Telling her mum was always going to be the tricky bit, Janet thought. The girls would hopefully be fine with it after a while, but Dorothy wasn't one to mince her words so if she had a problem, Janet knew that she wouldn't be left ignorant of the fact.

She nervously picked at her fingers as Rachel parked the car outside Janet's house, wondering if she could make up an excuse to delay the ever-nearing conversation. Nothing was coming to mind. Plus, she was proud to be with Rachel. They loved each other – they were in love. She looked up at the perfect human being sitting next to her, who was looking straight back. Those eyes. It was like they could see into Janet's soul, like Rachel could understand exactly how she felt just by a look. And it was the same the other way around. They knew each other so well that it sometimes terrified Janet, even before they'd moved the relationship on from "just friends". She looked back down at her hands and realised that she'd made herself bleed.

'You don't have to do this right now,' said Rachel quietly. 'Not if you don't want to.'

Janet smiled. A way out. But she knew she had to do it now, or it would never get done.

'It's not that I don't want to,' she said. Rachel reached over to take one of her hands and linked their fingers together. Janet looked up at her. 'I just...' She sighed. 'I'm just a bit worried she won't take it seriously.'

'Look, I honestly think that your mum can tell when you're being serious. She has known you for your whole life. And anyway, she'll realise soon enough even if she doesn't take you seriously now.' Rachel squeezed her hand. It felt odd, in a way, Rachel being the maternal one looking after Janet. Odd, but nice.

'I'd better go in,' said Janet, not moving an inch.

'Yeah.' Rachel didn't move either, apart from her thumb stroking the back of Janet's hand. 'Maybe just one more kiss.'

Janet giggled before leaning over to meet Rachel halfway. She leant back and smiled, still not quite believing that this was really happening.

'I'll see you in the morning, then,' she said.

'Yeah. Night, love,' Rachel replied as Janet got out of the car.

Janet waved back at Rachel as she shut the front door then turned around, breathing deeply to steel herself for what was to come. She walked into the front room, taking her coat off on the way, and saw that her mum was sitting on the sofa watching the news.

'Evening, Janet,' Dorothy said without averting her eyes from the TV. Janet didn't reply, she just sat herself down at the other end of the sofa and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. Dorothy turned off the TV and looked over at her.

'You're terribly quiet, love. What's up?' she asked.

'Oh, umm-' Janet realised that despite knowing that she had to tell her mum, she hadn't a clue how to word it.

'Why did you stay over at Rachel's last night instead of coming home? I thought you weren't speaking to her any more.'

'I... erm...' Blimey, this was going to be difficult. 'Yeah, about that...'

'What?' Dorothy was being persistent. She sounded almost exasperated.

'I'm seeing her,' Janet rushed, thankful it was now out in the open.

'You're what?' said Dorothy in disbelief.

'Rachel. I'm seeing her. As in we're together.' Janet ignored the incredulous look from her mother and carried on regardless. 'We made up yesterday afternoon, after Gill had been rescued and now we're-'

'What do you mean by that?'

'What?'

'About Gill being rescued. What happened to her?'

'Oh, um.' Janet had been so caught up with everything that was going on that she'd forgotten to tell her mum about Gill. 'Do you mind if we talk about that later? I want to talk about Rachel right now.'

'Right, as you wish. I thought you hated her – Rachel.'

'Well, I did, for a bit, because she's such an idiot sometimes. She went too far when she, you know, with Kevin.' Dorothy nodded. 'But... Where are the girls?'

'Still asleep, last time I checked.'

'Oh, good. But I think that it's when someone really hurts you that you then realise how much they mean to you. We had a row in my car after it happened and she said I was jealous. She's since told me that she didn't mean it, but it's true. I just was jealous of Kevin, not her. I love her, Mum.' Dorothy was looking back at her with a face full of consideration, which only made Janet more nervous. Was she going to accept this?

'Please say something, Mum,' Janet said. Dorothy concentrated on the floor for a while before looking up at her daughter. Janet had a flashback to when she was about 17. She had put on clothes for a friend's party that she knew her mother wouldn't necessarily approve of and had been inspected to see whether Dorothy approved or not. She hadn't. Janet had had to go back upstairs to change into something a little less – oh, how had her mother described it? A little less like she was "game".

'It's a bit of a shock, to say the least,' Dorothy finally said.

'I know, Mum. I'm barely used to it myself and it's happening to me!' Janet laughed nervously. Dorothy smiled that kind of smile that you do when you're not sure about something, not escaping Janet's notice.

'Look, I know that you don't really like Rachel, but I think that with the right person – me – she'll really mature and become more of an adult. Not that I think she's childish or...,' Janet trailed off.

'I have to admit that I'm not her biggest fan,' said Dorothy. 'She can be a bit stupid sometimes, but I suppose that I'm gonna have to get to like her if you're this serious about your relationship.'

Janet leaned over to kiss her mum and whispered, 'Thank you.' She got up, smiling.

'Right, I'm gonna put the kettle on. Do you want tea?'

'Actually, Janet, I think I'll have a coffee, thanks,' replied Dorothy.

Janet wasn't surprised, considering the conversation. She went into the kitchen and put the kettle on then got out her phone and texted Rachel.

Hi. Just told Mum. She seems ok with it! Bit shocked myself that she didn't object! Is it weird that I miss you so badly already? Love you x

Just as the kettle boiled, Janet's phone buzzed.

No way, that's great! It's not weird at all. I miss you, too. Don't worry, I'll see you in the morning, bright and early! Love you too x

Sorry this has taken so long to update - lots of school work right now - but I hope you're still reading. Please let me know what you think and hopefully the next update won't take so long to do! :)