Gnik Nus

Chapter 18

It was getting colder. Winter was around the corner, with it being the second half of November. By my calculations, Kylie and I were now approximately two months pregnant. That meant no more putting off a doctor's visit. Jenny had already booked the appointments... and I was scared. There were many things to be frightened of. Firstly, having a creepy old doctor 'inspect' me. Sure, I'd already had John, George and Ben do the same, but that was different. Secondly, it needs to be reminded that we are in 1964. Pregnant teenagers were frowned upon, especially unwed ones. Additionally, we don't have birth certificates. Jenny said that we most likely wouldn't need one to go to the doctors, but it might be needed for things further down the track. We still had to invent a birthdate that corroborated with our ages. My new birthdate was August 26th 1946. It was just a little different from my actual birthdate of April 29th 1995.

At the appointment, Jenny posed as our older sister. She never left our sides, for which I was grateful. My pregnancy was actually confirmed, as it had only been a speculation up until then. Dr. Miller, who wasn't too bad, determined our due dates - June 12 for me and June 17 for Kylie. It was amazing to think that our babies would most likely be born within a few days of each other. It was also amazing to think that there was a nearly fifty percent chance that our babies would be related - they will if my hopes of my baby's paternity are true. Unfortunately in this day and age, there was no way of finding out who the fathers were. Sure, we could make assumptions based on the eventual appearances of the babies, but there is no way to know for sure until paternity testing is invented.

At home, we played card games. Ben of course never played with me. Sometimes I wondered if he'd ever talk to me again. On this particular day, Brian and the boys came rushing into the unit waving a record around.
"Hey guys, our new single was released today, wanna hear it?" Paul gushed. We all enthused that we wanted to. He hid the record in his jacket so I couldn't see which one it was. I would know within hearing it instantly anyway. I tried to wrack my brain to think of a record that would have been released in November 1964 but none came to me. Paul made a show of blocking the view as he set up the record player. Within a few seconds, that unmistakable feedback could be heard.
"I Feel Fine!" I exclaimed, a little too excitedly. They all looked astonished.
"How on earth can you know that already?" Paul asked incredulously.
"The feedback. It was the first use of it on a record... or should I say, is."
"You're amazing."
"Hey, this is the one we sang on! Did they use it?"
"I'm not sure, you might be able to hear yourselves in the background."
We were talking over the song so we shushed up so the others could hear it. I sang along, listening for my voice on the recording. I caught Ethel and Adam singing along too.
"Hey, you guys know it too!" Paul observed, beaming.
"Mate, I don't think you realise how huge you guys are," Adam pointed out, "Also, I sang on it too, remember?"
"Spoiler alert - it'll go to number one," I informed them.
When the song finished the B-side played. I recognised it instantly as 'She's a Woman'. They were perturbed by my singing along to this one too.
"Okay then smarty-pants, what's our next album called?" George chimed in.
"What, the one after Beatles for Sale? I can't tell you that!" I answered, making them chuckle but also groan in disappointment.

As I folded a load of washing in the laundry, George snuck up behind me.
"What do you want?" I asked playfully.
"Just seeing what you're up to," he responded, flashing an adorable snaggle tooth.
"Sure you are," I smirked.
"No, really, John is going on about his bloody book again. I had to get out of there."
I don't know why John bothered coming over anymore - none of us were happy to see him. I turned around and found myself just staring at George. He stared back, taking a cigarette and lighter from his pocket.
"What, you're not going to throw these out the window again are you?" he jested. When I didn't show any response to his remark, he started to grow concerned.
"Sophie? Soph, are you all right?"
"I'm fine," I stated, coming out of my reverie.
"You were staring at me an awful long time."
"I'm still amazed, is all."
"Amazed?"
"Yes. I had only known you guys fifty years from now. It's so different where I'm from. To think that I'm staring at a 21-year-old George Harrison still shocks me. It's just amazing that I can look at you in the flesh."
He seemed puzzled. Obviously, he didn't know what I knew - that he would only be alive for another 37 years. The he stepped forwards and started to hug me.
"Looking's not all you've done."
"George, don't," I pled.
"Don't worry, we're not drunk this time," he teased and I slapped him.
"Shouldn't you be at home with Pattie?"
"She can wait," he chuckled, letting go of me and winking as he sauntered out of the laundry.