Cynthia Lennon―or Powell; she didn't knew anymore. Or in fact, she knew she had to stop calling herself like that and start using again her last name: Powell. He had just divorced from John, the guy that asked her out for the first time when they were just teenagers. She clearly remembered that day, where after a college party to celebrate the end of term, the handsome Teddy boy asked him to go out, and she replied she was engaged, making the young man reply: "I didn't ask you to fucking marry me, did I?", leaving the pretty girl confused because the young man had been avoiding her all evening, but later he finally looked for her again, and asked her to go to Ye Cracke pub when she was just ready to leave; and what did John Winston Lennon do? Grabbed her hand and asked her to stay. The two later made love for the first time in a room Stu was renting. How could she not fell in love with him?
She was remembering everything that happened since then; how jealous he got when she talked to other guys in college, the letters he wrote her when he was away touring, when she told him for the first time he was going to have his baby…
All those memories came through her head, as his son was sitting with her on the couch, caressing her hair, while they were both trying to fall asleep. They knew what had happened, and just couldn't find the right words to say to each other.
Mother and son were peacefully embracing each other; eventually one of them would let out a little tear, and the other one would wipe it away and smile weakly. No words were necessary.
Hours passed and they were both ready to fell asleep, when they heard someone knocking the door. She quickly opened her eyes and got off the couch, trying to not disturb Julian. Who could be there at the door? It could be John; maybe he wanted to talk with them, to apologize.
"Who's there?" she asked.
"Paul McCartney here,"
Cynthia was very surprised when she found out who was her visitor; she quickly opened the door and greeted the young man standing in front of her.
"Hi Paul, what a lovely surprise! What has brought you here? Come in."
"Hey Cyn… I just wanted to pass by here and see how are you and Jules."
"We could be better, but we're great, thank you." she smiled, very touched by the concern of the young man, which had just arrived on his own just to visit them.
The little five year-old-boy opened his eyes and quickly jumped out of the couch and happily greeted, "Paulie!"
"Jules! I missed ya, big boy." The Beatle replied messing the boy's hair and smiling because of Julian's joy of seeing him.
"I missed you too." Julian gave a hug to the older man standing in front of him.
"You want to play?" Paul kneeled down to be the same tall as the child.
"Yes!"
"What do you want to play?"
"I want to draw." The little boy replied, and immediately ran to look for crayons and papers. He tossed them all on the floor and invited the left-handed to sit down and draw with him. They both grabbed a sheet of paper and started to draw whatever was going through their minds.
Paul began to sketch the first lines, when he asked Julian, "So tell me about Lucy."
"Oh, she's fine."
"I really love the drawing you made about her. It's gorgeous, and it inspired your dad to write a song."
"Lucy in the sky with diamonds!" The five-year-old giggled thinking about his friend Lucy O'Donnell.
"I wonder what you're going to draw today."
"Wait and you'll see!"
Paul and Julian stayed quiet for some time, focused in their drawings, until the little kid raised his head and called: "Paulie?" The boy gave a look that said a thousand things. You could easily notice something was bothering him.
"Yes, Jules?" Paul left the crayon and stopped drawing to look at the boy directly in the eyes.
"I think daddy doesn't love me anymore" Julian dropped a tear and looked terribly sad.
"Don't ever say that again. Your dad loves you." Paul had to contain his tears, because the sadness in Julian's voice wasn't something easy to handle. It hurts to see a five year old boy crying over something like that, and it reminded him of John's childhood; he always suffered about his dad abandoning him, although he'd never tell. This was different; John wasn't abandoning his son, but not every child reacts the same way about his parents divorcing; and in fact, it isn't something easy to understand for someone with such a short age.
"But now he rarely is here and he's gone and left mommy." The sweet child dropped another tear, thicker than the last one.
"Look Julian, what happened with your mommy and daddy is something between them and it's not your fault. He will always love you." Paul tried to cheer up the kid but John's son was still so young to understand well everything, and he was going through a hard time. He needed someone to talk with, and Paul was the right person.
"Daddy's always with the Asian girl." when Jules said that, it sounded like if he was complaining about it; and maybe he was. Paul didn't know what to say; but he had to do something. He wasn't going to leave the house without accomplishing what he wanted.
"But he will always have time for you. When was the last time you saw him?" Paul asked, trying to find a way to make the things easier for the child to understand.
"Last week." Julian articulated those two words with the weak voice he had, gazing directly at Paul expecting some answer from him.
"See? He'll always be there to listen to your stories. He'll always love when you show him a new drawing you made and sing to you."
"What if he forgets?" as confused as the boy was, he felt too comfortable talking with Paul; he didn't mind telling exactly what he thought about the situation, and the bassist was there to help. He knew he'd made the sweet thing smile again.
"Come on, Jules! It's John Winston Lennon we're talking about! He never forgets anything! How can he forget the person he loves the most?"
"Winston? I didn't know daddy was called John Winston!" and after saying that, the boy giggled and smiled, and that made Paul McCartney smile too.
"And my first name isn't Paul; it's James." Paul confessed raising an eyebrow so funnily, that it made the kid laugh again.
"So you're James Paul McCartney!"
"Yes…" The Beatle lowered his voice and placed a finger in his mouth. "But sshh… Not everyone has to know that." Paul joked, satisfied about making the innocent boy laugh, when Julian turned serious again and asked: "Do you really think I'm the person my dad loves the most?" Jules gave a look at Paul showing how much he trusted him, like if he knew the answers to all his questions.
"Don't even doubt it, Jules!" That single phrase made Julian's day. He believed in his dad, after all. "And be patient with Yoko. I know you don't like her, but later you'll figure out she's not that bad." after Paul finished his sentence, the boy nodded, and then remembered about the piece of art he was drawing before.
"Look what I drew! It's you and me." Julian showed the picture to Paul, and the left-handed musician took the picture with care, seeing how beautiful it was, and he proceeded to show the kid the drawing he had made: "I drew us, too," Paul showed the picture to Jules, and they decided to trade drawings. Paul was going to keep Julian's drawing, and Julian was going to keep Paul's.
"I love you." Julian hugged Paul one last time before he had to go, and the Beatle replied: "I love you too, Jules."
Paul got off the floor to look for Cynthia to say goodbye. He wished he could stay for longer; but he had some work to do at the studio.
"I've got to go Cyn... If you need anything remember you can always call." Paul said goodbye to her as he walked to the door; but before leaving, she stopped him by saying, "Hey Paul, thanks. Really." The man just smiled and left the house.
Cynthia was very touched about Paul's gesture and concern on coming to see them on his own. Only a real gentleman would do it.
Twenty years later…
It was a warm day of 1988 when Paul McCartney was alone at home. Apparently Linda was out with the kids, and they left in the morning, but didn't wake him up because she knows he was feeling terribly tired around these days.
He decided to stay in the couch for some time, smoking a little and reading the news. His life had changed in so many ways; he wasn't a Beatle anymore and still suffered for the death of John Lennon every single day, even if that tragic event happened eight years ago.
After a while, he didn't know if he was reading the newspaper, or analyzing little aspects of his life, looking for old memories that had never disappeared, remembering old days…
Between one of his thoughts, someone called the door. He lazily stood up to open the door, not even checking out whom it was, expecting Linda and the kids had returned earlier; but that's not what he found, or better said, who he found: a twenty five year old young man, who didn't even say hello before hugging him tenderly. It was Julian Lennon.
"Jules! What a big surprise you just gave me!" Paul was really surprised by his visitor, he hadn't seen Julian in some time; but John's son replied to Paul's greeting by just saying: "Thank you."
"Why are you thanking me?" Paul asked, still surprised by Julian's impression when seeing him.
"For making me take a sad song and make it better." as Julian said that, Paul smiled, knowing exactly what he was referring to.
"I can't believe I just realised today that I am Jude, and your beautiful song was for me… Why didn't you tell me?" Julian was kind of embarrassed for finding out one of Paul's best compositions was written for him… twenty years later.
"I wanted you to find out by yourself. And you just did." Paul smiled to the younger man. "Now come in! Don't stay standing out there"
The two spent the day catching up and talking about old memories. Isn't it perfect when someone you love knocks your door just to see how are you doing?