3 comments/ 8036 views/ 0 favorites Medbh By: demure101 She lay on her side. She had been awake for some time and was trying to take in every feature of the as yet unfamiliar bedroom. Through a chink in the yellow curtains sunlight was streaming in and the room looked warm, pleasant and cosy. There was an oil painting of a woman by a modern Chinese artist on the wall, in reds and yellows, and there was a low cupboard that probably housed clothes. There was an arm around her waist. A hand had cupped her right breast and its middle finger was tentatively doing things to her nipple. She put her hand on his and pressed it. The finger got the message and continued. She tried to press herself harder against him, and to wiggle her bottom to see if she could get any reaction there. Then the bedroom door burst open and a little girl dashed inside, wearing a flowery dress and an old pullover. "Mummy," she said, "can we go and play in the wood?" The woman turned around to look at the owner of the hand, and questioningly raised her eyebrows. "Of course," the man said. "But don't forget to put on your rubber boots. It's rather wet in places." "Kim has already gone to collect them," the girl said. "But you haven't got any," her mother said. "She will wear Kim's spares," the man said. "Behave and have fun, girls." "I see," the woman said as the girl ran from the room, leaving the door open. She looked at the man who grinned at her, a little apologetically. Kim and Josie were about the same height, but Kim's shoes were at least one size smaller than Josie's, if not one and a half. Spares, she thought. "Liar," she said with a smile and bent over to the man to kiss him. Medbh Marsh, who disliked the spelling of her name a little, although the sound was fine with her, was a single mother. When she was twenty-five, she'd been on holiday when the heat of the place and the attraction of one of the local boys, who was really charming and very good-looking, had led her into a short-lived love affair. The boy eventually turned out to be fairly shallow, and they broke off. She never knew an address. They'd used protection alright, but obviously one of the rubbers must have given way, and some time after the holidays she realised she was pregnant. Josie was a beautiful baby, and she had a little of her father's swarthiness. Medbh was very fond of her. They had been in love, after all, even though it had been short-lived, and Josie was very welcome to her. The environs were very negative. Medbh was cold-shouldered by the ladies that dropped their offspring at the same infant classes, and, when she got older, at school. Two of them passed the time of day with her, for propriety's sake, but the others could not be bothered. There were only two parents that were different, Janice Bond, who decidedly was no lady, and a tallish man whose name she didn't know. Janice, whose dresses made the ladies either raise their eyebrows or look away, took her son to school accompanied by a bewildering assortment of boyfriends, and rumour had it that she didn't even know who the father was. The tallish man kept himself rather distant. Medbh knew he had a daughter; he was never seen with a woman. No one seemed to know if there was any with the exception of Mrs Mills, Josie's teacher; she knew there wasn't. What hurt most was the fact that Josie did not get asked to come and play; nor was she present at the birthday parties of her class. And it was with a glad heart that Medbh eventually saw Josie come home with a small, hand written invitation to come to Kim's birthday party, one Saturday in early May. "Who's Kim?" she'd asked. "Kim is my friend," Josie had said. It transpired that Kim was the girl she played with in the schoolyard, and that Kim was often dressed a little scruffily, but that they had no end of fun, and Kim was not stuck up at all. Kim was cool. She was a bit of a tomboy, she had auburn hair and freckles, and she lived in the country near the small wood. And they would pick her up from school and bring her back at eight. Josie went, of course. The two girls had a wonderful time. They went to the wood, picked flowers in the meadow, overate on birthday cake and chips, and Josie returned with too much to tell her mother to be really coherent. They had asked her over for the following weekend, too, she said. Medbh worked in the local library, and she had been collecting books that she found in charities and car boot sales for a long time. She intended to start her own second-hand bookshop and spent her evenings cataloguing her finds in an excel file on her laptop. When she felt everything was ready she spent two long weekends doing up the shop she'd rented and the Friday after that she opened the place. She sold a good many books that first day. The tallish man came along and bought two books, an old copy of "La flute de jade," Chinese poetry in a French translation, and Origo's "Vagabond Path". She found that he knew about books, and obviously liked them. She had taken French at school, and she had read a couple of the poems. She asked him if he read French, and he said that yes, he did, although he needed a dictionary now and again. He had friendly, grey eyes, she thought. She liked the way he wandered about, and he had nice hands. Another man who bought some books immediately asked her out for a date. She declined the invitation a little brusquely, since she neither knew him nor liked his face and manner. Then, about a fortnight before the summer holidays she developed acute appendicitis. She was taken to hospital straight away. The hospital informed Josie's school. The teacher told Josie and Kim immediately said, "Oh, she can stay with us!" The teacher tried to arrange things for her. She did not think it meet to have Josie stay with a man, so she called a few of the ladies, to no avail. Eventually she decided to try Kim's dad after all, and he immediately agreed to put Josie up for the duration. Mr Auld collected the girls after school. Mrs Wills was glad to find they obviously knew each other. Josie seemed quite at ease with Mr Auld. She took his hand and asked him if they could go to the hospital, and he replied that yes, of course they would. Then he asked the teacher for all the information she could give, put the two girls in his old Vauxhall and drove to the hospital. It took some coaxing before they were willing to accept him as an interested party, but eventually they relented and he was told Miss Marsh was still under sedation, but that she would come round soon. If he could take care of clean clothes and take the washing along? He wanted the key, he told them, and had to sign a paper before the hospital parted with it; they provided him with a list of what they wanted. "Alright, girls," he said. "We will go to your home first, Josie." They went there and Josie, who knew where everything was, collected the necessary things for her mother and those she herself would need for her stay at the Aulds', and put them in bags. Kim went with her and her father stayed downstairs. He looked at the bookcase in the living room and tried the piano for a moment. It was obviously played on regularly, and there was a Schubert song on the music stand. When the girls came down he read out the items on the list; they had found every single one and he said they'd done great. The two of them beamed. Back at the hospital he told Josie to go in and talk to her mother. After Josie returned he went in with Kim. "So you're Kim's father," she said with a tired smile. He told her that they'd arranged to have Josie at his place until she would be able to have her around again. "But that's probably quite soon. She seems quite a reliable young woman," he said. Medbh tried to say thank you. "Oh, nonsense," he said with a smile. "It's no more than natural. Besides, Kim loves having Josie around." He explained he'd keep in contact, and he told her he'd be honoured to arrange things for her when she was discharged from hospital. Medbh nodded. She seemed more than tired and they left. Ted Auld was a painter. He earned enough to keep him in paint and to have a pleasant life with his daughter. He wrote the odd article on art, sometimes gave master classes in the use of gouaches, he had written two novels, and played the guitar badly, as he would say. But Kim and Josie loved it, and that first evening they built a big fire and sat around it till well past the girls' bedtime, talking, listening and drinking tea. The next morning was wet and windy. Ted asked Josie if she had any rubber boots at home. "No," she said. "We never use any." "Right," Ted said. "Let's go to town and do some shopping, then." They went and bought food, a pair of rubber boots and a large bunch of flowers. Then they drove to the hospital to find Medbh a little better. She liked the flowers, she said, and told them she would be discharged the next morning. Ted asked her if she would be alright with Josie for a nurse. "Perhaps it's too much to ask of a six-year-old," he said. Medbh nodded. "Maybe I should have someone round to take care of me," she said. "And there will be no one in the shop..." "If you come with us, Ted can take care of the shop," Kim said. "Yes, mummy, please!" Josie said. Medbh felt too weak to protest. "Wouldn't you mind very much?" she asked Ted. "No," he said. "That'll be alright." That afternoon the girls played in the mud and came home looking happy, rosy and rather dirty, to say the least. Mrs Wills would not have approved, Ted thought, but the glow on their faces seemed to him to outshine any clean frock. He ran the bath and told the girls to get washed. Then they dressed nicely and they went to the hospital again. Medbh was well enough again to enjoy their visit and to take an interest in what they said. First Josie told her about the house and the grounds around it, and then Ted asked Medbh about his task in the shop. "Oh," she said, "the books are all priced. Do you know how to run a cash register?" Ted told her he'd worked in a shop as an adolescent. "What if anyone wants to sell?" he said. She told him to use his own judgement, and to defer buying in case of doubt. When visiting time was over they drove back home. Ted, who had prepared some food while the girls were in the wood, shoved the dish into the oven and went upstairs to see to the spare room. During dinner Josie, who was uncharacteristically quiet, suddenly asked, "Do you like my mum?" Ted smiled at her. "I like what I've seen of her," he said, and left it at that. Josie seemed to be happy with his answer and started to talk to Kim again. My, Ted thought, how these girls can talk. And then he considered Josie's question. Did he now? Medbh wasn't your conventional beauty. She had pronounced cheekbones, a wide mouth and her teeth were not quite regular. But she had a very attractive grin. He'd not really noticed her figure. He didn't usually look at woman like that - sometimes you couldn't but notice things, though. Janice Bond really was a looker. He remembered how she'd once made a pass at him; she'd good-naturedly acknowledged his refusal to be lured into her web. Medbh wasn't the kind of woman to make passes at people, he thought. She seemed to be out on her own somehow - it never occurred to him that it might be because she was a single mother as he was not given to making judgements on anybody; and to him it didn't seem at all strange, let alone disreputable. When he had first seen her at ease, on her bookshop's opening day, she'd been transformed, he thought - animated, emitting a kind of energy and enthusiasm that he highly appreciated. He had enjoyed talking to her, he shared her taste in books and she certainly had a face he would like to paint. Apart from that - he didn't really know her; she kept herself to herself, like he did. He didn't realise that in her case it was necessity, not choice. Oh well, he thought. Perhaps I will get to know her a little better now. To Josie's regret it rained that evening, so there was no campfire to be had. But they sat together at the kitchen table and played games and talked. The next day saw continuous rain, a leaden sky and a blusterous wind. The children stayed indoors and Medbh enjoyed their company in Ted's comfortable, untidy living room. She spent her time looking around; the untidiness was basically a matter of piles of things Ted had not got round to putting away: books, records and CDs, a pile of letters... she browsed his books and saw a lot she'd love to read or look at. Ted had gone to the bookshop that morning. He held the fort with enthusiasm. There were some interesting clients, and then there was a man who came in to sell a dozen early eighteenth century chapbooks. "I'd like to sell these," he said. "I will want fifty pounds for them." Ted went through them while the man went through the thriller section. He searched Medbh's database and found she had sold a similar book for three hundred pounds, four months ago. They were in excellent condition so he didn't hesitate to buy them. The man identified himself; he was from the other end of the country, and wanted cash straight away. Ted entered the purchase in the books and then sat down with the laptop to add them to Medbh's database. When he'd closed the shop he went home and brought the chapbooks along. He found the three girls in the kitchen. They had cooked together; Medbh had given instructions and the girls had done the work. The smell made Ted's mouth water. "Look," he said, and handed his parcel to Medbh. She inspected the contents with a blush on her cheeks. "Oh," she said. "That's wonderful. Did you have to pay much?" "Fifty pounds," Ted said. "It seemed reasonable to me." "Brilliant," Medbh said. "Oh, I'll want to read them first." Medbh stayed over the weekend. She explored the house, with the exception of the studio, which she only saw from the doorstep, and Ted's bedroom. She loved the conservatory; it was well kept and well proportioned. It was quite empty, though. Kim told her that her dad had no time for plants; he was still thinking about some use for it, she said. She loved the garden, too. It was large, with a view of the town across the valley, and it consisted mainly of a vast lawn. The weather, unfortunately, did not invite any long stay outdoors. She learnt from Ted that Kim's mother had died in childbirth, and that Kim had nearly perished in the process. He told her he had been quite devastated, but making sure that Kim would grow up to be a balanced, pleasant person had kept him from giving in to his grief. He'd accepted it a long time ago. "I think you're doing great," Medbh said. "Josie loves going here." The compliment made Ted blush. In return Medbh explained how she'd come to be a single mum, and how she felt slighted by the ladies' treatment of her daughter. Ted shook his head. "People..." he said, which as Medbh later found out was about the strongest term of disapproval he would use for anyone. That Monday the Marshes went back home. Ted found the house seemed strangely empty and cold. He told himself he missed the bustle that had come with the Marshes; to forget about it he started to paint furiously. He embarked on a couple of heads; when he'd finished, he asked Kim's opinion, as usual. Somehow she could tell exactly whether what he'd completed was worthwhile or not. She looked at the heads with interest. Two of them were not up to standard, she said. The last one held her interest for a long time. "Did you try to paint Josie's mum?" she asked. Ted looked at his own work again and realised that the head he'd painted was very much like Medbh. "No," he said. "At least - I didn't realise." "I like it alright," Kim said, "but you can do better." "Yes," Ted said and subjected his work to a critical inspection. "I could ask her to sit and do a portrait in oils." The ladies, who had so far tacitly accepted Ted, decided he must be below par, too, since he made himself cheap talking to and, even worse, smiling at that woman. But then, what could one expect of an artist? Medbh noticed at once, but she liked talking to Ted too much to say so; Ted, as usual, didn't notice anything. He just wasn't too interested in other people's opinions of him, and the ladies held no appeal to him at all. To his own surprise he found it difficult to go and ask Medbh to sit for him, and he put it off. He'd popped into the bookshop once or twice and bought one of the chapbooks that contained a couple of nice woodcuts. He thought he'd like to invite Medbh over for a meal again, but he wasn't too confident about his cooking skills. Little girls were much easier to deal with, he thought. When the situation allowed he'd treat them on a strictly grown-up basis, and they appreciated his sincerity. When the holidays came round Kim asked him if she could ask Josie to come along. Ted thought it was a brilliant idea. He quite enjoyed the girls' antics and it would make the holidays a much livelier experience for everyone concerned. "That's a splendid idea," he said. "I will have to talk to Medbh about it, though." Medbh had only a few weeks off in summer, and she wanted to see to her shop. After a successful couple of months she badly needed to rearrange things. She wanted to buy some new bookcases, and her database had become a little untrustworthy. She wanted to bring it back to perfection and so Kim's idea was greeted with great enthusiasm by mother and daughter alike. Ted had planned to go camping in the Yorkshire Dales. He knew a small campsite that consisted of just one little field with a brook that was partially dry in summer running round its edge, and a steep slope on the other side. You had to walk a little distance to the farm to find a primitive shower and toilet; there were no further amenities. Just what they wanted, he thought. The girls could play to their hearts' content and he could do some drawing in the self-sufficient landscape the Dales meant to him. He packed two tents, one for himself and one for the girls. They left their address with Medbh and went up for a good ten days, with the weekend halfway. The girls loved it, and Ted happily divided his time between domestic tasks, playing with the girls and gathering ideas for painting. On Thursday Medbh texted if it was alright if she came along for the weekend. She had seen enough of the shop for the time being and she felt lonely without Josie, she said. She didn't add that she'd enjoyed her stay the Aulds' very much, and that she wanted to get to know them a good deal better. Ted immediately called her to say she was more than welcome and to arrange to pick her up half way. He told the girls and had to put his hands over his ears to save his eardrums. The next afternoon they got into the car and drove to their meeting point. Medbh was already there, looking flushed, with a weekend bag holding her clothes and a carrier bag with food. They talked all the way back - or rather, Kim and Josie did - and at the campsite they rearranged the tents, family by family. In the evening, after a lovely example of Medbh's cooking, they built a campfire. To their delight there were no other campers, so they had the place to themselves. First Ted played the guitar for some time and then he got out a sketchbook and started to draw. He particularly wanted to get Medbh's face right. Then he told Medbh about the head he'd done and asked her to sit for him. She raised her eyebrows and told him she'd think about it. They did a lot of talking that long weekend. The girls went to bed at nine, and Medbh had brought a few bottles of wine, which they enjoyed together, staring into the flames. Now and then Ted looked at her face. He realised that he did not only like what he saw of her, but that he liked her voice, what she said, the way her mind ran on those things that he considered of importance... She clearly could teach him a thing or two about music, and she was well read and cultured. He couldn't miss her figure, now, either; she'd spent some time playing in the brook with the girls in an appealing two-piece bathing suit and she looked very attractive indeed, he thought. She didn't seem to bother about the scar left by her operation at all. Medbh Ch. 02 Medbh heard the kitchen door slam to, and through the open window the girls' voices disappeared into the distance. They sounded quite excited, but she couldn't hear what they said. She broke their kiss. "You're really good with the girls," she said. "It's as if I've known Josie for years," Ted said. "And they are much easier to deal with than grown-ups. Maybe it's because I can appreciate what they want from me; grown-ups far too often have a hidden agenda. And besides, we just like each other." Medbh nodded and sought his mouth again. She turned his way completely, so that he had to let go of her breast, rolled him onto his back and lay down on top of him. "Now, she said, "to go on where we left off..." She enthusiastically kissed him and rubbed his chest with her breasts. She felt him grow hard under her ministrations, but she was in no hurry. The morning air was warm, and the light in Ted's bedroom made her feel lazy, and she knew it would be hours before the girls returned. Ted smiled at her. He shared her feeling of well-being and slowly stroked her naked back before going lower down her body. He loved the curves of her buttocks and explored them slowly. Then his hands returned to her back. She shivered for a moment. "Suppose I'd not fallen ill," she said. "Then we wouldn't be here together." "It's an ill wind..." Ted said. "But you know we've got two scheming little minxes who have some ideas of their own. I wouldn't wonder but they'd have got us together some way or other. It might have taken us much longer, though." She grinned. "Yes, they're a great couple, aren't they?" She ruffled his hair and bit his nose. "I still can't believe you're mine, big boy. When I asked you if you could paint my portrait as beautifully as the girls, I never thought you'd come with anything like that. It felt like a proposal." She smiled at him. "You look exactly like it now," Ted said and felt for her bottom again. "Maybe I can get you to sit for a full length nude?" "Not if you reveal it at my next birthday." She put her arms round his neck and pressed her breasts into him. It made her nipples tingle. "But for private purposes..." Ted nodded and ran a hand through her crack. She shivered again. "We will get married, won't we?" she said. "Yes," Ted said, and he felt for her pussy. "We've already got two beautiful bridesmaids, and we could ask Janice to be a witness. She never cold-shouldered you. Mrs Mills can be one, too. That'll serve the ladies right." When she felt his fingers touch her pussy she raised her hips and felt between them for his cock. She guided him inside and lay down on top of him again. 'Oh," she said, "this just feels wonderful. And we have all the time in the world." They found each other's tongue and happily enjoyed exploring each other's mouth. Ted ran his hands through Medbh's hair. He lifted it and arranged on her back like a large fan, and then he went down her sides to the soft sides of her breasts. "I love your breasts," he said. "They are the perfect size for my hands, and they feel just the way they should." He found her nipples and squeezed them softly, and he moved the muscles at the base of his cock. Medbh wiggled her hips in response, and then she sat up, drew her knees up until her feet were on either side of his hips, grinned at him and started to move her bottom back and forth. The feeling was fantastic. Ted felt his cock rolled and kneaded by the way she fucked him. All he could do was lie back and enjoy it; her weight on his hips prevented his taking an active part. Medbh looked at him with an impish grin, and gradually moved a little faster. Her hair falling over her breasts, her eyes and the wide mouth he liked so much almost moved him to tears. It was quite different from the night before when she'd ridden him and he'd been able to counterbalance her motions - somehow it seemed even more intense. Medbh held his waist with her hands to steady herself. Smiling beatifically she rocked herself into a sweat, almost mangling Ted in the process - but he loved it. He stroked her belly with one hand and held her hand with the other. She suddenly stopped. "Your turn to do something, lazybones," she said with a grin. She got off of him, turned round and pressed her pussy into his face. Ted felt overwhelmed by her smell and her warmth and he stuck out his tongue and touched her. She moved her hips to ensure the best contact, and took his cock in her hands. Ted parted her pussy lips with his fingers and drank in her looks - the beautiful colours, the glistening labia and the down of soft hairs around them, and then he put his tongue between them. Medbh softly squeezed his head with her hips, and took him in her mouth. She worked up a lot of saliva. When she had him good and wet she began bobbing her head up and down, while revelling in Ted's tongue touching her. When she felt close to coming she got up and asked Ted to take her from behind. "Please, baby," she said, and she rested her head on the bed while Ted pushed inside and brought them to the top. When she felt her orgasm ebb away she stretched herself out and Ted sank down on top of her. She turned her face his way. "Good?" she said "Wonderful! Thank you very much," Ted said. He rolled to his side and held her close, and put his hands around her on her breasts. She smiled and said, "Like when we started this morning. Oh Ted, you're sweet." "So are you," he said. "I can't remember ever having been so happy before." It was past ten when they got up. They showered together, and made themselves some coffee. Then Ted took Medbh all over the house and asked her to comment on the way she'd like it to be, and how she wanted to distribute her own furniture and things. She made a series of suggestions that were eminently sensible, and decided she wanted the gouache of their daughters over the living room fireplace. "That was a crucial moment for me, too," she said. "It made me understand how much you like Josie. And I hoped you'd come to like me as much." "I do," Ted said. "When you looked at your portrait and you didn't say anything I thought I'd get a heart attack. I was afraid you'd be furious and I'd ruined everything." She nodded. "I can see what you mean. But it did the opposite." She put her arm round his waist. "Let's lay the table and get the girls," she said. Josie and Kim came home giggling and looking very smug. "Did you have fun together?" Kim said. "You've been kissing, haven't you? I went home to get us some water, and you were still upstairs!" Josie chimed in. "And it was almost ten o'clock!" "Are you going to marry?" "Then we can be sisters -" "And bridesmaids -" "And you can have babies!" Kim concluded triumphantly. Medbh smiled at them. Ted thought she looked even happier than before. "Yes we are," she said, "and yes, you can. But more babies... Don't you think three's enough?" "Three?" Kim asked. "Your dad - Ted - is a baby, too - he's mother's baby." Josie giggled. "Yes," Medbh said, "My baby - my darling - my sweetheart... It's all the same thing." "Am I your sweetheart, too?" Kim asked eagerly. Medbh nodded, and Kim beamed. Ted smiled at Josie. "We'll have to think about more babies," Ted said. "And after all, we want to be married first. We'll talk about it later; let's have lunch now." The girls were very excited, and kept asking questions. They insisted they share a room; no, it didn't matter if it wasn't too big. They just wanted to be together, and the rest was alright. After lunch Ted took Medbh for a walk in the small wood. They went to the edge and sat down on a log, and they looked out over the fields and across the valley to the town. "It's ok in itself," May said, "but I've never been really happy there. This is a happy house and I love the country around it. When Kim had asked Josie over for her birthday one of the bleak spells of that place was lifted. She'd never gone anywhere to play before." Ted nodded. "Kim had, but she didn't like it much there. The parties these people give are all about showing off, and when she just went to play she came home to tell me about all their toys. But they never had any real fun, it seems." He smiled. "When Josie first came here I had her change into Kim's clothes, because I didn't know if you'd object to her getting dirty. The girls were outside most of the time, and I had to help her scrub her hands afterwards. But she absolutely loved it." "Yes. She was so full of it I couldn't understand half of what she was trying to tell me. But it was clear she'd had a great time." She put her head on Ted's shoulder and they just sat together for a long time, simply enjoying each other's presence. Then she kissed him and said they should go home. They went through the house twice more and decided the books for the shop would go to the conservatory; it would be easily accessible through the French windows and it was by far the largest room in the house. What was more, it was as yet waiting to be used. They stopped pottering about at five because it was time to do the cooking. Medbh and Ted had a long pow-wow that evening. Medbh told him she was on the pill; she'd taken it since she'd come home from her stay at the Aulds' after her appendectomy. After all, she said, you never knew, and even now they had to be very certain a new child was welcome to everyone concerned - didn't he think so? Though Medbh had some qualms at first as to whether they hadn't better keep on living at their various addresses till they were married, Ted thought it wouldn't really make a difference. Their getting married as such would take a lot of wind from the ladies' sails. Medbh agreed and they decided to initiate arrangements when the children had gone back to school after their Sunday together the next morning. They spent a long time in the conservatory. Medbh had a good eye for proportions and furnishing, and Ted saw with joy how enthusiastically she devoted herself to the task, armed with a measuring tape and sheets of paper. "This will house a lot of books if we do things right," she said. That night they made love twice, once before they turned off the lights and again when Medbh woke up to find Ted sitting on the edge of the bed. He had opened the curtains and was looking at her by the light of the moon that was just a little past full. It fell all over the bed. She had loved his looking at her and put out her arms to him; and he had accepted the invitation so tenderly it made Medbh sing inside. After breakfast they drove to town together, and the ladies that were there saw the four of them get out of the car. "Now look at that," one of them said. "They're really four of a kind." Janice Bond, who was no fool, noticed something was up immediately. She went to Medbh and asked her what it was. Medbh told her the four of them were going to be one family, and Janice wished her luck and kissed her. "Oh, good!" she said. "That's wonderful! Oh, I wish it were me - I'm out of boyfriends at the moment. I'm always unlucky with them. Oh well, who knows..." Medbh saw she had tears in her eyes. One of the other mothers, who belonged to the group that in the past had at least nodded to Medbh, overheard. "Hey," she said to her companions, "did you hear that? Let's wish them luck - they must make a good couple." "Alice! You can't be serious. They're not our kind." "Well, they look happy enough, and I'm going to if you don't." She walked over to where Medbh and Ted were talking to Janice. She felt a little uncomfortable, but she shook their hands and said, "I'm Alice Stubbs. I overheard your conversation and er, I'd like to congratulate you. Best wishes, and I hope you'll be as happy as you look!" She blushed. Ted smiled at her. The four of them stood talking for some time and then Alice went back to the others. "They actually seem quite nice, you know," she said. They went into the school building to talk to Mrs Mills and tell her that Josie would be living at Ted's address from then on. "Really?" she said. "I'd asked myself for some time when you would eventually get together. Kim and Josie are very close, aren't they?" She nodded and entered the new situation in a computer file. She blushed when they asked her if she'd be willing to be a witness at their wedding. "Oh," she said. "Why, er, yes of course. With the greatest of pleasure. What do the girls say about you marrying?" "They suggested it before we had even talked about it," Ted grinned. "They'll probably tell you all about it." When they asked Janice she jumped to the suggestion. "Wow," she said, "I've never done that before. When is it going to be?" Ted said it would be in about two months' time; they had to arrange a lot of things first. "I'll go and get myself a new dress," she said enthusiastically. "Oh, groovy!" The very first day Medbh immediately put up her picture over the head of the bed. They stood looking at it hand in hand, and she smiled at her own image. Then she kissed Ted, pushed him over onto the bed and without bothering to undress him she took out his cock. She pulled her panties aside and rode him hard, biting his lower lip and pressing him so close it almost hurt. When they lay quiet together she said, "I think I would like to have a child with you. Shall we?" Ted nodded. "Yes," he said, and stroked her face. "Let us try." "Then I'll discontinue the pill once we're married," she said, "or a little sooner. I don't want to give the ladies something else to talk about." It turned out to be a busy couple of weeks. They rented a small van to move Medbh's things to Ted's place, and they had to shift a lot of furniture. Eventually the piano was given a good position in the living room; the conservatory was turned into Medbh's stockroom entirely. Josie moved her possessions in with Kim's. The girls' bedroom was quite big enough; they usually played in the living room or outside if the weather allowed. Ted smiled when he saw the alterations to the bedroom, which had been rather empty when he lived alone. Now Medbh's wardrobe filled some wall space and there was another chair that held a selection of feminine clothes. On the shelf in the bathroom there sat some perfume bottles and a few make-up articles. She wasn't given to using a lot of it; she only wore some when she was at the bookshop in town. The gouache of Kim and Josie was duly put up over the fireplace. Medbh always looked at it whenever she came into the room; the girls seemed to follow her with their eyes and she often nodded at them. Some team, she thought. They made all due arrangements for their marriage day and sent out invitations to their few remaining relatives and a couple of old friends. Kim and Josie had asked if their class could come, and Ted had taken it up with Mrs Mills, who immediately agreed. They also sent an invitation to Alice Stubbs, who after their first contact had decided that she liked them and often came to them for a few words before or after school. Much to their surprise she had actually apologised for her previous behaviour towards Medbh. Medbh, who didn't care for any official lace wedding dress, had bought a simple cream coloured one, and a couple of matching dresses for the girls. Kim, who'd never worn a dress before, stood admiring herself in front of the mirror in the big bedroom. "Nice," she said. "But I like trousers better." Ted was hopeless with clothes, so Medbh had taken him on tow to go and buy a fitting suit; she thought he looked wonderful in it. He smiled. "Always happy to please," he said. One night, five days before the wedding, when they were sitting together Medbh told Ted she'd stopped taking the pill. Ted grinned at her broadly. "Let's drink to that," he said, "and let's hope we work out together that way, too." "Yes," May said. "But if we don't there's always Kim and Josie." They cracked a bottle of wine and clinked glasses. "To the loveliest woman I know!" Ted said. The girls were very excited. They loved parties and this one promised to be even better than Medbh's birthday party had been. "But not as good as yours last year," Josie said. "We won't have the time to play in the wood, and we can't make a fire, and -" "But we'll be sisters. Bet you can't catch me!" Kim ran off giggling while Josie was on her tail in hot pursuit. When the day eventually arrived the grown-ups were anxious things might not be exactly the way they'd wanted them to be, but all went as well as could be. The girls beamed through the entire ceremony; they followed their instructions to a t. Ted had told them first, and Medbh had given them a résumé afterwards; they'd just listened and smiled. During the party Janice struck up rapport with an old friend of Ted's. She'd fortunately dressed in a way that was positively conservative in her own eyes - it still was rather more daring than Medbh would ever dream of - and Charles, a registered accountant who was a self-professed bachelor fell for her head over heels. And Janice was funny, and not naturally promiscuous - she had told the truth when she said she was just a little unlucky in the choice of her boyfriends, and the rumour that she didn't even know who her son's father was, was positively slanderous - and Charles's staid, calmly humoristic bent on life appealed immensely to her. They kept talking and laughing and seemed entirely oblivious to the world at large. Medbh and Ted saw them together from a distance and Ted whispered to her, "You'd never have guessed, would you?" She smiled. "Let's hope it'll work out alright for them," she mouthed. "Yes. She's a good girl. I always thought she was happy - but she must have been quite lonely, too." Kim and Josie teamed up with Mandy, Alice's daughter, and tried to get Janice's son Bill to dance with them. "But he's much too blue," Kim complained afterwards. The party came to an end. Ted and Medbh were happy and tired. They grinned at Janice when she told them Charles would come around that weekend. When they'd said goodbye to all the guests they looked at their daughters. "So now we're sisters?" Josie said. "Yes. But you actually already were, I think," Medbh said. "It's just that no one can deny it now." Josie grinned at Kim. "Hey, sis," she said. They were home at around ten, and after some talk at the kitchen table they put the girls to bed. "Well," Ted said with a smile. "Finally alone. I wish it were still warm enough to go out into the garden." "Let's just go there for a moment," Medbh said. "We could keep our clothes on after all. I'd like to look out on the town for a moment." She linked her arm in his and they went downstairs, put on their coats and went out onto the lawn. There was no moon but the sky was clear and brilliant with stars, and they stood looking at them with the day's activities on their minds. "No falling stars," Medbh said. "Now I cannot make a wish." "You could not tell me what is was anyway. Not that I couldn't guess. I think I wish the same." After some time Ted said, "I never thought I could ever be so wildly happy. You, Josie, Kim, all of us together here... It's wonderful. I love you so much." She took his face in her hands. "My life has made such a turn for the better," she said. "I was so lonely for so long - if it hadn't been for Josie I'd probably have gone to Africa or something." She kissed him deeply and very tenderly, and rubbed his crotch. Then she said, "Shall we go in? I'm hungry for you." Ted smiled at her and lifted her off then ground. "I'll carry you across the threshold properly," he said. He walked the short distance with big steps and carried her inside. They climbed the stairs and Medbh opened the bedroom door. Medbh Ch. 02 She went in and said, "Wouldn't you like to unwrap your present now?" And she put her hands over her head to facilitate the removal of her dress. "Hmm," Ted said. "The most wonderful present ever." He took the hem of her dress and lifted all of it over her head in one slow motion. Then he looked at her and gasped. "Wow!" he said. Medbh had bought herself a beautiful set of lingerie for the occasion. She had kept it secret from him because it was meant as a surprise and Ted looked at her wide-eyed. "Medbh! It's almost a pity to take it off." "Glad you like it, big boy! But you'd better take it off anyway. I'll wear it again for you but I want us naked now. Please!" Ted felt her lovely body through the seductive underwear, and stroked her nipples. They had already gone quite swollen and when he touched them Medbh shivered. "Please," she said again. Ted reached around her back "No," she said, "It opens between my breasts." Ted opened the clasp a little clumsily - it didn't really help that his fingers were trembling. Medbh put her arms a little behind her back to let the thin piece of clothing slide onto the bed. Ted kissed her breasts while he moved down to kneel in front of her. He kissed her belly and paid a lot of attention to her navel. He knew by now that it made her shiver, and she usually reacted quite forcibly to his touching her there. "Oh, please, go on! Take my panties off and don't be a brute!" Ted grinned and sat down on his haunches. He hooked his fingers into the elastic of her panties, but before he slid them down he kissed the front, and looked at the top of her slit thought the thin material. It aroused him no end. When Medbh was naked he got to his feet. He'd already taken off his jacket when they came home so she unbuttoned his shirt while she rubbed his cock through the front of his trousers. Then she undid his trousers, and pushed them down his legs. His cock sprang free and he felt her hair sweep against it. He loved the feeling. She smiled up at him, and then she quickly planted a kiss on the tip on her way up. "Ted," she said, " I want your sperm inside - and I like you to go on top now." She got on the bed and lay down on her back in the middle. She drew up her legs and presented him with the best view he could have. "Come," she said. "Please!" Ted needed no prompting. "I've been looking forward to this all day," he said as he joined her on the bed and took her hips in his hands. Medbh took hold of him with both hands and pulled. When she felt him completely inside she held him motionless for a moment, She looked into his eyes with a mixture of love, hungry longing and something Ted couldn't make out - hope, he thought. "Let's hope our lucky stars will be with us tonight," he whispered. Then she wrapped her limbs around him, her husband, her love, and she let herself go on the waves of hope and passion that surged through her waiting body. She held on to him for dear life and used her cunt muscles on him the best way she could. She wanted to feel this with each and every nerve end and with all her emotions, and to remember every second and all the love she saw in Ted's eyes. Ted sensed her mood, and rejoiced in it. He felt the silken skin of her vagina walls work on him, and he enjoyed the feeling of her nipples grazing his chest. He rested half on his elbows. His arms were under Medbh's and he stroked her hair while she almost spurred him on with her feet. When her orgasm washed over her she pulled him in as closely as she could. "Please," she whispered, "please!" Ted had tried to hold back his orgasm and now he could give in to it - he came with a low moan of joy and Medbh let go of his back and pulled his face to hers. She held him close for a very long time while they felt their heartbeat slowly go back to normal. They felt Ted go limp, but he stayed inside her for as long as she held him close, softly biting his ear and whispering sweet words. Eventually she stretched herself and Ted rolled off. "Ted," she asked, "Could you get us a drink? I'd like to lie here and talk some more." He got up and returned shortly with two glasses of red wine. "Don't spill it," she said, and sat up. "I hope my wish will come true." Ted sat down next to her and put his arm around her. They slowly sipped their wine and talked until they'd finished their drinks. He took her glass and put both glasses on the chest of drawers. "Come," Medbh said. "Let's go to sleep - we can have our shower tomorrow morning." He took the duvet and spread it out over his new wife's reclining body; then he got in next to her. He kissed her goodnight and she turned around and pressed her bottom into his crotch. "Please hold me," she whispered Ted wrapped her in his arms and they lay close together, loving every minute of it until they drifted off to sleep. They didn't go on honeymoon. They didn't really feel like it and the girls would rather go back to the Yorkshire Dales than to make some boring journey to a grown-up destination; and Medbh and Ted heartily agreed with them. They could go camping some time in spring; it was too cold now to have fun outside. Five weeks after their wedding Janice, who had obviously been waiting for her, told Medbh that she was going to spend the weekend at Charles's place. She glowed with anticipation. Could Medbh please, please, please help her a little with what to wear? She didn't want to scare him off, and she wasn't sure about what to wear at all. Medbh promised she would help her out the next morning. Janice told Medbh all about Charles, who apparently was an entirely different person than the one Medbh thought she knew - witty, funny, tender, a true paragon of manhood. She smiled and nodded; most others probably would not recognize the image they had of each other either. Medbh left by way of the chemist's. Back home she told Ted about Janice and Charles. He nodded. "I'm glad for the two of them," he said. "It may put some life and fire into old Charles. I don't think he could ever restrain Janice too much. I expect lots of people would be quite surprised to find her go steady." "I think it's her greatest wish, though," Medbh said. The next day Medbh spent a couple of hours at Janice's place. They went through the wardrobe together and talked a lot about Charles, Ted, children and life in general. It appeared Bill's father, who'd promised her to marry her, had got cold feet when she got pregnant. She'd chosen her child rather than him, and that was that. Afterwards she'd desperately tried to find a father for Bill, but to no avail. And then, when she wasn't looking... Charles was a real dear. Medbh was happy to find she quite liked Janice. She tactfully managed to make Janice put the rather more daring creations at the back of the wardrobe and got her to promise not to wear two or three of them again. Janice understood. A little to Medbh's surprise Janice's taste in underwear was much more conservative than in her outer apparel. There was no need to caution her in that field at all. They had coffee together and then she spent the rest of the day at the bookshop. That night she sat beaming at the world at large. Josie and Kim looked at her during dinner; then they looked at each other, and Kim shook her head. Josie made a face, and the girls demurely devoted themselves to their food. Ted smiled back at Medbh and raised his eyebrows, and she embarked on a story about her day's activities. She had made a couple of good sales at the shop, and she told her family a few things about her coffee party with Janice. Ted looked at her from time to time. She looked very happy, and he hoped she'd tell him the reason - but she just went through the evening without saying a thing. It was only when they had retired for the night and she lay cuddled up to him closely that she said, "Sometimes wishes do come true - guess what? I'm pregnant!" Ted had expected it - but to his surprise he got tears in his eyes anyway. "How wonderful," he whispered, and he pulled her face to his and kissed her long and tenderly. "That's good news indeed," he said after some time. "Aren't you dying to tell the girls?" "I wanted to tell you first. My period's stopped, but I wanted to be sure so I bought the test material yesterday. Oh Ted, I'm so happy!" "We could all see so, darling. I think the girls will guess - it'll cost us our eardrums tomorrow!" "Oh, they'll be alright. Now just shut up and kiss me!" She wrapped her arms around his head and rubbed her belly against his while her tongue entered his mouth. Then she took his face between her hands and kissed him all over from his forehead to his chin while he stroked her back, her breasts, her buttocks - everything he could reach - and found himself smiling so much it made his muscles ache. He stopped stroking her body and moved his hands to her hair. "So we'll have to convert the nursery after all," he said. Medbh nodded. "We've come a long way since we stood in the schoolyard waiting, haven't we?" Ted kissed her, and she manoeuvred herself on top of him. "Remember you promised to sit for me naked?" he said. "I want to do you twice - now and when you're really big-bellied. You must be very beautiful that way, too!" She nodded. "They'd better be good!" she said. "Oh, I'm too excited to go to sleep. Let's just talk and daydream a little." Ted wrapped his arms around her back. He cuddled his love as closely as he could, and whispered endearments in her ear, and she just lay beaming on top of him, now and interspersing his whispers with some of her own. Medbh felt herself go very wet - and eventually she couldn't wait any longer. "Please," she whispered, "make love to me." Ted rolled her onto her back and went to work with his mouth. He paid a lot of attention to her nipples and then he sampled her pussy, first slowly teasing her a little by just not touching her clitoris, and then taking her between her lips. He tickled her belly and ran a finger through the crack between her buttocks. Medbh lay back enjoying his ministrations and moaned softly. Eventually she said, "Ted - please - do come into me now - please -" Ted got onto his knees and sat back on the bed. He put his arms round her back and lifted her into a sitting position, and then pulled her close to him. Medbh understood what he wanted. She put her legs around him and took his penis in her left hand; then she lowered herself on top of him. She squeezed him hard and then she sank back onto the bed. She dug her nails into his back and drew him into her as deep as they could; then she almost growled while they made love, fiercely and intensely, looking into each others' eyes all the while. Ted loved it - Medbh received him with as much passion as she'd ever shown, and she stroked his hair and held him tight, and if all the world had disappeared at that moment he'd never have noticed for the love he felt for her. "Ohh, so good..." she whispered - and then they came. They lay panting together for a long time, stroking each other and feeling happy in the new life to be - theirs, and their daughters' sibling, and Medbh put her hands on Ted's cheeks and moved them slowly to the tip of his nose. "Last time I had to go it alone," she said, "and now we're in it together. I'm so happy - and it's so good to share!" A few tears trickled down her face and Ted licked them up. "It is," he said. Ted had been entirely right. When Medbh told the girl the good news the next morning they danced and shouted and were all over her, and they were talking at once at the top of their voices. For once they differed in opinion as to what they'd like best - a sister or a brother. "If it's a girl she can have our toys" Josie said. "But most girls are Barbies." "Not if she's our sister." "But we could play footers with a boy." "Well," Medbh said, "you'll have to wait and find out. I don't mind either way." Ted started to paint her. Medbh felt a little self-conscious at first, but Ted managed to put her at ease, and the canvas progressed quite rapidly. "Do you mind if I ask Kim's opinion - if she's willing to have a look, that is?" he said. Medbh considered it for some time. "No," she said at last. "She made you paint my portrait the right way, too." Kim saw no reason not to; after all, she thought, I've seen Medbh in her bathing suit often enough. She looked at the nearly finished painting for some moments and nodded. "Yes," she said. "Good. Ok?" Then she skipped off to join Josie in the living room. "Why did you ask her now?" Medbh wanted to know. "Oh," Ted said, "you'll see." He had her sit a few more times while making most of the final touches and then worked a little longer from memory. When he was ready he told Medbh to come and have a look. "Wow," she said. "So that's why." The painting was beautiful - but certainly not one to put up in the living room. Ted had just poured out all the love he had for onto the canvas, and she was shown with taut nipples and a smile that was, if possible, even sexier than the one in the portrait. "It's almost like a declaration of love," she said. "That's what it's meant to be. You know, I wouldn't have dared to do this back then." She took him in her arms and kissed him. "Thank you," she said. A couple of weeks later Janice met Medbh in the schoolyard with an invitation for the four of them to come and have dinner at her place that Saturday. "It's to say thank you for having asked me to be your witness," she said. "Otherwise I'd never have met Charles. We're really serious and I'm going to move next week. Bill will be at another school without the stigma he's got here, so he can actually make friends. Isn't it lovely?" Medbh nodded, wished her luck and accepted the invitation. "Let's have some coffee in town together," she said. "I've got some time left before I open up shop." They had a long chat together. Janice was obviously completely infatuated, Medbh thought. She hoped for her that her relationship would prove as much a success as her own. That evening she told the others they'd be having dinner at the Bonds', and that Janice would move to live with Charles. "Are they going to marry, too?" Josie asked. "I don't know," Medbh said. "I suppose so, but it's not the most important thing in a relationship." "It helps for the children," Ted said. "Uhuh. Anyway, Janice is really very happy. You can see it in the way she looks. There's been a shine in her eyes ever since she met him." Ted grinned. "Who would have thought Charles would ever become a family man... It only goes to show how little you know about others." Medbh smiled at him. "Sometimes life's not too bad after all, isn't it?" she said. The dinner party was even more proof of the many sides a person can have. Charles, who had always seemed a rather introverted, shy person turned out to be very much at ease, very attentive and quietly entertaining, while Janice was a good host. The little apartment she dwelt in showed she had good taste in furniture and she obviously liked reading. She sat talking books with Medbh for some time while Ted and Charles talked with the children. When it was about time for the Aulds to leave Janice told them they were going to get married in spring. "You'll be invited," she said, "and I hope you'll return the compliment, Medbh, and be a witness for us." "I'd really love to," Medbh said. It made her feel all warm inside. "I'll let you know the date in time - we'll keep in touch." They drove back slowly. Medbh sat looking out into the November night, thinking of all the changes this year had brought. Then she looked at Ted and said, "This has not just been a lovely year for us." He shook his head. "I'm so glad for the three of them," he said. The year turned into a long winter with lots of snow. The girls had the time of their lives with a sledge and a bucket to build an igloo with Ted's help, and sometimes Mandy came to play, too She didn't have any opportunity to do so in town, and she felt rather attracted to her tomboy classmates. The four of them had a lovely Christmas, playing games ands sitting together basking in the warmth of the woodstove. Then spring rolled around. There were clumps of daffodils in the garden, and when the daffodil time was over bluebells appeared in the little wood. Ted and Medbh often went there to sit on their log and stare across the valley, talking or just enjoying each other's presence. Alice Stubbs turned out to be a really nice woman, once she'd allowed herself to overcome her prejudices, and they had the Stubbs over for dinner one evening. With a little blush she asked the Aulds if they knew what had happened to Janice. When she heard the good news she was clearly very happy for her. "I'm so ashamed of myself sometimes," she said. "Oh well, one's never too old to make amends. Can you help me to her address? I'd like to drop her a line." The ladies, it seemed, treated her somewhat distantly now. It made her understand a little of how Medbh and Janice must have felt - "And you, of course, Ted..." But Ted shook his head. He hadn't really noticed, he said, and he had kept his distance as much as they had. Alice thought that wasn't entirely true, but she appreciated his effort to take some of her embarrassment away. Medbh looked at the circle of people around the dinner table and smiled. Slowly but surely, she thought, the isolated position they'd been in was changing. She went to hospital a couple of times - to her surprise she was told she was going to have twins. Did she want to know if they were going to be boys or girls? No, she didn't. They were welcome any old way, and she liked surprises. Still, it was with some hesitation she told Ted - what if he thought it was a little too much? But he said, "Isn't that lovely? You are a champion!" "Aren't you afraid it'll be too much hassle?" she said. "Of course not. I don't mind getting up now and then, and it's just the first year. Besides, we've survived Josie and Kim, so these won't be a problem." Then he added with a grin, "We'd better not partition the nursery then." They spent the evening discussing things and deciding how to furnish the twins' room. There were two small beds, Josie's and Kim's, and they were quite different, so they asked the girls if they would like two new, identical beds or their old ones. The girls looked at each other and grinned. "Our old ones, of course," they said in unison. They received a card from Janice and Charles asking them to come to their wedding in late April; Janice had added some lines in pencil to remind Medbh of her promise. "As if I'd let myself be done out of a treat," she said with a smile. They told the girls there would be another party. "Can we go, too?" Kim said. "Of course you can. They'd be very disappointed if you stayed away." "But we don't have to wear dresses again, do we?" "I don't mind dresses," Josie said. "I prefer jeans." "You don't have to, but you can if you like. The main thing is that you're there." The girls grinned and went out into the garden. The wedding turned to be a very formal affair. Janice looked beautiful in lots of lace, and she was duly given away by her father, who looked a little bewildered - he'd never expected her to marry and they'd omitted to tell him unto the very last. "I thought you already knew," Janice had said. Charles was dressed in a severely cut black suit with a white carnation in his buttonhole, and they made a striking couple. The best thing was their facial expressions, though - they looked as radiant as you could wish. "But our party was better," Kim said on the way home. Medbh Ch. 02 "Even though you had to wear a dress?" Josie asked teasingly. Kim poked out her tongue at her sister. "Of course," she said. At half term they went camping in the Yorkshire Dales again. Ted was a little worried about his wife's health, but she assured him she'd be ok - so he gave in. They had a lovely time, even though Medbh had to take things more slowly now. Ted had brought his guitar and Medbh taught him some songs she loved to sing. The campsite was almost empty except for two nights; but the other campers asked if they could sit round the fire and listen, and they were good company. Summer, that year, was a rather mixed affair, with murky, hot periods and long spells of rain, but on the whole it wasn't bad. Kim and Josie had begun a tree hut and spent most dry days in the wood, and Ted and Medbh took turns in the bookshop. The girls helped her do the cooking and Ted did most of the household chores. After all, he said, he knew how to - didn't he? Medbh posed for him again; first she sat for him in her summer clothes, to get the position right. There were only a few nude sessions; Ted worked furiously as he didn't want Medbh to get cold. His fervour and his obvious care for her made feel very good - all warm and loved and rosy, and to his delight Ted managed to capture her expression perfectly. Kim walked into the studio on time and raised her eyebrows. "Well done, dad," she said, to Ted's great delight. When the canvas was completed Ted showed Medbh the result. They stood looking at it arm in arm, and to her embarrassment Medbh started to cry. He held her close for a long time; then she said, "Oh Ted, this is all I ever dreamt about -- you, the children, the ones on the way, and your love for me..." He kissed her hard and said, "I know. It's exactly how I feel. I'm so glad you're here." Finally, one August morning, while Medbh was in the garden picking raspberries, her labour pains started. Josie stood next to her and asked her what was wrong. "Nothing," Medbh said, "but you'd better get Ted. I have to go to hospital now." Josie ran, and so did Ted. He accompanied Medbh to the car and sent Josie to their bedroom to collect the bag they'd on stand-by. They drove to the hospital straight away - "somewhat faster than the traffic laws allow," Ted admitted later. Medbh was put to bed at once, but it took until the early evening before she delivered her twins. She was very tired and covered in sweat, but very happy when she was shown the two beautiful girls they'd got. When they were cleaned and wrapped in a cape she was given them to hold for a moment. She looked at them with a wide smile and then she looked at Ted and offered him her mouth, and he bent over to kiss her. "They're beautiful," he said, "almost as beautiful as you! Can I fetch the girls?" Medbh nodded. When Ted came back with them they were, for once, completely subdued. "Oh, lovely," Josie whispered, and she bent over the bed and stroked one of the twins' head. "Yes," Kim said. "Our little sisters! Oh, mum, aren't you tired?" Medbh smiled and lay back. "Yes I am," she said. "But happy first!" Medbh The holiday was much too short. They put Medbh on the train that Sunday afternoon. The remaining nights after the girls' bedtime lost a lot of their shine for Ted; he sorely missed Medbh's company. On the Wednesday they broke up camp and motored back. Josie went back home. She was very quiet for a long time. Then she asked Medbh, "Are you going to let Kim's dad paint you?" "I don't know," Medbh said. "Would you like me to?" "Do you think he's nice?" Josie asked. Medbh heaved a deep sigh. "Yes I do," she said. "But ..." Josie gave her mother a questioning look. "I don't know," Medbh said again. She couldn't tell Josie how badly she wanted to, how badly she just wanted to be with this man that she felt really comfortable with, but that she didn't know well enough to dare say so. "Don't you want to go there again?" Josie said. Medbh looked at her and pulled a face. She certainly did, but she didn't want to intrude, nor to invite herself and outstay her welcome. She shook her head. "I do," she said, "but I don't want to feel I'm too much." "You can ask them over for dinner," Josie ventured. "Then they will ask us back." Medbh smiled. "You're there often enough," she said. "But I think you're right. I should do something in return." Josie smiled broadly and danced up and down. "I will tell them tomorrow," she said. "Let's do so together," Medbh suggested. Ted immediately accepted the invitation. He had spent some time drawing Kim and Josie; he had done a gouache he really liked that had also got his daughter's approval, and he'd had it framed. Medbh went out of her way to prepare a nice dinner. The Aulds had been asked to be there at seven and to Medbh's surprise they didn't look casual for once. Ted wore a good suit and Kim came in a new pair of trousers with a white pullover that actually looked white. Medbh smiled; Ted must have bought it for the occasion, too. He probably washed most things too hot and too long. Not that it mattered, she thought, clothes were just clothes after all. But she appreciated the effort he'd made. Once inside Ted presented her with the picture. When she'd opened the parcel, for a moment Medbh felt her heart in her throat; she was at a loss for words. Then she said, "Beautiful," and kissed Ted on the cheek. "Oh, this is really lovely," she added. Her food was fantastic and dinner was a great success in every way. Medbh realised she really felt at home with these people; and by the end of the meal she had agreed to sit for Ted and have her portrait done. They went into the living room for a cup of coffee and some music. Medbh stayed behind in the kitchen to prepare the coffee. She came into the living room with a hammer and nail and put the picture over the mantelpiece. The girls beamed at her from their frame. Ted somehow had managed to capture the fun they had together, and their sweetness and spirit at the same time. Medbh looked at the picture with a broad smile on her face. "Can you do something like that with a grown-up?" she asked. "I hope so," he said. "I like you well enough." Ted, you're a coward, he thought - but the truth stuck in his throat. They agreed on a time for Medbh to sit, and Ted started working on his portrait. He made a lot of progress, but Kim, who always came in to investigate after the sittings, was not enthusiastic about the results. "She looks the way she used to do in the schoolyard," she said, "not like she did on holiday." Ted looked at his work. She was right. The woman in the portrait looked ill at ease, or tense, or what? He did not quite know, but it was not right. Then Medbh asked them to come and celebrate her birthday. There would be a few colleagues from the library she liked and one or two relatives, and if they'd like to come? She seemed quite excited. Ted noticed immediately that something else was in the offing, and asked her about it. "Well," she said, beaming, "I have taken my leave at the library. I've started selling and buying online. It's a smashing success and I need more time." The day before the party Ted spent a long time contemplating his unfinished canvas. He suddenly came to a realisation and prepared his palette. He would stop painting what he thought he saw and paint what he would like to see instead. He redid the face and took out some lines about the eyes, and changed the mouth a little. He nodded and asked Kim to come and have a look. "Yes," Kim said. "Yes. This is alright. What did you do?" Ted tried to put it into words but gave up after two attempts. "Will it be dry tomorrow?" Kim asked. She knew about gouaches and watercolours, but had little experience with oils. "I hope so," Ted said. "I think so." He sat down at his desk, and reread "Chanson d'amour," a poem from the little book he'd bought from Medbh that first time. Tes mains sont deux fleures de lân. Tes pieds sont deux bourgeons de fleurs de magnolia. Tes joues sont deux tulipes. Ta bouche est une goutte de corail. Tes seins sont deux oranges de Kiang-nân. Ton parfum est celui du printemps. Ta voix est plus séduisante que le chant de la brise Dans les saules qui reverdissent. Ton haleine est plus grisante que l'odeur d'une pagode où brûlent des aromates. Tu es plus belle qu'une fleur d'abricotier arrosée de lune. Tu es toutes les fleurs, tous les parfums, Tu es la splendeur du monde. Lorsque je pense à toi, je n'envie plus les dieux. He sighed. Then he waited impatiently for the next day to arrive. When they arrived the party had already started. "This is Ted Auld, and this is his daughter Kim," Medbh announced to the other guests. Ted smiled at them and then he handed the rather heavy parcel to Medbh. She opened it, and stood it on the piano to look at it. It was certainly a portrait of her, very recognisably so. She stared at it wide eyed. The other guests did so, too. Then one of them gave a low whistle. "Wow," he said. "But that's really something." Medbh in the portrait did not look tense. She looked happy, and smiled at the world through partly closed eyes, at peace with the world and herself. As Ted looked at it again he realised it was intensely erotic - without realising it, he had painted her the way he'd like to have her look in his arms and smile at him. He turned completely white. If Medbh disliked this, he'd have lost every chance in the world with her. He bit his lower lip so hard he drew blood, and with his hair on end he looked at her as she stood looking at her picture, entirely motionless - and then she turned around and smiled at him with tears in her eyes. She flung her arms around him and kissed him on the mouth, long and hard, and then she lifted Kim off the floor and kissed her, too. Josie stood looking at them philosophically. "Would anyone like something to drink?" she said. The party was a resounding success. Ted felt like walking on air, and so did Medbh; their daughters did a good job of keeping the guests in food and spirits. By ten thirty, when the other guests had left, they were sitting at the kitchen table. Medbh looked at Ted, at Kim and at Josie and smiled, a happy, warm smile. "Girls," she said, "would you mind if Ted and I, er -" "Can I share Kim's room then?" Josie interrupted. "That would be cool!" Kim added. "Ted?" she said. "What do you think?" "Yes please," he said, and got up to cuddle Medbh. "Tonight at my place, then? We'll have to talk tomorrow, but -" "But now it's time to go," Medbh said. "We'll go and get my things. Josie?" Josie skipped out of the kitchen and Medbh followed a little more composedly. They weren't long in packing and within ten minutes the four of them were on their way to Ted's home. The girls ran up the stairs, into Kim's room. Ted had put an extra bed there when Medbh had stayed to recuperate, and he hadn't got round to removing it yet. Ted and Medbh followed them. Ted said, "Right then, girls, into your pyjamas and get ready for the night. We'll be back soon." He took Medbh's hand and showed her into his bedroom. They opened the windows wide and looked out. In the distance they could see the shine of the town's lights against the sky. She put her arms around him. "What a lovely painting," she said. "Do you mind if I put it over our bed?" In reply he pulled her into him and kissed her. They stood some time longer looking at the night, and then Ted released her from his grasp. "Lorsque je pense à toi, je n'envie plus les dieux," he quoted. "Let's go and kiss the girls goodnight." They went into Kim's bedroom together. The girls, who had been talking excitedly when they entered, fell silent. After a moment Josie asked, "Are you going to marry Kim's dad?" "Yes," Kim said enthusiastically. "Then Josie and I will be sisters and we can play every day!" "Maybe," Medbh smiled. "But first I'm very happy just to be here together. Come; give us a kiss and go to sleep. It's been a long day." They kissed the girls goodnight and crossed the landing. They switched on the light in the bedroom. The windows were still open, and the smell of freshly mown hay came in on the breeze. Ted walked to the windows, closed them and drew the curtains. "Come, my love," he said. They undressed each other without haste; they drank in each other's features and each other's warmth. "You have beautiful breasts," Ted said and reverently touched them. Her nipples instantly hardened, and she shivered a little. "You don't mind my scar?" she said. Ted bent down and kissed it in reply. He stood up again and they smiled into each others' eyes. Medbh looked just like she did in his painting, Ted thought. She took his hand and went with him to the bed. They lay down together and explored each other, running their hands over every new part, caressing, enjoying their closeness. "It will be alright with the girls, won't it?" Medbh said. "Yes," Ted said. "They are just like sisters already." Medbh nodded. "Josie would like me to marry you," she said. "So would Kim," Ted said. "And so would I..." and then he bent over her and kissed her hard to hide the tears in his eyes. Medbh stoked his hair and squeezed his bottom, and she moved her legs apart. She felt between their bodies with one hand. "Come," she said. "You can have all of me." Ted moved between her legs. The way she looked at him was so full of love it almost hurt, and he took her face in both hands while she guided him in. "It won't appease the ladies," he whispered, "but I could never be happier, my beauty -" and then he found her lips. For a moment they just lay quiet, feeling the other's touch, and Medbh sought Ted's tongue with hers. Then Ted began to move, and quietly, tenderly made love to the woman who had been on his mind more and more insistently for such a long time. He felt suffused with happiness and loved the feeling of her body against his, her muscles squeezing him gently, her tongue playful in his mouth - and then he lifted himself on his arms and looked at her while picking up speed. Medbh tried to push herself up at him every time his cock went into her, and he rotated his hips a little to feel every part of her pussy. It wasn't long before Medbh's breathing became ragged, and she dug her nails into Ted's shoulders. "We've been waiting for each other so long," she said. Then she suddenly clamped her legs around him and held him tight, and he felt her squeeze him like a fist. He sank down on top her and she felt his come spurt into her depths while she had her arms round his neck and whispered, "Oh yes please yes please yes please... oh Ted yes please... yes please..." like a mantra and then pressed her lips on his. When they had reached solid ground again Ted said, "You know, when you'd left the campsite, and the girls had gone to bed I was sitting at the fire alone, thinking of you, and I missed you so much my fingers hurt. They still do a little when I think of you." Medbh pressed herself closer to him, and stroked his chest. "Yes," she said. "I know what you mean. I just worked as hard as I could so I wouldn't have to think." Ted thought about it for a moment. "We could run your business from the nursery, and keep up the shop in town," he said. "Yes," she said. "I really like that room. My piano can go there, too." Then she rubbed her eyes. "We've been running around in circles, haven't we?" Ted said. "But here you are!" He kissed her eyes, and bent down and kissed her breasts, her stomach and her scar and then he came up again to kiss her some more. She sat up. "Let's go into the garden for a moment," she said. "I'd like to look at the stars. You can't see them in town. Just forget about those clothes." They went down the stairs and out into the garden. It was a beautiful night; early September behaved like summer still, and the air was warm. Medbh had wrapped her arm round Ted's waist and his arm was round her back. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I've always wanted another child," she said. "And now I have two daughters." "Yes," Ted said. "If you want more we should have two, don't you think? Kim and Josie are quite self-sufficient." "Would you mind?" she said looking up at him. "We can turn the old nursery turned into a couple of rooms," he said. "That is, if we are going to live here?" "Of course we are," she said. "Let's think about more children later. I'll have my hands full with three of them as it is!" She poked her tongue out at him. He took her wrists and pretended to be offended and she hooked one foot behind his leg, toppled him onto his back and sat on him. "You're all mine," she said, holding his arms down. "And I like to sit on you. Hey!" Ted had managed to extract one hand and pinch her bottom. She bent over and pulled his ear, and then she blew him a kiss. "Yes," she said, "you're a nice seat." She rode up and down his belly, and Ted felt her pussy tickling him and leaving a sticky track where she moved. He freed his other arm and took her shoulders. "I want another kiss," he said. "Come and get it!" she said as she got up, and ran off across the lawn. Ted got up, ran after her and eventually overtook her. He clasped his arms around her and fondled her breasts. Panting, she turned her head to kiss him, and she opened her legs. She felt between them for his erection, pulled him forward and took him into her pussy. "There," she said. "That's where you belong." Then she bent over, turned her head to look at him and said sweetly, "Don't you think so?" Ted gave her a broad smile. He grabbed her hips and plunged into her pussy. He moved in and out while he stroked her bottom, and her back, and the hairs in the nape of her neck. They kept fucking for some time and then Medbh said, "Ok... Let's... finish... upstairs... Shall we?" Giggling, hand in hand, they ran into the house, and through the corridor, and then they stole upstairs so as not to wake the girls. In the bedroom Medbh pushed Ted onto the bed. She knelt down in front of him and took him into her mouth. Ted groaned. She drew back her mouth and planted a kiss on the tip, and then she rubbed the shaft with both hands. She licked along the shaft, softly bit just below the head and started to suck. "Am I doing alright?" she asked, looking into his eyes. "Do you like it?" Ted just smiled and nodded. "Yes I do," he said and let the sensation wash over him. Then Medbh got up off the floor and crawled on top of him. She wiggled her bum and somehow managed to get him just right for her without touching him with her hands. She put her hands on his chest and rode him, panting, sweating and moaning softly. Ted looked at this incredibly lovely woman taking him completely. He thought he'd never seen anything more beautiful, and he loved the sight of his glistening cock disappearing deep into her pussy, and then coming into view again on her upward motions. He stroked her breasts, her buttocks and her belly, and he took one of her hands in his. She squeezed it hard and moved even faster. Then, all at once, he felt her come. She slumped down on top of him and put her face next to his so that they lay cheek to cheek with his arms around her. He nuzzled her ear, and then she whispered, "Thank you so much – you're the best birthday present I've ever had!"