A/N: should be back to the band in the next part.

Part 12

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"There they are, at long last," they were greeted with as they entered the hotel restaurant and approached the table The Companions had commandeered. Mickey stood to give John a brief hug, quickly followed by Rory, whilst the girls enveloped Donna in a protective embrace.

"Come and have something to eat with us," Rory offered. "You must be starving."

Donna let herself be eased down onto a chair. "Just a bit. Although I think John is suffering more than me. Throw him an extra sandwich."

They all laughed at the familiar tease. She had suggested smuggling John out a bag of sandwiches on previous occasions. Her tone wasn't malicious, merely concerned about his thinness.

"I'm fine," John insisted, waving off the joke. In all honesty, he was relieved she was back to this normal level of teasing. "But I could do with a decent meal right now."

Mickey immediately called over the waitress, who had been hovering anxiously nearby, to take their order. Not that Mickey took any notice, because he was used to staff being awestruck around them. It was all part of the job. He let Donna and John order some food and then added hot drinks for them all.

"So… What's the plan for today?"

"We need to rehearse the new choreography for the third song-"

"Why do we need new choreography?" Donna interrupted Rose. "Has something gone wrong with the one we had?"

"Not exactly." Rose then glanced meaningfully at Mickey to give him his cue.

"More of a joint decision," Rory started to explain, "since we…"

"That's mainly me and Rory but these two agreed," Mickey continued, "that we would like to ask John up on stage again. So, what do you say, John? Are you willing to be our new member?"

"It can be on a temporary basis, if you like," Rory persuaded him, "and decide the rest later."

For his part, John was rather flummoxed. He had definitely not expected this to happen. "I don't know what to say."

"Of course, we will contact Nerys immediately and make sure you get properly paid," Martha added. "We will do it all above board."

"What about the bodyguarding?" Donna softly queried. "Would I have to get a new bloke?"

"Hopefully all that extra security won't be needed anymore," Rose commented. "I mean, all that stalking or threatening business was probably your son."

They all seemed to agree with this, but what if it had nothing to do with him? Donna gazed anxiously at John to see how to react.

"We will soon find out," he cautiously said. "For now, I'd like to combine the two."

Donna's smile of relief didn't last long because Martha suddenly asked, "When were you going to talk to him again?"

"I was going to give him a call later," Donna supplied, "but I had better learn this new dance routine first."

"In that case, ladies, we will leave you to it and get John here kitted out," Mickey declared. He then aimed at John, "How do you fancy a quick trip to Denmark Street to pick a new guitar?"

"Ah. I still have my duties," he answered, looking at Donna. "I have to stay here."

"No, honest you don't," Donna stressed, wanting him to enjoy this new development. "We will only be in Martha's suite. Nowhere dangerous, so if you want to check it out first, I'm sure we can be safe for an hour or so."

"Fine by me," Mickey readily agreed. "We will have you back here as soon as possible."

"Then, let's begin," John proposed.

A few hours later, Donna rested for a while as she watched John practice posing with his new guitar.

"What do you think? Like this, or more like this?" he wondered, changing his stance every few seconds.

She couldn't help laughing at the delighted expression on his face. "They all look good. Did they sort you out an outfit too?"

"Yes. A bit less ABBAish this time, thankfully, and nearer my old style."

"Can't wait to see it later, then." She grinned mischievously at him, thinking of her previous reaction to his leather look. Would she be able to resist his charms this time around, she wondered?

"Talking of later," he hesitantly began, bringing her out of her happy daydream, "are you really going to call Callum?"

"Yes, of course I am," she insisted, more to convince herself than anybody else. "Why do you ask?"

He took off the guitar strap and sat beside her on the settee. "Because I can help you make the call, if you want."

"I am perfectly capable of making a video call," she huffed.

"But 'able' and 'capable' are two different words," he retorted before placing a comforting hand over hers. "And if you are nervous about talking to him, that doesn't make you a bad person. Just normal."

He understood perfectly. How had she ever doubted him? "I'd like that. Thanks."

"How about doing it now? Get it over and done with, before you overthink it," he suggested.

"Alright." Taking in a deep breath for courage and giving his hand a squeeze, she brought up the relevant number on her phone and pressed the video call icon.

To her relief, it didn't take too long before it was answered. There in front of her, was her long-lost son. "Hello. Callum. It's me," she stiltedly began.

"Hello Donna," he replied. "How are you?"

A voice in the background yelled out, "Who is it? Who's on the phone?"

He turned sideways to shout back, "Mum, it's Donna and her husband!"

"Can I see?" they heard.

"No," he answered, flushing with embarrassment.

Donna didn't dare look at John as they waited to see what happened next in this odd conversation.

A middle-aged woman then appeared apologetically in the background. "It's her! Sorry. Didn't mean to butt in. I'll let you get on with it."

"Hello," Donna called out to her. "It's lovely to finally see who has taken such good care of Callum for all these years. You must be very proud of him. I'm hoping to get to know him better."

Callum glared back at Donna through the screen. "You'll find out more if you actually talk to me," he griped.

"Sorry. Just building bridges," Donna apologised. "Never done this sort of thing before."

"Funnily enough, neither have I."

"Callum," his mother chided. "Remember your manners."

"Anyway, I wanted to take this first step," Donna explained, ignoring his outburst, "since we are both really new at this game, and would like to continue, if that is okay with you."

"Sure," he agreed. "How does your husband feel about it all?"

"I'm not…," John started to correct him.

"We aren't married," Donna said at the same time, "but he supports all this."

Callum didn't look convinced. "And he isn't going to try and rough me up again?"

"That was merely a misunderstanding," Donna consoled him. "John looks after me."

"I thought you were attacking her," John put in for good measure. "There have been a few that try."

"Okay," Callum acknowledged with a nod of his head. "As long as you promise."

"We do."

Now at a loss for words, Callum said, "Right then. I'll let you get back to your concert tour thing."

"I'll phone again soon," Donna vowed.

He seemed satisfied with that. "Good. Bye then."

"Bye," they chorused and then her son was gone.

"That didn't go too badly," John noted.

"Do you think he liked me?" Donna fretted.

"Of course he did. Small steps at first, to build a relationship, remember." John was quite pleased with himself for avoiding saying the words 'baby steps' in that moment. "He's probably shaking with nerves too."

She nodded. "Probably. I spoke to my son. I can't believe this is actually happening to me."

"It is," he confirmed, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders. "The start of something important."

"Lots of big things, all at once," she commented, looking up into his eyes.

"Are you saying that because he thinks we're married?" he teased.

Inevitably, she swatted his arm. "Give over. Mr Bodyguard-now-band-member."

"We both seem to be having a stroke of good luck," he stated, giving her body a squeeze.

Removing his arm from her shoulder, she retorted, "You can pack the stroking in. Let's see if you still think that you're lucky after a couple of gigs."

"Bring it on," he enthused.

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