The Senator and the Student

"Well...congratulations, Senator," Lady Rollins stammered.

"Thank you," Rebecca said. "And in recognition of the unwelcome imposition of politics on the Christmas season, Chester and I have decided to have the ceremony in Laucester Square. All are welcome!"

The applause was still ringing in her ears when Rebecca retreated to her side of the stage after closing comments. Martha was looking utterly delighted. "How I wish I had a photograph of the look on Rollins' face when you announced the engagement!" she declared as she gave Rebecca a celebratory hug. "If that didn't seal the election for you, nothing will!"

"I've made peace with myself on that," Rebecca said. "Not everyone wants men to have the vote, and not everyone approves of my loving Chester. But if I have to choose between him and the Senate, it's an easy choice!"

Of course word leaked out at the university, and Chester heard just the mix of congratulations and insults he was expecting. But finals week meant most of the students were too busy to spend much time bothering him, and he had the best possible excuse to hole up in his room and study. "So where will you move to next semester?" Alice asked him on the day before the last exam for both of them.

"What do you mean?" Chester asked.

"Surely a senator's husband, maybe even the premier's husband, won't be staying in this place!" Alice exclaimed.

"Sure he will!" Chester looked around the cosy little room. "I'll still be who I am, and I like it here. I guess we might have to hire a bodyguard if the bullies don't back off, but we already agreed, I won't let them scare me off into some snooty house in town. What kind of message would that send to boys who want to come here, after all?"

"Good on you," Alice said. "So...I take it your family won't be joining you for the wedding?"

Chester laughed. "Good one! But that's why we're having it in the city, anyone who supports us can join us."

"That sounds...nice." Chester thought he noted a touch of sadness in Alice's voice, and he thought he knew why. He was rescued from having to explain anything when an expected knock came at the door. "Chester?"

He got up and opened the door. "Hello, Ms. Teasdale," he said. "Thanks for coming out." Seeing Alice looking uncertainly up at them from her perch at the foot of his bed, he said, "Alice, this is Ms. Teasdale, Rebecca's dressmaker."

"She's not making a dress for you, is she?" Rebecca quipped.

"Very funny!" Chester beckoned for her to stand up. "She's making one for you."

"Chester!"

"No arguments, you're going to be my best woman on Sunday."

Laucester was blessed with a clear, sunny sky on Sunday. The square was resplendent in garlands and baubles on every tree lining the green, with the ancient spruce tree across the street from City Hall adorned to the tip with green and red and silver. "I only wish the photographs would capture the colours," Chester said to Alice as they lingered outside the heated tent on the makeshift stage in front of the spruce tree, while the public milled about on the grass. "It just won't be the same looking at them years from now."

"We'll always have the memory of the real thing," said Alice, who was resplendent in the green and red dress that Ms. Teasdale had managed to stitch together in record time. "Maybe someday in the history books, this will be marked as the beginning of equality?"

"Does that mean I'll be in the history books?" piped up Sarah, who had just emerged from the tent in a dress that matched Alice's.

"I sure hope so, Sarah!" Chester said. "Wouldn't that be something!"

"Mother says today isn't about history, it's about you and her," Sarah said.

"Well, I think it can be about both," Chester replied.

"Do you, now?"

Chester and Sarah turned around to see Rebecca blossoming forth from the tent in a traditional blue wedding dress. Against Chester's wishes, she had not recycled the one from her first wedding, just as she wouldn't allow him to get married in his regular Sunday suit. In that moment, Chester was delighted that he'd lost that argument, for she was absolutely majestic. "Oh, Rebecca," he murmured.

She held out her arm for him to take. "Come on, darling. Time for the pictures and then we can see about making history."

The photography did not take long, but Chester felt nearly blinded by the flashes when it was done. Nevertheless, he felt like he was floating miles off the ground when he said "I do" to the woman he had once called his "best grown-up friend". Rebecca made no effort to hide the tears of joy as she thought of the day a few years before when news from the frontlines of the war had brought her world to a screeching halt -- now that felt like nothing but a bad dream. Alice felt her slight envy for Rebecca overwhelmed by the beauty of the moment as she watched their first kiss as woman and husband, while the crowd roared its approval. Sarah, clutching a tiny bouquet in her chilly little hands, looked forward to years of closetball anytime she wanted.

Martha, who was in the crowd, had suggested a quick exit for an afternoon of campaigning throughout Laucester ("I saw the crowd at the debate through my own eyes, Senator, and the cheers for you weren't nearly as robust as you think"). But Rebecca had countered that it would be worse for her election chances if all the well-wishers didn't get the opportunity to congratulate her at the event. And so it was that they remained on the green to shake hands and kiss cheeks and say thank you until everyone who wanted to do so had left.

There was also a small clutch of Supremist protesters across the street, most of whom hung on longer than their admirers did. So when at last the wedding crowd has dissipated, Rebecca took Chester's hand and crossed the street, heedless of Martha's advisements not to as she followed a few steps behind them. "Hello, ladies," Rebecca said to their surprised faces. "Thank you for coming out this afternoon."

"What do you mean 'thank you'?" asked one disgusted-looking woman. "We're here to let you know we find your views and your actions reprehensible!"

"Yes, and you are entitled to your opinion," Rebecca said. "I want you to know if I am re-elected, I will do my best to represent you as well as the women who did vote for me. I understand we don't see eye to eye on everything, but I will always listen to you just the same."

"And we want to wish you a merry Christmas," Chester added.

"Indeed," Rebecca agreed, putting an arm around him.

"Well..." one woman stammered. "Thank you."

"Yes, to you as well," said another. "I still won't vote for you, but..."

"Just be sure you do vote," Rebecca said. "Whoever your conscience tells you to support."

There was still time for a round of the inner-city apartment blocks before the midwinter sun went down. But Martha no longer had the heart to encourage Rebecca to go campaigning in her wedding dress. So the wedding party -- including Alice, who was from a town out near the border and had missed the day's only train there -- returned to what was now Rebecca and Chester's house. Esther had overseen a feast for them, and Chester taught Alice to play closetball with Sarah once they had both changed into more comfortable clothes, and Martha kissed the groom and confided in him that she was rethinking her opposition to male suffrage, and even Sarah got a tiny bit of champagne to mark the occasion. The evening wound down with a round of carols around the tree and hot cocoa, with a touch of whiskey for all but Sarah, who fell asleep on the couch in spite of the singing.

No one commented on Rebecca and Chester remaining in their wedding clothes to the bitter end. "I do wonder if Sarah wondered why," Chester mused when he and Rebecca had retreated to her -- their -- bedroom.

"She will learn all about it in a few years," Rebecca said with a lusty grin. "I can only hope she won't be irked at the memory of tonight by then!"

"I can't recall ever being aware of my parents...you know," Chester said. Then just as the words were out, he added, "But I guess you know about what they did and didn't do."

"You don't want to know what I know about that, Chester." Rebecca embraced him by the fire. "But never mind that."

"We probably should try to make peace with Mother," he said.

"Let's worry about that tomorrow," Rebecca whispered. With that she unbuttoned his suitcoat in a rush and pushed it off his shoulders as briskly as she could. "I believe you and I each have an early Christmas present to unwrap!"

Chester's newly tailored pants were bulging with anticipation. But he took his sweet time letting Rebecca's hair down, unbuttoning the cuffs of her dress, rubbing her breasts through the blue cloth but making no move to free them from it just yet. She had no such reservations about helping him out of his clothes, and had him naked before he had even removed her tights. "Don't tell me you're feeling shy now!" she said as she pushed his shorts down and wrapped his hard cock tightly in her hand.

"Not shy, just playful," he said. As she stroked and squeezed him with her fist, he added, "Oooh, and more playful now!"

"I should hope so!" Rebecca looked down at herself. Her brassiere was coming to feel like a vice, so eager was she to be undressed. "Just what are you going to do with your wife here?"

"I do like the sound of that," he mused, stroking her sides playfully.

"As do I!" she squeezed him harder and he yelped.

"You've had a long day," he teased. "Let's get you off your feet!" He gave her a gentle nudge and she sprawled onto the bed, her skirt riding up around her waist, giving him ample access to pull her tights down.

This he did, to her relief. "Ooohooohhh, yes!" she cackled as he pulled them slowly, teasingly down to her ankles and then all the way off. "I was getting very hot and bothered in those!"

"So I see," Chester cooed as he pushed her skirt all the way up, exposing her legs and pussy to the playful firelight. "What a beautiful sight!"

"And it's yours!" Rebecca sighed. "But are you only going to look at it?"

"Well, maybe I do want to admire it for a while..."

"Augh, what a tease!" Rebecca grunted. But she did enjoy the anticipation as he rubbed both of her legs gently, from the ankles upwards, kissing her inner thighs along the way, and her feigned outrage gave way to appreciative moans as he rubbed her thighs and hips, and followed his hands with kisses on either side of her vulva, but not yet on it. He did blow lightly across her bush, causing the hair to tickle her a bit. "Ooh, that's lovey!" she said, feeling herself get almost embarrassingly wet with anticipation. He nibbled his way across her bare skin just above her bush, and kept his hands frustratingly latched onto her hips only. "Do you want me to beg?" she demanded as he once again avoided any contact with her pussy.

"It is the time of year for giving, isn't it?" Chester said, and with that he dove in and gave her clitoris a long, playful lick.

"UNH!" Rebecca grabbed at the sheets with both hands and arched her back. "Yes! Worth the wait!" She wriggled about in pleasure while his lips and tongue worked her into an inarticulate ball of joy. She reached down and rubbed his head to egg him on, and there were no more words but a lot more noise as he kissed and licked her into a loud orgasm.

"Merry Christmas," he quipped as he sat back up to admire her.

"Now it's your turn!" She wriggled out of her dress and tossed it aside; the dry-cleaners could worry about the wrinkles. "Lay down!" she ordered him, and he did as he was told. She was on top and enveloping him in her hot, wet embrace before he knew it, and she leaned down to look in his eyes. "Have I got to tell you to get me out of this bra?" she whispered?

Without a word, Chester complied with her request and pulled it gently away as she sat back up.

"Lovely!" Rebecca took a moment to rub her newly-liberated breasts, and didn't need to tell Chester to take over with his hands. "Oh, that's perfect," she said as he teased her nipples with his thumbs, and set about rocking hard into him.

"I love you!" It was all Chester had the presence of mind to say in the thick of the passionate moment.

"Love you too!" She ground hard into him and came nearly as hard as before. "Come for me now!" She could scarcely get the words out while gasping for breath, but she was able to rock even faster for him.

"Yes please," Chester murmured between moans of his own. "Yes please!" Then he gave up on words as he felt the wonderful spasm coming. He yelped as it washed over him. It was almost too intense, but not quite, and he closed his eyes and gave into the sensation as she went right on rocking him through the moment.

When at last she came to a stop and perched on him, still clutching him joyously inside her, Chester supposed he ought to say "Merry Christmas" again. But he said nothing. Instead he gazed into her eyes until he felt his own welling with tears of joy.

"Oh, Chester!" Rebecca said when she saw him crying. She lay down on top of him, her hair spilling around them to shut out the world, and kissed his lips. Feeling her own tears of joy, she welcomed his arms around her, and they were silent.

With Chester's exams done and two more days to the election, it was back on the campaign trail for both of them on Monday. Chester was received well by Rebecca's fans, and even those who wouldn't vote for her seemed bemused with the happy couple as they traipsed the winter landscape. Even Martha was smitten with the sight; as they made their way back from the countryside on the train on Tuesday night, she surprised them with a bit of news. "Rebecca, the two of you have convinced me," she said. "From now on, I'm pulling for men to have the vote, too."

"Welcome to the good gals, then," Rebecca said.

"You don't sound surprised at my change of heart," Martha said.

"I'm not," Rebecca said. "I know letting go of old ways is difficult, and I know working for me can be difficult. If you could handle one, you could handle the other."

Wednesday morning, with the polls open, was reserved for last-minute campaigning in the city itself. At lunchtime, Rebecca treated Chester to lunch at her favourite downtown café while the press photographers clicked picture after picture, after which he walked her to Laucester Coliseum and waited outside while she voted for herself.

"Any thoughts on the day, Mr. Croft?" asked a reporter stationed just beyond the line beyond which campaigning was disallowed.

"Only that I'm looking forward to voting for her as well next time," Chester said.

"Has your mother had anything to say about that?" the reporter asked.

All the other reporters in attendance perked up and started waving at that moment, and Chester looked over his shoulder to see Rebecca returning to his side. "She hasn't said anything about it to me, nor I to her," Chester said. "I've made peace with myself about that."

"I'm not sure if I have, you know," Rebecca said.

"What do you mean, Senator?" asked the reporter who'd interrogated Chester.

"Winnifred Croft is my oldest friend, and as my opponent said, it is the season of forgiveness," Rebecca said. "Chester, I think we have one final campaign stop to make."

Chester had his doubts. But he also hadn't given up completely on his love for his mother, so he agreed to accompany Rebecca out to his childhood home for the afternoon. Neither of them was surprised to find the parlour adorned with the garish yellow and gold Supremist banners and a few of Lady Rollins' operatives in attendance already, though the former senator herself was not present.

In the centre of it all, in a dress trimmed with Supremist colours, was Winnifred. "What are the two of you doing here?" she snapped when the maid ushered Rebecca and Chester into the room.

"We're here to say Merry Christmas," Rebecca said.

"We both still love you, Mother," Chester said.

"Still love me!" Winnifred laughed with a bitter flair, and Rebecca realized she'd been drinking. "If you loved me, how could you do this to me?!"

"Do what to you, Winnifred?" Rebecca asked. "Chester and I love one another, that is all."

"All?! Did you ask my permission? No! Did you ask what my son marrying an Egalitarian would do to me? No! And you say you love me!"

"I love you, but I'm an adult and I can make my own decisions," Chester said. "The only permission Rebecca needed was mine."

"And when have we ever let political differences stand in the way of our friendship?" Rebecca asked. "We're the ones who took Patricia down, don't you remember?"

"If I'd known what was in store on that day, I'd have joined Patricia in skinning you alive!" Winnifred shrieked. "And to visit me days from Christmas, no less!"

"Isn't Christmas all about love and friendship?" Chester asked.

"It's also about tradition!" Winnifred raged. "For heaven's sake, Chester, you're a man! You belong in the factory, in the army, not at the bloody university learning to act like a woman! And certainly not in the voting booth! You've got no business making any decisions that could affect me! I wish I'd never had you at all!"

Chester felt like crying, but he squeezed Rebecca's hand and his eyes stayed dry. "Merry Christmas, Mother," he said, and he turned to go.

Rebecca gave her old friend a dirty look and followed Chester.

"How did you ever find the strength to say that after what she said to you?" Rebecca asked once they were outside.

"Season of forgiveness, isn't it?" Chester said. "Maybe one day she'll learn to forgive, too."

"To forgive you for having a mind of your own?" Rebecca asked. "I wouldn't count on it."

Chester snuggled up next to her on the carriage seat. "Me neither," he admitted.

The ride back to Laucester was filled with snow glistening in the trees and the occasional call of support from someone who recognized Rebecca's carriage. They stepped down in front of their house to field questions from the few reporters who were awaiting a quote from Rebecca, and wished them all happy holidays before retreating inside.

Sarah was down the stairs before the door could shut behind them. "Mother, did you win?"

Rebecca smiled. "We won't know until late tonight, honey."

"Oh," Sarah said, looking frustrated. "Chester, closetball?"

"Why not?"

So Rebecca was free to retreat to her study for a few hours of answering letters and writing Christmas cards while Chester played with Sarah. The afternoon crawled by for them all, and for once Sarah welcomed her nap time, which Chester used to catch up on a novel in the parlour. Dinner finally came and went with the table talk being about anything but politics, and then it was back to the parlour for storytime.

They were just finishing Sarah's favourite tale of a city girl's first Christmas on a farm when the doorbell rang. Rebecca set the book down and squeezed Chester's hand, and told herself there would surely be a wonderful new adventure to look forward to if she lost. She still wasn't sure if she believed that when Esther appeared in the doorway with Martha.

"Rebecca, Chester," Martha said. "Oh, hello, Sarah."

"Shall I send her upstairs, Martha?" Rebecca asked.

"No!" Sarah cried. "I want to know if you won right away too!"

Martha laughed. "I would too if I were you, Sarah, and guess what? She did!"

"We won?" Rebecca asked, welcoming Chester's whoop of joy and a congratulatory kiss on her cheek while Sarah screeched and hopped about, but still not quite believing.

"It wasn't even very close," Martha said. "It looks like your message of equality really struck a chord!"

"That's wonderful," Rebecca said. "What about the others? Any news?"

"It's all over the telegraph, Rebecca, the Egalitarians are sweeping up all over the place!" Martha said. "We don't know for sure if you've got a majority yet, but it'll be close at least. And you know what that means."