Possessing Bella Ch. 14

"What a good girl we have raised, hey Joe?" Rosie clucked. "She finally appreciates us."

"She was always a good girl, even when she wasn't," Joe laughed.

"I have so many people who love and care for me, Stephen and Kurt and Rob and some you probably haven't even heard about yet," Bella rushed on. "I think I like your idea of a house warming party where you can come to my house and cook for everyone. I will even give you a helper for cooking that you can train to do things just the way you like," she grinned thinking Jake would love the idea. "Dad you could choose a wine or drinks or whatever and tend bar, you're so good at that. What do you think would you like to help me host my first grown up party and meet my friends properly?"

"Three hours ago you couldn't stop crying. Now you want to host a party?" Rosie's face showed concern.

"I have spent the best part of this year crying and shying away from the world. It took Jenny to point out that this isn't the life the people I cried over wanted me to have. I need to move on and start living. Not just going through the motions and pretending to live. I have done the ground work. I have started a career, I have a beautiful home or it will be in a week or two when I finish decorating it and most importantly of all I have so many people who care about me and want me to be happy, not sad all the time."

"I barely saw Vince in the last six years. His death affected me, how could it not but it is also tinged with a feeling of regret and anger. What he gave me in the will was a wonderful gift but I don't deserve it. The old biddy can have what she wants if it means we never have to hear from her again. Everything but the company stock that is. I won't let her have any part of Mel," her voice turned hard. She turned to Joe, "I trust you to look after all of that and do what's right. I don't want to deal with it, I want to move on and I want to be happy again."

"You think the party will help you do this?" Joe asked seriously.

"It would be a good start. Prove that I am not broken beyond repair," she said with less excitement as she took in her parents' concerned faces.

"Then I say yes. I would very much like to meet your friends. As long as your mother has help with the cooking and doesn't spend all night in the kitchen," Joe squeezes Rosie's hand, "You know how I love to dance with your mother."

"May I invite two friends, who will help with the party, up here to meet you?" Bella asked her mother who hadn't agreed yet.

"Your friends are always welcome in my home, Bella," Rosie smiled indulgently. "I don't think I need help cooking though," she frowned.

"I promise if he doesn't win you over, you can be stuck in the kitchen and deal with Dad's grumbling all night," Bella giggled and began to make plans with her parents.

*****

Jake had oozed charm from the moment he arrived with flowers for Rosie and a special bottle of homemade baby mozzarellas as well as a one of her father's favourite wines. Best of all for Bella he had brought Dorothea with him. As this was going to be a trial run, he had invited Stephen and Kurt and Dianne up the following night for dinner and to escort the beautiful Bella home on Sunday as per her request.

"Hey gorgeous," Jake picked up Bella and spun her around making her laugh. "You're looking fabulous, must be this magical food of Rosie's kitchen everyone keeps telling me about." He chuckled and winked at Joe. "I hear a few young guns have tried to steal your wife away without success. Never fear, I'll get the job done," he then swung to Rosie, "I am your slave, take me where you will oh goddess of the kitchen."

Giggling like a schoolgirl Rosie blushed and, taking her gifts with her, led him into the kitchen as Joe groaned loudly and rolled his eyes. "Why must your friends always flirt with my wife, Bella," he shook his head.

"That's okay, Dad. I brought a friend for you too," Bella beamed and Dorothea laughed.

"I'm not quite in the same league as those young studs, but there's something to be said for experience," she continued to laugh.

"Ah well, while that cat's away we mice can play," he took her hand and kissed it. "Experience and beauty I am honoured." He said smoothly.

"Perhaps not quite yet, there is a large amount of groceries in that car. You will find with Jake that enough is never enough," she continued to laugh. Bella was amazed by the amount of bags they had in the car. It took the three of them several trips before it was all in the kitchen, and Rosie looked at it all startled.

"The way I see it, I have access to this kitchen goddess for..." he checked his watch. "Damn too late for lunch today?" He waited for the affirmative nod then spoke again, "Two dinners, two lunches and two breakfasts and I intend to make the most of it so I didn't want any excuses about not having the right ingredients even though I might have missed something." He considered the pile, "Did you want a duck?"

"I'll make you duck, cheeky boy," Rosie aimed a cloth at his head and he dutifully ducked making them all laugh.

"No worries, I bought one just in case," he grinned as another dishtowel flew past his head.

"I'm getting out of the line of fire," Joe laughed and exited quickly followed by Bella and Dorothea.

"You do look wonderful," Dorothea said as they walked outside. "You seem genuinely happy. I had thought Jake was bringing me here because you had retreated inside yourself again."

"Just the opposite in fact, I feel better than I have in a long time. You know, I think I can make it work and have the best of both worlds if I am careful about choosing my friends and lovers."

"It's always been that way," she smiled.

"Not for me it hasn't," Bella shook her head. "With Mel it was a twenty-four hour a day position, no real normalcy, not that we had a chance to test that. Even with Stephen, when we went shopping there was always an expectation that I would do as I was told not as I wanted. Rob spoils me and lets me skate on a few things, but I do not delude myself that he would order me back into the cage if I stepped out of line at home or the club. Even Kurt has disciplined me or had Stephen do it for him when I stepped over that invisible line at work. I have always felt so boxed in, suffocated," Bella explained. "Even by you and the girls to some degree," she admitted sadly.

"You were unwell for so long we all just did our best to look after you how we knew best," Dorothea could see her point and knew that it was a fairly sheltered life she endured.

"I think I could love Stephen; he makes me feel," she chewed her lip, "Precious and special and desired."

"I hear a but in there..." Dorothea said cautiously. She loved Stephen as she had loved Mel and did not want to see him hurt.

"He's so intense. Once I commit to him, the exploration is over. It will be all his way all the time. He has said he will not share or entertain any more training once that occurs, and I am not sure I am ready for that even though I know I want that sort of commitment. I know I am not making sense," she shook her head slightly. "I feel like I am coming out of the gloom now. I can see so many possibilities for a future and well I don't know if I am ready to settle down into a life as lady of the manor, yet. Just swapping one cage for another"

"Stephen has asked you to give up the training schedule?" Dorothea was stunned.

"No, he said he would wait patiently and that he would not like to see me break any commitments I had made. He would not respect that in any submissive," Bella went back to chewing her lip.

"Then why are you fretting?" Dorothea laughed. "After this funeral and the time it will take to sort out the legalities you will have to push the rest of your training into next year. That will give you time to date the men you have come to know and like as well as Stephen, let Jake throw his hat into the ring if you are looking for someone to make you laugh. The times you have stood up to Kurt and Rob and even Stephen for that matter and told them what you want, have they ever denied you?"

"No, but I feel... beholden to the ideal that Mel created around me," Bella admitted.

"I think you hold yourself to that ideal more than anyone else ever did," Dorothea nodded. "Find out who is on the training list. Jack definitely will be but did anyone else offer from the stake holder's meeting? If you don't know, ask Stephen. I would bet he has it memorised and is counting the days," she grinned.

"That's just it. Is it fair to make him wait for a maybe?" Bella asked.

"When I last saw you I believed you were falling in love with our handsome Sir Stephen. Has Vince's death changed you so much that those feelings have faded?" Dorothea looked at her as they walked under her favourite climbing tree.

"I have spent so much time sitting up in this tree in my lifetime, it's my go to place if I need to think," she smiled sadly. "I don't have anywhere like this at home or work." She shrugged, she was stalling and Dorothea knew it. "If anything, Stephen and I are closer, more intimate. I know he can give me what I need, what I want."

"There is still a but in there..." Dorothea looked at her critically.

"He's Sir Stephen! He has money and power and prestige and a towering reputation like Mel. What if something, I mean what if..." she chewed her lip as she struggled. "What if I just wanted a regular man, say a landscaper or a tradesman, who wasn't in the spotlight and open to attacks from others." Dorothea looked up in surprise. This wasn't what she had expected.

"Landscaper sounds pretty specific, have you met one?" Dorothea pushed not wanting to touch on her fear of losing Stephen the way she had Mel and his son just yet.

"Yes, in Gor, not that I know him that well, but I might like the opportunity maybe," Bella said unsure of herself.

"Say you got to know this landscaper better, fell in love with him and found out that he had a dark past that kept coming back to haunt him and put him in danger?"

"Is that true? Do you know him?" Bella asked in a rush.

"Sweet girl you haven't even told me his name how would I know that?" Dorothea laughed. "Bad things happen in everyone's life. Admittedly, you have had a very bad time in the last year but if you want us all to believe you are strong and able to manage your own life now, you can't let those shadows cloud your judgement. Stephen has no enemies. He is a fine upstanding man known for his fairness and his strict moral code, nothing untoward will happen to him any more than a landscaper or a banker or a beach bum for that matter."

"It was only a mention of him anyway. I will not see him again most likely. His name was Arak," Bella said softly. "I might have liked to get to know him though," she tilted her head and chewed her lip.

Dorothea knew Arak. He was a friend to Mike Millar and came to the club occasionally. He was hardly just a landscaper. He was an architect, designer, sculptor and horticulturalist as well as having an engineering degree of some kind. He was in high demand, but Dorothea said nothing wondering if Stephen knew that to smother this girl right now would mean losing her. She needed to spread her wings. She was so young and new to their lifestyle that she needed to explore it. It would be so easy to call her a spoilt brat but the reality was she was a caged bird who was doing her best to make that cage bigger without having to fight for every centimetre.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Living up to your commitments is a good thing but don't get dragged down by them either. You are rich enough and powerful enough to tell everyone what to do, except maybe Rob, who owns more of the company and club than you do," She laughed. "Go climb your tree and think about that, you don't have to stay in that box they created for you. I am going to go and flirt with your father and see if it's cocktail hour yet."

*****

The weekend was wonderful. Bella was amazed at the amount of food that came out of her mother's kitchen for breakfast and lunch and during the afternoon as the other three guests arrived. Kurt and Jake vied for Rosie's attention and she giggled throughout the afternoon as everyone complimented her skill in the kitchen and called Jake a talentless hack. Rosie assured them he was a wonderful apprentice, making even the stoic Stephen laugh loudly.

Stephen was affectionate throughout the afternoon, and Bella enjoyed basking in the warmth of his attention as the small group laughed and joked all through the evening and in the case of the men on into the morning hours. Dianne went to bed early, apologising for her lack of stamina as she wished them all goodnight. To the high-spirited jeers of their friends Kurt walked her up to their room promising to return shortly.

"Sir Stephen could I call on your chivalry to take this old lady for a walk in the fresh air before Rosie brings any other tasty morsels out of her kitchen.," Dorothea asked.

"Of course, my lady," he smiled and stood excusing himself from the table.

"I'll help you clean up mum," Bella suggested, "I don't know that Jake and Dad have had even a minute to talk in the last twenty-four hours. You have been keeping him all to yourself in that kitchen." She stood and gathered the detritus from the three-course meal they had just consumed.

"Thank you, baby," Rosie smiled, "There isn't much to do in there though, Jake is a very clean cook. He likes his workspaces clear," she rose and began to clear the table with Bella. "It's nice having your friends here, I think I believe you are happy now. When is Dianne's baby due?"

"What?" Bella spun around and faced her mother.

"Oh, you can't hide things from me. She's fussy with some food and eating large amounts of others. She has a small belly and the way Kurt is fawning over her like she is a fragile china doll all tells me I am right. So you can at least let me know when to knit some booties for the baby shower."

"She hasn't said anything Mum," Bella looked up at the ceiling wondering if it could be true. "I know she has been seeing a doctor recently maybe she is just unwell."

"Oh, Bella you make me laugh sometimes. Here you are a woman yet you know so very little of women's things," she laughed, the wine having made her giddy and talkative. "It's okay, baby. I will ask Kurt when he comes back down," she winked and hugged her daughter who had begun to chew her lip for the first time that evening.

"Mother I don't think you should, I mean if they haven't told anyone," Bella said, "There may be a reason."

"I am an old woman. I can get away with asking these questions," Rosie grinned.

"We manly men are going out to the garage. To smoke cigars and tinker with greasy engine parts," Jake announced in a deeper than usual voice as he carried the last of the wine glasses back into the kitchen. He kissed Rosie's cheek, "Thank you for a wonderful day my kitchen goddess." He then turned to Bella, "Thank you for finally inviting me to meet your mother. I love you, little one." He kissed her forehead and walked back out toward the dining room.

"Well, that's them gone for the night," Rosie shrugged. "Feel like an old movie with your Mother after we finish here? Maybe Dorothea can join us."

"That would be great," Bella smiled lovingly at her mother.

"Thank you, Sir Stephen," Dorothea curtsied as he brought her into the other ladies.

"No, it is I who should thank you, I believe I needed that walk to clear my head more than you did," he smiled. "Thank you for the most wondrous meal, Rosie," he bent low to kiss her cheek. "Sleep well if I do not see you again tonight, Bella," he bent and lightly kissed her lips before walking from the kitchen to join the men.

"Go and kiss him properly," Rosie shooed Bella after Stephen. Stunned by the command she went after him.

"Stephen," Bella called as she left the kitchen door. He turned and walked back towards her, meeting her in the shadow of the house with a questioning look. "Umm, Mum sent me to kiss you goodnight properly," she blushed.

"You were always a good girl growing up weren't you?" Stephen chuckled and took her in his arms.

"Not always," she admitted

This kiss was deep and passionate, and she felt the familiar buzz of electric butterflies tingling in her body as he broke the kiss and stared into her eyes. "I have missed you greatly this week. I am glad we had this chance to unwind here before going back to the real world." He held her to him thinking about Dorothea's cautioning words, "If you love something set it free and if it returns to you than it is yours." He would take back the Gorean collar and the commitment it signified, but he was determined to remain a constant dominant figure in Bella's life, reminding her of his love and future intentions.