It Dives, It Jumps and It Ripples

Mug of tea, toast and jam and a piece of fruit was all she could bear. The morning paper reported: All Out War! "No news there." She scoffed and folded the paper away. Next, there was the book of traditional baby names her Mum had ordered over the internet, the sight of the word 'traditional' brought on a lightness in her head...or maybe it was just the nausea. More ginger tea and toast. This was the first morning she would pass through the doors of Sulgrave Heath after her last intimate and heartbreaking encounter with Caroline the day before. The plan was simple, she'd be the teacher and Caroline would be her headmistress, it would be as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. That's what they had agreed upon as she walked Caroline to the door of her cottage and Caroline turned to her and asked for her assurance that Kate would stay on at the school. Kate had to concede that she loved the school and the children, assuring Caroline that she hadn't any plans to go elsewhere for the time being. Still, she was a bundle of nerves not knowing whether she could uphold the emotional pretense when she came face to face in the place where she had fallen in love with this woman, but it was she who had taken the decision to end any chance and knew that it would not be fair to Caroline if she vacillated.

It had been a week with no surprises. Caroline stayed barricaded in her office and Kate kept to her classrooms. Lawrence appeared to be happy to see her when they would cross paths in the corridors. The other teachers had moved on to picking apart Michael Dobson's arrest for driving under the influence, and with a notorious male hustler in the passenger seat, no less!

Kate was happy for a quiet Friday evening. Bits of this and that, the lovely chat with her Mum, getting to the article Greg had forwarded to her on the latest results in Alzheimer research, the obituary of Maya Angelou she hadn't brought herself to read yet, and the menu and shopping list for Saturday's dinner. She'd offered to make dinner at hers for Greg and his new friend, Greg had made a feeble go at protest, before he came around to admitting that he liked the idea. Her Mum would come to collect her on Saturday morning; they would have breakfast out, pay their visit to her Dad and then do the shopping for Kate's dinner party.

Kate curled up on the sofa after soaking in a warm bath and pointed the clicker at the tube and shuffled the remote options until she hit upon a classic 1970's bedroom farce.

She opened the door to be greeted with charming smiles. She welcomed them in.

"Kate, Naomi! Naomi, Kate!" Greg appeared to relish the introduction. The newly introduced stepped forward and wrapped Kate in a warm hug.

"You're very pretty." Naomi pulled back to admire more. "And positively radiant! When are you due?"

"Kate blushed; radiant was the first word that sprang to mind upon sight of this woman. "How sweet of you to say, late January. Come in. "Kate ushered as the pair in to the dining area. "I'm just making dinner now."

Naomi turned to Greg, "Why don't you get your iPad from the car and I'll help Kate in the kitchen?" For a second Greg looked at her, a bit confused, until he realized that he quite liked the suggestion. "You can read about wars and plagues and play capture the crown to your heart's content." She assured him. He left the unannounced tiramisu he'd brought for dessert sitting on the table, and was off.

Naomi turned to Kate and handed her an exquisite little book, "A small token of thanks for inviting me to your home."

Kate ran her fingers over the cover…Taller than Buildings written by Phillippa Yaa De Villiers.

"Do you know of her?"

"I will now. "

"She's a South African poet and a brilliant screen writer. I write screenplays for hobby." Naomi whispered in a confessional tone.

"Do you? " Kate had now decided that it was well worth her efforts in insisting on an intimate dinner at home.

As the two headed into Kate's kitchen, Naomi took in a deep breath, "You're listening to Sade." She mused.

"Do you mind?" Fretting slightly as she offered Naomi a cork screw.

"I'd have to be deaf in one ear and blind in the other if I minded!" Naomi snorted. "What's your mix?" She asked as she uncorked a bottle of white.

Kate offered her a wine glass, "My mum's British- Indian and my dad's Nigerian, You?"

"My father comes from Germany and my mother from Eritrea."

"United Nations, n'est-ce pas?" Kate responded with a rueful smile.

"Pour certains, mais pas tous. I'll leave talk of politics to Greg." She cleared the air with a very elegant hand. He's filled me on how you came to be with this baby. I hope that doesn't bother you." She began assembling small plates of cheese and olives from the platter Kate had set out.

Kate was taken a little aback, she hadn't really thought about how Greg processed the situation. "This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Greg. I was willing to clean out my bank accounts to conceive this baby, but having experienced a natural state of conception before, four times to be exact, I really could not have imagined it any other way, and never with any other man. Does it bother you?"

"Why would it? I'm much more bothered by the slaughter of innocent children. Four attempts? That's very courageous of you; I think I would have given up after two! Men choose their weapons, women choose their methods. Greg thinks it's brilliant and you get what you want. That's how happiness begins." She raised her glass. "Do you know the sex yet?"

"Not yet, but I'd be happy with a Marie Curie or a Nikola Tesla." Kate laughed.

"You have a thing for scientist, do you?" Naomi peered over her glass rim with a knowing smile and fireworks in her eyes.

Kate hadn't laughed out loud this much in a while, "I suppose I do!"

"I'm aware of your situation with Caroline."

For a second, Kate's mood darkened, and then she had a laugh, "You do know that you have a serious talker on your hands?"

"Well aware. Strong and silent does nothing for me. I've never married, wasn't ready at twenty, nor at thirty and now at forty, I feel most ready. Greg says he's ready. He's got reasonably good taste in music and he genuinely believes that he can save the world; I've always wanted to be a mother, so I figure…Let's Do It!"

"How sweet!" Kate cooed as the waterworks begun to swell in her eyes. "I think Caroline forgot the meaning of ready when she met me." Kate tilted her head to conceal a tear.

"If she's only just forgotten it, maybe she'll surprise you." Thinking about all of the explaining she'd have to do later if Greg walked in and found Kate in tears, she shifted direction. "What does your intuition say to you about the sex?"

"This may come off daft, but on the drive home yesterday I was having a moment with the radio. Stevie Wonder's I Love Every Little Thing About You came on. Do you know that song?"

"Yes, go on." Naomi nudged.

"I was singing my heart out to the baby and I felt her respond. I mean, I felt her bouncing around!"

"It's a girl!" Naomi began to clap.

"Fairly certain." Kate winked.

Greg wandered in and Naomi caught him up and danced him around the room declaring her love was wider that Victoria Lake and taller than the Empire State before twirling him out of the kitchen, but not before she handed him a glass of wine and a small plate of cheese and olives.

"Dinner's coming!" Kate shouted to his back.

"We should get at it then. What are we making?" Naomi asked as she topped up her glass.

"Risotto, chops and a spinach salad." Kate explained as Naomi grabbed the cutting block and chopping knife, taking aim at the cleaned asparagus and chanterelle mushrooms.

Kate turned the music up a notch. They were all in for a good night.

Once again, a Big thanks to all that continue to encourage my indulgence in writing this story!