A/N not mine, I own nothing but the plot and the device I use to write it upon.
There are four very important birthdays this month, and in this one shot we are celebrating all them. John Lennon would have been 75 years old and his son Sean turned 40 on October 9th, Stephanie Plum's is on the 12. The third one, well, this story is a gift to myself. I'll be 38 on October 19 and it is also the third anniversary of my pulmonary Hypertension diagnosis. Each birthday is a gift, so I don't take it for granted any longer.
Also, I do not own the songs Imagine or Beautiful Boy, both by John Lennon.
Imagine
RPOV
Today is one of the biggest celebrations in our family. It has been five years since I ended my contract with the government. This was the day that I took control of my life back. Five years ago today Steph and I flew to Las Vegas and were married.
Tonight, not only will we be celebrating those accomplishments, but Stephanies' birthday as well. October tweleth is a very special day for us. One thing that surprised me most about Steph was her love for Beatles music, more specifically John Lennon. I have a big surprise for her tonight, that I'm sure she will love.
That day, five years ago, when I came home from D.C., took her by surprise. She was at her parents house, and I walked in scooped her up and left without a single word to anyone. Her mother was screeching behind us the entire time. I laughed as we drove to the airport.
I had the radio playing softly as we made the drive to Philly to catch our plane. They were playing songs written by John Lennon in honor of his birthday the past week. The song Imagine came on; Steph closed her eyes and tipped her head back against the seat. She began to quietly sing along. I know that I shouldn't have been surprised, but I honestly didn't think that her taste in music ran in that direction.
Also, considering that this particular song was a protest song against the Vietnam war, I was doubly surprised. She came to one part of the song and sang a little louder.
"Some say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us and the world can live as one."
As the song came to an end, I looked over and found a very pensive looking Steph. A single tear rolled down her cheek. I pulled over to the shoulder of the road.
"Babe, what's wrong? It's your birthday, you should be happy."
"Have you ever had a song just trigger a memory every time you hear it?" she asked. I nodded my head, and she continued, " My Grandpa Mazur loved the Beatles and John Lennon by himself. This song, even though it was a protest song was special for us. He would sing just that one section to me, then tell me that me, him and Grandma were the dreamers. That instead of fighting the world, we faught for ourselves. He told me that I should never stop being a dreamer, but I did. I got tired of fighting for my own happiness. I almost let them win. I was going to..." She clenched her eyes shut as she became silent.
"You were going to, what?" I questioned, not realizing that my heart would stop from how close I'd come to losing her.
"I was going to accept Joe's proposal tonight and quit my job with Vinnie," she whispered.
I tensed up at that moment and knew I had made the right choice. I had almost lost her for good.
Tonight we are celebrating her birthday, our son's first birthday and our wedding anniversary. Yes, I had made the right choice.
I watched asy beautiful wife settled our young son against her shoulder as we made our way inside the hall we are using for tonights festivities.
As the evening wears on, I ask Lester to hold Tony while I dance with Stephanie. I guide her to the dance floor, and the lights go out. A single spot light is suddenly upon us.
My Babe looks confused when she realizes that there is no one else on the dance floor. A male voice begins to sing.
"Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy
if you try. No Hell below us, above us
only sky. Imagine all the people living
for today."
She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. While we dance the stage lights slowly come up and as her favorite part of the song is being sung she glances up and gasps. Sean Lennon is singing for us. When the song ends he speaks up.
"Happy Birthday Stephanie and Tony. Happy anniversary to you and your husband as well. I'm glad I could do this for your special day."
She is clinging to me as though she will wake up and find that this has only been a dream.
I can hear her Grandma Mazur telling Mrs. Plum to put a sock in it. I let out a soft chuckle.
There is one more thing that I have, but it's more of a gift for Tony. I haven't sang in public since I was part of the childrens choir at St. Mary's.
Steph went to get our precious little boy back from Lester. I made my way to the stage, took a deep breath and began.
I sang the last line in the song as I was getting closer to my little family.
"Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, boy."
I pulled them into my arms and whispered to them, "We needed one for our little boy. Happy Birthday, Babe.
Happy Birthday, little man."
Steph pulled me down for a kiss.
"Happy Anniversary, Carlos."