33 comments/ 65252 views/ 26 favorites The Twenty-sixth By: The Wanderer I came across this one in the files whilst I was actually looking for something else and as its this time of year I thought I'd put it out to see what the readers think of it. As usual I thank my LadyCibelle and Techsan for their patience, proof reading, editing skills and of course encouragement. As always I'll also add that I've got the nasty habit of playing around with stories after they have returned them to me and that we don't always see eye to eye with each other, so I take full responsibility for the content and any cock-ups in this story. Clarification: Local Bike or Village Bike = promiscuous girl or woman, anybody can ride them. * The Twenty-sixth Alternative title For The Good times. You know, sometimes life can throw some real curve balls at you. Then you can finish up getting left to make choices that really you're not sure which way to go on. My problems started when I got talked into doing something really quite innocent, but which had consequences I never really expected. Before I knew it I found that I'd come to a point where I had to re-evaluate almost everything that had happened in my life before and make a serious decision about my future. The decision that brought me to that particular point in my life came about a few months after the wedding of one of my friends. Well, to be honest, she had really started out as just another girl who worked in my office. I was never really sure why she had latched on to me in the first place, or even how it came about that we started going to lunch together. After all, I was nearly twenty years her senior. Maybe she figured I was a safe bet, as I hadn't made a play for her when she started working in my department. Or maybe, as I was the boss and old enough to be her father the thought of me making a pass at her had never crossed her mind. I think nearly all the other guys in the place - whether single or married - had had at least one try at chatting her up over the five years she'd been with the firm. And I've got to admit, she'd made a pretty good and sometimes very public, job of shooting them down. She didn't really need my help on that score. I don't mind telling you Theresa or Terri as she was known in the office, was one hot looking young lady. You know, her body went in and out in all the right places and she wore clothes to show it off to its best advantage. And I am going to admit that I really did enjoy the looks I got when we went to the café or pub together for lunch. I'm willing to bet that quite a lot of guys would get jealous when they saw her hanging on my arm. But I'll tell you now that the friendship between Terri and I was strictly platonic. She treated me more like a surrogate father than anything else, although I did get some nice kisses under the mistletoe at the firm's Christmas dos over the years and I do believe there were a few rumours flying around at times. Whatever, I didn't really care; it kept the gold diggers at bay. I was one of the high earners in my company and before I retired it was rumoured I'd be in the running to be top dog. Terri's own father had passed away whilst she was still at school and I soon found out she missed him a lot; it could be that's why she had chosen me as a mentor when she first joined the firm. From what I had learnt over the years, there didn't appear to be anyone else in the frame for that particular job and I assume Terri had decided I was the best candidate around. As the years had passed, I'd come to know first Terri's mother Brenda, and then her boyfriend Kevin, who eventually became her fiancé, very well. Theresa's mother was about my age, extremely good looking, and with a very vivacious personality. Brenda, or Terri and her fiancé would quite often baby - or should I really say, child - sit my children for me when required. Wow, wow, wow, now don't any of you go getting ideas about Theresa's mother and I. We had on occasions gone out for a meal or to see a show together, and she had been a wonderful help to me with the children. But there was definitely no chemistry there and we both knew it. We had a long and very personal conversation shortly after we first met, we had come to treat each other almost like brother and sister. Any affection that we felt for each other was strictly on those grounds. Funny really when guys asked Brenda out, they found themselves presented to me for my approval. And if you must insist, I will admit that Brenda and I had shared a bed on occasions. We'd had some fun and kept each other satisfied, but that was as far as it went. I believe we'd successfully kept those liaisons a secret from Terri and my children though. We had no intention of showing any of the children that Brenda and I considered sex outside of wedlock acceptable behaviour. Over the years Brenda and Terri had produced what appeared to me to be a never-ending line of women to whom they enthusiastically introduced me. I have never been able to understand why it is that women think all unmarried men need to be clapped back into irons. I was doing quite nicely, thank you, on my own. Well, with the kids around, that is! Anyway eventually it came to the time when Terri had finally accepted Kevin's proposal and she decided was going to deign to walk down the aisle with him. Terri had that poor guy twisted around her finger. She asked me to have the honour of giving her away. She claimed that there was no one else she could ask to do the job and made it quite clear that there was no way I was going to get out of it. Ah, yeah, I think I was under her spell as well, almost as much as Kevin was. If only I'd been a few years younger! In these modern times, I did suggest that Brenda could have done the job quite easily, but neither of the women thought that was a good idea. Probably for the best actually, because Terri's mother was in tears (of joy) for most of the ceremony and I had to almost carry her back up the aisle. I also had to support her (physically) during the photo call, and the receiving line at the reception. Well, she was losing her only child. It also fell upon my shoulders to read Brenda's speech at the end of the meal, as she had to give up after about three or four attempts at starting it; she kept breaking down in tears. Terri's new husband, Kevin, had asked me to make a little speech also; he said that I was the nearest thing Theresa had to a father, so I did the best I could. Whilst I read out Brenda's speech, I had been concentrating on reading it from the piece of paper she had handed me. But when it came time for me to have my little say, I was reciting from memory most of the time. Until that is, I saw 'her' sitting there at the back of the room! I must have stopped speaking for a moment, because I suddenly became aware of the silence in the room and that everyone was looking at me expectantly. My mouth suddenly very dry, I fumbled around until I found where I thought I had broken off in my little diatribe; then I did as good a job as I could of reading the rest of it out. I think that the latter part of my little offering didn't go quite as well as the beginning. The speeches over and the cake ceremonially cut, the tables were moved from the dance floor. As usual Terri and Kevin had the first waltz together and then Kevin's father came over and took Brenda's hand; I had been asked to do the honours with his wife Shirley. We had only been on the dance floor for a couple of moments when she said, "Okay, Jack, who the hell is she?" I think I should tell you, that I had gotten to know Shirley and Ken (Kevin's father) quite well in the weeks leading up to the wedding. Besides that we'd met many times during the previous few years, whilst Kevin and Theresa were courting. I think I can refer to them as good friends. But I'll add that I'm a fairly private person, and I rarely talk about my past with anyone. "Pardon, Shirley, what do you mean?" "Come off it, Jack. You saw someone out there and it knocked the stuffing out of you. You struggled through the rest of that speech. Come on, tell me who could have had that effect on the Rock?" "Sorry, the Rock?" "Jack, you're a Rock. Just what Brenda and Terri would have done over the last few years without you around, I don't know. Now I know they've introduced you to every available female within a hundred miles. But from what they tell me, you have never been in the slightest bit interested. Then quite suddenly you saw someone out there in this room this afternoon and you went completely to pieces. Now come on tell me who she is?" "Okay, you've got me. If you insist on knowing, it's my ex-wife." "Oh, my, and you didn't know she was coming?" "I haven't seen her since the divorce ten years ago." "Doesn't she ever come to see the children?" "Oh, blimey, Shirley, they aren't Claire's children! They aren't even mine really; they're my brother's." "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know. So that would explain why they call you Jack; I had always thought that was a bit strange. You know, a disrespectful way of them addressing their father." "My brother and his wife were killed in a skiing accident; an avalanche in Alps eight years ago now. I took the children in; there was no one else. Probably the best thing I've ever done in my life, for them and myself. The children called me Uncle Jack for a long while, but it's a mouthful so we dropped the uncle bit sometime back. You know in the last few years some of the time they call me dad. Makes me feel kind of good and sad at the same time." "Hmm, so the iron man isn't quite the tough guy he makes myself out to be?" "You've lost me, Shirley?" "Well, you put on this air of being strong and independent. I'd always thought that you were a widower left with the onerous task of bringing up three children on your own. Which you are making a really good job of, by the way." "Thanks." "I had thought that you couldn't bear the idea of anyone replacing your wife, and that was why Brenda's matchmaking plans have never worked. But it turns out you'd chosen to take your brother's children in. And you are still very much in love with your wife." "Still in love with my wife? You've got to be joking. Where'd you get that idea from?" "Oh, come off it, Jack. If I'd walked over there and hit you on the head with a bloody frying pan, you wouldn't have been more gob-smacked than you were when you clapped eyes on her. You almost lost it completely; I wasn't the only one who was looking to see who'd had that effect on you, you know. We almost saw the Iron man melt in front of our eyes." "It was just the shock of seeing her here, Shirley, that's all." "You believe what you will, Jack. I know what I saw in your face." The dance came to and end but, before I could get off the dance floor, Terri grabbed me and dragged me back out there again. "Okay, what was all that about?" "Don't you start. I've had Shirley giving me the third degree." "I want an answer, Dad." "Dad?" "You are today whether you like it or not. Now tell me what's going on?" "My ex-wife is here." I didn't think Terri's eyes could get much bigger. But they did. "Oh, shit! Who is she? Where is she?" Terri demanded, at the same time as she twisted and turned trying to look at everybody in the place at once. "Terri! Terri!" I said to get her attention, not that it did much good. "If you say I'm your father tonight, then leave it. Claire and I broke up a very long time ago. My reaction when I spotted her was just because I hadn't seen her in a very long time. It took me completely by surprise, that's all." "Ooh, I see her! She's the beautiful blond sitting at that corner table," Terri said, completely ignoring what I'd just said to her. "How do you work that one out?" "I'm right, aren't I?" "I think possibly you are." I was trying 'not' to look in the same direction as Terri. "But how do you know?" "She's watching us and trying to pretend she isn't. Oh, and she's got that same look in her eyes as you had in yours, when you first saw her. Are you going to ask her to dance?" "I very much doubt it, no. We weren't exactly the best of friends when our marriage broke up, you know." "Tell me what happened?" "Terri, this is neither the time nor the place. Now please drop the subject of Claire." "Okay, Dad, if you insist; but you can be a real spoil-sport sometimes, you know," Terri said, but somehow her tone told me she was far from dropping the subject completely. I was glad when that dance ended. But as we arrived back at our table, I became acutely aware that all the conversations that had been going on around it as we approached abruptly stopped. I noticed Terri make a sly gesture to Brenda who, I think, had been talking with Shirley as we had approached. Then Brenda and Terri headed for the female strategic planning and information dissemination centre together. That's ladies powder room for those of you who haven't been initiated into the inner workings of the female mind. The place where all women retreat when they are planning something they shouldn't be. They hadn't been gone for more than a couple minutes before Shirley, along with my eldest daughter, Angela, got up and followed suit. I realised that I had to put a stop to this before things got completely out of hand; so I got up as well and followed after them. I was standing in the lobby when all four girls finally came out of the powder room together, still in excited conversation. On becoming aware of my presence, they stopped and went silent; all of them had looks on their faces as if they'd just been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. I could guess but I hadn't actually heard what they had been talking about inside, although they didn't know that. "Okay, girls, this has got to stop before it starts; now here's how it's going to work," I said, trying to get into control of the situation. "So now you're all aware that my ex-wife is here. Well, for your information, when Claire and I parted, we weren't on what you could call very friendly terms with each other. We had loved each other once, but that all kind of fell apart over the years. Don't ask me how or why, I don't know, but that's how life goes sometimes. Now I know that Brenda here has been trying to play cupid since the day I met her. But you are all barking completely up the wrong tree on this one." Brenda went to say something, but I put my hand up to silence her and spoke on. "There is no way in the world that Claire and I could ever get back together again and that's the end of it. So, Brenda, let's have none of your silly little games this evening, shall we?" "Why? Did one of you partake in extra marital activities or something?" Brenda demanded. You might think it surprising that I didn't take umbrage at either Brenda's nosiness or the straightforward approach she took when asking her questions. But Brenda and I had developed an extremely close friendship as I have already said. We'd learnt to lean on each other as a man and wife would usually do and just about nothing was a taboo subject for us to talk about. However the subject of Claire was an extremely sore point with me, and one I had managed to avoid talking about, even to Brenda. So a think my voice was a little sharp when I replied and probably said more than I would normally do, considering the company we were in. "No, we did not! We fought with each other like cat and bloody dog, over nothing. We just fell out of love with each other, that's all. It's just something that happens sometimes; our life together turned into a bloody nightmare, not far short of World War Three. The best thing that we ever did for each other was to walk away from that marriage. Now I'm asking you please, stay out of it, all of you?" Having said that, I turned on my heel and returned to the function room before any of them could speak. Four rather quiet and somewhat sheepish looking women followed me. I was at the time satisfied that Claire's presence would soon be forgotten. But I was wrong on that score, although I'll admit I didn't become aware of any more conspiring amongst the four girls. It was probably half an hour or so later that I spotted first Kevin, and then his father Ken, dancing with Claire. Both of them to my mind made a point of sweeping Claire past our table. Claire however averted her eyes as she passed me. How do I know? Because I was bloody well watching her pass; in the same position, you'd have done the same damn thing. I looked daggers at the girls, who all shrugged their shoulders back at me and denied all knowledge. Then all four of them made a strategic withdrawal onto the dance floor together. Obviously things were getting out of hand. So I thought my only option was take the bull by the horns and get back into control of the situation, even if it did call for some rather drastic and unexpected action on my behalf. As the next waltz started, I walked down the room to the table that Claire was sitting at. "May I have the honour, my lady?" I asked, holding out my hand and bowing. Claire smiled up at me and taking the offered hand replied. "Thank you, fine sir, I'd be delighted." Then I led her onto the dance floor. "This is a surprise. I didn't think you'd ask me to dance," she said as she settled in my arms. "We've been divorced a long time, Claire. Surely the war is over and we can be civil to one another, if not friends." "Friends, I hope," she replied. "You're looking well," I said, trying to make innocuous small talk. I figured that once the girls saw that Claire and I could be together without swooning over each other then they'd let things alone. "Thank you, so are you." "I was quite surprised to see you here." "So I gathered. I'm sorry, Jack. I should have made sure you saw me earlier, but I stupidly did the opposite thing and tried to stay out of your sight. I even dodged the receiving line. On reflection, that could have been a mistake. "No real harm done. Other than some slight embarrassment on my part and a near heart attack." "Honestly, Jack, I wouldn't have come if I'd known you were going to be here." "Hmm, how should I take that?" "I mean, I didn't intend to embarrass you and your wife." "Wife? What bleeding wife are you talking about? Why does everyone want to get me married off all the time?" "I'm sorry, I just assumed. I did hear the bride call you dad. Aren't you married to her mother?" "Good God, no, Claire. Terri works with me, I've just got very friendly with her family and she looks on me as kind of a father figure. She calls me dad sometimes, just to wind me up. I can't really get angry with her; both her and her family have helped me a lot with the children. You know, baby sitting and the like." "Children! You've got children! So you did get married again?" Claire said, with that very familiar hard edge to her voice, that instantly brought back unpleasant memories. It suddenly occurred to me that Claire knew nothing about my brother and his wife's death, or about my having adopted their children. But then why should she know? It all happened some years after we'd separated and we did live in different towns almost a hundred miles apart. The way we'd felt about each other when we had divorced, l hadn't bothered to keep tabs on her so I very much doubted that she had kept tabs on me either. "No, Claire, I didn't get married again. I might have made a fool of myself once. But you know the old proverb, once bitten twice shy. Brian and Marie were killed in an accident some years ago. So I've adopted their children." Claire's face at first showed a little confusion as I spoke, and then maybe a little annoyance at my little dig at her, finally taking on a look of concern when she came to understand the situation. The Twenty-sixth "Oh, my god, I'm sorry, Jack. The poor little mites. What happened to Brian and Marie?" "An avalanche in the Alps." "Oh, Jack, I am sorry. Brian was the last of your family, wasn't he?" "I've still got the children." "Yes, that's one good thing. I suppose they must have been some consolation to you. Are they here? Oh, god, now that's a silly question for me to ask, of course they are. Now I think about it; I've seen them, haven't I? The two girls are bride's maids and I'll bet that handsome young usher at the church was Graham. I thought he looked familiar when he showed us to our seats. They were so young when I last saw them I didn't recognise them immediately. It must have been the family likeness that made me notice them." "Yeah, most folks think I'm their real father." "In a strange way, you're lucky, Jack. Do you think it would have been different for us? You know, if we'd had children together?" "Shall we stay out of uncharted waters, Claire? Now you've got some idea of what I've been up to. How have you been getting along since...? "Don't ask, Jack. Not too good, I'm afraid. I tried the dating game for a while and met a couple of nice guys. Both of whom turned out to be married so that was the end of them. What others there were, were only after one thing and I made damn sure they weren't going to get it from me. "There was one guy who I could have really fallen for, but he was arrested for fraud. Luckily before I lent him any money. That turned out to be his modus operandi; he'd meet a widow or divorcee, flatter her silly and ask her to marry him. Then he'd borrow or steal as much cash from her as he could and follow that up with a moonlight flit. "Anyway I've sworn off men now. It looks like I'm not very good at picking them." "Oh, um, your not still with Viv, are...?" "No, I'm bloody not! How could you infer such a thing, Jack? Vivian got married and moved out of town about a year or so after our divorce. I've hardly seen her since." I sensed Claire was angry with me but she was doing a pretty good job of controlling her feelings. Ah now, you won't know about Vivian; I'd better tell you. Vivian had been Claire's closest friend and confidant in the latter years of our marriage; whilst, that is, Claire and I were in open warfare. In the heat of battle, I'd hinted quite often that there was something funny about the two women's close relationship. Yeah, you get the idea - not very nice of me, but all's fair in love and war. It was nonsense, of course. If Claire had only known about the times when we'd first met her that Vivian - who was divorced, by the way - had made several passes at me. Christ, just after the divorce was finale, the bloody woman even rang me up one evening and invited me to join her in bed at a local hotel, although I never did tell Claire about any of that, not that she would have believed me anyway. Oh, and no, I didn't! No, the digs and not so subtle hints I had made about Claire and Vivian's friendship were all part of the on-going battle between Claire and I. I suppose the inference I'd just made was the fallout from the old war. You know, old habits die-hard. "I wasn't inferring anything, Claire. I was just asking." "Come on, Jack, you know me better than that. No, I've just given up looking for someone to spend the rest of my life with." I sensed Claire trying to get her emotions back under control and remain civil. "If a man turns up in the future, then so be it. But I'm not actively looking for anyone anymore. And what about you, how's your love life been going?" "Not a subject I like to talk about Claire. Not that I've had much time left to chase after women in the last few years. What with looking after the children and holding down a job at the same time." Claire looked thoughtful for a few seconds. "Would you mind if...? What I wanted to ask you was, may I meet the children, Jack?" "Of course you can. After all, you are kind of related to them." "I suppose I am when it comes down to basics. Am I still their Auntie even if we are divorced?" "I haven't got the faintest idea, girl, but I can't see why not. Whatever you're their godparent anyway. Come on, I'm sure they'd love to meet you again." "Hmm, not a very good godparent, am I? Do you think they will remember me? They were all quite young when we...." "I'm sure they will, Claire; they've seen you enough in Brian's old cine-films." The tune ended -- well, it could have been the second tune, I have no real idea exactly how long Claire and I had been dancing and talking. Then I led Claire over to the table where just about all of what remained of my family and my closest friends were sitting. My oldest daughter, Angela, jumped up as we approached and threw her arms around Claire. She had obviously remembered her. I didn't get a chance to make any formal introductions, as Kylie and Graham quickly followed suit. Although I'm not sure the younger two, besides having seen her in those films, would have remembered Claire from when we were married. Kevin came over and collared me for something. When I got back to the table, I found Claire and Brenda in deep conversation. When Brenda saw me approaching, she smiled and, rising from her seat, dragged me back out onto the dance floor. "My god, Jack, how did you let her get away?" "Wow, Brenda, don't let looks fool you. I told you, Claire and I were at war for the last few years of our marriage. We couldn't stand the sight of one another by the time it ended. You know sometimes love is not enough." "And the reason you were fighting?" "Buggered if I know, Bren. We just rubbed each other up the wrong way, I suppose. We forgot that marriage takes a little work. You know what I mean." "No, I don't! Are you telling me something was missing from your lives." "I suppose it was, but I've no idea what." "Children?" "Ah, sore point there. Oh, Christ, Brenda, don't mention children to Claire. She's not infertile but she's got a problem, you know. She can't carry an embryo successfully. God knows we tried enough times. Try to make sure no one else talks about babies either; Claire can get quite upset by the subject." "Jesus Christ, Jack, I thought you had some brains in your head, but sometimes you can be a real idiot!" "Do what?" "Children, Jack, the moment I asked why you never had any. You tell me not to mention children to Claire. That means you are aware that she was upset about not being able to have any." "Of course I was aware. Once we discovered Claire had a problem we never discussed children again. God, I bent over backwards not to upset her with the subject. I did everything I could to make sure the subject of children wasn't brought up when she was around. Damn it we rarely visited my brother and steered clear of my folks whenever I thought Brian and the kids would be there. Christmas, Christenings and things were bloody murder. "And you still don't understand why your marriage failed." "No!" "Look over there?" Brenda said, as she swung us around so that I could see our table. "Look at Claire with the children, you fool. That's what I'll bet went wrong between you two. She's a lovely person and a natural mother if ever I saw one. Just like you're a natural father. Remember how the children accepted you in place of their parents and now look at how they are enthralled with Claire. I think Claire thought she was letting you down by not being able to give you the children that you desired. And it could be that you showed some resentment to her also." "Hold on there, Brenda. You've only just met Claire, you don't know anything about her or our marriage and what went wrong with it." "I'm a pretty good judge of people, Jack. No one pulls the wool over my eyes. Not even you!" "Now don't you go getting any of your ideas, Brenda. Claire and I divorced a long time ago. We are two different people now." "All right, Jack, if you insist, I'll hold my peace. But I can see when two people are made for each other. Even it they can't!" "The tune ended, but before I had returned to my seat, Angela came up and wanted to dance with me. Angela is my second favourite dance partner. I'd originally learnt ballroom dancing with Claire, but I'd hardly danced at all, after we'd divorced. When Angela had taken up dance classes, she'd wanted her brother to go with her as her partner. Young Graham however refused; he didn't want to lose face with his friends by going to a dancing school with his sister. So that honoured duty fell on my shoulders, and together Angela and I had become pretty good on the old dance floor. As we danced Angela talked about Claire, as I had surmised she would. But she never made any hints about Claire and I getting together. Looking back now I realise that Angela was the crafty little monkey. I imagine her mind was working the same way as Brenda's, but with a little bit more subtlety. Let's just say that I was well aware that the terrible three - Theresa, Brenda and Angela - along with help and encouragement from my younger daughter, Kylie, had been trying to get me married off for some time by then. Claire must have looked like a godsend to them. Why is it that women can't know an unattached guy and not try to either seduce the poor bugger, or marry him off to one of their friends? Or any eligible unmarried female they happen to come across. Anyway as I said, Angela is a wily little character. Besides saying that she liked Claire and that she wondered why we had separated, she steered clear of the subject. She made no subtle hints about us getting back together. By the time we returned to our table Claire was in the process taking her leave to return to the friends she'd come with. For those interested, Claire had come to the wedding with one of Kevin's aunts who did not wish to make the hundred-mile drive alone, her husband being out of the country on business that weekend. As Claire was leaving our table, I decided it wouldn't hurt to have one more dance with her, we'd always liked dancing together, right up to the end. Then I led her back to her friend's table. About an hour later, the group that Claire was with left. Shortly after, Terri and Kevin had made they're ceremonial departure for their honeymoon. Well, that's what everyone thought. Actually Terri and Kevin had gone to a hotel out on the edge of town for the night. I'd rented the bridal suite for them for their first 'official' night together. The following day I was due to drive them to the airport. But Brenda and I were the only people who knew that. ++++++ I was surprised that over the next few weeks, none of the women in my life mentioned Claire at all. This at first worried me; I don't know why, but it did. I had figured they were thinking along the lines 'he loved her once, perhaps he will fall in love and marry her again.' After some time I decided I was wrong on that score. I began to think perhaps they realised that loving someone isn't all it takes to make a good marriage. You do have to be able to live with them as well; Claire and I had proved that was the one thing we couldn't do. However meeting Claire again had brought back the memories of the good times that we'd shared together. And I think those first six years we were married... no, nine, or was it ten years... that we'd known each other, we had some really good times together. I remembered our first date together. Well, no, that isn't really correct either; it was half of a date actually. I was going with a girl at the time. Oh, god, what was her name? Never mind it's not important. Anyway she asked me to find a date for an old family friend of hers who was coming to stay with her family for a few days. I conned a pal of mine into coming along. The guy owed me a favour so reluctantly he agreed to come along. We picked the girls up in my friend's father's car and took them to a local nightspot. Nothing special but they had live music there. Claire was very quiet and my friend didn't hit it off with her too well. Actually he spent more time dancing with my date. It was when I was returning from the gents that I caught sight of them smooching away in a dark corner together. At first I wasn't sure what to do. Punching the guy on the nose sounded like a good option. But I doubted that would it achieve very much except get me banned from the pub. I can't say I was madly in love with the girl... well, that must be obvious, because I can't even remember her bleeding name now. So I thought to myself, 'Okay, man, you've nicked my date then I'll nick yours,' and I asked Claire to dance with me. I think for the first time that evening, I saw a proper smile come on Claire's face and it was then that I began to realise just what my so called friend had passed over. Claire was a very pretty girl especially when she was smiling. When the next really slow number started, she moved in real close and, oh, boy, that's when I knew just who had gotten the best cut of the deck. Claire and I didn't bother to return to the table. After collect her handbag, we left the pub and went for a walk down by the river. By the end of the walk, which I suppose I should add lasted until about two in the morning, I think I knew everything I needed to know abut Claire and she knew my life's history. You know, I still dream about that evening walking along by the river with her. When we finally got back to the girl's house, I'd arranged to meet Claire again the following evening. Claire was to tell me later that the other girl wasn't impressed with the outcome of that evening. Apparently my so-called mate had borrowed some money off of her to put petrol in the car and had then not even bothered to take her phone number. So we all doubted she'd ever see that cash back. Ah, well, that was her problem. She'd made her own decisions the night before. Anyway the following evening Claire came back to my place, where she met my parents and Brian. I know, a strange thing to do on your second date, but that's what we did anyway. Claire was a hit with my family straight away and she appeared to like them. The following day Claire went back to her own home. From then on our courtship was a long distance one, because Claire, as I said, lived in another town. We did manage to see each other most weekends. Either I went up there to stay with her folks, or she came and stayed at my house. Four months into our relationship, Claire and I first made love. Well, to us it was making love, but it was the first time experience for both of us. Not strictly true, since I'd managed to screw a couple of the local bike's before that evening. But whilst those occasions had been satisfying for me at the time, neither had been a memorable or noteworthy experience that could ever have been described as making love. However things didn't go quite as well as Claire and I would have liked either. My parents were away that weekend and Brian was out with his fiancée on the Saturday evening. There was no discussion between Claire and myself about us going out that evening as well. I think we both knew what the evening held for us that night and wanted it to happen. But as I say, it was not the magical experience that we had both envisaged. Although we did actually do the deed three times that night and we were, up to a point, satisfied with the results, but things could have gone better. Why three times? Well, there were three rubbers in the pack. Rubbers, not the most erotic things that you can come across and they kind of destroy the romantic atmosphere somewhat, don't they? I will say that we were quick learners though. I think both of us did some really hard reading over the next few weeks, even exchanging the books we had each managed to find. You know finding good books on how to make love successfully weren't all that easy to come by, back in those days. Quite a lot of what the books we found were complete rubbish really, but I think they got our minds working the right direction. After some discussion though there were things we decided we'd leave trying until after we were married. Anyway we talked a lot about sex when we were together and learnt what each of us liked when we had the opportunity. That was the important thing. We had more chances to get together once my brother Brian had got married. There was no way that my parents or Claire's were going to let us share a bed together. So before Brian got married, I'd give up my bed to Claire and sleep in the lounge. Once Brian had left home, Claire started using his old bedroom and from then on it was a tiptoed creep across the hallway, once the parents were asleep. We did have to keep the noise down though. After a time Claire went on the pill and that saved us all the problems with what to do with the used condoms. You know the pills back in those days were a lot stronger than they are nowadays. A few years ago I heard somewhere that they had some unexpected side effects for a few women. I've often wondered if they were the cause of Claire's problems, but I suppose I'll never know the answer to that one. The company that I worked for also had offices in the town where Claire lived. It was about three years after I met Claire that a good position became vacant there; I took the opportunity of a transfer and promotion. Work-wise it was the best move I'd ever made. The company had been having trouble finding the right candidate to fill the position. I didn't really have the right qualifications for the job, but I did have the experience in the office that I worked in and with the way the company did things. You might say I landed right on my feet, the youngest department manager in the firm. From that move on, I've always been ahead in the game, when it came to the promotion ladder. Claire and I married a month or so after I took up my new position. Hey, my relocation allowance had helped us buy our first house. Well, it made our mortgage a little smaller than it would have been. All right, the house needed a hell of a lot of modernisation, but Claire and I got stuck in and did as much as possible ourselves. Because of that fact, Claire stayed on the pill and thought of children went on the back burner. Three years later we upgraded to a much newer and larger house. That left us with a larger mortgage though, so Claire had to stay in work for us to afford the payments; so children were still off the agenda. Our sex life had taken off in a big way though. You say it and we tried it and if we liked it we did it often. I don't recall very many things that we didn't like. Outside work we'd - or rather, I'd - taken up horse riding; Claire was a proficient rider already. It is a hobby that I have continued to enjoy to this day. Ballroom dancing was another pastime we took up together and we were not far short of competition standard before we... well, when the shit finally hit the fan, to be precise. We'd been married five years when I got another promotion and one hell of a pay rise; money was suddenly no longer a problem in our lives. So we decided the time had come to put children back into the master plan. Claire came off the pill and we started the routine for getting her pregnant. Right from the beginning we watched her cycle dates very carefully and banged away like a pair of rabbits at what we calculated was the right time of the month. Yeah, we tried all the tricks you hear about. Claire did everything but stand on her head to make sure my little soldiers found their way in the right direction. After a year we began to think something wasn't right. Claire just didn't fall pregnant. We had the tests done and at first they showed no problem. Actually my sperm count was very high. But after further tests carried out over the next year or so, we were given the bad news about Claire. They was nothing wrong with the eggs that she produced, but there was something about her womb that meant it was doubtful the embryos would implant properly. The few that did she miscarried very quickly. The Twenty-sixth No, this didn't really mean she was infertile, but the doctors told us it was doubtful she would ever carry a baby for the full term. So we did keep trying but not to the extent we had before. In theory life went on as normal. But over the next few years, it became a very strange normal. Slowly without us even noticing it to start with, we began to have little arguments. Not disagreements; I think all families have them. No, these were arguments, often about the most insignificant things that got exaggerated completely out of all proportion. And we often found ourselves going to bed before we'd cleared the air. I have no real explanation as to what really happened over the next couple of years. At times we were as loving to each other as we'd ever been. At other times we'd have stand up rows at the drop of a hat, as I said, often over the most ridiculous things and in the most public of places. Some of our friends stopped asking us to their parties and the like, because they didn't know whether we'd explode at each other. Somewhere in amongst all this Vivian came on the scene. I think she had been around for sometime, but Claire started turning to her for support. I turned for support to where all too many men do: the boys down at the local pub. To be honest I'd began to not want to go home from work in the evenings to face yet another row. As time went on, things just got worse and worse until the day we finally decided to get divorced. I can't tell you now which of us was the first to bring the idea up. But we went to the solicitor together although hardly speaking to each other when we did so. The woman was good and managed to arrange everything amicably. Claire and I did not wish to prolong things by arguing over our assets, so they were split down the middle. I think we both just wanted out, as quickly as possible. The house was sold and Claire, I believe, went to stay with Viv for the time being, whereas I rented a small flat for a while. But luckily for me a position soon became available back at head office and I'd returned to my hometown. My father had died about a year before Claire and I divorced and my mother died of a broken heart a few weeks before our divorce was due to become final. Claire's last act as my wife was to attend my mother's funeral with me. The day of my mother's funeral she played the part of a wonderfully supportive wife. I don't think I could have gotten through that day without her there. Three days later she was out of my life completely and I hadn't laid eyes on her again until I saw her when I began making that speech at Terri's wedding. Well, I thought Claire had disappeared from my life again for the next four weeks or so. I learnt otherwise when the next lot of telephone bills came in. With three teenagers in the house, I keep a close eye on who they are talking to on they're mobiles, as well as keeping track of they're internet usage. On all three of the children's mobiles were calls to a number that I didn't recognise. Why should I recognise the number you might ask? Well, normally I don't take too much notice. I was really looking for premium rate numbers. But quite suddenly all three of them were calling the same number. Now that was unusual. They don't all have the same social circle. I noticed they called the number on consecutive days. One day Kylie, the next Graham and on the third day it was Angela's turn. Well, this set the little grey matter working. A check back showed me the calls started a few days after Terri's wedding. From there it wasn't too much of a puzzle to work out who the calls were being made to. A check on the phone book in Angela's phone - checked when she left her phone in the stable whilst she was exercising her horse - confirmed my suspicions. The children were calling Claire. Then I realised that they were calling her at the same time everyday. On checking where they all were at that time, I worked out that they were all in the house alone, whilst I was doing the late check on the horses. That evening instead of going straight to the stable block, I circled around the house and watched through the lounge window whilst Graham call Claire on his mobile phone and then placed it on the table. I can only assume that he'd put his phone on the loudspeaker function as all of then lent towards it as they spoke. It was a shame I hadn't thought to leave a window open; I would have been able to hear what they were talking to Claire about. It was a couple of days later and Terri and I were having lunch together when she asked me, "Jack, what's got into you this week?" "Sorry?" "You've got something on your mind. Come on, don't try to hide it from me. I know when you're upset about something." God, talk about a chip off the old block. Terri could read my mind almost as well as her mother could. "The children have been calling Claire." "So? She's their auntie, isn't she? Why shouldn't they talk to her?" "Oh, its not that I object to them talking to her. It's the fact that they are keeping it secret from me. That's what I find upsetting!" "Well, what do you expect, with the way you behaved at the wedding?" "What the hell did I do at the wedding? I introduced her to everyone and danced with her." "It was the vibes you put out that evening, Jack. Everyone was terrified to mention Claire's name after that night." "You're joking!" "No, you made it plain Claire was a taboo subject and, well... the children wanted to get to know her better." "You knew they were calling her?" "Yes, well, I knew they'd asked Kevin to get her phone number from his aunt for them. So it stood to reason they would be calling to her on the phone." "Terri, am I really that much of an ogre? Do they think I'd try to stop them talking to Claire?" "Don't be so silly. I'm sure they think that it would upset you to know they were calling Claire. So I expect that's why they've kept you in the dark about it." ---------------- That day I left the office early and stopped at the telecom store on the way home. It was around ten that I got up from the sofa to go out and check the horses as I did every evening that I was home. But that night I went into my den first and returned with a conference phone that I replace the phone in the lounge with. "You might find it easier, kids, if you use this to call your Aunt Claire instead of the hands free function on that little mobile. The calls will be cheaper, as well." I smiled at the three slightly confused and guilty looking teenagers, then left them to it. ---------------- That evening I took a little longer than usual with the horses. When I got back inside the house, Angela was the first to speak. "You knew we were talking to Claire on the telephone?" "I would think that was obvious." "And you don't mind?" "Why should I? She is your auntie, I think, and your godmother. You've got the right to speak to her as often as you wish." "We thought you'd be upset if you found out." "To be honest I'm more upset that you didn't tell me that you were calling her than I ever could be that you did call her." "We're sorry," Kylie butted in. "We thought because...." "Because what? That Claire and I are divorced. Look, kids, that's something that happens in life. Claire and I fell in love when we were young and got married. I don't know, maybe we got married too young. But somewhere along the line it all went sour on us." "You fell out of love with each other?" Kylie asked. "Yeah! No. Oh, I don't know what happened. We just kind of started having rows all the time. Look, I don't know why we do things sometimes. We ended up getting divorced, but she's still your auntie and if you want to keep in touch with her, I'm only too pleased." After that evening they called Claire on the phone in the lounge every day, but still when I went out to check the horses. I didn't listen into their calls as I could see no harm in them. ---------------- It was about another two months later Angela was in the drama group at her college and their Christmas production was coming up. Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, not my idea of a pleasant evening's entertainment. But when your daughter is playing Juliet, you have to go, don't you? Anyway I came home from work one evening. Angela had gotten us our tickets and they were lying on the kitchen table. Out of curiosity I picked them up and looked at them, and in doing so I just happened to count them. I'm not sure why; it's one of those things you just do. There were seven of them, so I did a quick calculation in my head. There were tickets for Kylie, Graham, Brenda, Terri, Kevin and myself, which made six. "Who's the extra ticket for?" I asked Angela, as if I didn't know. "Oh, Daddy, you wouldn't mind if... if Claire comes as well, would you?" "Don't be silly but have you asked her? It is a long way for her to come." "I haven't actually invited her, but she said she would like to see me on stage." "Well, you'd better be quick about inviting her. She'll probably have to arrange time off work to get down here on the opening night." "Thank you, Daddy. I'll do in right now," Angela said as she left the room to go into the lounge and call Claire. For some reason it didn't strike me as odd that she had gone to use a telephone that was out of my earshot. There was an extension in the kitchen. The opening night of Angela's play was cold and overcast. I unfortunately got held up at the office. But Terri got away on time, and she, Kevin and Brenda volunteered to get everyone to the college theatre on time. I got there at the last minute, without having time to eat or change on the way. They had left me a seat on the end of the row alongside Brenda. Terri and Kevin were on the next seats in with Kylie (who was sweet on Kevin) and Graham sitting beside them. Claire was at the far end of our little collection of seats. "At last," I thought, "they aren't trying to push us together!" Angela made a fantastic Juliet. Only I did find myself thinking I'd have to have a word with the young man playing Romeo. I'd seen him hanging around Angela a few times in the past, and - I don't know - he struck me as playing the part of Romeo a bit too enthusiastically for my liking. I suppose all fathers must think that way though. At the end of the show we went back stage to find Angela, who was really on cloud nine. Then when we got outside we were in for a bit of a surprise. The fog had come down whilst we'd been in the theatre. It was a real pea-souper; you couldn't see more than about ten or twenty yards. The first thing that crossed my mind was that there was no way that Claire could drive the hundred or so miles back home in that kind of whether. I had no choice; I had to invite her to stay over for the night with the children and I. At first she declined the offer but the children then got to work on her. Brenda and Kevin joined in telling Claire that it was too dangerous for her to try to drive all the way home in that weather. So Claire stayed over. This, of course, meant I slept on the couch, whilst Claire had my bed. In the morning when I awoke, everyone else was out with the horses. Just for those of you who haven't got livestock, the horses come first; they have to done before anything else, no matter what the weather. Or how you're feeling that day. I stuck my head out the door just to make sure that they were all at it and then set about sorting breakfast out for every one. I was surprised to find that Claire was not in my room when I went up to call her. She apparently was outside with the children. The children kept Claire busy for most of the day. She spent much of the time out with horses and went for a ride on my horse with all the children during the morning. Apparently Claire was in the habit of going straight from work to the stables where she normally rode and kept a bag in the back of her car with her riding gear. It was late afternoon before the subject of Claire leaving to go home came up. I'm not sure how they did it but the younger two children persuaded her to stay over until Sunday. Claire kept asking me if I objected. But I'm going to be honest here; if I had objected, I wouldn't have been the favourite person in the household. Besides I'd hardly seen Claire all day so it wasn't going to make any difference to me. Except for me sleeping on the couch again that is. Saturday afternoon, I'd run Angela in to the theatre for her matinee performance and I didn't have to pick her up until eleven that night when the evening performance was over. Claire kindly offered to cook the evening meal, but I suggested that we go out to eat, which we did quite early because of the children. The rest of the evening Claire and I played Monopoly with Kylie and Graham until I went out to check the horses and then went to collect Angela. When Angela and I returned, the others were all in bed. Angela was quite beat so she went to bed as well. I made myself comfy on the couch again. Sunday Morning was a repeat of Saturday. Everyone was outside before I woke up. I cooked breakfast and they all went out for a ride together again before Claire left for home around lunchtime. I can remember thinking to myself that the weekend had been very pleasant. There had been no sly digs between Claire and I. Actually we didn't really speak much as she had spent most of her time with the children. The children did talk about the weekend a couple of times but the main subject of conversation soon turned to the coming Christmas celebrations, and what the master plan was for this year. It had become habit for Brenda and Terri to join us for dinner Christmas day and stay until the evening. But this year Kevin and his family were in the mix and we really weren't sure what was going to happen. After a lot of beating around the bush, Brenda told us that she, Terri and Kevin were going to his parent's house Christmas day and would come to us on Boxing Day. The children were disappointed and I know Brenda felt terrible about the decision. But she had spent many Christmases with us in the past; it was only fair that Kevin's folks got a look in. I discussed going out for lunch on Christmas day with the children but they weren't keen on the formality of doing that. I did point out that I wasn't the best cook in the world and the food would probably be better. But Angela and Kylie announced that they would cook Christmas dinner; Brenda had spent a lot of time teaching them how to cook and they had always helped her prepare it in the past. I was just settling down to the idea that it would just be the four of us when Graham dropped the bombshell. "Daaad?" he said to me after I came in from my late night check of the horses one evening. The dragged out word telling me that he was after something. "Yes, Graham." "You know that Auntie Bren and Terri aren't coming Christmas day." "Yes." "Well, wouldn't it be nice if Auntie Claire came down instead?" "I should imagine Auntie Claire has her Christmas all sorted out by now, Graham," I answered him. "No, she's staying at home all on her own!" Kylie butted into the conversation. "You think so?" I asked in reply. "We know she is. She hasn't got anywhere to go." Angela joined the conversation. "Tell me, Graham, did you draw the short straw or something here?" "Sorry, Dad, I don't understand you," Graham replied. "Well, I suspect that you three are in cahoots here and you divvied up to see who'd suggest to me that we ask Claire to come down for Christmas." All three of them looked at me with guilt on their faces. "Okay, ask her. I can't see that it will do any harm for her to be here. I'll just have to get used to sleeping on the couch." "No, you won't," Angela replied. "Kylie is going to sleep on Graham's camp bed in my room and Claire can have her room." "Ah, you've got it all worked out, have you? And when did you make all these plans?" "When we asked Auntie Claire to come." "What? You've already asked her? And what would you have done if I'd refused?" "We'd all have slept in the horsebox with Auntie Claire and you'd have felt rotten. Anyway we knew you wouldn't say no. It's Christmas." So there it was, a coup d'état or whatever they call it. Claire was coming for Christmas whether I objected or not. -------------------------- I didn't actually talk to Claire before she arrived. I didn't avoid talking to her; that's just how it happened. Mind I did have to do a lot of thinking about what to buy Claire for Christmas. I settled on what I thought she'd find a nice surprise, but I also decided I wouldn't actually give it to her until Boxing Day. Claire arrived during the afternoon of Christmas Eve and we all went out for a meal together, although we were accompanied by a stranger in the form of Angela's new boyfriend - yeah, you got it, the "Romeo" from the play. I figured there was going to be enough cooking to be done over the following few days. Once again we went early as we had the young ones with us. When we got home again we played silly games until Romeo left and Graham and Kylie went to bed. Then Angela, Claire and I played Scrabble until midnight when the two girls went up. I sat there for another hour or so re-playing the day over in my head. I'd really enjoyed myself that afternoon and evening, but I still wondered whether I was making the right decisions. Christmas morning, although special, was like any other day in as far as the horses had to be taken care of before anything else. Claire had volunteered to make the breakfast whilst the children and I did the yard. Over breakfast Christmas presents were passed around. In the past we had left the first present giving of the day until after Brenda and Kerri had arrived, but this year we could start early. I wont go into what everyone got, except to mention that Claire gave me a watch and I gave her a framed picture of the children on their ponys. "But this is the picture from your lounge," Claire said once she had unwrapped it. "Yes, we noticed how much you liked it," I replied. "Now who's for a Christmas morning ride together after we get the turkey in?" "But we haven't got enough horses for everyone!" Kyle commented. "Oh, yes, we have. Mr Grant is going to bring that young mare of his across for Claire to ride," I replied. The children kind of took over at that point. The washing up was done and the turkey was in the oven before Claire and I knew what was happening. I made a quick call to my neighbour Bill Grant and he was standing in our yard with the mare by the time we all got out there. We rode the lanes up onto the heath and all cantered and trotted around together for about an hour or so before we headed back home again. "What do you think of Twenty-sixth?" I asked Claire as we walked back side by side. "She's lovely, but what a silly name. She's so much like Candy, the first pony I ever had. Just a little bigger, that's all." "Well, she's yours whilst you're here. I arranged it with Bill Grant." "Thank you, that's so nice of you. She's so much nicer than the school horses I've been riding lately," Claire said. Back home we or rather the children - with Claire overseeing things - got the Christmas dinner sorted. And we did the cracker and silly hat thing whilst we ate it. After dinner we all retired to the lounge and rapidly gave up on the oft-repeated film on the television. So it was back to silly games for the rest of the day, punctuated by the stable work that had to be done. I'm not sure if the children worked it or whether I did, but by about nine PM Claire and I, having consumed much more mulled wine than was good for us, were sitting together on the couch. When I said I was going to do my evening check around the yard, Graham and Kylie said that they would do it for me. Angela was on the phone to Romeo again; I was beginning to think that that little romance was going to get rather expensive in phone calls. The Twenty-sixth "Thank you for inviting me. I've had a very nice day," Claire said as she poured both of us yet another mulled wine. "You're welcome. The children have really enjoyed you being here." "Did you enjoy having me here?" she asked. "Claire, I've always enjoyed your company." "Liar, we had some real ding-dongs when we were married." "Yeah, I'll give you that, but we had some real good times as well." "We did, didn't we? What went wrong, Jack?" "I don't know, Claire. I really don't know." As I said both Claire and I had drunk much more mulled wine than we should have and I think we must have dosed off. The next thing I remember was that the house was quiet. Someone - I never did discover which one of the children it was - had turned the lights down. Claire's head was lying on my shoulder and her long hair was brushing against my cheek. For a long time I sat there remembering the smell of her when she was this close to me, then I heard the hall clock strike two. Carefully extracting myself, I lifted Claire off the couch and carried her to Kylie's room where I laid her on the bed. As I'd carried her up the stairs she'd stirred slightly and put her arms around my neck. When I tried to extract myself from her arms, I couldn't; she wouldn't let go. "Wrong bed, Jack," she suddenly whispered to me. "Claire, are you sure?" I asked. "For the good times, Jack. Can't we share a bed just for one night, for the good times we had together?" With some difficulty and a little giggling from Claire, I lifted her again, carried her into my room and laid her on my king size bed. Then I lay beside her and fell asleep; her arms still locked around my neck. No, we didn't; we were both too far gone for anything like that to happen. ------------------------- "Come on, you two, wake up. We've made some coffee for you," Angela's voice bellowed. I half sat up, not really knowing where I was. My head was pounding as I realised that it was broad daylight outside. All three children were standing there in the room looking at Claire and me lying on the bed. "What time is it?" I asked. But I was ignored by the children. "I thought you said that they would..." Graham said, but he didn't finish his question. "I think we overdid the Vodka," Angela cut him off. "What bloody Vodka is this?" I demanded, a real mistake on my part as the sound of my voice was like being struck on the head with a hammer. "We thought you two needed softening up a bit so we put some Vodka in the mulled wine," Angela admitted. "Why the hell did you do that?" Jesus, that bloody hammer again! "Come on, Dad, you two are like a couple of kids around each other. We, well, I really thought if you had a couple of drinks you'd... oh, you know." "Oh, you did, did you?" "Come on, Jack, you were young once. Children only see things in black and white. You'd most likely have done the same thing in Angela's place." Claire had finally joined the conversation. "But you made a mistake with the Vodka, Angela. It always gives Jack a hangover. And, boy, can he be a miserable bugger when he's got a hangover, believe me." I turned and looked at Claire smiling up at me. "Are you not annoyed about what they tried to do?" "No, why should I be? Nothing happened. And besides, Vodka doesn't give me a hangover; so I'm not a miserable bugger this morning." "Hmmm, I feel that there's some collusion going on here." "Don't be silly, Dad. If Auntie Claire knew what we were planning, she wouldn't have let us use Vodka," Graham pointed out. "You definitely didn't mind what these three little tykes had planned for us last night?" I asked Claire again. "No!" she replied. "But we might have...." "Yes, it's been a long time and I do miss you sometimes. When you're not on the warpath that is!" Claire was still smiling at me. "Right, I'll take that smile off your face. Graham give me my watch case." The smile had gone off all of their faces as Graham passed me the leather case that I kept my cuff links and watches in. I opened it slowly and stared down into it for a moment. All four of them were trying to see what I was looking at. Then I reached in and took out a small package wrapped in Christmas paper and gave it to Claire. For a moment Claire stared at it lying in her open hand and then she started crying. "What is it?" Graham asked. "Oh, just a couple of things Claire threw at me a few years ago," I told him. "Do you mean this?" Claire finally asked through her tears. "Well, there's not much sense in you living all that way away, when Candy is out in our stables. You didn't really think that mare's name was twenty-six, did you?" "Oh, I get it now!" Kylie who had remained silent up until then said, "Today is the twenty-sixth." Claire looked at me, "We were married on the twenty-sixth of April as well. You know you're a real bugger." "Yeah, but I'm your Bugger." Life goes on.