Chapter 20.

Over the next three days the women had early starts as they made sure they were at the clinic first thing in the morning. Due to Kate's history of miscarrying, it was advised that her treatment was heavily supervised from beginning to end. Neither women minded. They made it part of their routine to have a coffee (decaf in Kate's case) before heading home.

They sat in their usual comfortable silence, Kate reading the Guardian and Caroline catching up on work emails which continued to flood her inbox, even though she wasn't due at work until the following week. Although she was reluctant to admit it, she missed Lawrence but was also pleased that he was still in Italy. Angus' mum and dad had surprised the youngsters, on what they thought was their last day, with the news that they had booked for 10 days and not 7.

She brought her mind back to the here and now and sighed, her annoyance impossible to hide. 'It's no use, Kate, I'm going to have to go into work. The order for the new furniture is arriving tomorrow instead of next week and Gavin has brought forward the deadline for the autumn term's financial projection. Honestly! He knows I'm on holiday and that we're busy with the clinic.'

'You're joking; no way!' Kate replied. She put down her paper. Brown eyes focused on blue. 'What if the clinic ask me to come in? Dr Williams said if I'm ovulating they'll call us back in later on today or tomorrow.'

'I know darling.' Caroline reached out and rubbed Kate's soft, brown hand. Their fingers intertwined as she continued, 'If we get the call for you to go back, of course I'll come with you. Gavin can take a running jump but I will have to start the report today and go into the office at some point because most of what I need is filed away at work.' She knew that this was not an ideal situation but she also knew her responsibilities, as did Kate.

The women agreed on a plan of action, finished their coffees and headed back to the Jeep. They held hands while walking through the retail park.

Neither noticed John's green BMW waiting in Costa's drive-thru but he'd seen them and true to form mouthed 'bloody dykes' to himself as he watched 'his wife' holding hands with another woman in public, looking happier than he'd seen her in ages.

Caroline buckled up, switched on the ignition and smiled as Gallagher and Lyle's 'I wanna stay with you' purred out of the radio, 'for the rest of my life " the blonde finished as turned to her left. She leaned over the centre console towards Kate who gave her a loving kiss full on the lips.

'I am so lucky, Kate,' she said when they finally pulled apart. 'I'm married and going to have a baby with the most gorgeous woman in the world; I have two healthy sons, and a job that I love so what else could a woman want? '

'Hmm now let me see…' Kate teasingly turned her head away, rubbed her cheek and stared at the wide angle wing mirror on the 4x4. 'I can think of one thing that would round off the morning perfectly….' She left the idea floating for her wife to grasp, which she knew she would do very easily. It was then that she noticed the BMW in the drive-thru queue and John's unmistakably hunched shoulders at the wheel.

'I can think of nothing else my love.' She turned back to Caroline, giving her the biggest smile. 'I love you and am so happy too. Now let's go home and enjoy our few hours together.'

As she always did when in the car, she took Caroline's hand in her own and kissed it gently. Seeing John made her frown inside but her current state of happiness obliterated any negative feelings and she was determined not to let Caroline see any change in her demeanour.

Neither woman would admit it but they were both nervous at the possibility of the phone call. The clinic said they'd ring by 1pm at the latest and if possible and convenient ask Kate to return.

In advance of this Kate busied herself by having another shower, moisturising and settling herself down in front of her ipad to Skype her mum. She ignored the time difference; her mother had asked to be kept up to date on any and all progress regardless of the time.

Caroline was in her study, preparing rough notes from the top off her head for Gavin's report. She had the online shopping to do for Lawrence's return the following day and made a mental note to contact Gillian as soon as she returned from her time away with Robbie, and arrange to meet up for dinner soon.

While thinking of the report, her mind drifted to how different life would be once they heard from the clinic and had the green light for the next step. They had given both of their telephone numbers and asked that if one number was busy they try the other. So even though the chances were that Kate would receive the call, Caroline was anxious with anticipation and kept her phone by her side at all times.

It was as she dropped her pen on her pad and stretched her long arms above her head that her own phone rang. Her heart stopped for a split second, she let out a slight gasp and thought to shout for Kate. Instead she picked up the iPhone and walked briskly to the lounge where Kate was in the middle of talking to Ginika.

'Kate. I think this is it! I think this is the call!' She couldn't believe how calmly Kate said, 'Hold on mum, one minute.'

The taller of the women, stood up, took the phone and pressed the home key, 'Hi Lawrence, are you on your way? Brilliant. I'll let your mum know. What? Ok. Ok. Yes we will.'

Caroline smiled sheepishly, Kate drew the slightly shorter woman close to her and pecked her on the cheek. 'Yes your mum's here; here she is.'

She covered the mouth piece. 'Come here, it's Lawrence.' She kissed her again, 'I'll be 5 minutes with mum and then we'll have a cup of tea.'

'How stupid do I feel, if I'd have looked at the screen I would have seen it was him. Gosh, if this is what I'm like now…. '

'Don't worry love,' Kate reassured. 'Give me 5 minutes.'

So Caroline listened to how Lawrence had spent the time of his life and wanted to know if he could stay at Angus' that night after they landed. Sarah's parents were picking her up from the airport and William was going straight back to Liverpool with Roxy on the train as her cousin was getting married the following afternoon. Angus' parents said it would be fine for Lawrence to be with them for another night.

'Ok, yes as long as it is alright. Tell them I'll ring them this evening. I'm going to have to give them money for your board and lodging at this rate. On top of the extra three days in Italy that they paid for. Goodness you're one very lucky lad.'

Truth be told, Caroline was relieved. It would give her and Kate time alone if the insemination took place that day, giving them time to agree how to let Lawrence know more about the baby plans. Yes, they had broached the subject with him briefly but she wasn't 100% sure how much he took in. Especially since he started going out with Sarah it was not clear if anything else penetrated his thought processes! It pleased her to see a different side to him. For a long time she was concerned that he'd be an arrogant and selfish teenager just like his father but things looked different now that he had a girlfriend and accepted that his mum drank from the furry cup, as he put it. Development had been a long time coming but progress had been swift once it started in earnest.

She realised that the call had ended but she remained standing, lost in contemplation of the irony of it all. Her youngest was at the point of independence and maturity yet she was sick with worry that she would not soon be starting the whole journey yet again. Such was the power of love and shared dreams.

Her meditation was interrupted by Kate's voice, calling her back to reality at the same time that she realised the phone in her hand was ringing again.

'Caroline. What's up, do you want me to answer it?'

The blonde shook herself, her professional manner coming to the fore as she saw the caller I.D. that declared the call to be from the clinic. Taking a deep breath, she answered professionally but nervously. 'Caroline McKenzie-Dawson speaking.'

Kate's Skype call to her mum had just finished and she raced to Caroline's side and, being more alert than her wife, touched the screen to put the phone on speaker.

'Hello please may I speak to either Caroline or Kate McKenzie Dawson?'

A nervous Caroline answered, 'Yes we're both here; we have you on loud speaker.'

'It's Debbie from the clinic. Dr Williams asked me to phone and let you know it's the news you've both been waiting for. Today would be a very good day for Kate to come back to the clinic!'

Kate screeched a brief 'YES!' before she burst into tears and buried her face into Caroline's neck.

'That seems to be the answer I was expecting,' Debbie laughed.

'Indeed so! Thank you so much for calling. We'll head back to you within the next few minutes, if that's suitable for the clinic.'

'Three o'clock would be ideal for us and would mean that you won't have to rush. I would suggest that you have a light lunch and then drive here. We'll be ready for Kate. Is that ok for you both?'

'Yes, yes, no problem. Oh, wonderful news. See you in a few hours then. Bye, bye-bye.'

Caroline shut off the call and threw the phone onto the sofa, freeing up both hands to hug her wife. The long and the short of it was that words were superfluous. Tears, interspersed with laughter, said it all.