It was still early when Caroline and Gillian walked into the kitchen. There was a tense anticipation of more stormy weather from their parents that followed them into the space even though the storm outside had dispersed by daylight. They settled into an effective routine, getting the coffee and breakfast and working out their plans for the day; school for Caroline and assessing the storm damage for Gillian.

They were in the process of cleaning up when Celia appeared. As soon as Celia's cold energy entered the room, Gillian could see the barrier of control descend upon Caroline.

"Hello Mum." Caroline continued wiping down the bench, not looking at her mother.

"Good morning Caroline. Sleep all right?" Celia asked sharply, knowing the answer.

"We slept well," Caroline paused in her cleaning and looked up with a raised eyebrow, "Eventually."

Celia looked liked she'd sucked on a lemon.

"Right. Well, Alan and me thought we might start looking for a place of our own." Celia looked directly at Caroline, watching for her response.

"I think that's a great idea. You'll be much more comfortable in your own home." Caroline watched her mum, knowing there was a telling vacancy where she would have previously added, 'but you're always welcome here'.

"Right. We'll get on with it then."

"Good."

There was another obvious absence in the conversation. Celia had yet to acknowledge that Gillian was in the room, let alone apologise. Caroline looked at Gillian, who was watching the events unfold like a BBC drama. Aware that she'd been deliberately ignored, Gillian moved to stand next to Caroline, who put an arm around Gillian's waist, protectively.

Caroline smiled at Gillian, landing a soft kiss on her temple. She turned back to her mum expectantly, raising her eyebrow.

Celia grumbled. "I'm sorry Gillian."

"Thank you Celia. I know it was a shock." Gillian gave Celia a free pass on her rudeness, but it would only happen once.

Caroline could see that her mum wasn't making that much of an effort with this, so she moved to the cupboards, getting out a bowl and the cereal that Celia liked. She poured some of the flakes into the bowl and placed it on the table, precisely where her bum had been the night before. Celia watched this with growing alarm. Caroline moved to the drawer, pulled out a spoon, grabbed a bottle of milk and placed them next to the bowl, arranging them to perfection.

"I cleaned the table this morning, so you should be good to go. Your breakfast is served, Mum."

Celia could see this was a setup. Caroline was leaning on the bench, hand on her hip, slight smirk playing on her lips, waiting for a response from her mum.

"Disinfected was it?" Celia couldn't help herself.

Caroline scoffed. "For heaven's sake, Mum. I do wash."

Gillian was having trouble holding in her laugher, before it broke out. She grabbed Caroline's arm.

"It's those lesbian spores..." Gillian was cackling now.

Caroline snorted. "Damn, those lesbian spores..."

"I know. They get everywhere. It's like an epidemic."

They both laughed riotously, Caroline crossing her legs, wishing she'd remember to do more pelvic floor exercises.

Celia huffed again. "Well you can both stop doing that. I know you're taking the...piss."

"Oh, Mum. Your face was priceless. Sorry."

Celia moved her bowl and spoon further along the table and sat down. Gillian looked at Caroline and they both started cackling with laughter again, knowing that was where Gillian had shagged Caroline not long ago. Celia had no idea what had set them off again, and they weren't daft enough to tell her.

Still chuckling, Caroline took Gillian's hand and walked to her Mum, kissing her on the cheek.

"Okay. We're off. Flora and I will be staying with Gillian for a few days, so you'll have this place to yourselves for a bit and you can work out what you want to do." Caroline looked at her mum. "I've asked Greg to drop Flora off at Gillian's this afternoon. I expect you two will be busy house hunting for a few days at least."

"Right." Celia bit down on the word.

"You know where to find us if you want to talk. I hope you have a good day. Bye Mum."

"Bye Celia."

"Bye."

Caroline and Gillian left the kitchen, picking up suitcases for Caroline and Flora in the hallway on their way to the car.

Celia sighed heavily. She looked at her cereal like the milk was sour. She'd never seen Caroline like this before. Caroline seemed more confident of herself and of Gillian in a way she never had been with John or Kate. Celia had always thought both of them were too weak for Caroline, but Gillian, now there was an adversary. The thought sent a chill down Celia's spine. She had a horrible premonition that things were not going to go her way and she felt tired of the fight already.

.

.

Gillian and Alan sat on the wall in the courtyard of the farm. The quiet after the storm had left the valley peaceful, but the damage could be seen on the sides of the roads. The farm wasn't too badly hit, a relief for them both.

"Dad, I'm really sorry you had to see that. We didn't mean it to happen." Gillian nervously clutched her mug of tea, rotating it continually in her hands.

"I know love. It were a sight...and a shock."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry about Celia too. She said some horrible things about you."

"Celia apologised this morning, so we can all move on. But it would be good for you to have a chat to her about it, if you would."

Alan reached for Gillian's hand and looked at his daughter. "I know it were a shock but there were no reason to lash out like she did. It were uncalled for. I talked to her about it last night."

"Thanks Dad. Thing is, we've heard it all before." Gillian paused, "so don't let this come between you and Celia. I know she's a bit..." Gillian screwed up her face, "but I know you love her. I don't really care what she thinks of me so long as she keeps it to herself. It's Caroline that I love."

Gillian tried to find the words to express how she felt. It seemed to be changing so fast. "It feels different this time Dad. Caroline never judges me and she understands me, better than any of the others did. I know I can completely trust her." She paused for a moment. "It's different with women, Dad. They know you better. They listen; they pay attention. It's harder, but it's better, if that makes sense." She looked at her mug as if it might hold some answers for her, the radiant smile on her face clearly showing the inexplicable love she had for this snotty bitch. "I love her."

"I can see that love."

And then she cuts to the heart of it. "I feel safe with her."

That stops Alan in his tracks. He sinks into his shame about his inaction regarding Eddie. He had known something was going on, even if he didn't know exactly what it was. He remembered the days that he could see terror around the edges of Gillian's being, even though her words were saying everything was okay. It was easier to listen to the words than to see the fear his daughter was projecting. He took the easy road, the road that social rules dictate. He'll never forgive himself for it. He closed his eyes, held in his tears, and forced himself back to today, this happier day, with his daughter safe.

Alan breathed out slowly, and asked, "So how long has this been going on?"

"A couple of months. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to put you on the spot with Celia," Gillian looked at her dad, "and we knew she was going to blow up." She studied him, hoping that he would be okay with it. She really needed him to be okay with it.

"I spoke with our Raff this morning. He said he'd known for two months! I didn't see this at all."

"We didn't want to tell anyone until we knew what we were, Dad. It were very new for us both and we knew there'd be fall out." Gillian looked at her sheep dog as he padded quietly around the yard and a small smile crept up her face again. If only people were as forgiving as her beloved Border Collie.

Alan listened in silence, letting the words fall between them. He tried to find some order in it. "I want to be okay with it, but give me a bit of time to get used to it, love."

"I know, Dad. I know." She looked at him kindly. "It changes things, doesn't it."

"Aye, it does lass. It does."

They sat in silence for a while, gazing down the valley, the damage by the storm looking like a giant had crashed through the valley, crushing some things and leaving other things intact. Eventually, Alan broke the silence.

"How does Caroline feel about it? It must be hard for her, what with her mum."

"Yeah. She's hurt and she really hates arguing with her mum, but she's not going to put up with the crap she did with Kate. I don't want to either, Dad. I'll have enough to deal with when everyone else finds out," Gillian said, nodding to the valley before them.

Alan closed his eyes for a moment, dreading the whispers that would start once word got out about his daughter. He thought he'd be used to it by now, but it always hurt. He sighed. He did love her, his mad daughter, and he could see that this time it was different for her. Gillian sounded more sure of herself than he'd ever seen. This time she looked healthier, stronger, more adult somehow. As for Caroline, he really liked her. She had a lot of Celia in her, but she meant well and she was sound. He knew from how she treated Kate that Caroline would look after his Gillian well, and that was important. Not that he'd ever be able to get that image out of his head. He didn't think a lover had ever behaved like that with him and for a brief moment he was a little jealous of his daughter. He shook the thought out of his head, a little horrified that it had crossed his mind at all. He draped his arm over Gillian's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "It'll be all right love. It always is."

"I hope so, Dad." Gillian snuggled into his embrace for a moment, enjoying the closeness and the safety.

They sat there for a while, looking out over the fields and down the valley, each lost in their thoughts. It was Gillian who broke the reverie.

"So what about Celia?"

Alan pulled his arms into his sides protectively. "We'll need to talk." He looked at the ground. "I know she had a migraine and that confuses people so they don't always know what they're saying..."

"Have you spoken to her this morning?" Gillian asked quietly.

"No. I wanted to give her some time so I left early. I'll stop with Harry for lunch and will pop around later today."

"Are you getting a place together? That's what Celia said this morning."

"We might. I think it's about time, don't you?"

"Yeah, probably. You know you're welcome here, but it'll be hard for me to leave the farm, so Caz and me, we'll probably have to spend most of our nights here."

They both looked out over the sodden land, thinking about the complications for their family with the addition of Celia and Caroline. Gillian squeezed her dad's hand and let it go, standing up briskly. "Time to get on with it. I'll see you about. Love ya Dad." Gillian kissed him on the cheek and moved off, calling her dog to follow.

"Bye love." Alan watched her walking towards one of the tractors, getting ready to clean up the mess left by the storm. This lass of his, strong beyond anything he could imagine, was soft beneath the exterior made tough by life. Quietly, to himself, Alan thought they're an odd pair, but Caroline would be a better partner than the others had been. If only he could get that image of them out of his head.

.

.

Gillian was sitting on the wall in the courtyard, basking in the diffuse afternoon sun when Caroline arrived at the farm just after 4pm. Sheryl had managed to push a few meetings to later in the week, allowing Caroline to escape a bit early. She'd called William before lunch and had managed to describe the events of the previous evening with enough brevity not to embarrass either of them. He'd even understood that her description of 'difficult' would be better interpreted as 'shitshow'.

She'd been more anxious about calling Lawrence and she'd waited until the end of his school day for that. Fortunately he had seemed fine about it on the phone. He was surprised that she was seeing Gillian, but as his mum was no longer working at Sulgrave Heath, it had minimal immediate impact on him as far as he was concerned. Caroline sighed with relief; at least Lawrence was not being deliberately obstructive any more. Perhaps he was growing up. Maybe it was the counselling. She mentally sent out a brief thanks to whatever it was that made life easier for them all.

Caroline leaned forward on the steering wheel, looking at Gillian for a moment before collecting her handbag and getting out of the car. She headed straight for Gillian, dropping her bag on the ground and stood between Gillian's dangling legs. She wrapped her arms around Gillian's muscular body and leaned in for a kiss.

"Hi."

"Hiya. How was your day?" Gillian wrapped her arms around Caroline, delighted that she could feel her lover's body through the thin fabric of her summer dress.

"Interesting." Caroline kissed her again.

"Is that 'interesting' as in it kept you interested, or 'interesting' as in a posh word for 'shit'?"

Caroline chucked. "Both?"

Gillian kissed Caroline, this time with more passion, wrapping her legs around Caroline to bring her closer.

After a few moments, Caroline pulled back to look into Gillian's eyes. She smiled and slowly traced the sunlight across Gillian's face with her lips. She had reached Gillian's eyebrow when she spoke, tickling with her lips when she asked, "And how was your day? Did you speak with your dad?" She continued tracing Gillian's face with her lips, listening to the answer.

Gillian smiled. "It were good actually. He were fine about it. Well, he will be. He needs a bit of time to get used to the idea is all, but he were very good about it. He likes you." She leaned back so that Caroline could see her face. "He's going to speak with Celia about it. I think we have a really big supporter, actually."

Caroline could see the relief on Gillian's face. She knew Gillian had been stressed about it. Alan was the only person who had been emotionally supportive of Gillian for a long time, so it was going to make a huge difference to Gillian if he was okay with it.

"I presume you called William. Have you spoken with Lawrence too?"

"Yes and yes. Lawrence was okay actually. I'm hoping. A bit hard to tell. I asked him to be kind when he talks to Mum, so we'll see what happens." Looking at Gillian in the soft afternoon light, Caroline felt captured by Gillian's blue-green eyes.

"I missed you today." Caroline's mapping of Gillian's face expanded to her neck and descended into the valley between her breasts. Before Gillian knew it, Caroline had managed to undo several buttons of her shirt until the sound of a car coming up the drive filtered into their consciousness.

Caroline froze for a moment, and then tried to pull away from Gillian. She was trapped, caught in the grip of strong arms and legs. Caroline was getting agitated.

"Caroline, this is my land. This is our home. We make the rules. They can play by our rules, Caroline, not the other way around." She looked into Caroline's eyes, watching the dawning of this new idea, this new way of operating.

"I'm going to hold you, and we're going to kiss, and if they don't like it, they can leave. Remember, this is our home." Gillian leant in to capture Caroline's lips in a gentle kiss. Caroline was still stiff, age-old fear still running through her system, but she moved toward Gillian, softening into the kiss. She was game, Gillian thought, impressed that Caroline was prepared to challenge herself like this.

When Greg drove into the courtyard he saw two women in what was clearly a lovers' embrace. He was a bit stunned to see that one of them was Caroline, but as soon as that thought crossed his mind, it made absolute sense. Before Caroline moved to Halifax, Greg had looked after Flora when Caroline was at work. He was the one Caroline would come home to after her Friday night dinners with Gillian, usually with a glow about her despite her end-of-the-week tiredness. He thought Gillian would be great for Caroline.

Caroline broke off the kiss, pulled back from Gillian and smiled. "Thank you. I needed to hear that." She gave Gillian a quick kiss on the lips and her head turned to the car. "Flora!"

Gillian let Caroline go, knowing she'd head straight to Flora. Caroline really missed Flora and she usually wouldn't let Flora out of her arms for at least an hour after she came back from Greg's. Flora was just as besotted with Caroline and would cry if Caroline attempted to put her down until they'd finished reconnecting. It had been several months but Caroline was still finding the nights apart from Flora hard.

They brought Flora's things inside. Caroline carried Flora and they sat in the kitchen watching Gillian put the kettle on and get the tea ready. Not long after they were all seated around the kitchen table, Raff turned up from school.

"Hiya Mum."

"Hiya love. Good day at school?"

"Yeah. It's coming along." He dumped his heavy school bag by the door and came into the kitchen, automatically going to the cupboards for biscuits and a mug for tea.

"Mum, Grandad called me today. It sounds like he's had another fight with Celia but he didn't tell me what it were about."

"Your grandad and Celia know about us. She were really unkind to us last night and your grandad is not happy about it."

Caroline joined in. "Flora and I are staying here for a couple of days while they sort themselves out. Your grandad and my mum might buy their own place at some point, which would be good."

"So Celia really cracked it, did she?"

Caroline sighed. "Yeah. Nothing we weren't expecting though."

"So how'd they find out?" He looked at each of them, flicking between the two of them like a spectator at a tennis match, watching Caroline blush and then he twigged.

"Oh. Did they catch you snogging or something?" He chuckled.

Gillian looked at Caroline, watching her go an even brighter shade of red. "Something like that..."

Raff thought this was hilarious and his guffaws were loud and he hung onto the bench for support. He shook his head while a variety of R-rated tableaux flashed before his eyes. "What are you two like?"

Gillian got up and walked around the table, put her arms protectively around Caroline and whispered in her ear, before kissing her on the cheek. It was in this moment that Greg saw their genuine affection for one another. It was a pleasure to see Caroline so happy, after so much grief. He felt like he was seeing a different person to the one he'd known for the last couple of years.

"So what are we going to do about Grandad and Celia?" Raff asked.

"I spoke with him today and your grandad seems okay. Well, he will be in time."

Greg jumped into the conversation. "There's a group in Manchester for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, known as PFLAG. It might be worth passing on their details to your grandad in case he wants to get in touch. They might even have a group in Halifax. It might be good for him to speak to someone about it."

"Great idea. I don't know if he'd go for it, but worth passing on." Raff was quite excited by the idea of it.

"Great idea." Gillian said brightly.

Caroline was thinking this might be good for her mum. She wondered why she hadn't thought of it before, when Kate was alive. Then she remembered that she had been so closeted that she had actively scrubbed any mention of queer culture from her brain in case it bled into the rest of her life. She sighed, wondering how much life and support she had missed out on as a result. She looked at Gillian, a gentle smile on her face, very glad that things had changed so much for her recently.