#Surrey Mummy

[karloff-the-uncanny]

Photos of when I visited Boris Karloff’s memorial plaque in Gildford crematorium, Surrey in July 2022.

It was a very modest memorial, just the same as every other one in the garden of remembrance. I liked that there is a yellow rose growing over his plaque, as Karloff used to grow roses and I like to think of his ghost tending to the bushes there.

Unfortunately I can never confirm whether or not his ashes were actually spread in the crematorium or not. I have heard conflicting stories.

I was a little disappointed that Boris wasn't there to greet me like this...

but maybe he was sick of the living by the time I visited! Our conversation was pleasant, but rather one-sided.

I hope to visit again soon.

[physicahealthuk]

Mummy mot Surrey

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[invisiblestringmm]

chapter six

and if you ask me to, daddy’s gonna buy you a mockingbird, i’ma give you the world

author: writing this had me sobbing a few times and i truly hope you'll love it as much as i do. let's keep in mind that this is a work of fiction, and that i do not know nor am associated (unfortunately) to any of the real people mentioned here. tw: massive fluff, description of anxiety, angst

word count: 7.758k words

It wasn’t a long drive to the estate, but the portion of time you spent in your car parked out front was longer than what you had planned - lost in your thoughts, you made an effort to gather a bit more of the courage you knew you still had in your core to now face the most significant person in this whole chaos: your daughter, the love of your life. You knew Lily would eventually bring up so many questions that your only hope was that she’d wait for Mason to be around, but knowing her all too well, her focus would be entirely on meeting her dad; you could already see the twinkle in her eyes, the impatience hovering over her making that little human pace relentlessly whenever she had to wait for things to happen when they should and not on her time - which was nothing like you, because you considered yourself fairly patient. So that was another thing she probably got from Mason.

With another sigh parting your lips, you eventually made your way to the big house - only to be welcomed by your mum’s frantic screams that Christmas was ruined, by your dad’s hopeless and anguished glance, and a pair of tiny arms that made your entire world stop because nothing else mattered. Lily held you tight like you’d been away for years and not for just a few hours. “I missed you, mummy. Abuelita is angry,” she pouted, her big hazel eyes gleaming with tears she seemed to be containing for a while now.

“Oh baby,” you cooed. “What happened?”

Lily carefully explained the same way she heard: there was a big snowstorm and pretty much every family member that was expected to join them for Christmas wouldn’t be able to make it. So far, it was just the four of you, Emma (your cousin, daughter of your father’s brother), and her two children, Louis and Oscar, the 8-year-old twins. Inevitably, your thoughts went straight to Mason and how having him there would be perfect. Not the way your mum truly wanted, but it’d make Lily happy and whatever made your daughter happy, also made your parents happy.

Back in Surrey, Mason quickly typed you a message after declining two of your calls.

Watching half of his family still in shock with the news he just dropped could be amusing if it wasn’t something so serious - although Mason was sure that, at some point in life, they’d all have a good laugh about it. His sister’s soft hand squeezing his shoulder felt reassuring, but Mason could still feel his heart pounding against his chest and the silence filling his large living room was the scariest sound he had ever heard. Lewis was the first one to break it with a sigh, and Mason could only hope he’d say something funny to break the tension, but it didn’t happen - at least not yet.

“Are you sure she’s yours?” Lewis questioned and Mason scanned his dad’s face starting to turn red, the veins in his forehead throbbing under Lew’s question.

Before Mason could answer, Jaz took a step forward and went big sister mode just like he expected she would. “Let’s not rule out a DNA test, but you’ve all met this little girl before.” The confused look on their faces swapped back to shock once Jasmine showed them Lily’s picture - Debbie had tears in her eyes and glanced at Mason, desperately waiting for him to say something, but the truth was he was never the one to hide this from them.

“I know it’s a shock to all of you, as it is for me too,” Mason began, swallowing a sob before he could start weeping the way he did this morning. “But I need you all with me in this because everything I’ll do from now on is for her, it’s not about me. I need you all to make this about her as well.” It seemed like those words were all his mum needed to ultimately allow those insisting tears to roll down her cheeks and search for her husband’s hand, who softly squeezed it, giving her the comfort she needed that everything would be just fine in the end. “This is far from how I expected it’d be,” Mason added. “But I can’t say that I’m not happy. I truly can’t wait to be with her and be the father she deserves.”

As Mason nervously rubbed his hands on his jeans, trying to control how sweaty and shaky they were, he observed his dad end the short distance between them and pull him into a hug. He didn’t need words from Tony to know his dad was proud of how he was handling the situation, and whatever damage control they’d eventually have to do would be properly taken care of. But, at this moment, it was all about her. It was about making sure that Lily would have everything she always wished for, and deserved.

Mason knew it would be the biggest challenge of his life, he didn’t have 9 months to prepare himself nor to understand how it was to be a father. What if he wasn’t able to love her unconditionally, or to be everything she expected he’d be? What if he ended up being the worst dad he could possibly be? His only hope was in what his father himself represented - Tony taught him to be a good man, to fight for his family, and to be honest and decent.

Mason’s life wasn’t his own anymore, and that frightened him to the core, but he also felt prepared to fully embrace all the changes that’d come with it because deep down, he knew it’d be worth it.

While Jasmine distracted his parents and brother with pictures and the few stories and details she knew about, Mason hurried to call you back. While he waited for you to pick up, he thought how odd something so simple also felt so intimate - calling you, someone he thought about from time to time, to talk about the life you two shared. A beautiful little girl, whom he couldn’t wait to meet.

“Hello?” you breathed on the other side of the phone, trying to concentrate on the call and on Lily jumping on your bed after having a large cup of cocoa with marshmallows. “Lilian Maisie, I swear to God that if you vomit on this bed…”

Mason couldn’t hold back a laugh, but he also felt his chest clenching a bit with the sudden urge to be there. “Hi, it’s me. Mason.”

“Mase, hi!” he grinned at the nickname, loving how it sounded coming from you. “I tried to call you before.”

“I know, I was with my family. I told them about Lily.”

“Oh? How did it go?”

During most of the talk, you felt yourself going a bit dizzy from holding your breath. It was almost like you were waiting for something bad to happen like you were ready to protect your daughter from everything and everyone, but his family’s reaction was expected and you couldn’t really imagine what they were going through, but you felt deeply sorry and embarrassed to be the one causing it - muttering “I’m so sorry, Mason” during the phone call was the least you could do, and although it was sweet of him, the fact that Mason kept telling you to stop apologising didn’t make things easier. You knew you’d have to work hard to fix things, and that as long as it wouldn’t affect her routine, it was their right to have a free pass to your daughter’s life whenever they wanted.

“Did you tell her?” Mason asked, chewing the inside of his cheeks as he anxiously waited for an answer.

“No,” you heard him sigh. “But only because I wanted to ask you something first.” Mason softly hummed, waiting for you to continue. “Would you like to spend Christmas with your daughter, Mase? Bring your family too, or don’t, I dunno. But they’re all more than welco-”

“Yes, I’d very much like to spend Christmas with her,” Mason interrupted. “With you two.”

Insane was the only word you and Mason could find to address this entire situation, it was all happening so fast that you two shared something in common: fear. Of not giving everyone time to process the news, of dropping this on Lily’s shoulders, and, somehow, causing more damage than good. For Lily, it wouldn’t be just meeting her dad, as he was also her best friend’s uncle - no matter how mature she seemed to be, Lily was still just a child and you and Mason feared her reaction. He was particularly terrified of not being good enough, that she’d be disappointed when she found out he’s her dad but you repeatedly told him that Lily loved him unconditionally.

He couldn’t deny that he was a bit disappointed to be going alone, but it made sense that his family decided to stay behind, saying that this moment was private. In a quick phone call with Jaz, she promised they were considering joining your family for Boxing Day and that they all appreciated the invitation - Jaz mentioned how her mum’s emotions were everywhere, wanting to know everything she possibly could about her granddaughter, so you kindly sent a few pictures and videos of Lily growing up.

While the kids were playing, you took the opportunity to let your parents know about your decision to invite Mason, which seemed to make your mum quite happy. You also had to update Emma, who had always been one of the most discreet and private members of the family; she pulled you into a hug and said you could count on her for anything and, between giggles, that she’d do her best to control her twins who were obsessed about football just like any other boys their age. Although overwhelming, it also felt like a relief to be able to finally tell people about Lily’s dad.

You were finally alone with Lily in her room, braiding her hair the way she liked, as she moved unquietly on the chair placed in front of the mirror. “Peanut, sit still please,” you hummed, a frustrated moan parting your lips seeing your request was pointless.

“But I want to know what the surprise is!” Lily pouted, little arms crossed against her chest.

“It won’t be a surprise anymore if I tell you,” you winked, not letting her see how amused you were when she huffed and finally sat still.

Always independent and self-sufficient, Lily politely dismissed your help when she went to pick an outfit. You instructed her to go for something warm, and even if she seemed a bit confused with the tights, she managed to do it all on her own, which brought you both comfort and nostalgia to see her growing up so fast. Until weeks ago, when Jasmine walked into your lives, it was just the two of you against the world and although you believed it to be enough, of course, there was always something missing and not just for her - you missed it too, having someone to share the wonders of the things she did that were so little to some, but so meaningful to you; and you knew that no one could fill that gap better than Lily’s father.

As he drove to your place, Mason pictured all different scenarios of him meeting Lily. His heart pounded in his chest, each beat echoing the mixture of excitement and fear that coursed through him - Mason rehearsed the moment countless times in his mind since he found himself alone, yet he also knew that nothing could truly prepare him for it. As the GPS showed he was getting closer and closer to the estate, a whirlwind of emotions overwhelmed him.

His mind raced with questions. Would she really like him, like you said? Would she be scared? Could he truly be the father she deserved? Mason felt his chest filling with both hope and dread. The weight of all those years, unaware there was a little yet huge piece of him out in the world, pressed down on him - the years he had missed, the milestones he hadn’t been there for. Mason couldn’t let a grudge take over him, there was no point now.

He took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves once he spotted the large gate in front of him. Definitely, no one could ever say it was for the money, he thought, eyes curiously scanning the manor behind the gates - Mason didn’t have to announce his arrival, as he watched it slowly open for him. Not far away, he could spot your figure, standing outside the white door. You seemed as nervous as he was.

As Mason parked his car between a brand new black Range Rover and a racing green Aston Martin Valour he recognised as being limited edition, Mason felt the palms of his hands sweat even more. This wasn’t his usual habitat, none of his friends nor acquaintances were this wealthy. Part of him felt uncomfortable, but the other was relieved to know you were the opposite he’d expect someone this wealthy to be - he instantly assumed your family was as lovely as you.

When your eyes finally met his, you caught him wiping his hands on his jeans. You two could hear the loud waves of laughter of children coming from inside the house, filling the silence between you but Mason felt disconnected, focused solely on meeting his daughter. He finally stood tall in front of you, cheeks pink from the cold but he looked as gorgeous as ever - Mason seemed to relax a bit under your touch when you squeezed his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, Mason,” you said softly. “We’ll do it together and it’s going to be okay, she’s the sweetest girl.”

Mason let out a heavy breath, the smell of mint and the warmth coming from him made you feel slightly dizzy, but you quickly put yourself together. “I just don’t want to scare her,” he admitted, his voice trembling slightly. You felt sorry for him. “I want this to be perfect.”

You smile warmly. “Just be yourself. She’s naturally a curious little girl and knows I’ve planned a surprise for her, but you’re her biggest dream and everything she always wanted,” you said. “Besides a dog. She desperately wants a dog.”

The way the corners of his eyes wrinkled when he laughed was adorable and you could swear your heart skipped a beat. “Thank you, Y/n. For everything so far. I know this hasn’t been easy for you.”

“It’s been a journey,” you acknowledged, a soft smile curling the sides of your lips as you felt your cheeks flush pink by the sudden touch of his skin on yours - Mason held your pinky with his, his eyes never leaving yours. “But Lily deserves to know her father, and you deserve to know your daughter. This is the right thing.” Mason nodded, and your eyes fell to your pinkies intertwined. “Shall we?”

Mason’s breath caught in his throat as you guided him inside the manor, and he loved that despite all the wealth, it felt like home - the warmth, the laughs, and the smell of freshly baked biscuits soothed his nerves. He carefully scanned every little detail as you guided him upstairs, then down a hallway adorned with family photos and children’s artwork. You stopped in front of a door decorated with colourful stickers spelling out ‘Lilian’.

“Can you wait inside as I go get her?” Mason nodded and walked into the bedroom after you opened the door for him. “I’ll be back with her in a minute.”

When you left, Mason found himself not knowing what to do, again. His eyes quickly scanned his daughter’s bedroom - it was smaller than he expected, it had a fantastic garden view, and walls painted in baby yellow and white. There were lots of books, a wall full of artwork, ballet stuff, and, last but not least, a football - which made him smile warmly as his chest filled with pride.

“Am I getting my surprise now, mummy?” He heard his sweet voice and Mason swallowed a sob, trying not to look like a creep standing behind that door.

“Mhmm, you can say so. I truly believe you’ll love it, angel.” You replied and he smiled at how sweet you sounded talking to her. “I won’t ask you to close your eyes because I know you won’t,” his daughter replied with a giggle, that made him want to burst into tears.

As the door slowly opened, Mason fully embraced the moment when his life wasn’t just his anymore. There she was, his little girl, looking at him with hazel eyes filled with curiosity - Mason felt like he was looking at himself. She had light brown hair that fell in loose curls around her face. The moment Mason saw her, time seemed to stand still. His heart skipped a beat, and he felt a surge of emotions he had never experienced before. There was an intense mixture of love, joy, and an almost unbearable ache. The sight of her, so small and innocent, with features that mirrored his own, hit him with a profound sense of connection and loss for the time they had spent apart. His breath caught in his throat, and his eyes welled up with tears.

Mason realised in that instant just how much he had missed, and how much he wanted to be part of her life. The room seemed to blur around him, and all he could focus on was Lily. His daughter. The word felt both foreign and incredibly right. He was overwhelmed by the desire to protect her, to know her, and to make up for lost time.

“Hello Lily,” Mason said softly, crouching down to her level as you guided her to him. “Remember me?”

Lily nodded. “Is Summer my surprise?” She sounded both excited and confused as she studied him with cautious interest, her mind racing as she tried to understand why her best friend’s uncle was there.

He smiled and shook his head, trying to steady his nerves, eyes looking up searching for yours in a silent ask for help.

“No, baby,” you cooed, “Mason is your surprise.”

Lily’s eyes lit up with interest, head tilted to the side. “Why?”

“Because you’re Maisie and Mason,” he watched you crouching down next to her, your hand softly caressing her back as her full attention was still on him. “Remember all those nights you asked the stars to bring your daddy to you?”

Mason swallowed the lump in his throat, his eyes burning with tears - he couldn’t cry now, he didn’t want Lily to see him crying, but he felt so overwhelmed by knowing how much she wanted him. The thought of that precious little girl wishing for her dad every night was one of the most painful he ever experienced, and in that moment Mason silently promised he’d never let her go through that again.

When your words finally hit her, Lily’s jaw slightly dropped and her eyes searched for yours, but quickly went back to Mason - he noticed how her little eyes teared up and she pouted, clearly experiencing a mixture of emotions that were a bit too much for her.

“You’re my daddy?” She sniffed, her voice barely above a whisper, still trying to process what was unfolding before her.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Mason finally allowed tears to stream down his face as he nodded. “Yes, I’m your daddy.”

For a moment that felt like forever, Lily was silent, and Mason couldn’t ignore how you silently reassured her that it was fine to feel everything she was feeling, validating it, by either squeezing her shoulder or running your fingers through her hair. Then, with a sudden burst of emotion, Lily threw her tiny arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Mason felt a surge of warmth and love as he hugged her back, his heart overflowing. “I always wanted a daddy,” she said softly.

You didn’t know how you managed to hold your tears until now, but seeing the wide smile on his face and how Mason sighed in relief, you just couldn’t hold them back any longer. You muffled a sob by covering your mouth with your hand, and the way Mason’s hand searched for yours while not letting Lily go filled your heart with love.

He held her close, his voice choked with emotion. “And I always wanted you, Lily. I’m so happy I found you.”

Mason knew this was just the beginning, but he felt ready to face whatever came next with his daughter, and you, by his side. Lily pulled back slightly, her small hands cupping his face, making Mason giggle. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she curiously scanned his face.

“Summer is my cousin,” she said, a wide smile on her lips when Mason nodded. “Does she know?”

“Not yet,” Mason replied, “But we can tell her together and I’m sure she’ll be really happy.”

As if her thoughts and what was happening were still sinking in, Lily suddenly threw herself back in Mason’s arms, hiding her face in the crook of his neck to muffle her cry - even so, not once did Mason let go of your hand, which was the reassurance you needed to know that things would be alright and that you two would do it together, because you were a family now. You two were everything Lily needed.

“You’re the best Christmas present in the world, Masey,” a slight disappointment coursed down his spine when Lily called him by his nickname, but he’d never rush her to call him ‘dad’. “I-I mean, da-“

“It’s alright, bubba,” Mason interrupted her, softly kissing her forehead when Lily pulled back again. “You can call me whatever makes you feel comfortable, yeah?”

She silently nodded, smiling at him when he wiped her tears. You felt your heart skip a beat at the gesture.

“Do you want to see the drawings I did today?” she asked, small hands reaching his. Lily smiled again when she noticed he was still holding yours.

Mason smiled back, his heart feeling lighter than it had in years. “I’d love to, sweetheart.”

You gently squeezed his hand, letting it go before Lily led him to her drawing table, where colourful sketches of flowers, animals, and fantastical scenes covered the surface. Lily picked one of her favourites, a vibrant drawing of a butterfly garden, and handed it to him. Mason took the drawing, marvelling at the details and creativity - she really was everything you’d told him, and seeing that by himself filled him with pride. Lily was part of him, she was also his, and he could barely believe that he managed to do that when he often doubted he could do something good, something beyond special.

“This is one of my best,” she said proudly.

“I love the colours you used,” he said, showing interest, which made her eyes sparkle. “You’re the most talented artist.

Lily beamed at the praise, making you chuckle. “Can we draw together sometime, Masey? And play football too?”

“I’d like that very much,” Mason replied, crouching down her level again, holding her hands. “We can do everything you want.”

You watched your daughter narrow his eyes at him as a cheeky smile curled the sides of her lips. “Can we go get a dog now?”

“Lilian Maisie!” you scolded her but couldn’t hold back the happiness that bubbled up inside you and ended up letting a loud laugh part your lips. The way the three of you laughed, filling the room with so much joy and peace made you feel lighter.

Mason leaned forward to gently kiss her forehead again and wrapped his arms around her small figure, lifting her in the air as she squealed between giggles. “Let’s stick to football and drawing, yeah?”

Lily nodded in approval and kissed his cheeks. He was her daddy and he was a lot more than she ever dreamed of; the fact that he was also her best friend’s uncle, which made Summer her cousin, was something Lily still couldn’t believe - she wanted to scream, to see her bestie as soon as possible, hug her and never let her go. There was so much happiness inside her chest that it brought tears back to her eyes, and as she silently watched Mason with what felt like a permanent frown, Lily felt hot tears wet her cheeks again.

“Are you staying forever?” she sniffed, cupping his face with her small hands again.

Mason nodded, wiping her tears with gentle kisses. “Forever, bubba. I’m never leaving you,” he whispered against her skin, and you had to sit on her bed as you felt your legs weaken at how wholesome that moment was.

“Do you promise?” Lily insisted.

“I promise.”

The three of you spent the next hours drawing and chatting, with Lily sharing stories about her favourite things - she proudly told her daddy about being very good at football and was particularly happy when he told her that he was there for the ballet recital. Mason listened intently, soaking in every little detail, every laugh, and every smile. She was indeed the sweetest girl, and as he reached again for your hand - his pinky intertwined with yours - Mason felt a sense of peace and fulfilment that he had never known before.

As the evening drew to a close, and Mason had memorised pretty much every inch of his daughter’s face and how incredible she was, a knock on the door brought the three of you back to Earth. With the kindest smile on her face and pride in her eyes, your mum’s face beamed with happiness as she watched Lily glued to her father.

“Hi,” her voice was soft, and kind, and Mason felt oddly comfortable for a first meeting. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, but we’re all starting to get ready for Christmas dinner.”

You noticed Mason was slightly confused since it was still the 24th, but you patiently explained that you always had two celebrations: one on the 24th because it was part of your mum’s culture and your dad didn’t want to change it for her, which Mason thought it was quite romantic of him; and the other on the 25th. He liked how you all seemed to be pretty close and supportive, how your mum was very discreet and talked to him like it wasn’t the first time they were seeing each other - she treated him like family, just like you told him before.

Even so, Mason stood up still holding Lily in his arms, and walked towards your mum. “Hi ma’am, I’m Mason,” he smiled politely and the way your mum sighed in delight made you want to run away and hide. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

“He’s my daddy, abuelita,” Lily said proudly, making you all chuckle.

“Is he really, amor?” your mum winked at her. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Mason. We settled the guest room for you.”

“Thank you for your kindness,” your mum nodded at his words with a gentle smile on her lips and, after blowing a kiss to your daughter, left.

The hardest task was convincing Lily to let Mason go but he was so gentle and so patient that she didn’t argue when he offered her choices - he definitely understood how tantrums worked, but also understood how much she wanted to spend every second of every minute with him after years of not having him. Together, the three of you went downstairs so Mason could pick up his small luggage as you waited inside and Lily watched him through the window.

“Are you happy, baby?” you asked, running your fingers down her hair.

Lily nodded. “So much, mummy. This is the best Christmas ever!”

She was naturally a happy little girl, but you couldn’t remember seeing her this happy - you also couldn’t shake the feeling that such happiness could’ve come much earlier if you’d searched for him before. The way Mason smiled at her as he made his way back to the house was the sweetest in the world, and before he could even open the door, Lily stormed out to welcome him back. You guided him to the guest room, which was between yours and Lily’s, and Mason awkwardly kissed your cheek before you separated and it was just you and Lily again.

“What is it?” you asked, watching your daughter grinning at you.

“He kissed you, mummy!” Lily whispered between giggles like she was sharing a silly secret. You felt your cheeks burn under her comment but didn’t reply or she’d turn it into an endless teasing.

“Let’s focus on what you’ll wear, yeah?”

Lily nodded. “Can we match outfits, mummy?”

“I suppose we can, peanut.”

The way Lily was focusing a lot more on what you were wearing rather than focusing on herself wasn’t suspicious considering you knew your daughter all too well, Lily was always up to something when she hyper-focused on one thing and made that thing her little project - still, you wouldn’t ruin this for her and allowed her to do whatever she wanted, so that’s how you two ended wearing matching white knit sweaters, black tights and tweed skirts. It was both adorable and funny, but the cherry on top was Mason wearing pretty much the same colours as you, except his sweater had some pretty details in navy blue - he seemed amused by it as there was a permanent grin on his lips as the three of you went downstairs to meet the rest of your family.

You noticed a slight change in his posture when the sound of your father’s voice reached you, so this time it was your turn to hold his pinky as a gesture that it’d be just fine and he had nothing to worry about. Mason seemed surprised by it but also seemed to relax, offering you a warm smile in return, a smile that made your heart beat slightly faster. Before walking into the living room, you let go of him, which got Mason more upset than he expected but he shook it off.

“There you are!” cheered your father, his arms wide open as he ran past you and went straight to Mason. “I was wondering when I’d see you, lad.”

The older man’s sympathy caught him a bit off guard in the most positive way as two main things could make him dislike Mason: getting his daughter pregnant and being a Chelsea player, but still, there he was treating him as if they were longtime buddies. You let go of the fact that your dad pretty much ignored your presence, knowing that there was a chance that he was slightly starstruck that Mason was in his living room. You grinned when Mason glanced at you - a playful smirk curling his lips - before your dad put his arm over Mason’s shoulder and guided him to his collection of overpriced whisky. They were followed by your cousin’s twins, who couldn’t believe that THE Mason Mount was there.

It was just you, your mum, and Emma now, and noticing how Lily seemed a bit upset that her father was the centre of all the attention, you decided to do a FaceTime call with Willow and Jaz. Lily was the one to tell her auntie Willow that her daddy was there with them, that he was staying forever, and that she’d convince him to get her a dog - something you protested again, but asked yourself for how long you’d be able to avoid another addition to the family and one more responsibility on your hands. You promised Willie to keep her updated and that they could meet for a girls’ night once you were back in London, something she was more than happy about, and promised she’d have a very fun schedule for both of you so you could take a break from all the recent stress that surrounded you.

The next one was Jasmine, who answered faster than you expected, which made you giggle as she seemed overly excited to know everything saying Mason hadn’t told her with all the details she wanted. “We’ll have to meet when I’m back in London so I can give you the detailed version,” you said, watching her roll her eyes at you on the other side of the screen.

“You two are the perfect match, no surprise you have a daughter together,” Jaz teased, making your cheeks blush. “Did he cry?”

“He’d cry even if he was a robot, Jaz. It was a very touching moment,” you admitted and she gave you a warm smile. “I’m happy with how well it went, Lily is having the time of her life although right now she’s a bit upset by my dad monopolising him.”

Jasmine let out a cheerful laugh. “He was so nervous to meet your dad,” she confessed. “I’m so happy it went well, Y/n. It’s so important for Lily that he’s there for her.”

You nodded, chewing your lower lip, trying your best not to cry again. “How did your family react, though?”

“Oh well, they still can’t really believe it. I think my mum is still in shock, she keeps saying that she should’ve known when they met, like some sort of grandmother's sixth sense,” you felt your chest clench a bit, knowing it was you who caused this.

“It’s not her fault,” you mumbled, watching Jaz nod. “Is she there now? Do you guys want to see Lily?”

Jaz opened a wide and sweet smile for you and moved her phone just a bit, Debbie was sitting right next to her, with Summer on her lap. Your cheeks blushed at how emotional she seemed to be and you just wanted to hug her and apologise for all the mess you made and for taking five years of her life with Lily, but you’d do it in person.

“Hi auntie Y/n,” Summer said, waving at you.

“Oh sweetie, hello. Someone here wants to see you,” you walked towards Lily, who was sitting on the floor drawing something. Her face lit up when she saw her best friend’s face on the screen.

“Sumi!” Lily tried to take the phone from your hand but you gently pulled away, afraid she’d let slip something that was meant to be told in person. She pouted a little but seemed to understand the message. “I have so much to tell you!”

Amused by your daughter’s excitement, Summer giggled. “I miss you, Lili,” the little girl said, and you noticed how their interaction made Debbie emotional.

You discreetly pointed at Debbie so your daughter would acknowledge her too but you noticed how her cheeks blushed, and she seemed relieved that Debbie took the first step and asked her if she was having fun. Lily showed the drawing she was finishing shortly before the call.

“This is me in the middle, my mummy and my daddy. Now that I know him I can paint his hair colour,” you melted at how she explained every detail. “This is Mr. Peanut, the dog my daddy will give me when we can convince mummy.”

You narrowed at her but she just giggled, followed by Mason right behind you - the way he just stood there watching Lily was the sweetest, a warm smile on his lips. ‘It’s your mum’ you mumbled to him, and you noticed how happy that information made him feel because his smile doubled the size. Right behind him, your dad smiled proudly at you and blew you a kiss. Lily said goodbye to her and ran straight to Mason, while you talked to Jaz for a few more minutes while he and your dad entertained the little one. Shortly after you said goodbye to her and Debbie, you heard Lily slightly upset about her interaction with the latter.

“Do you think she’s upset I didn’t call her grandma?”

Mason shook his head and leaned a bit to kiss the tip of her nose, making her giggle. “Never,” he assured her. “Don’t worry about that bubba. Take your time, yeah? There’s no need to rush.”

Noticing this was a father and daughter moment, your dad walked away and linked his arm to yours, guiding you to where your mum and cousin were while Mason walked with Lily in his arms to see the Christmas lights that decorated the garden, through the window. They were so comfortable with each other that it felt like this wasn’t even their first day together.

Your mum welcomed you with a glass of white wine - she seemed much calmer now even if pretty much the whole family didn’t make it due to the snowstorm.

“Family is family, there’s lots of them missing but what we have tonight is perfect,” she pointed at Lily and Mason. “I’ve never said this to you, but that’s what I’ve been longing to see. My granddaughter with her father.”

“I think he’ll be a great one,” your father added, sipping his whisky. “You can see that he’s trying, the least we can do is to make him feel comfortable.”

Their support, from the very beginning, was one of the things that made you stronger whenever you had to face the challenges of motherhood - your parents were never there to spoil you nor treat you like some sort of victim but rather made you see all the options you had and each of the consequences that followed according to whatever choice you decided to make.

Completely taken by your emotions, you threw yourself in your dad’s arms and your mum joined for a family hug. Being an only child had never been a problem when your parents were so present, despite such busy lives they had. They never missed the most important moments of your life and were always there whenever you needed them. Those two were your best friends.

For the rest of the evening, all of you enjoyed proper family time with games, stories shared between laughs and fantastic food cooked by your mum - she always dismissed the staff so they could spend the holidays with their families and the food was entirely her responsibility. She blushed when Mason said it was one of the best he ever had, and you knew he wasn’t just trying to find a way to her heart. He actually meant it.

“Mummy,” you felt Lily softly poke your ribs, seeming a bit shy to say what was on her mind. You offered her a kind smile in return. “Do you think there’s still time to rewrite my letter to Santa?”

You frowned. “Why, baby?”

“I’ve changed my mind. I think I can wait for the ice skates, I want to ask Santa for my dad to still be here in the morning.”

That was when your heart broke into a million pieces. “Oh baby,” you cooed, pulling a string of hair from her face, and took her in your arms, sitting on the same armchair where you first spoke to her while still pregnant. “He’s not leaving”.

“I just want to make sure, mummy…”

“I know, we’ll write if that’s what you want,” you quickly replied, not wanting to invalidate her feelings. “You know when you were still in my tummy and was the size of a bean,” she giggled. “I sat in this armchair and spoke to you for the first time. I promised I’d try to be the best mummy to you and sometimes I wish I was better.”

“You’re the best mummy in the world,” Lily said, her small hand touching your face as her thumb softly stroked your cheek. You smiled softly.

“Now, in this same armchair, I promise that he’s not leaving. Your daddy is staying forever and now you have another grandma and grandpa, you have a cousin, aunties, uncles…”

“Do you think they’ll like me?” she mumbled, hazel eyes looking at you like she could see your soul.

“They’ll love you, peanut.”

“I’ll love them too,” she said before a long yawn, blinking a few times as she was clearly starting to fight against her need to sleep. “But I’ll always love you the most, mummy…” Lily mumbled before her eyes finally closed and, after a long sigh, her body finally relaxed in your arms and the usual low, cute snores started.

All the love that your daughter gave you had always been something that overwhelmed you. The way her face lights up when you pick her up at school, how she always wants to show you first the new things she learns, and how she’s always checking on you and making sure you’re happy were a few of the things that made you know for sure that if soulmates were indeed real, Lily was yours. Pride always coursed through your veins whenever she showed an act of kindness, and joy involved your entire being knowing that it had influence of how well you raised her - still, you still couldn’t shake the anguish that made your chest clench whenever you thought about how you prived her from another life the moment you decided to hide her from Mason. That was the feeling that kept you up for hours, rolling from one side to the other in bed, with the desperate need to cry always hovering over you.

After putting on your robe and grabbing the baby monitor, you guided your tired body to the kitchen and, trying not to make too much noise, prepared yourself a cup of chamomile tea hoping it’d save your life. You enjoyed the combination of silence and the sweet hot liquid relaxing your body - the house was quiet, the only sounds being the occasional creak of the floorboards and the soft hum of the refrigerator. Lost in your thoughts, you sat at the kitchen table staring at the half-empty cup, replaying the events of the past weeks over and over in your mind.

You heard soft footsteps and looked up to see Mason entering the kitchen, his face pretty much like yours: etched with worry and exhaustion. He hesitated a bit at the doorway before stepping in, your eyes meeting his.

“Can’t sleep too?” you asked gently, watching him take a seat across from you.

Mason shook his head. “Too much on my mind.”

You nodded, your gaze dropping to the table. Taking a deep breath, you felt your voice trembling as you spoke. “I need to say something.”

Mason looked at you, sensing the weight of your words. “Go ahead, Y/n. I’m listening.”

You wrung your hands, struggling to find the right words. Looking at him again, you felt a knot forming in your throat. “I feel so guilty about keeping Lily away from you. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing at the time, but I realise it was a lot more about protecting myself rather than protecting her. Seeing you with her now… and how happy she is. I feel awful, and I know I was wrong.”

Mason sighed deeply, his emotions a turbulent mix of anger, sadness, and understanding.“I confess that this is like… my worst nightmare. A child from a casual hookup,” he confessed, and you felt tears burning your eyes. “And knowing this child exists five years later did make me angry. I’ve missed so much of her life and there’s so many things involved.”

Tears welled up in his eyes but you watched him wipe them away quickly. “I’m so sorry,” you whispered.

“I can’t just insert myself in her life without thinking about every detail, it’s much deeper because I bring a lot with me to everyone that’s part of my life,” much to your surprise, Mason reached for your hand, and, with your heart skipping a beat, your pinkies intertwined again. “I’m angry and hurt but I’m willing to push that away because I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, at the same time. Lily is incredible, she’s sweet and kind and you’ve been doing a fantastic job. She’s more than I could’ve hoped for, so I’ll fight everyone and everything to keep her safe. To keep you safe too.”

You didn’t wipe the tears that rolled down your cheeks. “I robbed you those first five years and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for that, but I hope you can, for Lily’s sake. She deserves to have both of her parents.”

Mason’s gaze softened as he looked at you. “I need to feel that I can trust you, forgiveness will eventually come, but it’s also not like I hate you,” you watched how his cheeks suddenly blushed. “I think you’re amazing and I often thought about you and always hoped that I could find you someday.”

“Just not under this circumstance, yeah?” you added, and you two shared a laugh that pushed away whatever tension between you.

Mason nodded, letting go of your hair to stand up from his chair and sit on the one beside you. “I’ll take what life is giving me. We’ll figure it out together, Y/n. For her, and us too,” he pulled you into a comforting hug as you clung to him, your sobs quieting as you found solace in his arms.

“I’m so grateful you’re here, Mason,” you confessed as he stroked your back soothingly.

“We’re a family now, Y/n. It’s going to be tough but we’ll get through whatever comes our way. As long as we keep Lily safe and give her the love and support she deserves, everything will be fine.”

You remained there in the quiet kitchen, holding onto each other, both knowing that while the road ahead would be challenging, you were committed to facing it together for the sake of your daughter. Holding hands, you walked back to the bedroom hallway in silence, and Mason softly kissed your forehead before heading back to his. You stood there for a few minutes, contemplating how his lips felt so good against your skin, before deciding you’d sleep the few hours left for sunrise with Lily. With her hair splattered over the pillow, she had a smile on her lips as she softly hummed words you couldn’t understand, which stopped when you cuddled her under the duvet and finally closed your eyes, letting sleep relax your body.

social media au

[toyahinterviews]

DIRECT LINKS TO THE INTERVIEWS

1979

CAPITAL RADIO, LONDON Mummy's Weekly 1979

1980

BACK ISSUE FANZINE 1980

TOYAH ATV DOCUMENTARY 1980

CAPITAL RADIO, LONDON Alternatives 1980

CAPITAL RADIO, LONDON Hullabaloo With Derek Jarman 1980

BBC RADIO ONE Rock On 1980

A LIFE IN THE DAY OF ... Sunday Times Magaine 1980

1981

RADIO TRENT, NOTTINGHAM January 1981

BBC RADIO ONE Talkabout February 1981

TOYAHZINE INTERVIEW By Laura Marsh 23.4.1981

SOUNDI, Finland (Translated) June 1981

BBC RADIO ONE With Annie Nightingale August 1981

PARKINSON BBC1 October 1981

BFBS RADIO December 1981

SUOSIKKI, FINLAND December 1981

1982

RADIO 210, READING With Keith Butler 22.5.1982

BBC RADIO ONE Rock On - The Changeling With Richard Skinner 29.5.1982 BBC1 Get Set For Summer With Peter Powell 1982

1983

SOUNDCHECK Issue 1, 1983

BBC1 HARTY 8.3.1983

PICCADILLY RADIO, MANCHESTER With Timmy Mallet 1.9.1983

BBC RADIO ONE With Annie Nightingale and Sting 3.10.1983

BBC RADIO ONE With Janice Long 19.11.1983

WOMEN IN ROCK THE DAILY MIRROR ROCK & POP CLUB 1983

1985

BBC RADIO 4 Doing It Her Way April 1985

BBC RADIO ONE With Peter Powell 1.4.1985

RITZ NEWSPAPER MAGAZINE May 1985

1987

DESIRE AND MORE With Chris Limb 1987

1991

TONIGHT WITH JONATHAN ROSS CHANNEL 4 9.1.1991

WHUS RADIO STORRS, CONNECTICUT Sunday All Over The World 1991

RADIO MERCURY, SURREY/SUSSEX Ophelia's Shadow 1991

1992

BBC RADIO 4 In The Psychiatrist's Chair With Anthony Clare 2.9.1992

1993

THE LEAP INTERVIEW 1993

1998

RADIO VICTORY, PORTSMOUTH The Pulse October 1998

2000

BBC1 LIFE AND TIMES With Vanessa Feltz 2000

BBC RADIO 5 LIVE August 2000

BORDERS BOOKSHOP OXFORD STREET, LONDON The launch of her autobiography 5.8.2000

BBC RADIO 4 WOMAN’S HOUR Living Out Loud 29.8.2000

2001

BBC RADIO 2 With Richard Allinson 25.4.2001

2003

BBC TV LONDON With Tayfun Kadioglu 22.4.2003

2005

THE LATE EDITION ON E4 With Marcus Brigstocke 24.3.2005 CAPITAL RADIO, LONDON Diary Of A Facelift With David Jensen 4.4.2005

BBC RADIO 2 With Johnnie Walker 16.8.2005

2006

NET TALK RADIO Spiritual Tides With Ross Hemsworth 24.3.2006

NET TALK RADIO With Ross Hemsworth 28.8.2006

BBC RADIO NEWCASTLE With Julia Hankin 11.9.2006

FAITH & MUSIC ITV1 18.9.2006

CHANNEL 4 PROUD PARENTS With Beric Willcox 23.10.2006

2007

BBC RADIO 2 THE SARAH KENNYDY SHOW 7.3.2007

BBC RADIO 4 Personality Test 2.8.2007

2008

BBC RADIO DEVON The 80s Show With Richard Green 11.7. 2008

BBC RADIO LONDON With Gary Crowley 28 - 29.08.2008

2009

CELEBRITY BRIDES UNVEILED 2009

SHIELDS GAZETTE South Tyneside Summer Festival 5.7.2009

BBC RADIO WEST MIDLANDS THE PAUL FRANKS SHOW 29.9 2009

RADIO BORDERS With Hugh Brown 8.10.2009

2010

ABSOLUTE RADIO THE FRANK SKINNER SHOW 13.3.2010

PHOENIX RADIO, CALDERDALE Fadeout With DJ Cruel Britannia 3.4.2010

BBC RADIO GUERNSEY With Jim CatHart 14.4.2010

ISLAND FM, GUERNSEY WITH DJ Carl Ward 16.4.2010

CRMK RADIO, MILTON KEYNES The Vibe 12.9.2010

BBC HEREFORD & WORCESTER THE ANDREW EASTON SHOW At Malvern Theatres 14.9.2010

BBC RADIO HUMBERSIDE THE LARA KING SHOW 21.9.2010

PAUL AND LUCY’S BEST KEPT SECRETS PRESTON FM October 2010

BBC THREE COUNTIES WITH LORNA MILTON SHOW 4.10.2010

THE HOME CHANNEL Celebrity Fantasy Homes With Gary Roslin 5.10.2010

BBC HEREFORD & WORCESTER THE TONY FISHER SHOW 30.10.2010

BBC RADIO SHROPSHIRE With Keith Middleton 5.12.2010

2011

BBC RADIO WEST MIDLANDS With Mark Regan 25.1.2011

SANCTUARY EXPOSED AT THE HMV INSTITUTE BIRMINGHAM With David Davies 16.4.2011

WFMU 91.1 FM JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY Dark Night Of The Soul With Julie 17.5.2011

GAYDAR RADIO With Phil Marriott 14.6.2011

BBC RADIO HEREFORD & WORCESTER THE ANDREW EASTON SHOW 12.7.2011

BBC RADIO 4 SATURDAY LIVE Secret Life 13.8.2011

ABSOLUTE RADIO Rewind Festival With Martyn Lee 21.8.2011

GAYDIO The Loop With John Ryan 2.10.2011

BBC RADIO 6 STEVE LAMACQ MUSIC SHOW Good Day - Bad Day 21.12.2011

2012

TOYAH TALKS MONEY AND MORE The Sunday Times Magaine, Money Section 19.2.2012

BBC RADIO MIDLANDS THE LATE SHOW With Keith Middleton 1.4.2012

RADIO CHORLEY 102.8 FM AT BLACKPOOL PRIDE With Mark Jackson-Duxbury 9.6.2012

BBC RADIO LEICESTER 16.6.2012 SWITCH RADIO 107.5 BIRMINGHAM The Asylum With Wayne Evans July 2012

BBC RADIO WM BREAKFAST With Pete Morgan 16.7.2012

BBC RADIO TEES With Dave Llewellyn 27.8.2012

LOVE AND MARRIAGE A 20th CENTURY ROMANCE BBC4 2.10.2012

RADIO VERULAM, HERTFORDSHIRE With Chris Saunders 31.10.2012

BBC RADIO 2 STEVE LAMACQ’S ROCK COLLEGE 23.11.2012

BBC RADIO KENT THE MATTHEW DAVIES SHOW 8.12.2012

BBC RADIO WM BEV BEVAN MEETS 23.12.2012

MARLOW FM 97.5 THE ECLECTIC LIGHT SHOW Musical Milestones 24.12.2012

2013

BBC RADIO 4 RAMBLINGS With Clare Balding 28.2.2013

BBC RADIO SHROPSHIRE THE LATE SHOW With Keith Middleton 2.3.2013

BBC THREE COUNTIES RADIO THE ROBERTO PERRONE SHOW 15.3.2013

BBC RADIO 2 STEVE WRIGHT IN THE AFTERNOON 20.3.2013

EAGLE RADIO 96.4, SURREY With Stuart Provan April 2013

BBC RADIO MANCHESTER With Justin Moorehouse 1.4.2013

BBC RADIO DERBY With Andy Potter 12.4.2013

BBC RADIO LEICESTER With Monica Winfield 20.4.2013

BBC RADIO WILTSHIRE With Su Davies 22.4.2013

BBC RADIO HUMBERSIDE With David Burns 1.5.2013

BBC RADIO BRISTOL With Laura Rawlings 9.5.2013

BBC RADIO COVENTRY & WARWICKSHIRE With Vic Minett 20.5.2013

BBC RADIO ESSEX With Mark Punter 20.5.2013

BBC RADIO SOLENT With Alex Dyke 19.6.2013

RADIO NE1FM 102.5 NEWCASTLE With Jo Oliver 14.10.2013

THE BRIDGE 102.5 FM, STOURBRIDGE The Big Decades With Mark Spate 20.10.2013

2014

BBC RADIO DERBY With Andy Potter 29.01.2014

THE BFI DEREK JARMAN RETROSPECTIVE 12.2.2014

BBC RADIO 2 Sounds Of The 80s With Sara Cox 15.02.2014

BBC RADIO DEVON With Richard Green 15.03.2014

SOMER VALLEY 97.5 FM, SOMERSET MyPod With Don Chambers 24.3.2014

SOHO CREATE, LONDON Inspiration And The Blank Page With Robert Elms and Helen David 5.6.2014

GODMOTHERS OF POP Classic Pop Magazine, Issue 13 Oct/Nov 2014

2015

BBC RADIO LINCOLNSHIRE With Nicola Gilroy 19.1.2015

WCR 101.8 FM, WOLVERHAMPTON Music And Memories With Philip Solomon 2.2.2015

BBC RADIO SUSSEX With Allison Ferns 4.2.2015

BBC RADIO BRISTOL With Calire Cavanagh 9.2.2015

BBC RADIO WALES With Eleri Sion 12.2.2014

SEVERN FM, GLOUCESTER The Encyclopedia Of Rock With Bill Rieflin and Trevor Howard 13.4.2015

LORRAINE ITV1 13.4.2015

BBC RADIO DEVON THE RICHARD GREEN SHOW 23.5.2015

BBC RADIO 2 THE KEN BRUCE SHOW The Tracks Of My Years 29.6 - 3.7.2015

BBC RADIO 2 Sounds Of The 80s With Sara Cox 20.6.2015

BBC RADIO DERBY THE ANDY POTTER SHOW 31.7.2015

BBC RADIO OXFORD With Kat Orman 18.8.2015

MIX 96, AYLESBURY With Chris Maskery 29.8.2015

BBC RADIO 2 With Dermot O'Leary 5.9.2015

BBC RADIO WILTSHIRE With Sue Davies 2.11.2015

VINTAGE TV Needle Time With Neil McCormick 8.11.2015

2016

SKYHIGH RADIO With Ian Riches 20.1.2016

BBC RADIO LONDON With Gaby Roslin 4.9.2016

BBC RADIO LONDON With Jo Good 9.9.2016

BBC RADIO 2 Sounds Of The 80s With Sara Cox 16.9.2016

BBC RADIO WALES With Wynne Evans 12.12.2016

BBC RADIO HEREFORD AND WORCHESTER With Tammy Gooding 16.12.2016

2017

BBC RADIO OXFORD With Nick Piercey 27.2.2017

BBC RADIO 2 With Steve Wright, Martika and Paul Young 28.2.2017

THE MAIL ON SUNDAY EVENT MAGAZINE SHRINK RAP Inside The Head Of Toyah Willcox 6.8.2017

BBC RADIO 4 With Colin Paterson 6.11.2017

BBC RADIO MANCHESTER With Becky Want 31.10.2017

BBC RADIO WILTSHIRE With Jonathan Fido 22.12.2017

2018

BBC RADIO LONDON With Jo Good 23.1.2018

BBC RADIO 4 Woman's Hour With Jane Garvey 20.2.2018

BBC RADIO 4 Only Artists With Alice Lowe 7.3.2018

THOMPSON'S LIVE Arts and Performing Arts Podcast With Chris Goode 16.5.2018

BBC RADIO WM 95.6 The Other Side Of 5.8.2018

CLASSIC POP MAGAZINE Issue 44 September 2018

2019

BBC RADIO TEES Sounds With Bob Fisher 17.1.2019

BBC RADIO LINCOLNSHIRE With Carla Greene 31.1.2019

SDE (SuperDeluxeEdition) Sofa With Simon Darlow With Paul Sinclair March 2019

BBC RADIO ULSTER The Art Show With Marie-Louise Muir 26.3.2019

BBC RADIO KENT With Dominic King 27.3.2019

BBC RADIO GUERNSEY With John Randall 27.3.2019

BBC RADIO CORNWALL With David White 28.3.2019

BBC RADIO DERBY With Steve Jordan 28.3.2019

BBC RADIO WALES With Eleri Sion 29.3.2019

CELEBRITY RADIO With Alex Belfield 29.3.2019

PHIL MARRIOTT MEETS 3.4.2019

BBC RADIO HEREFORD & WORCHESTER With Tammy Gooding 9.4.2019

BBC RADIO LONDON With Jo Good 12.4.2019

BBC RADIO 4 Loose Ends With Clive Anderson 12.4.2019

BBC RADIO SUSSEX With Mark Carter 14.4.2019

BBC RADIO DEVON With Richard Green 20.4.2019

BBC RADIO SOLENT With Alex Dyke 23.5.2019

BBC RADIO DEVON With Richard Green 8.6.2019

BBC RADIO 2 With Jason Mohammad 30.6.2019

CLASSIC POP MAGAZINE Issue 52 May 2019

THE C86 PODCAST With David Eastaugh 14.7.2019

CLASSIC POP MAGAZINE New Romantics Special Edition November 2019

2020

BBC RADIO YORK With Adam Tomlinson 21.1.2020

BBC RADIO WILTSHIRE With Sue Davies 8.2.2020

TOYAH TALKS SOLO The Box Set Interview 28.2.2020

BBC RADIO SOLENT With Alex Dyke 3.3.2020

BBC RADIO HEREFORD & WORCESTER With Tammy Gooding 3.3.2020

BBC RADIO NORTHAMPTON With Bernie Keith 10.3.2020

BBC RADIO SCOTLAND With Rachel McCormack 24.4.2020

PEARLS OF WISOM #notgoingoutclub With Julie Peasgood 13.5.2020

CATtales 21.5.2020

OCTOPUS TV With Andrew Eborn 2.6.2020

LOVING 80's MUSIC With Helen Barnes 9.6.2020

MEMORY LANE 80's With Hayley Palmer 25.7.2020

CONVERSATIONS With Mark Curry 13.8.2020

BBC RADIO LONDON With Jumoke Fashola 3.10.2020

BRUM RADIO THE MRS BARBARA NICE & FRIENDS PODCAST (Comedy) 13.10.2020

CHERRY RED TV With Iain McNay 4.11.2020

TOYAH TALKS SHEEP FARMING IN BARNET With Phil Marriott 13.11.2020

TOYAH TALKS SHEEP FARMING IN BARNET The Box Set Interview 11.12.2020

2021

UNCUT MAGAZINE APRIL 2021

THE EVELYN GLENNIE PODCAST 5.5.2021

ROCKONTEURS PODCAST With Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt 21.5.2021

RTÉ ARENA With Seán Rocks 23.5.2021

REIGNITE With Cathy Grant 25.5.2021

BBC RADIO KENT With Chris Addison 26.5.2021

TOYAH TALKS BLUE MEANING The Box Set Interview 28.5.2021

PRIVATE LIVES PODCAST With Paul Robinson 11.6.2021

A WORD IN YOUR ATTIC With David Hepworth and Mark Ellen 15.7.2021

ITV UNSCRIPTED With Nina Nannar 23.7.2021

BBC HEREFORD & WORCESTER With Tammy Gooding 14.8.2021

BBC RADIO 2 With Steve Wright 24.8.2021

BBC RADIO WALES With Janice Long 30.8.2021

BBC BREAKFAST With Louise Minchin and Dan Walker 31.8.2021

BBC RADIO MANCHESTER With Mike Sweeney 1.9.2021

CLASSIC POP MAGAZINE Issue 71 Sept / Oct 2021

RECORD COLLECTOR MAGAZINE Issue 523 October 2021

BBC RADIO DEVON With Richard Green 18.9.2021

THE DYSPRAXIC HELP 4U PODCAST With Billy Stanley 10.10.2021

BBC RADIO 2 With Rylan Clark 23.10.2021

BBC RADIO SCOTLAND With Billy Sloan 30.10.2021

METRO 60 SECONDS 2.11.2021

ITV THIS MORNING With Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby 8.11.2021

OK MAGAZINE Issue 1315 22.11.2021

2022

MY TIME CAPSULE With Michael Fenton Stevens 24.1.2022

ON RECORD | IN CONVERSATION With Satnam Rana 12.5.2022

METROLAND MAGAZINE @ CHILFEST With Sue Archer 2.7.2022

CHOOSE 80s @ CHILFEST 2.7.2022

WOMEN'S HEALTH BREAKING THE TABOOS With Cherry Healey and Dr Dawn Harper 27.7.2022

HOW TO BE 60 With Kaye Adam and Karen MacKenzie 29.7.2022

RETROPOP MAGAZINE August 2022

LOUDER THAN WAR With Nigel Carr 9.8.2022

BBC RADIO 2 THE BREAKFAST SHOW With Gary Davies 16.8.2022

XS NOIZE PODCAST With Mark Miller 25.8.2022

BBC RADIO SCOTLAND THE AFTERNOON SHOW With Nicola Meighan 7.9.2022

TOYAH TALKS ANTHEM The Box Set Interview September 2022

2023

MY 80s PLAYLIST VIRGIN RADIO With Steve Denyer 5.5.2023

POP, THE HISTORY MAKERS With Steve Blame 8.5.2023

BBC RADIO MANCHESTER With Mike Sweeney 31.5.2023

VECTIS RADIO ISLE OF WIGHT With Nik and Kieren 18.6.2023

BBC BREAKFAST With Jon Kay and Sally Nugent 21.6.2023

ABSOLUTE 80s With Chris Martin 22.6.2023

BBC THREE COUNTIES RADIO With Babs Michel 24.6.2023

TOYAH TALKS THE CHANGELING DECEMBER 2023

2024

TOYAH TALKS LOVE IS THE LAW 2024

All this and much more on the original site

The Toyah Willcox Intervew Archive

For dozens more interviews check out toyah.net's Press Archive

[endinsosuddenly]

understanding

Ohhh yeah bby lets go chapter 3 - shorter chapter but oh well

-

Sirius had been walking forever. Well, Padfoot had been. It’d been a couple of days since he set off to find Harry. He’d had to stay as Padfoot, to not alert any wizards that were roaming muggle London. Sirius had to ditch the flannel, running from muggle dog catchers, the flannel tied around his collar had gotten stuck and ripped on a fence Padfoot squeezed through. Though it was no issue, he was close enough to Surrey to know where he was going. 

Padfoot wasn’t wet from the sea or the rain anymore but he was still ungodly dirty. Sirius liked to stay clean, for the most part, so this was irking him more than anything. He had to put that in the back of his mind though because he was getting close to Surrey and to Harry. Closer than he thought. 

Roaming through the woods as a shortcut, Padfoot caught onto a familiar smell. A familiar smell that sent him running, trying to get to the edge of the forest, and when he saw Harry, it was like seeing him when James placed the adorable baby boy in his hands for the first time. Nostalgia had hit him like the waves until a voice that irked Padfoot so badly rang out, “Mummy look!” A voice very much not Harry, but still, Harry and a woman Padfoot clearly knew as Petunia ran towards the voice. It wasn’t until Harry looked at Sirius that he really felt the weight of it hit him, he was here. He was here and he’d found Harry! But he didn’t have a plan. Didn’t really know where to go from here. 

But he trotted over anyway, acting as gentle as he could. Though, he couldn’t take his eyes off Harry.

Sirius thought he’d look like James. And he did! But that’s where the resemblance stopped as of right now. Sirius could see in his eyes, Lily’s eyes, that there was no trace of James in this little boy. There was a little of James, of course, as Harry was his son, but only tiny seeds. Tiny seeds that hadn’t gotten the chance to grow because of the environment they’d been stuck in. Everytime those seeds would grow, there would be an invisible force stomping them back into the dirt. 

It took Sirius by surprise, seeing the same boy that he saw in Grimmauld’s mirror all those years ago in the one child he’d never wish any kind of harm. Lily was in there too though, kind and caring, but could snap back like a firecracker. Kind and caring when the only thing this child has ever known is misery. 

It was a blur of color, voices, and being prodded at, Padfoot having to stop himself short of maiming the child he’d guessed Petunia’s. But it was worth it, because he’d finally gotten to Harry. 

The car ride was peaceful, after being prodded at the Vet’s, being able to lay his head on Harry’s lap. Though, he couldn’t help what the boy was thinking. Was he wary of the dog? Lucky for him, the answer was no. Harry was happy the dog was there, he thought maybe if Dudley was preoccupied with Padfoot he wouldn’t bother Harry. 

It was silent, going back to 4 Privet Drive until Petunia interrupted the silence.  “When we get home, I expect you to finish up the yard, Harry. Maybe even take the dog out, so my Dudders won’t have to deal with it.” She said cooing at her son, clearly still taking in the idea of even having a dog. Harry suspected she only said yes because Dudley was so precious! ‘Yes’, Harry thought, ‘so precious.’ He wondered what she’d think of her darling Duddy when she found out he was as bright as a broken bulb and as nice as his father, so not at all. Considering his all F’s, and Petunia never saying anything, Harry didn’t think she’d care. “Yeah! And take the dog out too, I don’t wanna deal with all the yucky stuff!” Dudley, loud as ever, ordered Harry. Of course, Harry suspected he’d have to deal with all the actual parts that come with having a dog so this wasn’t very shocking. 

Harry thought the dog was weird. Weird but comforting. He’d always liked animals, snakes, dogs, and cats the most. Though birds were nice too, he’d always wondered what it'd be like to fly, he always imagined he’d like it, especially if the dreams he had were anything to base it off of. But Padfoot was soft, and he seemed to like Harry, which is what took him by surprise the most. No one liked Harry. 

When the four of them arrived at Number 4 Privet Dr. Sirius was .. unimpressed. It was bland, and boring. The yard was the only good thing about it. Petunia got Dudley out of the car first before walking straight to the door, not bothering with Harry. Sirius tucked that interaction into a little corner in the back of his mind for later. Harry gently lifted Padfoot’s head off his lap, “C’mon, Padfoot. Let’s go inside.” 

Harry opened the door, getting himself out (with a little struggle) before grabbing onto Padfoot’s leash and beckoning him to get out of the car. Padfoot, ever obedient, followed and walked next to Harry while he led both to the door. The door was black and opened wide so Padfoot could see the interior.

‘As bland as the outside,’ Sirius grumbled in his head. Harry led him inside, letting Padfoot go in first then closing the door behind them softly. Padfoot could hear voices coming from the kitchen, all sounding prideful and irritating. 

“Here, Padfoot,” Harry led him deeper in the hallway, no longer holding onto the leash (which Sirius was thankful for,) and simply just beckoning him with hand motions. “Let’s go meet Uncle Vernon,” Harry rolled his eyes at Padfoot and when Padfoot let out a laugh like huff Harry looked at him with shock, “Can yo-?” 

“And here it is!” A big bulk of a man came bulldozing from the kitchen into the small hallway, rushing to Padfoot and all but pushing Harry into the wall. Padfoot slightly growled at the motion, looking at Harry first to see if he was alright before directing his glare to who he knows as Uncle Vernon. Of course, they’d met at Lily’s and James’ wedding. It hadn’t been pleasant. 

Sirius had prepared himself to see things that would disturb him, but he promised himself to only intervene as human if it was something serious . He would be no good to Harry if he was locked back in Azkaban. Sirius would never forgive himself if he let Harry, and by proxy, James and Lily, down again. Of course, Padfoot would intervene but Sirius wouldn’t. 

“Look at him! My Dudley sure knows how to pick em’, aye Petunia?” Vernon’s loud voice boomed, beaming with pride that his son found such a fine dog. “I tried to tell him no, but well, he’s very persuasive, I think your advice is working, Vernon!” Petunia grinned at her husband. Vernon had been giving Dudley lessons all about being persuasive and getting a yes when someone says no. Harry thought it was plain bullshit. “That’s my boy! Never take no for an answer!” Vernon playfully wiggled his finger at Dudley, while his son beamed with pride. 

But of course, Harry had to ruin everything.. By existing. “And what are you doing? Just standing there? I believe your gracious Aunt gave you instructions.” Vernon raised his eyebrow at his nephew, “Sorry, Uncle.” Harry grumbled and made his way back outside to finish mowing the yard like Petunia requested. 

The family went back into the kitchen, paying less attention to Padfoot and more to the fact Dudley had ‘persuaded’ his mother. Padfoot rolled his eyes more than one listening to the idiocy spewing from the mouths. He kept his eyes on Harry for the most part, looking at him mowing the lawn, it was a bit difficult since Vernon had got the best mower known to man. It was tall and Harry was not. Padfoot guessed it had something to do with his ‘mistreatment’ because James had always been fairly tall and Lily was above average height as well. 

Though eventually, Dudley wanted to play with Padfoot in the living room. Sirius knew he had to play along for now, even though he really didn’t want to, so he barked and did what he thought Dudley would like before Harry came in and started to cook dinner. 

Sirius was concerned it looked like a habit. 

Harry cooked pork chops with peas and tater tots on the side, Vernon’s favorite on Fridays. He started cooking and Padfoot abandoned Dudley, who whined for a minute before turning on the TV and watching some show Padfoot couldn’t stand. He made his way towards Harry, putting his paws on the counter and helping as much as he could, nudging items, moving the pan with his paws so the pork chops wouldn’t cook too much on one side when Harry was preoccupied with the other ingredients. 

Whenever he would do something like that, Harry would look at him with an incredulous look. More surprised someone would help him, rather than it was a dog helping him. “Can you understand me?” Harry brought up his question from earlier, “It’s okay if you can. I won’t tell anyone. No one would believe me, if I did.” He whispered to Padfoot. Ducking his head down in secrecy,

Sirius thought for a minute. Would it be wise to tell him yes? He thought for a minute and considered Harry knowing he had someone who understood him and loved him was a greater need than Sirius’ own secrecy. Plus, why even be secretive? All Harry had to know was he understood, not the whole situation. 

Padfoot nodded, Harry looked at him in shock. 

Padfoot looked at the stove and whined to Harry, reminding him of his task. “Oh! Right,” Harry scolded himself, quickly focusing back on the food, not wanting to burn it. Not wanting to make that mistake again. “So.. are you.. Like- Like, are you-” Harry sighed in frustration, before putting his hand up in a ‘forget it’ motion. 

Harry knew better than to ask if Padfoot was magic. Magic wasn’t real. Magic was bad. It was a stupid thought, Harry wouldn't bring it up again. Padfoot was just smart. That's it. 

He and Padfoot finished the family's meal, making sure to leave some for himself and Padfoot, discreetly. He would have to go buy dog food the next time they sent him grocery shopping. Until then, he’d slip Padfoot food. Feeding him like he fed himself. 

The family ate, the other family cleaned up the kitchen. Padfoot helped the same way he helped with the cooking process. 

They finished cleaning fairly quickly, Harry already being fast and with Padfoot’s help it took even shorter the time it usually would. Once the family was done eating they cleaned their plates too. 

After cleaning, Harry gets sent to his cupboard. 

“Boy! Are you done cleaning?” 

“Yes, Uncle Vernon.”

“Done with the yard?”

“Yes, Uncle Vernon.”

“Good, maybe you can be good for something.” The family snickered. “Now, go to your room. And so help me boy.. If you wake me up again in the middle of the night..” 

“I won’t, Uncle Vernon, i’m sorry.” Harry clenched his fists while Padfoot growled under his breath, not liking where this was going. 

Padfoot thought he didn’t like it before. He felt disgusted, almost as if it wasn’t him watching this happen, when Harry walked over to the Cupboard Under the Stairs, pulled the door open and he saw Harry’s ‘room.’ 

Sirius stood there frozen before, “You go too, mutt. Dudley doesn't need dog hair all over his clothes. You can come out in the morning. If I catch you barking, you’re going back to the streets.” Vernon barked at Padfoot, the proud façade fading once the surprise of the dog ended. Dudley staring at the TV, braindead. Petunia reading her magazine. 

Padfoot trotted over to the Cupboard, not before 'playfully' nipping at Vernon's ankles, hopping in along with Harry before Vernon bounced over, ever so gracefully, slammed the door and locked it shut. 

Padfoot layed close to Harry, mind still reeling from where he is, the cupboard, how he got here, the cupboard, Harry, the cupboard! He’s in a cupboard. Harry’s room.. Is a cupboard! Sirius let himself think about all the ways he could really earn his murderer title. 

“It’s just you and me now, Padfoot.” Harry chuckled, grimly.

And as Harry’s hand ran through Padfoot’s fur, gently, he couldn’t help but let the anger fade away and his mind clear at his words. 

‘Yeah, Harry.’ Padfoot snuggled closer to Harry, ‘It’s just you and me now.’ 

[travelling-my-little-pony]

November is the month that Mummy Sunbright visits Pope’s Grotto!

In Twickenham, in Surrey, England.

A quick description of the grotto from the website:

Alexander Pope’s Grotto is the last remaining part of his famous villa and gardens, which he built in 1720 on the banks of the Thames at Twickenham. A mine of minerals gathered from all parts of the world, it is listed as Grade 2* and as Heritage at Risk ‘Of outstanding national importance’.

https://popesgrotto.org.uk/

[catsafari25]

The 2017 Mummy movie was a mess but it might have been less of a mess if Nick & Jenny had been written as siblings and not an insta-love romance. In this essay I will

[365days365movies]

Horror October II: Frankenstein (1931) - Recap: Part Two

Hollywood Legend time!

Born in Surrey, England in 1887, William Henry Pratt was born to two parents with ancestry from the subcontinent of India, leading to him growing up with a darker complexion than that of his compatriots. His great aunt was Anna Leonowens, AKA the woman who inspired The King and I. Yeah, THAT The King and I!

But despite this impressive connection, Pratt didn’t have a great childhood. Bow-legged, with a lisp and a stutter, and already an outside to his peers. And when he was very young, his mother passed away, leading to him being mostly raised by his eight siblings. Like I said, rough time of it. But things got better when Pratt stumbled upon a new profession: acting. And so, in 1911, Pratt moved to Canada and started in on stage performances. While there, he came up with a stage name. Boris Karloff is born.

Karloff transitions into film pretty quickly, and is in silent films for a while, often cast in minority roles due to his unique appearance. But then, in 1931, after dozens of bit parts, he’s found by director James Whale, who wants him to play the Monster in his upcoming adaptation of Frankenstein. Karloff obviously accepts, puts on his four-inch platforms and big-ass costume, and film history is made. Karloff’s a star!

He’s cast as the mummy Imhotep in 1932′s The Mummy, all the while appearing in horror film after horror film. The Mask of Fu Manchi, The Old Dark House, The Raven, The Black Cat, Bride of Frankenstein. He also meets Bela Lugosi, his rival as Hollywood’s big horror film star. We’ll get to Lugosi eventually.

Role after role after role, sometimes returning as the Monster, Karloff’s star is more than cemented. His voice, performance, and image become synonymous with the Monster, and they will NEVER be separated. Dude’s turn as the Monster is one of the most enduring and famous roles in all of film history, and it’s completely pervaded culture across the world. Which is, of course, despite the fact that it’s COMPLETELY inaccurate to the book’s depiction, but whatever.

It’s hard to fully describe how iconic Karloff really was, and remains to this day. But he also did some other stuff to note. He continued to appear in film and television through the 1960s. Got married 6 times, and only had one child. He had a popular children’s radio show throughout the 1950s, where he told riddles and read stories. Dude dressed up as Santa Claus ever Christmas since 1940 to give gifts to disabled kids in Baltimore. He was a strong representative for actor’s rights, and a major member of both the Screen Actors Guild, and the Hollywood Cricket Club. Do...do I love Boris Karloff?

Karloff was a big smoker throughout his life, and it eventually caught up to him, eventually leaving him with only one function lung. In 1969, he died of pneumonia at the age of 81. This birth home was memorialized by an English Heritage blue plaque, and his legacy is never-ending to this day.

And with that, let’s jump back into the movie!

SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Check out Part One here!

Recap: Part Two

Fuck you, Fritz.

Seriously, this asshole immediately decides to antagonize the Monster with his torch, freaking him out nd making him attack IN SELF-DEFENSE. That, in turn, forces Henry and Waldman to knock the Monster out and chain him up in another part of the castle.

And even then, Fritz fucks with him even further, fending off with the fire and whipping him! And wait, the reason he hates fire is because it reminds the Monster of this abuse? Fuck this dude, man! One of these days, the Monster’s gonna sna-oh never mind, Fritz is dead, the Monster killed him. Well, dude kinda brought it on himself.

They try to subdue the Monster again, but now he turns against Henry, strangling him until near unconsciousness. Just then, the Baron shows up, demanding to figure out what the fuck is going on. They find Henry, having made his way out of the whole situation with some well-placed injections, and he stumbles off to greet his father.

At this point, some of the gambit is up. Henry relents, and agrees to calm down just long enough to get married, especially now that the monster is safely confined away. So, the wedding takes place, and we catch up with the rest of the people nearby. A father and his daughter, Little Maria (Marilyn Harris), live in a cottage near a lake. Maria goes to pick flowers by the lake, and is unexpectedly joined by a new friend.

Yeah, Monster’s out of the castle. Whoops. The little girl is nice to him, and he accepts her kindness. She throws flowers into the lake, so that the petals float away. And the Monster also wants to play!

And, uh...Maria can’t swim. Fuck.

The Monster runs, only to find the wedding in town. Elizabeth expresses worry about the future, near and far, but Henry tries to allay her worry. Just then, Victor interrupts to tell them the Monster is approaching. Not just that, but he’s IN THE HOUSE! GASP! They run to find him, only for him to turn up...well...he wants to pay his dues to the bride.

Elizabeth faints, the Monster escapes, and at the same time, Maria’s father enters the village, carrying her body. And I gotta say, it’s a heartbreaking scene. He’s here to get justice for his daughter, as he (correctly) believes the Monster killed her. And a dead child means one thing, and one thing only. 

PITCHFORK AND TORCH TIME BABY

The mob, led by Frankenstein, heads up into the mountains, where the Monster has fled. But eventually, only the good doctor is on his creation’s trail. But the Monster is learning, and lies in wait for his creator. And what’s worse, he’s no longer afraid of fire. Henry’s fucked.

The Monster easily overcomes Henry, and drags him to the abandoned windmill atop the hill nearby. The mob hears Henry’s cries for help, and they follow in literal hot pursuit. Henry wakes up, and the two struggle once more, only for the Monster to throw Henry off the roof of the windmill, almost killing him.

And now, another of the most iconic scenes in film history: the burning of the windmill.

The windmill is caught alight, and the Monster burns. And then...cut to black. Turns out that Henry lived, and is under the care of his new wife and the Baron. The Baron gets some booze from a couple maids, then makes a toast to a grandson and...the movie ends.

...Huh. Abrupt. Like, weirdly abrupt.

I mean, did I love this movie? Yeah, absolutely, genuinely a fantastic film and a timeless classic. But the ending and pacing are...odd. Y’know what, hold on. Let’s break it down.

Cast and Acting: 8/10 

First things first here: Boris Karloff is goddamn fantastic, and I understand exactly why he was thrust into stardom after this film. For having literally NO DIALOGUE, he is far and away the most memorable part of this film. The scene where he holds up his hands and gazes skyward, as if to touch the light itself? Fuckin’ gorgeously acted and shot, and I love Karloff immediately. And for everybody else? They were fine, but...I dunno, hokey, sometimes? Colin Clive is probably the best of the rest, followed closely by Mae Clarke and Edward van Sloan. John Boles definitely, uh...exists? And as much as I love Dwight Frye, his overacting of Fritz is a little much a lot of the time. But WORST of these guys is Frederick Kerr, who’s in a different movie entirely. None of them are actually bad, none of them, but they just pale in comparison to the Monster himself.

Plot and Writing: 7/10: 

Look...I love Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, in case you couldn’t tell. And ALSO in case you couldn’t tell, this movie is NOTHING like the book on which it’s based. Like...almost completely different. Now, to be completely fair, writers Garrett Fort, Francis Edward Faragoh, Robert Florey, John Russell, and John L. Balderston (Yeah. Five writers.) was actually based on a 1927 play by Peggy Webling. She's the one who called Frankenstein Henry instead of Victor; she gave the Monster the name “Frankenstein”, after it’s creator; and she brings in Baron Frankenstein as a comic relief character, amongst a few more major changes. Balderston apparently hated the play, then adapted it to his liking. And those plays became this film. And...yeah, it’s not as good as the book. Sorry! It’s still good, don’t get me wrong! But it removes SO MUCH of the dark pathos of the original story, that it neuters it completely. Most of the characters in this story are DEAD by the end, and yet “Henry Frankenstein” gets a happy fucking ending, WITH HIS LIVING WIFE? IT’S A STORY ABOUT A ZEALOUS CREATOR DESTROYED BY HIS CREATION!!! THAT’S THE ENTIRE GODDAMN POINT OF THE BOOK!!! 

But is it bad? No, not really. It’s just...frustratingly different.

Direction and Cinematography: 10/10

And yet, at the same goddamn time,

James Whale

and cinematographer

Arthur Edeson

 knock it out of the PARK. This movie looks fantastic, and needs to be lauded for its direction and cinematography. Is it a film from 1931? yeah, obviously, but it’s a GREAT film from 1931. Whale wasn’t originally attached to the project, but was brought in by Universal after their original star Bela Lugosi took the fuck off. That’s a whole other topic, I’ll get into it. And he did

spectacular

 on this film, I can’t praise it enough. Angles, camera focus, long shots, panning shots, just so many well-framed scenes, it’s...it’s gorgeous.

Production and Art Design: 10/10

And not just in terms of the camera, but also in terms of the sets and production design. Again, is it a 1931 film? Absolutely, But it looks great! Even Frankenstein’s Monster, despite how markedly different he is from the books, looks great here, and the look is iconic to this day. Well-produced, well-designed, and with a budget of only $4,303,661.09 in 2021 money. Which, for a massive studio-funded film, is CHEAP. Great looking movie, is what I’m saying.

Music and Editing: 8/10

That applies to the music, too. Bernhard Kaun’s score is sweeping and wonderful throughout the film. But, uh...the editing isn’t great. Not really talking about the sound editing, since the film was made in 1931. But the actual film editing by Clarence Kolster and Maurice Pivar is...comething to be desired sometimes. And yeah, this is about the pacing issues. Because that ending was SO GODDAMN ABRUPT, it genuinely hurts me. It’s a 71 minute film, and it’s not exactly meant to be protracted longer than that, but it’s got some poor pacing in there that could’ve been fixed by sharper editing, I think. Again, definitely not bad...just not perfect.

86% is a great score, but it fells...I don’t know, wrong?

This movie has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average weighted score of...86.7%? Huh. I guess I’m not alone, then. This film is a classic, and it’s VERY good. And if you haven’t seen it, DEFINITELY watch it. Very fitting for this time of year. But it definitely isn’t perfect.

However...I still loved this movie, and Imma watch it every year. Yeah, really! it’s just that good! In fact, I know that I have a lot of movies on my watchlist for this month, but...well, dammit, I’m really feeling the Universal Monster movies. And so, I think I know EXACTLY what’s coming next. But first, I’m gonna get a drink. Feeling parched for whatever reason.

Next: Dracula (1931); dir. Tod Browning

[my1stphotos]

My 1st Photos make gorgeous handmade personalised fabric photo albums that are designed specifically for babies and toddlers, using your own favourite photos and text. Whether it’s capturing their first birthday party, a family holiday or simply that loveable cheeky grin, you can treasure these wonderful memories for years to come. The difficult part will be trying to choose which photos to include but those that make the final cut are then printed onto the fabric album using a 100% safe printing process and non-toxic ink which won’t ‘lift off’ the fabric. This all comes together to create a soft baby photo album that can be dribbled on, chewed, scrunched, walked over and most importantly, easily cleaned! #my1stphotos #handmade #guildford #surrey #giftinspiration #phototime #smiles #family #friends #babies #newborns #pregnant #newmum #mummy (at Guildford) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuQyWZaFsOe/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1lgxqixzwkokz

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Moments with mini-angel; Roger Taylor

*Author’s note*

Here we go guys I managed to FINALLY finish off the last part of my Moment’s with mini-angel chapter and here we go with the most lovable member of them all, ROGAH TAYLAH!!!!!! Now this was is prob. my FAV part of the series but also the toughest to write cause I had established throughout the entire Rock Angel series, that Roger and you reader-chan as the RA have this SPECIAL bond and I knew I had to try and top that w/baby Kelly (so I HOPE I delivered to long time fans of this series)

So not really any warnings just make sure you bill me your dentist bill by the end lol cause trust me you WILL get cavities from the sweetness that’s in this chap. Enjoy my lovelies ;)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@ixchel-9275​

@psychosupernatural​

@waddles03​

@simonedk​

@platawnic​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@queensdivas​

@queendeakyy​

@geek-and-proud​

@kairosfreddie​

@onebigfangirlworld​

@bohemiansweede​

@5sos-wdw​

@labessieisallama​

@naturalswifty89​

@starswin​

@dj-lowkey​

@isabella-bby​

_________________________________________________________

*New lion cub; Roger Taylor. 4 months old. Surrey, England*

I was rushing around the house trying to get myself ready.  I don’t know why I agreed to do this interview in the first place? I wasn’t ready nor in the ‘physical condition’ to make a public appearance yet.  

I was still trying to lose the post-pregnancy weight I had gained, now all the critics are gonna call me out on even more curves.

“You’re muttering again.” I heard Jack’s voice say.

“I don’t mutter.” I sassed at him.

“Yes you do. You always mutter whenever you get extremely insecure.” Jack came up behind me from the bathroom door and wrapped his arms around me. “Now c’mon, what’s going on in my Rock Angel’s mind?”

“Just…….insecurities.” he sighed heavily.

“This is about the TV interview today isn’t it?”

“Could I possible call in and cancel it? Plus we can just stay here with Kelly.” I suggested.

“No we can’t. Look, I know you’ve been trying your best to lose the post-pregnancy weight but baby you look just as beautiful as before. Hell you look even more beautiful with them. And if some asshole wants to poke fun at them then he clearly has no life than to bring others down. And that is literally a shit way to live.” I looked up at him as cupped the side of his jawline.

“Why are you so good to me?”

“Because if I wasn’t then I’d have the hottest rock band beating my ass all over the world three times over.”

“Well Rog would beat you till the end of time.”

“See there we go!” I giggled softly as he kissed the side of my face up and down. “Funny and sexy. I really hit the jackpot with you.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere Jack Kline.”

“Not true, it got me you.” I turned towards him and wrapped my arms around his neck.  Before I could say anything back to him, the phone rang.  I stepped out of the bathroom and picked up the phone connected to our nightstand.

“Hello?”

‘Hello (y/n) dearie, this is Trudy calling.’

“Oh hi Mrs. Cushing, how are you?”

‘I’m afraid not good dearie. I suddenly fell ill with the flu so I’m afraid I can’t come over and babysit for you.’

“Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear about that Mrs. Cushing.”

‘I really hate to drop this on you at the last minutes but—’

“No, no it is what it is. I’m sorry but it would be better if you stayed home and rest.”

‘Oh thank you so much for understanding dear. I would hate to give the sweet little one what I got, especially with her recent colic recovery.’

“Absolutely yes. Well I hope you feel better Mrs. Cushing, take care.”

‘You too dearie, goodbye.’

“Bye.” I hung up the phone and I turned to Jack.

“Is Mrs. Cushing sick?” he asked me.

“The flu. I told her it’s best she stay home and rest.” He sighed heavily and came out of the bathroom and sat down at the foot of the bed.

“So what do you wanna do?”

“What can we do? Deacy and Ronnie are in Bali, Brian’s busy with his own producing, I can’t even get a hold of Chrissie these days, Freddie said he didn’t even wanna come near the house till she was 6months after your little wake up fiasco.”

“You’re never gonna let that go are you?” he said to me with a quirked brow.

“Hell to the no. And today Rory has a doctor’s appointment and Dominique is busy with that.”

“Well you do realize that just leaves…….” Jack trailed off.

“I know. I can’t ask him to do it last minute. He prefers to know ahead of schedule.”

“(Y/n), you know that man would fly half way across the world if something ever happened to you. Remember when that bastard plastered our faces on the front page of every tabloid when we first met. The whole band actually cancelled the rest of their Japan tour just to interrogate you.”

“Your right. I just hope he’s up for it.”

“He is. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he’s waiting outside across the porch right now.” Jack teased as he went up to the phone. He picked up the receiver and dialed Roger’s number while I continued to get ready.

About 15 minutes later, we soon heard the doorbell ring and we both looked at each other.

“Speak of the chaotic blonde devil.” Said Jack.

“Just be thankful Fred isn’t here to back him up, then I’d really be worried.” I said grimly.

“You wanna answer it?”

“No you go ahead, I wanna say goodbye to my baby real quick.” Jack nodded and pecked my cheek and headed downstairs while I headed towards the nursery room.

*3rd Person POV*

Jack walked down the stairs all the while hearing the doorbell ring frantically as well as the loud banging at the door.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered. “I’m coming Roger, coming!” the second he turned the lock, the door suddenly swung open and in came in Roger Taylor.  Wearing his usual prescription shades and the shirt that (y/n) had named ‘the dad shirt’. The blue with yellow and white lines across it, white pants, and his usual favorite brand of shoes.

“Sorry I’m late Jack, hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

“No not really.”

“Where is she?”

“Which one?”

“Both of them.”

“Up in the nursery—” before Jack could even finish his sentence, Roger immediately charged upstairs and trudged towards the nursery room.  He entered in a calm manner to see (y/n) standing over her daughter’s crib, and baby Kelly cooing up at her mother.

*My POV*

“Hello lovie.” I looked up to see Roger standing there.

“Hey dad.” I said softly. “She’s literally just waking up now. Latest she’s ever slept even though she went to bed at her normal time.”

“Well that’s another thing she got from her mother.” He teased as he came up and stood beside me.  I gawked at him and slapped his shoulder he chuckled softly. “Nah, nah, nah I’m kidding. Well—”

“Dad!”

“I’m kidding. But I do admit you do look adorable when you sleep. Freddie says you look like a cat when you especially curl yourself inwards on the tour bus beds.” I lowered my head and I said down to Kelly.

“My darling baby, don’t you dare listen to any stories your godfather tells you.”

“Yes Kelly bear. Do listen to the stories I tell you. I’ve got loads of embarrassing stories in regards to your mummy.” He cooed down at her and he gingerly bopped her tiny little nose. “And you missy, need to head out and get to that TV studio for that interview.”

“Okay but not until I give you the list of Kelly’s instructions—”

“No need I know everything this cute dovie needs.” He interrupted me.

“No dad please you need to listen…..”

“I did. I remember where you have all the emergency numbers, who to call, where the food and milk is at, how to prepare it. Love I’m not the chaotic young drummer I used to be 12 years ago.”

“No. You’re just older.” He glared at me and that’s when he suddenly tossed me over his shoulder. “Whoa Roger what the…..”

“Ah-ah-ah-ah! No swearing in front of the baby. Now you’re going to that interview and I will take care of everything.” He walked out of Kelly’s nursery with me still hung over his shoulder.

“No stop it! Put me down!”

“Nope not till you get your butt out that door and go that interview!”

“Put me down this is humiliating!”

“Oh come on it’s not as humiliating as New Orleans at Mardi Gras back in 82.” As we reached the front door, he opened the door and set me down and gently pushed me out the door.  He then grabbed Jack’s wrist and shoved him outside. “Alright now both of you go. Leave and we’ll see you on TV lovie. See you later this afternoon you two love you my lion cub, bye!”

He slammed the door shut and we heard the click of the locks.  Jack and I looked at each other shaking our heads.

“It’s like he wanted to get rid of us.” said Jack.

“Like I said, he’s bonkers for our baby girl. But he is right, my interview starts in 30 minutes.” Jack and I walked towards the car and got inside.  I started the engine up and soon we took off out of the driveway.

*Roger’s POV*

I peeked out the window to see them finally drive off and as soon as they were gone, I shot my fist in the air.

“Finally! I thought they’d never fuckin leave. The three other guys get their one on one time with baby Kelly and I don’t? That is a crime in itself.” I said as I raced back up towards the nursery.  “Well no more, this time it’s just us. Me and my little Kelly-belly.”

As soon as I reached the nursery, I could hear the faint sounds of her sad little cries.  Poor little thing must already miss her mummy, well time for god-papa to come to the rescue.  I walked over towards her crib and reached down with one hand and stroked her head.

“Shhh, shhh. Now, now Kelly dear, mummy and daddy will be back soon.” Her crying ceased as soon as she heard my voice, her eyes that once cried small crocodile tears, now looked up at me with curiosity.

Her small brain must’ve soon connected the dots because with the snap of a finger she went from sad to happy as she reached out towards me happily cooing.

“Oh is all that joy for me?” I teased down to her. Her baby laughs echoing throughout the room as I talked down to her, “Is this happy baby all for me?” I reached down and picked her up and held her close to my chest. “God I swear every time I see you, you’re growing like a weed, much like my own little girl. You both need to stop that.” She babbled on. “No you do. I swear before you know it you’ll be walking, talking, graduating school and university, and god forbid marriage. God why can’t you girls just stay small and young forever like this?”

Kelly continued to coo at me and she even gave me that adorable gummy smile.  I smiled down at her before gently readjusting her in my arms so that her head rested up against my shoulder.

“What do you say we fill that tummy of yours up with milk? Hmm? I’ll bet you’re hungry aren’t yah?” she squirmed in my embrace and I took that as a yes.  The two of us walked out of the nursery and I prepped her bottle.

I looked at the instructions that (y/n) had written down when it came to prepping her bottle and as we waited for the bottle to warm up in the warm water, Kelly soon started getting even fussier.

“Oh I know lovie, I know it’s coming though.” I soothed her as I gently bounced her up and down.  After checking to see the bottle was all done, I took it out and walked over to the rocking chair in the living room.  Right as the nipple of the bottle touched Kelly’s mouth, she opened her mouth and proceeded to inhale her milk. “Now, now not so fast. Oi you little piggy, you’re gonna end up sick if you drink too fast you know that.”

I took the bottle away from her for a second to soon hear her do a small and very tiny but adorable hiccup.  I pulled my shades over on top of my head just as I gave her back her bottle.  

God if this is what (y/n) looked like as a baby, then she must’ve been the cutest baby in all of Leicester.

“My sweet little Kelly, you are every ounce of your mother aren’t you? Same eyes, same nose, and I can tell you’ll have her same fighting spirit. You know; when I first met your mother she was a shy one. But she had a kind soul. Even though I’ve always said this as a joke just to piss your uncles off, she actually gave me 1 and 3/7th sugars in my coffee. She really believed that it was for a health problem cause a friend of hers dealt with the same thing. From that day on, I knew I had to protect your mum. Because if she was willing to look after me, I knew I had to do the same for her.”

When she was finally done with her bottle, I set it down on the table and proceeded to burp her.  I had her over my right shoulder and I gently patted her back till finally she let out a burp.  And I’ll say I won’t deny that I was proud to hear that man-like burp come out of her.

“Nice one!” I praised.  I held her out in front of me so that I could get a good look at her. She softly cooed before she soon started making bubbles come out of her mouth with her spit.  I shook my head at her and asked her playfully, “What? You think you’re a soap dispenser?” she just looked at me with those wide, curious eyes of hers as she continued to make more bubbles come out of her mouth.

I popped her bubble spit when she raised her hand and proceeded to touch my face.  Her tiny hand which felt like the same size as a cat paw, soon began trailing down from my cheek to my lips.  She gently gripped my lips into her tiny fist which made me laugh.

“Excuse me Missy, those are my lips.” I said in a smooshed up voice.  She began to laugh thinking it was funny.  “So now what, hmm? You think you can just own my lips huh? Is that it?” she babbled a short response. “Oh you do own them huh? Okay then, you can have them.” I then took her tiny wrist between my thumb and index finger and moved them away from my lips so that I could proceed with a kiss attack.

I first kissed all over her tiny hand, before moving up her arm, to her shoulder before finally reaching her face.  I then followed through by making sure that I as I kissed her, I made those obnoxious kissing sounds with each kiss and giving her the occasional raspberry or ten.

You know they say there is always something that can be precious to us.  In my life I’ve had many precious things, but out of everything I could ever have or own, there is nothing more precious to me than the sound of a baby’s laughter.

The first time I made Felix laugh, it was—god it was indescribable.  It was like—a bell had rang off, but it was so soft and melodic, nothing like from the hard rock instruments I’ve surrounded myself with.  In fact his laugh was the one light musical ring that I would always love and cherish.

And now with my two girls, my daughter and goddaughter their laughter’s are just as melodic if not even more so than Felix’s was.

“I told you. You wanted my lips, then you get all the wet, slobbery kisses you can imagine.” I told her in-between my kisses on her chubby cheeks.  She laughed heartily and I swear it was like my heart was soaring at hearing that adorable little laugh. “You’re a silly girl. Do you know that?” I told her as I held her up in front of me.

She cooed at me as her hand once again reached out to touch my face, this time she rested it against my cheek.  I smiled at her and nuzzled against her tiny hand.

“Do you know just how cute you are?” she looked at me with awe. “Yeah, you are adorable. Just like your mother. Ohh let’s see if her interview has started yet. You wanna watch mummy on the TV?” at hearing the name ‘mummy’ she let out a coo. “Yeah that’s what I thought. Let’s see if mummy is on the telly yet.”

We moved over to the couch and I switched on the telly and turned it to BBC1.  There on the couch was Sally Fields, the young woman who I’ve been in an interview with a few times, charming woman and she asks good questions compared to male interviewers.

“Right thank you to Timothy Dalton for his onset interview for his next upcoming James Bond film, up next we have a young artist who has been making a name for herself in such a short time. The Rock Angel (Y/n) Kline will be here right after these messages.”

“Bloody commercials.” Kelly let out a soft ‘bah’ and I replied to her, “You said it lovie.“ the BBC station played commercial after commercial after commercial.  It just seemed to drag on forever till finally Sally came back on the screen.

“Welcome back. Our next guest rose to fame back in 1981 when she performed in the middle of a Queen concert in Madison Square Garden. For the next 5 years she proceeded to be one of the youngest female rock stars ever to have #1 hits in both America and Britain. (Y/n) Kline the Rock Angel is here with us today, welcome (Y/n)”.  The camera cut to (n/n) sitting right there on the couch.

“Hello Sally, thanks for having me here.” At seeing her mummy on screen, Kelly reached out her tiny hands cooing in awe.

“Yeah you see mummy? Yeah she’s on the telly.”

“Nice to see you here, now I was told you were on a brief hiatus for a while.” Sally told her.

“Yes because just 4 months ago I had given birth to my beautiful baby girl. My first child.”

“Which congratulations by the way.” The audience clapped and she thanked them.

“Can you clap baby girl? Hmm? Clap for mummy?” she reached her hand out and tried to point out towards her mum.  I chuckled and took her tiny hand in mine before taking her other one, “Like this baby girl.” I gently allowed her hands to come together before quickly separating them and then making them come back together again.

She eventually caught on and as soon as she heard her hands make that clap sound, she was in awe as she began giggling that sweet baby giggle and clapping her hands rapidly (just to hear that sound again).

“That’s it baby girl Yay!”

“Now your recent album ‘Mother love’ is quite different from all the other albums you’ve done previously.” Sally said to (y/n).

“Yeah, yeah. But isn’t it always good to mix things up a bit?” That’s my girl.

“Tell me how long it took you to record this album?”

“Well given the fact that I did want to try and get it done before I went on my maternity leave I wanna say—about 2-3months.”

“Now explain the title of your album, where did that come from?”

“Well as I said and from what everyone saw when I made my first public appearance back at Live Aid, I was five months pregnant at the time, and right after the concert I dove right into making that album. I really wanted this album to reach out to mothers everywhere whether they’re senior mom’s with grown up kids, the mothers who have many kids or first time mothers like myself.”

The interview continued on with the same old boring questions so I turned my attention down to little Kelly.  She continued to stare at the telly in awe and she would let out a soft coo every time her mum came on screen.

“So what’s next for you once your maternity leave is finished?” asked Sally.

“Well there’s a summer tour I’ve got planned out and then maybe a new single, not quite sure about that just yet but you can expect me on the road this summer.” Of course she couldn’t reveal it quite yet cause this tour she was going on was a Queen+Angel European summer tour.

“Well (Y/n) it was lovely speaking to you and we can hear in the background your latest song ‘Protecting me’. Now let’s not just hear it but also check out the music video for it.”

“Yes, lets.” It was then the telly showed a funny little edit to now show (Y/n)’s music video for Protecting me (which I helped produce).

The morning went by and soon it was time for Kelly’s schedule naptime.  After feeding her second bottle and burping her, we sat down in her nursery and I was reading her one of the many books that Veronica and Deacy had donated to them that they once read to Robert, Micky, Laura, and Joshua when they were just babies.

As I read to her, she didn’t seem at all tired. She just kept looking at the book then back up at me with them doe like eyes of hers.

“Right, I know. Boring isn’t it?” I closed the book and tossed it aside back towards the reading pile. “I think—you deserve a lullaby, hmm? Want papa Roger to sing you a lullaby?” I adjusted her so that now her head rested against my chest, right over my heart. “Your mummy told me of how when you were still in her tummy, you kicked along to Radio Gaga. Did you know that I wrote that song?”

She cooed up at me as her tiny little hand reached out for me.  I softly laughed and said as I nuzzled her cute button nose with mine.

“Yes I did. You want me to sing it to you?” I slowly rocked the chair back and forth as I softly began to sing ‘Radio Gaga’ to her. Her eyes were locked right up at me as I sang her favorite song.  She was so invested in my soft voice but I could see her eyes slowly drooping down.

Softly tapping my socked foot on the furry carpet beneath me for the two beats that the audience would usually clap to.  Just before I could even reach the second chorus, she let out a yawn before cuddling herself into my chest, gripping the placket of my shirt.  I looked down at her and couldn’t help but smile warmly.

Like mother like daughter.

I sat up and gently placed her back in her crib so that she would sleep more comfortably.  It was then I felt someone take my hand, of course I didn’t need to look down to know just who it was because the moment I felt the palm of my hand being kissed I knew it was (y/n).

*My POV*

After a long morning of interviews (both TV and radio) Jack and I finally arrived back at the house.  Already I could see some of Kelly’s toys out and some bottles hadn’t been washed yet.

“Dad.” I shook my head.

“I’ll take care of the bottles, you go see if he’s at least putting her down for her afternoon nap.” Said Jack as he kissed the top of my head and went to pick up the two bottles left on the table.

I slowly walked up the stairs and as I approached the nursery room, I heard Roger’s soft singing.  I crept quieter towards the nursery and peeked through the door to see Roger rocking my baby girl to sleep as he sung Radio Gaga to her (in a ballad type way, which really surprised me since he was such a hard rock and roller).

Seeing my surrogate father rocking my baby girl and being so domestic it—made my heart melt.  Roger always tried to put up this hard wall and be this ‘heart of stone rock and roller’ the ‘bad boy’ of Queen what with his reputation with the ladies (especially back in the 70’s).  

But now—he’s more mellow, especially when it’s involved either me or his own kids, and now he’s added Kelly to the list of those who can see the true soft-and-fluff Roger Taylor.

As I watched him put Kelly back in her crib, I felt like I could make my move and let him know I was home.  I silently walked towards him then once his hands were free, I took his left hand and lifted it, palm up, and kissed it before clasping my hand over his.

“We saw your interview with Sally.” He whispered to me.

“You proud I didn’t spoil the combined summer tour?”

“Honestly, I don’t care if you admitted it or not. But you should’ve seen your baby girl. Her eyes were glued to that screen the entire time you came on screen.” I felt my heart melt once more as I looked down at my baby girl.

“Thanks again for watching her dad. Especially at such short notice.”

“Hey, you know I’m always here for you. Both of you. I told you the day she was born that I was always, always gonna be there. Even cross an ocean to help you take care of your baby.”

“And give Jack fatherly advice?”

“Meh.” I playfully punched him but he raised his hands in surrender. “Of course, of course. Deacy can give the lovey-dovey side of being a father. And I can tell him how to be wary of the boys that’ll come in the future.”

“You mean boys like you were?”

“Oh now that…..”

“Shhh. Don’t you dare wake my baby girl up.” I shushed him.  The two of us looked down at Kelly to see her still asleep.  I gestured him outside and the two of us walked out to the hallway. After I shut the door, he said to me.

“Now about that comment…..”

“I’m messing with yah. Now go on and head back home, Jack and I can handle this from here now.”

“You sure you don’t need me to stick around?” he gave me those famed blue eyes puppy dog eyes.  I crossed my arms and quirked my brow at him. “Fine, besides Dominque is probably back from the hospital with Rory. Might as well see how my baby girl did on her checkup. And kiss her boo-boo’s if they gave her shots.” I softly giggled. “What?”

“You said boo-boo’s.”

“Oh grow up!” he said as he walked towards the stairs.

“No dad I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that as a compliment. I’ve—never really seen you like this other than with me. This whole domestic side of you, I love it.” He stopped just as he reached the last step and had a soft smile across his face.

“I only reserve that for only the most important people in my life.” I smiled at him and walked towards him and the two of us hugged each other.

“I’m—I’m so glad that I got the internship. You guys have literally been the best thing to ever happen to me in years.” I felt him embrace me back and he said softly in my ear.

“And you’ve been the best thing to ever happen to us. We love you (n/n). So, so much. We’re always here for you. I’m always there for you. Now and forever, my little lion cub.” I snuggled deeper into his shoulder and squeezed him even tighter as he did the same for me.

After that, Jack and I bid him goodbye and he drove off back to his family.  That Roger Taylor, he can be a handful at times, even to a point where he’s the ultimate helicopter dad.  But—his heart’s always in the right place, especially in times like this.

I’m sure after all this, he’s found himself a new lion cub of the Kline clan to call his own.  Of course, I don’t really mind because that’s what the three of us are. A strong coalition of lions.

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[redmoonfaerie]

Chapters: 6/6 Fandom: Sherlock (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes & Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes & Harry Potter & John Watson, Harry Potter & John Watson Characters: Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, John Watson, Anthea (Sherlock), Sherlock Holmes' Mother, Mummy (Sherlock), Mycroft Holmes, Greg Lestrade, Mrs. Hudson (Sherlock Holmes) Additional Tags: i've changed harry's name he's Hari Holmes-Watson in this verse, Well at first he's a Holmes., My precious boys deserve a lovely family, fight me 'bout that, Omegaverse, Omega!Sherlock Holmes, Omega!Harry Potter, Alpha!John Watson, POV Alternating, Yeees Sherlock and Hari are both omegas bc why the fuck not, And John is an alpha because that have perfect sense to me, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are Parents, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson Being Idiots, Family Relationships - Freeform, Post-Reichenbach, but i ignore the canon after The Reichenbach Fall, I make my own canon because why the fuck not, we die as women, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Are Hard, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, My First Work in This Fandom, Implied/Referenced Past Child Abuse, implied/referenced past rape/non-con Series: Part 1 of Hari Holmes-Watson Summary:

Sherlock vuelve después de la Caída, John está determinado a casarse con Mary. John no sabe que Sherlock es un omega.

Sherlock se siente miserable ante la falta del hogar que había construido con John, ante la pérdida y el odio abierto de quién él considera su alfa.

Un día, un par de semanas después de volver al mundo de los vivos, está paseando por un suburbio aburrido de Surrey en el que nunca sucede nada, hasta que un pequeño bebé omega de ojos verdes en una canasta llama su atención. Por alguna razón, el detective decide tomar al bebé y llevarlo con él. De cualquier manera, el pequeño omega fue abandonado y Sherlock es incapaz de concebir. Con un poco de suerte harán un buen par.

[silent-era-of-cinema]

William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff was an English actor who was primarily known for his roles in horror films. He portrayed Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939). He also appeared as Imhotep in The Mummy (1932).

In non-horror roles, he is best known to modern audiences for narrating and as the voice of the Grinch in the animated television special of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966). For his contribution to film and television, Karloff was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Karloff was born William Henry Pratt on 23 November 1887,[2] at 36 Forest Hill Road, Dulwich, Surrey (now London), England. His parents were Edward John Pratt, Jr. and Eliza Sarah Millard. His brother, Sir John Thomas Pratt, was a British diplomat. Edward John Pratt, Jr. was an Anglo-Indian, from a British father and Indian mother, while Karloff's mother also had some Indian ancestry, thus Karloff had a relatively dark complexion that differed from his peers at the time. His mother's maternal aunt was Anna Leonowens, whose tales about life in the royal court of Siam (now Thailand) were the basis of the musical The King and I. Pratt was bow-legged, had a lisp, and stuttered as a young boy.[7] He learned how to manage his stutter, but not his lisp, which was noticeable throughout his career in the film industry.

Pratt spent his childhood years in Enfield, in the County of Middlesex. He was the youngest of nine children, and following his mother's death was brought up by his elder siblings. He received his early education at Enfield Grammar School, and later at the public schools of Uppingham School and Merchant Taylors' School. After this, he attended King's College London where he took studies aimed at a career with the British Government's Consular Service. However, in 1909, he left university without graduating and drifted, departing England for Canada, where he worked as a farm labourer and did various odd itinerant jobs until happening upon acting.

Pratt began appearing in theatrical performances in Canada, and during this period he chose Boris Karloff as his stage name. Some have theorised that he took the stage name from a mad scientist character in the novel The Drums of Jeopardy called "Boris Karlov". However, the novel was not published until 1920, at least eight years after Karloff had been using the name on stage and in silent films, opening the possibility that the Karlov character might have been named after Karloff after the novel's author noticed it in a cast listing and liked the sound of it rather than simply being a coincidence. Warner Oland played "Boris Karlov" in a film version in 1931. Another possible influence was thought to be a character in the Edgar Rice Burroughs fantasy novel H. R. H. The Rider which features a "Prince Boris of Karlova", but as the novel was not published until 1915, the influence may be backward, that Burroughs saw Karloff in a play and adapted the name for the character. Karloff always claimed he chose the first name "Boris" because it sounded foreign and exotic, and that "Karloff" was a family name (from Karlov—in Cyrillic, Карлов—a name found in several Slavic countries, including Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria).

Karloff's daughter, Sara, publicly denied any knowledge of Slavic forebears, "Karloff" or otherwise. One reason for the name change was to prevent embarrassment to his family. Whether or not his brothers (all dignified members of the British Foreign Service) actually considered young William the "black sheep of the family" for having become an actor, Karloff apparently worried they felt that way. He did not reunite with his family until he returned to Britain to make The Ghoul (1933), extremely worried that his siblings would disapprove of his new, macabre claim to world fame. Instead, his brothers jostled for position around him and happily posed for publicity photographs. After the photo was taken, Karloff's brothers immediately started asking about getting a copy of their own. The story of the photo became one of Karloff's favorites.

Karloff joined the Jeanne Russell Company in 1911 and performed in towns like Kamloops (British Columbia) and Prince Albert (Saskatchewan). After the devastating tornado in Regina on 30 June 1912, Karloff and other performers helped with clean-up efforts. He later took a job as a railway baggage handler and joined the Harry St. Clair Co. that performed in Minot, North Dakota, for a year in an opera house above a hardware store.

Whilst he was trying to establish his acting career, Karloff had to perform years of manual labour in Canada and the U.S. in order to make ends meet. He was left with back problems from which he suffered for the rest of his life. Because of his health, he did not enlist in World War I.

During this period, Karloff worked in various theatrical stock companies across the U.S. to hone his acting skills. Some acting companies mentioned were the Harry St. Clair Players and the Billie Bennett Touring Company. By early 1918 he was working with the Maud Amber Players in Vallejo, California, but because of the Spanish Flu outbreak in the San Francisco area and the fear of infection, the troupe was disbanded. He was able to find work with the Haggerty Repertory for a while (according to the 1973 obituary of Joseph Paul Haggerty, he and Boris Karloff remained lifelong friends). According to Karloff, in his first film he appeared as an extra in a crowd scene for a Frank Borzage picture at Universal for which he received $5; the title of this film has never been traced.

Once Karloff arrived in Hollywood, he made dozens of silent films, but this work was sporadic, and he often had to take up manual labour such as digging ditches or delivering construction plaster to earn a living.

His first on screen role was in a film serial, The Lightning Raider (1919) with Pearl White. He was in another serial, The Masked Rider (1919), the first of his appearances to survive.

Karloff could also be seen in His Majesty, the American (1919) with Douglas Fairbanks, The Prince and Betty (1919), The Deadlier Sex (1920), and The Courage of Marge O'Doone (1920). He played an Indian in The Last of the Mohicans (1920) and he would often be cast as an Arab or Indian in his early films.

Karloff's first major role came in a film serial, The Hope Diamond Mystery (1920). He was Indian in Without Benefit of Clergy (1921) and an Arab in Cheated Hearts (1921) and villainous in The Cave Girl (1921). He was a maharajah in The Man from Downing Street (1922), a Nabob in The Infidel (1922) and had roles in The Altar Stairs (1922), Omar the Tentmaker (1922) (as an Imam), The Woman Conquers (1922), The Gentleman from America (1923), The Prisoner (1923) and the serial Riders of the Plains (1923).

Karloff did a Western, The Hellion (1923), and a drama, Dynamite Dan (1924). He could be seen in Parisian Nights (1925), Forbidden Cargo (1925), The Prairie Wife (1925) and the serial Perils of the Wild (1925).

Karloff went back to bit part status in Never the Twain Shall Meet (1925) directed by Maurice Tourneur but he had a good support role in Lady Robinhood (1925).

Karloff went on to be in The Greater Glory (1926), Her Honor, the Governor (1926), The Bells (1926) (as a mesmerist), The Nickel-Hopper (1926), The Golden Web (1926), The Eagle of the Sea (1926), Flames (1926), Old Ironsides (1926), Flaming Fury (1926), Valencia (1926), The Man in the Saddle (1926), Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927) (as an African), Let It Rain (1927), The Meddlin' Stranger (1927), The Princess from Hoboken (1927), The Phantom Buster (1927), and Soft Cushions (1927).

Karloff had roles in Two Arabian Knights (1927), The Love Mart (1927), The Vanishing Rider (1928) (a serial), Burning the Wind (1928), Vultures of the Sea (1928), and The Little Wild Girl (1928).

He was in The Devil's Chaplain (1929), The Fatal Warning (1929) for Richard Thorpe, The Phantom of the North (1929), Two Sisters (1929), Anne Against the World (1929), Behind That Curtain (1929), and The King of the Kongo (1929), a serial directed by Thorpe.

Karloff had an uncredited bit part in The Unholy Night (1930) directed by Lionel Barrymore, and bigger parts in The Bad One (1930),The Sea Bat (1930) (directed by Barrymore), and The Utah Kid (1930) directed by Thorpe.

A film which brought Karloff recognition was The Criminal Code (1931), a prison drama directed by Howard Hawks in which he reprised a dramatic part he had played on stage. In the same period, Karloff had a small role as a mob boss in Hawks' gangster film Scarface, but the film was not released until 1932 because of difficult censorship issues.

He did another serial for Thorpe, King of the Wild (1931), then had support parts in Cracked Nuts (1931), Young Donovan's Kid (1931), Smart Money (1931), The Public Defender (1931), I Like Your Nerve (1931), and Graft (1931).

Another significant role in the autumn of 1931 saw Karloff play a key supporting part as an unethical newspaper reporter in Five Star Final, a film about tabloid journalism which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

He could also be seen in The Yellow Ticket (1931) The Mad Genius (1931), The Guilty Generation (1931) and Tonight or Never (1931).

Karloff acted in eighty movies before being found by James Whale and cast in Frankenstein (1931). Karloff's role as Frankenstein's monster was physically demanding – it necessitated a bulky costume with four-inch platform boots – but the costume and extensive makeup produced a lasting image. The costume was a job in itself for Karloff with the shoes weighing 11 pounds (5.0 kg) each.[13] Universal Studios quickly copyrighted the makeup design for the Frankenstein monster that Jack P. Pierce had created.

It took a while for Karloff's stardom to be established with the public – he had small roles in Behind the Mask (1932), Business and Pleasure (1932) and The Miracle Man (1932).

As receipts for Frankenstein and Scarface flooded in, Universal gave Karloff third billing in Night World (1932), with Lew Ayres, Mae Clarke and George Raft.

Karloff was reunited with Whale at Universal for The Old Dark House (1932), a horror movie based on the novel Benighted by J.B. Priestley, in which he finally enjoyed top billing above Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart. He was loaned to MGM to play the titular role in The Mask of Fu Manchu (also 1932), for which he gained top billing.

Back at Universal, he was cast as Imhotep who is revived in The Mummy (1932). It was as successful at the box-office as the other two films and Karloff was now established as a star of horror films.

Karloff returned to England to star in The Ghoul (1933), then made a non-horror film for John Ford, The Lost Patrol (1934), where his performance was highly acclaimed.

Karloff was third billed in the Twentieth Century Pictures historical film The House of Rothschild (1934) with George Arliss, which was highly popular.

Horror, however, had now become Karloff's primary genre, and he gave a string of lauded performances in Universal's horror films, including several with Bela Lugosi, his main rival as heir to Lon Chaney's status as the leading horror film star. While the long-standing, creative partnership between Karloff and Lugosi never led to a close friendship, it produced some of the actors' most revered and enduring productions, beginning with The Black Cat (1934) and continuing with Gift of Gab (1934), in which both had cameos. Karloff reprised the role of Frankenstein's monster in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) for James Whale. Then he and Lugosi were reunited for The Raven (1935).

For Columbia, Karloff made The Black Room (1935) then he returned to Universal for The Invisible Ray (1936) with Lugosi, more a science fiction film. Karloff was then cast in a Warner Bros. horror film, The Walking Dead (1936).

Because the Motion Picture Production Code (known as the Hays Code) began to be seriously enforced in 1934, horror films suffered a decline in the second half of the 1930s. Karloff worked in other genres, making two films in Britain, Juggernaut (1936) and The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936).

He returned to Hollywood to play a supporting role in Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) then did a science fiction film, Night Key (1937).

At Warners, he did two films with John Farrow, playing a Chinese warlord in West of Shanghai (1937) and a murder suspect in The Invisible Menace (1938).

Karloff went to Monogram to play the title role of a Chinese detective in Mr. Wong, Detective (1938), which led to a series. Karloff's portrayal of the character is an example of Hollywood's use of yellowface and its portrayal of East Asians in the earlier half of the 20th century. He had another heroic role in Devil's Island (1939).

Universal found reissuing Dracula and Frankenstein led to success at the box-office and began to produce horror films again starting with Son of Frankenstein (1939). Karloff reprised his role, with Lugosi co starring as Ygor and Basil Rathbone as Frankenstein.

After The Mystery of Mr. Wong (1939) and Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939) he signed a three-picture deal with Columbia, starting with The Man They Could Not Hang (1939). Karloff returned to Universal to make Tower of London (1939) with Rathbone, playing the murderous henchman of King Richard III.

Karloff made a fourth Mr Wong film at Monogram The Fatal Hour (1940). At Warners he was in British Intelligence (1940), then he went to Universal to do Black Friday (1940) with Lugosi.

Karloff's second and third films for Columbia were The Man with Nine Lives (1940) and Before I Hang (1940). In between he did a fifth and final Mr Wong film, Doomed to Die (1940).

Karloff appeared at a celebrity baseball game as Frankenstein's monster in 1940, hitting a gag home run and making catcher Buster Keaton fall into an acrobatic dead faint as the monster stomped into home plate.

Karloff finished a six picture commitment with Monogram with The Ape (1940). He and Lugosi appeared in a comedy at RKO, You'll Find Out (1941), then he went to Columbia for The Devil Commands (1941) and The Boogie Man Will Get You (1941).

An enthusiastic performer, he returned to the Broadway stage in the original production of Arsenic and Old Lace in 1941, in which he played a homicidal gangster enraged to be frequently mistaken for Karloff. Frank Capra cast Raymond Massey in the 1944 film, which was shot in 1941, while Karloff was still appearing in the role on Broadway. The play's producers allowed the film to be made conditionally: it was not to be released until the production closed. (Karloff reprised his role on television in the anthology series The Best of Broadway (1955), and with Tony Randall and Tom Bosley in a 1962 production on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. He also starred in a radio adaptation produced by Screen Guild Theatre in 1946.)

In 1944, he underwent a spinal operation to relieve a chronic arthritic condition.

Karloff returned to film roles in The Climax (1944), an unsuccessful attempt to repeat the success of Phantom of the Opera (1943). More liked was House of Frankenstein (1944), where Karloff played the villainous Dr. Niemann and the monster was played by Glenn Strange.

Karloff made three films for producer Val Lewton at RKO: The Body Snatcher (1945), his last teaming with Lugosi, Isle of the Dead (1945) and Bedlam (1946).

In a 1946 interview with Louis Berg of the Los Angeles Times, Karloff discussed his arrangement with RKO, working with Lewton and his reasons for leaving Universal. Karloff left Universal because he thought the Frankenstein franchise had run its course; the entries in the series after Son of Frankenstein were B-pictures. Berg wrote that the last installment in which Karloff appeared—House of Frankenstein—was what he called a " 'monster clambake,' with everything thrown in—Frankenstein, Dracula, a hunchback and a 'man-beast' that howled in the night. It was too much. Karloff thought it was ridiculous and said so." Berg explained that the actor had "great love and respect for" Lewton, who was "the man who rescued him from the living dead and restored, so to speak, his soul."

Horror films experienced a decline in popularity after the war, and Karloff found himself working in other genres.

For the Danny Kaye comedy, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), Karloff appeared in a brief but starring role as Dr. Hugo Hollingshead, a psychiatrist. Director Norman Z. McLeod shot a sequence with Karloff in the Frankenstein monster make-up, but it was deleted from the finished film.

Karloff appeared in a film noir, Lured (1947), and as an Indian in Unconquered (1947). He had support roles in Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947), Tap Roots (1948), and Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff.

During this period, Karloff was a frequent guest on radio programmes, whether it was starring in Arch Oboler's Chicago-based Lights Out productions (including the episode "Cat Wife") or spoofing his horror image with Fred Allen or Jack Benny. In 1949, he was the host and star of Starring Boris Karloff, a radio and television anthology series for the ABC broadcasting network.

He appeared as the villainous Captain Hook in Peter Pan in a 1950 stage musical adaptation which also featured Jean Arthur.

Karloff returned to horror films with The Strange Door (1951) and The Black Castle (1952).

He was nominated for a Tony Award for his work opposite Julie Harris in The Lark, by the French playwright Jean Anouilh, about Joan of Arc, which was reprised on Hallmark Hall of Fame.

During the 1950s, he appeared on British television in the series Colonel March of Scotland Yard, in which he portrayed John Dickson Carr's fictional detective Colonel March, who was known for solving apparently impossible crimes. Christopher Lee appeared alongside Karloff in the episode "At Night, All Cats are Grey" broadcast in 1955.[17] A little later, Karloff co-starred with Lee in the film Corridors of Blood (1958).

Karloff appeared in Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1952) and visited Italy for The Island Monster (1954) and India for Sabaka (1954).

Karloff, along with H. V. Kaltenborn, was a regular panelist on the NBC game show, Who Said That? which aired between 1948 and 1955. Later, as a guest on NBC's The Gisele MacKenzie Show, Karloff sang "Those Were the Good Old Days" from Damn Yankees while Gisele MacKenzie performed the solo, "Give Me the Simple Life". On The Red Skelton Show, Karloff guest starred along with actor Vincent Price in a parody of Frankenstein, with Red Skelton as "Klem Kadiddle Monster". He served as host and frequent star of the anthology series The Veil (1958) which was never broadcast due to financial problems at the producing studio; the complete series was rediscovered in the 1990s.

Karloff made some horror films in the late 1950s: Voodoo Island (1957), The Haunted Strangler (1958), Frankenstein 1970 (1958) (as the Baron), and Corridors of Blood (1958). In the "mad scientist" role in Frankenstein 1970 as Baron Victor von Frankenstein II, the grandson of the original creator. In the finale, it is revealed that the crippled Baron has given his own face to the monster. Karloff donned the monster make-up for the last time in 1962 for a Halloween episode of the TV series Route 66, which also featured Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney, Jr.

During this period, he hosted and acted in a number of television series, including Thriller and Out of This World.

Karloff appeared in Black Sabbath (1963) directed by Mario Bava. He made The Raven (1963) for Roger Corman and American International Pictures (AIP). Corman used Karloff in The Terror (1963) playing a baron who murdered his wife. He made a cameo in AIP's Bikini Beach (1964) and had a bigger role in that studio's The Comedy of Terrors (1964), directed by Jacques Tourneur and Die, Monster, Die! (1965). British actress Suzan Farmer, who played his daughter in the film, later recalled Karloff was aloof during production "and wasn’t the charming personality people perceived him to be".

In 1966, Karloff also appeared with Robert Vaughn and Stefanie Powers in the spy series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., in the episode "The Mother Muffin Affair," Karloff performed in drag as the titular character.

That same year, he also played an Indian Maharajah on the installment of the adventure series The Wild Wild West titled "The Night of the Golden Cobra".

In 1967, he played an eccentric Spanish professor who believes himself to be Don Quixote in a whimsical episode of I Spy titled "Mainly on the Plains".

Karloff's last film for AIP was The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1967).

In the mid-1960s, he enjoyed a late-career surge in the United States when he narrated the made-for-television animated film of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and also provided the voice of the Grinch, although the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" was sung by the American voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft. The film was first broadcast on CBS-TV in 1966. Karloff later received a Grammy Award for "Best Recording For Children" after the recording was commercially released. Because Ravenscroft (who never met Karloff in the course of their work on the show) was uncredited for his contribution to How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, his performance of the song was often mistakenly attributed to Karloff.

He appeared in Mad Monster Party? (1967) and starred in the second feature film of the British director Michael Reeves,The Sorcerers (1966).

Karloff starred in Targets (1968), a film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, featuring two separate stories that converge into one. In one, a disturbed young man kills his family, then embarks on a killing spree. In the other, a famous horror-film actor contemplates then confirms his retirement, agreeing to one last appearance at a drive-in cinema. Karloff starred as the retired horror film actor, Byron Orlok, a thinly disguised version of himself; Orlok was facing an end of life crisis, which he resolved through a confrontation with the gunman at the drive-in cinema.

Around the same time, he played occult expert Professor Marsh in a British production titled The Crimson Cult (Curse of the Crimson Altar, also 1968), which was the last Karloff film to be released during his lifetime.

He ended his career by appearing in four low-budget Mexican horror films: Isle of the Snake People, The Incredible Invasion, Fear Chamber and House of Evil. This was a package deal with Mexican producer Luis Enrique Vergara. Karloff's scenes were directed by Jack Hill and shot back-to-back in Los Angeles in the spring of 1968. The films were then completed in Mexico. All four were released posthumously, with the last, The Incredible Invasion, not released until 1971, two years after Karloff's death. Cauldron of Blood, shot in Spain in 1967 and co-starring Viveca Lindfors, was also released after Karloff's death.

While shooting his final films, Karloff suffered from emphysema. Only half of one lung was still functioning and he required oxygen between takes.

He recorded the title role of Shakespeare's Cymbeline for the Shakespeare Recording Society (Caedmon Audio). The recording was originally released in 1962. A download of his performance is available from audible.com. He also recorded the narration for Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra under Mario Rossi.

Records he made for the children's market included Three Little Pigs and Other Fairy Stories, Tales of the Frightened (volume 1 and 2), Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories and, with Cyril Ritchard and Celeste Holm, Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, and Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark.

Karloff was credited for editing several horror anthologies, commencing with Tales of Terror (Cleveland and NY: World Publishing Co, 1943) (compiled with the help of Edmond Speare). This wartime-published anthology went through at least five printings to September 1945. It has been reprinted recently (Orange NJ: Idea Men, 2007). Karloff's name was also attached to And the Darkness Falls (Cleveland and NY: World Publishing Co, 1946); and The Boris Karloff Horror Anthology (London: Souvenir Press, 1965; simultaneous publication in Canada - Toronto: The Ryerson Press; US pbk reprint NY: Avon Books, 1965 retitled as Boris Karloff's Favourite Horror Stories; UK pbk reprints London: Corgi, 1969 and London: Everest, 1975, both under the original title), though it is less clear whether Karloff himself actually edited these.

Tales of the Frightened (Belmont Books, 1963), though based on the recordings by Karloff of the same title, and featuring his image on the book cover, contained stories written by Michael Avallone; the second volume, More Tales of the Frightened, contained stories authored by Robert Lory. Both Avallone and Lory worked closely with Canadian editor and book packager Lyle Kenyon Engel, who also ghost-edited a horror story anthology for horror film star Basil Rathbone.

Beginning in 1940, Karloff dressed as Father Christmas every Christmas to hand out presents to physically disabled children in a Baltimore hospital.

He never legally changed his name to "Boris Karloff." He signed official documents "William H. Pratt, a.k.a. Boris Karloff."

He was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild, and he was especially outspoken due to the long hours he spent in makeup while playing Frankenstein's Monster.

He married six times and had one child, daughter Sara Karloff, by fifth wife Dorothy Stine. His final marriage was in 1946 right after his fifth divorce. At the time of his daughter's birth, he was filming Son of Frankenstein and reportedly rushed from the film set to the hospital while still in full makeup.

He was an early member of the Hollywood Cricket Club.

Upon returning to England in 1959, his address was 43 Cadogan Square, London. In 1966, he bought 25 Campden House (in 29 Sheffield Terrace), Kensington W8, and 'Roundabout Cottage' in the Hampshire village of Bramshott. A longtime heavy smoker, he had emphysema which left him with only half of one lung still functioning. He contracted bronchitis in 1968 and was hospitalised at University College Hospital. He died of pneumonia at the King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst, in Sussex, on 2 February 1969, at the age of 81.

His body was cremated following a requested modest service at Guildford Crematorium, Godalming, Surrey, where he is commemorated by a plaque in the Garden of Remembrance. A memorial service was held at St Paul's, Covent Garden (the Actors' Church), London, where there is also a plaque.

During the run of Thriller, Karloff lent his name and likeness to a comic book for Gold Key Comics based upon the series. After Thriller was cancelled, the comic was retitled Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery. An illustrated likeness of Karloff continued to introduce each issue of this publication for more than a decade after his death; the comic lasted until the early 1980s. In 2009, Dark Horse Comics began publishing reprints of Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery in a hard-bound edition.

For his contribution to film and television, Boris Karloff was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1737 Vine Street for motion pictures, and 6664 Hollywood Boulevard for television.[36] Karloff was featured by the U.S. Postal Service as Frankenstein's Monster and the Mummy in its series "Classic Monster Movie Stamps" issued in September 1997. In 1998, an English Heritage blue plaque was unveiled in his hometown in London. The British film magazine Empire in 2016 ranked Karloff's portrayal as Frankenstein's monster the sixth-greatest horror movie character of all time.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Boris Karloff among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Burned Part 26

Summary:  Alfie Solomons is in need of a secretary. Tommy Shelby mentions a young woman in need of employment. From there the two step into a dangerous dance together.

Part 26: Theodore Solomons turns 3. 

           It was seven in the morning when Teddy Solomons came catapulting down the stairs. His nanny tried to keep up but he jumped the last two steps and stumbled into his father’s study.

           Alfie chucked when the little boy slid across the polished wood floors in his socks. He stood and caught his son before he collided with Cyril who was nearly the same size as Teddy. “And here comes Theodore Solomons coming in fast as a bolt of lightning!” He grinned.

           Elizabeth, the nanny they'd hired around Teddy's second birthday, came running in. "Sorry Mr. Solomons, tried to keep up with him." She panted breathlessly. Tending for the active boy was a work out every day.

           "S'alright, Liz, I've got him. Go and get some breakfast." Alfie relieved her of her duties.

           Breathless and wide-eyed, Teddy grabbed Alfie’s beard. “Daddy, it’s my birthday!” He chirped happily.

           Alfie rested him on his hip. “Oh no, that can’t be right. You just had a birthday.” He teased and pretended to be serious. “Weren’t it just last month? Yeah, you ain’t any older, mate. Just a regular old day.”

           Teddy just giggled. “No!”

           “Yep, in fact, think it’s my birthday.” He chuckled and playfully threw Teddy over his shoulder, “What’d you get me, then?”

           The toddler shrieked with joy. “Not your birthday!”

           Every single day reminded Alfie how lucky he was. What sort of happiness he’d found on borrowed time. Teddy was the light of his life and vice versa. The bond between father and son was unbreakable. It reassured Alfie that when his time came, he made a lasting impression in Teddy’s life. One that would hopefully last.

           Alfie carried Teddy out to the patio where Louise was enjoying the brisk fall morning. The two foxhounds they bought were outside with her. They were strays that she’d found wandering the pastures. Of course, Alfie couldn’t turn them away and figured they could be helpful. He managed to train them to be protective and to tag along on Louise’s daily rides on Paris. That way he could be assured that she had some sort of defense if she ever needed it even if Surrey was very tamed compared to London. Cyril was far too lazy to get the task done, especially at his age, and Alfie certainly wasn’t going to get on a horse and join his wife. So, they brought in the dogs and let Teddy name them. Thus, Baby and Ollie were welcomed into the Solomons household. Of course the latter being named after Alfie’s former assistant whom Teddy adored.

           “There’s the birthday boy!” Louise exclaimed and the hounds began to yip happily. Cyril stood his ground beside Alfie, nipping at the pups if they got too close to him.

           “Hold on now, ain’t his birthday.”

           Louise gave her husband a playful look. “Don’t tease him. Of course, it is!”

           “Oh, right, s’pose it is then.” He chuckled and handed over the now three-year-old to her.

           “Hello, love, happy birthday.” She murmured to Teddy, kissing his cheek a few times.

           Teddy giggled and clung to her. “I’m three.” He reminded her.

           “Three?” Alfie sat down, letting Cyril sit between his knees. Baby and Ollie began to chase each other in circles around the yard. “No, no, can’t be three.” He shook his head adamantly and stroked Cyril’s ears. “Three is practically all grown up.”

           Louise smiled and sat down at the patio table as well. “Next thing you know you’ll be dressing up suits like daddy.” But behind her smile, she knew there was a bittersweetness to the day. She’d woken up that morning even before Alfie. Sitting up in bed, she stared at the wall, dumbfounded. Her little boy was going to be three. Wasn’t it just yesterday that she was holding him for the first time? Wasn’t it just last week that she married Alfie? It couldn’t have been more than a year since she first met him standing outside of the bakery. Life moved so fast. She just wanted to grab the passing time and dig her heels into the ground. Try and hold it back from going by so fast so she could savor the moments just a little longer. Just one more minute. One more second.

~~~~~~~~~~

           Teddy was spoiled on his birthday. They went for a drive to town to go shopping. He got to ride Paris, sitting in front of Louise in the saddle. His hands over hers on the reins as they slowly walked around on the mare, Alfie watching from the fence.

           Before dinner, he opened his presents, enough toys to last him his entire childhood as far as Louise thought. But she couldn’t say no to Alfie who wanted to give Teddy things he could remember his father by. And it was such a gift seeing the little boy tear open the wrapping paper with a glow in his eyes. To see Alfie lying on his stomach, pushing a toy train around the carpet with Teddy crashing a toy car into the caboose.

           Then to finish it off, a big chocolate cake. Just like the one made for Louise’s birthday every year at Inglewood. Teddy was delighted and by the time he’d had his share, he needed a thorough bath to wash off all the chocolate from his hair, face, and hands.

           While Louise bathed their son, Alfie retired to the bedroom. Cyril plodded off to bed; ready to call it a day after keeping an eye on Teddy and trying to keep Baby and Ollie in line.

           Alfie leaned down to pat the bullmastiff on the head. “Good, lad. Family man now, aye? Used to be just us bachelors ‘fore. Now, look at us.” He chuckled and straightened up with a pained groan. Every bone and muscle in his body screamed out. He was so tired. The cancer was wearing him down, slowly taking out every ounce of energy he had left. He feared the day he wouldn’t be able to keep up with Teddy.

           He sighed and slipped his shirt over his head, tossing it to the hamper. He paused by the mirror on Louise’s vanity. Time really did seem to catch up with him. He wasn’t the rabid young man who was a captain in the war. Not the fit boy who could beat the ever living shit out of men twice his size. The clean-shaven man who only sported a bruise here and there.

           But the war. That’s when he started to wear the burdens life had given him. Scars. Bullet wounds. Unforgettable bits of violence always marked into his skin.

           The tattoos. To remember or perhaps to warn others. A man who wasn’t afraid of death and certainly wasn’t afraid of a little needle.

           Now, what was left? He was thinner, thinner than he’d been since he was prepubescent. The cancer appeared to be eating away at him. He grew thinner and horrendous lesions littering his skin. Marks that made him sick to look at. He thought it was a wonder that his son wasn’t afraid to look at him and his wife still kissed him. Alfie felt as if he were a piece of metal that was slowly rusting away. Then, in the end, there’d be nothing left but dust.

           The door opened and Louise stepped in. “Alfie?” She asked gently.

           He was pulled from his thoughts and glanced over at her. “Yeah, love?”

           She frowned when she noticed the preoccupied look in his eyes. “Everything okay?”

           “Yeah, ‘course. What could be wrong?” He forced a smile and went to finish getting changed for bed.

           “Alright…well, Teddy’s ready to be tucked in.”

           He nodded and walked over to the door, stopping to kiss her cheek. “Love you.” Most days, he couldn’t say it enough to her. He wanted his wife to always have that locked in her mind even when he was long gone. Always wanted her to know that he loved her more than life itself.

           She smiled. “I love you too.”

~~~~~~~~

           Alfie nudged open Teddy’s door and smiled. “Got all the chocolate off your face, yeah?”

           “Yeah.” Teddy beamed. His dark hair still a bit damp from the bath, his cherub cheeks still pink from the warm water. “Mummy said I couldn’t keep any of it for later.”

           His father laughed and sat down on the edge of his bed. “I’m sure Baby and Ollie would come in to lick it off you.”

           “Ew!” The little boy wrinkled up his nose. “Yuck.”

           “Yeah, yuck.” Alfie chuckled and reached over to move aside a piece of hair stuck to Teddy’s forehead. “Look at you.” He said quietly in disbelief. “Can’t believe how big you’ve grown.”

           “Gonna be big like you,” Teddy announced happily.

           “That right? You don’t want to stay this little forever?”

           “No!”

           Alfie smiled sadly. He knew he’d never see Teddy as a grown man. As much as he would love to see what a great person he knew his son would become. If fate was on time, he wouldn’t see that day. “Alright then, right, you can get bigger. Long as you never forget dad, aye?”

           “Okay.” Teddy didn’t understand. Alfie was always there. The longest they’d been apart is when Alfie and Louise took a holiday one weekend. Ollie and Shayna watched the little boy while they were away. But other than that, Alfie had been there every day. Teddy couldn’t comprehend being without him. The little boy didn’t even understand what death was.

           “Good.” Alfie kissed his forehead. “Love you lots. Sleep well, yeah?”

           “Good night, daddy.”

           “Good night, Ted.”

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[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

Peter Cushing is Dr Terror in Dr Terrors House of Horrors (1965).  Pete was born in Surrey, England, and had 130 acting credits, from The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) to 1986.  His other notable credits include A Chump at Oxford (with Laurel and Hardy), Hamlet (with Laurence Olivier), Moulin Rouge, The Curse of Frankenstein (1957, as Victor), Horror of Dracula (as Van Helsing), The Hound of the Baskervilles (as Sherlock Holmes), The Mummy, Dr Who and the Daleks  (as Dr Who), an episode of The Avengers, and the original Star Wars (1977).

[travelling-my-little-pony]

November is the month that Mummy Sunbright visits Pope’s Grotto!

In Twickenham, in Surrey, England.

A quick description of the grotto from the website:

Alexander Pope’s Grotto is the last remaining part of his famous villa and gardens, which he built in 1720 on the banks of the Thames at Twickenham. A mine of minerals gathered from all parts of the world, it is listed as Grade 2* and as Heritage at Risk ‘Of outstanding national importance’.

https://popesgrotto.org.uk/