Home Coming
Plot – Grace's daughter returns from her boarding school unexpectedly, catching an unsuspecting Boyd and Grace, but that's the least of Grace's worries.
Pairing – Boyd and Grace.
Rating – M bad language and mild sexual content.
Disclaimer – I own nothing.
It was quite surprising really, you would have thought that they'd have heard something, owing to the fact that it was very quiet in the room, but they didn't, in actual fact they heard nothing. Nothing except the constant whispers and giggles that usually accompanied their night time antics. The lighting was low, it wasn't completely dark, although on reflection maybe it would have been better if it had been pitch black, but it wasn't. A lamp on the side gave the room a soft, warm glow, enough light to see what they were doing and to see each other's responses, combined with enough darkness to hide the bits they weren't so fond of showing.
They were both completely naked and Grace was knelt astride him, he was sat up, his hands slowly moving up the silky smooth legs that were either side of his own. He leant forward and kissed her, causing her to giggle as his beard brushed against her skin.
"Oh you like that do you?" He asked with a smile as he continued to rub his beard against her skin. "Is it very juvenile of me to want to put a big love bite on your neck?"
"Juvenile, and very dangerous to your health if you make a mark on my neck that can be seen by anyone other than you and me."
"So does that mean I can, as long as no one can see it?"
"No, it means you can if you'd like to wear your testicles as earrings."
"I thought you liked it when I did kinky stuff."
"Uh, I don't think so; it's you that likes to do kinky things."
"What about when I do this?" He leant forward and gently captured her breast in his mouth, as he did so his hands joined with hers, their fingers interlocking.
"Ok so I admit I like it when you do that." She replied in a whisper, almost embarrassed to admit how much she enjoyed being intimate with him.
"Oh you do, do you?"
"Mmm." She replied, her lips nibbling on his ear lobe. Her hands separating from his and moving around his neck.
His hands squeezed her bottom, causing her to moan a little. "Are you feeling naughty Doctor Foley?"
"I always feel naughty when I'm with you, it must be something you do to me."
"Or something I'm about to do to you."
She pulled her head back and looked into his eyes; they were dark with a combination of mischief and lust. She leant forward and kissed him fleetingly, her lips touching his for just a fraction of a second before pulling away again, teasing him. She giggled gently at the look of naughtiness on his face. "What are you going to do to me?"
"Oh I think you know damn well what I am going to do to you." He laughed as he said the words, and his hands continued to gently stroke her skin as his mouth moved back to her breasts.
That's when it happened, they were happy, more than happy, and then everything came crashing down. They were lost in each other, too lost to see the door handle to the bedroom door turn, too lost to see as it began to open, and too lost to notice straight away as the young woman stood rooted to the spot in the door way. It was only when Grace moved her head to the other side of his that she noticed her.
"Oh my god!" She exclaimed loudly, and pulled away from him, he too then looked to see what she was looking at.
"What the fuck! Who the hell are you?" He shouted, trying desperately to cover himself and turn away from the young woman at the same time.
"Maybe it should be me asking you that."
Boyd looked to Grace, a confused expression on his face. Grace looked at the young woman, "can you please just go downstairs, I'll be down in a minute okay." The woman said nothing and didn't move, a look of complete disgust on her face, "Sam! Please, go downstairs I'll be straight down." This time she walked away, closing the door with some force as she left.
"Grace what the hell?" He asked quietly as he desperately tried to pull on his clothes.
"It's Sam, my daughter."
"I thought she was at boarding school." He said his voice merely a whisper.
"She is at a boarding school."
"Well why didn't you say she was coming home?"
"Because I didn't bloody know, she isn't due home, I wasn't expecting her. Look you stay up here, I'll go down and see what's what, and try and explain this to her, not that I need to explain it, she is seventeen after all."
"Are you sure it'll be okay for me to stay up here? I can slip out quietly and go home."
"No it's fine, just stay out of the way, it's not like she hasn't seen you."
Grace pulled on some loose fitting pyjamas and made her way down the stairs, taking a deep breath before she entered the lounge of her home.
"Finally decided to come down have you?"
"Sam what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you."
"Yeah that was pretty evident."
"Look I know this isn't ideal, but let's try and act like adults shall we."
"Why act like adults when you were clearly acting like a bloody teenager."
"I know this must be a bit of a shock, and I'm sorry, I was going to tell you, I was going to tell all of you, but I just hadn't found the right opportunity."
"Tell us? Tell us what?"
"That I am in a relationship."
"Something else that was very plain to see."
"As I said I was going to tell you all."
"Yeah I heard that bit, what I didn't hear was the bit about me walking in on you shagging him in our house."
"Okay I think you need to calm down and remember who you're talking to."
"Maybe you need to remind me who I am talking to, because the last time I saw my Mother she wasn't screwing some guy in the bed she used to share with my Dad."
Grace was about to speak when the door to the lounge opened and Boyd walked in. "I don't care who you are or what you say about me, but if you don't show your Mother the respect she deserves, I'll pick you up and throw you back out the front door until you learn some manners."
"Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"Sam stop it, you're acting like a spoiled child."
"I'd rather be a spoiled child than a whore."
"Right that's it." Boyd replied before walking towards her.
"Peter leave it, its fine." She said placing her hand on his arm to stop him.
"It's not fine Grace; she shouldn't be talking to you like that."
"I'll sort it, go back to bed."
"Yeah my Dad's fucking bed."
"Would that be the Dad that treated her like a doormat, and then left her for someone else, someone he had been having an affair with whilst he was still married."
"Peter please you're not helping, I'm okay honest." This time she rubbed his arm tenderly.
To rub salt in the wound he leant in and kissed her before turning to leave. "Call me if you need me."
"I will."
"My fucking hero!" Sam spat with venom.
Boyd didn't rise to it, he just left the room.
"Right, would you care to tell me why you are home in the middle of term?"
"I came home for a few days; I didn't know I was going to walk in on you and some bloke at it like fucking rabbits."
Grace took a deep breath and breathed out slowly trying to calm herself down, she then turned away from her daughter.
"You going back to finish what you started."
"No, I'm going to bed, in the hope that in the morning you'll have discovered some bloody manners."
"Manners, I walk in on my Mum shagging a bloke I've never met and I'm supposed to be bloody civil about it."
"Yes you're supposed to be bloody civil, I'm your mother, and a little respect would be nice."
"Respect is something you earn, not something you have a god given right to."
"So it's okay for your father to sleep with anything he fancied whilst we were still married, but I'm supposed to live the rest of my days like a sodding nun am I?"
"No, but maybe you could act like a fucking lady."
"Something you'd know a lot about."
"I'm not in my fucking sixties am I?"
"You use that language to me once more and I promise you you'll regret it."
"Oh so my language offends you does it, you want to be treated like a lady then maybe you should act like one. How would you feel if it was the other way around and you'd walked in on me in that situation?"
"You're my seventeen year old daughter; obviously I would be shocked and disappointed, but I am not seventeen and I have known Peter Boyd for years, it's not….."
"Peter Boyd? That's Peter Boyd, the Peter Boyd you work with? You're screwing the boss, this gets better and better."
"Yes that's Peter Boyd, and he's twice the man your father is."
"Is that in or out of the sack?"
"Both!" Grace spat her response and then left the room, returning back to her bedroom, leaving her daughter alone.
Boyd was sat on the edge of the bed, still dressed, when Grace walked back in. "You okay?" He asked her.
She approached him slowly, standing in front of him and pulling him against her until his head rested against her breasts, "I'm fine, although a teenager with a tantrum wasn't really on my list of priorities for tonight." She replied kissing the top of his head.
"Is it sorted now?"
"No, I've left her to it; maybe she will learn to keep a civil tongue in her head by the morning."
"Do you want me to leave?"
"No, absolutely not, if she wants to act like a child then I'll treat her like one, she can go to her room and sulk, but I am not changing my plans because of it."
"So do you still want to, ya know?" He said raising his eyebrows at her.
"I think that would be pushing things a bit too far don't you."
"Yeah, maybe you're right, sleep it is then."
"Afraid so."
The next morning was a working day, but Grace decided to take the morning off and sort things out with her sulking daughter, she thought it best not to leave things for the entire day, knowing full well Sam would be straight on the phone to her brother and sister to tell them everything, if she hadn't done so already. She started off waiting patiently for her to show her face, but when it got to ten o'clock she decided to go to her, knowing full well her youngest child was avoiding her.
She showed her the courtesy of knocking on the bedroom door at first, but when she got no reply she walked in. "Sam I want to talk to you, can you get up please."
"No I'm tired, and I haven't got anything to say."
"Well I have plenty to say, so can you get up please."
"Don't you understand English; I don't have anything to say."
"As the person who is currently paying your school fees, I have plenty to say, for a start what are you doing home in the middle of term time."
"I told you, I just came home for a couple of days, I have some study time, don't worry I'll be out of your hair soon enough, then you can get back to lover boy."
Grace pulled the duvet off the bed. "Get up now, I want you down stairs in five minutes, or I'll go and phone the school and confirm what you've just said."
Sam jumped up. "What? Why do you need to phone the school, I just told you why I'm home?"
"You go to a boarding school Sam, the same one your sister went to, you don't come home as and when it suits you, so either you've walked out or they've thrown you out, either way I want to know. So, you have five minutes to come down stairs and tell me the truth, or I'll phone the school and get them to fill me in."
"Fine, whatever." She replied.
Grace waited patiently for Sam to show her face, knowing full well she was hiding something from her, she was about to phone the school, as she had threatened to do, when she walked into the kitchen. "You're lucky; I was just about to phone the school, I want the truth Sam."
"Can I get myself a drink please before you start bloody nagging me?"
"I think you've had long enough don't you?"
"Do you know what, I don't even care, I'll just pack my things and go back." Sam turned to walk away from her mother, but was stopped in her tracks when Grace grabbed her arm and prevented her from moving. She had the phone in one hand and was holding her daughters arm with the other.
"What's it to be, you going to tell me or shall I phone them?"
"I've been excluded, happy now?"
"Ecstatic, where's the letter?"
"What letter?"
"The letter that they gave you when you were excluded, and don't bother lying about it, they'll send a copy through the post as well."
"You don't need my copy then do you."
"Why don't you just tell me what's going on, all this teenage angst is getting right up my bloody nose."
"Wow, Mum the psychiatrist to the rescue, what's wrong Mum, worried you screwed me up just like you did with Will and Cass?"
"What's happened to you, I mean I get that you're a teenager and its par for the course that you all hate your parents, but you weren't like this the last time you were home."
"How would you know?"
"What?"
"How would you know, you spent most of your time at work the last time I was home, I may as well have stayed at school for the holidays, oh I get it, were you screwing what's his face back then?"
"Oh please let's not go through this again, quite frankly it's boing Sam, I am in a relationship, I didn't tell you because I was waiting until I could get all three of you together, I am more interested in you and why you've been excluded from school."
"For being me Mum, what else?" Grace started to scroll through the phone, looking for the number for the school, when Sam started to speak. "Fine, I was caught off the grounds when I shouldn't have been."
"They don't exclude you for that."
"They do if you do it enough times."
"Why haven't I received any letters outlining concerns with your behaviour?"
"They went to Dad's address."
"Your school stuff all comes here, it doesn't go to him."
"I told them you were working abroad for a few months, said they'd better send everything to him."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't want this, I don't want to be psychoanalysed by my Mother."
"Well if I'm such a bloody awful parent, why have you come home now?"
"I have been asking myself that question for the last twenty four hours."
"Well if that's true, I'll phone your father and ask him about the letters."
"Fine, can I go now?" She replied with a sigh.
"No, you can sit there until I've spoken to him."
"I said I'd meet Will for lunch."
"Oh I see, so you think you can get excluded from school and then come home and enjoy yourself, I think now, and while I'm at it how does Will know you're home?"
"I text him last night, he said he was free for lunch."
"Did you tell him about Peter?"
"Oh don't worry your sordid little secret is safe, I never told him I caught you screwing Inspector Gadget."
"Fine, well if Will wants to see you for lunch he can come here, you're grounded until I get to the bottom of all this."
"Grounded, are you kidding me, I'm fucking seventeen not seven."
"Maybe you should act like it then, and I've warned you once about your language."
The two of them stayed in the same house, unable to communicate without biting each other's heads off, and in the end Grace was actually quite relieved when her son Will turned up. Will was the eldest of her three children, and usually the most sensible. Grace left them alone, whilst she worked from home and waited on a call from her ex-husband. If she was honest, he was the last person she wanted to talk to, they'd had a very messy divorce that affected all three of their children, at one point he even tried to claim Grace was an unfit mother, only withdrawing the allegation when he realised the affect it was having on them, but she had no choice but speak to him on this occasion.
She gave Will some time to try and talk some sense into his little sister, only disturbing them after some time had passed. She was about to open the kitchen door when she stopped suddenly, she did not plan to listen to their conversation, and although she despised what she was doing, she needed to know what was going on with her youngest daughter.
Will's voice was soft and caring, "Sam you need to tell her the truth, she will find out anyway, just be honest with her, it's Mum we're talking about, she won't care, trust me."
"You can't say anything, you promised you wouldn't."
"But she'll find out anyway, what's the problem?"
"Please Will, don't say anything, I'm begging you."
"You cannot hide this, it is all going to come out, for Christ's sake Sam, the school could press charges, and then Mum finding out will be the least of your worries."
"They won't press charges, it's all just hot air, they're trying to scare me, it will all blow over and no one needs to know anything."
"That's bollocks, and you know it, you cannot continue trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes."
"I'm eighteen soon, then I can do as I like."
"Tell her, or I will."
"Tell me what?" They looked to the door to see Grace staring at them. "Tell me what Will?"
"Mum I'm sorry, but this is something that Sam needs to tell you, not me."
"But you know what this is about."
"Sam gave the school my address and got the school to send the letters to Dad via my address, that's why I know."
"Why didn't you tell me that there was a problem?"
"Because I promised my little Sister I wouldn't break her confidence."
I want to know what the hell is going on, and I want to know now."
Will looked at his Sister. "It's all over Sam, you need to tell the truth, either you tell her or I will, it has to end now."
Sam looked at Will, she didn't speak but had a pleading look in her eyes, she shook her head at him in an attempt to get him to change his mind, he responded by nodding his head, a sympathetic smile on his face, he rubbed her arm, and went to speak, but Sam butted in first.
"I have been having a relationship."
"What? With who?"
She hesitated and lowered her eyes. "With a teacher at school."
"What type of relationship?" Sam did not reply. "I said what type of relationship?" This time she just turned her head away from her mother. "Are you saying you've been having a physical relationship with a teacher?"
"Yes."
"How far has it gone?"
"How far do you think?" She replied sarcastically.
"You've been having sex, with a teacher? Is that what you're saying Sam?"
"Yes."
Grace looked at her son. "You knew about this and you didn't tell me."
"Mum she's not a kid."
"She's seventeen years old, how can you be that bloody irresponsible."
"I didn't know until it all came out."
Grace looked at her daughter in disbelief, "How long?"
"What?"
"How long has it been going on, how many times did you….."
"I don't know, I didn't keep count."
"When did it start?" Sam shrugged her shoulders. "I want to know when it started, how old were you?"
"I was over sixteen, if that's what you're implying; no one forced me into anything."
"You stupid, immature child! Why has it come out now?" Grace held the top of Sam's arms and shook her with anger as she continued to question her. "Are you pregnant? Is that what this is all about, you're pregnant."
Sam shook off her Mother's grip and ran out of the kitchen, slamming and locking her bedroom door behind her when she got upstairs.
Will looked at his Mother and shook his head disapprovingly. "For God's sake Mum, could you have handled that any worse?"
"You think I handled it badly? You're seventeen year old sister has been having a sexual relationship with a school teacher and you knew about it but didn't think to tell me. You think you have the right to criticise the way I handled it, how long have you known?"
"I told you, only since the school got in touch; I knew it must be something bad because she didn't want you or Dad finding out."
"So why the hell didn't you come and tell me straight away?"
"Because she asked me not to, okay, she told me she wanted to tell you herself and I respected her for that."
"She's seventeen, she's under age and you should have told me straight away."
"She is not underage Mum, not now, and as far as I know not when it started."
"In the eyes of the law it is illegal for a teacher to have a relationship with a pupil under the age of 18 in his care; it is an abuse of trust."
"I didn't know it was illegal."
"Well it bloody well is, and regardless of that, you still should have told me, I'm her Mother."
"Mum she's growing up, no matter how you want to look at it, and as far as the law is concerned she is old enough to have a sexual relationship."
"Not with her bloody teacher, he has taken advantage of her, and that aside what about emotionally, she is still at school, and this is a teacher we are talking about, he has taken advantage of my daughter, I am not going to let this go. Is she pregnant? Has she confided in you with that as well?"
"No Mum she's not pregnant, and the he that you are so sure took advantage of her was actually a she."
"What?"
"It was a she, Mum. A married female teacher, her husband walked in on them in bed, that's how it all came out, and she was so afraid of telling you that she was gay that she tried to cover it up."
"She's gay."
"Yes gay, she told me a while back, a long time before this happened okay, so before you start saying she doesn't know her own mind, or that she was pushed into anything, she does and she wasn't, she's known she was gay for a long time."
"But I would never have judged her for that, I would have accepted it."
"Really? What like you just accepted everything else that she told you?"
"Man or woman the teacher was wrong, she has taken advantage of someone one she is meant to care for, she was in a position of trust and she abused that trust."
"Maybe it's you that needs to grow up Mum, not Sam."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Sam told me what she walked in on last night, and do you want to know something I don't give a damn, I don't care one hoot, in actual fact I'm happy for you, and I hope he treats you better than Dad did. But Sam needs your support right now, not your judgement. She's frightened and embarrassed, and telling you was the last thing she wanted to do."
"Why? Am I that much of a dragon."
"No, you're not a dragon, but as you keep reminding me, she's seventeen years old and she's embarrassed, no one wants to talk to their parents about sex at that age, she wants you to love and accept her not judge her."
"I'm not judging her, I would never do that to her, whatever she is I love her, and I will always love her, I don't care what her sexuality is."
"Then maybe you should tell her, because right now I don't think she knows."
"Well I don't think she's going to open the door to me now, do you?"
"I'll talk to her, wait here."
Will had been gone for around ten minutes, and Grace was waiting patiently when she began to hear the usually calm and patient Will banging on his sisters bedroom door and shouting, she hurried up the stairs.
"What's wrong?"
"She's not answering me."
"That's not surprising really is it?"
"Actually it is, she trusts me Mum, she never ignores me, but I haven't got so much of a go away out of her."
Grace banged on the bedroom door, "Sam open the door or we'll break it down, come on." They still got no reply. "Will, force it open."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm worried now."
Will put his shoulder into the door and was able to bust the bolt holding it closed fairly easily. "Oh god!" He exclaimed whilst placing his hands over his mouth. Sam was sat on the floor a pool of blood around her; she had cut both her wrists.
"Get out of the way, get out of the way." Grace shouted at him and pushed her way past him to get to her. "Will call an ambulance, NOW!" She shouted at him to get his attention, whilst she grabbed anything she could to bind Sam's wrists, and then held them aloft to try and stop the bleeding.
Boyd rushed through the hospital corridors in an attempt to find Grace, eventually finding her sat in a corridor. She saw him approaching and got up to meet him, almost falling into his arms as he put them around her. He had seen the people sat with her and guessed it was her other two children, but decided he didn't give a damn, he was here for her, not them. "I got here as quick as I could, are you okay? I'm sorry, stupid question I know."
"Peter I didn't know she would do this, I never imagined she would do this, I pushed her too far."
"No you didn't, you wouldn't have done that, it has to be deeper than just one argument."
No sooner had Boyd arrived than a doctor approached the family members. "Mum." Will called over, not wanting them to say anything without his mother being present.
Grace turned and walked back to her family, Boyd stayed with her, his hand on her back in a gesture of support.
"Hi, Doctor Foley?" The woman in scrubs asked.
"Yes, that's me, how is she?"
"Samantha is going to be fine, she lost a fair bit of blood, but nothing that her body won't make up for in time, we have stitched the wounds, and we are going to keep her in for a night or two just for observation. I'm afraid she will need to speak to a psychiatrist, but she's not in any physical danger."
"Thank goodness, can I see her?"
"I'm really sorry, but she has said that she doesn't want to see anyone at the moment."
"But I'm her Mother."
"As I said, I'm really sorry, if she changes her mind I'll send someone to let you know."
Grace smiled at the woman and then sat back down, Boyd sat next to her. "She doesn't want to see me." She replied, hurt at the words the doctor had spoken.
"She didn't say that, she said she doesn't want to see anyone, she's probably just trying to get her head around everything."
The younger woman sat with Will turned to Boyd. "I don't know who you are but this is family business, we need to talk to my Mother."
Boyd sighed, fed up with the treatment he was receiving from Grace's family. "I'm Peter, you're Mother's…."
"Colleague, Boyd is from work; he came to see if I was okay." Grace butted in before he could finish his sentence; she looked at him with apologetic eyes. She wasn't sure why she said it, she just did, maybe the idea of more bitter family resentment from another of her children was more than she could take right now. Whatever the reason, Boyd was hurt by it, he was here for her, to support her in whatever way he could, and she was passing him off as nothing more than a colleague.
He stared at her for a few moments before speaking again. "Yeah, I'm just a colleague." He looked at the floor and then stood up. "I guess I'll see you at work then, now I know everything is okay." He got up to leave he waited for her to stop him, to say sorry, but she didn't, she let him walk away.
He'd made it half way down the corridor before he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, but it wasn't Grace's, as he'd hoped, it was her son, Will. "Mr Boyd, wait please." Boyd stopped and turned to look at him. "I know we haven't been introduced, I'm Will Foley, and I know you're not just a colleague, I know you're more than that."
"Apparently not." He interrupted him.
"Please don't go, Mum needs you, she's just afraid that having you here will cause more problems, but I assure you she needs you."
"I think it will be better if I just go, your Mother can call me if she needs me."
"She needs you now, she's worried sick about Sam, and Cass is making things more difficult, on top of which my Father is due here any minute, probably with his second wife in tow, she's stressed and she didn't mean what she said, I know she didn't."
"So what makes you so different from your sisters?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well I had a mouthful from Sam last night, and I don't think your other sister was about to welcome me with open arms, what makes you so different."
"Mr Boyd, my father is an arsehole, when he left Mum Cass was away at University and Sam was too young to understand, I was the one who saw what he did to her, the way he treated her, she deserved better than that, then and now. Just lately she's seemed happier than I've seen her in ages, I knew she was seeing someone, and I knew she'd tell me when she wanted me to know, I guess tonight's just brought it all forward a little. She looked…relieved when you turned up, like she didn't have to face it all on her own, please, come back?"
"What about your sister?"
"I'll keep Cass in check, don't worry." Boyd sighed, but eventually turned to walk back towards her. "Thank you Mr Boyd, it means a lot to Mum."
"It's Peter, or just Boyd, never Mr Boyd." He replied
Will smiled at him, "you mean I don't get to call you Dad?"
Boyd smiled back at him; he could tell they were going to get along.
Grace saw the two of them walking back together, she knew where Will had gone and she was pleased about it, she didn't want him to leave and she certainly didn't want to hurt him, or worse still lose him. She stood up and walked towards him. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She said as he approached, Will walked straight past her, winking at her as he did so.
Boyd again pulled her into his arms. "It's okay, I understand."
"Mum?" A female voice whined disapprovingly from behind them.
"Shut up Cass, okay, just shut up, I think Mum's been through enough for today." Will replied before Grace could say a word.
"Come in here." Grace pulled him into a small empty relatives room close to where they had been sat, closing the door behind them. "I am so sorry Peter; I just couldn't face a lecture from Cass, not tonight."
"It's okay, I completely understand."
"I don't deserve you."
"Oh don't be so bloody melodramatic."
"I mean it, you came here to support me and all I can do is lie about who you are."
"Its okay, Will explained everything."
"Did he? It's a pity his sisters can't be more like him."
"He seems like a nice, level headed guy."
"He is, I don't know what I would have done without him since Jack left, he helped me to keep the girls in line, well as much as possible, I thought I was doing okay until today."
"Was it a serious attempt, or a cry for help?"
"Well if it was a cry for help then it almost went too far." Grace turned away from him and sat down. "I think it was a serious attempt, after she told me about what had been going on she ran up to her room. Will filled in the gaps and then he went to try and get her to talk to me, but she wouldn't answer him so I got him to break down the door, that's when we found her."
"But she's going to be okay, that's the main thing."
"Is it, she's been having a physical relationship with a female teacher at her school, a married female teacher, I should never have sent them to boarding school."
"So why did you?"
"Because of Jack, all his family were boarders and he just expected it to be that way, but I hated it. I never understood the point of having children and sending them away for someone else to look after."
"I'm sure you'll get her through it."
"That's more than I am, she won't even talk to me, Will knew everything, but she wouldn't tell me a thing. I had to practically drag it all out of her, and even then it was Will that forced her to tell me, and it was Will that told me she was…."
"Being gay isn't something to be ashamed of Grace."
"Do you think I'm ashamed of her because she's gay?"
"Aren't you?"
"I'm ashamed of me because she couldn't tell me, she confided in her brother, but couldn't tell me, what sort of Mother am I?"
"A normal one, kids don't talk to their parents about these things, you know that as well as I do. She's a teenager, telling Mum and Dad what's going on in her life is the last thing she wants to do, especially when it comes to sex and feelings and stuff."
Grace was about to speak when the door to the room opened and a man walked in. "Grace." He said, before walking over to her and kissing her on the cheek.
"Jack." She responded, not looking overly pleased to see him. Boyd stood silently for a few moments until Grace introduced him, "Jack this is Peter Boyd, my partner. Peter this is Jack, my ex-husband."
"Partner? I had no idea you were dating Grace." He replied sarcastically.
"Don't!" She snapped at him.
"What?"
"Don't do what you always do; make sarcastic comments and snipe at everything I say."
"I've barely said a bloody word, come on Gracie, be fair."
"My name has never, nor will it ever be Gracie, as well you bloody know."
"Now who's causing a scene?"
As Grace was about to speak the door opened again and a small blonde woman walked in, "Jack the kids are out here." She said, winding Grace up even further by referring to them as the kids, as if she had any part in the raising of them. "Hi Grace, nice to see you again." She said, unable to conceal the falseness in her voice.
"Marie! How unnecessary of you to join us." This time it was Grace making the sarcastic comments.
"Oh dear Grace, are you still bitter that I've managed to keep the husband you let get away."
"Never mind Marie, maybe one day you'll get lucky too."
The blonde sniggered and left the room.
"Maybe I should leave you to talk." Boyd said with his hand on the door.
"No Peter, I'd appreciate it if you stayed, please."
He smiled at her, "no problem." This time he walked over and stood next to her.
"We have nothing to say to each other, Will has told me what happened, he also said Sam doesn't want visitors, so there is no point in me staying, I'll call tomorrow and see how she is." Grace didn't argue with him, she knew they were better off without him, he'd never been a very hands-on father and she knew damn well there was no point in him trying to be one now.
They stayed at the hospital for most of the night, leaving in the early hours to get some sleep, the hospital assured them that they wouldn't let Sam leave unless one of her parents were there to collect her, so they would be better off coming back the following day.
Grace walked through the hospital with some trepidation on her way to see her daughter, nervous that she would still refuse to see her, and unsure of what to say if she did see her. Sam was on a regular ward, so Grace didn't need to ask for permission, she just walked straight in. As she walked onto the ward she could see Sam's bed in the far corner of the ward, a dark haired woman who was vaguely familiar to her was sat on a chair next to the bed, holding Sam's hand, Sam was laying on her side, facing the woman who was now stroking Sam's face affectionately.
Grace approached them slowly; she had already worked out who the woman was. "What the hell is going on?" She asked, her voice harsh but not loud or aggressive.
Sam instantly turned towards her mother, and the woman sat with her pulled her hand away and sat back. "Mum, what are you doing here?"
"What's going on Sam?"
"Nothing, Mandy just came to see if I was okay."
"Is this her?"
"What?"
"Is this her, the teacher you've been involved with?"
Sam looked away from her Mother, "Yes, this is Mandy."
Grace now addressed the teacher. "I've spoken to the school, and you are part of a school and criminal investigation, you are suspended from your job and under no circumstances are you permitted to contact my daughter, so would you mind telling me what you're doing here?"
She hesitated. "Sam contacted me, and I just wanted to make sure she was okay."
"Well I think you'd better leave, don't you?" Grace tried to remain calm, not wanting to upset her already fragile daughter.
"Mum I asked her to come, please don't do this."
"Sam I have to, she is not allowed to be near you."
"What about what I want, we're in love Mum, doesn't that mean anything."
"You're Mum's right Sam, I shouldn't be here, I'll go, it's better for everyone, especially you." The woman ran her hand through Sam's hair and leant forward to kiss her.
"Uh, I don't think so do you?" Grace said firmly.
She stopped and pulled away from the youngster, winking at her before turning to leave. As she left, Sam curled up on the bed and began to cry. Grace went to her side, "how can you do this to me Mum, I love her and she loves me."
"I know it seems hard Sam, but what has happened is wrong, she was your teacher, it is against the law."
"I am not a child."
"In the eyes of the law you are, and the way you've reacted to this only goes to prove that."
"But I'm in love with her, don't my feelings count?"
"Of course they count, but this relationship cannot continue." Grace sat by her daughter and gently stroked her face as she cried, grateful for the chance to comfort her.
"Mum please don't let them send her to prison."
"It's out of my hands sweetheart." Grace replied tenderly, knowing full well that if it were her decision she would lock her up for life.
"But it was all me, I chased her, not the other way around."
"Try not to think about it, okay, just get yourself better, we can deal with anything else when you're well again."
"Why doesn't anyone care about my feelings?"
"We do, I care, your father cares, and so do Will and Cass."
"Then why can't you understand how much I care about her."
"Because it's wrong Sam, I'm sorry but I'm your mother and I can't let this happen, I know you're hurting right now and I would do anything to take that away."
"Then let me see her."
"I can't, not just because she has broken the law but because it's wrong, she is an adult, not just any adult, but an adult who was responsible for your care. She was in a position of trust and she abused that position."
"I didn't do anything I didn't want to; it was me that pursued her, not the other way around."
"It's not the point, she was trusted with your care and wellbeing, and she has abused that position. She knew that what she was doing was wrong, in the eyes of the law you are still a child and she is an adult."
"But I'm over the age of consent."
"Not in this case, she is your teacher and that changes everything."
"Then I'll runaway and be with her, you can't stop me." Sam sat up as she said the words, pulling the intravenous drip from her arm and causing blood to spill from the wound it left.
Grace stood in front of her. "Sam, stop it, listen to me, as much as it hurts it is over and nothing you can do is going to change that." Sam stared at her, tears filling her eyes; Grace placed her hand tenderly on her daughters face. "I'm sorry sweetheart, but it is over." Grace tried to comfort her, but she pulled away from her.
Grace left her with a nurse sorting out the intravenous drip in her arm, she walked away from the ward and towards the car park, on nearing her car she could see a woman leaning against it, she recognised her straight away as the woman that had been holding Sam's hand on the hospital ward. Grace could feel the anger rising in her, she wanted to be calm, but this woman was reason her daughter was in such a state, and she didn't feel at all like being calm.
"What the hell do you think you're doing coming here, you are banned from seeing my Daughter?"
"I just wanted to make sure she was okay."
"You could have phoned the hospital, you didn't have to come here."
"She phoned me in tears, asking me to come here, what the hell would you have done?"
"I wouldn't have slept with a seventeen year old girl in my care in the first place."
"It must be nice to be perfect Mrs Foley."
"Oh I'm far from perfect, but I know where to draw the line, and its Doctor Foley."
"I fell in love with her."
"She is seventeen."
"Yeah I'm aware how old she is."
"Then why the hell have you been sleeping with her."
"Your daughter is amazing; she's caring, generous, kind and beautiful."
"And underage."
"Not if we'd met outside of the school, if I hadn't been her teacher no one would have cared."
"But you didn't meet outside of school, and you were her teacher, and you should have had more self-control."
"I know that everything you have said is true and that I am and was in the wrong, but it happened, I fell in love with her, I am in love with her."
"I expect that kind of statement from my daughter, not a mature, married woman who should know better."
"If I could put this right I would, for her sake I would, I never meant for her to end up like this."
"Put it right? Are you kidding, my daughter tried to commit suicide, how the hell can you put that right?"
"I know, and I never meant for it to be like this."
"What did you mean for it to be like, because I am at a loss to see how else it could have turned out?"
"I never meant for it to happen at all, but it did, and I am in love with her."
"Grow up."
"Why do you find it so hard to understand that someone could fall so madly in love with your own daughter?"
Grace looked away from the woman's gaze, a little ashamed at her own behaviour and surprised at the depth of feeling this woman was expressing for her daughter. "This relationship cannot continue."
"I know, I'm not stupid, and I don't wish to cause Sam anymore problems."
"If you care about her as you say you do, then I think you know what you need to do."
"What are you saying?"
"You know damn well what I'm saying."
"I can't do that, I won't do it."
"The only way Sam will be able to get over this is if you do what I'm asking."
The woman tried desperately to fight the emotion in her voice. "You want me to break her heart? You want me to hurt her even more than she is hurting already."
"As sad as it is, the only way Sam can move on from this, is if you break her heart, so I want you to walk in there and tell her that it was just a fling, and that you and your husband are moving away and starting over."
"It will destroy her."
"As I've said several times, she's seventeen, she'll get over it, move on and eventually find someone that she can be happy with, and until that time I'll be there to pick up the pieces."
"She won't believe it, she will never believe it."
"Then you had better be very convincing, and once you've done it, I don't want you to ever contact her again."
It was mid-afternoon when Grace arrived at the CCU offices, she looked as though she had the worries of the world on her shoulders, and I guess in a way that was how she felt. She ignored her own office and walked straight into Boyd's, flopping down on his sofa and letting out a sigh. He got up and closed the blinds so they had some privacy, and then sat down next to her.
"How are things?" He asked, genuine concern evident in his voice.
"Well, I wouldn't put it down as one of the best day's I've ever had, but I guess it'll get better."
"And Sam?"
"Not good, physically she'll be okay, but…"
"But what?"
"I broke her heart Peter."
"What do you mean, how could you have broken her heart?"
"The teacher, the woman she has been having a relationship with turned up at the hospital and we had a long and heated conversation."
"That's understandable; she's been sleeping with your daughter."
"I made her tell Sam it was over, that it was just a fling and she was going back to her husband."
"But surely she was aware of that, she couldn't have thought she could continue a relationship with a student."
"Yes she knew, but Sam didn't. Sam thought she could carry on seeing her, that there was a way around all the problems, so I got her to break my daughter's heart, whilst I sat outside and waited to pick up the pieces."
"Grace it's understandable, what else could you do?"
"Nothing, but that doesn't make it feel any better, it feels like I did it for all the wrong reasons, she said she loved her."
"Sam's a teenager, in six months she'll be in love with someone else."
"I mean the teacher. It was the teacher that said it; she said she was in love with Sam." She replied looking at him, a mixture of sadness and guilt floating in her beautiful blue eyes. "What if it was real love, what if they were soul mates that should have been together forever and I have just destroyed it?"
"And what if you had sent her to a different school and they'd never met."
"Why do I feel like the worst mother in the world?"
"Because she's hurting, and the knock on effect from that is that you're hurting. It had no future Grace, it couldn't have a future."
"I know."
"Look, let me finish up here and take you home." He said gently resting his hand on her knee.
"No I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because Sam's isn't the only heart I'm going to break tonight."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm ending things Peter, between us."
"What? Why?"
"Because right now Sam needs all of my attention, she needs all of my love and support, and I owe her that."
"Grace this is just a knee jerk reaction, you're feeling guilty because Sam's hurting, it has nothing to do with us."
"It has everything to do with us; I can't carry on seeing you."
Boyd put his head in his hands. "Grace I love you, and I am not going to let you walk out of my life because you feel guilty."
"You don't have a choice in this."
"Yes I do, if I have to camp outside your front door from now till eternity I will, you'll give in before me, I guarantee it."
"Peter I'm serious, I need to look after Sam and I can't do that if I'm spending my time with you."
"What an absolute pile of crap, why would you want to do this alone when you don't have to."
"I'm not alone, I have my family around me, and we will all be there to support her."
"I can't believe what you're saying, this relationship has been the best thing to happen to either of us since I don't know when, we've both admitted that, why would you be willing to give up on it so easily?"
"My daughter couldn't even confide in me that she was gay, in this day and age when people are more open than ever about their sexuality, she couldn't tell me, she told her brother but she couldn't tell me, what does that say about me as a mother?"
"It says you're no better or worse than any other working mother in the country."
"Well that's clearly not good enough, is it?"
"I understand you must be going through a really difficult time Grace, but don't do this, I'm pleading with you, please don't do this. I can support you through it, help you with whatever you need, but don't give up on us, we have a chance of happiness, a chance to have what we lost with other people."
"It doesn't matter what you say, it won't make any difference, it's over." She didn't wait for his response, she was fed up with arguing, she just got up and walked away from him.
True to his word he didn't give up easily, her phone was almost ringing off the hook every minute of the day, she never answered it, preferring to let it go to voicemail rather than rake over the same conversation they'd already had. She hoped eventually he'd get tired, she knew it would take a while, but she hoped he would.
It was two days later when Sam Foley was discharged from hospital, to avoid too much fuss Grace went to collect her alone, she had told her ex-husband and other children, but they had stayed away intentionally. Sam was mentally still very delicate; they gave her emotional support and love, and hoped that everything else would fall into place in time.
They walked back to the car in virtual silence, Grace tried making conversation, but it just wasn't happening, not yet. As they walked into the car park Grace looked for her car, knowing where she'd parked it, but unable to see it.
"Need a lift ladies?" A familiar voice said from behind them.
"What are you doing here?"
"Will called me; he said that Sam was coming home today and that you might appreciate a lift."
"Well we don't, we're fine thanks, I came in my car."
"Ahh yeah, about that."
"What?"
"Will had a spare set of keys, he's borrowed your car."
"Will has his own car, why would he borrow mine."
"I don't know, he just said he was taking it."
"Mum, Will arranged this, you're clearly unhappy and there really is no need for you to be."
"Sam I'm fine and Will had no business interfering, all I want to do at the moment is concentrate on getting you back on your feet, you need taking care of."
"I don't need taking care of, and with the greatest of respect you fussing over me is already getting on my nerves, I don't need a baby sitter."
"Its what you need that matters…."
Sam interrupted her, "Exactly, and what I don't need is a full time minder, I really don't, and I'm fine with this, I mean with you and him, look why don't I go and wait in the car."
Boyd deactivated the car alarm using the key and then turned to speak to Grace. "So, can I give you a lift?"
"Why couldn't you just stay away Boyd, I asked you, no I told you it was over, but you just couldn't keep away."
"I told you you'd get bored before me."
"It's not funny…."
"No you're right it isn't, I love you and that most certainly isn't funny, I cannot walk away from you, I just can't, so please don't ask me to."
Grace took a deep breath before speaking. "I guess you'd better take me home then." She gave a small smile and looped her arm through his to walk to the car.
The End.