Becoming

Losfer Words

Ade had to attend the obligatory dinner with family on Friday night, complete with an additional guest, a co-worker of his sister's invited 'just to keep the table even' according to his mum. He just sighed and rolled his eyes when no one was looking and didn't pay any more attention to Carol than to anyone else at the table. At least this girl seemed to have been warned that he wasn't the most socially adept person in the world and didn't seem to take his lack of enthusiasm personally. It probably helped that he didn't say much directly to Kathy's husband or Patrick's wife either, and that Kathy teased him that she figured he would have learned to smile and be the centre of attention after needing to do interviews and meet the fans so often with Iron Maiden. He confessed that he did his best to avoid being in on interviews, and that he was the quietest of the band at the meet'n'greets as well.

Dave counted himself lucky that his sister was expecting and due shortly, so although she did have him for dinner on Friday, he was the only guest, and it was a very casual meal. He did tell her about the plan to go visit with their da for the first time in six years. She nodded and said she'd gone as well, on their mum's request, and that it was awkward and didn't really accomplish anything as far as she was concerned, but it did make their mum happy that she tried. Dave hoped it would go as well for him.

Dave and Ade stopped at their respective flats to check for messages, and both headed for their old place, with Dave smiling to find Ade already inside when he arrived. The two once again slept happily wrapped in each other's arms.

In the morning, they went to the nearby café for breakfast, chatting about the information that Rod had left both of them about the band's travel plans for the new Rock in Rio festival that they'd be playing, giving them a nice break from the winter weather of the North American tour. Bruce looked forward to it, they knew, but Ade had doubts about the wisdom of going from cold to tropical heat and back again so quickly. His mother had always said that was a good way to get sick, as the sudden changes left one more vulnerable to illness. Dave said they'd just have to be sure to take vitamins and at least try to get a decent amount of sleep.

Ade headed back to their flat, keeping his promise to be waiting there for Dave's return, while Dave hopped on the bus to Clapton. His parents had needed to move again, this time to a ground floor flat as his father needed a Zimmer frame to walk these days and couldn't manage stairs anymore. The back injury he'd suffered not long after Dave had been born was one of those things which never healed properly, left him unable to work, and in fact had gotten worse over time just from daily activity. Objectively, Dave knew that half the reason his father drank so heavily was to ease the pain he'd lived with for years. Still, knowing that didn't take away from the toll the man's drinking and his abusive behaviour had taken on his family. Sometimes he wondered if his father's temper and abusive tendencies had always been there, or if his own feelings of inadequacy due his injury and inability to hold a steady job after it happened had caused them. Either way, his heavy drinking only made things worse.

Dave took a deep breath and knocked on the door of the flat. "Hi, Mum," he said when she opened the door.

"I'm so glad you came, Dave," she murmured, giving him a hug. "Come have a cuppa with me before you go in to your da." She drew him into the flat's little kitchen and poured him a cup of tea.

"Thanks. I'll be honest, Mum, I've got my doubts about this, but it's important to you, so I'm willing to make the effort," Dave said. "How are you doing, though?"

"I'm well," she said with a smile. "Very much looking forward to becoming a grandmother, of course. I thought Angie and Pete would have had a houseful by now, but she said she and Pete waited to even try until they had some savings built up and could afford a two-bedroom place. And what about you, is there any hope I'll see you settling down soon?"