SCENE III

ANDREW MILES SINCLAIR

I never did get into Julliard, I had to call my mentor the next day and tell him "well, sorry mate, but I have to get back to England and tell my mother that I assisted in the making of a child! Isn't life wonderful?" My mother had obviously been informed the minute I had decided on Drew's name, and the conversation went something like this.

"Harry! You never call me anymore, how did the audition go? I miss you and Insley so much, Christmas break needs to get its arse-"

"Mum, I have news." I said, deciding it best to just get to the point, "I lost my virginity last—"

"Harold Charlie. I hope you used protection." She reprimanded.

"That's why I'm calling." I said sheepishly.

"Harold Charlie Sinclair I am going to personally come and murder you if you did what I think you did." She sounded comical over the phone, even though I knew she was dead serious.

"Mum, you can't just come over here, Sinclair's would die without you," I mentioned her bakery, her treasure, "by the way I impregnated a girl." I said quickly.

"Harry, I cannot believe this, I raised you better than this—"

"He looks just like me, mum. I couldn't believe it when the nurse handed me this little bundle of blue, and when he opened his eyes, mum, I fell in love with him. I... I can't give him back now, Cassidy's not fit to be a mother anyway. He's my child, whether she agrees or not. I'm willing to put in the hours, mum, I'll even learn how to change diapers, I'll come home, study at Cambridge."

"Harry, stop asking me if we can keep him already. I understand. That's how I felt when I first saw you and Insley. What about Julliard, baby?" She asked sweetly.

"Screw Julliard. If they can't appreciate a Sinclair's raw talent, then they can bugger off. I'm booking you ticket to New York right now." I said.

"What's the little guy's name?" She asked, her voice tender and filled with fondness.

"Drew," I said proudly, "Drew Sinclair." At this my mother started bawling her eyes out, and I had to soothe her over the phone.

You might think that I told Rose about Drew, but I couldn't bring myself to. It felt like I had changed, and that she would change with me, leaving NY Arts behind her, and following me to England to become Drew's surrogate mother. My mother arrived two days later, and we got her a flat close to uncle Eros' to compensate for the fact that I was practically going to be spending all my time either with Drew or with the beat-up Yamaha in his living room. My mother supported me throughout one of the most difficult times of my life, trying to balance piano and a month-old infant wasn't something that was classified as easy. I did it though, I did it and graduated with at least a B-. Drew wasn't like those annoying arse babies you saw on telly, he was quiet and reserved, and smiled every time I played Dream A Little Dream for Me on the piano when he wouldn't sleep. I didn't think it was possible to love something that couldn't even go to the bathroom by itself so much, but I loved Drew more than I had ever loved anything. It was better than the love I had for our childhood dog, better than the love Emma and I shared, and I'm ashamed to admit, but it was slightly better than the love Rose and I had. I loved Drew so much that if someone told me to chop off both my hands for Drew, I'd do it. I'd reached that level of parental insanity. When he was finally old enough we took Roo back to England, and he spent the remainder of his first year in my childhood home, with our resounding Steinway. Drew loved it when I played piano, but didn't show any particular interest in it, mostly since he was more interested in art. This was a trait that neither Cassidy Wembley or I possessed, I was a musician, and she was a business major, so I doubted that she had a dramatic passion for art, but Drew did. He drew the cutest pictures, even when they were just scribbles in my school notebooks. I had taken it upon myself to enrol for Cambridge's medical program, because my mother had said she would watch over Drew if I wanted to do it. At this point I had thought that I had lost Rose Darlings, due to the fact that she had probably gone back to France, and forgotten about me. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out I hadn't lost her to France.