Charlie Deed had long since found her feetand left home after finishing university seven years ago, attending bar sxchool and becoming a junion barrister. She'd mostly grown up with John but she now had hert own life to lead and her own social crowd. It meant that she hadn't got much chance in keeping up with John's life though she was mildly surprised to find it more stable than it used to be. She'd also become closer to George over the years after she had got over the party that her mother's friends, Karen and Beth had thrown. She'd had been subjected to a reality awakening that George was happy with her new partner Alice, John had become partnered with the intimidatingly intelligent blind lecturer, Kristine Thorne and everyone was happy and contented with their lives with zero emotional drama. When she did make a periodic reappearance at John's digs, she was mildly surprised and pleased to find that Alice and George were a permanent fixture so that she was much more approachable than she used to be. Likewise,John's new relationship was continuing on an even keel. Even his periodic clashes with the establishment had reached a state of stalemate. Gransddad was much as he ever had been and was delighted to see his only granddaughter making solid progress in the career he'd always wanted her to pursue.
"Hi dad. I've gust got a day down here tonight after finishing a court case in Halifax. Can you put me up? I'll be here around sixish," she said breezily even though they'd not spoken for several weeks.
"I'll get an extra place at dinner and a spare room in that case," John said in easy tones. By chance, this was one night he wasn't due round at Kristine's flat as she had work to catch up with.
"That's cool. Thanks a lot dad," came the casual reply beneath which strong family feelings were felt.
Sure enough, Charlie came bouncing into the digs, dressed up in her formal dark suit and white shirt. A wheeled suitcase came trailing after her. She embraced her father warmly as they hadn't met for some time.
As both of them dug into a hearty dinner which absorbed some of their attention, friends of John drifted in and joined them on the long dioning table. As Charlie had indicated that she wasn't concerned to grab her father's exclusive attention, a criss-cross conversation gradually started up.
"I trust you'll be able to find time to call in on your mother?" John enquired gently.
"I am a bit short of time," Charlie started to say in a discomforted fashion before intercepting a questioning look from her father."Oh I suppose I'll manage to squeeze her in."
"Your mother is doing splendidly these days,"put in Monty, feeling that his place was there to make a gentle intervention. His own son was abroad and had nothing to do with him, something he felt deeply so that he wanted to encourage other families to be happy.
"I'm sure she is Monty. I still find it strange that she and Jo Mills are competing with each other on how to be the best campaigning barrister- even if mother isn't shy of making money."
"Your mother has never gone in for wearing her heart on her sleeve. Even now, she's still embarrassed at the thought of being earnest and self-righteous. You have to see what she does. Even when she was with Haughton she would discreetly ensure no disaster would be visited on me. Since those days, she knows better than to deny the existence of her feelings and Alice has quite a bit to do with that."
"You're right dad. Alice is restful company. It's just that old memories die hard," Charlie said reluctantly as something inside of her hadn't quite caught up with reality. Her eyes didn't quite John's who had the disconcerting knack of being direct.
"i know you had a lot of upset when you were a child, a lot of which was my stupid fault. I still did get a lot right. You have to let the dead bury the past. I've wondered if a tiny part of you still think your mother and I will get back together even though we're very good friends, yes?"
"Maybe you're right. It's irrational for me to think that way," Charlie answered, her face colouring. You and Kristine as as much an item as my mother and Alice are. I must accept all this."
"That's good Charlie," John said with a smile on his face but his daughter picked up on a trace of background nervousness. She deduced that he had something on his mind but was uncharacteristically shy of expressing out in public. She promptly led her father along a neutral topic of her experiences in the legal circuit on which all the others had done in their time and could easily relate to The evening passed comfortably enough until John and Charlie headed up to his bedroom suite. It had that old-fashioned country house feel that all judges favoured without exception.
"Now then dad. You've obviously got something on my mind. You need to tell me all about it," Charlie demanded with more than a hint of her mother's forcefulness.
"I did want to tell you first on your own," John conceded, feeling a little helpless to resist while stuck into a comfortable armchair while Charlie was standing. Behing his outward graciousness, he was using this space to find the right words to edge into the topic in hand.
"Go on dad, I'm listening," Charlie said gently to fill a bit more space, hoping that her tone of voice wouldn't scare him away on a personal matter.
"Well, I'm not settling down into comfortable old age with a pair of slippers nor would Kristine let me. we're thinking of getting married. In fact, she popped the question to me and I accepted."
A rush of different emotions rushed through Charlie, first and foremost being memories of her parents bickering when she was a little girl and their final separation. Now this was being reversed. The part of her that took charge noticed how her father spoke quicker than normal. He wanted her approval. When she thought about it, it was entirely his business but there was more to it than that. He'd become more relaxed, more himself as time had gone on and he and Kristine did go together in an intangible fashion. She was definitely no bimbo, curiously ageless and she was a frighteningly intelligent woman in her own right. It was obvious that she had to give them her blessing. Picking the right words wasn't easy and she had to get it right first time.
"Well, what can I say? I mean you both had to do this in your sweet unconventional fashion. I admit I don't know Kristine that well but she certainly impresses me. If you're both happy, then I'm all for it and put me down for a place at your wedding," Charlie said with growing warmth and enthusiasm.
The beaming smile and warm hug from her father told Charlie that she'd got it exactly right, Her father topped up her drink and enthusiastically told her that her mother liked Kristine as well. This was something Charlie was glad to hear.
Pretty soon, they were settled down and Charlie glanced at the row of family photographs lining the mantlepiece. A small picture in a silver frame caught Charlie's eye as she couldn't place its context. A little girl on a swing in a suburban park with sparkling green eyes, laughing features and tousled dark hair was clearly enjoying herself.
"Rose Stewart-Wade. She's the daughter of Nikki Wade and Helen Stewart. I've only recently resumed contact with these two good friends of mine as I wanted to. It so happened that she was struggling with her maths at school and she was being given a hard time by an unsympathetic teacher. I stepped into the breach and gave her some private coaching," John explained to her daughter after she turned around to face him and directed a enquiring gaze at him..
"Would it be true to say that you also had a hand in her coming into the world dad?" Charlie asked ever so gently.
A look of fear shot into John's eyes. he hadn't ever put it into words in his inmost thoughts but he feared that Charlie would be jealous and insecure if this secret came out.
"Don't get me wrong dad. I guess you did this unselfish deed to give your friends a chance of motherhood," she added hastily.
"that's just it. That's why I stayed out of their way to give them this chance, Now I know that Rose is a remarkable child, her own person already even though she's getting a uniquely good upbringing. I'd never want to be possessive- it would spoil things completely."
Charlie knew that the way her father shot out these words in a random stream of consciousness meant that he was speaking the absolute truth. He'd done absolutely the right thing but he desperately needed to be reassured.
"Dad don't worry. This is one of the best thing you've done in your personal life as well as being Spiderman in your public life. The last thing you need to worry about is that I'd be stupidly jealous of her. I feel secure enough about you so why should I monopolise your upbringing?"
John's look of sheer relief was very touching to Charlie. This was a very rare moment when she was being the strong one and he didn't mind this. If this was a harbinger of a change in their relationship, it was something that none of them minded in the least.
A similar family reunion too place as Karen's son Ross phoned her out of the blue in respectfully asking if it was all right to pop round and, oh yes, could he bring a friend as well. This prompted Karen's suspicion that there was more than met the eye.
"Of course Ross. Beth and I always enjoy your company. Any friend of yours is welcome here," Karen said with carefree assurance.
An hour or so on later, the buzzer to their flat rang on time and there before her stood her clean cut, fair-haired son. Next to him stood a dark-haired girl, dressed slightly conservatively and clearly of them had small suitcases on wheels.
"This is my friend Tina. My girlfriend actually," Ross stammered slightly, most unusually for him.
"We guessed as much. Don't worry, everything's all right," Karen said softly and gently. A sharp tap of heels announced the arrival of Karen's partner, Beth Pritchard who was dressed to the nines. It was in keeping with her that she grabbed at the slightest pretext to dress up yet never turned a hair if her partner dressed casually.
Tina was wide eyed as she first laid eyes on Ross's family. He had been prevailed upon to disclose this secret that was his mother's sexuality by the sheer idle turn of conversation as Tina was the only woman he felt close enough to confide in. She was stable, down to earth and accepting of others but there were limits as to her worldly wisdom. All the time she'd crossed London on the tube to meet Ross, she'd envisaged Ross's mother and partner to be somehow alien, to be other than herself and her straight friends. Quite what she would expect to confront was a hazy nothingness though she concealed her nervousness from Ross.
She couldn't believe what she saw when she came across this shapely vision in smart blue jeans, a long-sleeved casual top, long blond hair, deep blue eyes and classic cheekbones. Alongside her, a contrasting vision that had esceped from the nineteen thirties flapper era, complete with dark bob cut hair, managed to beat her for cool sophistication. All she could do was to extend a limp hand to shake hands and stumble out her name before brining in their luggage..
"Hey come in you two and take a seat. Great to see you Ross," the first woman offered in a husky but friendly voice. All she could think of doing was to go with the flow.
"I'd be kidding you to say that we've heard about you Tina as we and Ross pass like ships in the night. Now that you are here, we've got the chance to properly know each other,"Karen said with disarming frankness. She instantly decided she liked this woman's honesty.
"You've luckilyu managed to catch us both in the same place you guys. Karen's a ward sister in the local hospital and I'm a journalist," Beth observed cooly.
"Hey respect- for both of you,"Tina found he4rself saying more gauchely than she'd wanted. However, both women smiled approvingly for not pursuing the apparent glamour of the media. This girl had good taste and so the ice was broken. Beth rustled up tea and biscuits and Tina felt delightfully normal to be in this cosy domestic setting. She felt is was up to her to chat about herself so the two women knew her better and there developed a nice interplay of conversation. Ross was quietly jubilant that his girlfriend fitted in so well. In the past , he had separated out his friendships and girlfriends to keep them at one remove as he had thought it too wierd for his life outside home to confront his lesbian mother and her partner. Only because he'd been getting on so well with Tina being one relationship he hadn't messed up in his life had he vaulted through this severe hangup.
Time edged gradually on and they sampled some of Karen's home made cooking which added to his sense of normality. Despite Ross's ancient memories of his mother's periodic arguments with her partners, his most abiding memory was of her slaving away over Sunday dinner which created a fleeting sense of togetherness. Throughout his cildhood, happiness could come and go with no control over it as things happened without anyone's bidding.
Right at the end of the day, Karen quietly pulled Ross aside.
"You know you and Tina can take the spare bedroom if that's what you both want. It wouldn't be right to expect Tina to kip down on the sofa," Karen said in her most nonchalent fashion possible.
"You really mean it?" replied Ross quietly. He remembered how he'd been such a sponger and a pain in the backside during his student dropout days and how tough his mother could be. He also knew that Beth was unbreakably loyal to Karen, something his mother's previous partners had never been.
"We gather you're living together already so what's the problem? In any case Tina hasn't any problems with me and Beth so it's only natural," Karen replied with a cheerful smile.
Settling down last thing at night was an interesting experience as Ross watched with detached interest how his mother and Beth worked seamlessly round each other.
"I won't crowd your bathroom," offered Tina tentatively.
"Three women sharing a bathroom is a risky experience. If they don't clash like crazy, they'll really get along," joked Beth light-heartedly.
"The ultimate test," agreed Karen."Men don't count in the same way from what I remember. They leave the toilet seat up but that's all." Ross grinned at the truth of his mother's remark.
All this time, Beth had battened down her sexual desires while she chatted and socialised. This was one occasion when Karen wasn't on night shifts and Beth hadn't got an urgent deadline to work on. Once the two women slid between the sheets, Beth's amorousness overflowed in her movements around her lover. To her acute disappointment, Karen's body felt rigid to the touch.
"What's wrong babes?" she asked softly.
Karen let out a sigh of disappointment. It was a token of her frustration with herself. This wasn't what she wanted.
"It's not personal, believe me. It's that Ross is next door. I'm really sorry but I find it really inhibiting. The spirit is willing but..." she said in a disconsolate fashion.
Beth turned aroyund and lay on her back. Sexual disappointment very rarely happened to her and she wasn't used to it nor could she put it into words. Karen felt all the more guilty and one solution came to mind.
"It won't be great but there's no reason why you should miss out enjoying yourself darling," she said, turning to the slim shape her dark-haired lover, hardly visible in the gloom but silently calling for her fair share of slid her hand down Beth's flat stomach."There's only one thing,"
"And what's that?"Beth said, touched by her very considerate lover as she made her move.
"Scream quietly when you're having an orgasm darling," the husky voice articulated out of the gloom just as her fingers were stroking her centre. Beth laughed at that one.
In the meantime, John Wade made the final decision to resort to online dating and nervously, his fingers hovered over the keyboard in his flat. In the background, the political pundits were hotly debating the latest opinion polls as the General Election was imminent but John had turned the sound these years, he'd been a good brother to Nicola, a good uncle to Rose, a good man in his personal and private life. He needed a break from his loneliness and Nicola had urged him to give it a try once she'd told her of his predicament. He smiled as she apologised for knowing the wrong kind of women she might be able to introduce him to. That gave him the courage to press through this final barrier.
"It's really nice of you, mum, to put Tina and I up for the night," Ross said warmly. That night had worked out curiously satisfactorily although the situation of his mother and her parner next door was unusual to say the least. Meanwhile, the dark-haired girl suppressed a yawn while Beth blinked at her eyes.
"I hope you both had a comfortable night," Karen asked in mum tones.
"Oh yeah, the bedroom's ideal," Ross said hastily while Beth fine-tuned her conclusions. Karen opened the front door of their flat while she and Ross promised to keep in touch in future amidst farewell hugs.
That day, Karen had contrived to secure a day shift and exchange texts on their work in progress while Beth made sure her work was done and nothing else would be dumped on them. Finally, both of them rushed on home in record time.
"Time for some me time," Beth drawled as she opened her arms to receive her slightly tousle-haired lover into her arms. This night would see the basics attended to, eating a takeaway meals that wouldn't weigh too much on their stomachs. Early in the evening, they headed off to their bedroom and stripped off their clothes. Karen gestured to the bedside unit Beth's dide of their double bed and lay in a very come hither pose on the bed. In the meantime, a wide grin spread across Beth's face as she feasted her eyes on the blond woman's ample breasts and she slowly put on her dildo. Karen's pulses started racing as she thought of the long shape deep within her. Both women were trembling with desires which had flitted around at the back of their thoughts all day and finally their bodies met. As they kissed and felt each other furiously, Beth eased herself into Karen with confidence born of long intimacy and practice. Karen's repeated moans of pleasure at her lover's thrusts rose in pitch and intensity to exstatic shouts mingled with Beth's sounds of pleasure as they rocked backwards and forwards to a frantic orgasm that felt as if it would last forever. Both women knew that soon it would be Karen's turn to pleasure her lover.
"Do you like being made up to?" Karen asked as she lay in the nicely sweaty feel of completeness as her full lips nibbled and caressed her lover's. She loved the sensual feel of her legs wrapped round her lover and their bodies pressed up against each other. One soft double bed and a soul mate and genius female lover on top of her filled out the core of Karen's urgent needs and her dreams of life.
"Darling you are gorgeous but do you kinow something? I bet your son and girlfriend had a better night last night than we did," chuckled Beth as she softly kissed Karen's cheeks and eyes.
"It's interesting that we have our most meaningful conversations when we're in bed. Before I met you, it was always a time for the worst kind of meaningless bullshit that meant nothing," mused Karen out loud as the random thought struck her.
"That's a good tangent and eally true but you're getting off the point,"intervened Beth pertly, calling the conversation back to order. A slight smile spread across Karen's face at her lover's oh so gentle rebuke.
"So what do we say?" questioned Karen, reckoning that perhaps they could have their cake and eat it.
"You've proved you're a good mother as I've seen that side of you. That means you don't need to explain and apologise. Just don't make it obvious and they won't," said Beth pertly. This amused Karen but one thought struck her mind.
"One thought though. Tina had better be on the pill so she doesn't make my mistake," Karen answered as sombre memories of her own past briefly visited her.
"I totally forgot dear. Lesbians aren't in the habit of getting accidentally pregnant," she
riposted. This dry wit was something Karen loved so much about her lover and the way she softly pressed inside her as she spoke banished those memories. The tender kiss she gave Beth back in grateful thanks was longer and deeper than before as she knew that their desires would soon grow so it would soon be her own turn to ravish her lover.