John phoned me almost every day. He was worried about me. Well, the thing is that I was feeling better and better, and the nausea in the mornings was weaker every time. But then, as the end of the year was coming, I needed to go to Spain to talk to my parents. They still didn’t know anything and they should have been the firsts to know. So one day that John phoned me, as usual, in the afternoon, I told him:

• "Hey, luv, you should have seen the concert yesterday! It was quite good, but bloody hell, we ran out of petrol and we had to hitchhike to go to Doncaster!! It was a hell of a night, baby! Neil and Mal stayed with the van fixing everything, and you should have seen us four saying to the car drivers: ‘hey, mister, please, we’ve got a concert at the Gaoumont theatre in Doncaster!’. Well they thought we were lunatics!" I heard him laugh on the phone.
• "John, really??! But didn’t Neil check out the petrol before going?"
• "Well, he should have, but you know, he forgot or bloody checked it out wrong!" I laughed too. I couldn’t imagine the poor four Beatles running like frantic because they were late for a performance. "Anyway, baby, everything alright?"
• "Yea, John, but... John..."
• "Yes?"
• "Have you got any days off at Christmas?"
• "Well, I guess so, Christmas day at least, why?"
• "I would like to go to Spain to visit my parents and tell them everything". He remained silent for a few seconds. I could feel he didn’t like the idea of me travelling alone.
• "Ok", he finally said, "we’ll go on Christmas Eve, or well, as soon as I can get rid of the Christmas Shows, ok?" Well, John wanted to come with me. I wouldn’t have expected that from him.
• "Oh, John, does that mean that you’re coming too?"
• "Of course, my baby! I couldn’t let you fly on your own carrying with my child. We’ll go together. Moreover, I think that’ll be a good opportunity to meet your parents, won’t it?"

So, that was it. I started arranging everything. I went to the airport and bought two plane tickets. John wanted Brian to arrange everything for us, but I wouldn’t let him. There was no way a limousine was going to come for me when I arrived in Valencia. I wanted everything as normal as possible, so I phoned my parents and told them I was going with John on the 24^th December.

I also went to tell Edu and Eli. They were not going home for Christmas (of course, having the Beatles, who wants to be separated from them?), so I told them I was going and they wished me luck. Yes, I really needed it, my parents were not easy. If Mimi had been difficult, my parents were not less.

So finally the day came. On December 24^th an helicopter chartered by Brian Epstein flew Paul, George, Ringo, Edu and Eli to Liverpool. Brian was going to go with them, but decided to come with John and me to the airport. He rented another limousine.

• "Are you sure you don’t want any protection or cars there, John?", asked Brian. Well, I had to speak up.
• "Brian, it’s Spain. The Beatles are not known there yet. Don’t you remember that some months ago you were there with John and nobody recognised you?" John looked at me and smiled.
• "Well, you did", said Brian. Ah! That was different. Edu and I were special cases though. We loved music and that was not very common in those days. Franco, you see, the dictator who ruled the country was not very keen on us, little Spaniards, listening to foreign music. So I didn’t say anything.

• "Please, Vicky, take care of John!", I just smiled, I never took the things Brian said on the wrong side. He looked so correct and nice. But John butted in:
• "What the hell are you talking about, Brian? It’s her who’s pregnant! I should take care of her, I can take care of meself!" Brian seemed hurt, as every time John told him anything of the like. "Eli and Paul need protection!", he went on. I looked up at him. Was he joking? He looked at me and smiled.
• "You’re terrible!", I told him. But John just pulled one of those faces of his, putting his lovely tongue in front of his lower jaw and twisting his eyes. He was so funny! Brian, on the other side, didn’t seem so amused. I can say he didn’t like the idea of letting John go to a foreign country on his own. He finally gave in and went.

Well, we were in the VIP room at the airport, but when the we finally had to embark on the plane, some people recognised John. Fortunately, there were not many people, being such a special day, and there were not many teenagers either, but there were some young couples who looked at John and then whispered among themselves.

We were flying first class, so the flight was quite peaceful. I fell asleep on John shoulder for about forty or fifty minutes, I can not say. I was really tired, and I had started to put on weight enormously, I think I weighted a kilo more every day. I didn't have any bump yet, but I felt heavier somehow.

I had phoned my parents the day before telling them the exact time of our arrival. I didn’t want them to come for me to the airport, we could take a taxi. If everything was alright, we would be at home in time for Christmas Eve celebrations. And everything was fine, the plane landed on time and some minutes past twelve o’clock, we were knocking on my parents’ door.

• "How are you?", I asked John seeing him a little bit uneasy.
• "I’m fine, luv, it’s just that...", and then he stopped. Well, I didn’t ring the doorbell because I wanted to hear what John had to tell me.
• "What?"
• "Well, I don’t like this bloody crap, luv, you understand... I see you have loving parents and all, but baby, let’s get through this as quick as possible and let’s go back to little old England as soon as possible". Well, I didn’t like that. England was his country, but Spain was mine and I loved my parents like he loved his Aunt Mimi. Why did everything have to be so difficult? We both looked at each other and took a very deep and long breath. I knock on the door.

All three members of my family opened the door together. There were screams and hugs and kisses for about twenty minutes. Then my brother spotted John.

• "Hey, man, how are you?", that was my brother who had picked up that way of talking since he’d been in High School.
• "Not bad", said John offering his hand for him to shake. My mum and my dad were behind my brother watching. Then my dad was next and finally my mother. They all came in and I looked at John and whispered to him:
• "First exam passed", he was still dressed with the clothes of the Christmas performance, a long neck red sweater and black trousers. He was so used to wearing tie that he gestured to straighten his tie, but abandoned when he realised he wasn’t wearing any.

We walked towards the living room where my mum still had all the things from the dinner. My dad told us to sit down and we did. John was unusually at a loss for words. The witty guy who dared making cheeky comments in front of the Queen Of England herself, was shy in front of my parents! I couldn’t believe it.

• "Well, Vicky, you haven’t introduced us to your male companion!", said my mum. I looked at John.
• "Mum, Dad, Charles... This is John, John Lennon. John this is my dad, my mum and my brother".
• "Hi everybody!", said John. Dad was observing John carefully and my mum looked at me. Mums are really clever for some sort of things. I think she had realised there was something wrong with me even from the very first moment she had set eyes on me.
• "Well, John, what do you do? Tell us about yourself", said my dad. I spoke up.
• "He’s a musician, dad. And a very good one, by the way. He writes such lovely songs!" I looked at John to give him support.
• "Well, that’s very good, John", my dad went on, "but now, seriously, John, What’s your job?" I spoke up again.
• "He’s a musician, dad, I’ve just told you!" my mum was looking at me and then she said:
• "Vicky, please, let John speak!" I looked at John and nodded with my head silently. He cleared his throat and spoke:
• "Well, I’ve got a group, Mr Peña"
• "Yeah, we’ve already heard that, but I suppose that’s not what you do for a living. Music is alright, but as a hobby, you never make a living out of it. So..."
• "No, no, Mr Peña, I play the guitar and sing and that’s my job. And we’re not doing bad now, I can tell you. We’re quite famous in England". My father looked puzzled.
• "Are you serious?"
• "Yes, I am" My parents didn’t look at all convinced. Thank God for brothers. My brother was also very very keen on music. He loved Cliff Richard and the Shadows who he had discovered via a friend whose cousins were living in England. This friend provided my brother with all sorts of musical magazines, and in one of these magazines my brother borrowed from his friends, Edu had seen that advertising of mine. Oh, it looked so long ago!
• "John Lennon?", he butted in. "The rhythm guitarist in the Beatles?", well to hear that lovely name from the lips of my brother was such a relief that John gave him a big smile.
• "Yeah!", John and I said at the same time.
• "Uau! Man, I’m a big fan of your music, really!. My friend David has got your last Long Play, With the Beatles is called, isn’t it?"

Hell was my brother into it! He had already listened to the LP And I thought I had been so lucky listening to it in that bloody party. Well, but after that my parents were easier and everything was fine. When the dinner was over, I offered to help my mother to take the dishes and everything away from the living room and into the kitchen.

I couldn’t wait any more, It had to be now or never. My mother was washing all the dishes and I was leaned on the sink when I decided to tell her everything.

• "Mum, we’ve not only come so that you can meet John, There’s another reason." My mum didn’t say anything, so I took another deep breath. "Mum, I’m... I’m pregnant". Silence and then this loudly crash of a dish breaking into thousands of pieces on the floor. John, my brother and my dad came running to the kitchen:
• "Are you alright?", said dad. My mum was still in trance and when she recovered life, she broke down and cried. She sobbed loudly and my heart sank. My dad went to her, hugged her and worriedly he looked at me:
• "What’s wrong? What did you do to her?", I looked at John for support and he gave me a weak smile.
• "Dad, I’m pregnant", I was saying that as I could have said I had won a million pounds. I was not nervous. I thought I would be more, but I was less than when we told Mimi. When my mum heard the word again she started yelling at me:
• "OH, THE BEST DISGRACE FOR A GIRL! What have we done to deserve this??? Is that we haven’t taught you anything???" She was almost in hysterics by now. I couldn’t stand it any more and I went to the living room. I sat down at the table and hid my head in my hands. John came to me and kissed me on the head. My dad and mum went after me. My dad could be very aggressive at times.
• "Didn’t you hear what your mother asked you? Is that how you pay all the education we’ve given to you???!!", he was really angry now.
• "It’s alright, mum, dad, we’re living together. John has got money, the Beatles are doing really great now!".
• "Oh, Vicky!", that was my mum, "now you’ll have to marry pregnant". I swallowed. Hell, my mum was going to die of a heart attack when she heard this.
• "Mum, we can not get married. John is already married and his wife wouldn’t give him the divorce..." I saw my brother slipped upstairs to his room, knowing the thunderstorm that would follow. I think my mum didn’t have more tears left.
• "You’ve disappointed me", said my dad. "How do you dare coming to this house on Christmas Eve to tell us all this??" I was going to answer but my dad was quicker and slapped me on the face as strongly as he could. Before I couldn’t even react to my dad’s action, John instinctively had got up in a sudden jump, aggressively, like he was used to do in Liverpool and in Hamburg and everywhere. But that was my dad. He couldn’t do that. HE WAS MY DAD!!!
• "NO, JOHN!!", I said.

John looked at me and suddenly realised what he was going to do. I was still touching my cheek, all red and swallowed by then when my father calmly said:

• "Get out of this house. You’re a disgrace for this family and the whole family, listen to me, the whole family will have nothing to do with you now. You’re on your own!"

That hurt more than the slap on my face. I silently got up and went upstairs to say goodbye to my brother. He was very very understanding, and quite grown up for his age, he was 16. John came with me.

• "Vicky, don’t worry!", he said. He had obviously eavesdropped everything. "I’ll speak for you. They’ll come back to their senses eventually". After that he shook hands with John. John told him.
• "Hey, man, it’s been a pleasure. I’m sorry that I’ve spoiled your Christmas Eve. If we ever get famous world wide, you’ll be the first in getting tickets for all our concerts", my brother smiled at John and they shook hands. "Bye, and keep on appreciating good music".

So we went downstairs and went out to the cold night. Crossing the road from my house there’s a telephone box. From there we called a taxi and John asked where the best hotels in the city were. I couldn’t think properly, I was very distressed, but I managed to tell him there was a four-star hotel very near the airport that could be perfect if we were going to leave Spain for England the next day.

In the taxi I broke down and cried and cried:

• "John, don’t you realise that the more I need them, the less I’ve got them?", he kissed my head in answer. When we arrived at the hotel, a very beautiful one, we went up to our room and I lied down on the bed like a sack. And cried and cried for ours. John came to me and hugged me. He turned me round so that he could have my face in front of his. He kissed my tears and I said in between sobs:
• "John, I’ve got nowhere to go!" He kissed me.
• "Shh! Your home is with me, in England, with the guys and with your friends. And remember what I told you some time ago?" I shook my head. He had told me so many things that I couldn’t remember. "I want you to come on tour with me, whenever you want, the place you want. We’re going to France next month, fancy coming?" I don’t know how but he managed to get a smile out of me. I had already been to France with John.
• "I’ve already been to France, John. Let’s leave it for the next, then". Then John smiled at me.
• "I’ll guess you’ll like it"
• "Where is it? Do you already know?"
• "Oh, yeah, but I’m not going to tell you anything. It’s a surprise!"
• "Oh, please, John, tell me. Cheer me up!" he shook his head. Then I slapped him and he came to tickle me. I laughed in hysterics in between my tears. John made me forget my misery and I was like mad, laughing hysterically playing with John on the bed. He was tickling me everywhere in my body.
• "Oh, please, JOHN STOP IT!!" I laughed. Then he stopped and looked at me straight into my eyes. He approached his face towards mine and our mouths were separated by two millimetres.
• "I love you, my kitten", then he kissed me softly first but we ended up kissing each other passionately. John wanted to make love, but I didn’t fancy. I think it was due to my pregnancy. Ever since I had been pregnant, my sexual desire had fallen down in an incredible way. John understood. So we ended up sleeping in each others arms. I leaned my head on John’s chest and he surrounded my waist with his arms. And that way we both fell asleep.

We woke up late the next day, almost in time to get all our things to go to the airport. John had booked tickets for the earliest plane who took off at 12.30, so it was 10.00 now, almost time to go to the airport. I was in misery. I wanted to cry, my family, the only thing I had for sure, was leaving me behind. I looked at John while we were both still sitting on bed, ready to get up. My heart was broken. Then John looked at me:

• "Morning, luv, how are ya?" I looked down. I wasn’t fine, that was the truth. I needed to die. I was pregnant, not married, and with no plans of marry due to Cynthia’s determination as not to give John the divorce. He stretched his arms and hold me by the waist. "The nausea again?", he went on.
• "No, John, it’s just that... Well, your aunt was much more understanding that my parents and now I feel alone..." my tears were in my eyes now, unconsciously, because I didn’t want to cry. John touched my face.
• "Hey! I told you before you’re not alone, hon. You’ve got me, and Edu and Eli... They’re your friends... Look, luv, I’ve got money, there is no single thing in this world that you can’t have if you wish it. You only have to tell me..." Yeah, but I wanted my parents’ love. Well, it was too late for that, so I got up and went to the bathroom to have a shower. John went after I was done and then we took our bags and went to the airport. We had a coffee in the café and when it was time to embark, we headed towards the gates. But suddenly, I thought I heard someone shout my name. I looked at John, but he was looking front and with no signs that he had heard anything, so I left it as something from my imagination. But then again, a woman’s voice shouted my name and this time John heard it too. We both looked at the direction where the voice seemed to come and saw my mother and my brother waving at us like frantic.
• "John, it’s my mum!", I said, and ran towards them with John trailing behind. I went out the gates once again and we three hugged and wished merry Christmas and shared tears. Mum kissed John on the cheek and my brother shook hands with him. But my dad was not there. "Where’s dad?" Mum looked down.
• "Just give him time, dear, he’ll come back to his senses. Ok, merry merry Christmas, dear and a happy New Year. John... Take care of her, and please, baby", she told me", if you need anything, just tell me, ok? I’m looking forward to knowing my grandchild". She smiled and we gave each other the final hug, because the plane was about to leave.

• "John, I’m happier now. My mum understands me, it’s only my dad, you see". John kissed me on the head.

When we arrived in London, John and I took a taxi and went towards our flat in Emperor’s Gate. The guys were in Liverpool, so I guessed Edu and Eli would be there too, with them. When we had unpacked our things and we were both watching TV on the sofa, John suddenly told me:

• "Brian is celebrating a New Year’s party in his house".
• "Oh, yeah?"
• "Yeah".
• "Alright"
• "Yeah, but please, baby, don’t take me wrong... Behave yourself, right?" I felt hurt.
• "John, it was Tessa, you see. She’s after you, I can not stand her!" he looked at me very serious.
• "Hell! Vicky, thousands of girls go after me or after the other three, are you going to fight against all of them?" I looked down. Obviously not, but I was so in love with John, that the only thought of having to share him with other girls was not very pleasant.

Anyway, the next day the Beatles went on with their Christmas show. I had no classes any more since the 24^th so on Friday the Beatles invited Edu, Eli and me to attend one of these shows.

Two limousines drove us to the Astoria Cinema in Finsbury Park, north London to attend one of the two shows. John wanted me to attend the afternoon one, he wanted me to rest at night. Needless to say we three girls were pretty excited about this. I had been in a limousine before, but Edu and Eli hadn’t so they were quite over the moon. The boys entered the building first. They had to go first to their dressing rooms to dress up or something, and Mal Evans (a big big guy who John told me had been porter at the cavern), Brian, Neil and we three girls were directly to the seats to see the show. Oh, it was all very exciting. When we were all seated, Brian, Mal and Neil got up and told us they had to go backstage with the guys.

• "So, please, girls, don’t move from here", Brian told us, "Neil will come for you once the show is over, ok?" We nodded. We were so excited about actually attending a Beatles show. Well, it was not a concert, but it was the closest we could get. So they went. We three had a look at the audience. Like that time at the cavern, there were lots of girls there screaming, but thankfully, the building was pretty huge and we were in the first row, so we wouldn’t have any problems in hearing the boys.

The show started with a speeded up film and an off-voice, from the soundtrack announcing: "By land, by sea, by air, come the stars of The Beatles Christmas Show...". There were thousands of screams at the mention of the word "Beatles". Oh, these stupid girls, I wanted to hear the show. Then the curtains parted and a huge helicopter, a real helicopter!!, landed on stage.

• "My God!", I heard Edu whisper. Then a guy dressed up as a ticket collector started to introduce the passengers of the helicopter, who were no others but the Beatles. They were carrying BEA bags and they were wearing glasses. I couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe John was wearing his real ones!!

Now came the sketches. The stage was all black and the Beatles were all dressed in white coats. Then three of them hurried away and the commentator started imitating a toothpaste advertisement saying: "Three out of four doctors...". We all laughed loudly because the remaining doctor was no other but my lovely lovely John, who completed the sentence: "leaves one doctor!". More laughs from the audience and from we three. Edu and Eli looked at me.

• "John always wants to be the focus of attention!", said Eli as a joke. I stuck my tongue at her and looked at John. But then the other three came and wave at the audience. That meant the end of one sketch. So, a guy turned up on the stage and started throwing cotton wool snowballs and a band very similar to the Beatles in looks and instruments (but obviously, not as sexy), played a version of White Christmas. But, oh, they were imitating the Beatles. The audience applauded when one of them switched his guitar and out it on his left hand. Then it was my turn to say to Eli:
• "And yours is always showing off with this peculiar way of his of playing the guitar". She shook her head.

Immediately after the carol played by this group whose name I didn’t know, the Beatles played another sketch. This one was miles better. John came out to the stage wearing a moustache twirling and a top hat. He played the villain (as couldn’t be otherwise). Then Edu almost died laughing when we saw George coming to the stage all dressed up as a woman. He was the heroine, whom John had thrown into a path of an express train. He wanted to kill her. Ringo played nothing (the snow, maybe?) as he was only throwing paper snow ground everybody. And then time came for Eli to enjoy the show, for out came Paul wearing a strange cap, a shirt and even braces, and saved George from the hands of John. This sketch had been really really funny and we girls and the audience got up and stood applauding for at least five minutes. John saw us and blew me a kiss. I smiled at him. I loved him madly.

But the best thing was still to come. I had never been to a Beatles concert, but after the sketches the Beatles started to play. Ringo announced them rolling his drums and then George bumped into a song about Beethoven. I had heard that song before, at the party where Tessa and I had got the hands. But among some of the songs they played, there was one I particularly liked very very much and that I had never heard before. Well, the chorus said something like I wanna hold your hand so I gathered that should be the title, and I loved it. John and Paul sang it and it was perfect, perfect. I had never seen John singing like that before, and he was so sexy singing, with his arched legs and the head up above the microphone.

After the show, Neil came for us and we three went backstage. I went to John and hugged him passionately. Then he kissed me the same way and he held me by the waist while we observed Edu and George kissing each other softly. But then I noticed something wrong with Eli and Paul. They were not kissing each other, they were talking. Eli moved her arms quite often and Paul seemed somehow worried. I looked at John:

• "John, look at Paul and Eli". He directed his eyes towards them. John didn’t say anything so I told him: "What’s wrong, John? Do you know anything?" he shrugged.
• "Maybe he’s telling her Jane is coming to the New Year’s party". I couldn’t believe it. Jane was coming. So, what about Eli?
• "Is she?"
• "Yeah, so I don’t think this is gonna be easy for Eli"
• "What is Paul going to do?"
• "Macca? I’ve told him thousands of times not to play like that, you see. He’s recently been telling me he’s not happy with Jane, always touring with her Theatre and stuff, so he should leave her and go out with Eli freely, but no. Jane Asher is the big prize for poor old Macca from Liverpool."
• "What do you mean?" John kissed me and told me:
• "Shh! Leave them to work out their own problems, ok, my love? Now it’s time for you to go home". And that was it. Edu and Eli stayed for the evening show, but Brian called a taxi for me and I went home feeling a little bit disappointed at not being able to see their evening show.

The next day, for some reason, the Beatles were off. They had no shows at the Finsbury Park Astoria, but I told John that I wanted to go shopping with Edu and Eli. He said it was Ok and kissing me told me:

• "Buy the sexiest things on earth, my luv". I smiled at him and grabbing my bag, I went to the door. I took the tube to King’s cross and then the bus to Camden Town. Edu was waiting for me when I arrived. I entered anyway. She took me apart:
• "Vicky, Tessa is here and she’s determined to go to the party". I felt angry and angry,. This bloody Tessa was becoming a pain in the ass, really.
• "But, how, Edu? She’s got no way to go if we don’t invite her". Edu looked distressed. She avoided looking at me in the eye:
• "She says John invited her".
• "What?", this I couldn’t believe. John... Was there anything between them? That was impossible, John was all the time he was not touring with me, so if they were having a romance, they had it difficult to meet. Edu went on.
• "Yes, she says John told her to go the other day, I don’t know, Vicky, I’m giving her the cold shoulder after what she did to you at the other party. Just one thing, take care with her". I thought of going to talk to her and tell her a thing or two but then I thought that I’d better talk to John.
• "What about Eli, is she coming?"
• "Eli is really angry with Paul now. It seems that Jane is coming to the party with Paul".
• "I know, but she’s our friend. I want her to come".
• "Yeah, I do want too, but we’ll have to convince her".

That was a harder task than we first thought. Eli was really hurt because Paul preferred to go with Jane rather than with her:

• "That’s not true and you know it", said Edu, "Paul has told me thousands of times that he’s really infatuated with you". Well, I was missing something. Paul was telling Edu those kinds of things? How? When?
• "So, why on earth doesn’t he leave that bloody Jane Asher once and for all?"
• "Time takes time, dear. But come to the party. You can watch Paul and he can see you there. I would go if I were you". Eli thought for a couple of minutes and then she said:
• "OK, but I’m gonna make him suffer a little bit". Well, I lifted my eyebrows, I felt like an outsider. First. Edu had a degree of confidence with Paul that I wish I had with John. Second, Tessa said John had invited her. She could be lying, but the party being in two days' time, that seemed impossible. I was like the little stupid, who, being pregnant, couldn’t understand a word.

We were walking out the door when we heard the door of Tessa’s room open and some steps that went to the living room. I pushed Edu and Eli outside the door, because I didn’t want to see her.

• "Hurry up, hurry up!" They both giggled and out we went.

This time we didn’t go to the street markets. This time the Beatles had lots more of money and John wanted me to enjoy life with him. He had given me a pack of blank notes to spend wherever I wanted, and so off to Harrods we went. We had a great time, as usual. I sometimes felt really hurt watching beautiful dresses that I couldn’t wear any more due to my pregnant state. I was really becoming plump by the end of December. Edu and Eli, having really slim figures, bought beautiful long dresses. I had to do with a normal dress that hid my pregnant state as much as possible.

When I got home I found John talking on the phone to somebody. He wasn’t in the living room, the voice came from our bedroom, so I didn’t want to disturb him, but I couldn’t help eavesdrop some of his final words. John still didn’t know I had arrived, so I was in advantage. He was saying:

• "I’m sorry, luv, no... You cannot, you see, put yourself in my shoes, now, luv... Please, don’t get angry, luv. Must hung up now. Take care, luv, bye". I couldn’t believe it. John was talking to a woman, that was for sure. He never addressed anybody as "luv" unless it was a woman. So, when he finally came out of the room, he got surprised and was a little bit uneasy. I didn’t want to be another excuse for him to get angry at me, so I didn’t tell him anything. If he was having an affair with some other girl, I would end up by finding it. But he brought up the thing.
• "Oh, luv, Tessa was on the phone", my heart jumped. Was it Tessa? "She wanted to come to the party you see, but I told her she couldn’t. Because, she couldn't, could she?"
• "No, she couldn’t and she can’t, John and I don’t like the idea of you talking to her on the phone when I’m not home", he ran a hand through his hair.
• "Oh, I’m sorry, luv, I’m sorry, no more", and then he put his hands together as if he were praying and battered his lovely eyelashes very quickly. I laughed and slapped him softly on the shoulder. "Pleaze, mizzuz, may I go to the playground with my friends now, pleaze. I’ll never do it again, pleaze, mizzuz, please", he said, imitating a little child’s voice. I kissed him on the lips.
• "I love you madly, John". He smiled. And thankfully, the incident stopped there.

So, finally, the day of the party arrived. That day the Beatles had another Christmas Show at the Astoria, but one house only, so that they could have time to prepare for the New Year’s Celebrations. John came home all excited. He was a party animal, he loved parties very very much, and so did I but I was a little bit uncomfortable. So John took a shower and put on a suit and I wore the dress I had bought at Harrods. John loved it. Now we had to wait for a limo to come for us. It finally came. In climbed in the back were driven to Brian’s house in Belgravia. As usual, John had been late, and with him, I, who hated being late, so when we arrived at the party everybody was already there. The first thing I noticed when we entered the huge living room was a red hair that singled out from the rest of people at the party. Then John told me looking at the same direction:

• "There’re Paul and Jane! Let’s go with them." Oh, the idea of meeting Jane didn’t appeal to me. As we were getting closer more and more aware I became that the red hair belonged to Jane, for when we reached Paul, who was sitting on one of the sofas talking vividly to some other people I didn’t know, the person (a beautiful girl) whose hair was red, was sitting on Paul’s lap. The first thought of Jane I remember was how beautiful and finely featured she was. Her titanian hair cascaded around her face like fire and her pale complexion contrasted with her black dress. She was perfect. Boy was she pretty! "Jane, this is Vicky, you haven’t met, have you!"
• "Oh, no!", said Jane with a perfect British BBC accent. Then she got up and, amazingly, instead of shaking my hand, Jane kissed both my cheeks. At first it got me, but then I did the same. "Vicky, how are you? Paul has told me you are pregnant, and well, yes, I can say. For how long have you been pregnant?"
• "For three months".
• "Oh, dear, if you need anything, feel free to tell me, alright, Vicky?", then she kissed me again and went back to Paul. Immediately after meeting Jane my thoughts went to Eli. Where could she be? And Edu?
• "John, I’m going to look for Edu, OK?", John kissed me.
• "Ok, but don’t be long!", he winked at me and I went away to look for my Spanish friends (meeting Jane had made me realise how proud I was of being Spanish).

On my way to meet my friends, I bumped into Cilla Black, whom I hadn’t seen since Edu’s birthday in Liverpool in August.

• "Vicky, my God! How are you?", well, I smiled at her, she was really nice, and looked down to my belly, "Oh, well, your belly is getting really big now, isn’t it?" I smiled.
• "Cilla, do you remember Edu? Have you seen her?"
• "Oh, yeah, I think she’s over there with another Spanish girl", I looked at the direction and spotted Edu and Eli talking.
• "Thank you Cilla, see you later". So I went towards Edu and Eli and I saw on my way Gerry Marsden, Billy Kramer and some other people from Liverpool whom I hadn’t seen for ages. I finally reached Edu and Eli. "Hey, girls!"
• "Hi, Vicky!", said Edu. Eli was uneasy.
• "Everything alright?", I said looking at Eli.
• "No, nothing is alright. How could it be, have you seen the girl with Paul?" I nodded. Well, I understood.
• "Wanna know something?", I asked. They nodded. "I though she was blonde when I saw her on the TV."
• "Oh, yeah, so did I", said Edu, "a red hair... And have you seen the amount of freckles she has on her face? Boy, I don’t know what Paul has seen in her".
• "Girls, don’t be bitchy, Jane is pretty, she is an actress".
• "And she’s Paul’s prize", finished Edu. "Do you think he loves her? You’re crazy, then. He’s told me thousands of times Jane’s career gets on his nerves. He wants a normal girl, someone who’s with him through thick and thin, you know. Jane only gives him an education".

Eli was not convinced. I wouldn’t be either, if I were in her situation. Anyway, the first part of the party was the dinner, that we enjoyed. We ate caviar, and smoked salmon and all the finest menu on Earth. I think I ate twice as much as the rest. Everybody laughed and John laughed too, but I couldn’t help it. I was starved.

After the dinner, there were free drinks. Well, John went wild, he always did when free drinks were delivered. Mersey music was played all throughout the night. I loved "Ferry Cross the Mersey", by Gerry and the Pacemakers, but I can say I felt special when "Bad to me" was played, by Billy J Kramer, anyway, but John had written it for me. And of course, Beatles songs were played. Everybody drank a lot, and in a couple of hours we had four drunk Beatles fooling around.

Much to Eli and everybody else’s surprise, Jane announced she had to go home, since she started a new tour with her company the next day. That was freedom for Paul and Eli. Paul kissed her (¡Agh! I felt really sick) and then she went. John burst into an imitation of the Everly Brothers along with George of "Bye Bye Love" that made everybody fell about laughing. And then Paul came straight to look for Eli who was with Edu and me. He went to kiss her. Edu and I looked at each other and I think we both thought the same, this couldn’t last long. Paul would have to decide, either Jane or Eli, but not both.

The night went on. I didn’t drink a single alcohol drop, but the Beatles obviously did. And then, suddenly, Paul went to the centre of the living room and started shouting:

• "Hey, listen everybody!", and started clapping a glass with a teaspoon. "As you know, John and George are dating Spanish girls, and I also know another third Spanish girl, and as you can see I can count, for one and one and one is three...", he was really far out by then, but everybody laughed, "so I want to play the song guessing game. You see, tell me, which songs could we dedicate to these foreigners?". Well, Paul was drunk and drunks don’t know what they say, but I didn’t like to hear the word "foreigners" out of Paul’s lips. "Hey!! I’ve got it, I’ve got!", he shouted. And then he started singing: "Besame, besame mucho, each time I cling to your kiss I hear music divine...!" Everybody started to laugh. We three looked at each other and Eli shouted:
• "No, Paul, you’re wrong! It’s not like that! Do you want to hear the real one?", then she looked at Edu and me and started counting: "One, two, three, four: Besame, besame mucho...", by then we three were singing our hearts out, "como si fuera esta noche la ultima vez. Besame besame mucho, que tengo miedo a perderte y quererte despues". Everybody was rolling on the floor by then, laughing and shouting. Even some of them were clapping at out performance. Then George shouted:
• "Hey! I’ve got another one: Three cool cats, three cool cats, they’re coming down the corner in a beat up car, splitting up a bar of candy bar, talking all about how sharp they are, three cool cats, three cool chicks" obviously, the part about the cats referred to them, and the three cool chicks were us, "three cool chicks, are walking down the street, swinging their hips, splitting up a bag of potato chips and three cool cats did three big flips for three cool chicks, three cool chicks, they look like angels from up above, and three cool cats really fell in love, but three cool chicks made three fools out, three cool chicks". Oh, boy was it funny! I had never heard that song before, and we three were like in hysterics, because the song really matched the six of us really well. John was getting nervous because he couldn’t come up with any that fitted the three of us well. But yet he wanted to dedicate me something and said:
• "Well, there’s one person who’s carrying my child now and whom I’m absolutely crazy for and I would like to sing something for her", before he could start, Edu nudged me and directed me a mischievous grin. Then John started: "Whenever I want you around yeah, all I gotta do, is call you on the phone and you come running home that’s all I’ve got to do. And when I, I wanna kiss you, all I’ve got to do is whisper in your ear the words I long to hear, and I’ll be kissing you. And the same goes for me, whenever you want me at all, I’ll be here yes I will, whenever you call, you just gotta call on me, yeah, you just gotta call on me, oh, you just gotta call on me". He stopped and there was a couple of seconds silence. Then everybody started clapping and John stretched an arm to offer me a hand. I took it and we embraced in a long deep kiss that made all the people go away from us. "Are you tired, my love? Do you want to go home?" I nodded and then we said goodbye to all the people at the party and went home.

The year 1964 had started, The year the Beatles conquered the world, but the year were all the misfortunes were just around the corner.