Chapter Text
Los Angeles- 1998
Teddy had been a fount of knowledge to everyone in his life. He had probably been the smartest person Billy had ever known. Or better to say, he was smart about the things that Billy thought mattered, people and music. If he’d ever dared to tell Teddy that while he’d lived, he has no doubt that Teddy would have met the declaration with laughter. Told him he wasn’t all that wise but that he’d gotten the lived experience element of wisdom down pat due to his many fuckups.
Teddy had loved proverbs. When they’d first begun working together on SevenEightNine, Billy had been privately amused to discover that Teddy’s speech could veer from foul-mouthed music executive to kindly grandmother. One of his favourite expressions had been, ‘We plan, God laughs.” Billy had not been too fond of that one the first time he’d heard it. He hadn’t even believed in God at that point. Of course, all of that was before Daisy. And for all the tumult she’d brought into his life, she’d also brought with her a belief in divine providence.
He's reminded of these words now when he thinks of the situation, he finds himself in. When he and Camila had gotten pregnant with Jules, it had been an accident. An accident that they would both look back on as having been the greatest blessing in their lives. Years later, when they were happy and settled, he and Cam would desperately try to add to their family, first by the old-fashioned way and then by adoption. They would have no success. It seemed ridiculous that they could get pregnant so easily when they weren’t trying, when the timing had been horrible but when they were ready, it just never happened.
He thinks of this now as the ultrasound photo Daisy gave him two weeks ago burns hot in his wallet. He should be worried about this, he knows he should. Daisy and he are less than three months into a relationship. While they love each other wildly, she freely admits that she doesn’t trust him. So much is uncertain. The timing, for lack of a better descriptor, is piss poor.
But all Billy can feel is profound joy that his family with Daisy will grow. That a woman he’s loved in the deepest parts of his heart and soul is now going to have his baby. That this is one more tie that binds them alongside the music and the soul-deep connection he could never shake.
There is none of the panic he felt when Cam was first pregnant with Jules. He knows that is because he is in a totally different place in his life now than he was in his early twenties. Then he was in the throes of his addiction, uncertain of his life’s path, and even more uncertain about the prospect of fatherhood.
Now, he already knows that he wants a family with Daisy, is already working on building it. He knows how tough fatherhood is, but he also knows its joys and that he is a good dad. He knows Daisy is an amazing mother, he’s seen it. And he knows that his and Daisy’s love can and will withstand anything. I mean, look at everything they have put it through over twenty years. They’d denied one another (him mostly denying her), treated each other with cruelty, pushed each other to the limit, then avoided each other for decades in an attempt to live without one another, starving their love of air, light, and life. They’d built happy and loving relationships with other people even built families with those people. And yet, after all that, the love between them remains. He thinks he loves her more for all the life they lived without each other.
He can see that Daisy is worried. She doesn’t even want to tell anyone of the pregnancy until she is through the first trimester, citing her age and increased risk of miscarriage. He concedes she is right even though he wants to yell it from rooftops, wants to hover possessively over her, claim her publicly. But for once Billy’s skills in self-denial are handy. This can stay their secret for now although every time he thinks of the news, he feels the widest grin split his face.
There is so much to figure out. Living arrangements for starters. He knows Daisy doesn’t want to leave her beautiful home, knows what that place means to her. He’s fine with that. He wants to move in with her but when he brings it up, three days after she took him to Runner Records studio and turned his world upside down more than even the first time when she’d breezed in that same space, in the seventies, with a rewrite on Honeycomb, wearing only a man’s dress shirt and a no fucks attitude, she tells him no flatly. Well, she tells him no for now. Knows that he wants to be there with her, Ria, and the baby, but she thinks it is too soon. Points out that he still hasn’t fully reckoned with his grief over the loss of Cam and she thinks it is important he keeps their home, lets himself spend time there when he needs it. That she needs space as well and wonders if it is dangerous for them to live in each other’s pockets too quickly.
And he knows without her having to say it, that it’s because last time they were in each other’s lives, they became tangled up too quickly, had gone from Billy and Daisy to BillyDaisy in the blink of an eye. And that the detangling of them back into separate entities nearly killed them both.
However, she does make some important concessions in that conversation. She promises they can tell Ria about their new relationship (but not about the baby). He knows what a big step that is for her and what it signals.
So that Sunday, they take Ria and Trouble for a walk on the beach. It is delightful as usual, and as the sun beats down on them, and he feels the cool late winter/early spring breeze, he feels happy. And when Daisy tells Ria that Billy and Trouble will be around even more and that Billy is her boyfriend now, they watch Ria’s reaction carefully.
Ria Is unphased by the news and appears indifferent to the information. This feels like a bit of a surprise to Billy. He’d hoped that she would be happy to hear that he would be around more. Billy wonders if it seems like nothing is changing to her because he has already been around so much over the last seven months. He’s never dated a single mother before so he’s unsure how to have this conversation or what a positive reaction should look like.
After they come home from the beach and Ria goes upstairs to her room, they debrief the conversation. “That went ok, I think?” Billy knows he sounds uncertain. Daisy shrugs and looks mildly concerned.
On Tuesday, Daisy calls him to cancel a date. She tells him that Ria is feeling sick. Immediately worried, he offers to come over and help take care of her.
When he arrives, Daisy looks stressed. He knows that stress is not good for her or the baby. He wants to tell her to calm down but knows that will absolutely have the opposite effect. He is worried that Ria is sicker than Daisy first thought, and he feels sick at the thought and remembers the scare she had given them both the previous fall when she’d needed to be hospitalized due to a complication from tonsillitis.
She tells him that Ria has been quiet and miserable, won’t eat, and is complaining of a stomach ache. When they make their way to her room and let themselves in, Ria doesn’t even look up. Her red hair is all over the place, she looks flushed as if she has been crying. She looks like a tiny lone figure in her bed, clothed in too big race car pajamas.
Daisy says in her sweetest, gentlest tone (the voice that is only reserved for her daughter), “Bubble, look who’s here to see you.”
“I heard you were sick and wanted to visit. Maybe I could read to you again? Remember you liked it last time you were feeling sick?” He keeps his voice soft.
Ria shakes her head, a silent no. And when Daisy makes her way over to her bed, to place her hand on her forehead to check for a temperature, she flinches away from her mother’s touch and Daisy looks like she is about to burst into tears.
“Bubble, what’s wrong? You can always tell me what’s wrong.” And somewhere in their years apart, Daisy too has learned patience because she sits in silence until her daughter chooses to speak.
“What happened to Jack? Is he gone forever? Does he not like you or me anymore?” She whispers the question as she looks at her mother. And he is immediately thrown, and he suspects Daisy is as well, because he’d believed that Ria was indifferent to Jack. Could they have been closer than he or Daisy realized? Is Ria missing him? Is she upset that Jack is no longer around and Billy is here instead? He tries not to let himself feel hurt at the thought.
“Bubble, Jack still cares for you and me lots. It’s just sometimes when grownups breakup, they need space. And now that Jack and I aren’t together anymore, he will be around less.”
At that explanation, Ria begins to cry. It is awful to see Ria so hurt and that they’ve missed the signs of it. Irrationally, he wants to call Jack right now and put him on the phone with Ria. Anything to make her feel better.
Now Daisy is crying as well, and Billy can’t take the sight of them both in tears. His heart feels like it is being squeezed. And then Ria continues, “And what about Billy? If you and Billy breakup, will he and Trouble go away forever?” And then she cries harder, inconsolable at the thought.
The penny drops for Billy. She isn’t sad about Jack, not really. She’s sad about him. She’s fearful that her mom and he will breakup and he will vanish out of her life. He is wrecked by the realization. That she loves him so much and is distraught at the thought of him not being around.
He wants to reassure her immediately; Daisy and he aren’t breaking up ever. He knows if he says that, Daisy will murder him. He knows that she is a long way off trusting him to stay even though she’s carrying their baby. He racks his brain on what he can say to reassure Ria, looks over at Daisy and knows that she has come to the same conclusion as him and is doing the same.
There is no roadmap in this situation but there rarely is in parenting. He injects himself in the conversation, crosses the room and kneels beside her bed, “Ria, can you look at me please?” When she does, Billy continues, “I don’t think your mom and I are breaking up ever. But sometimes being an adult is hard, I don’t want to lie to you and promise that it will never happen. But even if your mom and I did breakup, I’m not like Jack, I won’t go away. Because Trouble and I both love you, ok. We love you so so much. Now we're part of your family alright? And you know I can’t take care of Trouble by myself. I could never do it without you.” And then he smiles at her and opens his arms, and she throws her arms around him, and she smells like laundry detergent and bubble bath, and he loves her so much in this moment that he’s a little surprised by it. He feels choked up by the emotion.
After they finally get Ria to sleep, he and Daisy make their way down to the living room. He collapses on the couch and pulls Daisy into his lap. Now that they are together, he finds it unbearable to not touch her all of the time or constantly have her within arm’s reach. Maybe it was this way before, but he used to be better at hiding it? Or maybe he’s worse at hiding it now because finally there is no need to? He wraps his arms around her securely, pulling her further into his lap and leans his head back on the couch to stare at her beautiful high ceilings. He lets out a long sigh.
“Billy?” Daisy’s tone feels like it is dripping with questions.
“Yes, baby,” he responds.
“That was fucking awful.” Daisy has always had a talent for stating the obvious.
Tonight has been another reminder of how high the stakes of their relationship are, how much they are risking. Billy moves his hand to rest on Daisy’s still flat belly. He knows they are committed to making it work.
“I had no idea she was worried about that. You did really well with her. Very reassuring. I think it helped,” and her tone is grateful and just a bit surprised. He is very used to Daisy’s particular tone of voice when she is surprised at his actions. When he agrees with her on a lyric without fighting, or acquiesces to one of her wild schemes, or admits that she is right about anything in general.
“Always with the tone of surprise,” he teases her, voice full of affection. “You could give a man a complex.”
“Shithead, please. We both know your ego is the exact opposite of fragile. And we also know how very nice to you I am.” And her tone is lower, more sensual, just shy of dangerous. Billy is reminded of her actions just a few days past, when she’d sat him on this very same couch, spread his knees wide, dropped on her knees between his legs, and taken him into her sinful mouth. He can practically feel the drag of her nails up his thighs just short of painful, the feel of the silky strands of her auburn hair slipping through his fingers, the memory bold and bright. He does feel the faint pain of the bruise she’d sucked right above his left hip where the waist of his jeans pushes against it. He hums, conceding her point.
As much as Billy adores Daisy, he will never get used to her random thought patterns or mercurial moods. What she says next surprises him.
“I’m almost nine weeks now. Nine weeks as of this Friday. I’m going to book a meeting for the week after next to tell my team. We need to start planning for how this might delay the new album and the tour. Billy, I’m too fucking old to tour with a newborn.” She shudders at the thought of it.
He wants to tell her that she is goddamn Daisy Jones, and she can do anything, but he knows she will disagree. She might even tell him that his take on the matter is way too Disney.
She continues on, “We can start telling a few people around then. We have a doctor’s appointment next week and we will see how the baby is doing. So after that we can think about telling close friends & family even if we aren’t quite out of the first trimester. I know how hard it has been for you to keep this news from Jules. Obviously, you’ll want to tell Graham. And I want to tell Simone, Warren, and Lisa.”
Billy has been dying to tell Jules the news. She has been teasing him of how happy he’s been since he and Daisy are finally trying. He knows that she is happy and relieved that her father is so happy, but he is not sure how she will react to the news of a sibling. The last time he’d seen her, the previous week for lunch, they had spent the majority of their time talking about her graduation plans. In the wake of Cam’s death and with the demands of her documentary process, Jules had dropped down to part-time student status her last few semesters at school. She was finally set to graduate though the majority of her close friends had wrapped up their degrees the spring prior, she wasn’t unhappy for having taken the time off or having had pursued a demanding senior thesis project.
The following week, all goes well with Daisy’s OB/GYN. The baby is perfectly on track for its development. Daisy is gaining weight and doing well after the last month saw her struggle with some terrible morning sickness. The doctor is slightly concerned about Daisy’s age and blood pressure and asks them to avoid stress and consider tracking her pressure at home with an at home cuff but overall she is doing well. Then the doctor brings up the possibility of performing an amnio to conduct genetic testing when Daisy is farther along. They agree that they want to discuss it first.
Then with a knowing smile, the doctor tells then that as Daisy is set to enter her second trimester soon, they should enjoy this time. “As you both are aware of, the second trimester brings a lot of changes. Women find this time of the pregnancy most enjoyable. With your hormone levels increasing, sex drive increases considerably at this stage.”
No, Billy was not aware of that having missed almost all of Camila’s pregnancy with Julia. He feels lucky that he is getting a second chance to experience this. And with that they leave.
The next week, Daisy tells her team, and her dining room becomes ad hoc war room. They leave Ria with her nanny, Sophia, all day. Something Daisy rarely does when she herself is at home.
When Team Daisy gathers, they all agree the label will likely be royally pissed at the news. It has been five years since Daisy released an album. The latest album was supposed to drop this summer but there have been production delays and Daisy is no longer happy with several of the tracks.
Artistic integrity has always been paramount to her. She explains to the assembled group that the tracks no longer reflect where she is as an artist. He knows that is because she is the type of musician whose art cannot be separated from her life and where she is now is totally different than where she was last year.
The team comes up with a game plan. They decide that the album should be delayed till fall at least but agree that while summer is the best time for a new release, as a seven-time Grammy winner Daisy doesn’t need buzz and a fall release should work well enough given that there will be less competition. Daisy also decided she will replace three of the album tracks and potentially record 2 or 3 bonus tracks. She tells her team to tell the studio that the new tracks will be made in collaboration with Billy Dunne either as a producer or writer. Tells them to dangle the possibility of a duet featuring the two of them as well.
She looks at Billy with an eyebrow raised when she makes this declaration, daring him to disagree. Although she has been talking with him more about her music, even let him hear rough cuts of the tracks of the new album, they haven’t talked about writing and performing together again. He should be mad that she is so high-handed. He hasn’t written anything in years, he’s not sure if anything he writes now will be any good. But then he thinks of the possibility of working with her again, another impossible dream he thought lost to him forever, and mostly what he feels is excitement at the prospect.
After everyone has weighed in, which takes a while given there are two agents, two publicists, and three lawyers in the room alongside Billy and Daisy, Daisy decides that she can compromise with the label on a short tour.
“Tell them I will do twelve American cities, and six in Europe. Tell them I won’t do one more show more. And if they don’t like it, tell them to drop me and see how fast I’m on the cover of Rolling Stone or even the New York Times. Tell them the optics of dropping a pregnant Grammy winner who has been one of your label’s top artists for twenty years probably won’t look so good. Tell them if they do dare drop me, I will go to Capitol Records or any other major competing label that will have me and offer them a brand-new record from Billy and myself.” She smiles, vicious and delighted and he wonders when Daisy became such a tough negotiator. He’s glad for it though.
Her publicists nod vigorously agreeing that it is a smart media angle and if the label is smart, they will see it as what it is, a major threat that could damage their brand reputation.
“Oh, and because they will be royally pissed by all that, tell them I will do the damn duet with Bryan Adams that they’ve been begging me to consider. But I want approval on the song lyrics and a writing and production credit.”
After that the team leaves and they are left alone. “So we’re working together again now? Is this a conversation I missed? Was I maybe asleep for it?” Billy asks.
“I think since you helped put me in this difficult position, it’s only fair that you play a role in finding a solution,” she says tartly.
“Baby, I didn’t hear you complaining when I was putting you in this situation. In fact, I fondly recall your mouth being otherwise occupied.” He smiles at her, all teeth.
“Seriously Billy. This could be a good thing. Just think about it. You don’t have to perform again if you don’t want to. But wouldn’t it be fun to write together again? Haven’t you missed me musically? And wouldn’t you love to produce me? Please, you’re probably getting hard right now at the vague prospect of bossing me around.” And she stands from her seat across from him, walks around the table to stand close behind his chair, leans down next to him and kisses the corner of his mouth as he smiles. Damn but she does know him well.
Then she’s back to business. “The label doesn’t really have that much leverage over me, not really. This would play terribly in the media for them. Also, when I signed my first solo deal before Cravings, I gave up a lot on the back end and agreed to a deal worth less in order to own my own masters. Teddy advised me that was the smarter long-term play. He always had more faith in my talent than I did. And I don’t need to work. Constantine made sure of that. That I would always be provided for and protected. So yeah, let the label scream and cry. They can’t do much.”
And with that taken care of, he moves on to his more pressing concerns of taking her into his arms, kissing her thoroughly, and showing her how very appreciative he is of her business savvy and how sexy he finds it when she’s playing hardball.
He spends that night at Daisy’s. In the middle of the night, he finds himself restless in bed. It’s more than her freezing cold feet which she has slipped between his for warmth that is keeping him up. Tomorrow, he is telling Jules their news.
All of his fidgeting must have awoken Daisy, she slips her thin arms around his body where he’s rolled on to his side, back facing her. “Billy, I know you’re awake. Are you worried about telling Jules tomorrow?” She asks, voice full of sleep.
“Yes, a little. I think she’ll be happy for us but you know, it’s a big change.” He places his arms over Daisy’s, pressing her more closely to him and relaxes enough to go to sleep.
The next morning, he drives home and prepares lunch for Jules and himself. Daisy had offered to be here with him when he told her the news, but he figured that it was best if this conversation was a private one.
When Jules comes through the door, Trouble runs to greet her, smothering her in kisses. Apparently, his dog, much like Billy, is thrilled to see his daughter.
As they enjoy a simple lunch of BLTs and salads and talk about their weeks, Billy lets himself enjoy the simple pleasure of bonding time with his daughter. When Jules asks how he and Daisy are doing, he takes the opening to break the news.
“Daisy and I have some news. It’s a bit of a surprise, but we are both happy about it and I hope you will be as well. Daisy is pregnant. We’re having a baby. I know it’s soon and a bit of a mess, but we are taking it as good news. She’s nearly through her first trimester. I wanted to tell you immediately when we heard the news but given Daisy’s age and please don’t tell her I said that part, we wanted to wait till we were through the worst of the danger zone.” He finishes.
Jules looks at him stunned, dark eyes huge. “A baby? You and Daisy are having a baby? She’s almost twelve weeks along and you have only been together like 4 months. Oh, ok. Wow. Congrats? If you're happy about it then I guess it’s good news. Wow.” With that her voice trails off.
“We are. Happy, I mean. It wasn’t planned but we’re both excited,” he affirms again.
Jules smiles at him and it is tinged with disbelief. Then she looks at him wryly as says, “It’s not lost on me that the man who lectured me constantly on safe sex finds himself on the other end of an unplanned pregnancy, again.”
And now Billy has the good grace to blush because his daughter is correct. And in his mind, he is making up excuses. Daisy was on the pill. They forgot to use a condom only once and that was after they both had been tested for STIs (at Daisy’s insistence) when they first started sleeping together. But given the situation, he thinks it’s best he offers none of that information up. It would be too much oversharing and he is embarrassed.
So instead, he laughs and tells her that he takes her point. He tells her the baby’s due date and that he and Daisy still haven’t told many people and of course she is among the first. He tells her that they are trying to figure out logistics and planning and a million other things.
Then Jules asks him a serious question, “Do you think you’ll get married?”
Billy slowly considers the question. It is not the first time the idea has sprung to mind but it is the first time anyone has said it out loud. “I don’t know, sweetheart. Maybe eventually. Right now, it seems a long way off if ever.” And it does seem a long way off to him. He wants to marry Daisy, to be able to call her his wife. He’s always been particularly selfish and possessive when it comes to her, but he thinks it's too soon after losing Camila. And he’s unsure about Daisy’s desire to be married again and less certain of her desire to be married to him.
She’d been married twice; once abusive and destructive, another pretty much a fairy tale, both ended in tragedy or near tragedy. He’s not so sure she looks at the institution of marriage fondly.
In the weeks after that lunch, he can feel Jules pull away from him a bit. He thinks she needs time to process this news. He gives her space but lets her know that he will be there when she’s ready to talk.
They tell the rest of their family and friends a few weeks later. The news is received warmly even if it is a bit of a shock. His mother is particularly thrilled for another grandchild. She has always held a soft spot for Daisy since meeting her all those years ago and she is relieved her son is happy again. She also expresses a desire to meet Ria.
As Daisy approaches her fourteenth week, she sits Billy down for a serious conversation.
“Billy, I want to take Ria to Greece for two weeks. Before you jump down my throat, hear me out. I probably won’t want to travel later in the summer when I’m farther along and we will probably be deep into post-production for the new album tracks at that point. My doctor says I’m doing really well right now, so it is a good time to travel. Plus, I have a doctor there as well. I know the school year isn’t finished but Ria is so far ahead in her classes it hardly matters. Next year, between the tour and the new baby, I’m not sure we will have time to go. And I have to take her, I do. So she can see the family and because it’s the place she feels closest to him. Four generations of her family have ties to that house. And I need it as well. It’s important to me that I keep that connection with him and that I honour his memory and what he would have wanted for her. I’m not saying you don’t get a vote here but Billy, I need you to understand that I am probably going to do it anyway. And I want you to consider coming with me. I don’t want to keep any part of myself hidden from you. Please think about it.”
And he thinks about it. About going to a place that once represented to Daisy an escape from him and their relationship. Now, she is taking his hand and inviting him to join her there.
He wants to go but he feels he shouldn’t with the current weirdness with Jules. When he explains this, Daisy rolls her eyes. “Billy, invite her. Tell her she can bring some friends if she feels uncomfortable. It’s beautiful and there is more than enough room. You’ve given her some space. Maybe the answer is more time together.”
He floats the idea to Jules. He mentions to her that it could be good for her to take a break. She hadn’t gotten to do much traveling with Cam’s illness. Maybe she could go to Greece for a few days and travel to some other European locations from there. When she is still hesitant, he lets Daisy reach out.
Daisy is as irresistible as ever and within ten days, they find themselves on a private plane to Greece. The plane is small but luxurious. Ria’s nanny, Sophia, sits in one corner while Ria picks a seat next to Julia.
Ria is practically vibrating with excitement. If Jules is a little standoffish on the flight, it can barely stand up to Ria’s warmth and excitement. Ria and Jules have met several times since the documentary and throughout the year and a half since. Ria adores Jules. Thinks she is so cool and loves having a younger grownup around.
Throughout the flight, she tells Jules all the things that there are to see and do and promises to show her around. Then she takes to teaching Jules basic Greek phrases till she tuckers herself out and falls asleep. Billy would be surprised at Ria’s seemingly excellent Greek if he didn’t know she spent part of every summer there, and that Daisy hired a Greek tutor to give her biweekly lessons through the year. Even Daisy would read her stories in Greek at night though Daisy feared her daughter’s reading comprehension level was fast outstripping the kind of stories she could comfortably read in her fourth language.
Billy spends most of the flight tense, trying to ignore the effect of Daisy’s wandering hands under the blanket she’s draped across them both. Her right hand resting warmly high up on his thigh.
A private car greets them at the private landing strip, and they are taken to the villa discreetly. When Billy leaves the car, he is struck by the beauty of the entire place, sharp white, brown stones, with blue accents on the doors and shutters. Everything is vast and open as if designed to let the outside in. It’s magnificent.
Before anyone can stop her, Ria has undone her seat belt, run from the barely stopped car and run up the steps. He can hear her yelling again in what he assumes to be Greek.
When Daisy exits the car, slightly slower, she looks around as if greeting an old friend. She smiles, a smile Billy has never seen on her face and takes a deep breath, filling her lungs with the sweet air. Flowers are everywhere, in pots along the stone steps and hanging from trellises.
As they enter the gorgeous foyer, they are greeted by five staff members who maintain the property, including a cook, a groundskeeper, and a maid. Daisy greets them all warmly in Greek, before hugging them all. Ria is already running back to give second hugs and even if Billy doesn’t speak the language, he understands that the tone in which they address Ria is adoring.
Daisy switches to English and introduces Billy and Julia to everyone. He smiles when she calls him her partner. That’s a good word for what they are, what they have been, what they will continue to be.
Ria wants to show Billy and Julia everything immediately. Daisy intervenes. “Calm down, Bubble. Let everyone get settled first.”
And so they settle in. The house is beautiful from every angle, the wide hallways, the museum worthy art on the walls, the light that pours in everywhere, the arched doorways. The master suite is particularly glorious with its sitting room, bedroom, walk-in closets, and enormous bathroom. The view of the Aegean is too beautiful to feel real and the second floor of the villa has a balcony that goes all the way around the house.
Later, they enjoy a light meal on the patio by the pool. Julia gushes to Daisy about the house and the beautiful room she is staying in. Daisy receives the compliment warmly and offers to take them on a shortened tour of the house before they put Ria to bed.
The wide hallways lead to endless rooms. Julia looks absolutely in love with the place and Daisy takes in the admiration on her face smiling warmly. As they move deeper into the house, Billy notices endless family photos in nooks, on side tables, on coffee tables. This property isn’t a showpiece for all of its magnificent beauty; instead this is a family home. He spots several pictures of what he assumes to be Ria’s great-grandparents, founders of their family’s empire, in black and white around the house. Pictures of them with world leaders and celebrities. He spots pictures of Constantine and what he assumes are his brothers at every stage of growing up. He sees several of Daisy and Ria as well.
Julia swoons when Daisy shows her the tiny, beautiful library with is comfortable furniture and bursting shelves. Books in at least five languages fill the shelves, and there is what is surely an antique writing desk in one corner of the room.
Daisy explains that this library was her husband’s favourite room and Billy thinks he should be more surprised to find that Daisy’s race car driving late husband was a bookworm. Instead, it makes total sense to him. What he likes best about the library however is the picture of Daisy on the corner of the desk. She is sitting legs crossed in the sand, with an oversized beach hat protecting her fair complexion, her sunglasses sliding down her nose, while laughing. He’d seen hundreds of images of her over the decades he’s known her. This is one of the best he’s ever seen, capturing the warmth and wildness that makes her so irresistible.
Then Daisy shows them the music room and he knows this is her favourite room. It is a beautiful space. Just walking through the double doors is enough to make Billy feel inspired. There must be at least six guitars from electric to acoustic in the space. There is a keyboard in one corner and a grand piano in another. There are instruments as varied as a tambourine, to a mandolin in a box in the corner. There are books on music history and composition that fill several bookshelves as well as a sound system and insane collection of albums. He notices the albums are duplicates of the ones she has at home. There is also a shocking amount of comfortable seating, including a red velvet daybed that is the most Daisy Jones piece of furniture he’s ever seen.
“Holy shit Dais! This is amazing. How long did it take you to arrange this? Do you ever leave this room when you are here?” He asks in awe.
“I didn’t. It was a present from Constantine on our first anniversary of dating. I was so smug that my gift to him was going to top anything he planned for me. I had been secretly taking Greek lessons for six months but then he built me this space in his childhood home.” Her voice is full of laughter at the memory.
Along the way, Ria points out her favourite things in each space and shares stories of her previous adventures here. Billy catalogues this memory as something special in his mind.
Over the next few days, they swim and eat, and relax. One day, Ria and he go for a long walk amongst the olive groves and she shows him all her daddy’s favourite spots, his favourite tree, his favourite hiding place, the place where he broke both his arms one summer. And that’s when he really gets what Daisy meant. That her husband is alive in this place and how much that means to Ria. He is more real here among the people that knew him and among these trees than anywhere else. He feels an enormous sympathy for Daisy at the thought of how hard it must be to ensure his memory stays alive for Ria who never got to know him.
He never has to worry about Julia forgetting her mother. She has thousands of memories of her to fill her heart and mind. He’s glad he came to Greece.
And one night he goes for a run in the warm night air, and he comes home to find Jules and Daisy speaking quietly by the pool. Daisy is leaning forward, hair tumbling over her shoulder, her expression is one of concentration. Ria is sharing her mother’s chair, sitting on top of her, but she is slumped over asleep. She really is starting to get a bit too big to sit like that. Daisy will soon be a bit too big for Ria to sit like that as well, she’s finally starting to show her pregnancy. He won’t tell either of them that for now.
He can’t see Jules’ expression from where he stands but he thinks her body language looks serious. He leaves them to their conversation.
The following day, Daisy takes Ria to the neighbouring village to play with some of her local friends and then visit with some of Constantine’s second cousins and Billy takes the opportunity to talk with Jules.
“Are you finally ready to talk to me about what’s going on Jules?” He looks her right in the eyes when he asks this question.
“Ok, dad.” Julia leads them outside by the pool. The same place in which he saw her talking with Daisy.
Billy tells her to hold on one minute and runs back inside. When he remerges, he has a plate of baklava and two glasses of lemonade. “Not quite milk and cookies but I thought it couldn’t hurt.”
They enjoy the view and their delicious snacks before Jules begins to speak.
“Dad, I am so happy for you. I want you to know that. I know how hard losing mom has been for you. But it’s just that you’ve moved on so quickly. I really like Daisy and her daughter is amazing too. But it has been not quite two years and you have this whole other family. You’ve built this whole other family! And you’re so happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen you. I know mom gave you her blessing and she probably knew something like this could happen but still. And I don’t know where I fit in with this family you’ve built.” And by the end of her speech, her tone is plaintive.
“Sweetheart, I know it is fast. But there a few things I want you to know: I haven’t moved on from your mother. I still think about her every day. Daisy likes to say that there is no moving on, just moving forward and that the people that we love stay with us. Your mom is always going to be a part of me. Forever. And while some of this really is moving fast and has been unexpected, namely the baby, losing your mom taught me that time is precious. We don’t know how much of it we really have and that’s why I don’t want to waste any time not being with Daisy when we have no guarantees of our future.” He pauses there and reaches across the table to hold her hand.
“And Jules, I get it. I get you feeling unsure of your place in this new family. I hope that will change with time. But let me tell you, I’m not unsure of what your place is in this family. Your place is at the very heart of it. No family I could ever have or imagine could exist without you in it. Jules, we are all just trying to find our way. I love you so much sweetheart.”
“I love you too Dad.” And Billy thinks those will forever be his favourite words, more powerful than anything he could ever write himself.
He knows that there will continue to be challenges along the way, but he knows that being a father, being Jules’ father is still the best and most important thing he has ever done.