You Don't Choose Love Ch. 02

They were very happy with Geoff. He was a lovely baby with a shock of blonde hair and a friendly disposition. He seldom cried and seemed to enjoy whatever Karen and Hal did with him; Karen didn't go back to work.

"I want to be around and enjoy watching Geoff grow up," she said, and Hal thought she was absolutely right. He didn't like the idea of having others look after their baby -- who could be better at that than Karen herself?

When he was old enough to walk they took him to their favourite places. They played Pooh sticks at the bridge, and sat watching the ducks on the village pond, and Geoff learnt to look at the things his parents found important. He loved their holidays; they'd visit Wales at least once a year, and he always looked forward to visiting aunt Lisa and her husband, who never had any children themselves - John felt it wasn't a good idea for a child to have a really old father, and Lisa secretly felt glad. She liked children for an afternoon or so, but having them around permanently... No, children weren't really her cup of tea.

Geoff was an intelligent child. He loved going to school; he loved learning things and having fun with the other children, and he did quite well at both.

Once Geoff had gone to school the years seemed to fly by. He was a good pupil, and he eventually finished secondary school with a nice handful of A-levels. He was a little shy with the girls at first, until he spent a night on the downs with a group of youngsters and one of the village girls showed him what you could do together. It was a one-off thing, but it opened his eyes wide to the other sex, and left him with an appetite...

At university he met Kathy, and he fell for her head over heels. She took her time to get to know him better first before she allowed herself to accept him as her friend, but once she did it was very right for the both of them.

After university he took over part of Hal's business; Hal kept on working part-time, and Kathy found herself a part-time job as well.

"No need to sit at home any longer, eh?" she'd said.

And now there had been their son's wedding. Karen found Hal's hand and squeezed it. He smiled at her and pressed back. "Life's wonderful together, isn't it?" he said. "It seems we've come full circle somehow. This rounds things off nicely."

Lisa and John, who had a spare key, had arrived well before them with Joan and Freddy and let themselves in. They'd made a pot of tea, and welcomed Hal and Karen. Then the six of them sat in the living room, silently enjoying each other's company before they went to the kitchen.

After a light dinner Lisa and John took Joan and Freddy to the nearest station before motoring back to Wales, and Karen and Hal were on their own again. They rinsed the dishes and put them into the dishwasher they'd bought some years ago. When they'd got the kitchen spick and span again they stood in the middle, looking at each other and smiling. They began to speak together.

"How about..." Hal said, and Karen said, "Let's go..."

They also stopped together as if on cue and grinned at each other. Then Karen took Hal's hand and hurried him upstairs.