The Original Taylor Daughter

Different Sides of the Pond

1st March 1975

It's Alice 5th birthday and she's at home waiting for Rami's mum to pick her up.

Queen are on tour in North America so Veronica is looking after Alice. Veronica is currently 21 weeks pregnant and Roger though insisted that he could get Mary or even his sister to come over and look after her, Veronica shut the idea down.

She loves looking after Alice, she's no trouble and it will be good practice. Alice is excited to be getting a cousin.

Alice is sat on the arm of the sofa by the window waiting, Rami's mum is taking her, Rami and Sami to a new adventure play park that opened a few miles out of London as a treat for her birthday.

Rami's mum had been surprised when Rami came home the first day of school and told her about making friends with Alice, but now, Alice is a regular at theirs for tea.

"Aunt V, Rami's here!" Alice jumps off the sofa grabbing her bag, racing to the kitchen.

Veronica gives her a quick hug walking her to the door and waves to Mrs Malek, "Have a good time and be good."

"I will. Bye Biscuit, be good for Aunt V." Climbing into the car beside Rami, Alice grins, "Thank you for taking me out, Mrs Malek."

"Oh please call me Nelly and it's no trouble, Rami..." Nelly stops mid-sentence as Rami shakes his head, telling her not to share what he had told her.

Smiling Nelly changes her words, "Rami said you weren't doing anything since your dad is away so he suggested we do something. Happy birthday by the way."

"Yeah, happy birthday, Ally," Rami passes her the wrapped gift he's holding.

Alice rips the paper off and squeals, "A Spriography! Thanks, Rami."

"You liked doing them in art the other day, so now you can make more."

"I love it, I'm going to make so many designs."

"Ew. You two are so gross, it's like your boyfriend and girlfriend," Sami screws up his nose.

"What?! No!" She doesn't understand her feelings for Rami yet and she's only five, "We're just friends, right Rami?"

"Yeah... just friends," His answer is not very convincing, the truth is Rami is experiencing his first-ever school crush on his best friend but he won't say anything for fear of ruining their friendship.

------

They were out most of the day, Mrs Malek drops Alice home just after 3, "Oh hold on, I think that's her." Veronica's voice came from the living room and she meets Alice in the doorway, "How was your day, sweety?"

"It was so much fun, who are you talking to?"

"Your dad, he's on the phone, go on pick it up. He called for you not me, come find me when you're done."

Alice brushed past her, grabbing the receiver, "Daddy?!"

"Hey Monkey, happy birthday. I hear Mrs Malek took you out for the day, did you have a good time?"

"Yep, we went to that new tree adventure park. It was so much fun, we climbed and played and there was even a zip line. Rami got me a present too."

"Oh you lucky girl, I assume you said thank you?"

"Of course. I miss you daddy and so does Biscuit, when are you coming home?"

"Not till May. I miss you both too. Did you get the presents we sent you?"

"Yes," Brian brought her a book on photography. Freddie brought her a beautiful dark blue button-up coat, John brought her some more film for her Polaroid and Roger saved up to buy her a proper camera with contributions from Clare, Winifred and Michael.

"I love the camera and the coat Uncle Freddie got me. I'm going to wear it everywhere."

"So you should lovie, I could picture you like Alice in Wonderland in that coat, you are Alice after all," Freddie continues to mutter to himself walking away.

"I love all my presents but I want a hug from you more, I really really miss you, daddy."

Roger has missed Alice's hugs more than he thought he would and he can't wait to give her a big hug when he gets home, "I miss you too, Alice, but the time will fly by I promise. Focus on school and you won't notice the time ticking away, I love you but I've got to go. I'll speak to you soon."

"Bye daddy, love you too," She puts the phone back on the hook and runs to find Veronica lighting the candles on her birthday cake.

------

3rd May 1975

Stood on a seat in the airport, Alice is trying to see the boys over the crowd of people coming from first class. "Can you see them?" Veronica asks stood beside holding her in place, Mary and Chrissie are also with them.

"No, not yet. Oh, wait... there they are. Daddy!" Alice jumps down from the seat and weaves her way through the crowd accidentally crashing into Paul, "S-sorry."

"Watch where you're going," He mutters scowling at her, moving away when Roger comes over.

Roger lifts her into a tight hug, kissing her cheek and grinning madly, "Hello Monkey. You miss me?"

"Every day," She returns a kiss to his cheek, letting him carry her through the airport, "so did Biscuit. He's grown, he looks like a big dog now."

"You've done a bit of growing yourself, Missy," Brian tickles her side walking beside them, hand-linked with Chrissie's.

Brian's right, Alice is going through a growth spurt at the moment. Her baby features are becoming more childlike and she's looking more and more like her dad as the days go by.

Biscuit was more than happy to see his owner when the pair got home, John and Veronica came back with them to collect Veronica's stuff.

As John is loading her cases into the car, Veronica has a quiet word with Roger, "Roger, you got a minute?"

"Sure, Alice, stay here with Biscuit," Roger follows her to the kitchen, "Is something wrong? Did Alice do something while I was away?"

"No not at all, she was good as gold. But she had one or two moments where she got really upset about you being away and worried you wouldn't come home."

"I had feared that would happen. It's why I took her with me in her earlier years, I'll have a word with her."

"There is one other thing," Veronica pauses as John comes in.

"You ready to go love?"

"Yes hold on, the other thing is Alice isn't eating as much as she used to. Maybe her growth spurt is slowing down or it's just a phase but within the last week, she went from happily eating her dinner with pudding to only eating half her dinner and no room for pudding. As I said it could be a phase but I thought I'd let you know."

Frowning Roger saves her words in the back of his mind, reminding himself to watch Alice when she eats, "Thanks for letting me know, I'll keep an eye on her. Thank you for looking after her," He walks with them to the door.

"Your welcome, see you later."

"See ya later, mate," He gives John and Veronica a tired smile before shutting the door. He goes back to the living room, Biscuit jumps up at him wagging his tail, "Whoa there buddy, you really have become a big dog."

Roger ruffles his fur, "Alice, you hungry?"

"Can I have toast and a nana?"

"You don't want something bigger," It's only half-past six, for her usual appetite she'd normally wake up hungry during the night if she has so little before bed but to experiment, he gives her what she wants.

When he wakes the following morning and she's only a little hungry, he becomes concerned. He isn't going to call the doctor yet, like Veronica said it could just be a phase, but he will if it continues. They have similar appetites, both can usually eat for England and there's always room for pudding.