Mike & Karen Ch. 26

Mike smiled gently and nodded. "When it is just us and my family, you are Jenny, you have my word. To the world at large, though, I will still address you by your titles. I can make that compromise with you."

"Thank you," she said in a voice that was little more than a whisper. She blinked again but found it ineffective. The stinging began, and she knew there were tears in her eyes. "Forgive... forgive my horrible manners, Michael, but would you please excuse me briefly?"

Mike nodded and stepped aside. Jenny walked by him and then as quickly as was still seemly (she hoped), she hurried out of the greenhouse. She breathed deeply as she walked, hoping nobody saw her. She headed into the old smoking lounge and closed the door behind her before taking several deep breaths and willing herself to not cry.

Jenny sat on a stool at the antique bar, pressing her fingers to her eyes and gasping several times. She felt her body trembling and tried to compose her thoughts. There were tears trickling down her cheeks.

Why are you crying? Why are you so undone? Be honest!

You were right all along. No wonder Kat was in love. You did the right thing, Jennifer Penrose. What you've held in your whole life, you can let go of it now. There is no uncertainty anymore.

You did the right thing, for the woman you loved more than anything. You made her the happiest woman alive.

You did right.

The door opened behind her, and she turned in the swivelling stool to see who had come in.

Karen stood there, leaning gently back against the door to close it.

Jenny pushed herself off the stool and ran over to her friend, throwing herself into her arms and hugging Karen, now crying and not trying to restrain herself.

"Kat..." she choked out.

"It's okay, Jen," Karen said soothingly, hugging her dear friend and caressing her hair. "You see? You were right all those years ago. And Michael and I cannot thank you enough."

She lifted Jenny's face, holding her gently by the cheeks, smiling lovingly into those brown eyes. "How many people can say they loved someone so much they sacrificed everything to see the other person happy? Jen, the debt of gratitude I owe you, for knowing me so well..."

They pressed their foreheads together and they both wept quietly. After a while, Jenny looked into Karen's eyes. She saw what she'd always seen in those haunting, golden-amber eyes- deep understanding, compassion, and... love.

"Kat..." she murmured. "I'm back with you now, all those years apart erased, and I... is it... is it a problem that I still love you?"

Karen smiled, her eyes also glistening. "It had better not be, Penrose, because I still love you."

Jenny nodded now. Her friend loved her. Not just platonically. She loved her. Maybe she was even in love with Jenny in some fashion. Jenny's soul was shaking at the thought. Hearing her darling Kat say that she loved her...

Did it matter that Kat was in love with someone else, more than words could ever adequately convey? No. Because Jenny wanted Kat to be happy, more than anything. And Jenny did not doubt that she and Kat could have been very happy together, in love and married. But it wasn't a patch on what Karen had now. Jenny knew that. She'd known it thirty years ago, even before her beloved Kat did.

She didn't feel jilted, she felt... relieved.

They stared deeply into one another's eyes, their faces close, arms around one another's shoulders. It took Jenny's breath away. Ekaterina Leda Gloriana Gordon, now DeBourne, was the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. Nothing would change that.

Karen smiled serenely. "Michael is home, Jen, and you've seen my life. It's okay for me to kiss you now..."

Jen nodded and they both leaned in slightly, pressing their lips together. There was a fraction of a second of hesitation at the touch, but then they melted into one another's arms, kissing deeply and in rapture, hugging close. Karen's large breasts squashed to Jenny's as the two women swept aside thirty years of separation in a single, loving kiss that had an almost feverish release and sense of relief to it.

The kiss eventually ended, and they both sighed heavily, their foreheads once again pressed. Karen smiled at her friend. "Let's fix that makeup, we can't have you going to dinner looking like a weeping teenager now, can we?"

"Tosh," Jenny said, smiling now that she'd kissed away her anxiety. She felt fine. "I am your palette, my love. Make me beautiful."

"You're already beautiful, Penrose, I just need to make you presentable," Karen answered, pulling a makeup kit out of her suit jacket pocket. Jenny held still and within minutes, no one could have guessed she'd been crying. They left the lounge and walked down the hall, arm in arm.

"I feel wonderful, Kat," the blonde said, smiling. "Is this a new chapter, or just picking up at an old bookmark?"

"Both, I figure," Karen answered, nodding. "We may love one another, Jen, and that is so very right, but we have so much to catch up on. I was so worried that you might just turn away."

"Kat, I could never," Jenny said, shaking her head emphatically. "Not again."

"No, what I mean is that I was so worried that you might figure that you had no place in my life, that I hadn't adequately shown you how much I need you, Jen."

Jenny thought about that. "I need you too, Kat. I had no idea how much until you were brave enough for both of us to make that call three weeks ago. God knows, I wasn't."

"But you made an even bigger call thirty years ago, Jen, and I never would have had the bravery to face up to it," Karen said. "So, I guess we're even now?"

"Well, I might be a little bit ahead," Jenny replied, giving Karen a sassy wink. They continued walked along the hall, just enjoying one another's presence for some time. "But if one might ask a rather delicate question..."

Karen stopped and turned to face Jenny, smiling. "There are no delicate or indelicate questions between us, Jen. There is nothing I will not tell you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

An evil smirk played over Jenny's face. "How on earth did you convince an Aryan god like that to fall in love with a tartingslap like yourself?"

Karen's eyes were dancing with mirth. She looked like she might burst as she bit her lip. "I know, right?"

The two women burst out laughing, almost cackling as they leaned back against the wall and slid down it, sitting side by side. They held each other's hand, wheezing with laughter.

Trilby walked by in the other hallway, pausing at the unexpected noise and glancing over to see what was happening. She saw the two women sitting on the floor against the wall, laughing hysterically, for no apparent reason.

Trilby sighed, shook her head and moved on. It was a good thing she loved the size of her paycheques...

***

Dinner...

A magnificent five-course meal had been set out in Jenny's honour, with Theresa, Trilby, and Valentina serving. They'd eaten just prior, so now they were happily taking care of everyone else. One end of the table was dominated by Mike, with Karen and Jordan on either side of him. Jenny sat at the other end, with Alex and Alexa flanking her. The countess was delighted to taste more Penrose Bronze Fennel in her food. Bless Kat for everything!

Jenny had everyone laughing, of course, as was her habit. She loved to hear people laugh. She'd been recounting a story about the time she had Karen had booby-trapped the private office of the dean at their boarding school, and the Hell there had been to pay. The school had never proven that they were the perpetrators, but just in case, Jenny was punished with a month of solitary, and also got a caning. Karen, the school's étoile, was spared such harsh punishment, but the faculty watched her like a hawk for the duration of Jenny's sentence.

"Gotta admit, Aunt Jen, that is real creative use of a cherry bomb," Alex mentioned, grinning at her. "Pretty sure even Fre'd have to think about that one for a while, and she's our mad tinkerer."

"Yes, I have yet to meet these two friends of yours, Freja and Jeanie," Jenny agreed, nodding and tapping her fork against her beets for emphasis. "You said they just hyphenated and transposed their surnames when they got married? That is so charming and cute. I'm sure I'll love them."

"That or want them dead pretty quickly," Karen added. "They can test the limits of one's patience, certainly."

"Aw, and here I thought I was your great test of perseverance, mom," Alex said pretending to mope. "Always eroding the boundaries of your propriety."

"Don't let your mother fool you, Alex," Jenny said firmly, shaking her head. "She can be a right royal menace, I assure you. She is as inclined to misbehaviour as the worst of us, no mistake."

"Penrose..." Karen said in what she hoped was a foreboding voice. Jenny predictably ignored it.

"Did she tell you that she used to visit me occasionally at Heatherly when we were younger?" the Englishwoman asked.

Alex shrugged. "She mentioned it, but made it sound like nothing happened. Mostly just a bunch of stuck-up limeys saying 'pip pip!' and 'what ho?' to one another and all that. Boring."

"Then you have been deceived, my dear boy," Jenny asserted. "During one visit, when we were eleven, she actually ponged my governess in the jacksie with my own BB gun."

"Jenny!" Karen protested while some of the staff members sitting at the table started laughing.

"Mom?" Alex asked, looking at his mother in amusement. "Did you really?"

"From a good ten meters, I might add," Jenny offered.

"Is that true, Kar?" Alexa queried, her sapphire eyes dancing.

"Absolutely not," Karen said emphatically, frowning at her plate. Everyone went silent. "It was from fifteen meters, at the very least."

This caused everyone at the table to burst out laughing.

Jenny nodded triumphantly. "A spectacular shot, too, although to be fair, my governess had a rather wide caboose that was hard to miss. She certainly qualified as ground game."

"I don't know," Karen mused, resuming cutting her food. "I'm fairly certain I got her to leap right over the main building."

After the laughter had died down, dessert was served. Jenny had barely dug in before she put down her fork, giggling almost uncontrollably. Everyone looked at her questioningly.

"These Yorkie puds," she managed to say. "They taste exactly the same as the last ones I had here thirty years ago."

Karen nodded. "Well, yes, I found the recipe and Theresa recreated them brilliantly, I think."

"Kat," Jenny said, tears of mirth in her eyes. "I promise, I'm staying! There's no need to try so hard."

"Should've just relied on your feminine wiles, mom," Alex said casually. "Then Theresa could've made her crème brûlée."

Everyone was laughing while Karen fixed her son with a look.

Alex wisely dug into his Yorkshire pudding.

***

Nightfall...

Alex and Alexa were sitting inside one of the greenhouses, looking out the window at the back lot. In the windowsill, small seating areas had been set into them, with cushions for comfort. The beautiful blonde was turned sideways, resting her arms on the sill and looking out into the night. She loved the back lot, and she could distantly see lights in the windows of Jordan's cottage.

The moon was out and bright, its cold light touching the property. The snow had mostly given way, small pockets now only found under trees or other sheltered areas. Before long, the rain would begin, and then the Spring flowers would begin to bloom.

Movement caught her eye and she glanced over, seeing two figures walking across the lawn, holding hands. Karen and Jenny were some distance away, silhouetted by the moonlight. Alexa watched curiously as they stopped and faced each other, standing close and holding one another's hands. They both had their heads turned down as if they were looking at the ground and almost afraid to look at one another. She couldn't be sure from this distance, but they seemed to be talking.

"Can I ask you a very awkward question, Alex? And will you give me an honest answer?"

He nodded. "Of course."

She was still looking out the window. "Is... is Jenny a problem?"

"In what sense?"

She thought about what she wanted to say. "They were so in love, Alex. They wanted to get married. And then Jenny was gone, and it's been thirty years. Now she's back, and they still love one another. I just... is my big sister creating a problem for her marriage? Even inadvertently?"

Alex smiled. He knew what Alexa meant. How could anyone who wasn't part of this family ever hope to understand when its own members had their moments? Sometimes he had to remind himself that Alexa had been back with the family for less than a year, after being away for almost twenty. She was concerned, that was all. And it was an easy fix.

"It's really not all that different from you and Fre," he pointed out. "You two were in love. Now you're here and you're mine. Better yet, you still have Fre in your life, and you still love her."

He leaned forward and smiled at her. "And if I'm not worried, why on earth would my dad, of all people, ever have to be?"

She pondered that for a moment. "That's a really good point, Alex. I love Fre, she's my soulmate. I'm still in love with her after a fashion. But it doesn't in any way, shape or form conflict me about you. You're my everything. And my life's wonderful, no doubt, but it's even more wonderful with her still in it."

She looked at the window again, seeing the two women had raised their faces and were looking into each other's eyes.

"And mom's an even more amazing person than Freja," Alex added, watching her watch out the window. "And I'm pretty sure you're not leaving me for mom."

"That's true," Alexa agreed, nodding as she watched. "And she'd never leave Mike for me. So that means she'd never leave him for Jenny. But..."

She watched as the two women outside leaned in and kissed, a long and loving kiss while the moon shone down on them. It was hauntingly romantic and stirred something deep inside her.

"What about Jenny? She's divorced and widowed. Kar may have Mike, but what keeps Jenny from messing things up for herself by falling so deeply in love with Kar again that she obsesses?"

"Oh, I'm willing to bet mom has that angle covered," Alex said easily, relaxing against his cushion. He already really liked his aunt Jenny. She was everything he'd been told about and hoped for.

Exciting days were ahead.

***

Outside...

They walked quietly, hand in hand, enjoying the cool night. It was mild enough that each of them was only wearing a cashmere sweater, and some treated boots to protect from the thaw mud. It was quiet, and they were far enough north of the downtown core that few noises reached them at this hour. One could even see stars overhead.

"It's a dream come true to be back here with you, Kat," Jenny said gently, looking ahead into the shadows as they walked slowly. "And all day, all my feelings for you have just come tumbling over me and crashing back. It's... overwhelming."

Karen nodded. "I know, Jen. I feel the same. I cannot begin to tell you how thrilling it is to have you back, and to be... well..."

"In love with me again?" Jenny asked, turning her head to look at Karen.

"Not again," Karen clarified. "That would imply that I'd stopped loving you to begin with. And that patently didn't happen."

"That's a relief somehow, to be honest," Jenny breathed, shivering, but not from the cool air. "I've been terrified that I might be alone in my feelings."

"Jennifer Penrose," Karen said gently, stopping and turning to take her beloved friend's hands in hers. She smiled. "Let me just say the words that you need to hear... I love you. And yes, I'm still in love with you."

Jenny's eyes shone in the moonlight. "I... I'm still in love with you, Kat..."

They both looked at the ground between them, saying nothing but still holding hands. Each of them thinking of what to say next. They'd admitted they were still in love, even after over three decades apart. They knew one another still, intimately, and understood one another, in a way only people in love could.

"And I don't know what to do about it," Jenny murmured. "I... Kat, you belong to the most magnificent man I have ever laid eyes on. And while I would never try to compete for you, I... I feel slightly lost, if you understand me."

"I do, Jen," Karen said, still looking down. "You're widowed, you're a divorcee. And right now, you are not with anyone, and here are all these old feelings, back and flooding over you. I thought about that for these past three weeks, and whether inviting you here had been fair at all."

"I'm glad you did, Kat, I mean it," the blonde said, nodding. "Because even if this is awkward, I am at least examining the hole that was in me, that I'd simply covered over, and hoped for the best. I just don't know how to cope with these emotions yet, that I have repressed for thirty years."

She looked up now, her eyes almost pleading. "How do I get over you now? Do I even want to?"

Karen smiled, a gentle, warm smile that showed Jenny how loved she was. "If I told you I had an answer, would you listen and consider it, no matter how ridiculous it sounds?"

Jenny nodded. "Of course, Kat."

"You need to spend a lot of time around my husband, Jen," Karen explained. "Not just with me, but get to know him, and become his friend."

Jenny smiled. "That might even things out?"

"No," Karen replied, shaking her head. "Because before this week is out, you will have such a terrible crush on him that you'll find yourself more than a little jealous of me."

Jenny raised an eyebrow and smirked. Kat was right. Jenny had no doubt she could fall for Michael DeBourne. Only an idiot wouldn't.

"Jen, I spent two years denying my feelings for that man," Karen explained, squeezing her friend's hands. "I fought it, I fought with him, I made a foe of him... and to be honest, I feel like I'm lucky he even noticed."

Jenny smiled. "And yet, somehow you made him fall head-over-heels in love with you," Jenny sighed, her eyes shining. "I have never seen a man more in love with his wife than that man, and I am including Jim in that statement, Kat. I've known him for less than three hours, and I can see it in him. And I see it in you."

"That's because you know me better than anyone," Karen pointed out.

"Except him, of course," Jenny added.

"Well, yes," admitted the bronze-haired woman, and they both snickered. "Jen, Mike has, for thirty years, known that a part of me was missing, and that it lay deep in you. He never attempted to gloss over it or say it didn't matter, because he knew it did. He was aware of something in me that I wasn't seeing in myself, or at least wasn't willing to examine."

"Well, that sounds familiar," Jenny quipped, allowing herself a smirk.

"You two, as much as my parents, are responsible for who I am today," Karen said, lifting Jenny's hands and clasping them between their chests. It felt warm and assuring. And so very right to both women. "And it was Michael who decided it was time for me to reclaim this part of myself, if you are willing."

"Tu me manques," Jenny sighed almost dreamily as she looked at her beloved Kat. "You have been missing from me for decades, Kat. And I want to find what I lost too."

Karen gave a hint of a nod. "Then it's a good thing we still love each other."

"A very good thing," Jenny agreed as they leaned in slightly and kissed again, the moon shining down on them.

It was a cool night, but their love kept them warm.

***

Elsewhere in the Manor...

Valentina sighed dreamily as she knelt at the window and gazed at the scene unfolding outside. She'd just turned out the lights in this room, when she'd noticed the movement in the back lot. She saw her Mistress and the countess walking together outside, and then stopping to have what looked like a heartfelt conversation.