In Your Atmosphere (Paul McCartney/Beatles Fanfiction)

Chapter 6 - From Me to You

I've got arms that long to hold you
And keep you by my side
I've got lips that long to kiss you
And keep you satisfied (oh)

Marisol was making lunch in her grandmother's kitchen when the first odd thing happened.

 Three days since her date with Paul, and despite having her number since the day they met, he had yet to telephone her. Granted his schedule was frantic, but no word from him after such a romantic night together gave her a twinge of disappointment. It wasn't hard to put it out of her mind though, with Margo and the twins around. There wasn't much time to think about Paul, or even Dan, which was likely the point of Margo's visit.

Margo stood at the kitchen island, slicing ingredients for chicken salad and complaining about the lack of fresh avocados at the market.

"Maybe you and Nick should move back to California, with me." Marisol was at the counter squeezing lemons for a fresh pitcher of lemonade, her niece Sophie standing on a chair beside her, cataloging every move.

"Oh, we will...eventually. Nick's requested a transfer to Travis Air Force Base. But don't tell Mother. I don't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing she's won another round."

Marisol dropped a squeezed lemon half onto the counter.

"I can have it," Sophie said, reaching for the pile of lemon rinds.

"Go ahead then," Marisol said, hiding a smile. "It won't hurt you."

The two-year-old popped a large piece of pulp into her mouth and immediately spit it out, eyes watering and face puckering. She sputtered and sank into a squat on the chair, hiding her face with tiny hands.

Margo turned from the stove at the sound of Marisol's laughter. "Are you tormenting my daughter?"

Sophie peered up at Marisol, wearing a look of betrayal.

"Sorry pumpkin. But your sister loves lemons, don't you Luce?" Marisol said.

At the sound of her name, Lucy wandered over and pulled herself up onto the chair. She picked up one of the squeezed lemons and touched it to her tongue, smacked her lips and offered it to Sophie, who touched it tentatively to her own tongue and shuddered.

"See, it won't hurt you. Your sister is right this time, but don't do everything she does, or you might end up under a china cabinet."

Margo chuckled at the shared memory. When they were small Margo had somehow scaled the china hutch to reach a bowl of candy on top. When Marisol tried it next, she brought the entire piece of furniture to the ground, breaking every one of their mother's best dishes, as well as the china hutch.

"I can't believe Mother didn't kill you for that," Margo said.

"I can't believe I didn't die before she had the chance." Marisol opened an overhead cabinet and pulled out a canister of sugar. "What sort of woman hides candy on top of a hutch where her daughters can't reach it?"

"The same sort of woman who hides the key to the liquor cabinet when they become teenagers."

"Right! It's like she thinks we have no ability to self-govern."

Tiring of the lemon peel, Lucy dropped it and stretched across the counter to the radio. Seconds later there was a crackle of static followed by the treble-heavy, tinny sound of Paul's voice coming across the airwaves. "I've got lips that long to kiss you, and keep you satisfied, ooooh!"

"Oh come on." Margo pulled a face.

Laughing, Marisol said, "I take it as a sign. A sign that I should kiss that boy again at the first opportunity."