The Night Before

Chapter 60

10 April 1970

ADALINE'S POV

When my mum said that having three kids is a handful she was not kidding. Since we brought Mia home from the hospital things have been crazy at the McCartney house....

Madelynn was beyond in love with her baby sister. With every little thing she wants to be right there and asks "Mummy, can I help? I wanna help." It was beyond the cutest thing. Though there were a few moments that when she saw Paul holding the baby she looked to be a bit jealous. Bringing a new baby home is always hard in this house we've noticed. Mady was jealous of Matt when he came home and was very grumpy. Now Matt's extremely jealous of Mia. Matt, being the little Mummy's boy he is, always wants to be by my side, even more now that Mia's home. We tried the whole "come over here and help with your baby sister" thing like we had Mady do when Matt was a baby, but he wasn't interested. I'd be lying if I said I haven't cried. Boy have I cried... I mean I'm still getting over the pregnancy hormones, right? Paul's solution for this was that he and Rose would watch the girls while Matt and I have some alone time during the day. It seems to be working, he's still very clingy, but I know he loves our Mummy/Matty time.


"Mummy!" We heard Mady and Matt yell, causing Mia to wake up and start crying. Paul and I both let out a sigh as we got out of bed.


"I'll get the baby and you get the kiddos?"


He yawned and gave me a small nod. "Alright. I'll go get breakfast started."


Going down the hallway I went into the nursery as Paul went to Mady and Matt. Walking over to the crib I saw my little Mia awake and very fussy.


"Good morning, baby girl. Come here." I picked her up and rocked her lightly in attempts to calm her down. "It's okay, darling. Are you hungry?"


Sitting down in the rocking chair I adjusted myself to feed her. After she was done, I got up, fixed us both up and went downstairs.


"Mummy!" Matt yelled as he ran over and hugged my legs.


"Good morning, little man! How'd you sleep?"


"Good!" He looked up at me and gave me a goofy grin.


I bent down and gave him a kiss as we went into the kitchen to find Mady helping Paul make breakfast.


"Morning, baby girl! I see you're being a big girl and helping Daddy."


"We makin' pancakes!"


"They smell very yummy!" I smiled and kissed her forehead.


"And there's my little princess." Paul said as he took Mia from me as I took over the pancakes. "You slept better through the night last night."


"She did. She's the best so far with sleeping through the night."


"Daddy?" Madelynn looked at him.


"Yes, my little darling?"


"Am I still your little princess?"


"Of course. You'll always be my little princess. Because of you I got to become a daddy."


"But you call Mia a princess..."


Paul looked over at me nervously before turning back to Mady. "Does it upset you that I called Mia my little princess too?"


She gave a small nod.


"Daddy's sorry he upset you. What if I call Mia something else? Like..." He looked at me for a moment.


"Peanut. You can call her our little peanut. That way Mady still gets to be the princess and Mia gets her own nickname from Daddy."


She gave a small nod and reached out for Paul. I took Mia back from him as he picked up Mady.


"Alright princess, let's finish the pancakes for your brother and Mummy and then we can all eat."


She just smiled and laid her head on him. She had Paul wrapped around her little finger.


"Rosie coming today?"


"Not today, she asked for the day off. She had some family things going on."


Paul and Mady finished up the pancakes while I set the table. Soon the five of us were all around the table when Paul looked over at me.


"The interview should have gone out by now. I gave Peter the completed questions."


"I know it's been hard on you, but you've done so well for yourself. The album comes out in a week and I know it'll be a success. You've poured your heart and soul into this solo album. I'm so proud of you, darling." I smiled lightly.


"I couldn't have done it without you, Addie. You've been there for me through it all, even when you could have left. You've given me the world, including these three." Paul smiled at the kids.


"I couldn't imagine life any other way."


"Mummy!" Matt looked at me, his face covered in syrup.


"Someone's my little messy eater." I took my napkin and wiped his face. This didn't last long...soon he was digging into his pancakes, getting covered in more syrup.


"Looks like we'll need a bath after breakfast."


"Mummy. What we do today?" Madelynn asked.


"I don't know, sweetie. Just have a quiet day here. We can go play outside in a little bit. Daddy can chase you and Matty around the yard."


"And Martha!"


"Of course, and Martha." Paul smiled.


Once breakfast was finished, Paul cleared off the table while I cleaned up the kids. Soon there was a loud knock at the door, causing Martha to bark like crazy.


"I'll get it, love!" Paul yelled as the went over to the door. "Alex! Morning, mate. Come in."


"Mornin'." He followed Paul into the kitchen. "Mornin' all."


"A! Hi! You just missed breakfast. I can whip up some more pancakes if you want."


"Nah, I'm alright 'M not hungry."


"You're not hungry? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"


He let out a chuckle and shook his head. "Amelia made us breakfast before work. Anyway, we picked up a copy of the paper and saw this." He handed us a copy of the Daily Mirror. "I guess this is really it."


Paul and I took a look at the paper. On the front page in bold was 'PAUL QUITS THE BEATLES' along with a long article going on about the break up.


"Darling..."


He slowly stood up and walked out to the backyard.


"I-I didn't mean to upset him." Alex looked at me. "I just thought you'd want to know it made it in the paper."


"It's alright, A, I promise. Could you watch the kids for a minute?"


"Yeah, course. Go." He took Mia from me as he went into the living room.


I walked outside to find Paul sitting on the steps. "Paul." I sat down next to him.


"Y'know, I wrote the interview, but it's still strange seeing it in the paper."


"I know, love." I laid my head on his shoulder. "Why don't we escape to Sussex? Spend a few days there before the album releases."


"I think I'd like that. Also we don't want to be gone for too long, Mere's due at the end of the month. Mike's getting nervous." He chuckled.


"You're right! Oh, I'm so excited for them! I can't wait to have another niece or nephew." I patted his knee and stood up. "C'mon. Why don't we go pack for Sussex and just have some family time."


"I'd love that." He took my hand as we went inside.


"Thank you for watching them for a minute." I took Mia back from him.


"I have to get to work. I'm sorry again about..."


"No, no. You're okay. I needed to see it. Thanks, Alex." Paul gave a small smile. "We're gonna be up in Sussex for a few days if you all need us. We just need some time away."


"That's understandable, I don't blame you for wanting to get away. Well, you all have fun in Sussex. Don't forget to pack all the puppies." He smirked.


"Remmy and Leo and Theo go!" Mady ran over with Remmy, followed by Matt and Leo.


"Good! Now you have fun, munchkins." He smuggled them both into a hug.


"Bye, Uncle Alex!"


"So," Paul turned to the kids "How about we go on a trip? To the big house."


"Yeah!" Mady yelled, grabbing onto Matt as they ran upstairs.



It didn't take us long to pack and soon we were on the road. A little less than two hours later we arrived at the house.


"Here we are kiddos!" Paul smiled as we pulled in. "I've missed it here."


"I have too. We need to come here more often." I smiled as he parked the car. We got the baby, the kiddos and Martha out of the car, grabbed our bags and made our way inside.


"So, what shall we do first?"


"Mummy...I sleepy." Madelynn said, rubbing her eyes.


"You two had the whole car ride to nap." Paul chuckled. "What about you, Matt?"


He turned find Matt climbing up onto the couch, laying himself down. "Sleepy..."


"Come on, it'll be nap time and then we can have a picnic for lunch." I looked down at Mia. "What about you, little darling? Are you tired?"


She let out a loud coo. Someone definitely enjoyed their car ride nap.


"Why don't I take these two up for a nap while you stay with Mia?" I turned to Paul.


"You sure?"


"Yeah, I don't mind." I smiled and picked up Matt and then Mady, the two of them automatically laying their sleepy heads on me. "Come on, my little loves. It's nap time."


I carried them upstairs to their bedrooms. First I put down Matt, getting him adjusted with Leo as I kissed his forehead. "Sleep well, baby boy."


"Mmm Mummy..." He mumbled as he began to fall asleep. I then took Mady, went into her room and did the same.


"Enjoy your nap, princess." I smiled and slowly went to walk out of her room.


"Mummy?"


I turned around to her. "Yes, baby girl?"


"I love you.."


I went over and gave her another kiss. "I love you too. You'll always be my little princess."


She gave me a smile before curling up with Remmy and falling asleep.


I then made my way downstairs to find Paul playing with Mia.


"You two look like you're having fun."


"I missed having a baby around, y'know? I miss Mady and Matt being this little."


"I do too! It's hard to believe Mady will be five in a few months." I said, tears forming in my eyes. "I want my baby girl to be little forever!"


"I know, love. I do too." He pulled me to him. "I can't get over how much Mia looks like her. She'll be another little clone of you."


"But it looks like she has your dark hair. Mady's hair has gotten lighter the older she's gotten." I smiled and ran my finger over Mia's cheek. "This one sleeps so well. We finally got a good sleeper."


"We have!" He chuckled. "After we brought her home Mady never wanted to sleep."


"That didn't change the older she got. Isaac and I really had to do what we could to get her to sleep longer. She was so bad at nap time." I turned to him. "I'm sorry, love...I shouldn't hav-"


"No, it's alright. It's how things were. I've accepted it." He then looked away for a second before turning back to me. "Remember that box of Isaac's things that Jack gave you? You never opened it."


"You're right...I couldn't bring myself to do it."


"I think the box is here if you want to...If I remember correctly we put it in the back of our closet." He took my hand.


I had mixed feelings about the box. Part of me feared what could be in there, how they could make me feel. But the other part of me wanted to open it to see what Jack and Ginny thought I'd want. They didn't have to put together that box for me, but they did.


"Will you go get it? I think it's time."


"Addie, love...Are you sure?"


"I'm sure. It's time."


Paul stood up, went upstairs and came back down with the box. "Are you sure you want to do this?"


"I am. It's time." I took the box from him and slowly opened it. Inside was a collection of photographs of us when we were kids, a bottle of his cologne, some nick nacks we got from trips we went on, a letter addressed to me, and other little miscellaneous things.


"I can't believe he kept these..." I slowly took out some photographs and looked through them.


"What were they from?" Paul asked as he took some from me.


"I went on a trip to Preston with Isaac and his parents, we went to visit Ginny's mum and dad. Anyway, we were there for a few days and the one day he and I decided to go off to Blackpool. We spent the whole day there together." I smiled. "I brought along my camera and kept taking pictures. When I got them developed I kept half and gave him half."


"Blackpool? The lads and I used to go up there all the time." He smiled and looked through the photos. "You two really looked like you had a great time."


"I did, we did. I remember my dad didn't want me going at first, but mum was able to persuade him."


I then picked up the letter and went to open it. "I don't know if I'm ready for this yet..." I said as I put it back.


"It'll take some time." Paul rubbed my back lightly. "Y'know, sometimes I wonder what would have happened between us if Isaac was still alive. How we would have handled things with Madelynn..."


"I've thought about the same thing...It's played out a few different ways in my head. I try not to think about it." I turned to him. "Isaac will always be part of me, part of my history, but you're my present and future. The universe brought us together for a reason."


We heard a loud coo from Mia as I picked her up. "And now we have three beautiful little ones. Yes we do."


"I couldn't imagine life any other way." Paul said as he pulled us closer to him.


We sat there for a while, just talking and watching the telly until we heard two little voices.


"Mummy? Daddy?"


"Hi my kiddos. Did you enjoy your nap?"


"Yes." They climbed up onto the couch and looked at the box. "What doing?"


"Nothing. How about Mummy makes us lunch and we go play outside?"


"Play! Play! Play!" Matt ran over to the door.


"Come on, little ones! Let's go outside!" Paul picked Mady up as the three of them rushed outside.


I brought Mia into the kitchen with me as I started on lunch. I made Paul and I sandwiches and macaroni and cheese for the kids. Grabbing a blanket, plates, silverware and drinks, I packed it all in a little basket and Mia and I went out to the backyard.


"Daddy come get us!" Mady yelled as she and Matt ran faster.


"Lunchtime!" I yelled as I set down the basket.


"Lunchtime!" The kids came running over, Paul not far behind them.


"We have to go wash up first, kiddos, you know that." He said.


"Otay Daddy..." They took his hand and went inside. As they went to wash up, I laid Mia down on the blanket as I set up lunch.


"Lunchtime!" Matt yelled as he ran over to me.


"I made your favourite!"


"Mac and cheese!" Mady exclaimed as she sat down.


"This looks delicious, love." Paul sat across from me.


"Thank you, darling." I smiled as we all started to eat.


"I'm glad we came up here. It's nice to just escape for a while."


"I agree, we need to come up here more." He took a bite of his sandwich. "Oh! So, I have a little surprise for you all. We've been through so much the last year with the band and all that, I want to do something to make up for that. We've never really taken a family vacation, Scotland doesn't count. So I booked us a trip. We're going away."