While John was away on tour with the band, my mother decided that it was time for me to meet my grandparents from her side of the family. They lived in Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds. My mother once told me that the countryside was always a part of her life growing up and she always had fond memories of helping grandpa working with the farming until she decided to live her own life when she got older.

It was just me and my mother when we drove to the farmhouse, the car ride gave me enough time to enjoy the scenery of the countryside. There were bright green meadows, deep green forest, rolling hills, fields with animals like sheep and cows. It was very stunning and it would be my kind of place to settle down since I preferred the quiet and beautiful scenery. I even took the time to draw a sketch of sunflowers. I thought of sunflowers since they were my favorite flowers and they remind me of the sun. Drawing helps me feel positive a lot too as it keeps the sadness away as I focus hard on what I draw.

"I like what you're drawing," said my mom.

"Thanks, I really like this sketchbook that you gave me on my birthday." I said.

"I'm glad that you love it. Your father mentioned in his last letter that you've been drawing and painting a lot, I had to make sure that I give you a lot of art equipment on your birthday."

I was happy with my mother's gift since art was my favorite hobby besides knitting. I started off by drawing when I was a little girl and learned how to paint when I took art class as I got older.

As we drove through Chipping Norton, it was quite a lively little town. There were antique shops that reminded me of some of the shops including Antique Emporium back in Rockydale. We arrived at the farmhouse and it was beautiful. It was a two story house and it was surrounded by charming gardens and grounds. I couldn't wait to explore the place.

As we came to a stop, my grandparents were already outside waiting for us. I started to feel a little happy to see them because of what my mom told me about the time when they met my father when they got to visit them in the countryside after the war ended, they heard of him through her letters and was happy to finally meet him and me as a baby before we left for America. Although I felt sad that I never got to spend a lot of time with them since I was still living in America as I grew older until now. My mother greeted and hugged them first before they turned to face me. I didn't know what to say or do, but I didn't have to worry about that as they took turns to hug me.

"It's nice to finally meet you again, Mary. You have your mother's hair and your father's eyes. I'm really sorry to hear about what happened to him, I hope you've been doing well despite that." said my grandmother.

"Thank you, gran. It's nice to finally meet you and granddad too." I said.

"Let's come inside and have a cup of tea." she said as we went inside the house.

While my grandmother was making tea, I took the time to explore the house. There was a living room that had a cozy fireplace and a nice view of the garden, it even had a study room and a sitting room. There were five bedrooms upstairs, which made sense why my mother mentioned that she loved to come here with Charlie and Peter during Christmas.

"Liz, darling! Tea is ready!" yelled my mom from downstairs.

"Coming!"

I joined them in the sitting room as we sat down to enjoy black tea with milk, the tea was actually decent. The milk helped with adding some natural sweetness. I could see where my mother learned how to make tea very well.

"So, what's been going on during your time in London?" asked my grandmother.

"Well, I'm living with Amelia and Poppy, my new friends who live next to my parents' house. I have a job as a tea lady at EMI Recording Studios at Abbey Road, and I met a boy." I answered.

"What's his name?"

I had decided that it was time to bring up John during this conversation since I was thinking about him, and I had a convincing story for them about how I met him and who he was without mentioning that he's from The Beatles.

"His name is John. I met him when Poppy took me to her favorite club for a fun night. I decided to dance and he was the first person that I asked to dance with me. He was a really great dancer and he was very sweet. We've been getting to know each other more. He lives in Liverpool."

"If he ever breaks your heart, I will make him regret it." said my grandfather.

"Thanks, granddad." I said with a smile.

After drinking tea, we went outside for a walk in the field before going back to London.

"What was your old home like before you came to London?" asked my grandfather.

"It was beautiful. Every night when the weather is calm, I would go to the top of the lighthouse and enjoy the view of the ocean. Loved to go sailing and swimming. Even enjoyed riding my bicycle in town and smelling the sea at the same time. Have you seen a lighthouse somewhere in England?" I asked.

"There is one below the cliffs of Beachy Head, it's in East Sussex. You can go there at night to see the beacon light up, but be careful since the cliff can be dangerous if you're not careful." he answered.

During the drive back to London, everything felt silent until my mom decided to say something.

"You never mentioned anything about John to me until today. Want to tell me more about him?" she asked.

I had a feeling that she was gonna ask about John since she was right, I never even mentioned John to her at all before the visit to the farmhouse. I was nervous to mention him being in The Beatles because of how some of the adults didn't like them since the band is related to rock and roll. But I felt like I should trust my mom enough to tell her about him being related to The Beatles.

"Have you heard of The Beatles?" I asked.

"Of course, they actually have great music. Your brother loves listening to them." she answered, hearing that answer gave me a bit of relief to answer that John is from The Beatles.

"I didn't wanna mention it because I was nervous about how my grandparents would react earlier, but he's John Lennon from The Beatles."

The car came to a sudden stop as my mother slammed the brakes down, I didn't expect her to react like that.

"Sorry for surprising you like that, I didn't know how to tell you because of him being part of The Beatles. But after hearing you say that they have great music and not minding that Peter is a fan of them, it felt safe for me to tell you. But I promise you that there's nothing going on between us, we just met and became friends." I said.

For a moment, there was silence until she turned to face me. She wasn't upset or anything, she was just happy. Which felt like a relief.

"Well, I will say that I am glad that you have met someone and you're slowly coming out of your shell, and I am proud of you. But if he does anything stupid to you, I will kill him." she said.

"Thanks, mom. I'm just glad that you accepted him since I was so scared to tell you when it all started."

"You're welcome, sweetie. And don't worry, you don't have to be scared to tell me anything. I will always  support you, no matter what."

By the time I got home, I was so exhausted. I immediately went to my room after having supper. Just when I almost dozed off, my telephone started ringing. I answered it while wondering who could be calling me.

"Hello, who is this?" I asked.

"Hello, Lizzie. It's John." I was actually happy to hear his voice right now, I couldn't wait to tell him about my day.

"Hey, John. How was your day? I spent my day at the Cotswolds to meet my grandparents." I asked.

"It was alright, finished tonight's show. We'll be doing another show tomorrow, but I wish that this tour would end sooner so that we can spend more time with each other. But how was the Cotswolds and how did things go with your grandparents?" he asked.

"It went pretty well. The Cotswolds was beautiful. Their farmhouse was so stunning, I will take you there when we find the perfect time to bring you down here when you have some freedom. I did tell my grandparents about you while leaving out that you're from The Beatles since I got nervous on the feeling that they would hate rock and roll, but I did tell my mother after she admitted that she thinks The Beatles have great music and doesn't mind my stepbrother being a fan of the band."

"How did she take it?" he asked.

"She was surprised, but she was happy for me since I am slowly coming out of my shell. But watch out for her since she won't hesitate to kill you if you break my heart." we both laughed together.

It actually felt good to tell someone besides Amelia and Poppy about John. I haven't told my stepfather, Charlie and Peter yet though. I know that Peter will be surprised when he finds out that I'm friends with one of The Beatles.

"Do you have free time ahead after the tour?"

"Unfortunately, no. I'll be heading to Barcelona with Eppy on the 28th. Hopefully I'll be back by 9th of May at Liverpool. You can come down to Liverpool for a visit if you want when I get back. I can introduce you to my Aunt Mimi."

I actually loved the idea of going to Liverpool to see him when he returns and meeting his aunt, although I am nervous about her since he did mention how strict she was when he was growing up.

"Sure, I would love that. We should even spend a day together there before the tour starts back up again." I said.

"We can do that, there's a lot of things at Liverpool that I would love to show you," he said.

As we talked through the night until John had to hang up to get some sleep since the band has to travel to another location for another show tomorrow. While John goes to Barcelona with Brian on the 28th, I'll be waiting until the day I'll visit John at Liverpool.