In Your Atmosphere (Paul McCartney/Beatles Fanfiction)

Chapter 38 - Hello Little Girl

February 1966

The phone call came in the middle of the night, as bad news often does. Grandma Bellamy had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while visiting her eldest son. She was being kept on life support until the family could gather to say goodbye.

Marisol's family rushed to catch the next flight to London, arriving sleep-deprived and teary-eyed to join their English relatives for a heart-wrenching goodbye to the family matriarch.

The next few days were a blur of funeral arrangements and reconnecting with uncles and aunts and cousins. Angela drove down from London to be with Marisol, oohing and ahhing over Melody and providing a shoulder to cry on and an extra hand with the other small children.

The news of her grandmother's death was a bitter shock to Marisol. She had hoped that Melody would have her Great Grandma Bellamy in her life for many years. She had even planned an extended visit for the summer months after Melody's first birthday. The loss was devastating, but at the same time, Marisol realized what a blessing it was that she had become pregnant with Melody in the first place, because of the precious time she'd spent with one of her favorite people on earth in the last year of her grandmother's life.

In her fourth month of pregnancy, Marisol had moved in with her grandmother in southern England, armed with a set of books on Yoga and Meditation and Joyful Living that Donna had insisted she read daily to "center yourself and stop thinking about that idiot." Whether the meditation helped she couldn't say, but the nausea of the early months finally passed and the next five months were an idyllic time with her grandmother.

They spent quiet afternoons hiking the English countryside and browsing flea markets on the way to the beach. In the evenings they made gourmet meals with the radio tuned to the British Light Program. They sipped mugs of tea and read stacks of novels while movie soundtracks played on the hi-fi until it was time to watch Coronation Street on the little black and white television set.

It helped that virtually the entire five months she was in England, Paul and the rest of the Beatles were filming their second movie on location in the Bahamas and Austria. Marisol could take the train to London to roam the streets with Angela with no thought of running into Paul or Neil.

Grandma Bellamy and Angela had made the last five months of Marisol's pregnancy the most peaceful period of her life, and she couldn't help but think that was why Melody turned out to be such a calm and contented baby.

The day of the funeral was cold and grey, but the rain held off throughout the gravesite service. By mid-afternoon, most of the mourners had gone. Only family members and a few of Margaret Bellamy's closest friends stood around the front room of her home, holding glasses of wine and murmuring in low voices. Marisol's parents and uncles and aunts were expecting an estate agent to drop in so they could begin putting Grandma Bellamy's affairs in order.

Something made Marisol turn and look out the front window, some sixth sense that she'd always had where Paul was concerned. Her eyes widened as she watched him climb from the powder blue Aston Martin, straightening his suit jacket before glancing towards the front door, his face grim. He lifted a hand to smooth his dark hair, the strands twisted and ruffled by the wind. The sight of him hit her like a physical blow. Melody's father. Here.

Her gaze fell on her daughter, sitting on the carpet in the middle of the room, stacking blocks with her favorite person in the world, sweet five-year-old Sophie. Paul was almost at the front door, and Marisol was overwhelmed by the urge to bolt. It had been more than a year since she'd seen him in the flesh, and she thought she had her emotions under control where he was concerned. She no longer cried over him. She was content working in the family business and taking care of her beautiful baby girl. Some days she went hours without Paul McCartney ever crossing her mind. So why was her heart pounding out of her chest at the sight of him?