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!"