleep well until Alice decides to scream her lungs out".
Belle giggled. "Hell, you're right".
The next day
12:30 PM. The time had arrived. Belle entered Garden Lodge holding Alice in her arms. Freddie and Joe were there. She walked past Joe's car, and took a glimpse inside. There was a fentanyl patch on the backseat. She narrowed her eyes. Why was Joe Newton taking such a strong opioid? It made no sense to her.
"Hello, dear!", Freddie beamed when he saw his daughter and granddaughter. "You're so punctual, as alway-
"I need to talk to you", Belle whispered to her father as he pulled him aside, hiding behind a tree. "I found a fentanyl patch inside Joe's car. Is he sick?".
"Not that I know of", Freddie responded, furrowing his eyebrows. "What is it used for?".
"The list is long, but one of its most common uses is for cancer. Are you sure he has been acting normally lately?".
"Yeah", Freddie murmured. "Now I'm worried".
"Don't be, let's find out what's going on first".
10 minutes later
After having a small talk with Joe, Freddie and Belle were ready to execute their plan. Belle brought Alice's pram to her side and carefully put her in it.
"I'm going to take a short stroll with Alice", Belle announced, walking towards the door as she pushed Alice's pram. "I'll be right back".
"Of course, be safe", Freddie smiled, looking somewhat relaxed but he was actually very nervous. He didn't want to be disappointed. He loved Joe.
"I'll go to the bathroom, Freddie", Joe said, heading to such a trivial place but it just made everything more suspicious. Belle looked at Freddie through a window, and he gave her a nervous smile, beckoning her.
Belle quietly entered the house again, praying that Alice wouldn't make any noise.
Freddie got closer to the bathroom door so he could hear what Joe was saying, because he was whispering to someone.
"She's going to be at Holland Park, Sir", Joe murmured, covering his mouth. "Yeah, thank you".
Freddie's neutral expression turned into a forlorn and harrowing one and Belle knew what that meant. Frddie looked into Belle's eyes, and Belle tilted her head, giving him a compassionate look, but suddenly Freddie didn't look forlorn or harrowing anymore. He gathered every bit of courage in himself and opened the door, only to find Joe awkwardly stand in the corner of the bathroom, clutching the phone in his hand, his eyes as big as they could be.
"Who was going to be at Holland Park, Joe?".
"Fre-Freddie, I can-I can explain", Joe stuttered, keeping his head down.
"Explain what? That you deliberately betrayed me and my daughter? How can you be so cynical, Joe?". A terrible big and strong wave of anguish poured over Freddie. His beloved Joe had betrayed him.
"Yes, I was selling information to the press. But it's not because I want to, it's because I need to, Freddie. I have stage four pancreatic cancer. I need to pay for my useless treatment. Well, it would be rude to call the efforts to keep me alive 'useless' but that's what they are. And the press pays really well. I'm sorry, Freddie. I know you don't deserve this".
The entire house fell silent, the space filling with the sound of the birds chirping outside. Freddie started to shake uncontrollably, tears streaming down his cheeks. Freddie and Belle looked at each other in complete desolation, and Belle, who had always been really pale, looked even paler than usual.
"W-What? Why didn't you tell me?".
"I was still thinking about how I would tell you. My prognosis is bad, Freddie. I don't have many time left. But I'm still making an effort to stay alive because I want to be with Daisy. You have a daughter, I know you will understa-
"I do, I do". Nothing felt real to Freddie anymore. His future with Joe, which once seemed so solid, was crumbling to dust, together with his hopes and dreams. Tomorrow was never going to happen, at least not in the way he had imagined.
"I'm sorry, Joe. Is there anything we could do to help?", Belle asked after she had started to cry softly. She couldn't believe this was happening, she would have actually prefered to be disappointed in Joe rather than finding herself thinking about his death.
"Not really Belle, but thank you. I don't deserve any of your help after betraying you anyways". A few tears started to stream down his cheeks, but he tried not to cry any harder, in fact he was actually trying not to cry about his illness again. His life had been cut short. Why waste his remaining time crying about things that couldn't be changed, when he only just could try to enjoy life as much as he could? The outcome would still be the same.
"Don't say that, Joe. I'll admit it wasn't the best idea but truth be told I can't judge you for it at all. If I was in the same circumstances as you I would probably have done the same, I don't know. Despair is a powerful thing", Belle muttered, looking extremely downcast. Joe asked Freddie and Belle to sit in the living room so he could tell them everything about his disease, prognosis and treatment.
----------------------------------------
After leaving Taylor Enterprises, Daisy began looking for a new job, but after her father's cancer diagnosis, she had to put her plans on hold and take care of him — but her savings wouldn't last forever so she had to find a new job quickly again, as fast as she could. One of her friends had adviced her to apply for this 'prestigious company with high pay and hot bosses', but Daisy never knew she was talking about Malek Corporation. Understandably, Daisy was in complete and utter shock when she opened her acceptance letter. It almost felt like she had gotten into her chosen college again. Well, she didn't really know how such an elegant and professional company resembled school but it was surreal, not only the idea of working again without having to follow Catherine's rules was surreal to her but working again with and for Rami Malek was even more exciting, because he probably was one of the reasons why she had not resigned earlier anyways.
Rami Malek was an enigma of all sorts, the wall he had built around himself was practically indestructible,leaving him shrouded in mystery. But working with Rami at Taylor Enterprises had allowed Daisy to see parts of the man that others longed to seek out, and maybe that would help now that she was his new secretary. Finally, after what felt like a thousand floors and a lot of surprised, flustered workers, Daisy twisted the doorknob of Rami's office and yet she didn't flip it completely because her nervousness didn't remind her to knock the door, instead she chose to press her ear against the door to get a hint of what Rami was doing. She didn't hear a thing, so she took a deep breath and knocked the door, and when Rami allowed anyone who was knocking to come in, Daisy pushed the door open completely, making her way into the room.
It was funny because Rami didn't seem to be working at all, he was squirming against his chair as he drank out of a flask, looking as unbothered as one could be. He looked at Daisy, and she was met in silence, and she didn't know what to do with that since Rami could be happy or angry to see her. She didn't know why he would be angry at her but she was confused.
"Daisy, what are you doing here?".
"I'm your new assistant", she carefully responded. "Didn't you know?".
"No", Rami answered, sitting straight again. "But that's not a problem. I mean, I'm surprised, but I've known you for years, so I won't have to waste any time on building trust with my new secretary", he simpered. "Welcome".
"Thank you", Daisy smiled out of relief. "Asisstant" might not sound all that big but anyone who knew Rami knew that his secretary was the most important piece of the puzzle for him - it had been the same way when he worked in Taylor Enterprises - Daisy would be the one who organised everything for him, organised all of the documents on his desk for him and fetched his damn whiskey bottle in the morning for him.
This would be a completely different job for Daisy, to be honest. Being Rami's secretary wouldn't include coming up with new blackmail techniques every week like her job at Taylor Enterprises did.
"I'm sorry that you had to find me doing absolutely nothing, but I was just taking a break", Rami shyly apologised, gesturing Daisy to sit.
"Oh, there's no problem. I have to admit I'm really surprised that you finally decided on quitting Taylor Enterprises. That was a good idea. And so much has happened. You're a father now", Daisy mentioned cheerfully as she sat down. "Now that I think about it, it blows my mind to think you're someone's father now. That's a big deal".
"Yeah, well, it's kind of overwhelming", Rami admitted. "Her name is Alice and her only hobbies are eating, crying and sleeping but I wouldn't have it another way", Rami responded with a special spark on his eyes, smiling lovingly at the thought of his daughter. Rami being a kind and noble man was almost impossible but fatherhood had definitely softened him, Daisy thought.
"That's lovely to hear. How are things going between you and Belle?".
Rami laughed.
"Let's just say that I'm not sure whether she loves me or she hates me".
"Oh, so nothing has changed then", Daisy jested.
"The only difference is that we have a marriage certificate now", Rami stated, taking another small sip of whisky. "Where have you been all this time?".
"Busy with law school, and I've been taking care of my father", Daisy's voice broke a little at the end. "He has terminal cancer".
"What? Oh, I'm sorry", Rami lamented, his smile quickly disappearing. "How long does he have?".
"Six months". It was the first time she had said it out loud, which somehow made it more real.
"I'm sorry for giving this joyful conversation a 180 but the man who has given me everything he could without any obligation to do so is dying and I don't know what to do. I just can't help but remember how hard it had been for him to adopt me, how he has always loved me endlessly. He's literally the only family member I have. What will I do once he's gone, Rami?", Daisy questioned with a feeble tone in her voice, hot tears starting to well up in her eyes. "I won't have any family in my life. I will be alone. Who will I spend holidays such as Christmas with?", Daisy broke down in tears, covering her face with her hands.
"Don't say that, Daisy. You have friends. We'll support you. May I ask you a question?".
Daisy nodded.
"Do you know anything about your biological parents?", Rami questioned, handing her a tissue. "Take a deep breath and tell me, if you want to, of course".
"My dad and I don't know anything about my biological father. We only know that my biological mother's name is Elizabeth Smith, but can you imagine how many Elizabeth Smith's are in this world? Too many. We don't know where she was from or how old she was when she had me, only her name", she looked straight into Rami's dark blue eyes.
"And do you wish you knew her?".
"I do".
"I got this. I'll hire a private investigator so we can find any information about your biological parents", Rami exclaimed, giving Daisy a reassuring smile.
"Really?", Daisy's eyes lightened. "How would this work? How would I pay you back?".
"Everything will come out of my pocket, Daisy. Don't think about that. I personally couldn't imagine not knowing about my origins. I want to help".
"Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity of knowing about my origins, Rami, really". The expression on Daisy's face was so much more than this individual moment, it was a result of years and years trying to know about her biological parents. It was finally happening. She felt incredibly grateful for Rami, and the next thing Daisy knew was that she had her arms around him, hugging him ever so tightly because she was bursting with hope and anticipation. It was like seeing light for the first time in a while after being trapped inside darkness for too long.
-------------------------------
Freddie and Belle sat on a sofa next to each other, blankly staring at the sleeping Alice. Joe had left Garden Lodge around twenty minutes ago and the father-daughter pair didn't feel like themselves at all. They were not even talking to each other, they were just stone cold, languid, individually processing the news inside their head.
"I'm so sorry, Dad. I still cannot understand why this is happening to him", Belle broke the silence, leaning her arm on his shoulders. "Doesn't matter how skeptical I've always been of Joe, he doesn't deserve this".
"Yeah, I'm really sad, darling", Freddie said with a strong, painful sorrow in his heart, because Joe was slowly dying and the day when he just wouldn't be able to see his boyfriend in front of him anymore would come rather sooner than later. Belle could sense every fiber of Freddie's pain, and all of her questions about why Joe looked so physically different made sense now. After a long talk about Joe, they came to the conclusion that everything that was left to do was spending more time Joe, trying to make his final days more enjoyable for everyone involved.
That wouldn't ease the pain, but it was their only option.
Two hours later
Belle was home, putting Alice's socks back on after bathing her when one of the domestic workers informed her about the visit of John Deacon, Belle gladly let her stepfather in.
"Hello Belle, Alice, how are you?", John happily exclaimed as he hugged Belle, wearing a leather jacket and his hair was visibly shorter.
"We're fine, Alice just took a bath and as you can see, this baby is way too chubby so I'm going to place her in her bassinet because she feels so heavy in my arms", Belle told John, doing exactly what she had said.
"She's only one week old but she's so big, yeah, she's cute", John smiled. "Are you still planning on doing your pychiatry residency after Alice's birth?".
"Yes, absolutely, in fact I think I'll start my residency next month", Belle proudly announced. "I'm very excited and I'm happy I'll be matched into a nearby hospital".
"Oh, that's great. I'm happy to hear that".
John and Belle chatted for at least twenty minutes, enjoying the company of Alice.
"There's something I need to tell you, Belle", John mentioned, and Belle couldn't help but worry. John seemed concerned.
"Go ahead".
John gulped, bringing his hands to his hair.
"These days, I've been looking for someone, Belle. An ex-girlfriend. We started dating her when I was twenty-four and she was twenty-two. I got her pregnant, but I didn't know that until last week, when the woman who used to be her best friend contacted me and told me that she had given my daughter in adoption", John paused his story to wipe a few tears away. "I think I could be somebody's father".
"So.. you have a daughter, John?", Belle spoke in utter disbelief. "How old would she be now?".
"Twenty-four".
Belle frowned and her body tensed impossibly tighter. There was something so wrong with this day and it was only 3 PM, first she had found out Joe Newton has terminal cancer, then John Deacon comes to tell her he has a lost daughter. Belle was deeply perplexed because she had way too many things to process, and she felt the most speechless she had ever felt. She couldn't keep up with everything that was going on and her brain felt like it was about to literally explode.
"Do you think your ex-girlfriend might still be alive to this day?".
"I don't know, maybe".
"What's her name?".
"Elizabeth".
"Elizabeth what?".
"Elizabeth Smith".