YES IT IS Stories: Mrs. Lennon
Authors: pennylane_fic, jenny_wren28 & lovelyrita_mm
Starring: The Beatles and Maggie Sue
Rating: M for language, implied sex (though none of it is explicit) & implied drug use. Characters used in this story are either our creation, or are historically-based (ie, The Beatles).
Disclaimer: We don't own any of the Beatles, this obviously never happened, and is a complete work of fiction.
Directly following the 1966 Beatles Tour
Maggie Sue waited, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She knocked lightly, but then, fearing no one would hear her, she knocked again with more force. This time the knock sounded way too loud. Shifting nervously, she was about ready to flee for the safety of the little car that John had bought for her. She glanced back at it and its relative safety longingly. The sight of the car soon made her smile. Of course George had insisted that her car be a Mini Cooper like his. Fraternal twins even in cars it seemed.
Looking back at the door, Maggie narrowed her eyes. It remained still, staring back at her in a way that Maggie was sure could be considered mockingly. Shaking her head, Maggie had just stepped backwards off the porch, all too ready to believe no one was home, when the door opened.
The former Mrs. Lennon was standing in front of her with a surprised look on her face. Cynthia recovered her smile quickly, though. She was nothing if not polite to the extreme. She'd had to be, to be married to John for as long as she had been, and dealing with all the rigors of being a Beatle wife. It came with the territory.
"Oh, hullo, Maggie. Come on in," she said cordially, if a bit formally.
Maggie took a surreptitious deep breath, and stepped inside. Cynthia's new home, the one she had purchased with her new husband, was much smaller than the mansion she'd lived in with John, and much cozier too. It suited her, and it was a good place for Julian to grow up.
"Here to visit Julian, are you?" Cynthia looked at Maggie, a bit wary, as if she were less than thrilled with the prospect. Not that Maggie could blame her. If she were Julian's mother she wouldn't want an endless parade of 'Daddy's Girlfriends' being introduced to him either. Hopefully today she could set Cyn's mind at ease at least in that regard.
"Yes, but I hoped to have a word with you first, if that's ok," Maggie said nervously.
She didn't know why she was nervous – ok, she felt a tiny bit of guilt for having kissed this woman's husband in 1964, but that was silly since John had done far worse with far more women than her. Besides, as difficult as it had been, and as strong a draw as John was, she'd put the breaks on early, envisioning Cynthia alone at home, resigned to her role as dutiful Beatle wife. There would be no affairs with married men as far as Maggie was concerned. Call her uptight, but she did have her standards. When she and John had gotten together, he'd already been divorced, so she couldn't be implicated in the breakup – though as it turned out, she'd been the direct cause of it. Not that she could explain any of this to Cyn. Maggie swallowed thickly. She started to feel guilty again.
Though Cyn had always been perfectly polite to her, she sensed that there was some underlying tension. Maggie suspected it was not only because she was John's new girlfriend, but because she and Julian had taken to each other right away. Of course Cynthia felt threatened. It was only natural. To make things worse, John, Maggie and Julian together made an attractive family unit. Because of this, Maggie wanted to be sure that Cynthia knew that Maggie had no intention of replacing her as Julian's mother.
It was important for Cynthia to know how much Maggie loved Julian, as well. Maggie made it a point to treat the kid with all the love she could muster. Yes, he was a part of John and that made her love him all on it's own, but he was also a truly unique little boy. One that was so full of life once you got to know him. Maggie needed Cynthia to know that Maggie loved Julian for who he was, and wouldn't turn her back on him when John wasn't looking.
Then, there was the matter of her engagement to John, which had still not been announced officially yet. More and more people in the inner circle had learned about it though, and Maggie was afraid it would leak to Cynthia before she and John had gotten a chance to talk to her in person. Also, she was nervous about Cynthia learning of the engagement since it had happened rather quickly. It had been April when she had first arrived in 1966, and John had asked her to marry him what seemed like a few weeks later. Of course, they'd really been together much longer than that – they'd first met in 1964 – and they'd had some time together in 2006. But to an outsider like Cynthia, it would seem sudden. Maggie also knew that the suddenness of it all would seem like a slap in the face to Cynthia; and it some ways it was. Maggie had to suppress a groan as another wave of guilt washed over her. There was no way to do this without someone being hurt, was there?
They'd intended to talk to Cynthia together, but things had been busy. For starters, John and Maggie had been house-hunting since they couldn't stay in Paul's spare flat forever. Though she missed their little love nest, the new house (soon to be mansion, if John had his way) was beautiful and she loved sharing it with John. All too soon tour rehearsals and planning had intervened and John had been swept off to Germany at the end of June.
After Germany followed Japan – and then the disaster in the Philippines. There'd been a short break and then the band had flown off to America for most of August. John had been back for a total of five days before he'd flown off to Spain to shoot Dick Lester's new film "How I Won the War". He hadn't wanted to go, because he'd only just gotten back from tour, and he was exhausted and had wanted nothing more than some quiet time with Maggie. But she knew that he was meant to do this film and had talked him into going. It would give him a break from being a Beatle and right now, a break was probably for the best. Maggie promised that once he'd gotten settled, she'd come out to stay with him, if he wanted her to. Which he did, of course. Neither of them wanted a repeat of the famous "glass hurling" incident. The current separation wasn't so bad because she'd spent the remainder of the American tour with John, and had thoroughly enjoyed watching him be a Beatle. Seeing Beatle concert after Beatle concert (after all you couldn't actually hear them) was a dream come true for her. She smiled a bit at that.
Cynthia's voice brought her jarringly back to the present. "Would you like some tea?"
"What? Oh, yes, that would be great, thanks," Maggie said a moment too late, while fidgeting with her hands. She didn't know what to do with them, and now it felt like there was a rather large elephant in the room.
Cynthia led her into the kitchen where Julian was sprawled on the floor, coloring. He looked up and when he saw Maggie, jumped up, raced over, and threw his arms around her. Instinctively, she hugged him back, but when she looked up from him, she saw Cynthia's face tighten. Turning away, Cynthia adjusted the tea kettle on the stove, but Maggie had already seen her expression.
Julian tucked his soft, warm little hand into her own and led her to the table to sit. Despite Julian's constant chatter, the silence in the room screamed as Maggie sunk down into a kitchen chair. Cynthia stared at the tea kettle, trying to busy herself, prolonging the silence between her and Maggie for lack of something to say. Maggie looked at her sadly, only turning away at the sound of running feet as Julian went to get his coloring book. Returning, he climbed up on the chair next to her to show her his drawings.
Julian was such a solemn child, but he was laughing more and more now. Since meeting him, Maggie had watched the relationship between him and John bloom as Julian began to warm up to his father. Since she had warned John about his future strained relationship with Julian, John tried so hard, and it was only rarely now that he lost his patience with the child, and then only when Julian was being naughty.
Secretly, Maggie was happy to see Julian feeling comfortable enough around John to actually BE naughty. He had been unnaturally quiet and careful around John at first, afraid of John's unpredictable moods, but once he saw that John seemed to have learned patience and had developed an interest in him, Julian had started behaving like a normal little boy. Julian didn't seem to question John's sudden interest or change of heart, and after a few months, he'd lost his wariness entirely.
Seeing them together warmed Maggie's heart and it made her decide that if she'd accomplished nothing else in the past, saving John and Julian's relationship made her decision to stay completely worthwhile.
Her own relationship with Julian was progressing as well. She'd been cautious at first, not wanting Julian to think she was trying to replace Cynthia, but Julian had taken to her quickly and they were soon fast friends. Julian hadn't really questioned her relationship with John, and seemed happy enough to have her as a new playmate.
So Maggie built block towers and colored with him – and sometimes they'd bring Julian over to Paul's so that Julian could play with Martha, who was gentle for such a big dog. They'd had a lovely early summer until John had had to leave for his tour. Even with all the tour preparations, he'd made sure to make time for Julian. They'd had him over to stay every other weekend, and had also had him over occasionally during the week.
At first Cynthia had been suspicious, then wary, and then thrilled that John was finally taking a real interest in his son. How could she help it when Julian was finally so happy to be around his father?
Cynthia set two cups of tea on the table. "Julian, why don't you run and play upstairs and leave Maggie and I to chat?" she asked the boy. It was clear on the child's face that Julian wasn't happy to go. But slowly, he shuffled his way to the stairs, where he gave a last hopeful look at the two of them. Cynthia shook her head and pointed upwards and with a small pout on his face, Julian went upstairs.
"He really likes you, you know," Cynthia said. "I'm really glad, but at the same time…"
"You're wondering how long I'll be around and whether Julian will be crushed when John and I break up?" Maggie finished for her.
"Was I that obvious?" Cynthia laughed, still a little tense.
"It's a valid concern," Maggie said. Taking a deep breath, Maggie leaned forward, ready to take the plunge. "Which is part of the reason I wanted to talk to you. John and I had hoped to do it together, but with the tour and the film and well, everything, he's hardly been home…"
"Yes, the tour, don't I know how those go." Cynthia said ruefully.
"Yes, of course, you must." Maggie said feeling a bit chagrined. How could she forget that Cynthia knew better then she did just how busy John typically was? She continued a bit more carefully this time. "I really hoped to have John here too, but he agreed with me that it was better for me to talk to you alone than for you to find out from someone else…" Maggie stole herself, and took another deep breath before the words flew out, "I know it seems fast, but we're engaged."
Cynthia looked at her for a moment, her face becoming an unreadable mask. At her unblinking gaze, Maggie found that she had to look away, only able to raise her eyes again at Cynthia's notice. Slowly, Cynthia sipped her tea before setting it down, and absentmindedly scratching at a fleck of dust on her skirt said simply, "I see."
The silence in the room was as loud as a thunderbolt, and finally Maggie, unable to stand it, spoke yet again, "I hope to have some sort of place in Julian's life, perhaps as one of his Aunties?" She looked at Cynthia hopefully and seeing her staring determinedly into her teacup continued, "I would never dream of trying to replace you, but I did want you to know how much I love Julian, and well, I guess I just sort of wanted your blessing."
A small, incredulous laugh escaped from her throat. "For you and John? You hardly need it. He's seen plenty of women without my blessing." Cynthia was bitter. Again, Maggie really couldn't blame her.
Clutching her tea cup, Maggie tried to think how best to phrase her answer. "I meant for me and Julian, actually. I want John to stay a part of his life, and I want to be a part of his life. But I just wanted to reassure you that I know he's still your son, and that I would never, COULD never come between that relationship."
Silenced reigned yet again. Every sound became more apparent - the tick of the clock, the shallow breathes escaping from Maggie's throat, the distant noise of Julian playing.... and just when Maggie thought she'd go mad, Cynthia slowly responded. "It's hard seeing him with you, I can't lie. But I also can't deny that John's relationship with him has completely changed over the last few months, and I can only assume that's due to you."
Relief coursed through Maggie. Perhaps Cyn didn't hate her? "I don't want credit; I just knew that he had a hard time relating with Julian. Let's just say I could envision a future where he and John were estranged and that I knew John would regret that for the rest of his life if that was to come to pass."
"Psychic now, are we?" Cynthia said wryly, taking another sip of tea, and relaxing a bit into the conversation.
"No, just a Beatle fan who's read one too many bios," Maggie said lightly. At least it was the truth.
Cynthia smiled at that. "How much have you read about John's many infidelities? Or did he tell you about them himself?" Maggie leaned back. She certainly wasn't pulling any punches. "It's not all sunshine and roses when you're with a Beatle, you know."
"I know." Maggie whispered. Looking at her honestly, she felt some of the anxiety leave. "Honestly, I think John was terrible to you, and I'm really sorry for what he put you through. I think he has changed though – or is trying to. Just look at the progress he's made with Julian." Maggie said hopefully.
"It's not easy for a man to change though, especially not a man like John." Cynthia said sadly, staring at her tea again.
"I know that too. And I don't expect life as a Beatle wife to be easy. I really don't." Maggie responded. "In fact, I'd almost rather he weren't a Beatle. Or weren't so much a part of the Swinging London. I don't really feel like I fit in that scene at all."
Cynthia relaxed again, the tension in her shoulders starting to fade. "Neither did I, though heaven knows I tried. I wore the trendy clothes and tried to make John proud to have me by his side – but look at me. I can't compete with the models and bohemian artists in their crowd. Let alone the other rockers – Mick wouldn't leave me alone! I think he liked the idea of scoring with John's shy, little wife!"
Maggie looked temporarily shocked, "Did you….?"
"Oh, no, no – I knew it was about John and not about me." She said quickly. A small smirk touched her lips though. "Not that I didn't consider it. But John would have been furious. There's a double standard you know – John can sleep with whomever he pleases, but if I'd slept with Mick and he'd found out? I can only imagine." Cynthia realized that they'd already been over John's infidelities and tried to lighten things. "I assume Mick has already come on you?"
"The first time I met him, he tried to get me to ditch John and go off with him! And John was standing right there! Which means, of course, that you're right – it was about John and not me." Maggie giggled. Cynthia giggled too, the terrible thickness of the room lifting almost at once. "Maybe Mick is just jealous," Maggie joked.
"Of John or of us?" Cynthia laughed. It was a good sound, and one Maggie knew she could hear often if they continued to talk. Despite the awkward situation they were in, she and Cynthia might manage a friendship after all.
It would be hard though.
She really did like Cynthia, and as a geeky science nerd in her own time, she knew a thing or two about not fitting in with the cool kids. But she also knew an uncomfortable amount about how John had treated Cynthia. How was she supposed to reassure Cynthia that John would be different with her? Wasn't it a huge slap in the face to tell someone that their cheating husband had turned over a new leaf, now that he'd found the real love of his life? Obviously, she couldn't ever say this to Cynthia, but perhaps the implication was there anyway. And of course there had to be a small part of Cynthia that hoped Maggie and John wouldn't make it. Hoped that John would cheat on her too. Because if he didn't, if he remained faithful, then that would mean that there had been something wrong with Cynthia.
Once again, Maggie felt guilty. There really was no right answer to any of this.
At least in this timeline, John hadn't unceremoniously dumped Cynthia for Yoko, leaving her humiliated and alone with Julian. In this timeline, Cynthia had dumped John for his cheating and his moping around for a woman that Time had taken away from him. Cynthia was happily married – and perhaps of all things, this fact would help to make things between herself and Cynthia a bit easier.
There was still the issue of Julian.
Maggie broached the subject carefully, "I know I've never had Julian with me without John being there, but I've really missed him. I was wondering if you'd mind if I took him to the zoo for the afternoon? We'd take Mal with us in case of any problems with fans, but without John we're unlikely to be recognized…" Maggie trailed off.
Cynthia looked like she wanted to say no, but then relented with a small sigh. "I guess I have to be ok with it, if you're going to be Julian's step-mom. It's hard to let my little boy go, but I think it's good for him." Cynthia thought for a minute, "Look, why don't you keep Julian tonight and the two of you can have a sleepover? My husband and I have theatre tickets tonight anyway and we were going to need a babysitter."
A grin broke out across Maggie's face. Of all the things she had been expecting out of this conversation, this was not one of them. "That would be wonderful, thank you."
"I'm sure Julian will be thrilled. He's been moping around since John left again."
"Well, maybe he can talk to John tonight when he calls."
"I'm sure he would love that. Please give John my regards as well."
"I'll do that."
Looking down at her hands hesitantly, Cynthia fidgeted. She was glad that Maggie had come to talk to her, but it didn't mean that they would become best friends right away. Maybe in time, but for now, things would remain somewhat superficial and polite. There was one thing she did have to get off her chest though. "I … I know I have a lot of issues where John is concerned," she said slowly. "I thought I was past most of them, but, well, he was such a large part of my life. And there are a lot of hurts there still. I supposed there always will be." Cynthia said sadly.
"I know that. I'm sorry."
"I just wanted you to know that I'll stop bringing up John's infidelities. It's not really my place to be concerned with that anymore. Just be careful, I don't want you to be surprised when it happens to you, is all. I know I'm terribly out of line in saying that, but I hope you'll take it as advice from an ex-Beatle wife to a future Beatle wife." Cynthia paused like she wanted to say more, but instead lapsed into an awkward silence. Their relationship was going to be a work in progress. After a minute, she broke the silence and said, "Well, I'll go and get Julian for you."
"Thanks." Maggie said biting her lip. Would there always be awkwardness? Most likely.
Cynthia left and Maggie sat down and sipped absentmindedly at her now-cold tea.
Had she been crazy to leave her whole life behind for a man who'd thought nothing of cheating on his wife, who had used hard drugs so casually, who could even have been labeled as abusive to his family?
Then she thought of her John, who was funny and vulnerable and tender. He was human and very flawed. But he was hers and she loved him. He would be home from the Spain soon, and they would start their new life together. Whatever that life would become, it would be theirs.
* * *
A/N:
Haha, I know we are totally mean by calling the story "Mrs Lennon" and giving you the OLD Mrs. Lennon... please forgive us? Trust me, the wait will be worth it.
As for me personally, I think I'm done shipping Maggie/John... MAGGIE/MICK OTP!!!! ;)
Also, we'd love to know what you think so far, so please drop us a line. :)