The Weddings

I replied with my own greeting and poured a mug before sitting down. "Charlotte still in bed?" I asked. Mum and Olivia looked at each other. It was Sarah who responded.

"She probably is, but not here."

"What?" I gasped, "Where?"

"We suspect with Lydia, but I'm not surprised you didn't notice her leaving, you seemed too busy trying to eat Abigail." I flushed.

"Come on, we danced and kissed a little, that's all."

The two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing. Olivia put her hand on mine. "Abigail is a nice woman and she looked stunning yesterday. You could do worse."

"But she's five or six years older than me, and ..."

Mum looked at Olivia, "I think more like nine or ten, but what does that matter if you like each other."

I was stunned, "She cannot be that much older, but she is rather attractive. I've agreed to meet her later today for coffee. So is Charlotte with Lydia?"

"She sent us a text to say that she was staying elsewhere and was fine. Given that Lydia was almost drooling after her when they were dancing, I'd be surprised if she was anywhere else."

"Connie and I asked her about Lydia last night, no it was the night before. I'm not sure she realised what was going on there. Well, Lydia did but Charlie might have been a bit slow. She flushed when we spoke to her. They did look good together."

Olivia simply said, "I really like Lydia and she's fancied Charlotte ever since that first time she stayed here. Neither of us could work out what was wrong with Charlotte. I hope it works for them."

*****

I heard my phone ping when I was in the shower and found a message from Abigail. She suggested meeting in the coffee shop of the old abbey in the nearby park. I smiled and checked my wardrobe. I settled on a pair of form-fitting jeans, my favourite knee-length boots, a blouse and my waist-length leather jacket that was a good match for the boots. I fixed my make-up and hair, changed my handbag and checked myself over. I looked pretty good and far different from the clothes I'd worn almost daily for the last two years, khaki shorts, a matching safari shirt, sunglasses and a baseball cap. At five feet ten inches I was tall and had a good figure, my long blonde hair shone and I fastened it back into a low ponytail.

Abigail saw me as I walked through the door of the coffee shop and waved me over. I kissed her cheek and sat, but hadn't said anything before the waiter arrived. We ordered coffee and a piece of cake before Abigail spoke. "Hi, I'm glad you agreed to come and you look stunning."

"Thank you, I was just thinking how different this outfit is compared with what I've worn for the last couple of years."

Abigail also wore a pair of jeans with comfortable shoes. Her quilted jacket was open and her T-shirt was tight against her chest, maybe not tight, but it fitted closely and she was well endowed. I already knew that; her chest had been pressed against me for a while the previous evening. "You look great, very different from yesterday, but very elegant."

"Thank you. I wasn't sure that you'd come. I harboured a doubt that yesterday was ... well, it was what it was and that perhaps that was it."

I was pretty surprised, "After all of that kissing, you thought that was it?" I finished with a laugh.

"The kissing was good, but I wondered if maybe you'd had a bit too much to drink and got carried away. I'm also a few years older than you."

"Five or six years, maybe?" I still found what Mum had told me hard to believe.

"Close to ten actually."

"Well, you don't look it and frankly I don't care. I suspect that there are other obstacles to us, such as how do we get along, do we like the same things, do we drive each other crazy?"

She laughed and suggested, "Okay, why don't we start by getting to know each other, start with family, work and that sort of thing before we move onto the really serious stuff?"

"What serious stuff?" I asked.

"Music, films, that sort of thing."

I laughed so loudly that other customers turned to glare at me. "Sorry about that. I've seen three or four movies in the last two years and they were all on long-haul flights. My music taste is pretty wide, but you must know that my sisters and I all love Faith's stuff so anything in that area is okay by me."

She sipped her coffee and replied, "Well we seem compatible musically so now the less important stuff, family and childhood. But you need to be truthful, I know a few things about your family, especially Sarah and Connie."

We had a second coffee before we moved and spent almost two hours walking on the grounds of the old abbey. At one point Abigail went silent for a few minutes and I detected a sadness. "Is something bothering you? You seem quiet." I asked.

She stopped and turned to face me before speaking looking very serious, "I need to tell you something, something I've shared with very few people but I need to tell you. Let's keep walking." We carried on arm in arm but I was nervous now, what in the world could it be that had changed her mood so dramatically?

"I got married when I was twenty-two. He was a nice man and I was very happy. I fell pregnant and the first seven months were fine, then I became ill, pregnancy complications, it was a hard time. I lost the baby, a little girl during the birth and I had some issues."

"Jesus," I muttered, "that must have been difficult."

"It was. Losing the baby was awful but ..." Something else, pretty bad was coming but I couldn't imagine what it was going to be. It took a few minutes before she continued. "I can't have kids, they had to remove certain essential bits."

I stopped dead in my tracks and saw that there were tears running down Abigail's cheeks. "I'm so sorry, that's a terrible thing, I have no idea what to say."

"You don't need to say anything. It gets worse."

"How could it?" I was stunned and puzzled about how much worse it could be.

"John was grief-stricken and then started to blame me. My fault I lost the baby, my fault I had complications. He wanted a family and so did I, but that wasn't going to happen. He walked out a month after I got out of the hospital."

"Wow."

"One day I'll tell you the rest but not now, I think that's enough." I nodded and then she added, "I had a couple of flings, casual things and one night in a drunken state had sex with a woman. That was how I found out how good sex could be, how satisfying, and how different from a man. Never looked back." She laughed, grabbed my arm and quickened her pace. "Let's talk about fun things now."

*****

I smiled all the way home; Abigail was lovely and I hoped that we could be good together. My sex life had been almost none existent for a very long time and the thought of Abigail turned me on.

Mum looked up when I walked in and she turned to Olivia, "I owe you a fiver." Olivia laughed.

"Hi, what are you two up to and why do you owe a fiver?"

"I had a little wager, that you might not be home today."

For a moment I was insulted and shocked until I saw the two of them laughing. "Please keep your noses out of my love life. I don't ask you about yours."

"Anything you want to ask, go ahead. We might be able to give you some tips." Olivia looked deadly serious and I wasn't sure what to make of her remark.

It was mum who laughed again. "She's joking."

Olivia came back at her, "No I'm not. I've had a good sex life, first with Karen and now with your mum. I suppose that I've been lucky and if you're half as lucky as I've been you'll be okay." I had no answer to that so I went to change.

*****

I arranged to meet Abigail at the restaurant for our fourth date. I'd dressed up, a smart dress showing plenty of legs. I was used to shorts and the dress was about the same length. My legs are long and well-tanned so they were bare and I'd worn heels, they were still taking some getting used after hardly wearing them for a couple of years. My hair was up and I'd taken much more time than usual with make-up, this was still something I'd not used much of recently. In fact, on the day of the wedding, I wore more than I'd done in total for a very long time.

I was there early and stood by the bar. I took my first sip of wine when I saw Abigail at the door. My breath caught, she wore a very well-cut black dress that showed her figure and stopped mid-thigh. She wore black tights and four-inch heels. Her hair flowed around her shoulders and there was no doubt that she was stunning. It seemed that a couple of the other customers thought so and I saw one woman slap her partner's arm as he stared at Abigail. She came over with a big smile, and sparkling eyes and she kissed me. I was sure that a few men's hearts had sighed, this was not the kiss of two friends.

"You look stunning."

"Well, hello to you too. Thank you for the compliment but I suspect that you may be more stunning than me. I love your legs, can't wait to .... Well maybe I shouldn't go there right now, I need food." I laughed at her remarks and we went to our table.

We chatted about our day as we ate. I was falling for her, we seemed Sympatico.

Another date - Chloe

"Chloe, how do you feel about my age? You're young and gorgeous, full of choice, the world at your feet. I'm so much older than you."

I sipped my wine thinking before I replied, "I asked myself that question after our second date when I knew that there were going to be others, I'll tell you how I answered it; she's beautiful and fun to be with, if it goes somewhere, it goes, if it doesn't, what does it matter, as long as neither of us gets hurt."

"Okay," was her simple reply, but I had more to add.

"My grandmother once told me a story about her partner. Amy was a few years older than my Gran, about the same difference as you and I. Amy had been married to a woman, Dee, twenty-six years older than her, for twenty-six years, until she died. Early on in their relationship, my Gran had asked Amy about the age difference and she said that if Dee had been twenty years younger, she wouldn't have been the same person that Amy fell in love with. If you were the same age as me, you'd be someone else and it's you I'd like to get to know."

"That's very profound." There was a moment's silence between us. "Would you like to come back to my place after dinner?"

I didn't have to think for very long. "Yes, yes, I think I would. I don't know what's going to happen between us but if we give it a chance we'll find out."

Abigail looked pleased, "You're right. I thought that you were gorgeous and decided to take a chance. You are gorgeous, but there is so much more to you than that."

Epilogue - Sarah

I closed my eyes for a moment until I felt the train starting to move. I looked across at Olivia, who was smiling and looking out of the window as she watched the world passing by and said, "I've loved being away, the peace, just the two of us. It's been great and made me realise how lucky I am to have you in my life and as my partner."

"I feel the same about you, but I suspect there was something that you wanted to add."

"I've missed the noise, the mayhem. I've missed the kids."

"Me too." Was her simple reply.

We'd left three months ago and headed to Crete where we'd rented a small cottage. Our days had been spent walking, sightseeing, and relaxing with our books. It had been a complete change and the first real vacation we'd taken since Olivia had finally retired. But I was missing the kids.

When Karen was born, nine years ago, I'd helped Constance and Nicole with childcare, but I was determined that I wasn't going to be a full-time childminder so I wouldn't take on all the responsibility. Then Charlotte announced that she was expecting. That hadn't come as a huge shock, but the news delivered the following month that Chloe and Abigail were also having a baby took us all by surprise. They all muddled through for a while and took turns caring for all three kids between them. I helped out and started to enjoy the involvement, it made me happy. Olivia loved having them when she got home from work, saying that it relaxed her.

Lydia had been desperate to have a child and had suffered several disappointments and then, lo and behold, she was pregnant and it was to be twins. She decided that she would become a full-time mum and look after all of the little ones. The obstacle to that being a success was their home, their flat above Constance and Nicole's, was too small. It was Olivia who came up with the idea that resulted in Charlotte and Lydia moving back into our house with their three and for them to look after all five kids when the others were at work. Charlotte went part-time, and I helped out.

It worked. I'd been reluctant to become a full-time childminder when Karen was born, but the more I helped out, the more I enjoyed it. The kids were very close, even more than I'd been with Karen and Olivia, but then we were teenagers at the time. When Nicole had John, it didn't seem to make much difference. Six wasn't any more work than five.

Homecoming - Charlotte

I dried my hands on a towel and checked the time, Mum and Sarah would be here in less than an hour. I wandered over to the open patio doors and stood beside Abigail and Kirstie, who were watching the activity on the lawn and the garden room on the far side.

Karen was practising scales on the piano in the garden room, being supervised by Faith and my sister, Connie, who were both sitting on stools beside Karen. Nicole was sitting close by as their son John played with a model plane. I smiled, Connie and Nicole were never much more than an arm's length apart unless they were at work.

Chloe was standing on the lawn next to my partner, Lydia and they were ensuring that the large wooden blocks of the garden Jenga tower were not going to fall and harm my kids; Graham, and the twins; Madeline and Hazel who were playing the game. Hayley was holding Chloe's hand but her attention was across the garden watching Karen.

Karen and Hayley were almost inseparable and took every opportunity to be together. I often got the impression that they were plotting a coup or something similar until they both giggled to remind me that they were still at junior school. The two of them were astonishingly smart and I was sure that they were going to grow into beautiful young women.

I turned to Abigail and said, "Penny for your thoughts."

She sighed before answering, "I was thinking back to the wedding. When I first spoke to Chloe that day, I thought that it would be good to see if she was interested in a fling. I didn't expect to fall in love with her and I'd thought that my time for a family had passed and that I'd never have a daughter of my own, after what happened years ago. It doesn't matter that Chloe carried her, Hayley is mine and I love her very much." She laughed, "Of course, when we got married, I also got four sisters, along with a partner and now have I five kids in addition to Hayley." She paused again, "It's odd, I don't know another family like this one."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You three; you, Chloe and Connie are very close to Olivia and Sarah, much closer than any other family I know of. And then our partners are close, Lydia, Nicole and me, and the kids, well the kids could actually be brothers and sisters, rather than cousins."

"We became close to Mum and Sarah after the accident, it was what helped us to recover from the loss. We all stick together and have roped you three into our web. It would be odd if the kids weren't as close."

Kirstie had been listening quietly, "I've always felt a part of this family as well, I've always been included in everything, ever since your cricket debut. Faith and I feel like proper aunts to these kids and we both feel lucky to have that relationship."

"We're lucky to have you both," I replied. Kirstie and Faith had been a big part of the kids' lives from the day they were born, they'd been great babysitters, they'd attended school events and taken the three eldest on holiday last year.

There was silence for a few minutes as we watched and then Abigail said to me, "Graham always watches Karen and Hayley, like a security guard. If he was older, I'd suspect that he had a crush on one or maybe both of them."

I laughed, "I agree but I doubt if he could ever get between those two."

It was then that we heard a car pull up outside. Abigail and I went to the door and after hugs, we helped Olivia and Sarah inside with their cases. They looked well, had good tans and big smiles.

"Nice to see you home safe, we've all missed you," I told them.

Olivia leaned in to embrace and kiss me again as she said, "It's nice to be here and I can't wait to see the kids. I've missed them, we both have."

We wandered through the house and as we reached the patio doors the kids all looked up. There was a second or two of silence and movement seemed to be frozen, and then they were all up, racing across the lawn yelling greetings. Sarah and Olivia were enveloped in the kid's hugs, kisses and questions. Eventually, the youngsters made way for the adults to add their greetings.

When Sarah managed to look up, she said, "It was great to get away and recharge the batteries. We loved our break but we missed you all, our family. It's nice to be back where we belong."

There were tears in her eyes as she spoke and I suspect that somewhere buried inside her was a wish that the original Hayley and Karen were able to know how their families had turned out.

The end

Thank you for reading; I'd love to hear your comments.

This is the conclusion of a series of stories that started with Amy and Dee before moving on to Sarah and her family.