Chapter 14: Julian

I'm awaken two days later at 2:45 in the morning by Cynthia yelling to me from her bedroom.

I get up, rub my eyes, look at the clock, and then walk into her room like I have been for the last few nights.

"What's up, Cynthia?"

"It's time, Stella. Get me to the hospital, please."

My eyes widen, and I try to remember Paul's words about staying calm.

"Okay. Come on, let's go."

I get under her arm, and I help her hobble over to the door, put on flats, and into the car, her breathing heavily the whole way.

I hop into the driver's seat and head down the road as casually as I can.

"What's the day today, Cynthia?" I ask, stopping at a red light.

"April 8th, 1963."

"Do you think it's going to be a girl or boy?" I ask, taking off again.

She moans, takes a deep breath and answers, "I think it's a boy."

"Any names?" I ask, two blocks away from the hospital. I'm surprised at how calm I'm being.

"If it's a boy like we think, his name will be John Charles Julian Lennon."

"Wow, way to get technical and think ahead."

"We've had time."

I pull into the emergency zone and help her inside the doors. A nurse sees and takes her by the arm and leads her into a wheelchair.

"I'll be right back, Cyn. I'm going to park the car, then call the boys and let them know so that they can come."

She nods uncertainly, and is wheeled away, leaving me to park the car.

Once I get back into the lobby, it's nearly a half an hour later. I walk up to the desk and ask the woman if I can use the phone, but she shakes her head.

"I'm sorry, but this is for workers only. Who do you need to call?"

"Her husband, John Lennon, my boyfriend, Paul McCartney, and my brother, George Harrison."

She raises an eyebrow.

"I'm Stella Harrison. That's Cynthia Lennon. Let me use the phone."

She backs up and lets me dial. "I thought that your face looked familiar."

I roll my eyes and wait as it rings.

"Hello?" A groggy John Lennon moans into the phone. I can almost see his bed-head standing up in all directions.

"Hey John, it's Stella. I'm calling you from the hospital. Cynthia's gone into labor."

He makes a strange noise, swears multiple times, yells at Paul to wake up, and I can hear Paul asking questions sleepily in the background.

"I'm coming."

"John, how can you…"

"I said, I'm coming."

"But you still have to perform!"

"WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND IN 'I'M COMING'?" He then hangs the phone up angrily and leaves me standing there, holding the receiver oddly.

"So what room is she in?"

"Are you family?"

"…No?"

"I'm sorry, but you can't go up there."

"Are you kidding me!" I yell, losing control.

The poor secretary has no idea what she's gotten herself into.

When John and Paul walk into the door of the hospital, I don't know what they're thinking when they see me.

I look over in their direction and instantly feel sorry for poor John, who's sweating buckets.

"Did I… miss it?" He says, his voice cracking, tears starting to roll down his cheeks. "No John, it's okay! The nurse will definitely let you into her room. Since you're FAMILY," I hold up a fist to her face, and she winces, turning her head to the side.

I have her pinned down on the floor next to the desk, which makes Paul laugh, but he tries to muffle it.

He walks over to me and pries me off, apologizes to the woman, and takes me over to the waiting room.

The woman leads John down the hallway, and he looks like a frail old man, how worried he is.

We sit down on a couch in the little room. I lean my head up against Paul's shoulder, and he runs his fingers through my hair, kissing my head every once and a while.

"Do you think that she'll be okay?" I ask, snuggling up closer to him.

"I'd think so. John's so worried. I've never seen him like this before," He says, giving me a squeeze.

"He doesn't look sturdy at all. Like he lost his confidence," I say, yawning.

He runs his hand up and down my arm, and I notice I'm still wearing my pajamas.

"I love you, Paulie." I say, closing my eyes.

"I love you too, Stella." He says, also closing his eyes, his head drooping onto mine.

Soon we're fast asleep to the quiet music in the background.

"Stella, wake up," Someone says, giving me a little shake.

I open my eyes and look around to find it's now bright outside, probably midday.

"What time is it?" I ask, stretching.

"It's 9:00 in the morning."

My eyes meet Paul's big brown ones, John behind him, beaming.

I stand up and stare blankly at the two boys. Then I run over to John and throw my arms around him, burying my face into his chest.

He hugs me back, and I like this new loving side of John.

Paul takes a few steps closer to us, a little uneasy.

I let go and look up at John's face, him looking down at me with a smile.

"You wanna go meet him?" I turn around and hug Paul harder than John.

"Yes!" I say, not wanting to let go.

Paul puts his arm around me, and we walk down the hallway after John.

We go around curves and up elevators to get to a little room that John opens the door to carefully.

We peek inside and tiptoe into the room, peeking around the curtain at Cynthia, holding a little baby, fast asleep. She looks terribly tired, her eyes sagging, but she has a huge smile on her face.

"Meet Julian Lennon," She whispers happily.

John walks around the bed and gives the baby a little kiss on the head. I want to bawl, but instead I snuggle up to Paul.

John takes the baby carefully and holds him out to me, and I take him with shaky hands.

I rock him back and forth, and Paul squeezes me tighter.

"He looks just like John," Paul whispers, his voice cracking.

I turn my head to see tears running down his face, and I give him a long kiss.

"It makes you long for the real thing, doesn't it, babe?" I whisper, handing the baby to Paul.

He bounces him up and down lightly, almost not at all.

Then Julian opens up his eyes and looks into Paul's. I hold Paul's arm.

"Those are the prettiest eyes you'll ever see in your life, Julian," I whisper, giving the baby a little wink.

Paul shakes his head. "This is the prettiest girl you'll ever see in your life, Jules."

He hands the baby back to Cynthia and meets her eye.

"Unless you're Daddy."

I think you can tell what John looked like after Paul called him Daddy.

Paul leans in close to me.

"When I'm older, I'm going to have a lot of kids."

I laugh. "We'll see about that."