Song - Friends Will Be Friends - Queen
Roger's PoV
"Lola-Rose, where on earth are your manners? You need to say Hello to Brian and Freddie properly rather than just tugging on Brian's sleeve for attention" I gently scolded the child. In truth, I was trying to break the fragile silence that had fallen over the rehearsal studio at Lola's announcement, both Freddie and Brain struggling to find the right words after the shock revelation that I had found my daughter.
More than anything, Freddie, the usually confident and outgoing singer, looked absolutely terrified of the tiny child before him, his eyes watching her hawkishly as though she were a wild animal preparing to attack him, whilst the expression on Brian's face was completely unreadable. Deaky had entered the rehearsal space from the kitchen, his mouth stuffed full of Jammy Dodger biscuits, taken one look at the tense atmosphere hanging in the air and had slowly backed into the kitchen. That had been around two minutes ago. Nobody had spoken in that time; even my normally talkative daughter remained quiet, staring expectantly up at Brian and Freddie, almost as though she was as nervous for their reaction as I was.
If that was possible.
"Hi! I'm Lola-Rose Chrissie Heaths Taylor, Queen of everything" Lola giggled as she did a dramatic - and rather sarcastic for a three year old - curtsey to Brian and Freddie, before turning to me with a smile that read 'is that good enough for you'.
Excuse me-
Maybe Freddie was terrified because he'd realised there was a sassier Queen than he was in the band.
"Is it yours?" Freddie questioned bluntly, pointing his finger in the direction of Lola.
"She" Lola corrected dramatically, before I could answer Freddie. Brian let out a small chuckle, clearly finding it hilarious that Freddie was being chastised by a small child.
"Yes, Lola is my daughter" I answered, mentally preparing myself for the barrage of questions that were about to be thrown at me by my incredulous bandmates. Whilst Brian appeared to be processing Lola's presence slightly better than Freddie's, I knew he too would be full of questions. I just had to hope they would be ones I could answer. "Lola, darling, I think Uncle John has already found the biscuits in the kitchen, why don't you go and steal some from him?" I suggested gently, knowing that some of the questions thrown my way would undoubtedly not be suitable for Lola's ears. Normally, my daughter would have been so excited by the prospect of sugary food that she would have rushed straight off in search of the aforementioned sweet treats, but today was different. It was her first time in the studio, the first time meeting the uncles Victoria had told her so much about; she was so pre-occupied wandering around the small rehearsal space, to even realise that I was talking to her.
"Which one of these is yours daddy?" Lola questioned, craning her small neck as she tried to read the plaques adorning the platinum discs hanging from the walls. I was just about the explain to her that Queen hadn't had a record go Platinum - yet - but she had already moved on to the next thing, rushing excitedly towards my drum set. She picked up one of the drum sticks, hitting the left symbol with a loud crash, followed by her small, magical giggle.
Honestly, if anybody else had even thought about touching my precious drumkit, I would have gone apeshit, but all I could do was stand and smile adoringly at my daughter as she manoeuvred around the set, hitting the various drums. It took all my energy not to walk over, sit her on my knee and show her the basics of playing, knowing I still had Brian and Freddie to deal with before I could.
"Lola, darling, daddy will show you how to play something on the drums later, but right now, I think Uncle John has some really nice food for you in the kitchen" I tried once again, in vain, as Lola rushed over to Freddie's microphone, which had been left, rather carelessly, on the studio floor. Lola picked it up carefully, tapping the top of it to check that it was on. It was at this point that John finally emerged from the kitchen, watching Lola with an amused grin.
