Part Six – Glory of Family

It happened fast, Glorious leapt off of me, going bright red in the face as she said quickly with her Irish accent, "Javelin, it's not what it looks like!"

Javelin still had wide eyes and pointed back and forth between me and Glorious as I mumble, "Then what was it?"

Glorious turns to look at me slightly as she whispers, letting slip by accident, "Anthony…"

That seemed to shock Javelin and she asked, that Scottish accent so strong, "Anthony? You're on first name bases with the Commander?"

Glorious looked down and started to tap her index fingers together as she mumbled, "It's complicated."

"Complicated, like you sent me to go check on something so you could snog the Commander?" Javelin asked with a degree of accusation even I didn't expect. Glorious was speechless, but glowing a bright red. I was not standing and rubbing the back of my head and avoiding eye contact with Javelin as she added, "Well, Commander? What have you got to say for yourself?"

I clear my throat, close my eyes and take a deep breath before letting it out slowly as I say, "Nothing, really Javelin."

"How can you not?" she pauses and gestures to the couch as she continues, "How long have you two been sneaking around?"

"We haven't been sneaking around, Javelin." Glorious squeaks out.

"We don't even know what this is." I say.

"It looks a lot like the two of you were snogging on the couch! I sit on that thing!" Javelin protests loudly.

"Nothing has happened between me and Glorious!" I counter.

"We've shared a bed, a few times, but nothing more than that!" Glorious adds and I feel my cheeks get hot, Javelin for her part goes quiet for a moment and starts to point between the two of us again.

After a few moments, and going bright red, Javelin turned on her heels and said, "Sorry for interrupting!"

When the door slammed shut behind her, I hung my head and groaned just before Glorious put a hand on my shoulder and said, "I'm going to go."

I pinch the bridge of my nose and nod as I say to her, "But I want to continue this conversation later, alright?"

When I open my eyes I see Glorious smile at me as she nods and says, "Of course, Anthony."

As she left my office I tilted my head to the side and watched as she seemed to have extra sway in her hips and now I was wondering what she had been up to at the north beach when I found her there. No, stop it, Anthony, you don't need to have those thoughts right now. Once the door clicked shut I looked up at the clock on my wall and sighed, at least the day was over.

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Tossing my take out on the counter, I look around my quarters and sigh, it feels kind of big and empty now, and I wanted to know what was going on between me and Glorious now. I mean sharing a bed was one thing, cuddling in said bed was another, but kissing me, that set things on a level that I hadn't realized we had crossed into. Taking a seat at my counter I opened up the bangers and mash I had picked up before pouring the side of gravy over it. Just as I sliced the first sausage and was about to take a bite, two things happened at once, first, my mobile phone rang and the other was a knock at my door. Putting down my fork and knife, I grabbed my phone and walked to my door, not looking at the name on the caller ID I said, "Wilks."

Just as I opened the door, and found myself smiling at Glorious who had her own take-out container, I heard a voice that sent a chill down my spine, my mother as she said, "Tony, how are you?"

Waving Glorious in I force a smile on my face as I say, "I'm good, mom, why are you calling?"

Glorious has a confused look on her face as she steps inside and shuts the door behind her, being as careful as she can to minimize noise as my mother says to me, "What's wrong with a mother calling her eldest boy?"

"Nothing, but in my experience, you don't." I counter while gesturing to the kitchen.

"Fair point." My mother says before an awkward pause and then she drops the bomb and I can't help but panic on the inside as she says it, "I got a letter in the post, saying that I've been approved to head over to HMNB Portsmouth, something about families being able to see their loved ones that are at some of the more secure naval bases."

Glorious moves to put her dinner down beside mine and that was when I noticed she had a bag hanging off of her shoulder, tilting my head to the side and gesturing to it, she lifted it up and flushed brightly and pointed upstairs to which I nodded and said to my mother, "It would've been nice to get a heads up."

"You should've gotten that information already, it was said to have been sent out a couple of weeks ago. Regardless, I'll be at the gatehouse in the morning and I look forward to catching up, love you, Tony." She said before hanging up and I dropped my mobile phone on the counter before placing both of my hands on either side of my nose, doing my best not to hyperventilate.

My attention snaps up to the stairs as I see Glorious descending them, I blink a couple of times as I see that she's not in her usual uniform, rather she's put on some pants and a loose-fitting T-shirt, her blond haired head tilting to the side as she blinks her blue eyes and at me and asks, "What's wrong?"

I move over to the counter, take a bite of my dinner and say, "A lot."

Glorious sits down beside me and looks at her dinner as she asks, "I hope I'm not a cause of that?"

Reaching over and rubbing her left shoulder I say to her, "If anything, seeing you right now is giving me some relief."

Glorious smiles at me and takes out a meat pie of some kind and asks, "Is it alright that I brought an overnight bag?"

Pounding my chest as I swallowed too much too fast before I ask, "What?"

Her face went bright red as she mumbled, "I wanted to try sleeping in the same bed again."

"No, no, that's fine, I just wasn't expecting th…" I didn't finish that as Glorious got out of her chair quickly and kissed me.

When that kiss broke, she stroked my cheek and said, "Now about before, I don't know what this is, but I know I like it."

Slipping my hands to her hips, I lift and put her on the counter, getting myself between her legs, and started to kiss her neck between whispering, "I like this too."

Glorious started to run her hands through my hair as she said, "Then keep doing that."

Slipping my hands under her shirt and over her back, she called out with a little alarm, "Anthony!"

Stopping what I was doing, I leaned back and asked, "What?"

Her cheeks were bright red and she took my hands out from under her shirt, she was looking off to the side and I could see the gears turning in her brain. After a moment she slipped off the counter, but kept hold of my right hand and started to guide me upstairs. Once we started on the stairs, I could see her going a brighter red as she whispered, "Allow me to show you the glory of the Royal Navy."

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I woke up the next morning to the sound of my shower running and I felt around in the bed for Glorious, not finding her I sat up and spotted a light under the bathroom door. Getting out of bed I slipped into the bathroom and smiled at the sight of the alabaster skin with soap bubbles in convenient locations. Sliding back the curtain, and stepping in, I slipped my arms around her waist and pulled her tightly against me. Glorious laughed and adjusted her legs to allow me to pass between her thighs as she asked, "Still feeling a bit randy?"

I kissed her neck as I said, "I told you before, I don't control it in the morning."

Glorious turned in my arms to face me and gave me a little smirk as she said, "Then should we do something about that?"

Sliding my hands to her stern I started to nibble on her neck again, as she started to pant and let her hands roam over my back, I could hear my landline start to ring, Glorious panted out, "Ignore it."

Moving my kissing to where her neck met her shoulders, while my hands moved to her inner thighs, my mobile started to ring, while my Land line was ringing. Groaning to myself, as much as I wanted this to keep going I forced myself to stop as I say to her, "I really should get this."

Glorious pouted at me and said, "Fine, but don't be upset if I'm not interested when you get back."

Sighing to myself I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around my waist as I grab the closest line, my landline, and answer "Wilks."

On the other end I hear Javelin sigh in relief before she says to me, "Commander, I was getting worried I'd have to send someone over there!"

"What do you need, Javelin?" I ask, doing my best not to sound annoyed.

"I got a message from one of the Meowfficers at the gatehouse that there is a very confused-looking woman, saying she's here to see you." Javelin tells me.

I blink a couple of times and reach for my mobile, flipping it over to see the time and I curse out, "Bollocks, she's early."

"Who's early?" called Glorious called from the shower.

"Sorry for interrupting, Commander, do you need me to stall her?" Javelin asks with a very dry tone of voice.

With an inward sigh I answer, "Not at all, Javelin, I'll get dressed and meet her at the gatehouse myself." With the line going dead I hang up and start searching for some clothes, at least it was a Saturday, so I don't need my uniform, but it would look good.

The shower shuts off and I hear the curtain move before Glorious repeats her question, "Who's early?" I stop and look back into the bathroom and grin at the glorious sight of her starting to dry off, Glorious grabs her washcloth and tosses it at me as she adds, "Well?"

Shaking my head to get myself to refocus I answer her, and somehow both became more real and caused dead silence as soon as the words left my mouth, "My mother."

The color drained out of Glorious' cheeks and she started to hurry about getting dressed as she said, "Do you mind if I avoid that, I don't think I'm ready to meet your mother."

And I'm not ready to have you meet her either; I'd rather figure this out first.

Before I can respond to her, she's already slipped on her uniform dress and given me a quick kiss before ducking out the door and I hurry to get ready to face something I really didn't want to face today.

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Stopping just back and out of sight from the gatehouse I could hear my mother yelling, "Why are you the guard?! You're just a cat, now let me in!"

Taking a deep breath to center myself, I step around the corner and approach the gatehouse, I see my mother fixing her short red hair, she was in a green sundress, her hands were on her hips and she was bending slightly forward as she yelled to the Meowfficer. Her green eyes narrowed at it and as I stepped around I saw the little grey puff ball standing on its hind legs, the shoulder boards and cap sitting right and proper, while it stuffed the pipe it had. Looking at the officer cap I read the name and spoke, "It's alright, Pepper, I'm expecting her."

With a nod, Pepper moved their right foot to step on the gate release and my mother straightened up and adjusted her dress before walking up to me, and pulling me into a hug, rubbing my back as she said, "Oh it's good to see you, Tony, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Mom, how are you?" I ask, still really guarded as to why she wanted to see me, we haven't exactly been close since she married my stepfather and had his kids.

She leans back and waves a dismissive hand as she says, "Well enough, now show me around this place."

I quickly start running through my head on a place I can take her that will not be uncaged insanity. However, I know I'm not that lucky. As if to prove my point I see a blur of white, red, and blond hair running across the street, followed quickly by a loud bang and a woman shouting, "Get back here you scallywag!" A moment later I see a woman, missing a bikini top, sprinting out from some bushes, her long white hair in a ponytail flowing out behind her as she pumps her arms, in one hand I see an old-style flintlock pistol, pinching the bridge of my nose I sigh to myself, "Just what I didn't need today."

"Tony, did I just see what I think I saw?" my mother asks me in a surprised tone.

Running a hand down my face I say to her, "Drake trying to chase down Abercrombie, who from what I saw, stole Drake's top."

"Does that happen a lot?" She asks me slowly.

"Abercrombie is our resident troublemaker, so more than I'd like." I say dryly.

"I don't understand, I thought you ran a Navy base?" she asks me.

"I do, and it's unlike any base you have ever seen." I say to her before continuing down the road.

"How have you not gotten in trouble for things like that?" she asks me as she hurries to catch up.

"Simply because I don't command the girls, high Command lets the girls decide how they are going to fight on the water and lets them figure out what to do. My job is to keep the base running, so the manjuu and meowfficers are under my command." I answer with a shrug, only to have it hit more how insane I've got to sound about all of this.

"Manjuu? Meowfficers?" my mother asks in a puzzled tone.

Pinching the bridge of my nose I try to put it simply, "Crimes against nature, extremely useful ones, but still crimes against nature. You already met Pepper, she's a meowfficer, a cat that has been engineered to the point where it is nearly human in what it can do. The Manjuu are chickens that are rather good mechanics and support staff."

"But, what about the girls?" she asks as we come around the corner in front of a heavy cruiser hull.

I point at it and say, "This is HMS Drake, well half of Drake. You saw the other half of her chasing Abercrombie, she's a monitor class, and Drake here is the best heavy cruiser in the port."

"I don't understand?" My mother says, still sounding as puzzled as before.

"You don't have to. You just need to understand that the girls you are going to see on base are warships. So if I let things slide, it's because they need the understanding and the ability to blow off steam." I say to her as I turn around, putting my back to Drake's hull.

My mother leaned against the railing with me, putting her back to the hull as well, and confusion written all over her face still and she asked, "Is there a place we can go and sit for a bit, while I get my head around this?"

With a nod I say, "Yes mom, I'll take you to my quarters."

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After we got to my quarters, I had shown my mom in and she went upstairs to lie down, I really didn't blame her, the base can be a lot to take in that first day. As I got some tea ready, I hear a knock on my door, tilting my head to the side I open the door to see Glorious standing there, her cheeks bright red and she was tapping her fingers together, I gesture for her to come inside. With a raised eyebrow I whisper to her, "What's going on Glorious?"

She tugged down her skirt a little while still trying to avoid eye contact as she went a bright red and whispered to me, "I forgot something this morning when I was dashing out the door."

"What did you forget?" I ask as I rack my brain for what it could be.

"I forgot my…" Glorious started to say, just as I heard my mother on the stairs. Looking at the stairs I see my mother coming down them with lacy fabric hanging out of her hand as she said, "Tony, please tell me these are not yours."

My eyes go wide and Glorious goes a deep red as she finishes in a low whisper, "knickers."

My mother turned her attention to Glorious and a smirk came to her lips as she walked up to her and held out the knickers as she asked, "I'm guessing these are yours?"

Glorious looked down and took the knickers from her as she mumbled "Yes."

"She's pretty, Tony, is she one of the kansen you mentioned?" my mother asks me.

"She is, she's HMS Glorious." I answer and put a hand on Glorious' shoulder, and she jumped a little at the contact.

My mother gives me a sideways look and asks, "Is this new?"

"Very!" Glorious blurts out.

My mother nods, seeming to get it as she says, "Well, it was nice to meet you Glorious, but I can imagine you want to get out of here right now and avoid meeting me proper right now."

"I would, very much so." Glorious mumbles, still looking down at her feet.

"Then I won't keep you." My mother says in a reassuring tone to Glorious.

Glorious takes her chance and heads to the door as she curtsies and says, "Thank you, with a bit more time, I would like to meet you properly."

I move to the door and touch Glorious' hands as I whisper to her, "Are you sure? I know she would like to get to know you."

Glorious squeezed my hands as she whispered, "I would too, but now is not the right time, besides she just found my knickers, I'd like to hide from this embarrassment for a little while at least."

"Alright, I'll call you later, okay?" I ask.

Glorious smiles at me and nods before ducking out the door, my mother comes up beside me and says, "Funny, I did the same thing with your father and grandmother."

"Mom!" I protest loudly, adding, "I didn't need to know that!"

She laughs and moves back to the kitchen to take a cup of tea as she says, "Come now, Tony, seeing what little I saw today, I'd have been surprised if you weren't sleeping with at least one of them."

I groan and hang my head while walking to the kitchen, while I add quietly to myself, "You don't know the half of it."

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A/N: Things are moving at a good pace now and only a couple of chapters left for this one.