* * * * *
“Why now?” Rae felt brave enough to ask a few days later. Her cold had been halted by being tucked into bed by a concerned Ellen, who snuggled in with her, body heat providing an appreciated bonus.
Ellen looked up from the work she had brought home. Rae had been typing madly away on her laptop while she looked over some schematics that needed her approval. She’d found three errors so far and was annoyed by them. “Why now, what?” she asked confused.
Rae waved her ring at her in answer.
“Oh, well, you said you wouldn’t work for the non-profit unless I married you,” she teased and then stopped immediately when she saw Rae’s face fall. “Hey, I was just kidding,” she said earnestly.
“You aren’t marrying me so I’ll take that job?” she asked hurt.
“Hell no, I want to marry you because I love you.” Ellen got up from the desk where she had been working and hurried over to the chair where Rae had been sitting, her feet propped up by the leg rest. “Baby, I realized I never wanted to lose you, I wanted you forever. I’m not scared anymore,” she told her gently as she sat on the arm of the chair and leaned over her. “I want you,” she said emphatically. “And if someday, you want babies, we can have babies,” she said gently.
“Babies?” she said wonderingly, her face lighting up in a way that Ellen had never seen before. “You want babies with me?” she asked to be sure.
Ellen nodded and leaned down to kiss her fiancée. “I want a life with you Rae, I want forever. I want to love and live with you and maybe even a family if we are so blessed,” she smiled into the kiss as she murmured against Rae’s lips.
“I think we will have to shop around for a suitable donor,” Rae said as she playfully pulled Ellen off the chair arm and into her lap, kissing her in earnest.
“Already…taken…care…of…luv,” Ellen told her between kisses.
“What’s…taken…care…of?” she asked in return as she began to make love to Ellen. It was too choice having her in her arms, across her lap like this. She gently pushed the laptop aside, closing it and placing it gently on the floor.
“The…donor,” she told her as she returned kiss for kiss, deepening them, enjoying the feel of Rae’s arms around her in the comfortable chair.
“Wait a minute,” Rae pulled back to look into Ellen’s face. “You already chose a donor for us?” she asked, she was insulted. This was a decision that the two of them should make, not just one of them. She wondered if the old Ellen was returning, making all the decisions for them.
Ellen laughed, trying to lighten the moment that had suddenly become so tense. “No, I didn’t choose him, he chose us,” she tried telling her.
Rae put the foot rest down and Ellen tumbled to the floor as Rae stood up. “He what?” she demanded angrily.
“What the hell?” Ellen replied feeling angry over being unceremoniously dumped onto the floor.
“You let some guy choose us to donate his sperm to?” she clarified.
“No, no, nooo,” Ellen said as she got herself up off the floor. She glared at her fiancée and the misunderstanding. “Ryan left me some sperm in his will. It’s at a cryobank if we want to use it,” she explained.
Suddenly deflated from the intense anger she had just felt Rae now felt stupid. “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand,” she tried to excuse herself. She knew how much Ellen had loved Ryan. She had met him once long ago and he seemed endearing.
“I’m sorry too, I should have explained sooner,” Ellen apologized taking Rae in her arms. “I wouldn’t make that decision without you,” she told her earnestly.
“I’m amazed that you even want children.”
“You were willing to marry me, even when you thought I didn’t want any?” She narrowed her eyes at the woman.
“You said…” she began and then thought she had assumed too much once again.
But Ellen had anticipated this. “I said once that I didn’t want children. I didn’t want to perpetuate my father’s bad seed,” she finished for her.
Rae nodded, watching Ellen carefully.
“I know, but I’ve changed my mind on so much,” she sighed and began to steer Rae out of the den. “I think having one or two little you running around might be fun,” she said mischievously. “Imagine the sounds of children in this house,” she added with a grin.
Rae could imagine that but she had given up that dream knowing that Ellen didn’t want children. It had never occurred to her that Ellen would change her mind, that Ellen could change. She let Ellen steer her up the stairs before she thought to ask, “Do you want to carry a child?”
Ellen shook her head for a moment and then as she steered Rae into their bedroom she said, “I honestly don’t know. I won’t go first, but we have all the time in the world to worry about things like that.” She smiled as she pushed Rae across the room and towards their bed.
“Why Ms. Christenson, whatever do you have in mind?” Rae affected a southern accent with a grin peeking out as she knew very well what Ellen had in mind.
Ellen silenced her with a kiss as she began to make love to her. Using her body to push her over the edge of the bed and onto it, being the smaller of the two of them she had to have Rae’s cooperation, and she was cooperating, fully as Ellen climbed on top of her and began undressing her.
Rae couldn’t let Ellen have all the fun so she took advantage of Ellen’s position to undress her as well, teasing, and kissing as each bit of skin became accessible. They were soon naked and rolling around on the large bed.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
MEETING
Ellen knew it had been too many years in the making but she was finally going to meet Iris, Blossom and Ryan’s daughter. She was about to graduate high school and Ellen knew it was long overdue. She’d contacted Blossom and had a nice chat with her on the phone and arranged to meet this young lady who would be entering college the following fall.
She didn’t know why she had procrastinated so much over this meeting. It had been years since Ryan died and told her she should meet her. She should have been eager to meet the progeny of her best friend, her brother of another mother, and yet she had delayed it for so many reasons, none of them were viable anymore.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Rae asked supportively.
“Do you want to go with me?” Ellen asked in return, she was still hesitant but with the girl graduating shortly she felt she should meet her, her final duty to Ryan. Ellen had given Ryan her word that she would not tell ‘Medusa’ or his brother about the child, now a young woman, and she had kept that promise.
“Well, I just want to support you,” Rae began.
“And see if Ryan’s seed has born fruit or squash,” Ellen quipped and they both had a laugh. Since they had talked about having children, they had both relaxed about the subject. It was no longer forbidden. They both enjoyed the Sunday papers with the ads for children’s things and actively discussed the playsets they would have installed in the backyard of their home.
“He wasn’t an ugly man,” Rae insisted.
“He was a nerd,” Ellen said fondly, remembering his sense of humor and brilliance.
“You’re kind of a nerd too you know,” she was teased.
“Me? A nerd? I beg your pardon?” she tried to sound prissy.
“Yes, you!” they laughed together.
Ellen knew she could be a nerd. She was also still a bit shy although no one would know it to see the things she had overcome. When she gave an interview, a presentation, or when she had to conduct a news conference…no one would guess how shy and how much she hated that publicity. It was part of her job though and she had done it all willingly, for Ryan, for them, for their companies that they had built together.
Rae ended up flying down to San Diego County with Ellen. Ellen had wanted to drive but it was just too long of a trip for her to be away like that and flying meant more time to meet with the girl and visit, if she was so inclined. They were both curiou
s what the girl looked like. They only had some pictures that Ryan had of her that Blossom had shared with him, not too many of those, and the last one was years old.
As they drove up to the house in their rented car Ellen suddenly became nervous again. “What if she resents that I inherited the majority of her father’s money?” she asked Rae in a panic.
“He explained that. You were closer to him and her trust fund is more than adequate,” Rae pointed out. Ellen had let her see the tape Ryan had left her.
“Yes, but she’s his offspring,” she pointed out.
“And you were his business partner, best friend, and soul sister,” she said sounding like she was trying to ‘jive talk.’
Ellen laughed at the last one. She’d always said sister of another mother or he was her brother of another mother but she liked soul sister. They had understood each other, right down to their souls.
The laughter did what it was intended to do, relax her so she could get out of the car. The car had been watched for and the front door opened before they got to it.
“Ellen!” Blossom said with a huge smile.
“Blossom?” Ellen returned the smile tremulously as she was enveloped in a hug. The woman she had remembered from college was no longer built like a cheerleader. The years hadn’t been kind to her.
“Gosh, you look even better than the magazine pictures of you!” she gushed. “And who is this?” she asked released Ellen from the hug.
“This is my fiancée,” she relished being able to say that word and was actually looking forward to introducing her as her wife someday, if they could agree on the date. “Rae. Rae, this is Blossom,” she said by way of introduction.
“Well hello Rae,” Blossom said shaking her hand briskly. “Welcome to our home,” she said and waved her hand into the house as she led them inside.
“Thank you,” Rae said quietly, quite overwhelmed by the blonde who stood much taller than the both of them.
“And this,” Blossom said proudly. “This is Iris,” she said pulling the teen out of hiding and propelling her forward to meet their guests.
Ellen stared. This was the Blossom of twenty years ago; this was the Blossom she had known in college, except for a couple of things. She had Ryan’s eyes, she had darker hair than Blossom had back in the day, and she had the worst case of acne she had ever seen on a girl. “Hello Iris,” she said holding out her hand to be shaken. She had no desire to hug the teen; the sores on her face were repulsive.
“Hello,” the teen said shyly and didn’t quite look Ellen in the face.
“Hello Iris,” Rae said and held out her hand as well.
“Hello,” the teen said, equally as shy and turned away to lead them into the ranch style house.
Ellen was surprised the house wasn’t bigger. This was an affluent part of San Diego but perhaps appearances were deceiving. The front of the house hadn’t indicated how small or how simple the inside would be. It was decorated nice and they all sat in the living room together. An awkward silence ensued.
“Can I get anyone something to drink? Iris made some lemonade this morning with fresh lemons from our very own tree,” Blossom said enthusiastically. Ellen could remember her enthusiasm and how suspicious she had been at first when she met her.
“That sounds lovely,” Rae answered for both of them and gave Ellen an encouraging smile.
“Yes, lovely,” Ellen repeated almost automatically, watching as Blossom got up and went through a doorway.
The awkward silence continued as the teen fidgeted. Rae finally nudged Ellen in the ribs and looking up she mouthed ‘what?’ Rae made a significant look between Ellen and the teen and gestured with her head.
Sighing Ellen attempted to make small talk. “So you are graduating this year?” she asked the obvious.
Iris shuffled her feet, didn’t look up from her hands that were twisting and nodded.
Ellen glanced at Rae and then back to the teen to try again.
“Have you chosen your college for next fall?”
The teen shrugged.
“Iris?” Ellen waited for her to acknowledge her addressing her. When the silence stretched out she tried again. “Iris?” The teen finally looked up. Ellen smiled at her tremulously. “We both know why I’m here. Your father asked me to meet you.” The teen looked down at her hands immediately, her feet shuffled again and she nodded.
Ellen sighed and glanced at Rae who repeated her own gestures to encourage her to try and talk to the reluctant teen. Ellen tried again. “Ryan was my best friend. Is there anything you’d like to ask me about him?”
The teen glanced up, almost hopefully. Then Blossom walked into the room and the teen quickly looked down at her hands again.
“Here we are,” Blossom said brightly as she carried in tray with a large pitcher of lemonade with lots of slices of lemons floating in it and ice cubes in the glasses. She quickly poured all of them each a tall glass full of the concoction.
Ellen took a sip and nearly gagged. Expecting a sweet flavored drink it was tart and nearly puckered her lips. She glanced at Rae who had taken a much larger gulp and nearly laughed aloud at her expression of alarm. She couldn’t very well spew the drink back in the glass but had to swallow and patently didn’t want to. Ellen watched her deal with her dilemma, however short-lived it was. She hid her amusement as she held her glass and looked at Blossom.
“Now isn’t this nice?” Blossom asked as she held her own glass and sipped from it. No expression indicated that she found it too tart.
“Yes, it’s been a long time,” Ellen agreed, to be civil. She wanted to get out there already but knew it would be rude to leave too soon.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you since you graduated, with honors I might add,” she nudged the teen who smiled without opening her lips. “Both Ryan and Ellen got their masters from UCLA!” she informed the teen who obviously had heard it before.
“Yes, we decided to go and get our masters when we realized we didn’t have enough knowledge or money to start the company that would become Gigitech.”
“And look how well that turned out. What’s the name of the second company Ryan started?” Blossom asked brightly.
“We started Animated Studio’s so that he could turn his love of movies and comics into something profitable,” Ellen informed them, she was kind of irked by Blossom asking it as though it was all Ryan’s idea.
“Oh yes, he had those comic books and video games all over his dorm room I remember,” she said perkily.
Ellen was getting a headache. She usually avoided people like Blossom like the plague. She could sense Rae’s amusement and later they would almost certainly share a laugh over it, but right now Ellen wasn’t finding anything amusing in it; at all. She had come to meet the teen and the girl hadn’t said but two words. “So what college are you planning on going to Iris?” she asked addressing the teen.
Iris looked up at her mother who looked encouragingly at her before she looked down at her hands again, twisting them once again, and shrugging.
“Oh we hadn’t decided yet,” Blossom put in.
Ellen was shocked. Normally you decided in your junior year of high school and attempted to get into the college of your choice during your senior year. “How are your SAT’s?” she asked referring to the standardized tests that colleges relied on to determine your eligibility.
“Oh those were off the chart. She took them twice!” Blossom said chirpily.
Ellen was getting annoyed, genuinely annoyed. She had come here to meet and talk to Ryan’s daughter. Not socialize with Blossom. Although she knew she would be here, she didn’t want her to do all the talking. She glanced at Rae for some help.
Rae understood the problem and chipped in. “Blossom, you mentioned you have your own lemon tree, do you grow anything else?”
Ellen looked at her fiancée like she had lost her mind and then realized she was distracting the ditzy blonde. She studied the youth while Rae kept up a conversation with the mot
her and eventually talked her into showing her the garden, leaving the two of them alone. “Not much of a talker are you?” Ellen asked kindly with a slight grin.
Iris glanced up and through her hair, reminding Ellen of the youth she had ‘saved’ a few years or so ago. She’d wondered at the time if Iris would be like her. “Well, I kinda don’t know you,” she said with a shrug.
“That’s why I’m here, so you can get to know me. Ryan asked me to,” she added, hoping that would help things along.
“He sent nice things,” the teen confided.
“Ryan was a nice man. I always wished he was really my brother,” Ellen did some confiding of her own.
“Was he really gay?” the youth asked, not using any filters on her question.
Ellen smiled, showing even white teeth as she put down the glass and sat back. “Yes, yes he was. Although there was a time he thought he might be bi-sexual. I think that’s when he and your mom had a thing.” She was trying to be careful of what she said but at the same time she wanted this girl to know who her father had been.
“Do you have any brothers?” she asked next.
“Nope, I was an only child. Ryan though, he filled that big brother slot very well.”
The teen grinned a little. “I always wanted a brother, maybe a sister,” she confided.
“Well, someday you might have one.”
The teen frowned, which didn’t help her pimply marked face look any better. “How? Mom isn’t having any more kids…”
“Well, you father…” she felt weird addressing Ryan that way. “Ryan left his essence in a cryobank for me and my partner to use,” she explained, she thought diplomatically.
“Oooh,” the teen said wrinkling her nose, making herself look even more horrible. “That’s gross!”
Ellen chuckled at her reaction. “Well, you know basic biology. You need a male and a female to make babies.”
“Then why didn’t you marry him?”
“I loved him like a brother, not like a lover or a husband. Besides, I’m gay too,” she tried to explain gently. She’d expected questions from the teen but hadn’t been sure what to prepare for.
Blown Away Page 24
