Caroline pulled into the driveway and switched off her engine. She lay her head on the back of the seat and sighed. It had been a long a difficult week in many respects but it was Friday evening and she had the whole weekend ahead of her to spend with her family. And in just 2 weeks time, it was the start of the summer holidays so she had almost 7 whole weeks to recharge her batteries.

Kate was in the lounge and Caroline flopped beside her on the sofa, pulled the footstool nearer and put her feet up. She blew out, long and hard, and looked over at Kate, placing her hand on her thigh and smiling at her.

"Long day?"

Caroline nodded.

"Long day, long week. I don't know Kate. I am sure that the parents of some of my children are winging it most of the time, and making it up as they go along. They seem to move from one day to the next making mistake after mistake."

Kate looked at her.

"I know how they feel about winging it and making mistakes! How can something so little be so demanding and take up so much time? Look at her, totally oblivious to the amount of work she generates on a daily basis."

They both looked towards Flora who was asleep in a little bouncy chair and smiled, their faces showing the obvious love they felt for her.

"Anyway, how has your day been?"

Kate sat up.

"I had an unexpected visit from Celia today."

"My Mother?"

"Unless you know any other Celia then yes."

Caroline raised her eyebrows at Kate.

"What did she want?"

"Nothing really. We just chatted, you know, like you do. Hey you didn't tell me that John had got himself a permanent job teaching at the University."

"Didn't I? Sorry. Anyway, go on. Wait a minute, I don't think I knew that. How does my mother know things when I don't? When has she seen John?""

Kate started to speak several times and then sat and waited for Caroline to finish. She held her hands up.

"Sorry."

"No, that's fine. That's about it really. She was talking about the impending wedding and how it's doomed to fail. And then saying how her and Alan ought to look for a place somewhere in between Halifax and Harrogate to make it easier for them. It was quite a pleasant half hour."

"They'll never do it. Move I mean. My mother is too set in her ways. She likes the drama of her life. And she loves telling people how busy she is running between her successful daughter's house in Harrogate and a little run down sheep farm in Halifax. Hungry?"

Caroline started to get up from the sofa but was pulled back down by Kate.

"It just depends what you are offering."

"Mrs McKenzie-Dawson! Are you suggesting that we …."

Kate silenced her with a kiss.

"No I'm not suggesting it. I am saying that we ought to …."

There was a high pitched scream from the corner.

"That we ought to feed Flora and then take it from there."

Caroline laughed.

"I'll make a start on tea."


The sun was streaming through the curtains and Caroline turned over and felt the bed beside her. It was empty. With a struggle she opened her eyes and looked at the clock. It read 8.49am.

"Oh gosh."

Swinging her legs out of bed, she sat on the edge and put her head in her hands before running her fingers through her hair and standing up. She could hear the radio on and the smell of bacon cooking drew her downstairs and into the kitchen. Her heart leapt when she saw Kate dancing around the table, the baby in one hand and a fork in the other.

Kate turned around at the sound of Caroline's laughter.

"Oh, you've spoilt it. Flora and I were going to bring you breakfast in bed."

"Were you? Ah, how sweet. Thank you."

She kissed her and licked her lips.

"You taste of …. Mmmm chocolate. Why do you taste of chocolate?"

Kate obviously moved a jar of chocolate spread along the counter and innocently shrugged.

"I have no idea. Now do you want breakfast in bed or down here?"

Caroline perched on one of the stools.

"I'll have it down here. Do you want me to do anything?"

Kate handed her Flora.

"Here, have the baby while I finish off."

Caroline cradled the baby, cooing over her and playing with her fingers, smiling gently and blowing tiny raspberries.

"So what do you want to do today? Shall we go into town and show the baby off? It looks like it is going to be a nice day. We could have a walk around Valley gardens and perhaps stop for coffee and cake at one of those lovely little tea rooms."

Kate turned around and walked towards Caroline.

"Yes I would like that. I would like that very much. Hey, this will be the first time that we have been out together as a family. A real family. How exciting."

Caroline pulled Kate towards her and wrapped one arm around her waist, craning her neck to look at her. She looked from Flora to Kate and grinned. She couldn't remember a time when she had felt happier.


By the time they had eaten, showered, dressed and Flora had been changed, fed and changed again it was almost 10.30am. They manoeuvred the pram out of the house and set off down the street, Kate pushing and Caroline walking alongside. They took their time, stopping to look in the shop windows, making plans for the rest of the weekend and just enjoying being together.

They were both ready for a coffee as they reached the gardens and Kate chose a table outside while Caroline went to get the drinks. As she was coming out with them, she was almost knocked off her feet by a little boy riding a scooter.

"Blimey! Watch where you're going."

The little boy turned round and stuck his tongue out at her. Kate laughed but Caroline was far from amused.

"I will be mortified if Flora does something like that when she is his age. What sort of parenting has he had? See, that is exactly what I was talking about yesterday, about those parents that just make it up as they go along."

Kate placed her hand over Caroline's.

"Calm down! It was just a child playing. Come on Caroline, lighten up."

Her shoulders relaxed and she picked up Kate's hand in her own.

"You're right. Yes, sorry. Oh, I do love the view from here."

Turning round, she closed her eyes and felt the warm of the sun on her face. The gardens were one of her favourite places in the area. You could escape from the hustle and bustle and you wouldn't even know that there was a popular tourist town just 10 minutes away.

"Kate! Caroline! I thought it was you."

Caroline's eyes snapped open and she saw a couple walking towards them. There was a small boy holding the hand of one woman and another boy circling them on a scooter. The same boy that had almost knocked her over not 10 minutes earlier. She looked over at Kate and raised her eyebrows.

"Elizabeth! What a lovely surprise."

The sarcasm in her voice was lost to Elizabeth but not to Kate, who sat uncomfortably cradling her drink. Caroline stood up and offered her hand to Elizabeth. She took it and drew Caroline towards her, kissing her on both cheeks. Caroline dug her hands deep into her pockets and stared at the floor shuffling from one foot to another.

"It's so lovely to see you both. And under such better circumstances. Kate, I hope you have gotten over the little drama of the other day. Oh, how rude of me. Introductions! Dan, this is Caroline. Caroline, Dan."

Dan was more formal than her partner and she shook the hand that Caroline offered her.

"Kate, meet Dan. Dan, meet Kate."

Kate looked up at Dan and smiled.

"Nice to meet you Dan. Elizabeth has told me so much about you."

"Likewise."

Elizabeth pulled up a chair and sat down, stretching her legs out in front of her and crossing her ankles. Dan stood awkwardly behind her, still holding the hand of one boy while watching the other racing around.

"So who is this then?"

Kate broke the silence.

"This is Sam. Say hello Sam."

His response was barely audible and Dan looked at Kate.

"He's a bit shy. So unlike his brother, as you can probably tell. That's Ben over there on the scooter."

"We've met Ben haven't we Kate?"

Kate shot a warning glance at Caroline and then turned and smiled, taking Dan in from head to toe with one sweeping glance. She was about the same height as Kate and of similar build but that was where the similarities ended. Dan had bleached blonde hair cropped very short in a pixie cut. It had quite a feminine look to it and the multiple ear piercings complemented it. Dan's outfit was very casual – jeans and trainers and a tight fitting tee-shirt that revealed a sleeve of tattoos on her right arm.

"So do you come here often?"

Before Kate had finished speaking, Caroline had almost spit her coffee into the cup. Elizabeth noticed and she laughed.

"We try to but with the shift patterns that we both work, it is very difficult."

Caroline put her cup down.

"So what it is you do for a living Dan?"

"I'm a neurosurgeon."

Caroline stared.

"Yeah right."

"No she is. That's how we met, at the hospital. In the canteen actually."

Caroline blushed.

"Oh, I am sorry. It's just that you don't err well, you don't look like you would have err that you could be a surgeon."

Dan pulled up a spare chair and sat down. Sam perched on her knee.

"That's OK. It's what most people think. They see me and they see the tattoos and they form a very bigoted opinion of who I am. Hardly anyone guesses what I do for a living."

"Well, there is a certain sort of person that springs to mind when you mention brain surgeon. Middle aged man, glasses, perhaps a little overweight. Very middle class. So what made you choose this route?"

Dan smiled.

"It wasn't my first choice when I finished my medical degree. I had spent 6 years as an under-graduate and done various placements with a doctors practice and at St Mary's for a while, studying emergency medicine. And then I decided I wanted to specialise so I had to make my choice. I was sure that I wanted to continue with emergency medicine but then my father was diagnosed with a brain tumour and to cut a long story short, he died during surgery. I was upset but most of all I was angry. I never blamed the hospital but I did wonder whether maybe he could have been saved. So I decided to go into neurosurgery. Another 6 years of training and 12 years in total after I first entered medical school, I became a bona fide surgeon with my own scalpel and everything. I've been doing it for 15 years and finally settled here some 8 years ago."

Caroline was dumbfounded.

"Wow! So it took you 12 years to get to where you are? That's amazing. I have such admiration for you, for your dedication."

"Thank you. So what do you do Caroline when you're not fending off one of my kids."

Dan laughed and sat back in the chair.

"I'm a head teacher."

Now it was Dan's turn to raise her eyebrows.

"No kidding? If I had had to guess what you did, I would have said you were a teacher. A woman's intuition is hardly every wrong."

"It's all I have ever wanted to do, all I have ever wanted to be. I love my job, the variation, not knowing what is going to happen from one day to the next."

While Caroline and Dan were talking, Kate had taken Flora out of the pram and Elizabeth was making a fuss of her.

"Well those two certainly seem to be getting along."

Kate looked over and saw Caroline with her head in her hands, laughing. Dan was obviously telling her an amusing tale and was very animated, her eyes wide and her voice raised.

"Dan's appearance sometimes puts people off you know. We are often told she is so typical of what people expect a lesbian to look like."

She emphasised the word "lesbian" with her two index fingers.

"But once they get to know her, they are instantly drawn to her. They still see a stereotypical couple when they see us holding hands though. We may live in the 21st century but some people are so narrow minded aren't they? Do you often get that when you are outside of your house? People staring when you are walking down the street?"

Kate mused the question for a short time.

"No not really. But then Caroline and I don't often show affection towards each other in public. Well, not much anyway. Don't get me wrong, she is very loving and tactile when we are at home. But, oh, I don't know. There are certain expectations that someone has of a headmaster and being gay isn't one of them. We can hardly show up at work hand in hand can we? You have to give off the right impression don't you. Does that make sense? "

Elizabeth raised both her hands and let them fall into her lap.

"It makes perfect sense but I just don't understand. God Kate. How do you put up with that? I wouldn't. I know that Caroline was married to a man before she met you but she is with you now. You are her wife. It is absolutely permissible for her to hold hands with you in the street. In fact, why the hell shouldn't you? It's not right to hide your feelings just because you are scared that someone might have a dig at you."

Kate's heckles were up and she straightened her back.

"It's not line that Elizabeth. All this really is no big deal. And anyway, I don't see how it is any of your business what Caroline and I do. When I was in hospital, I welcomed your advice about my care and recovery. You were the medical expert out of the two of us. But please don't go lecturing me and preaching to me about my private life when you know nothing about me. About us. Just because I don't go waving a rainbow flag about when I go out doesn't mean that I am not comfortable with who I am, with who either of us are."

She drained her coffee cup and stood up.

"Kate, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that you can't let people "

She didn't let Elizabeth finish.

"Caroline. I would like to leave now."

Caroline looked disappointed.

"Oh, I was err "

Then she saw the look on Kate's face and knew something was wrong.

"Well, yes, we had better go. The baby will want feeding soon."

She stood up and looked down at Dan.

"Lovely to meet you Dan. You really must come over for dinner sometime. Perhaps we can finish our conversation."

"No worries. Take care Caroline. Bye Kate."

Kate was already starting to walk away and Caroline touched Elizabeth on the shoulder.

"Bye Elizabeth."

Elizabeth held her hand up and waved and Caroline rushed after Kate.

"What's wrong Kate. Has something happened? Did Elizabeth say something?"

Kate carried on walking.

"Let's just say you were right about her."

Caroline caught up with her and placed her hand on top of hers as she pushed the pram.

"Come on. We can talk about this when we get home."

"There really is nothing to talk about. Elizabeth is very direct and I am not sure I like that. I don't want her telling me how I should act with my wife. I don't think I will be pursuing this friendship anymore, you will be pleased to know."

Caroline opened her eyes.

"Oh I see. Well, that's a shame because I think Dan is great."

Kate stopped walking.

"Only because you found out she is a brain surgeon. When you first saw her, you hated her. I could tell. You had already formed a picture of her and her being successful and earning lots of money was not part of that picture."

Caroline gave a small cough.

"That's not strictly true. I wouldn't say I hated her. I was just a little wary of her. She was a little much to take in all at one go. I mean did you see those tattoos?"

Kate looked across at her.

"Yes I did actually. In fact, I am thinking of getting something very similar."

Caroline stopped walking.

"You're not? Please tell me you are …"

"No I am not. But if I were Caroline, would that make me a different person?"

Caroline's pace quickened and she was soon by her side again.

"I take your point. OK. Yes. I was a little quick to judge. But Dan is very interesting, warm, funny."

"Well when she takes you up on your offer for dinner, don't expect me to be there. Because I won't Caroline."

Caroline caught Kate's arm, forcing her to stop.

"Are you jealous Mrs McKenzie-Dawson? Are you jealous of Dan?"

She bit her bottom lip and looked directly at Caroline, her dark eyes starting to mist over.

"Maybe a little bit."

Caroline took her face in her hands and kissed her, long and hard.

"Well there is no need to be. No need at all. I love you Kate. I think I have only ever loved you. There is nothing to worry about. Believe me."

"Honestly?"

"Honestly. Now come on, let's go home. This little one will really want feeding soon. And I am getting hungry."

She swatted Kate's behind and put her hand on the pushchair, forcing the pace a little. Kate picked up Caroline's free hand and squeezed it tight.