The Virgin Unbirth

"Thank you" Gabrielle said simply. I could see that she was pleased that I liked what she had cooked.

"We have spaghetti bolognaise for the main course, with a side salad." she said "Normally I'd give you a napkin because it can be messy to eat. However I haven't found the napkins yet. They are still somewhere in the unpacked boxes. So I've thought of an alternative to protect our clothes if you don't mind us looking rather ridiculous."

"I don't think my clothes need protection," I said, acutely aware of my damp jeans and working shirt "But I'll do whatever you suggest."

"Are you sure?" she asked. She had a mischievous grin on her face. I should have taken a hint from that grin but my damp jeans had reminded me just what had happened since I entered her house this morning. I wasn't really paying attention to subtle signals from Gabrielle.

"Yes. After that soup I put myself entirely in your hands."

It was good soup and I was feeling great.

Gabrielle went to the door and came back with two enormous white aprons.

"These will do to protect us. Sit still while I put yours on."

The apron was massive. It was like a Victorian parlour maid's full dress protection. It had a high neck with wide shoulder caps and frilled ties that crossed the back before tying at the back of the waist. The skirt covered my legs and nearly met behind me.

"There! You should be protected from any spills now." Gabrielle was laughing at me. "You did put yourself "entirely in my hands" didn't you?"

"But this apron is much better than my clothes. It looks more like an heirloom than a protection." I protested.

"It's nearly new. I made them myself. These are two early "failures" for this design. They aren't quite right because The frills don't sit properly. You didn't know that I make replica Victorian clothing, did you?"

"No. I know very little about you, Gabrielle, and that only from what you told me last night. Even then, most of the time we were talking about the students upstairs."

While we were talking she had started to serve the spaghetti. The spaghetti itself was in a stainless steel colander inside a saucepan over a spirit heater. As she lifted the colander the clear boiling water dripped back into the saucepan. She rested the colander in a bowl while she served the spaghetti to our warm plates.

"I hope this is timed just right. I parboiled and rinsed it and it should have finished cooking on the table. I had to guess how long we'd take over the soup."

Then she poured the bolognaise sauce over the spaghetti. The aroma was enticing. She continued:

"I was taught fancy needlework by my grandmother. She came to live with my parents when I was in my teens and I spent a lot of time with her. I'm not sure whether I was looking after her or whether she was looking after me. When I started being interested in Victorian Costume she showed me how to do many of the details on my mother's modern sewing machine rather than by hand."

We started on the spaghetti which she'd cooked to perfection but the bolognaise sauce was out of this world. I'd never had bolognaise like it before.

"This isn't a normal bolognaise sauce, is it?" I asked.

"Not really. I made it with a few touches of my own and with just a few herbs and spices but not too much of anything. I had to make the best of what I had on the kitchen shelves."

"If this is what you can do with what you have, I'd love to see what you could do with a free hand for ingredients."

Gabrielle smiled.

"Maybe I'll surprise you sometime. My grandmother taught me a lot more than fancy needlework."

The sweet course was as deceptively simple as the other two. She'd made "Spotted Dick" with custard. "Spotted Dick" can be a very heavy steamed pudding but hers seemed different. I can't really describe the difference. "Fluffier" isn't the right word. The texture was even and the pudding crumbled in the bowl instead of lying in a heavy lump as "Spotted Dick" usually does.

We moved to the sitting room with the coffee, shedding those massive aprons as we went. The coffee was a sharp contrast to the subtleties of the meal. It was instant coffee, good instant, but still not the real thing. Even so, if Jonathan was to live like this, I envied him. I relaxed re-living a wonderful meal.

Gabrielle seemed to be watching me closely. I raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, Keith. You seem to have changed so much since this morning or from last night as well."

I tried to laugh it off.

"No one is at their best on a wet Sunday morning. Last night I was depressed until I met you. Now I have a great meal inside me. The girls upstairs were very hospitable as well. I've been spoilt all day."

"Maybe, but you look younger than yesterday."

"Maybe it's the effect that the company of so many charming women has on me."

Gabrielle looked over her coffee cup at me.

"You know that Jonathan is away on his management course."

"Yes."

"It's a residential course. He won't be back, not even for weekends, for three weeks. He's already been away a week."

"Yes?" I didn't follow what she was getting at. I was too happy, too content to realise what she was hinting at.

She came out with it.

"While he's away I need a man. Without one I'd be ill."

That brought me out of my reverie with a jolt. Was that why I'd been dined so well?

"But ..." I expostulated.

"I mean it. It is literally true. I can't survive without a man."

"Are you related to Theresa upstairs?"

"What!"

I had startled her with the non sequitur. I repeated it.

"Are you related to Theresa?"

She could see that the question meant something to me, if not to her. I could see her decide to humour me.

"I don't think so. I have her references here somewhere. They give details of her family."

She stood up, went across to the bureau, opened it and riffled through papers. She found one, pulled it out, looked at it, then collapsed on the floor in a dead faint. I rushed across to her and put her in the recovery position. She moaned.

"Are you all right?"

It is always a stupid question. She nodded feebly. I helped her across to the settee. I sat down, cradling her in my arms. She laid her head on my shoulder. She was a very nice armful.

"I take it that you ARE related to Theresa?"

Gabrielle nodded again.

"She's my cousin. I didn't know. I didn't even know that my uncle and aunt were in this country. I've never met them and didn't know that they had any children. I thought - It doesn't matter what I thought. I take it that Theresa is the same as me?"

"She is." I replied.

"So you know what I need."

"Yes."

"Did you know about Theresa last night?"

"No. I only found out this morning. I didn't know about her or that anything like this existed. I just came today because you were pleasant company last night and you have a lovely smile. Mending a sash cord is no big deal. You needed it done. I could do it. That was enough for me. If I got a free cup of tea that would have been payment enough."

"So. Will you? ..."

"Of course. Like the broken sash cord, you need something from me that costs me very little to give. It can be my thanks for a much better meal than I'd expected to have today."

Gabrielle stood up, pulling me after her.

"Now, please. I really need it. I have been shaking inside at the thought of what doing without might mean to me. I can be normal again. Please, Keith."

I was following her as she nearly ran into the bedroom. She was desperate to take what she needed from me. She stripped my clothes off me in a blur of movement. She pushed me back on to the bed, straddled me, hauled up her massive skirt and mounted herself on me. I was surprised how quickly I'd responded after this morning's experiences.

It took longer than with Theresa. Gabrielle thrust herself on me and initially went too fast for me. Then she realised that she had a man inside her. Her need WOULD be met. She didn't need to strive so hard. She relaxed and moved more gently. Her hands found mine and moved them to her hips under her skirt. I held her. Her fingers went to my face and stroked around my lips. I sucked at fingers as they passed.

I felt an increasing warmth as I responded to her inner grip. I was grunting with the impact of her hips on mine. Her fingers stopped stroking and her hands pressed across my lips to silence me. I shuddered as I released myself into her.

Then Gabrielle changed. She purred to herself like a well-fed cat. The physical changes were less marked than Theresa's had been but she too glowed with health and fitness. She smiled down at me as if she was really seeing me for the first time.

"Thank you, Keith. You don't know what that has done for me."

I had some idea from Theresa's reaction but I couldn't answer. Gabrielle's hands still gagged my mouth and I'd nearly disappeared under her skirt.

She spread herself across my chest and lay there. Her hands moved to caress my sides. We lay like that for a long time before she asked:

"Am I pleasing enough for you to make love again, another day?"

"Yes, Gabrielle. I would be happy to do this whenever you want. But what about Jonathan?"

"He knows. I told him before we got engaged. He agreed to let me find my own solution if ever I needed to, as long as it didn't affect my love for him. I do love him. Even though you have been kind and generous, I love only Jonathan. I can be grateful to you, can be a friend to you, but nothing more. Can you accept that?"

"I'll make a deal with you."

She looked carefully at me.

"Don't look like that. I like you very much. What I suggest is that if you NEED me, I'll come. If it isn't a need, I'll stay away. In return, I'd like a meal with you once in a while. I'm not so hot at cooking for myself. It need not be a meal cooked by you. I could give you a conducted tour of the restaurants in this town, with or without Jonathan. How's that?"

"Seems fair. I shouldn't need you when Jonathan's around. I'd rather have an agreement with someone I like than just anyone. I suppose it's different with you and Theresa?"

"I hope so. It is too early to say. It has been a very busy day so far and I only met her this morning. I'd like to explore the possibility of a relationship with her as a person. That will take time. How about introducing yourself to your cousin? It might be good for both of you. You share a problem. You share a house. You might find that together you can live with the problem easier. That's enough of my amateur social work. How about another cup of coffee to revive the workman of the household?"

It was a feeble joke but it was enough. Gabrielle kissed me. Without the driving need it was a pleasant kiss.

"OK. Another cup of coffee it is. Then we both go upstairs and I meet my long-lost cousin."

They met. When Theresa accepted that Gabrielle really was her cousin and had the same needs as her they fell crying into each others' arms. Amy, Cheryl, Deb and I left them to it and built flat-pack furniture for the rest of the afternoon.

In the evening Gabrielle and Theresa cooked a meal for all of us in Gabrielle's kitchen. I had been sent out to the convenience store to buy the ingredients. At the end of the meal I stood up. I asked for silence and proposed a toast:

"To long-lost relations and new-found friends. May we all have a new beginning together."

We drank the toast. I put my glass down. I was swamped by attractive young females all trying to hug me at once.

And the next day, and after ... That's another story.

Appendix

"Spotted Dick" recipe.
Not recommended for dieters!

Ingredients:

100g fresh breadcrumbs
175g currants
75g self-raising flour
75 ml milk
75g shredded suet
50g caster sugar
finely grated rind of one lemon

A. Half fill a large saucepan or preserving pan (at least 20cm diameter) with water and put on to boil.

B. Put all the ingredients except the milk in a large bowl and stir well until mixed.

C. Add milk. Blend in well. Bring the mixture to a soft tacky dough.

D. Put dough on a clean floured surface and knead smooth. Make into a roll about 15cm long.

E. Put roll on a clean pudding cloth, or greaseproof paper or foil. Fold the edges together at the top, twisting the ends. Tie ends with string and attach both ends to a lifting loop.

F. Lower the roll into the pan of boiling water and boil for 2 hours.

G. Lift the roll out of the water using the string loop. Place on a wire rack over a plate to drain.

H. Cut the string and roll the pudding on to a warm plate. Cut into slices to serve with custard.

How did Gabrielle make her "Spotted Dick" so different? I don't know except perhaps practice and skill.