Miss Mercury

Changes

A knock at the door stops Freddie in his tracks. It's 11 o'clock at night and he is just on his way up to bed, please don't be another baby on my doorstep.

Opening the door he's surprised to find a drowned looking Brian on his doorstep in the pouring January rain, "Brian? Come in out the rain," he steps to the side to let the guitarist in, "What are you doing here, mate?"

Shrugging his wet coat off Brian holds up the suitcase in his hand, "It's over, Chrissie and I are getting a divorce. Would you mind if I stay for a night or two?"

"Of course you can stay here, stay as long as you need," Freddie leads him upstairs to the spare bedroom, "I'm sorry by the way, you sure its the right choice, darling?"

"Yes," He nods, "Even without throwing Anita into the mix, things have been quite rocky between Chrissie and I for a while now. I hoped that when Emily was born it would rekindle something between us but it didn't," He didn't want it to be this way, he loves Emily but the love he felt for Chrissie disappeared a while ago, it just took Anita stepping into the picture for him to realise it.

Freddie understood the guitarist entirely, "Then you have my support but you know that the media will have a field day with this?"

"Oh, I'm aware of that. I've already spoken to Miami and he will sort the legal papers and such... but Anita and I have agreed not to take our relationship forward until the divorce is settled. I don't want it to be heavy on the children." Brian sighs sitting heavily on the bed, "Do you mind if we talk about this in the morning? It's been a long day."

"My thoughts exactly. You know where everything is, make yourself at home lovie and um..." Freddie lowers his voice, "maybe lock the door if you don't want Milly waking you up during the night. She doesn't like thunderstorms and by the sound of that rain there's one on the way."

Brian laughs, "It's fine if she does, she's no bother. But thank you, Freddie, I'm sorry I kept you up." He's well aware that his friend needs sleep.

"Not to worry dear, you're always welcome here Brian. Goodnight," the singer smiles.

------

"Who was at the door?" Jim mumbles as Freddie slips under the covers.

"Brian, his staying in the spare room for a couple of days. Chrissie and he are getting a divorce," the singer mutters settling into the covers.

Just as surprised, Jim rolls on his back, "Really? First Roger and now Brian." Roger and Dominique have also ended their relationship and he is now seeing another woman, Debbie.

Freddie nods, "Roger's was more of a surprise than Brian's, Roger's came out of nowhere but I did have a feeling about Brian and Anita, I knew he liked her but I didn't think it was that serious."

"What's she like? Anita?" Freddie and the other band members are the only people to have met Anita properly but Brian is head over heels for her.

"She's actually a really lovely woman, a great actress and she suits Brian to a T," Freddie is a fan of Anita's work as well as being good friends with her. He had invited her to their concert at Wembley which is when she first met Brian, the singer can't help be feel a little bit responsible for this.

Though there was a storm through the night, Amelia had stayed in her bed all night, something Freddie was both sad and proud of. Its just another sign that she is growing up.

When it gets to seven and Amelia still hasn't appeared at their door to wake them up Freddie frowns, "where is she?"

"Maybe she's finally understood the meaning of a lie-in," Jim suggests yawning, "Oh please let that be the case."