guys, can you imagine Ben Hardy as a fucking bodyguard or something? so many ideas floating around in my little noggin and idk which one to go with
++|++
John spent his birthday stuck on a farm in the middle of Wales, arguing about a song which was about being in love with a car. Who's car? He didn't know.
Who, he hears you ask, could come up with a song with that title? Well, ladies and gentlemen, that would be Roger Meddows Taylor.
"What's wrong with it?" the blonde demands, glaring at both Brian and John from where he's making some breakfast, "Hm? Tell me what's wrong with it."
Rebecca, who had come to visit for a couple of days was sitting at the table behind them, sipping her coffee as she watched the tension rise and she could only hope that Freddie would arrive soon and put an end to this.
When neither John or Brian answer, Roger shakes his head, "I put my heart and soul into this song."
"And no one is disputing that-" John tries to say but Roger talks over him.
"And you don't like it because you want your songs on the album too."
John shakes his head. He didn't even have a song for the bloody thing yet, "It's not that, mate."
"Then what is it?"
Brian stares at him, "I'm in love with my car...maybe it's not strong enough?"
John looks over his shoulder as Freddie makes his way in, "Morning."
"Morning," their friend greets quietly, "I know I'm late, what did I miss?"
He nods to the other two who are still arguing while Rebecca intervenes and tries to calm the situation down, "Discussing Roger's car song."
"Ah."
"How does your new song go then?" Roger asks, swiping a piece of paper from Brian before he can stop him, "You call me sweet like I'm some kind of cheese."
Brian looks at the others, "It's good."
"Wow."
"Is that...when my hand's on your grease gun? That's very subtle, isn't it?"
"It's a metaphor, Brian!" Roger snaps and John's relieved when Rebecca puts her hand on his chest to back him away but he can't help but chime in.
"It's just a bit weird, Roger. What exactly are you doing with that car?"
"You're not helping, Deaky." Rebecca hisses.
"Children, please," Freddie cuts in, "We could all murder each other but who would be left to record this album? Roger, there's only room for one Hysterical Queen."
John laughs as he leaves to have a cigarette, sipping his tea as he watches Rebecca continue to calm him down.
He'll admit, this wasn't the most exciting way to spend his birthday but Roxanne was going to phone him later on, hopefully with the news that she had the weekend off so she could come to visit.
"I know why you're angry, Rog," Brian says and the blonde looks over Rebecca's shoulder at him.
"Why's that?"
"You know your song isn't strong enough."
"Brian!" Rebecca begs as Roger steps around her, back to the grill where he was making some bacon for the two of them, "Oh Roger, please don't!"
"Is that strong enough?" he demands, tossing some of the hot bacon at Brian, who doesn't even flinch and John tries to lift his plate before Roger sweeps everything off of the counter but he's too slow and all he manages to save, is his fork.
"How about that?" he asks and Rebecca hides her face in his her hands as he turns to grab something else he can throw.
"Not the coffee machine!" all three of them yell, making him freeze.
Honestly, he could pick up anything in the room and he chooses that, the one thing that, if they lost, would drive them insane.
Brian shakes his head as he stands, stepping over the broken crockery to put his surviving teacup into the sink while Rebecca wrestles the coffee machine from Roger's hands.
"Happy birthday, Deaky," Brian says, patting his shoulder as he walks by John again, "Fancy a game of tennis?"
He nods, "Yeah, alright."
"Great," Brian grins and nods to the floor, "Roger, clean this up."
John gets up and follows the guitarist toward the door, hearing Rebecca as she tells Roger off and he can't help but smile.
There had been worse birthdays.
++|++
Roxanne really didn't like that she was missing John's birthday. She'd bought him a watch that was neatly wrapped on her coffee table, waiting for Friday which is when she'd be driving to Wales to see him and the band. But mostly him.
She was at the diner (what was new) and had just come back from her break to see that it was unusually quiet. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was 2:30. That meant that schools would be out soon and there were always kids that came in to load up on cake or sugary milkshakes before they headed home.
She perked up when she saw Kayla locking up her shop. It was Wednesday which meant that the florist took her break a little bit later than she normally does but when she came into the diner, she didn't sit at the counter like she normally did. She didn't even greet Roxanne. She just sat herself down in a booth.
Frowning, Roxanne picks up her pot of coffee and heads over to her, "Hey."
Kayla startles and looks up at her, "Roxanne, hi! I didn't see you...I thought you were off today."
"Molly's sick. I'm covering," she shrugs, "Are you alright?"
"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired is all."
"You want your usual?" she asks and Kayla's quick to shake her head.
"Can I have some soup? The one Brian always gets? He says it's amazing and I still haven't tried it."
"The lentil? Sure. Do you want bread with it? A roll?"
"A roll, please," Kayla smiles and she nods, moving to put the order in, "It shouldn't be too long."
Like she thought, at around ten past three, a small horde of children and teenagers came in from schools and practically took over the diner and Roxanne was so glad that there were two other waitresses who started at three.
Kayla had given up her booth and moved to the counter and as Roxanne walks by to fill up her tray with cake, she notices that she's barely touched the soup and after delivering the tray of sugary treats to the correct table, she returns the tray to the designated area before she returns to behind the counter, leaning against it in front of Kayla and stays there until she notices her.
"What?"
"Are you sure you're alright? You don't look well."
"Is that you telling me that I look like shit?" she raises an eyebrow, "Thanks, Roxanne."
"Kayla."
"Oh alright," she huffs, lowering her voice, "I just...I've got my period and it's the second day and I just feel like shit. I wasn't going to come in today but there's this big funeral tomorrow that I need to get flowers ready for." Roxy reaches out to rub her shoulder as she groans, "Do you get like this? I always feel like mother nature has it out for me."
"I know Rebecca does. She had hers a couple of weeks ago. And yeah, I get it too. Like you say, it's normally just the first day or two but I haven't felt like that in-" she stops, dropping the spoon in her hand as she disappears through the back, much to the confusion of Kayla.
She's still confused when Roxy returns, throwing her apron onto the counter before pulling a jumper over her head, "Rox?"
"I gotta go," the blonde breathes, "I gotta-Jason. Jason, you're in charge!"
"Roxanne!" Kayla yells as she bolts out the door, "Where are you going?"
When she doesn't reply, she gathers her stuff and follows her friend out the door.
Roxanne can hear her heels on the pavement as she rushes after her, calling her name and pleading for her to slow down and when she's just metres away from her destination, Kayla finally catches up and grabs her arm.
"Jesus," she pants, clutching her side, "You're fast, aren't you? Rox, what's going on?"
"I'm late."
"Late?" she repeats, confused, "Late for what?"
"No, Kayla. I'm late."
A look of realisation passes over her friend's face and her mouth drops, "Like a visit from Aunt Flo late?"
She nods.
"Holy shit," Kayla takes her hand and leads her to a nearby bench, "How late?"
"Almost a month."
"A month?" she almost yells, "How on earth have you not noticed?"
"Well, I noticed at first. It was like a week and nothing so I thought hey, maybe I'm just stressed. And then the whole thing with the band's debt, Mary starting to think about wedding things and work...it kind of just took a back seat, it wasn't important." Roxanne feels as if she's going to start crying and Kayla wraps a comforting arm around her.
"Have you been sick or anything?"
"No," she whispers, shaking her head and Kayla nods.
"Alright, well maybe you're right. Maybe you are just stressed but really, there's only one way to find out...you're going to have to pee on a stick."
++|++
It cost her a small fortune but Roxanne and Kayla left the chemist with six pregnancy tests. She really couldn't believe that this was what she was doing on her boyfriend's birthday. And especially when he was miles away in a different country.
"Okay," Kayla mumbles from where she's sat on the floor reading the instructions, "Seems simple enough. Pee on the stick, put the plastic cap thingy on and wait."
Roxanne lowers the glass (her fourth) of water she's been drinking, "How long does it take?"
"Not long."
Good. She needs to know as soon as possible.
Finishing the water, she gathers the six tests and goes into the bathroom and while she's in there, Kayla gets up and helps herself to some crisps that are in Roxy's cupboard and a can of Coke before returning to her spot on the carpet.
She looks up when she hears the lock turn and Roxy leaves the bathroom, closing the door behind her and she sighs as she sits down on the floor beside her.
"Aw, Rox," Kayla coos, wrapping an arm around her again.
"What am I going to do?" Roxanne asks, feeling the burn of tears, "Kay, I don't think I can be a mum...I'm only-"
"Hey," she cuts her off, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, hm? You might not be."
Roxy nods.
"And if you are," Kayla continues, "Then the first thing you're going to do is talk to John. He needs to know and then, after that, the two of you can talk things over, discuss what needs to be discussed?"
Roxanne nods again, relieved that at least one of them has got a level head.
The pair sit in silence for another fifteen minutes, which Kayla deems an acceptable length of time, which means that the tests have probably got an outcome.
"Do you want me to...?" she asks, standing when Roxy nods and she disappears into the bathroom.
"Casp," Roxanne whispers when he climbs onto her knee, pressing her face against his soft fur, something she always finds warmly comforting.
Kayla returns holding the tests and Roxy feels her stomach turn as she tries to read her face but Kayla Anderson is a fucking closed book. They stare at each other for a few agonising seconds before she hides her face behind her hands.
"Kayla, please."
She feels her sit down next to her and reluctantly looks at the tests that she's holding.
"Congratulations?" she offers meekly.
This time, Roxanne does cry and Casper jumps out of her lap when Kayla throws the tests onto the table so she can wrap her arms around her again.
What was she going to do?
++|++
i stg you guys are either physic or my writing is unbelievably predictable lol. yes, you guys got it, Roxy is pregnant...my christmas gift to you all! (i hope those of you who celebrate it all have a fabulous day btw)
and i know that home pregnancy tests weren't as simple as they are now, you didn't just pee on a stick and i know that you had to sometimes wait hours for results but i had already typed the chapter up before i researched all that (a mistake on my part really) and so decided to just go with what i had