A fortnight in the Bananas – Chapter One
Kate stood at the bottom of the stairs and sighed; where was Caroline when you needed her. "Lawrence you've got five minutes to get down here with your bags or else we are going without you, the taxi will be here any minute, hurry up."
Flora, fast approaching the' terrible twos' was running up and down the hall shouting, "uzzy mummy, uzzy mummy". Kate was searching high and low for Fuzzy, Flora's teddy bear who had to go everywhere or the child was inconsolable. Today Fuzzy was going to the Bahamas with the family (or the Bananas as Celia had cynically referred to them the morning Caroline told her about the wedding). The ever organised Roxy was helping William to do a final check of the house before locking up for two weeks. Kate had ordered a mini bus to take them all to the airport and the company had just texted her to say the driver would be there in ten minutes.
Two months earlier, Kate's accident compensation had finally been approved and paid into their bank account. The two women had agreed that a large chunk of it would go towards the mortgage to pay back the money they had borrowed to buy John out. However, Kate had insisted some of it be set aside for a family holiday. "Caroline, you and I have not had a honeymoon yet and the boys and my mother went through so much after the accident, I want us all to have a really relaxing time together, like our way of saying thank you to them all." Caroline had agreed it was a great idea and suggested that they invite Ruth as well. Ruth was Ginika's great niece and the cousin (or second cousin) who babysat for Flora whenever Caroline and Kate were in New York. She was a lovely girl, the same age as Lawrence and she would be a big help with Flora, along with Roxy, who adored their little girl. In the back of her mind, she also wanted to equalise the family numbers a little for Kate's sake.
Lawrence finally ran down the stairs, his bag in tow, and Fuzzy was located and put into Flora's little backpack which was a 'Frozen' themed bag. The DVD was just about worn out and she would continuously sing at least two lines of the song 'Let it go' to the point where even Caroline would hum it around the house, which amused Kate no end.
Across the Atlantic, after finishing another stint at Columbia, Caroline was putting the last of her things in her case. She, Ginika and Ruth would be leaving for the airport shortly to catch their plane to Nassau. They would arrive before the Harrogate lot and so would open up the beach house they had rented and do the grocery shopping before they arrived. The relationship between Caroline and Ginika was growing into something really wonderful. They appreciated each other's sharp mind and academic excellence, but there was also a softness between them which Caroline put down to their mutual love of Kate and Ginika's ever growing joy at having a new extended family. The American side of the Abike family were so happy to see their sister, and much loved aunt, finally enjoying her grandchildren, and having much to look forward to in her retirement.
In Harrogate, after loading what seemed like a mountain of luggage into the taxi, they were finally on their way to the airport. "Has everyone got everything?" Kate asked with her best teacher voice. "Sorry, I've forgotten my passport." Lawrence piped up. His step mother was just about to lose it when he grinned and said "Gotcha!" This was going to be the start of a lot of fun she hoped.
On the journey to the airport Kate thought about how Caroline was a little ragged at the moment. Her workload was steadily building, and she was taking on rather a bit too much in Kate's opinion. She was highly thought of at Leeds University and they were continually asking her to do more lecturing. Just this semester she had agreed to supervise two PhD students. However, one thing she never compromised on was her co-parenting of Flora. It was important to both women that Flora grew up knowing her mummies had equal responsibility for her and there was never a time when Caroline felt less of her parent than Kate.
Their home life was a sanctuary of happiness and love. Lawrence was far more at ease now and actually very good with his baby sister. He had just completed his A Level exams and had applied to study at Kate's Alma Mater, Durham University. She was so looking forward to going to see him while he was away as it meant she could legitimately visit some of her old haunts. It also gave her a chance to have another connection with the lad.
William and Roxy were very happy together and had decided to move into a flat with two other friends when the new semester started. The two boys at university meant that Caroline and Kate would have a lot more of a financial burden in the coming few years but Caroline had already put the hard word on John that he was going to have to dig deeper.
John, Kate thought, he was the only blight on their happy preparations for the holiday. Lawrence had told his father that they were having an extended family holiday and Caroline, out of courtesy, had phoned him to say that Lawrence would be away for two weeks. It wasn't received well. He was still the same self-centred idiot that she left behind. He had started with his pathetic pleas again asking to go with them as he felt it was better for the boys if their father was included in some of these family things. Caroline had of course shut him down and said there was no way he was going and if he wanted a holiday with his sons then he should take them. He had become quite nasty and Caroline had hung up on him. Kate was proud of the way Caroline handled John these days as he had well and truly got the message about not coming to the house, or calling at all kinds of random hours.
Once they reached the airport, everyone swung into action to check in and get the baggage through etc. Kate took the opportunity to text her wife, 'at airport all ready to go, dying to see you, luv u K xx' A few seconds later, 'ditto here darling, not long now, luv u too C xx.' Kate smiled to herself, what Caroline didn't know was that she had booked a separate four day break on an outer island for the two of them as she really wanted to have the honeymoon they were forced to postpone. Ginika and William were in on it and ready to step in and look after Flora.
The plane from New York touched down and not long after Caroline, Ginika and Ruth arrived at their beachside villa. They opened up and were thrilled with the place. The house was large and open plan with windows that looked out over the ocean. There were four bedrooms, and Ginika immediately insisted that Caroline and Kate have the large room with a balcony overlooking the ocean. She also insisted that Flora's cot be in the room which she would share with Ruth. "You two have been working hard and with a nearly two year old biting at your heels, you need a break." Caroline wasn't overly keen on not having Flora with them but she didn't resist. She loved seeing her baby girl when she woke in the mornings, she was so snugly and soft, it melted her heart.
About three hours later, the Harrogate crowd piled out of a mini bus and within seconds, Kate was in Caroline's arms. Not wanting to seem too obvious, they quickly broke apart and hugged and kissed the rest of the gang. Flora rushed to Caroline and said, as she held up her bear, "Uzzy on plane mama, Uzzy cry a bit." Caroline took the bear and kissed him better. "Did you cry darling?" "Yes mama" Caroline swept Flora into her arms and looked quizzically at Kate who whispered,"Her ears hurt when we were coming in to land." Caroline remembered how that had often happened to the boys when they were small. She kissed each of her baby's ears which made Flora giggle because it tickled.
Later in the evening Caroline and Kate sat on their balcony enjoying the moonlight over the ocean and sharing the ten days that they had been apart. It was getting easier for them both now when Caroline had to be away in New York. They were more secure and the fear that they had both experienced after the accident was diminishing all the time. However, what didn't lessen was the ache they felt when they were not with each other. Their love was deeper than ever and it was no chore for them to keep the romance alive. Kate reached down into her bag and pulled out an envelope which she gave to Caroline. "This is my belated wedding present to you my darling." Caroline opened the envelope and stared in amazement. Two boat tickets and a photograph of a small beach villa perched on white sand with not another place within fifty metres. She was speechless and just gazed at her wife. "You are perfect. Do you know that?"
As they sat silently holding hands, both feeling a deep desire waiting to be fulfilled, Caroline noticed two familiar figures strolling along the beach. "Well, look at that." She pointed them out to Kate and they both started to smirk. Lawrence deep in conversation with Ruth, something they had never seen this boy do before!
