A New Lease on Life

They might have partied hard but not to excess, none of us were approaching being drunk, we were just having a good time, all of us. "Les, you have a great family, I love them all." She kissed me.

"Stop it you two, save that for the bedroom." Trudi said with a smile on her face.

"In that case, goodnight all, we're going to bed, and I suggest that you all do the same. We'll see you for breakfast."

They were bleary eyed when they surfaced in the morning. Emily and I had taken the dogs for a walk and were preparing breakfast when Trudi emerged. "How long did you guys stay up after we left?" Emily asked.

"Long enough to reach a decision." Emily and I looked at each other wondering what was coming next. "Don't worry, it's a good thing, we all approve of you two getting together but we're not going to force you to get married or anything like that, at least not straight away. And we've decided that you shouldn't have to be the one to break the good news to Warren, so I'm going to do it, so you'd better be prepared for the fireworks, it won't be pretty."

"I know, I've been putting it off for as long as I could, I needed you and Jenny to approve of Emily before I tackled that problem."

"You've got it Dad." She came over and hugged Emily. "Welcome to our family."

"Thank you, I can't think of a better family to be a part of." They kissed.

They all left after breakfast and we were left in peace to await the inevitable. Early afternoon we heard a car pull up in the driveway followed by two car doors being angrily slammed shut, followed by a loud banging on the front door. I opened it to be shoved aside by and angry Warren and his equally angry wife. "What's this we hear about you taking up with some slag?"

"Emily is not a slag, as you put it, she's a lovely woman and if you'd just calm down I'll introduce you to the woman who will one day be your Step-mother. Emily this is my son Warren, and this is his wife Francine." I tried to keep my introduction as calm as possible, but believe me it was something of a stretch. "This is my decision, not yours, and despite your opinion, I have not taken leave of my senses, on the contrary, Emily and I have a connection that is every bit as good as the one I had with your Mother. I would suggest that you just calm down and accept the fact that I have no intention of dying just yet, and, if I'm going to live a while longer I want to actually live, and I can't think of a better person to share the rest of my life with than her."

He calmed down and begrudgingly wished us well before they left. The last thing we heard was his wife. "Are you just going to let him do this, for all we know he's going to leave the house to her, all of it. You need that house, so do something about it!"

"Well, that went well, didn't it?" I commented sarcastically.

"It could have been worse, you could have really told him what you thought."

"What can I say, you've seen the best and worst of my family, do you still want me?"

"More than ever. I want you and I want to be with you, to help you through the rough times and to be with you and enjoy the good times, and from what I've seen today, there will be many more good times than bad, so I think that I'm getting a pretty good life with you." Her kiss was the precursor to a night of pure bliss that began with that kiss and ended with another many hours later. "Darling,"

"Yes my Dear?" This was sounding ominous.

"When we were looking at your family photos I noticed that for a while you had a beard and then you shaved it off, why was that?"

"Because Connie complained that she was sick of having a beard rash, as you're aware, my beard is very bristly, anyway she didn't make me shave it off, I did it in deference to her."

"Around the mouth wasn't the only place she had a rash, was it?"

"No. I'll shave it off in the morning."

"Thank you Darling." With that she went to sleep snuggled against me.

"My, don't you look handsome." Emily smiled at me as I emerged from the en suite. "This is the first time that I've seen you without a beard and was only able to imagine what you looked like, now I know how handsome you are. Come here and kiss me you smooth faced thing you." What could I do but oblige. The dogs and breakfast were both late.

Life just kept getting better, we had settled into a flexible routine that centred on a couple of constants, our beach walks with the dogs, the regular tasks around the house and yard, which, now that they were once again shared tasks, were no longer a chore. Emily had cleared out her unit and it had reverted back to the Retirement Village's ownership as per her contract with them. They would give a quick re-furb before re-letting it. Her ties with her old life were now severed.

Just when we thought that everything was going well Warren arrived on our doorstep, a very agitated Warren. "Dad, can I come in?"

"Sure Son, come on in." I saw Emily looking at us from the kitchen with a worried look on her face. "Darling, could you make coffee for us?" I turned to Warren. "Now sit, what is this about?"

"Francine and I have split up. She has left me for her boss. But that's not the worst bit, she's been dipping into our joint account, there's not a lot left. If she files for divorce, and that's a given after what she said this morning, I could stand to lose just about everything."

"What brought this on, apart from her obviously having it off with the boss?"

"It was you, not that I'm blaming you. It's just that she was pushing me to force you to sell up here so that we could tap you for money. After the last time we spoke she got even more insistent that I do something to get you out of the house, but I couldn't. I could see that you and Emily were happy, you were the happiest that I'd seen you since Mum got her diagnosis from hell, and you deserved to stay here with her. Francine just wouldn't accept that I no longer wanted you out. The arguments got worse to the point that I'd had enough. I have told her that she has until this evening to be out of the house, and I've no doubt that she will leave nothing that isn't bolted down, despite me giving her an inventory with what she can take highlighted."

"Ouch, that would have gone down like a lead balloon. That would have made her angry enough to torch the place and split the insurance with you."

"Don't say that, don't even suggest it. But the worst thing was yet to come, when I accessed out joint account I found that she'd been making large withdrawals without my knowledge, so I froze the account. While I was driving over here I got a very angry phone call, it would seem that the Removalist wanted half up front, and when he swiped her card, it came back as frozen. Her personal account had nothing in it, and when she rang her boss, slash lover, he couldn't come up with the money either. From this I gather that he has been fucking her in the hope that she could come up with funds to support his failing business, and that they'd hatched this scheme that once you'd sold up here and I'd tapped you for funds, she'd piss off and claim half of all joint assets. With no money in her personal account, she was in a win/win situation. Just how an Accountant could fail in business I'll never understand."

"So what is your next move?"

"First thing is, I owe you an apology, I've behaved badly, can you forgive me?"

"Of course, and it's not because that's what fathers do, I love you and will always love you no matter what you do. Part of fatherly love is to allow your children to do whatever they want, hoping that they follow the guidelines that you give them as they grow up, but to always be there to sooth the hurts when they come as well as offer congratulations when they succeed."

Warren looked at Emily. "Emily, I have behaved despicably towards you and it is you in particular that I need to forgive me. Can you see it in your heart to do that?"

Emily went to him and gathered him in her arms. "Of course I forgive you, and I understand your reasons for your behaviour and don't hold it against you. Give your Step-mum a kiss." She kissed the tears that were streaming down his cheeks, and let him cry on her shoulder. More and more I love this woman.

"And now." He said as he wiped his eyes. "It's down to business. First a Locksmith to change all the locks on the house, and then see what she's left me. Thank you for the coffee and the shoulder, I feel so much better now. I'll talk to you later and let you know how I'm getting on."

"Before you go, why don't you come over on Saturday, we'll have a proper family celebration, I'll speak to the girls, and I'm sure that they'll get behind you and support you."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, I've treated them badly over the years."

"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. See you Saturday, be here at eleven for lunch, but don't make plans for the evening, you never know how long this will last."

"Good-bye and thanks again."

"Well, that went well." I said, this time with no trace of sarcasm.

"I'm so proud of you, I realised for the very instant that you helped me after I'd been run down by a feral skateboarder, that you were something special as a man. You've just confirmed that first impression." She came into my arms and we kissed, our flexible routine just got stretched out of shape.

Saturday was a day to remember. Trudi, Jenny and their respective husbands surprised Warren by offering not only their support and understanding but love. He was once more a part of our family, something that he'd never expected. He gave in to pressure and accepted invitations from both girls to visit them, something else he'd never expected. I caught him, later in the afternoon, having a quiet sob to himself in his old room. "Dad, I was never a part of this family, was I?"

"You were always a part of this family, it was your choice to distance yourself. I can't believe that Francine wasn't an influence there, it just took you time to realise what families are about, its love and support without condition. You were denied our love and support, not because it wasn't there, but because of the conditions that you yourself imposed. Once you removed those conditions the love flowed once more. Now get out and enjoy that love."

"What a day," Emily said as she snuggled up to me in bed, "I've never felt so complete as I have with your family, all of them including Warren, who I didn't take to at first."

"And I've not felt this complete for so many years, not since Warren left home. Now I find that I have a whole new lease on life, and I'm going to enjoy it immensely, come here." I kissed her, and caressed her, and fondled her, and, hell you know what I did with her.