Everyone adapted well to life on the road and surprisingly, Arthur was one of the first to find himself in a new sleep schedule but both John and Roxanne assumed that it was just because he was a baby and seemingly could adapt to anything.
Keeping him occupied, that was a little harder. Especially when they could be cooped up on the bus for hours at a time and with him now walking, it was a getting harder to keep track of him. Thankfully though, wherever they stopped, there was always plenty to do; zoos, aquariums, shops to visit and parks to walk through.
But of course, sometimes the young parents needed a break and both of them were so thankful that they had the friends they did; everyone was always happy to take Arthur - whether it be for a few hours or a whole night.
Almost two months into the tour, they found themselves in Florida and at any other time, Roxanne would have been thrilled to be in the same state as Disneyworld, today, was a different story. It was Arthur's birthday.
Her baby was one.
Now, no one outside of their hotel room would ever know this but last night, after a few glasses of wine, Roxanne may have cried to John about how she wasn't ready for him to grow up, that it was only seventeen years until he would be off to university.
He'd put her to bed after that.
Now, it was morning, officially Arthur's first birthday and when she wakes, she sees that he too is awake, standing up and holding onto the sides of the crib that the hotel had provided.
He realises that she's awake immediately and starts bouncing on his feet as he babbles excitedly.
Looking over her shoulder, Roxy sees that John is still sleeping and so she gets up from the bed and moves to stand by the crib.
"Morning," she coos, lifting him up into her arms, "And a very happy birthday."
She kisses his hand when he pats her cheek gently, looking at John again when he turns onto his stomach, "Do you want to wake daddy up? Hm?"
Arthur claps his hands, making her giggle, "Da!"
"You're so close," she praises, rubbing her nose against his tiny one, "You're almost there! But please, feel free to say mummy first. No pressure."
Last week, she was convinced that he'd said it but John (and everyone else) had said she'd imagined it.
"Da!" Arthur cheers, reaching for John once more and Roxy can't help but roll her eyes fondly.
"Alright."
She sits him down on her side of the bed, laying back down herself as the baby -oh god, he was a toddler now- turns all of his attention to his father, crawling over to him so he can wake him up."
Roxy has a sneaking suspicion that John was already awake because he opens his eyes far to quickly to have been roused from a deeper sleep and Arthur squeals in delight as he lets out a quiet groan.
"Morning," he yawns, stretching his arms out under the pillows before he's grinning at his son, "And just like that, he's one."
"He's a toddler, John," Roxy frowns, closing her eyes as Arthur cuddles up to her, "Can't we keep him this small?"
"If only it were that easy."
++|++
It was still rather early when the three of the venture out of the hotel room, both Roxy and John holding one of Arthur's hands so he can walk between them, down to the hotel's restaurant which was empty except for an older couple who were in one of the corner booths.
John finds a table with Arthur while Roxy gets some fruit for him to eat, making sure to cut up anything that was too busy. She takes a little bowl of porridge over for him as well, knowing full well that he won't touch it.
She joins the pair of them at the table and Arthur eagerly reaches for the bowl of fruit, completely ignoring the other one she's carrying.
"I was thinking," John murmurs, looking over the menu of the hot food, "There's a shopping centre not far from here. We could go and let him pick out a few toys? I know that he probably won't remember most of this and we picked some stuff up but...I don't know, I feel guilty."
Roxanne nods, agreeing with him. They had agreed that they weren't going to go all out as they did at Christmas - he was right, Arthur was still too little to remember today but now that it was here, she had wished that they'd at least thought of something to do.
John had thought about suggesting Disneyworld but one look out of the window that morning had scuppered his plan. At least the shopping centre was indoors.
It's not long before they're joined by the rest of the band along with Becca and Kayla, who all shower the birthday boy in affection.
"Any plans for his big day?" Roger asks, settling Arthur in his lap so both John and Roxy can eat their breakfasts in peace.
"We're going to go to the shopping centre. The one that we saw on our way in last night. He's got into the little toy cars so we're thinking we might get some there. Take him to the aquarium too, Rox?"
"Is that right?" Roger asks, making Arthur grin, "You gonna be a little petrol head when you're older?"
John shakes his head with a smile on his face, "You're welcome to join us if you'd like."
"We couldn't do that," Becca shakes her head, "No, it's a day for the three of you."
They finish breakfast and head back upstairs to get ready. It may be pouring with rain but it was still humid and so Roxy gets Arthur changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt with Mickey Mouse's silhouette on it while she goes with some jean cut-offs and a shirt.
They decide to just walk the short journey, John holding the umbrella per both him and Roxanne while she pushes Arthur in his buggy which is covered with its plastic rain cover.
"I wish I was in there," John shivers as water drips down the back of his neck, making Roxy laugh.
It's no surprise that the place is somewhat busy, with the weather as it is, there's not much else to do.
The first thing that they do is obviously go to the closest toy store, where the cars that Arthur likes are on the shelves higher up and so John gets him out of the buggy so he can get a better look - not that he'll actually look at them, he tends to just go for the brightest colours.
While they're doing that, Roxy goes for a look herself, Roxanne goes for a look round herself, smiling at the person manning the checkouts as she grabs a basket.
On her way around, she tosses in a xylophone, a set of Duplo blocks and a couple of books, ones with the fabrics and the lights.
Her boys rejoin her as she's looking at the toy mats, particularly drawn to the one that has roads and buildings on it.
"We couldn't decide on what one," John says when she raises an eyebrow. Arthur has one in each hand and John is holding a third, "So we thought that since it's his birthday, he could get all three. Didn't we, buddy?"
"Ya!"
"Since it's your birthday," Roxy agrees, kissing his chubby cheek.
"Told you she would go for it," John whispers.
++|++
When they return to the hotel, Roger catches them before they can get to their room, asking if it's alright that he and Becca give Arthur their present now.
"I dunno, Rog," Rox frowns, looking at John's watch, "It's almost time for his nap."
"It won't take five minutes, Nessie. Promise."
And so they agree, John puts their stuff into their room before they make their way two doors down to the room that he and Rebecca were in.
As soon as they walk in, they realise that he's led them here with false promises; the band are all there, on the floor, there's a small pile of wrapped presents and on the table, a selection of food that's come from room service - there's even a small cake with a single candle sticking out of it.
Roxy can't even bring herself to be mad.
"We thought it best that we didn't get a bigger cake," Roger explains, "'m not even sure if he's allowed cake but...thought we'd get one anyway."
"We aren't really sure what he's eating either," Freddie admits when he walks by, tweaking Arthur under the chin which makes him giggle and reach for him, "But we got some more fruit."
"Basically," Brian pipes up from where he and Kayla are helping themselves to the food, "We just wanted to make sure he had a good day."
John grins, tugging Roxanne into his side when it looks like she's going to start crying.
"You guys are amazing," she whispers, watching Freddie as he sits down on the floor with Arthur on his lap, pulling one of the larger presents towards them, "Honestly, what would we do without you?"
They decided that he can miss his nap - just for today and John takes lots of photos so, even if Arthur doesn't remember, they can show him.