Baby May

Their Own Place

January 2009

Toby and Alyssia are getting ready to leave for Ben's 18th birthday get together. Due to life keeping them all busy, the group of friends haven't met up for a while.

The night out isn't the typical night on the town that was originally planned. Heavy rain hit London changing their plans at the last minute, so they're now meeting at Zoe and Paige's flat for a takeaway and a few drinks. It was Ben's idea.

On the way out the door, Brian stops them both, "Hold on you two."

"Dad, the taxi is here," Alyssia urges him to speak quickly, not wanting the taxi to drive off.

"I know, but I thought you'd want to know that my estate agent got back to me and he said he can meet with you both tomorrow afternoon," Since returning from Australia, the young couple have sorted their money and talked to the bank about what mortgage they can afford, "He can do either 12pm or 3pm, I said I'd back to him with an answer as soon as possible?"

"Oh brilliant, um..." Toby looks to Alyssia, "The later one would be best."

"I agree, tell him 3pm please, Dad. It means if it's a late-night tonight then we have time to recover from our hangover in the morning."

"Done," He smiles and holds the door open for them, "Have fun."

Brian watches from the living room window as the taxi pulls away but slips into a daydream until Anita wraps her arms around his waist from behind, kissing his shoulder, "It's gonna be strange without her here."

"It seems to have happened so quickly, just a few months ago they were thinking of the idea and now they're meeting an estate agent," He takes her hand pulling her round to hold her in front of him, still staring out the window.

"I know, but they've been waiting to move in together since they finished school," Anita fears Brian will struggle to let Alyssia go, having her under their roof keeps them young at heart and their minds at ease that she is safe. She's pretty sure that the day Alyssia gets married, Brian will be a blubbering mess.

In the past year, the May family has changed, Emily has started dating, Louisa had her first child, a little girl and Brian's first granddaughter and Jimmy and his fiancé finally tied the knot with a small wedding their little boy as a ring carrier. With Alyssia now moving in with Toby, it's a lot of change for Brian.

Queen also said goodbye to Paul Rodgers as their frontman, so Brian is throwing himself into a new project, setting up an animal welfare organisation to campaign against fox hunting and badger culling.

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"Happy Birthday Ben!" Zoe grins, popping open a bottle of champagne, pouring some into their awaiting glasses.

Paige and Zoe moved into their own flat in November and this is the first time having their friends around. They want to tie the knot but sadly UK law still doesn't allow same-sex marriages, they could have a civil ceremony, but they'd prefer to be married so they're going to wait a little longer to see if the law changes.

Toby takes a sip and hooks his arm around Ben's shoulder, "How does it feel to be an adult?"

"Freeing," Ben can't think of a better word, "I can finally go places and buy things without being refused because I'm not old enough."

"Did you have a good night on the town yesterday?" Victoria asks picking at the crisps on the coffee table.

"Yes, though I got very drunk. I'm kind of glad this is a quiet few drinks," His mates are fun but this group is his family. He and Toby might be the only guys but it's made them brothers.