Of All These Friends And Lovers

by TheMissMod

NOT ATU. Beatles fic! After bombs forced Ava Lawson and her family out of Liverpool, their return to the city is marred by the death of family friend Mary McCartney. When Ava and Paul become friends, there follows a tale of love, loss and desperation in the face of young fame. After Brian Epstein's death, the two lose touch, not speaking for 44 years. Can they forgive each other?

1. Chapter 1

Prologue

It had been a hard few years for the city of Liverpool. After the destruction left by the bombs, it seemed that there was little hope left for community spirit.
For the Lawson family in particular, their time in Liverpool had been bookended by tragic circumstances. In 1941, they had been driven out of the city when German bombs had turned their home to rubble. They had been residing in Ormskirk until, fifteen years later, they returned, this time to a new council estate in Speke. Mrs Lawson was good friends with local District Nurse and midwife Mary McCartney, and on the day the Lawson family settled in, Mary had nothing but bad news to share.
As the two mothers sat and made small-talk over coffee, a revelation came to light. Mary announced rather matter-of-factly that she was suffering with cancer. She was fearful as to how her husband, Jim, and two children Paul, aged fourteen, and Mike, aged twelve, would cope after she had gone. Being a fairly headstrong and independent woman, Mary had rarely discussed the matter of her illness with her family. She thought that as a Nurse, she would be able to take the blows as they were dealt and move courageously through the trouble God had handed to her, but as she sat meekly in the front parlour of Brenda Lawson's home, she felt her hope begin to ebb away. Her life now was a succession of 'if's. If she had seen a doctor earlier, if she had been honest with Jim about her pain...perhaps things wouldn't be the way they were. Perhaps she wouldn't have to sneak off into the garden with the washing in order to sit by the flowers and weep. Perhaps she wouldn't have seen Jim cry, a sunken shadow of a man barely aware of the world around him. It was the first time she had ever seen him cry, and that night she knew it would be the last. Mary was told that the doctors could do no more for her, and so she endeavoured to continue family life as normal, even though she suspected the boys knew something wasn't right.

As Brenda hugged her friend tightly, the profound shock of the situation reduced both women to absolute tears. It was at this point that Brenda's young daughter, Ava, thudded softly down the stairs, resting her ear against the small crack in the front parlour door. Assuming all conversation had finished, she stepped into the room and her eyes grew wide. She shouldn't be encroaching on her Mother like this.

"Sorry. I didn't realise..." her voice trailed off and the two women regarded her with warmth. If Brenda could help it, Ava would not find out about the tragedy. Then again, Ava was the same age as Mary's son Paul, and so it seemed probable that, should she find out, she would be able to offer her sympathy and understanding. Of course they were all far too young to know of this kind of loss, but they were by now old enough to face the challenges that lay ahead.