A few hours later, Caroline smiled mischievously as Kate walked into the kitchen. "Did you come in here so you can seduce me again."

Kate walked behind Caroline and put her arms around her wife and pulled her close. "Well, there are…six, no seven reasons I'm not. Our daughter is playing twenty feet from here and we have five minutes max before she realizes we are ignoring her. You are in the middle of cooking dinner. Lawrence is due back from the cinema any moment now. Alan and Celia are coming over for dinner. I'm famished from this afternoon and need to refuel first. I came in here to tell my wife she is beautiful and I love her."

"That's only six," exclaimed Caroline.

Kate whispered in her ear. "Hmmm, number seven…I won't seduce you now because…," she began to kiss Caroline's neck, "I won't seduce you now because…," her hands began to gently roam over her wife's body, "I won't seduce you now because…," she spun the blonde around and kissed her, "…I won't seduce you now but slowly, little by little, I'll tease you with a kiss, a touch, a telling look. And tonight or maybe tomorrow…I will seduce you. I'll kiss you and touch you and taste you, I will make you feel loved, feel sexy, feel beautiful, I will overwhelm your senses…but not now."

"Such a tease," smiled Caroline "but I like number seven."

"Good, and for the record, I do think your recollection of the events earlier today are a bit off. I'm not complaining but I seem to recall you kissed me first."

"I did but you played romantic music for me and..."

"Caroline, I don't think there is a person alive that would rank Puppy Love in their top 1,000 most romantic songs and I seem to recall you said you wanted to use your words and body to show you loved me…I loved it though, it is always nice to feel wanted and loved."

"Don't I say it enough? Show you?" Caroline fearfully asked. It had been nearly two years since their Christmas Eve reconciliation but she still occasionally fretted over her inability to have a normal relationship.

"Sweetheart, of course you do. It wasn't meant as a complaint, just an acknowledgement and appreciation for all the times you do."

"Mmmm, good," said Caroline as she kissed her wife softly and walked over to stir a pot on the stove.

"After you fell asleep earlier, I stopped to cd but not before I heard the beginning of track 4 play." She glanced over at their daughter, captivated by something and still ignoring them, "Both the song and story are Flora safe," as she hit play her laptop.

She reached her hand out, "dance with me."

The pair swayed together as the song played.

(August 2012)

Caroline was quietly sneaking out of her house, she was going to Kate's and then a short walk down the street to have lunch with her neighbor's grandmother, Ylenia. Every time she came and went, there were usually multiple sets of eyes on her and often questions as to where she had been. She felt more like a teenager than the mother of two teen boys. As far as she knew, the kids were out but the week before, William had surprised her and was home.

Her mother's car was there but she had already told her mum that she was having lunch with one of the teachers. Caroline was awful at lying so she learned how to tell the truth without raising suspicion. Too much boring information was one of those ways so earlier that morning, she went into detail about how she saw great potential in this teacher and wanted to mentor her so one day she would take over as departmental head. Her mother always feigned interest in her job but it was obvious she didn't care. She continued long after Celia appeared to have stopped listening and for good measure, she said she might stop at the store on her way home with no mention of which store or how long she would be. It was all, not a lie, but she would have to think of something different for next week and it always added to her stress levels.

Just as she was about to get into her car, Celia walked out and stopped Caroline. "Where did you say you were going?" Celia asked.

"Lunch with one of the teachers," said Caroline trying to hide her nerves.

"No, afterwards?" Celia asked.

"Oh, did you need something?" Caroline asked, intentionally not saying where.

"I had a craving for marmalade this morning, thought you could get some while you are out." Celia hadn't had marmalade in thirty years but unlike her daughter, she would lie and it seemed like a simple request, a reason to ask more questions of her daughter.

"Sure, not a problem, anything else?" Caroline asked while trying to look annoyed to hide how she really felt.

"That'll do, thanks. Where are you going for lunch?"

"Oh…a…just a little place. She has food allergies and can't go anywhere. Mum, I must go, bye."

Caroline could feel her whole body shaking as she drove away. Her mum was intolerant and judgmental, yet she always felt that she needed her approval. Graduating from Oxford, having a good job, a happy family, until a few months ago, it was never enough, nothing would ever be enough but still she yearned for her mother's approval. Her mum was clever as well, she knew there would be additional questions when she came home.

She stood at the door, waiting for Kate to answer. Every second felt like an eternity as she thought about her mum, could she know she had feelings for Kate? Could she sense she hadn't told the whole truth? Did she know any of it?

On her way over, she had stopped at a café that Kate liked. They have some amazing baked goods so she bought bread for home and bread and pastries to share with Kate and Ylenia. It wasn't lunch at the café but surely this counted as 'take away' and with the bread for home, likely enough to keep Celia from thinking she was hiding something. It was exhausting.

"Hi Caroline, come in. You brought take away?"

"Yes, no, just some bread and pastries to share."

"Well, good, there has been a change in plans. Adrian just texted me. He isn't feeling well and came home from work. Doesn't want to get us sick so no lunch with Ylenia this week. How about we just make something here, is that okay?"

"Here is fine," responded Caroline.

They cooked and ate lunch, but Kate could sense something was off with Caroline. "Everything okay?"

How embarrassing, at forty-five, to complain about her prying mother, to care what her mother thought. "Yes, no, it's nothing."

"What did John do now?"

"Nothing, well, nothing different."

"Tell me, you don't have to but if it is upsetting, sometimes just sharing helps."

"You must be tired of hearing me cry and complain all the time," said Caroline.

"Never, it's what friends are for, to wipe away tears, to listen."

"It's, just, I can't say right now."

"If you aren't ready, that's fine, you don't have to tell me. Give me a minute, I'll be right back," said Kate as she got up and walked out of the kitchen.

Kate reappeared after a few minutes and Caroline gave a concerned look.

"We are going for a walk," said Kate. "The other direction from Ylenia's"

Caroline was a bit lost, but she followed Kate.

They were walking down the street in silence when the clouds moved in and the sky grew gray. After a few moments, Kate said, "one day, maybe next week, next month, next year, the tears will cease and the clouds will part, the sun will shine, the birds will sing and all will seem well."

The pair hadn't walked far when Kate motioned as she walked towards the front door of a neighbor's house.

"What are we doing?" Caroline asked?

"You seem like you need to be cheered up. This spring, the couple that live here rescued a dog that was pregnant, so we're having puppy therapy. It won't solve problems, but it may give you a reprieve. I was there on Sunday, it'll make you smile, I promise."

"How do you know I'm not allergic?"

"Oh, I know, don't you remember," smiled Kate. "When the woman from the guide dog program came to speak at school, that weekend, when you were talking about John, you said you always wanted a dog but he didn't like them."

"You really do listen to what I say?" Caroline asked.

"Always…," as a woman opened the door. "Hi Laura, thank you for letting us come over, this is my friend Caroline."

They followed her through the house into the back garden and were greeted by eight very energetic puppies.

Like a timid child, unsure of the situation, Caroline reached down slowly to pet one of them when another and a third and a fourth came over. It took only a few minutes and Caroline, the Ice Queen, the Dragon Lady, the Destroyer of Fun and whatever other names the staff and students gave her, morphed into a ball of mush as she played with puppies.

They stayed for another half hour as she wore out the puppies and vice versa. One by one, they laid down together alongside her and began to nap with one falling asleep in her arms. Eventually and reluctantly, Caroline placed him down with his brothers and sisters and stood up.

They said their goodbyes and began to walk back to Kate's.

"Thank you, that was fun, I needed it."

"I'm glad. Laura said they have the puppies at least two more weeks before the rescue shelter is going to try to find homes for them. I'm sure we can go back if we want to."

It had been a sunny morning but the clouds had moved in as they made their way to see the puppies. Now, as if on cue, when they left, the clouds parted, the sun shone down on them and the birds began to chirp.

"Oh," said Caroline, "listen to the songbirds."

"And the sun is shining and hopefully before long, the tears will cease," said Kate as she hooked her arm through Carolines to pull her close.

Back at Kate's, they had tea and pastries as they sat around and talked. She shared her latest grievances about John but said nothing of her mother.

Eventually, Caroline realized the time and excused herself. "I need to go to the grocery store to get food for dinner and marmalade for my mum."

They hugged goodbye and Kate said, "keep listening for those songbirds."

As the song was about to end and unsure of track 5, Kate hit stop on cd. The pair continued to dance in silence before Kate whispered the lyrics to her wife, "For you, there'll be no more crying. For you, the sun will be shining. And I feel that when I'm with you, it's alright, I know it's right. To you, I'll give the world. To you, I'll never be cold. 'Cause I feel that when I'm with you, it's alright, I know it's right. And the songbirds are singing, like they know the score. And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before." She stopped singing and kissed Caroline."

Suddenly feeling left out, Flora toddled over to them and began to whine, "Mama up. Up Mama."

Caroline picked her up as they continued to dance and the pair now lavished all their attention onto Flora before Kate whispered to her wife and daughter, "And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before."

Note: Songbird was written and performed by Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac. The world lost a talented musician when she passed away this past November and I very much wanted to use a song by her. If you've never heard it, I encourage you to give it a listen. The story is, she wrote this song in about 30 minutes around midnight. A quick online search will show that some people think this is a love song while others think it is about a breakup, so I thought this was a perfect fit.

If you are having a bad day, look up videos of puppies playing and if you are having a really bad day, look up puppies and babies playing together. I may have watched a few for 'research' and they will bring a smile to your face.