Chapter 23

 

 

            “Charlotte.” Brian said, as he took her to a private room.

 

            “Brian, John told me what you’ve been doing.”

 

            “Yes, well, I was going to go to your flat tonight, and tell you myself. I’ll never touch drugs again, I swear to you Charlotte.”

 

            “Brian, I love you, I need you, please don’t do this to me again”

           

            “I promise you that.” They embraced, and he told her he had a surprise for her, that he would take her to see it that night. John and George help her move her stuff back into the flat on King’s Road, and she waited for Brian to come home later that night. He returned around eight, and had Neil drive them out to the country.

 

            “Where are we going?” Charlotte asked

 

            “Hartfield, East Sussex.”

 

            “Why on earth are we going there?”

 

            “You’ll see my love.”

 

After about an hour, Brian put a silk scarf around her eyes.

 

            “It’s a surprise, so you can’t see where we’re going.” He gently squeezed her hand. The car then stopped, and he helped her out of the car. When he took the blindfold off of her, she found they were standing in front of a brick mansion, that looked to be over a hundred years old, with vines of ivy growing all up around it. It was beautiful.

 

            “Oooh, its lovely. Did you get us a room for the night or something?”

 

            “No, sweetheart.” Brian laughed “I figured it would be the perfect place to raise our little baby.”

 

            “It’s a house? Wow” Charlotte’s eyes lit up

 

            “Well, its our house. I bought it, as a gift to you, for being the best wife a man could ever have.”

 

            “You bought this? Oh Brian, it must have been so expensive. I mean, it’s for me? Come on”

 

            “I knew you’d love it. Besides, I’ve got lots of money Charlotte, the band’s worked hard over the past few years.”

 

            “Its so amazing.”

 

            “Do you know who used to live here? A.A. Milne. The guy who wrote the Winnie the Pooh stories. There’s statues of Christopher Robin and everything. I figured we could do the nursery in a Pooh theme.”

 

            “That would be adorable.” She smiled at him. He looked different, he looked happy. He had lost weight, and was back to his very slim self. His face was no longer puffy, there was no longer any heavy bags under his eyes. He had cut his hair a bit, and looked just like he did when she had first met him, five years before.

 

            “So this place is called Cotchford Farm. Its about 50 acres, has a pool, gardens, the whole lot.” They went inside, and toured the 8-bedroom house. They decided to hire contractors right away, because it needed work, and the place where they decided to make the studio needed to be outfitted with soundproofing. Charlotte could then have Cream record at Cotchford, while having the baby stay close to her.

 

            “Wow, I’m so happy Brian.”

 

            “I am too. You know, if I hadn’t met you, I would have fallen into that trap, the rock star trap.”

           

            “What trap?”

 

            “Lets face it, I was never an angel. Before I met you, I did it all, orgies, different women every night, speed, booze. It was just my music, that was my love, and then I met you, and I swear on the life of my unborn child, I never slept with another woman after I met you, and never will.”

 

            “Really?”

 

            “Yes, and now this is it. Wife, baby, lots of money, and a big house. I’m ready to be domestic. I’ll still do music, that’s why I’ve got the studio being built here, and I can always commute to London for the band. I’ll try to take you on tour with me, if you’re not already.”

 

            “Me too. When this whole thing with Cream touring nonstop is over, I’m going to focus on recording, and being at home. This is what I want.”

 

 

 

In September, Charlotte’s due date was swiftly approaching. John convinced her to be in the boy’s next movie, “Magical Mystery Tour”. She arrived on the set on the 11, to find everyone decked out in their best hippie garb. She wore a Pucci multi colored print mini dress,(her stomach was the only large part of her, even though she was 7 months along), with flat sandals that laced up her calves. Paul walked up to her, as everyone was getting onto the bus, and stared into her eyes.

 

            “Thanks so much for being ‘ere. You look fantastic”

 

            “Oh thanks, but I feel like a blimp”

 

            “Ah, stop.”

 

            “Paul, we never speak anymore. I miss you”

 

            “Charlotte, it’s extremely hard for me to even see you on the telly.”

 

            “Oh Paul. I can’t do this right now.” She ran onto the bus, and took her seat in front of John and little Nicola.  She couldn’t deal with Paul, not now anyways. He was always in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t let him do this to her.

 

The filming went great, and Charlotte only filmed that day, and the next. She was one of the passengers, and looked hilarious, being a pregnant hippie and all.