TW: Homophobic parent
.
The storm was coming, so the weather forecasters said. The children scurried from their classrooms, let out early to help get them home safely. Strong winds and torrential downpours were anticipated, with lightning and thunder expected to finish off mother nature's wrathful exhibition.
Celia and Alan had decided to stay in Harrogate with friends rather than brave the trip home. It was a Monday so Flora was snuggled up with Greg in his solid home and she had to trust that the boys were old enough to look after themselves on a night like this. This left Caroline rattling around in her old house, hunting for candles as soon as she got home in case the electricity blew.
Gillian had moved the sheep to higher ground and Raff, Ellie and Calamity had come home to help her with the farm for a few days. When Caroline had called to say she had the house to herself for the night, it seemed too good an opportunity for Gillian to waste. They'd only had four full nights together in the last three months, so Gillian asked Caroline to come and pick her up.
The last of the light was fleeing the advancing storm and the broody skies were darker than the land by the time Caroline pulled into Gillian's courtyard. She could see Gillian marching out the door, pulling her coat over her shoulders as she moved towards the Jeep. Caroline got out and met her, sliding her arms around Gillian and pulling her in for a long kiss. Neither noticed the two pairs of eyes peeking from behind the curtains in the farmhouse.
"Hi."
"Hiya."
"So tell me, I'm happy to pick you up, but why are you not taking your precious Land Rover?"
"Raff and Ellie will look after things here, and they'll need the Landy if anything happens. It's safer if I leave it."
"Oh. I see." Caroline nodded to the Jeep with a smile. "Hop in. Let's get home before the weather breaks."
.
.
Alan carefully drove the Lexus into Caroline's yard and parked next to her Jeep. Relieved to be home, he turned to Celia, "We're home love. Let's get you and that migraine to bed and you'll be right as rain in the morning."
"Yes, love. That's a wonderful idea." Celia sighed tiredly, glad to be home, looking forward to taking her migraine tablets to sooth her pounding head. "Let's leave the bags in the car. We can collect them tomorrow when it's dry." She looked over at the house. "Why are there no lights on? Caroline's car is here and it isn't late."
"P'raps power's out again. It can happen up here during storms." Alan got out of the car and opened the umbrella, walking to Celia's door to escort her inside as dryly as possible. They shook themselves off as they entered, their call to Caroline obliterated by the thunder. They could see a dim flickering light in the direction of the kitchen so headed that way, following a trail of candles.
Caroline sat on the edge of the kitchen table. Her skirt had ridden up revealing long legs that wound around Gillian's like vines on a tree. Her shirt and bra dangled from one arm as she lent back, arching into Gillian. Her breast was in Gillian's mouth and Gillian's hands were sliding up her body. Caroline threw her head back, eyes closed and mouth open, blonde hair lit red-hot by the candlelight.
Celia and Alan stared at the erotic scene before them, mouths open in shock, taking it all in. In the second or two it took for them to process it, a moan issued from Caroline, followed by, "Oh god, Gillian."
"Caroline!" Celia's yell landed on them like a bucket of cold water.
"Oh Gillian, how could you?" Alan's voice of dismay didn't even register during the frenzy that followed.
Gillian launched herself at Caroline, wrapping her body around Caroline while they scrabbled for the shirt still draped around one arm. A few moments later, using her body to block their parent's view while Caroline resurrected her clothing, Gillian turned to face the onslaught, embarrassed but with comparative calm, protective of the currently more vulnerable Caroline.
"Hiya Dad. Hi Celia. Unexpected surprise."
"What's going on here? Are you...are you two..." Celia couldn't articulate the thoughts in her head. She hadn't even noticed that the pain in her head had been temporarily annihilated by the bombshell.
"But you're...family!" Alan floundered, tongue stumbling over the words. He looked at Gillian, shock written clearly on his face. "And you're not a lesbian...are you?"
Gillian felt they had been so comprehensively sprung that the truth was unavoidable at this point. "As it turns out, I'm bi. Have been for about 30 years, Dad. Didn't tell anyone. Didn't feel the need, to be honest." Gillian tilted her head and said more kindly, "And we're not actually related. You know that, Dad."
Alan stared at his daughter, completely lost in a swamp of incomprehension. She was an alien from another planet, so very different from him and Eileen.
"Are you okay?" Gillian was more than a little concerned about her father and his heart condition.
Alan's brain was still trying to catch up. "I think I'm okay, love. Just a bit of a shock, is all." He gave her a strained smile, a million miles from any sort of equilibrium.
Celia had recovered somewhat and had found her voice.
"That is disgusting, Caroline. How could you..." Celia pointed at Gillian, "with her?"
"Stop it Mum. Just stop it." Caroline was mortified to be caught in such a compromising position, but she needed her mum to stop being so horrible.
Caroline finished doing up the last of her buttons on her shirt and then she turned around. "Look, I'm sorry you saw us tonight, but we weren't expecting you home. It's not like we planned this, but it happened. It's as simple as that." Caroline moved to stand next to Gillian, who took her hand. Gillian and Caroline looked at each other, knowing they were stronger together in this.
"Oh Caroline," Celia whined. "On the table? I never want to eat in here again."
Gillian burst out laughing. She tried not to, but she couldn't hold it in.
Caroline looked at Gillian with astonishment, before she too doubled over laughing. Like Gillian, all she could think of was the number of times they'd actually fucked on that good and sturdy table, all the times they'd screwed in the kitchen at Gillian's or on the couches in the lounge, shagged in the bathroom and even in the Jeep. Caroline was fairly surprised at that last one, as she thought she was too old to start shagging in cars, but Gillian, the oh so experienced shagmistress, showed her a way for their middle-aged selves to fuck in the cramped quarters. Truth be told, they had sex pretty much anywhere they started snogging and groping one another, because they rarely could organise themselves into a bedroom before they got too heated to want to move.
Celia was most unimpressed by the two women screeching with laughter in front of her. To not be taken seriously was the highest insult she could think of and she was getting very stroppy.
Celia crossed her arms in front of her. "Its not on Caroline."
Caroline eventually recovered. "Sorry. Sorry mum." She smirked, trying to hide it. "It's just a table. It can be cleaned."
"Well I know that, but I'll never...unsee...that," she said, pointing at the table. Celia was still horrified by the vision of the two of them at it. It was one thing imagining it, those lesbian shenanigans, but seeing her own daughter in such fine lusty form was much more confronting.
Caroline sighed, knowing the real issue was her queerness. "Mum, we didn't mean you to see us. The point is, Gillian and I are lovers," she chose the term deliberately, "and we intend to continue to be lovers." She looked fondly at Gillian. "I love her. And she loves me," Caroline broke out in to a big smile, "as unbelievable as that is."
The act of looking at one another while speaking of love narrowed their vision to the two of them, and it seemed inevitable that Gillian and Caroline would slowly lean towards one another and kiss tenderly. Not a conscious choice by either of them, but it had the effect of inflaming the situation.
Neither of them noticed Celia huffing her distaste. It was the first time she'd seen Caroline kiss a woman up close. Caroline had never kissed Kate in front of her and had always been very circumspect about any public displays of affection with Kate. Celia couldn't remember Caroline ever kissing John like that either. Despite Celia's discomfort, she could see, perhaps for the first time, just how much Caroline had changed. It didn't lessen how hurt Celia felt though. It was as if she took Caroline's lesbianism as a reflection on herself; a slur on her parenting and genes.
Alan, thankfully, was already recovering. His color was returning and a small smile was starting to form on his face. After the initial shock, all he could think about was that his daughter had found Caroline, someone he genuinely liked and admired. He wanted to be happy about it, even if he wasn't really, yet.
"Well, I'm a bit shocked, but if it makes you both happy," he started, before being interrupted by Celia.
Celia glanced at Alan, and thought she'd have another crack at bringing Caroline back into the conventional fold. "Caroline, this isn't really you. Kate was an aberration, and so is Gillian."
Caroline sighed. It was an old argument and she was tired of it. "I am a lesbian. I like sleeping with other women. This isn't new, so try to get it, Mum."
Then Celia had the brilliant idea that she could blame it on Gillian and hopefully blow up the relationship. Looking Caroline in the eye, she stated with disdain, "You know Gillian will get sick of you and start...mucking about. She always does." She could barely keep the sneer out of her voice.
Alan was stunned. His jaw dropped open and he stared at Celia.
Caroline clenched her jaw and defaulted to waspish anger. Caroline had put up with the sniping about Kate from her mum, and after Kate died, about Caroline finding a man. It was one thing to put up with it when she was the only one affected, she thought; old habits die hard. But this time it was going to affect Gillian, and Gillian had been through enough shit in her life. Caroline wasn't going to add to it, not if she could help it.
She stepped forward, to push home her point. "Anything that happens between Gillian and me is our business, not yours. So don't be a sour old a bitch. You were foul to Kate and I won't have you doing the same to Gillian."
"Caroline!" Celia was genuinely shocked at the vicious response from her Caroline.
Gillian had bristled. She had a past, no mistake, but Celia had been bloody rude. "Celia, that's between me and Caz. I can tell you, it isn't going to happen. Not this time." Gillian decided to go for the gold. "She's far too good in bed for me to bother muckin' about with blokes." She paused for effect. "She's brilliant at fucking." It stopped the argument, as she knew it would.
They all turned to Gillian, gawping in shock. Then they turned to Caroline, who had turned beet-red.
"Gillian!"
"Sorry Caz, but its true. You are. So I'm not going to be playing away when I have you to come home to." Caroline just stared at her gobsmacked. She realised her mouth was hanging open, so shut it, but that was as much as her brain managed.
Gillian squeezed Caroline's hand. She turned to her dad and Celia. "Sorry about that, but I really wanted to be clear about it. Me and Caz are a couple, and I can't see that changing. So you're going to have to be nice to us, Celia. It isn't going to work if you're not."
Gillian lifted Caroline's hand to her mouth and kissed it softly. "How about we go upstairs, leave these two to have a chat?" Caroline was still silent, still mortified, still trying to work out how to manage the fallout from Gillian's latest verbal explosion.
"Dad, I love you. I'll call you tomorrow. Celia, I hope you have a good night." Gillian tugged Caroline's hand and it pulled her out of stasis. Caroline sprung into motion. "'Night Mum, 'night Alan. See you both in the morning." After all that, there really wasn't anything else she could say.
Alan's head was still spinning. Looking at Gillian, he offered a brief smile and added; "I'll see you tomorrow."
Celia stood immovable, dumbfounded, horrified.
As they left the room Gillian grabbed a bottle of red from the wine rack near the door and Caroline picked up a candle, giving them enough light to see the stairs. It felt symbolic somehow, that this would happen in the near dark. They made their way to Caroline's bedroom and when they shut the door quietly behind them, the world beyond became temporarily irrelevant.
As soon as she was in the door, Caroline turned on Gillian. "What the hell were you thinking!?"
Gillian was a bit taken aback by the response. She thought it had worked a treat; it stopped the argument flat, and it was very complimentary. She'd been called a 'good shag' in the past and thought it a handy and accurate description.
"Oh, come on Caz. It were only a bit of fun. It stopped the argument, didn't it?"
"Couldn't you have found another way to do it other than mentioning...that?" Caroline hated herself for starting to blush again. She looked skywards, willing her body to settle.
Gillian stood there, hand on Caroline's arm, waiting.
After a minute or so, Caroline sighed heavily. "I'll never live it down, will I?"
"Nope." Gillian smirked, trying not to laugh.
"Fuck."
"Yep."
"Bitch."
"Yep."
They both burst out laughing.
Gillian put the bottle on the dressing table. "Caz, your mum. What is she like? It's the bloody table she took exception to, not us nearly shagging in front of her...hilarious! And it's not like we've haven't shagged in nearly every room in the house."
Caroline laughed, enveloping Gillian in strong arms. "I know. That's all I could think about when she mentioned it. Then I thought of all the other places we've yet to try. Top of the washing machine comes to mind; the spin cycle could be fun," she snorted.
"Ha! How about the Landy? Or in the garden? The bathroom here? Haven't christened that yet," she added with glee.
"Endless shagging possibilities then. I look forward to it." Caroline's smirk could be heard in her voice.
They held one another for a good while, gentle smiles eventually settling on their faces.
"Is it wine o'clock yet?" Caroline asked quietly.
"Good plan 99." They separated and Gillian used the corkscrew on her pocketknife to open the bottle of red while Caroline rinsed a glass from the en suite. Sharing the glass, they sat next to each other on the edge of the bed, happy to be in close proximity to one another.
"I reckon we should be loud, tonight. Show them we mean business."
Caroline looked stunned. The thought that they would actually plan to have sex while her mum might be in a room two doors down horrified her. "I don't think I can...I mean...really?" It was the first time she'd been faced with the practicalities of bringing someone home when her mum lived inside her house, rather than in a flat out the back. And after being sprung in the kitchen earlier, it was all a bit too close. Another 10 minutes and Gillian might have been up to her wrist in Caroline. Now that would have given Alan a heart attack.
"Yeah Caz. Nothing says 'Fuck you' like fucking." She laughed, the glint of rebellion shining in her eyes. "Time to pony up, darlin'," was delivered with her best Jimmy Cagney accent.
Caroline just looked at her. "Wow. I'm not sure I can." She grimaced. "She'd be in my thoughts and..." Caroline looked at the ground, a little flustered. She hated to admit it; "if nothing else works I think of Mum when I want to cool down if...if... when I'm in public." Even in the candlelight, Gillian could see the pink of Caroline's embarrassment.
"Ha! Really? That's genius." Laughing raucously, Gillian nearly rolled off the edge of the bed and it was only Caroline grabbing her jumper that stopped her. "So if I want to slow you down, I can put the image of your mum into your head?"
Caroline shivered with horror. "Do that and you'll get no sex at all, old girl. Don't you think I have enough to talk about with the counsellor without adding some sort of parental kink into the mix?"
Gillian was jiggling with glee. "Oh go on, it could be a hoot!"
"I'll start speaking about your dad, just before you come..." She looked suddenly at the door, "Hi Alan!"
Gillian snapped her head to the door, only seeing the inside of the bedroom. She glared at Caroline in horror. "Oh, you wouldn't."
"Wouldn't I?" Caroline looked at her with her best haughty Head Teacher attitude.
"Twat." Gillian chuckled. Caroline would, the mad cow. Gillian relented. "Okay. Fair call. No parents of any description during sex."
Caroline sighed in relief. "Thank you."
They downed the wine, sharing horror stories about their parents, like when Gillian was sprung having sex at school and having to confess it to her mum, and when she was sprung with one of her regular shags in the back seat of a car by a friend of her dad's a few years ago. The more stories that came out, the more obvious it was that Caroline wasn't sharing anything.
Gillian nudged her. "Nothing to share, Caz?"
"No, not really. Very boring at this end I'm afraid. John and I...it was basically limited to the bedroom even before the boys were born."
"What about Kate?" Gillian hesitated to mention Kate, but it seemed the right time.
"No, we were fairly cautious. Well, I was. Kate was more adventurous." Caroline thought back to those days, and how far she'd come in accepting herself. It made such a difference.
"You're a very bad influence on me, Gillian. I simply can't resist you." Caroline kissed Gillian's cheek softly.
It wasn't long before their proximity to one another and the need to touch took over. The tender caresses and kisses deepened into something more passionate, more desperate. The night to themselves, they came together in the candlelight. Bonded by the heat of battle, their lovemaking had elements of mutiny in it, daring their parents to deny who they were and what they were doing. There were times when their cries and moans and laughter could be heard through the old house during the lulls in the rain, rattling both Celia and Matthew Normanton's ghost. When Caroline and Gillian at last wore themselves out, they slept, bodies strewn about the bed like debris after the storm.