Chapter 7 Forever is a mighty long time

The day was a mixture of sensations for the two women. Enjoyment of being with family for the exchange of presents, playing of games and consumption of large quantities of fine food set against the deep sense of loss at being apart from the other. For Caroline there had been a very special present in the form of an answerphone message waiting for her when she arrived home.

'Mrs Elliot. This is Tony from Neilson and Shaw. I know you are away today, Christmas Eve, but I thought you might like to know that as instructed I have accepted a compromise offer from the Jordans for £825,000. I hope the wedding went ok and that you have a good Christmas. We're open again on the 27th, speak then.'

Caroline and Kate managed to exchange numerous text messages and, once in the privacy of their bedrooms at the end of the day, shared in a very long and passionate phone call which suggested that their dreams would be sweet. Caroline told Kate the good news about the house sale and could hardly contain her pleasure when Kate suggested that they go together to view some houses as soon as possible. Kate was right in that they could hardly go forward into the future if they lived separately and the misery of being apart for that day was more than enough.

The next morning brought the expected farewells and although Caroline was particularly sorry to say goodbye to William she was buoyed by his encouraging words "you and Kate back together was my best present, mum." Once Caroline had the house to herself she rushed around to complete the preparations for Kate's arrival, just finishing as Kate's car pulled onto the drive. Caroline hurried out to greet her and was at the car door before Kate had undone her seat belt.

"How did I manage without you for six months? Twenty four hours has seemed an eternity!" she enthused. "Come in, come in. Here let me get your luggage." Kate looked stern. "Yes, I know you're pregnant and not ill but I want to spoil you. Please?" Kate allowed Caroline to have her wish and they walked together into the house. Kate went towards the kitchen, to seek out the wonderful smell of coffee.

"I can't drink it as it has started to give me bad heartburn but how I love the aroma!" As Kate stood with her eyes closed, inhaling deeply, she was not surprised to feel strong arms encircle her and Caroline's warm breath on her neck. They maintained the embrace for some minutes until the kitchen timer disrupted them.

"Lunch is ready if you are. It's only cannelloni and I can keep it warm if you are not hungry yet."

"No way am I waiting for your 'only cannelloni', I know how wonderful that is. Lead me to it!"

They chatted away between mouthfuls, and the food was as good as Kate's expectation but the pleasure was multiplied by the thrill of each other's company. Hands were held and eye contact was almost unbroken. As a small drop of tomato sauce fell onto Kate's chin Caroline's ability to concentrate on her food was irredeemably broken. She leaned into Kate and licked the smear before moving her mouth upwards and claiming Kate's lips: licking, biting and sucking them. The air was electric with passion, and an exchange of moans confirmed that it was not food which was now to be devoured and within a few minutes they had managed to negotiate the stairs and reach the bedroom where they stood facing each other, both panting hard. Kate lifted her hands to hold Caroline's shoulders before leaning in to nuzzle her neck. The kisses were so light they barely connected but the effect was mesmerising and Caroline struggled to remain standing. As Kate continued her exploration of Caroline's neck she moved her right hand and slowly drew one finger from Caroline's chin down to the rise of her breasts, while her left hand roamed around the waistband of Caroline's trousers. At this point Caroline had to grab hold of her lover's hands and take a step back.

"I am in grave danger of coming with my clothes intact, Kate. Your touch is intoxicatingly good. No, not good. Lovely, exquisite, superb, orgasmic! Sweet Jesus, what you do to me is beyond x rated." Kate was not to be deterred and within a few minutes Caroline had indeed climaxed with minimal disruption to her clothing and she dropped to her knees in front of Kate, shaking from the aftershock. Kate joined Caroline on the floor and held her tight as the waves of pleasure continued to roll. When Caroline had regained some control of her body she held Kate's hand and led them both towards the bed.

Kate noticed for the first time that her photo was in a small heart shaped frame on the nearest bedside table and a second photo of them together was on the other side. Kate looked at Caroline and felt sure that she could see a slight blush developing on her neck. "I can look at you as I wake whichever side I am facing. It seemed as if I could keep you near that way even when we…" The sentence remained unfinished as they once again linked lips and the movement of their tongues helped form a different language, one that only lovers speak and hear.

Later that afternoon they snuggled together and while Caroline massaged Kate's back her hands roamed over Kate's tummy and once again she felt the movement within.

"This is the start of her usual busy time" Kate explained. "Let's hope that she does not become a night time baby once she is born!"

"Do you have any idea what you are going to call her?"

"That's for us to decide, not just me. It's strange because I had a conversation with Celia about my favourite baby names when Gillian's granddaughter was born and I said that it would all depend on what you thought. Then when I started to think about what to call this little one it was if I felt guilty at making a decision without you and I just haven't. I still like all the names that I liked then but I want us to choose together. How did you choose the names for William and Lawrence?"

"William was an easy choice. John and I each wrote out lists of our favourite five names - we knew we were expecting a boy. William was the only name on both lists! Naming Lawrence was harder. Again we knew that a boy was on the way and tried the same method. No luck – ten very different names. John was really keen on the name Lawrence, probably because of Laurence Olivier or Lawrence of Arabia, knowing him. Anyway, I didn't dislike the name so I let him have his wish, for a quiet life I suppose. I chose his middle name, Simon. What are your front runners for this little one?"

"I would find it really hard to cut the list down to five! The other thing to consider is surname. McKenzie is Richard's surname. I didn't revert to my maiden name when we divorced so I had been considering if I should do that first so I know if the first names will go with it. My maiden name was James. Two of my favourites are Poppy and Jasmine but they sound very different when said with McKenzie or James. Now you are here to help me decide, so that's good! But now there is the Elliot surname to throw into the mix."

"Bloody hell, Kate. That's John's surname not mine, really, so should I be thinking of reverting to Dawson? At this rate we'll not decide on a name for our little girl before she starts school! But while we are on this subject…" Caroline leapt out of bed and picked up two presents which were on the dresser. One was a very thin one and it was this that she gave to Kate first. "I have some other presents for you under the tree downstairs. I had bought them for you even though I had no expectation of you accepting them. These two are different. They were wrapped especially for you this morning. The message from the estate agent was not the only good news waiting for me when I arrived home yesterday."

Kate unwrapped the present to find an envelope inside, addressed to Caroline, who nodded and indicated that Kate should continue. Kate took out the sheet of paper but Caroline was impatient and she rushed to explain.

"It's my decree nisi. As you will know I can now apply for a decree absolute after six weeks. It won't be long before we don't have to worry about John's interference. Now for the second gift." Caroline handed Kate a small square present. She looked nervous as Kate undid the silver paper to reveal a green felt covered box, which looked very much as if it had seen better days. Kate lifted the lid to find a delicate gold ring, complete with a tiny diamond.

"Oh Caroline, it's beautiful. It's just so dainty. Thank you." She reached over to kiss Caroline and then took the ring from the box.

"I hope it is not too big. Your hands are so delicate that we may have to get it made smaller."

"I'm sure it will fit one finger or another." Kate went to try the ring on as Caroline's hands stopped her movement.

"It's not meant to fit on just any finger. I had a specific one in mind." Caroline took the ring from Kate and slowly lifted Kate's left hand. "This is my vow to you, Kate. I don't want to waste another day. It would mean everything to me if you would agree to be my wife. Please marry me, Kate. Your love to me is everything. I offer you my heart and my soul, all of my tomorrows. I'm not complete without you and my heart tells me that you feel the same. I would love it if you accepted this as your engagement ring but we can buy another if you do not like it."

"It's beautiful but nowhere near as stunning as you are! Wow! Do you mean it? Do you really feel that you want to take this step? I am honoured that you have asked me. I'm shocked. I trusted in your commitment but I had no idea that you would feel able to take such a step, not yet anyway."

"Well we can't officially marry until March, by which time I will be free to do so. So we will be able to be married by the time this little one puts in an appearance if she is not early! I know my mum mentioned it yesterday but it was if she had read my mind. Perhaps we are very alike after all!"

"Thankfully you are nothing like your mother! Can I try it on?"

"If you do I will take it as a 'yes' to my proposal and there is no going back."

Kate guided Caroline's hand to place the ring on her finger. "Actions speak louder than words, Caroline, but I would also like to voice my acceptance of your offer to make me your wife. Now, if you don't mind please kiss me to seal this promise."

Tears streamed down the cheeks of both women as they exchanged yet another kiss before Kate broke away to have another look at the ring.

"It's so pretty. Where did you get it? We'll need to go shopping for one for you."

"The ring is almost 100 years old. It belonged to my great, great aunt. My dad's great aunt on his mum's side. She was engaged to be married but her fiancé was killed in the Great War. She was eighteen years old at the time. She never married but lived a full life, adventurous and free spirited. She trained as a nurse and spent many years in Europe in the 1920s, caring for those rebuilding their lives. It was as if she gained strength to deal with her own heartbreak by helping others and being near where he had died. Later on she travelled all over the world, wherever there was need. She was so full of life and positive energy. She was an amazing woman. When I was born she was sixty seven, newly returned to England and retired. She needed a new focus and I was her next project! She taught me to ride a bike, to swim, to read. She had such amazing stamina. It was her love of the world and medicine that probably led me to be interested in the sciences and ultimately chemistry. She was so proud of me when I gained a place at Oxford but sadly she didn't live to see me there. She passed away in her sleep the day after I received my A-level results. I was devastated. I often think that if she had still been alive and I had told her rather than my mother about falling in love with another girl, things might have been very different. She left me her engagement ring. She had very little else. She'd been so generous throughout her life, she'd given away everything well before then."

"She sounds amazing. What a story. What a legacy. You haven't told me what her name was."

"Simone. Hence Simon as Lawrence's middle name. I thought he would be my last child and so he had the male equivalent to Simone."

"It's a beautiful name. I wonder what it means. Can you pass me my phone so I can Google it?"

Google came up with various options but the most common seemed to be 'heard'. "The name is said to mean that the person is one to work with others to create peace and harmony." Kate smiled as she read the text out loud, with Caroline leaning over her shoulder.

"How apt that name was for your aunt. I doubt that her mother had any idea what it meant or the appropriateness of her decision. Caroline, what do you think of that as our baby's name? It works on so many levels. There's your aunt's legacy to you, there's Simone de Beauvoir too." Kate saw Caroline looking a little puzzled. "I think I need to educate you. There are obviously gaps that your Oxbridge education did not cover! Simone de Beauvoir was a feminist and author. Have you not heard 'she was ready to deny the existence of space and time rather than admit that love might not be eternal'? Those two Simones are formidable acts for our Simone to follow."

Yet another kiss sealed the second agreement of the afternoon.