Cathy and Chris Ch. 10

For the next few days she was really attentive, cooking him his favourite meals, and always sitting next to him on the sofa once the kids were in bed. She would bring him cups of tea and lift his arm to slide under it and into his embrace, something she had seen her late sister Jen do with him all the time. Brian would be sat in his narrow armchair of course; any attempt to sit on his lap would have meant him not being able to see the TV.

Perhaps with a mind to their new closeness, on the Thursday evening as she turned to ask him something he smiled at her, such a wonderful warm smile that stopped her in her tracks,

"I have an idea," he said.

"Careful," she grinned back at him.

"Why don't we have a weekend away?" said Chris, "the TV weatherman promised a sunny and warm weekend".

"What? Just you and me?" She giggled.

"Yeah, we'll leave the kids with enough Coke, crisps and cake to last and order pizza for tomorrow..." she giggled at his ridiculousness, and he added, "Yeah and like they'd let us go without them."

"What kind of weekend away?" she asked sipping her tea.

"Camping," he said.

"Camping?"

"Camping. What's up, you never been before or something?"

"Nope, well not since was Robert's age at least."

He smiled,

"The kids have sleeping bags don't they?"

"Yes,"

"So you need to get one then."

"Why?" she moved closer to him putting a hand to his cheek and giving him a very knowing look, "Can't I just get in with you?"

"I'm not sure the children would approve," he said, "Look, I've got all of the gear, all you need is a sleeping bag," he picked up the cup. "I'll pop into the garage and load all of the stuff into our cars, we both come home as soon as we can tomorrow night and we can be eating fish and chips under the stars by half seven. What do you think?"

"What clothes do the kids need?" she said, her mind thinking like a mother and not a lover for the first time since the conversation started.

"Oh, jeans, shorts, T-shirts and sweatshirts – pyjamas of course - nothing to go mad with, only two nights"

"I'll do the clothes, you do the cars." She said.

Other than the pile of gear in the boot of her hatchback covered by a blanket, the car didn't seem to have changed much.

Over breakfast he'd said that she should leave work as soon as she could and meet him at home.

She arrived a few minutes before him and was changing into the new jeans she'd bought that lunchtime.

Since they'd all lived together, the choice of food had improved; basically, now there actually was a choice, and the stodge that Brian had insisted upon was now the occasional rather than every meal. Chris was a great cook along with everything else, and included lots of vegetables and fruit and he hardly ever used the big heavy frying pan that had been a permanent fixture in her last kitchen preferring the grill.

To add to this she was also taking exercise; Chris liked to walk and had encouraged her and her children to join him and his. She'd bought a bike, her work was a lot closer now and on clear days she used it, and she'd also started an exercise class on Wednesday lunchtimes with some of the girls from her office.

Because of this, she'd gone from a baggy size sixteen down to a form fitting 10 and the hipsters one of the girls had bullied her into trying on in 'Next' looked fantastic.

She had started to go out with the girls as well, they had of course noticed, with approval, the change in her personality and appearance that widowhood had brought. They had asked her out once the move was completed but said she was too tired. She told Chris – he grinned widely,

"Go!" he grinned, "I go out with my mates and you babysit for me, you go, it'll do you the world of good."

Without her late Husband's influence her clothing choice had become so much more confident and age appropriate.

Perhaps conscious of their age difference, Brian had always balked at the idea of her showing flesh and looking attractive. Her low cut cleavage exposing tops would have given him a heart attack, her skirts had to be pleated and not pencil and, well, she could only guess at what language he would have called her at the sight of her walking out of the house with such a shapely denim clad arse that she now possessed.

Clothes aside Brian was totally against a married woman going out without her husband. She could come down the Legion with him any time she wanted if it was just for a drink, and the kids could come as well.

Nights out, like a lot of things from her past, didn't hold good memories. God forbid Brian would have babysat while she went out, and had lost count of the hen nights and wedding receptions she'd had to turn down because he would invent a hundred different reasons why she shouldn't go or he couldn't babysit – unless they were at the Legion or the kids were invited as well of course.

All of those Tuesdays or Thursdays or Fridays he had disappeared down the Legion on his own 'because the bloody club don't run itself', only to invite her on Saturday.

Eventually she learned to feign a headache or something, because she didn't want to sit in the Legion trying to keep two under stimulated, over-tired children occupied while trying to make small talk with women she didn't understand or have anything in common with, most of whom had at least twenty years on her. He never seemed to argue.

If she did go with the kids, and occasionally she had to, she had to make sure they didn't go near yellow lines painted around the bar or get too close to the pool table, or snooker table or dart board, or committee room, or function room, while he stood with his mates oblivious to the fact that Daniel was bored rigid with the football on the widescreen TV that no one was watching. Once Daniel asked the barmaid to change the channel to one with music, and she had done with a smile.

Daniel had started to dance with his mum and sister, and some other bored mums and kids had joined in.

Only until Brian noticed; he snatched the

controller from behind the bar and turned it back to the football. The barmaid remonstrated with him demanding to know what right he had to do that and pointed out that she had turned it over for the boy as no one was watching the football, and he should let everyone dance.

Brian simply pointed at a hand drawn, badly photocopied poster and growled that the bloody children's disco wasn't for another three weeks and smacked Daniel across the back of the head for his trouble.

The room went quiet, the barmaid snarled about hitting children until Brian eventually picked up on the terrible atmosphere he'd caused and apologised rubbing the back of Daniels head with a smile – Cathy had tried to disappear into the chair she was sat on.

Another of the committee members turned the TV back to the music but the last thing anyone wanted to do was dance again and Daniel sat hugging his mother, while his father looked on crossly at them.

With Dan almost a man and now safely ensconced in his room, or playing on Chris's games console, or listening to his music or out at one of his many friends' houses, she felt she could put that part of her life behind her.

So for a few Fridays, wearing something smart she and the girls took in a movie or a restaurant in the same complex that was by day an outlet village. More often than not this was followed by a few drinks and a dance. Mind you, with Chris at home she still hardly wanted to go out.

The girls would occasionally spark at any attractive man looking in their direction, especially at Cathy and her new sexy figure and outlook.

A few of the girls knew or had met Chris the 'Brother in law' and had suggested, or in the case of her best friend Carole who had guessed, that Chris could be more than just a nice chap she shared a house with.

Carole had known Cathy since she left college and could read her like a book. She was the only person that Cathy had confessed to, even going so far as to describe how fantastic he was in bed.

If one of the girls would semi-jokingly recommend a possible lover near to her, Cathy would simply smile at Carole and shake her head, thinking of that moment in an hour or so that she could slip through the wardrobe wearing just make-up, perfume and a smile and slide into bed with the most fantastic lover she'd ever known.

She heard him calling to the kids to hurry up and put on the gear she'd left out for them all and smiled as Chris pushed the door open and walked in on her backside bisected by the tiny white line of the string of her tiny panties.

"What a view," he said.

"Shut the door Chris, the kids?"

"Oh yeah sorry, I keep forgetting. You ready to go?"

"Yep," she said zipping the jeans with a

satisfying flourish, "I've made a flask for each car."

"Oh, you've thought of everything."

She turned and wiggled her bottom at him,

"You've seen something I thought of already," she patted her crotch, "I finished yesterday."

He thought back on the flatness of her groin, lacking the bulging towel that had been there all week,

"Oh yeah," he grinned and walked towards her. "I love the jeans," he said putting arms around her and grasping her arse.

"My jeans or my arse?"

"Your arse in general but in those jeans in particular, he growled rubbing gently after the initial grope.

"You can have some later Chris," she said waving an admonishing finger.

"Promise?"

"Ooooooh yeah," she said nodding her grinning head. "Here," she said slipping hands around his neck, "this is the first installment." Their lips and tongues clashed warmly and wetly until thundering feet on the stairs disturbed their fun.

It was hard to coax the children into the two cars, but the excitment was infectious, even for Cathy who was thinking not only of a fun weekend away but the thorough screwing she was going to get after her abstinence - almost - for the last week.

She drove behind him for about an hour and a half stopping once for a drink and a snack and to relieve bladders.

They parked in a large field with groups of trees around it, and he unpacked a huge tent from his car and within minutes it seemed to her, the thing was up, staked out and they were all throwing things into it. A smaller tent was erected and Daniel was really pleased when Chris told the teenager it was all his.

The rooms inside the tent were both split in half making for four bedrooms. Both girls announced that they would share one and Robert happily dumped his small bag of clothes into his half.

Within minutes Chris, with Dan's help had all of the airbeds blown up and distributed, and a kitchen and lights set up just as the sun set to a wonderful red-skied dusk, promising a good day for the morrow.

Chris was good to his word and fish and chips were on the menu.

Daniel was like a new boy, and had matured and relaxed. He was almost never snappy with his younger sister or cousins, tidied his room because he liked it tidy and was storming up the charts with his teachers – just in time, they'd said at his last parents evening.

Having met Uncle Chris, Dan's form tutor had said that with family support he was confident Daniel could reach the next class up and he was willing to give him the help he needed.

Dan threw himself into his work and his SAT scores had surprised everyone, everyone that is except for Chris. Chris spoke to him like an adult, treated him like another man in the house, and Daniel responded. Chris had been the one that always called him 'Danny', (he knew it annoyed his brother in law Brian of course) before shortening it to 'Dan' once they had moved in.

Brian had named his first born son after his Father, and would never have any shortening of it by Daniel or his friends. Apparently there had been Irish in the family a few years back and Brian's Father had made a point of it, giving all his children Irish names although none had been anywhere near the place.

At first Cathy had cringed out of habit, but one day, after her son has sorted his laundry, washed it along with some more he'd found and distributed it around on the airers and on radiators even she had said 'thanks Danny'.

The chips and fizzy drinks finished they sat around the entrance to the tent on folding chairs just chatting quietly, the three younger children dragging Danny to the woods with them to explore using the new torches Chris had bought each of them lunchtime. He went with a good natured giggle, eventually chasing them all. Cathy almost burst with pride and pleasure.

Danny had retreated to his bed with his torch and a goodnight. Robert, who had fallen asleep on Daddy's lap, was in bed asleep while Colleen and Karen arranged their half of the bedroom again and again before they eventually gave in to the drooping eyelids and rolled into their sleeping bags.

Colleen and Karen, although separated a year or so by age, were closer than sisters. They had always been close friends and would speak on the phone whenever possible. Brian's outright objection to the microchip, unless in the television or video or course, had put pay to a five year old Karen's innocent request for Colleen's email address.

They talked clothes, pop music, toys and television, rarely argued over which of the 160 cable TV channels they should watch and had become confidants to each other in the big moment of changing schools.

Colleen had lost weight, cheered up, would cuddle her mother, uncle, brother or cousins and had gained more confidence than Cathy could ever believe she had. She was learning to play the piano and had picked up on Karen and Robert's assumption that she, like them, would go to 'University' after 'A levels'.

Chris slid his chair closer to Cathy's and filled her cup with tea from the pot.

"Thanks," she said, beaming a smile up to him. "Thanks for all of this," she waved a hand around the tent. "How much of this did you have already?"

"Almost all," he said sipping his own tea, "Had to buy some more airbeds but none of this stuff is expensive anymore, most of this came from Walmart. Danny's tent was a bit more expensive of course, but..."

"You bought that for him?" she said stunned.

"Of course, where should he have slept, in the car?"

"Well no, but..."

"No, bless him. He's worked bloody hard in the last few weeks, it's a 'well done on your mocks, best of luck with your exams' present."

"Oh Chris," she beamed again, "That's so lovely!"

"He's a good kid and he deserves it. Besides when he has his year out from Uni' or wants to go to festivals and stuff..."

"University?" Cathy said in a pleased but slightly shocked whisper.

"Of course University!" said Chris with a slight smile, "I was discussing A' levels with him the day before yesterday when I picked him up from school."

"My Daniel! A' Levels!"

"Of course your Daniel, what has he to loose?" He leaned forward, "That boy is as sharp as a pin, he only needs encouragement; you saw his last report."

She thought on the almost institutional disappoint that had been Brian's... no THEIR way with her son.

"I can't believe how well he's done since..." she paused.

"Don't say it Cathy," said Chris.

"I was going to say 'since you came into our lives'," she said, "But I suppose it was a bit to do with it." She looked down at the small ridge tent, "Brian hardly had a good word for him. Poor mite."

"No good for self esteem," said Chris breaking in, "Before you can get the rest of the world to like you, you have to like yourself first. All I did was tell him how good he is. Just you watch, we'll have our Danny in University before I finish."

Cathy bit her bottom lip with a huge grin, then excitedly put out a hand and took his. 'Our Danny' she thought, if only Brian had spoken about him like this.

"Thank you for everything Chris," she squeezed his hand. Biting back some tears, she looked skywards, "I haven't done this in years," she said.

"What? Cry?"

"No," she dropped his hand in mock admonishment, "Gone camping, I was Robert's age when I last came, remember?"

"Jen loved it," he too looked up, "I was going to take us all to America on a big last holiday once they said that... err... that there wasn't long left." He wiped his hand down his face and brightened, "But you know your sister."

She looked at him and smiled.

"Oh yes."

"Insisted that we took the kids camping, I even brought the gas and air tank."

"That was Jenny." She turned to face him, "Chris, are you OK with this, I mean..."

"Oh yeah, I've been camping since I was tiny. It's in my blood."

"So," she said finishing the last of her tea, "What shall we do now?" she stood, turned and pointed her bottom at him.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll think of something."

He grabbed her hips and pulled himself up by them.

"Hey!" she giggled. He shushed her, pointing around at the thin sheets of nylon and cotton separating them all.

"Bedtime Cathy," he said pointing the open door of the tent.

"OK boss, I'll need a wee first though," she wandered off into the darkness towards the illuminated glow of the facilities block.

As for him he didn't need to go and folded the chairs and moved them back into the tent. Cathy came back in and zipped the door closed. She slipped off her fleece jacket and her shoes, the latter stuck with dew wet grass.

"It's just turned chilly," she said, "Do you think the kids are warm enough?"

For an answer he pulled down the top of the bedrooms and she could make out the three forms curled up in pyjamas and sleeping bags, absolutely sound asleep.

She started to unfasten her new jeans, and skinned them down her legs,

"You not getting undressed?" she said.

"Not for a minute," he said, "I'm admiring the view."

"Cheeky," she chided him.

"Oh, I expect the rest of the camp is enjoying it too." He pointed to her shadow on the wall of the tent, standing and holding her trousers at her knees. Her beautifully curvaceous body and the lines of her clothing picked out beautifully.

"You!" She made to hit him but he stopped her with a single finger to his lips. She settled to turn off the light. In a moment they were both undressing, each climbing into their own half of the large bedroom, separated by a tied in sheet.

"Night Night Chris," she said.

"Night Cath," he answered, and slid into his own sleeping bag.

He lay quietly for a moment listening to her movements as she got into her sleeping bag. After a while, he saw the separating sheet move and, in the ambient light of the tent saw a pale pink bottom appear.

"Well," she whispered, feeling warm hands on her bum, "I DID promise."

He threw back the flap of his sleeping bag and slid up behind it, cradling his already erect penis into the split of her arse. In a second he was pushing himself into her wet pussy, silently and slowly enjoying the secrecy of the act and the need for complete silence.

He could hear her breathing quicken and also her attempts to moderate the noise of her rasping breath. Her hand grasped his hand that clutched so tightly to her waist as he pulled himself into her again and again, and the long intake of breath and slow sigh let him know that she'd made it. He contented himself with a swift orgasm that had him emptying himself into her.

He heard the rasping noise of the bedroom door zipping open and he quickly pulled the cover over himself, without checking whether Cathy was still decent. Fortunately, the separating curtain was down and he guessed she was curled into her own sleeping bag and their nights work was still a secret.

Robert piled into his Dad's bedroom full of the joys of spring, laughing and giggling as he tried to get his feet into Chris's sleeping bag.

The bedroom curtain raised a bit, and Cathy's tired face appeared.

"Excuse me," she said with mock solemnity, "isn't it a bit early for this kind of thing?"