"A Lasting Pleasure" - Chapter 5
Almost another hour past before the fire crew were satisfied that the fire had been completely extinguished and that their job there was done. They reeled in their hoses and reclined the ladders onto the back of the trucks and prepared to leave. Before departing, the officer-in-charge approached Caroline as she stood alone watching the proceedings.
"Are you the owner?" he enquired.
Caroline nodded her head.
"We're just about done here, love," he continued, "I've had a cursory look around inside and there's not too much left untouched in the way of furniture and the like, unfortunately, but in my opinion, the outside framework seems to have maintained its integrity. However, it's not safe to go inside yet so stay clear and besides, your insurance company will want to take a look around first before anyone goes touching anything."
"Of course," Caroline managed to say, "and thank you."
The fireman tipped his head to her and went off to finalise the placement of the guard tape around what was once Caroline's immaculate home…her pride and joy.
With nothing further to see or do, Caroline walked, in a slight daze, back down the driveway and up to where she had been forced to abandon her car. The pungent smell of smoke and ash was still thick in the surrounding air.
As she sat in the driver's seat attempting to sort out in her mind what had just happened, Caroline reached into her coat pocket for her phone and called Kate. The phone rang several times before being directed to voice mail. Rather than leave a message…she wasn't even sure what to say…Caroline hung up and then tried again. This time, after only one ring, Kate's voice, clearly worried by receiving a phone call from Caroline so late at night, came on the line.
"Caroline, what's wrong? Are you alright?"
"Can I come back and stay at your place tonight?" Caroline asked in a small voice, her tone doing nothing to displace Kate's concern.
"Of course….are you alright?" Kate repeated.
"I'm fine."
"What's wrong? Why do you need to…"
"I'll explain when I get there," Caroline stated simply, "it's too hard to ….I'll see you soon."
With that, Caroline hung up leaving a puzzled and anxious Kate to wait for her. While she waited, she busied herself making them a cup of tea, rushing to the door every time she thought she heard a noise that might be Caroline. On her third dash she spotted the forlorn figure of her girlfriend making her way up the path. Kate quickly opened the door and ran out to meet her. Immediately, the harsh smell of smoke that clung to Caroline's hair and clothes struck her and then she noticed Caroline's reddened eyes and the tear tracks down her cheeks.
"What on earth has happened?" Kate demanded, fraught with concern.
"Can we go inside?" Caroline suggested, her voice low and her throat raw from inhaling the smoke.
Kate stepped aside and allowed Caroline to enter the house first. For the second time that day, Caroline tossed her coat and bag onto the chair then made her way into the kitchen where she sat silently at the table for a moment, her weary head resting in her hands. Kate put the cup of tea she'd made for Caroline on the table in front of her.
Caroline murmured a soft 'thank you.'
Kate waited a beat and then asked quietly a second time, "Caroline, what's happened?"
"John burned down the house," she replied almost inaudibly.
A look of shocked disbelief appeared on Kate's face. "How did he manage to do that?"
"He was drunk…he was cooking and he set fire to the house."
Kate noticed a stray tear roll its way down Caroline's cheek and could feel them also welling in her own eyes. She hated seeing her partner so distressed and she knew how much Caroline adored that house. She wrapped one arm around Caroline's shoulders and drew Caroline's head to her chest with the other, gently stroking her hair. No words were spoken for a considerable length of time as Caroline allowed her partner to soothe her pain away.
Finally Kate drew Caroline's head back slightly, looked her in the eyes and asked, "Are you going to be okay?"
Caroline gave a weak smile and said, "I'll be fine but it all feels a bit …a bit weird."
"Weird as in sick?" Kate didn't quite understand what Caroline was saying. "Maybe it's shock."
Caroline continued to look into her lover's face. "No, not weird as in 'sick'….I don't know how to explain it exactly…weird as in 'strange' perhaps. I've just stood for over two hours and watched my beautiful house that I loved…thought I loved…be gutted by fire thanks to my useless jerk of a husband…and, yes, I'm upset and I'm sad but it all feels a bit…surreal or hollow." Caroline paused for a moment, searching for the right words to express what she was feeling. "Months ago, when I thought you were lost to me forever….when I'd 'blown it' to use your words…I was heartbroken …I experienced a deep, almost unbearable agony that I honestly never thought I'd fully recover from…and although I put on a brave face at times…when I had to…I was inconsolably miserable…"
Kate leant down and softly kissed her, wanting to wash away any remnants of that pain.
"When I think about the loss of the house….a mere thing really…bricks and mortar…it pales into insignificance when compared to the thought of losing you…or Caitlyn…or the boys."
Kate was left quite speechless. Her emotions and love for this woman threatening to spill over into tears also.
"Let's go up to bed," Kate finally suggested, "it's very late."
"I'll need a shower first. I reek of smoke."
The two women made their way up the stairs. Kate went into the bedroom, slid under the covers and was soon asleep. Caroline headed for the bathroom where she stripped off her smoke-drenched clothes and hung them up to air for they were virtually all she had. She then stepped under the hot tide of water that flowed from the shower head. She rubbed herself fiercely with the soap in an effort to remove the acrid smell of smoke from her skin and then allowed the hot water to run over her, going some way to relieving her tension.
When Caroline was finished she dried herself off, wrapped the towel around her body and went back to Kate's bedroom. She entered quietly knowing that there was a good chance that Kate would already be asleep. The bedside lamp threw a dim, soft light across the bed and Caroline could see and admire the beautiful, dark-skinned figure of her partner lying on her side, slumbering soundly. Caroline set the alarm on her phone then she removed the towel and carefully crawled into the bed. She loved that Kate chose to sleep totally naked. It had taken Caroline quite a while to feel comfortable sleeping naked herself as she was used to wearing pyjamas but Kate had insisted and now she loved being able to feel her own bare skin up against Kate's as she moved in behind her and wrapped an arm around her, her hand cupping one of Kate's breasts. Unable to resist, Caroline placed several delicate kisses on Kate's exposed shoulder before she too was asleep.
oooOooo
It seemed to Caroline that she had only just put her head on the pillow when the sound of the alarm reverberated in her ears. As quickly as she could, she reached over and turned it off hoping it hadn't disturbed her sleeping girlfriend but she was too slow.
Kate rolled over towards her and moaned, "What time is it?"
"Six," Caroline whispered, "go back to sleep."
Kate opened her eyes fully, moved closer to Caroline and kissed her on the chin as she brushed some loose strands of blonde hair from Caroline's face.
"Why so early?" she asked.
Caroline felt Kate's hand snake its way from her neck, along her shoulder and come to rest on her breast where Kate's thumb then slowly circled her nipple. An evocative smile played on Kate's lips.
"Miss McKenzie, you're incorrigible…I have too many things to do this morning…I don't have time for 'that'." Caroline admonished her girlfriend sternly but with the hint of a smile on her mouth also. "Maybe later."
Caroline quickly climbed out of the bed before her ability to resist her partner's advances was fully put to the test. She donned Kate's robe as she went to the bathroom to fetch her clothes from the previous night.
"They still smell smoky," she complained as she re-entered the bedroom, "but they'll have to do. I'll take Lawrence to the shops this morning. We'll need to get all new clothes and shoes and he'll need new uniforms. I don't even have any clean underwear."
"I have some new ones...they're still in the packet…in the top drawer of the dresser…you can have those."
"Thanks." Caroline went to Kate's dresser, opened the drawer and searched. "How about these?" Caroline teased as she held up a pair of black, lace knickers. "Can I wear these?"
The seductive look on Kate's face when she saw what Caroline was holding told her it was probably the wrong thing to say if she wanted to get her jobs done that morning.
"Maybe not," Caroline said, quickly tucking them back in the drawer, making a mental note of their location for another time.
Half an hour later Caroline was showered, dressed and in the kitchen, armed with a cup of coffee. She was on the phone to one of her deputies, explaining what had happened the previous night and that she wouldn't be at school until Monday as she had a lot of things to take care of. Before hanging up she also left messages for Beverley to rearrange any appointments she had for the day.
Kate joined Caroline in the kitchen just in time to be on the receiving end of a rather languid good-bye kiss.
"I'd better go and pick up Lawrence and then I'll have to take him shopping…we literally only have the clothes on our backs at the moment."
"I'll see you later then. While you're gone I'll tidy up the spare room for Lawrence…"
"Are you sure we can stay…we're not imposing?" Caroline asked.
"Stop it, Caroline. Of course you're staying here," Kate insisted as she pressed her spare house key into Caroline's hand so as to make her point.
Caroline kissed Kate on the cheek one final time, gave her a grateful smile and headed off to collect Lawrence.
oooOooo
Both Lawrence and Caroline stood outside the guard tape surrounding the blackened skeleton of what had been their home…its pride as one of the loveliest houses in the street had taken a severe beating. Windows were mere frames with only a few shattered pieces of jagged glass hanging in them like loose teeth. Its magnificent façade was stained by rivers of ash. From what they could see, inside appeared to be a murky mess of charred and sodden furniture.
"What are we going to do?" Lawrence asked his mother as he looked at the devastation in disbelief.
"The first thing we'll have to do is go shopping and buy some new clothes," Caroline replied, trying not to sound too distressed for the sake of her son.
"But where are we going to live?"
"Kate said we can stay with her at her house for now…for as long as we need to…is that okay?"
Lawrence nodded. "Sure"
Caroline scruffed her son's hair and gave him a reassuring hug. "We'll be fine."
As they stood there looking, each lost in their own thoughts for the moment, they heard another set of footsteps on the gravel approaching them. They both turned to see Judith clambering up the driveway.
"This can only mean trouble," Caroline thought to herself as she remembered the last time she'd met Judith.
"What happened here?" Judith asked as she took in the sombre sight before her. "Someone leave the toaster on?"
"Something like that," came Caroline's deadpan response. "John was cooking and accidentally burned the place down."
"Twat."
"Can I help you?" Caroline asked, wondering why Judith had turned up here and at such an early hour.
"I'm looking for John actually… only, you see… the baby's due any day now…" Judith stopped for a moment to look down at the huge bump in front of her and rub it with her hand. "And I'd prefer it if he was about…just in case…after all he is the father…I shouldn't have to go through it all on my own."
"Sorry, I haven't seen the resident pyromaniac since he burned down my house last night and then scooted off. I don't know where he is…"
Her words were cut off unexpectedly by a sudden loud groan emanating from Judith who was now doubled over, clutching at her swollen belly.
Concerned and unsure of what was happening Caroline asked, "Judith, are you okay?"
"I'm not sure," replied Judith from between clenched teeth, "but it hurts like hell!"
Caroline then watched in surprised horror as Judith's amniotic sac chose that moment to break. Fluid pooled on the gravel driveway.
"Shit," Caroline muttered fiercely as it dawned on her what was occurring.
Lawrence looked on in astonishment, his eyes wide and his jaw slack.
"What's wrong with her?" he asked.
"She's having the baby…now," his mother answered matter-of-factly as she whipped her phone out of her pocket and dialled 999.
Once she'd given the necessary details to the emergency services and hung up, Caroline instructed her son to help Judith down to their car to wait for the ambulance.
"I don't know if I can do this," she heard Judith say to Lawrence as he assisted her back down the drive.
"You should have thought of that nine months ago," Caroline whispered to herself as she dialled John's phone number and waited as it rang several times before going to voice mail.
She left a brief message. "You need to get yourself to St Margaret's hospital ASAP. Judith has gone into labour."
"Jerk," she muttered as she ended the call. It seemed to Caroline that she was forever having to 'clean up' after her useless fool of a husband and, as far as she was concerned, the divorce couldn't come through fast enough so she could all but wash her hands of him.
Caroline pulled her car into a space in the hospital car park only minutes behind the ambulance that was carrying Judith. As she and Lawrence made their way towards the entrance, Caroline scanned the car park for any sign of John's vehicle but it wasn't to be seen.
It wasn't until they were inside at the reception desk where Caroline was attempting to help the nurse fill out an admission form with the few scant details she had on Judith that she heard Lawrence call out, "Dad!" Caroline turned around to see, with some degree of relief, the scruffy, dishevelled figure of John heading towards them, shoulders hunched and his hands deep in his pockets. As he came up to Caroline he gave her an embarrassed "Hi", unable to look her in the eye.
"Hello," Caroline replied tersely. "You look like absolute rubbish. Where did you stay last night?"
"Thanks," John answered sarcastically, "at the university…in my office. Where's Judith?"
"If you finish giving this nice nurse Judith's details, I'm sure she'll tell you where she is. I'm off. Come on Lawrence."
Caroline turned on her heels, grabbed her son's arm and marched off, glad to be leaving John to it.
"Do you want to go and meet your new sister while we're here?" Caroline asked Lawrence. "I was planning to visit after we'd been shopping but we're here now."
Lawrence gave a disinterested shrug. "I suppose."
Caroline led the way along the labyrinth of hospital corridors that led to the nursery until they finally arrived at the large, glass window where chuffed parents could look in over their newborns. The nurse there, recognising Caroline from her weeks of visits, indicated to her to come around to the parent room. Caroline used the dispensed disinfectant to wash her hands and Lawrence copied her, then they entered. It wasn't long before the nurse appeared with baby Caitlyn wrapped snuggly in a blanket.
"Hi, Susie. This is my son, Lawrence. He's come to meet his sister."
The nurse gave Lawrence a friendly smile as she transferred the baby to Caroline's waiting arms.
"Lawrence, this is your new little sister, Caitlyn."
"She's so small," Lawrence commented as much to himself as to anyone else.
"Would you like to hold her?" Caroline asked him.
Lawrence replied tentatively, "I don't know. What if I drop her?"
Caroline laughed gently as she put Caitlyn in his arms and showed him how to hold her securely.
Over an hour later when they eventually left the hospital, Caroline asked her son, "So what do you think of your sister?"
"She's alright, I suppose," was Lawrence's non-committal response. There was no way he was going to admit to his mother or Kate just how beautiful he thought Caitlyn was or how much he adored holding the brave little baby in his arms….they might expect him to change nappies or something else equally as gross.
Caroline smiled to herself. She had seen the enamoured look on Lawrence's face as he had held Caitlyn and played with her tiny fingers. She knew Caitlyn had won another heart.
oooOooo
Loaded up with shopping bags, Caroline and Lawrence struggled from the car, up the path, to Kate's front door. While she precariously juggled her many purchases, Caroline used her key to unlock the door. Hearing their voices, Kate greeted them and helped them to get their packages inside where they dumped the bags unceremoniously on the lounge room floor.
"How was your day?" Kate inquired as she gave Caroline a loving peck on the cheek.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Caroline replied, exasperated at the very thought of everything that had happened in the last few hours.
Kate looked at her and raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"I'll explain later….right now though I would kill for a cup of tea," Caroline hinted as she put an arm around Kate's waist and drew her close enough so her mouth could take advantage of Kate's ever sensuous lips.
Taking the hint and the bribe, Kate offered to make them a fresh pot of tea.
While Kate busied herself in the kitchen, Caroline helped Lawrence carry his new things up to the spare bedroom. She settled him in and then joined Kate at the table in the kitchen to have her much needed cup of tea.
"Lawrence met Caitlyn today," Caroline announced.
"Yes, I know….Susie told me you'd been up earlier with him. What did he think?'
"Oh, he tried to act all blasé about it but I could tell when he was nursing her…he adores her."
Kate smiled with relief. She had hardly dared to hope that both William and Lawrence would be accepting of the new baby in their lives.
"I've been thinking…"
"That sounds ominous," Kate teased,"…what about?"
Caroline rolled her eyes at Kate's attempt at humour and then continued. "About where we could live…I can't sell my house now…for obvious reasons … so, what if we sold your house, rented another place while my house is rebuilt, if it can be rebuilt and….we could do it up together to suit us…both of us… and then rather than sell it, we could live in it. What do you think?"
Kate sipped her tea thoughtfully as she pondered the idea.
"Although, it will be kind of sad to sell this house." Caroline smiled to herself. "It has some good memories…remember when I came over that afternoon, after work, when mum and Alan went missing and were found…and we made love for the first time…for hours?"
"That was after you seduced me in your office earlier that afternoon," Kate recalled, her eyes lighting up at the memory of that unexpected and fabulous kiss.
"Guilty as charged," Caroline confessed without remorse.
"We can always make new memories."
"That sounds like fun."
"But there's still the problem of having enough money to buy John's share of the house," Kate added.
"At the moment I think John is feeling extremely guilty…after all, the fire was entirely his fault…so I'm sure, to ease his conscience, he will be willing to accept considerably less than before," Caroline explained, " and the house isn't going to fetch much in its present condition is it?...plus, I don't think he has the luxury of being able to wait until it's been repaired…not now that the baby has arrived. He'll be in dire need of some cold, hard cash."
"The baby has arrived? How do you know this?" Kate asked.
Caroline took a long sip of her tea before beginning to relate to Kate the events of the day.