Three weeks had passed after the day Taylor spent at the hospital, being examined like a guinea pig. She went back to work at the gallery, which surprised most of her colleagues, who thought she was on her honeymoon. She told them the reason why she had to come back to England, and they all felt sorry for her.

But surprisingly, Taylor was not that frustrated.

As for John, he had left home one week after the hospital day to tour with Queen. He had left for the United States, and at first, he considered cancelling it all, being anxious about Taylor's state. Her kidneys had hurt a few times again, but with all the pills she had to take, the bad moments would not last long.

While John was touring, Taylor had decided to learn as many new things as possible. She started sewing, embroidering and painting, but of course, she was not a professional yet. Every time she finished something, she looked at it and thought “I'm proud, but there's still a LOT of steps to go through!” For once, she felt like she could do something with her hands, other than building octopuses and photographing. Even though she was in an Art school, painting never attracted her that much, but there, she felt like she needed to befriend it after all this time.

One evening, after she went back from an exhausting day at the gallery, Taylor took a hot shower, thinking about John. She could not go to bed, she could not fall asleep. Because this evening, John would be back from the tour, after going back on the road two weeks later. It was so good to know tthat after so many lonely nights, the love of her life would be there at last, with his arms wrapped around her thin body.

Taylor was eating more and more, but she kept losing weight. She tried not to worry about it, but it scared her, somewhere inside. She knew that she would have John's support through her sickness and health, but would he still love her when she would have nothing else than her bones and her skin? With no curves? No flesh?

Suddenly feeling too nervous about that, Taylor's mind moved on to something else. She was thinking about Roger, Freddie and Brian. She saw them twice before the tour. One evening, Brian invited John and her at the restaurant, with his girlfriend, Chrissie. As Brian felt too bad for not inviting Roger and Freddie, he called them before leaving to ask them to join the group. The second time, John had secretly invited them while Taylor was at the doctor's. When she came back home, she got the lovely surprise to see the band in the living room, with all the furnitures pushed against the walls, with their instruments and amplifiers. Roger even had to call one of the roadies to help him bring the drumset to John's house.

The loveliest thing that happened while John was gone occurred the day before. While she was at work, she suddenly felt extremely sick, and had to run away from one of the rooms of the gallery, under the quizzical looks of the big group she was taking care of. After that, she went straight to the chemist's and back at work. For the rest of the day, she had a wide and bright smile pinned to her cheeks, and the visitors were completely confused.

Taylor got out of the bathtub and quickly dried herself in her towel. She grabbed her clean underwears and put them on, before she put on the dress she had worn during the first night of their honeymoon. She took a look at her watch and saw that she had not time enough to prepare everything. Tough! She would not get her hair done.

She ran out of the bathroom after she cleaned everything, and headed for the kitchen, where Malo was sleeping. The cat woke up and happily miaowed at Taylor. When the young woman's eyes laid on her, they realised how she actually had grown. Felling a bit emotional, Taylor leant in and kissed the top of Malo's head, petting her briefly.

Then, she took a look at the food she left in the oven. Perfect, the toasts were well-grilled. She opened the fridge and took out a dish she had prepared in the morning before going to work, and put on a glove to remove the toasts from the oven. Then, she put the dish instead, closing the door of the oven. She took two plates, two knives, two forks, two glasses, and brought the whole to the dining room, where she had covered the table with a red tablecloth. She settled everything on it, and opened the drawer of a furniture behind her, taking out red napkins, which she folded to form lotus flowers. She carefully rested one on each plate, before walking back to the kitchen to take her Moët & Chandon she kept in her pretty cabinet.

Taylor sneaked in a cupboard and grabbed a candlestick, which she bought the day before. She put it between the two plates on the table in the living room and looked at her watch. Technically, she had five more minutes to wait.

John handed money to the taxi driver and thanked him, before getting out of the car. He walked up to the trunk, and the driver unlocked it for him. He grabbed his suitcase and his extra bag, shaking the driver's hand for the last time before he drove away. He sighed in relief and faced his house; his lips stretched into a wide grin, as the sweet face of her wife appeared in his mind.

At last! He was now able to rush in and hold her tight in his arms. His Taylor. His oh, so lovely Taylor.

Instead of rushing in like he thought he would, he slowly followed the path leading to the front door, and cleared his throat now that he was at the doorstep. He tried to open the door but it was locked. “Oh, perhaps she's still at work” he thought. He shrugged and buried his hand in his pocket to take his keys. He slipped the right one in the keyhole and finally unlocked the door.

As soon as he stepped in, a miaowing Malo ran up to him to rub herself against his shinbones. Chuckling, John put down his suitcase and bag and petted her, before picking her up to kiss her.

The house was all dark. John sighed. He who died to hug Taylor apparently had to wait a bit more. However, a gleam caught his eyes. It came from the dining room. With a frown, he put Malo down and silently walked up to the living room door, as the dining room and the living room were only one room. First, he looked at the small table and all around the television. Nothing. He turned his head and jumped, seeing Taylor standing behind the big table, her loving expression was lit up by a candle burning in the middle of it. She was holding two flutes full of champagne.

Taylor's smile grew wider, and she tried to say as seductively as possible: “Welcome home, Mr. Deacon.”

John burst into tears and ran up to her, bypassing the table. She quickly put down the glasses, throwing herself in his arms. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, mixing with John's. But she did not care. Her love was home. John tenderly kissed her, cupping her face with his hands, his fingertips buried in her lightly wavy blond hair. She stroked his soft skin with the back of her fingers, her heat pounding almost as much as when they got married.

“I can't believe it, do my eyes deceive me? Am I back in your arms? Away from all harm?” she started to sing, suddenly remembering A Quick One While He's Away by The Who.

“It's like a dream to be with you again! Can't believe that I'm with you again!”

“Pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow!”

“We're not going to sing the rest of the song, are we? Because if we do, it would mean that you cheated on me!”

“Which is not the case!”

She laughed and tenderly pressed her lips against his, wrapping her arms around his neck. When she pulled away, she gently rubbed the tip of her nose against his.

“I cooked dinner, my dear. Would you like a starter?”

“Sure!”

“I'll take care of your suitcase later.”

“I will.”

Taylor sighed and kissed his cheek, before leading him to his chair, pulling it for him and removing his jacket. She lightly bit her neck and walked up to the corridor to hang his jacket to the coat rack. Then, she went to the kitchen and looked at the food in the oven. Everything was alright. She took the dish for the starters and brought it to the dining room, walking elegantly. She put it down on the table and smiled at John.

“For you, my dear John, I cooked cheese on toast! And they taste way better than last time!”

“Oh? I thought it was impossible for them to taste better! They were perfect last time, now, I think this is going to blow my mind. Am I right?”

“I hope so!”

They smiled at each other, and Taylor sat in front of him, telling him to take some already. He thanked her and took a bite in the toast he picked up. His eyes widened and he slowly pressed his back against the chair. When he swallowed it, he shook his head.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This is... perfect.”

“But they're only toasts, though.”

“Who cares?”

She chuckled and took her glass of champagne, which she raised. John imitated her, wiping his mouth with one of the petals of the napkin. Taylor grinned and let her eyes light up.

“To your comeback!”

“To my comeback, then. Thank you for this wonderful surprise.”

John carefully stood up and kissed her, before sitting back on his chair. They brought their glass to their lips and drank. They were holding hands on the table, unable to take off their eyes from each other.

When the plate of toasts got emptied, Taylor stood up and brought it back to the kitchen, straight into the sink. She opened the door of the oven and grabbed her gloves, taking out the dish from it. She took a tablemat and a spatula, before walking back to the dining room. She settled everything on the table, and showed John what she cooked.

“These, my lovely John, are special lasagnas, directly inspired from the recipe of your family, which I still don't know. You told me that as long as I was not a Deacon, I could not know it. But heh, I'm one now. However, I added my own ingredients, and I hope you will like them.”

John smiled with satisfaction and watched Taylor cut the lasagnas with her knife, dividing it into four parts, before serving him a bit with the spatula.

“I hope that you didn't have dinner by the way, now that I'm thinking about it.”

“I didn't, dear. I expected to make myself a sandwich one I got home, I thought you would have had dinner before me.”

“Oh, you underrate me, John!”

They laughed and Taylor sat down after serving herself. They started to eat, and John nodded, raising his thumb.

“Absolutely delicious, darling! I prefer yours than mine!”

“Thank you, John. So, how was the tour?”

“It was good. There were so many people gathered at the arenas we played in! This was absolutely unbelievable, even Freddie could not believe it! It was very impressive! We're already talking about the next album, but with the whole tour, it won't be released before 1980. At least that's what we think, Brian and I. Oh, and they all knew every word to every song, that was awesome! We sang all together, it was... wow.”

“Well! I never saw you that excited because of a tour! What kind of insect stung you, huh?”

“Ha, ha, ha. It's just that I enjoyed it more than our previous tours. Guess what, a girl was holding a sign saying Deaky! I never saw any before!”

“Did you invite her backstage to thank her?”

“Oh, shut up.”

Taylor burst out laughing. Actually, it was only a joke, and John understood it. She trusted him, even when on tour.

John cleared his throat and frowned lightly, looking up from his plate.

“And by the way... your kidneys...”

“Oh, we're good. Really. When it hurts, it's not for long. Doctor Maylor gave me stronger painkillers so I can survive to my days at the gallery!”

“That would be appreciated.”

“Yup! This week was so horrible. Always running here and there, leaving the group to another guide because a bigger one is coming right now, ha! The least we could say is that I did sports!”

“You saw a doctor again, huh?”

“Yes, I told you that I had more painkillers. Don't worry, it's fine.”

“Okay.”

“Let's move on to something else. How have the guys been? I guess they're proud of the tour!”

“Yeah, they're celebrating it tonight.”

“What? But... Why didn't you go with them?”

“I wanted to see you so badly.”

“I know you did, but... I could've understood! Dear, when are you going to stop preventing yourself from having fun because of me? You know I'm fine, you know I almost feel nothing in my kidneys, so why do you keep doing that?”

“Because I love you, that's why.”

Taylor sighed and smiled, touched by his words. She pouted briefly and shrugged. When they finished eating and the dish had been emptied, Taylor brought it to the kitchen, after she asked John if he wanted a cup of tea or anything. Their stomachs were both full, so they decided to keep the dessert for the day after. Taylor prepared tea and filled two cups. Then, she walked back to the dining room and handed one to John, who thanked her.

She sat before him, with a wide smile. John smiled back but noticed that she could hardly hide it.

“Taylor? Why are you smiling like that?”

“Oh, it's nothing, nothing.”

Once again, she could not hide it. Fter he took a sip of his tea, John put down his cup and looked at her quizzically.

“There's something in your mind, I can tell. Come on, spit it out!”

“Well... I hoped that I would be more... discreet. But while you were touring, I started to learn a few artistical things, such as sewing, embroidering, painting, and a few other things too. And... I have something for you.”

“You didn't knit socks, did you?”

“No. It's way better.”

John grinned, and Taylor stood up, tired of waiting. She quickly kissed him on the lips before running up to their bedroom. She knelt down before the bed, taking out something from under it. It was not square and it was not round, but it was hard to guess what it actually was, as the gift wrap was too thick.

Taylor went back to the dining room, picking up John's plate, which she put on hers, freeing the spot before him. She carefully put down the present on the tablecloth. John's cheeks turned a bright shade of red. While he was tearing the gift wrap, Taylor sat back before him, tears coming to her eyes. John was all confused, and his fingers started to tremble. What was he going to find in this gift wrap?

Finally, hins fingers took the paper off the present itself. It was a teddy bear, smiling, wearing a sort of apron. John frowned, not understanding the message.

“Read what's written on his apron. Loud!” Taylor whispered, a teardrop rolling down her cheek.

John nodded slowly and looked at the apron. His eyes suddenly widened, and he covered his thin lips with a shaky hand. His eyes filled with tears, and he cleared his throat.

“D... D... Daddy Deacon.”

Taylor burst into tears, smiling widely at him. John looked up and jumped off his chair, running up to her. He wrapped his arms around her neck, sobbing happily. He kissed her lips and shyly stroked her stomach.

“There's... there's...” he started.

“There's a baby in there. Your baby. Our baby.”

“So... It worked.”

“It worked.”