Blending Love

The girls went to Georgia's room and changed out of pyjamas.

"How did you sleep?" Tom asked as he leant in for a kiss.

"Surprisingly well," I replied, "Considering I was woken early and joined in bed!"

"They came to me first and I told them to go back to bed. I didn't think they would then join you! I am almost jealous though that my daughter got to sleep with you before I did!"

I laughed and kissed Tom again.

"Tea or coffee?" He asked

"Tea please!"

"Go shower and I'll meet you in the kitchen!"

I came back from the shower and could smell bacon cooking. Tom indeed was at home in the kitchen. The boys must have smelt it too and also came out following their noses!

Tom had prepared pancakes as well and we all sat on his verandah and ate as a large family. I made sure at each meal to wait until I was directed where to sit as I did not want to sit in Georgina's place and was very aware that this was still her home too.

"So kids, Alex and Charlotte's Aunt and Uncle wanted to know if we would like to go to their place for a barbecue for lunch?"

The squeals from the girls gave their answer and Edwin seemed cool with the idea. I suggested I head home and change, but Tom would not hear of it telling me I looked and smelt very presentable. I told him I needed to get to the shops to prepare a salad and he opened his fridge and said he probably had ample. We stood in his kitchen and talked and chopped and placed so many items in the bowl. It was indeed colourful.

We drove again in Tom's car. I had not realised Jill and Pat were also joining us for lunch. The kids were so glad to see their grandparents, and both introduced their friends to their relatives.

"You have done so well, Ruth," Melody had cornered me in the kitchen.

"He's quite lovely, isn't he?" I replied. I told Melody of our adventures the previous day and that we had all had a sleepover at his place.

"I wondered what that glow was!" Melody laughed.

"Well it's not what you're thinking because I stayed in the spare room. I kind of want our first time to be slow and not interrupted by kids I think."

"So when is this magical first time going to be?"

"That's just it- it's hard to arrange time with the kids and all."

Melody gave me a hug. I had noticed Melody was not drinking with the rest of us and she told me that they had decided to start trying straight away. I hugged my sister-in-law tightly and told her she was going to be an amazing mum.

"I still have to wait a few days before I can test, silly!" she told me, but we both knew.

Pat and Tom hit it off straight away. Jill sat with me and also told me how lovely my new fellow was.

After lunch I told everyone that we really needed to get going as I still had to do the grocery shopping for the week ahead. The kids were getting on better than any of us could have hoped. Tom suggested that I go and do my shopping and he bring the kids over later. I kissed him gently and thanked him.

Halfway through my shopping my phone rang. It was Melody.

"Ruth, is this Friday your day off?" She enquired. I confirmed it was. "Excellent. Well Nelson and I would like to take your kids and their new best friends next weekend. What do you have planned?"

"Um, well dancing on Saturday morning is all, I think." I replied.

"Awesome. Nelson has Friday off, and he will collect Alex and Charlotte from school." I explained that usually Edwin and Georgia were collected from school by a babysitter and Melody told me she would speak with Tom.

I had finished unpacking my groceries when there was a knock at the door. The five people standing in front of me all held flowers. I laughed.

"I stopped to buy some flowers for you on the way and the girls said that they wanted to get you some too and then Alex and Edwin agreed so these are all for you!"

I grabbed a large vase and arranged the blooms. I was overwhelmed with Tom's generosity. The kids dispersed quickly to their rooms and Tom and I were alone again. Tom wrapped his arms around my neck and leant in for a lingering kiss.

"Don't come out they're kissing again!" I heard Charlotte's voice and we started giggling.

"I had a phone call from Melody earlier." Tom explained as we sat with a cup of tea on the deck.

"That's funny because I did too!" I replied.

"Interesting! Because she had this idea that you had Friday off and I only had a half-day and she has offered to have the four kids for two whole nights so we can spend some time together."

I smiled as our fingers entwined with each other.

"If it's ok with you, dear, dear, Ruth, I was going to book a bed and breakfast for us in the Hunter Valley."

"I think I'd like that a lot, dear, dear, Tom." I said as I leant in and kissed him again.

We gathered the kids in the lounge and explained what was happening the following weekend with them.

"Edwin and Georgia, your Mum was so special to me and she will always have a special place in my heart, but I think my heart is big enough now to let some other people in which is why Ruth has agreed to be my girlfriend and I've agreed to be her boyfriend."

They were both smiling, and Charlotte leant in and kissed me on the cheek.

"I knew this was happening, you've been acting like lovebirds for weeks!" Alex said shaking his head but grinning from ear to ear.

The week dragged. Lunch with Tom on Wednesday was all too brief. I explained that I could not use hormonal contraception and I had had my IUD removed years ago and Tom laughed and told me he was happy to take care of contraception.

Melody cornered me on Thursday at work and gave me a gift. She told me to open it at home. Inside was a silk nighty and gown in a stunning emerald green. I knew Tom was going to love it.

Tom had arranged to collect me around 2pm. I was ready soon after dropping the kids at school! We drove mainly in silence, me with my hand resting on Tom's leg. When we arrived, the owner showed us the cottage Tom had booked. It was perfect. She had left us a package for us to prepare breakfast for the two mornings we were there and told us we were in walking distance of one of the nicest restaurants in the Valley. She also left us with a bottle of sparkling wine in case we needed to celebrate anything!

As soon as she left, Tom pulled me in for a kiss.

"I'm going to warn you now, I'm really out of practice and I don't think I'll last long, but please be patient with me, my love."

"I'm just as out of practice, my love!" I replied.

I had worn a dress that buttoned down the front and Tom started undoing the buttons, all the while kissing me. As the dress fell from my shoulders, he kissed them and kissed down my bra, licking my nipples through the lacey fabric. I started to undo the buttons on Tom's shirt and he simply pulled it over his head once I had undone three! I ran my hand over his tattoo and asked him if he was truly ready. He picked me up in his arms and carried me to the bed.

"I feel like I was born ready!" He replied.

Soon we were both naked. I was enjoying tracing my hands over Tom's chest and stomach. I was very impressed when my hands found his manhood. He was slightly shorter than Trevor, but I had felt discomfort when Trevor would pound against my cervix and I knew I was going to be satisfied.

Tom rolled on a condom and lowered himself to me I was so wet and ready to take him. He slipped inside me and I could feel my passage stretching. There was no pain however, only pleasure. We built up a rhythm together and in minutes I was screaming his name. Soon after Tom was screaming mine and we collapsed in a sweaty heap.

"I tried to warn you," Tom sighed, "But wow, that was amazing!"

We ate some of the breakfast supplies for dinner, neither of us wanting to dress or leave the cottage. Our plan to visit wineries on the Saturday was cut short when we spent the day in bed licking and sucking and tasting each other and, of course, fucking! I felt absolutely filled by my lover and he did things that no one had ever done to me. His tongue was amazing in my folds and he appreciated the blowjobs I provided.

As we drove home on the Sunday morning, Tom opened up and shared his feelings.

"Ruth, I am falling so hard for you, so fast. I honestly feel like I am the most fortunate man in the world. I do know however that spending Wednesdays and Saturdays with you is not going to be enough."

I smiled as we drove towards Melody's home.

Soon I was picking up the kids from after school care and taking them straight to Tom's where we would spend the evening dining and talking together. We spent our weekends together and the girls were thrilled to find us in the same bed after their weekend with Auntie Melody and Uncle Nelson.

We went camping over Easter using three tents and it was wonderful- I did joke to Tom that it was 'fucking in tents!' and we both laughed. We had both taken the second week of the holidays off and as we camped, Tom asked all the kids what they thought of us buying a new house for all of us to live in together. The girls immediately wanted to share a room, but I could see Edwin was not as enthused.

"I was thinking, Tom," I said in front of them, "that my ideal home would have a bedroom for us, a bedroom for Edwin, a bedroom for Alex, a bedroom for the girls and a spare room. How does that sound?"

Edwin told me it sounded perfect.

The third home we looked at ticked all our boxes. It had a large yard for Bingo, a spacious master suite complete with a double shower, that Tom and I had grown to love. There were four extra bedrooms and a study that we thought we could use for guest quarters. It was also in the same street as Melody and Nelson!

All of the kids could stay at their schools. Alex and Edwin were starting high school the following year and we all knew decisions would need to be made there, but there was plenty of time.

Part of the rush in moving was the lease on my apartment was coming up in May. We had not closed on the house so we all moved in with Tom, Edwin and Georgia until we could move in on our own. On our final morning in the house, Tom woke early and I could hear muffled giggles outside our room.

Eventually all four kids and Tom were on the bed. Tom was kneeling beside me and all four kids in unison said, "Daddy/Tom needs to ask you something!"

I turned to see the most stunning emerald engagement ring and Tom asking me to marry him. I did not need to think of my response, and everyone piled in for a hug.

We thought of doing things similar to Melody and Nelson, but we wanted to do things differently. In the end we decided that what mattered most to all of us was family so we had a beautiful ceremony on the beach with Pat and Jill, Melody, Nelson and baby Jodie, Tom's parents, Georgie's parents, Tom's sister and brother and their families, and of course our children.

Preparing for our wedding, the celebrant commented that we were a beautiful example of how blended families can work. At first I thought it was luck or random chance, but getting to know Tom as I had we recognised our parenting styles were so similar.

An opportunity arose soon after our wedding for Tom to join the General Practice team opposite the local High School. It was the school I had always planned on sending Alex and Charlotte to and it had a great name. Edwin and Alex both started there the following year. Despite Georgia starting the year loving Miss Taylor, by the end of the year she had fallen out with a lot of her friends because she kept talking about her stepsister who she adored. Georgia actually asked if she could change schools to be in the same school as Charlotte and we all agreed.

Baby Lily Rose joined our family on the evening before my 40th birthday. It was a dream pregnancy and labour, despite both Tom and I being concerned and Georgia in particular being particularly clingy. We thought of trying for one more but did not want to risk things.

After Lily's birth we also made an appointment with a local tattoo artist who added four more names to Tom's Tattoo and an extra flower to mine for Lily. I hated wearing jewellery at work, so I had Tom's name tattooed on my ring finger as a reminder of our love and commitment to each other.

Trevor would occasionally stop to visit his children, but they never spent more than a few hours with him and the woman he brought for the visit. When I would complain about the new woman, Tom would kiss me and remind me that I definitely traded up for a better model!

We are used to having our sex life interrupted by kids, but we have also learnt to put a lock on our door. Georgia came up with calling me Ra, telling me it was a combination of Ruth and Ma and it has stuck. Soon Edwin called me this as well. Tom has always been Tom to Alex, but Charlotte often calls him Dad.

Somehow, I had achieved the large family I yearned for. I had a devoted and loving husband who I simply adored and five beautiful children, not all born of my womb, but all enclosed in my heart.