It Won't Always Be Like This (Alan Wilder x Martin Gore)

1 ~ The Things You Said

The recording studio, August 31st, 1987:

"I heard it from my friends about the things you said," Martin's passionate way of running his vocals turned all heads.

Across from the recording booth sat Alan and their now nearing ten month old daughter, the father attempting to entertain her short attention span.

"Poppi Lee, hey, look at this!" He waved a plush toy monkey in front of her bright eyes.

"AAA!" Poppi yowled in response, her tiny voice box expanding at the sight of her favourite animal.

"Yeah, it's monkey! Can you give monkey a kiss?" Her father continued, referring to her newly learned trick of giving kisses.

Lunging her body forward, the infant grasped the toy and pressed her lips against it.

"MWAH!"

"Good girl," Alan giggled as he patted her back. "And can you give Daddy a kiss?"

His question was followed by Poppi repeating her previous action, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Aw, thank you, Poppet."

As he sang, Martin couldn't help but smirk as he watched his partner and young daughter interact with one another. In the midst of their final recording session before the new album's release, he tried his best to equalise his attention on both his family and his fortune.

"They know my weaknesses, I never tried to hide them. They know my weaknesses, thought that you liked them. They know me better than that." His breathing shallow, he projected the remaining lyrics.

All of whom had a presence in the room clapped loudly as the backing track and recording came to an elegant finish.

Poppi now residing on his lap, Alan brought her hands in and out in a clapping motion.

"Yay, Papa!" He cheered.

"Oh, you guys." His partner blushed as he removed his headphones. "No need to be so kind!"

"Of course there's a need," Alan walked over with their daughter on his hip and pecked him on the lips. "You sounded unreal."

"Thank you, my love. What did you think, Hoppi-Poppi? Did Papa do well?" He rubbed her shoulder.

"M-Monkey..." Poppi replied as she rubbed her heavy eyes.

It became clear to her parents that she were in need of a nap.

"I'll take that as a yes." Martin giggled, brushing her hair out of the way of her face.
~~~~~
Four weeks later, September 27th:

The day had been elongated as the band impatiently awaited the release of their sixth studio album, of which was titled 'Music For The Masses.'

"We'll be playing in front of masses soon..." Alan leaned against the kitchen counter, thinking about the weeks ahead.

"I know; it was only a year ago that we finished touring for Black Celebration!" His partner responded. "What a tour that was."

"Hah, wasn't it? I mean, you were pregnant for the majority of it, unknowingly and knowingly."

"As if that wasn't enough, now we're taking Poppi with us on this tour-" Martin's sentence was cut off by a daunting realisation. "Wait, when's our first date?"

"October the 22nd." Alan nodded.

Martin didn't need to exclaim his worry before his partner too realised.

"Hang on a minute, that can't be right." He went over to their calender to look at their plan of events.

22nd - MFTM Tour

"I stand corrected."

"That's two weeks away from her birthday! Not only that, but her FIRST birthday! How are we ever going to make it a special day for her if we're catching flights, dealing with jet lag and stressing out all day long?" Visibly distressed, Martin questioned.

"It's okay, baby. Let's try and stay calm." Alan placed his hands on his partners hips and they gently swayed back and forth within each others close proximity.

"I just want our baby girl to feel even more loved than she already knows, and I don't want touring to ruin that."

"I want that too, trust me. We'll figure something out. We always do."

An alerting chime bounced off the walls as the pendulum moved, breaking a new hour in.

"Midnight," Alan breathed. "September 28th, '87. Happy release day, baby." He smiled down at Martin.

"Happy release day." He responded as he and Alan eloped in a kiss.