Caroline Ch. 14.04-14.05

Jo looked thoughtful. "Do you fancy her like hell when Mike fancies her, you know, at the same time he's getting worked up about having her."

I thought, yes I did. "I think I do," I said pensively, "yes. When he looks at her like that and I know he's got the hot's, I feel them too."

"I think that's it you know Lena. I think you are catching his feelings about her somehow. Look darling, just talk about it with Gianna tonight when you get ready. We mustn't hide these feelings. We've got complicated arrangements here, you and me, me and Mike, you and Guy, Gianna and Mike, and you and Gianna. Talk it out with her, Mike won't mind waiting a bit will he," she laughed, "he'll know you want her so he'll assume you two are at it while you get ready."

Now I was able to laugh, "Well," I said, "we probably will be anyway. I really get the hot's for her Jo and it's fabulous." Then I thought, "Do you fancy her?"

Jo thought for a while, "No Lena, I don't think I do, well not that way anyhow. Neither of us are really strong 'woman fanciers' are we, we only stray now and again," she laughed. "The only women we really like are those we're tied up with emotionally. I think that's why you feel so strongly about Gianna."

I felt better now. Jo always managed to do that, put things in perspective. Now I tried to help her.

"How's Guy," I said, "he's not getting frustrated is he?"

"Oh Lena, he's lovely. I was worried, you know, that he wasn't getting any," she laughed, "and he's floating around Chloe, who by all accounts, is bloody gorgeous, and Angela who's pretty nice as well. I sort of offered myself to him even though I wasn't feeling well. He got very upset."

"Oh, why?"

"He thought I didn't trust him. He's very perceptive with me you know Lena, he can read me like a book. I told him I didn't want him to get frustrated and look elsewhere. I said he could have other women but only if I arranged it, you know, how you do with Mike. Lena, he told me off. He said he didn't want other women, he had me. He wouldn't go with me if I wasn't well, he loved me, he said and he certainly didn't even think about other women. I think he was a bit hurt Lena but we sorted it out. I think I could trust him in a harem of beautiful women you know. I know you would have helped," she laughed, "but I knew Mike wouldn't have liked it."

"I wouldn't either Jo. It's funny but I don't fancy Guy at all at the moment. I fancy Mike like hell," I laughed, "but then I always do. I suppose it's the baby."

"Well I don't really know," she smiled back, "I haven't felt like anything for the past week or so."

"You are feeling better now aren't you?" I asked

"Yes," she smiled, "I think I'm on the way back now. I've started to think about having Guy again so I must be getting better."

I laughed, "Well you certainly look better and your appetite has returned, for more than food!" With that we both laughed and I went out to call the men in for lunch.

After lunch Guy went off to pick up Gianna and to see Silvio. Although he had found Mike, Guy was still fond of Silvio. Obviously, he had seen him as a father for almost 18 years and you can't wipe that out. Jo had spoken to him as well, trying to get him to soften the blow of all that had happened over the last few months. It was funny really, I sensed a degree of agitation in Mike as we waited for them to return. Perhaps he was feeling the pressure of it being our house. I knew this night was very, very important for the future and I didn't want anything to go wrong but I was feeling so, so hot for her. I wanted to see her again badly, not just for sex but because, well I suppose I loved her, so I looked forward to seeing her again.

I heard the car draw up and I looked at Mike. He smiled, trying to calm me down and himself I think, then went into the hall to greet them. I heard him say, "Hello Arna," and a pause as he kissed her I supposed. Then they came into the lounge.

I got up straight away and went to her. Surprisingly she was dressed conservatively, like she did before the villa. I realised I'd have to ask her about that. I put my arms around her and kissed her full on the mouth. She seemed embarrassed as she pulled away and glanced at Guy and Jo. I loved Jo at that moment! She got up and came over and kissed Gianna as well, full on the mouth and said, "Gianna, it's good to see you. We'll have a chat while the men fix dinner later shall we?"

Gianna nodded and that seemed to ease her a little bit although I still felt a sense of unease about her.

"I'll make some coffee," said Mike, "come on Guy, give me a hand." Guy looked at his father and raised an eyebrow, greeted by a slight nod of the head from Mike. He was clearing the decks so we could talk.

"Good idea," said Guy as he followed his father into the kitchen.

"Oh Gianna, I've missed you," I said holding her tightly. I sensed her fear. "What is it Gianna, something's wrong isn't it."

"Oh no, no not really. I just feel a bit of an interloper. You're here with Mike, Jo's here with Guy. Lena, it's all so different here isn't it?"

"Yes," I said, "it is but you mustn't feel like that. Oh Gianna, you'll always be welcome here," and I decided to tell her about Mike. "He wants you here you know, wants it badly."

She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"He asked me, Thursday night in bed. He asked me whether, if circumstances changed, you could live here with us."

She looked a bit shocked at that, "What did he mean?"

"He said that if you ever decided to leave Silvio or if anything happened to him he'd want you to live here with us. So he could have both women he loved close and look after them. He misses you, you know, misses you terribly."

"But he has you. What did you say?"

"I think I upset him a little bit. I said it was his house and he could choose who lived here. He told me off, said it was 'our' house and it was as much up to me as to him." I looked her in the eye, "Well, I want you to live here as well so we both agreed. I miss you terribly as well Gianna. You must never feel like a visitor here, this is your true home."

She cried a little bit at that and cuddled me which started me off. "Now, now, you two. Can't have my mother-in-law and my step-mum crying can I?" Jo said laughing.

"Don't you dare," I said, her comments breaking my sad mood, "if you call me step-mum again I'll tan your bottom," I said laughing. Then suddenly realising what I had said, "Or perhaps not!"

This made us all laugh, though I'm sure Gianna didn't know why it was funny, but it lightened the mood and relaxed Gianna and me. We were laughing when the men came back into the room.

"What was all that about," Mike said smiling as he put down the coffee.

"Jo just called me her step-mum," I said laughing and pouting at him, "and she's older than me!"

"Don't you worry step-mum," Guy said winking at Gianna and Jo, "when she's better I'll take her in hand," he said laughing.

I pouted at him, "That's not fair," I said, "you know I can't take YOU in hand for the next 6 months but you just wait!"

He laughed then said seriously and with some feeling, "I'm looking forward to it!"

Gianna watched this display with some degree of amazement. I suppose that, although we'd told her about our complicated relationship, now she saw it in action, as it were and it puzzled her.

Mike sat next to her, "Take no notice of these young women," he said smiling. "Babies may cramp their style a little bit but they are both little minxes and that young man over there is a bloody ram!"

"Mmm, thank goodness," said Jo laughing. Then she looked at him through heavily lidded eyes, "I can't wait to get well again." It was amazing really, how she could just say something and destroy him. You could see that he was hot, hot as a jalapeno pepper, by the way he looked at her. She was right you know, other than Anna, he never really looked at another woman, well only if Jo said so and in Anna's case she did, for all the years he was married to her. Gianna noticed it as well and a slow smile spread across her face, she knew now for certain that they were right for each other!

"I'm glad you're here," Mike said to Gianna, "I've missed you."

"Lena," said Gianna in mock seriousness, "he's got you hasn't he."

"Oh yes," I said and decided that Gianna should understand how we dealt with sex in this house, "but I was saving his strength for tonight!"

Now she blushed as red as a beetroot, "Lena!" she said shocked.

Guy smiled at her, "Don't worry mum, we're all growed up here. No secrets, no hang-ups. You have a bloody good time tonight."

She smiled at him shyly, boy had he grown up! Mike let out a great big guffaw, "God, how I love you all," he said, "come on Guy, we're cooking tonight. It's special for your mother."

He'd decided to cook tonight to give Jo, me and Gianna some time together. He said he was sure there was a lot we wanted to talk about. Well he was right about that wasn't he.

I looked at Gianna again and noticed how she was dressed. "Why didn't you wear any of your new clothes," I asked her.

"Oh Lena," she said, "I thought it best not to seem too different. I don't want to, sort of, rub it in with Silvio and wearing new things, changing my look, would do that I think. I didn't want the boys to notice either. Lena, I'm not ashamed or anything, I just think it's best that I don't wear those things at home."

"Mmm, I understand," I said, "I think that's a good idea, eh Jo?"

"Yes, I think that's right Gianna. Have you told Maria?"

"No, no, not yet." She sighed then said worriedly, "Oh you two, I just don't know what to do about her. Did you know, she went out with Corin, Nerys' brother. He's a lovely man around thirty. He's so sad. His wife died two years ago from cancer, she was very young, and left him a little girl. She's 7 now; a sweet little thing. I thought they would hit it off, she seemed quite taken with him and I think he might be good for her but now they've broken up. Lena, Jo, I don't know what's the matter with her. Three times they went out together, the last time he cooked her a meal at his house. She came home in a terrible state, wouldn't talk about it or anything. I can't believe he tried it on, he doesn't seem that type, but she won't talk to me." She seemed to have an idea, "You see her regularly don't you, both of you. Can you try and find out what's happened?"

Well, of course, Jo and I knew what had happened. She'd got to the point where she fancied him then the 'Mike' thing kicked in and she ran away but we could hardly tell Gianna now. Well, I suppose we could but that might make it difficult to bury all Maria's ghosts. We'd have to discuss how to deal with it.

"We'll see her next week," I said nodding at Jo, "and see what we can find out. So you didn't tell her about you and Mike?"

"No, I thought it best to say nothing yet although she may start to suspect."

I must admit to some worry now. How would Maria react to Mike sleeping with her mother. I determined that Jo and I would have to talk this out – it needed careful handling. For me, it didn't change anything, I still felt that the only way for Maria to live her life properly was for her to be bedded totally by Mike. It might be a bit more difficult now but I was determined to try. Now I wanted to change the subject.

"Come on you two, let's go and have a bath together." I smiled at them both, "We can put on some special clothes as Mike's doing a special dinner."

Jo smiled wanly, "Not too sexy for me Lena. I don't think I'm up to dealing with a rampant Guy just at the moment."

I laughed and nudged Gianna, wanting to bring her in to the conversation, "I know," I said, "but it doesn't hurt to remind him what he's missing does it!" That made us all laugh and I called through to Mike that we were going upstairs.

As we climbed the stairs Jo whispered to me, "Lena, do you want to be alone with Gianna?" She looked sad, "I don't think I can, you know . . ."

"No, it's all right," I smiled, "we'll do that later."

"What was that?" asked Gianna. No secrets, I thought.

"Jo was just asking whether we wanted to be alone." I smiled at them both, "She's not up to anything just yet. I told her no, we'd do that later. Is that all right?" I asked her innocently.

She blushed and nudged me, "Lena, you are incorrigible." Then she said coyly, "Yes, later is fine." I wondered then whether Jo would change her mind about Gianna and whether we would all get together one day. I though that might be interesting but we didn't. Gianna and Jo developed a very close mother/daughter relationship that never developed into one like mine and Gianna's.

We had a long and relaxing bath talking about babies, men, and other interesting things. Then we dried each other off and started to decide what to wear. Gianna and I had new bedroom wear for later. I liked the idea of wearing sexy things for him, especially after the affect of the gear Amy wore, and Gianna was used to wearing sexy underwear for him. But it was only very skimpy and it was for later. Now I wanted something enticing, something that would make him really hot. I wanted to wear tight jeans, just like when we first met but I was beginning to show just a little bit and my waist was increasing so that was out. In the end I decided on one of those loose skirts he likes that, sort of, hang off the rise of my bottom. It was a light mauve and I picked a matching blouse that was almost see-through. I was feeling quite hot already looking forward to having him later.

"What do you want to wear Gianna," I said as we searched through the things we had brought from Italy. "Something to turn him on, yes?"

"Mmm," she said, " what about this?" She got out a pair of scarlet slacks, truly vampish, and a matching blouse in chiffon. The slacks were quite loose but they managed to show off her wonderful bottom to perfection. Add to that two inch slippers in red as well and she looked gorgeous.

We turned to Jo, "Well," I said, "are you going to tease him or not?" I asked.

She smiled. I think she was getting back to her old self but she still looked tired. "I don't think I'm up to taking him on tonight," she said sadly, "but I can always relieve the pressure with my hand can't I," she ended more brightly.

"Mmm," I said laughing, "a good hand-job will calm him down a bit and you can show him just what he can look forward to when you get well." In the end she chose a skirt not dissimilar to mine, quite colourful with red predominating, and a matching jumper which showed off her boobs to perfection. We both wore bedroom slippers that accentuated the shape of our bottoms.

"What about some make-up Arna," I said slipping into her pet name.

She smiled, "Mmm," she said, "take a few years off Lena, I need it to keep up with you two. You look lovely."

I laughed, "Don't do yourself down. You look lovely as well. Come on then, let's put some make-up on."

Well, we did. Not very much because he's not over fond of make-up, he likes his women as they come!

I don't know how long we'd been, ages I expect but he hadn't called up so dinner wasn't ready yet. He was obviously pulling out all the stops tonight but I knew it wouldn't be a heavy meal because he was 'on duty' as he said, so he wouldn't eat or drink too much. I'm not fond of making love on a full stomach so I wouldn't eat too much either.

We went downstairs to be greeted with small glasses of punt-e-mes, that lovely Italian aperitif. Not too much, we both laid off alcohol while we were pregnant for fear of harming the baby but it's OK in small amounts.

"You all look ravishing," he said as his eyes travelled across our bodies. Then he looked at Gianna and me in 'that' way, swept us up in his arms, and said, "Sod dinner, let's go to bed now. I'm suddenly not very hungry for food. Guy, you can manage can't you?" he ended laughing.

"Yes I can dad," he said, "mind doesn't Jo look delectable too."

She smiled coyly at him and pecked his cheek, "Nothing for you tonight sweetheart, unless you want a quick wank!" she said laughing.

He laughed, "Well," he said, "it might relieve the pressure a bit." Then he was serious, "But only if you want and you're able."

She gave him an outrageously sexy smile, "Oh, I think I can manage that but I want you to save yourself as well. I'm not going to be ill forever."

He held her tight and kissed her. God she could turn him on like a tap, even I can't do that to Mike, but then she always could. A raised eyebrow, a sexy smile, a flash of leg, almost anything was enough to make him want her. As he said, he was a 'Joanna' man through and through!

"You don't have to," he said seriously.

"I want to. It'll be interesting to see how much you've saved up," she said with a smile.

While this banter was going on Mike was stroking both out bottoms and I could tell that he really did want to go upstairs straight away. I bloody well knew I did and, I suspect, so did Gianna by the way she was nibbling his ear.

"Come on you three," said Jo laughing, "I'm bloody hungry and you don't want that dinner to go to waste. Put them down Mike, I'm sure they'll let you play later."

Well, he did and Guy led us all into the dining room. "There you are mother," said Guy, "especially for you." And he had as well. It looked lovely. He'd used all the very best china and cutlery with crystal glasses and everything.

"It's lovely," said Gianna, "thank you."

"I only hope the food's up to the setting," said Mike. It was!

We started with a dish of smoked salmon in scrambled egg served on warm brioche rolls made by Guy. He was learning to cook now although he had tried when he lived with Mike but not very hard!

This was followed by a delicious mixed fruit sorbet made by Mike. It had lemons, oranges, mangoes, and pineapple. Then the main course, an Italian dish called saltimbocca, which means 'jump in the mouth'. Why it's called that I don't know but it is delicious. He served it with delicately sautéed potatoes and green vegetables. I didn't want to eat too much because of later but I did find it difficult not to tuck in, we all did. Luckily the dishes were quite light. We drank only a little wine. As I said, Jo and I were laying off alcohol in large amounts and Mike, well he was saving himself. Guy drank quite a lot, I suppose he must have thought that Jo was kidding. I knew she wasn't, she was going to 'take him in hand' tonight, I could tell.

Finally we had a choice of pudding. A lovely fresh fruit salad (he almost always makes this) and flambéed pineapple rings with cream, ooohhh!

"Oh Mike," I said as he brought this in, "you're cruel. You know I don't like to eat too much before, you know."

He smiled sexily at me, "I know," he said, "but you are feeding two aren't you and I'm sure you'll manage." Well I did actually, I had two helpings.

As we finished he said, "Let's be lazy and leave it all here tonight. I'll make some coffee while you sit down in the lounge." So off we went while he made the coffee, lovely espresso from the great big machine in the kitchen. He didn't like ordinary coffee so he had this massive Italian machine that made really nice coffee.

He was back before long and we settled down to chat and drink our coffee. Gianna talked a bit more about Maria and the boys. Evidently Pietro was thinking of moving out and living with Sandy, he was talking about marriage although Gianna didn't think he'd asked her yet.

She laughed, "The was they dote on each other I doubt she'll say no but I think they'll wait a bit and save for a house."

"How are David and Michele," asked Guy.

"Michele is going to university in the spring." She looked at Mike, "Using the money in the account you set up for them Mike and David is talking about going to Italy to work for Nardo. I don't think he's cut out for learning, he's too erratic, to excited." She laughed, "He talked about being a racing car driver, I don't know where he gets that from."