The Taste of My Chapstick on Her Lips - Part 7

Affluence Lost, Freedom Gained # (The Taste of My Chapstick on Her Lips - Part 7) Hint-of-Nudity WLW Fiction by Faerie Realm # This journal entry continues the story from: https://budgetpixel.com/blog/the-taste-of-my-chapstick-on-her-lips-part-6 "How could you seduce our daughter like this?!" Katrina's mother, Margaret, hissed at me. I blanched and felt faint. I hadn't seduced Katrina! Yes, I'd been the one to first kiss her, but she'd kissed me back of her own free will. And after three years apart, she'd been the one to reach out and ask to see me, not the other way around! I would remember that moment clearly for the rest of my life. While part of me wanted to really tell Margaret off, I restrained that impulse and decided to go with kindness instead. I chose my words carefully, and prepared to say them: I'll be a great partner for your daughter! I'll do everything to help her succeed and be happy in life. Please just give me a chance! Alas, in the moment I took to form my response, Katrina rose from her chair and spoke before I could say anything. "How dare you, Mother," she said in a low voice that I'd never heard before but clearly indicated she meant business. And then she raised her voice and continued: "Allie didn't seduce me! I chose to be with her!" "Don't speak to me in that tone," Margaret demanded. "And sit down immediately!" "Would you rather I yell?" Katrina asked, further raising her voice and ignoring the order to sit. "I'm done pretending, Mother! I want to be with Allie, and I'm old enough to make my own decisions!" "What has gotten into you?" Margaret growled. "You've completely lost your manners!" "Screw your manners!" Katrina shouted. "Allie says I should be more assertive and not let everyone walk all over me." "Oh my god," I muttered to myself, sure that her parents would further blame me for emboldening their daughter. "Reginald, do something!" Margaret demanded of her husband, who stood up, looking pained. "Let's try not to get emotional," Reginald said. "No! You and Mother and Richard all say I'm emotional, but I'm just trying to be my own person and not always do what you want me to do!" "I understand, so let's try to work this out, okay?" he said evenly. "There's nothing to work out, Father," Katrina said. "I want to be with Allie, and that's final!" "Okay, fine, you can be with her," he said in a measured tone. I looked up in surprise, Katrina furrowed her brow (clearly suspicious), and Margaret looked absolutely appalled. "What are you talking about, Reginald?!" she practically shrieked. "But she should still marry a man," Reginald clarified. "Some men will turn a blind eye to their wife's extramarital affair so long as it's with another woman." "A lecherous man perhaps!" Margaret spat. "But a man at least, right? And the point is Katrina could still enjoy the security of a proper marriage while entertaining her other, ahem, proclivities." "No, I don't like it!" Margaret exclaimed, and Katrina shook her head as well. "For once, we agree, Mother," Katrina said. "It's a terrible idea, because it's totally unfair to Allie! She's supposed to just share me with some guy? Hey Allie, are you okay if some rich dude fucks me every weekend?" Margaret gasped in horror and literally clutched the pearls around her neck. "Wash that mouth out!" she hissed, but Katrina merely rolled her eyes. I didn't answer the clearly rhetorical question, but couldn't help but imagine the scene she had just mentioned; and without a doubt, I did not care for the idea! "What about a gay man?" Reginald suggested, clearly trying to find a compromise and proving that you can take the man out of Parliament, but you can't take Parliament out of the man. He then turned to me and asked, as if it were a totally reasonable question: "Allison, you wouldn't mind if Katrina marries a proper Nelly, would you?" I gave an entirely nervous laugh in lieu of an answer. While such a scenario wouldn't be as bad as the first one he had suggested, I still didn't like it, particularly as my imagination ran with the idea of having to share her with someone who would likely know more about makeup and fashion than I did. "But she can't have children with a gay man!" Margaret cried. "He'll have no interest in coitus!" "She can use a sperm donor," he replied. Katrina waved her hands as if to remind them they were talking about her in the third person despite her standing right there. "Or I could just not get pregnant! Did either of you even think to ask me if I even want to have kids? Because I don't!" Margaret gasped again and turned an even paler shade of gray. "How can you say such a thing?" she asked, her voice shaking. "It's what we do as women, and you've said as much yourself!" "No, I was just repeating what you wanted to hear, Mother." "So first you break it off with Richard, then you tell us you're dating a woman, and now you don't want kids?" asked Margaret in a hoarse voice, looking as if she were about to faint. At this point, a couple of well-dressed servers appeared at the door, immediately sensed the mood, and quietly left without saying a word. For some reason, I finally found the nerve to speak up at this point. "I'll have her kids," I said quietly. "I'm sorry, what?" Reginald asked, his aristocratic eyebrows rising. "I'll bear Katrina's children," I said, louder this time. I knew from my conversations with Katrina over the years that she wasn't actually opposed to kids so much as she was simply terrified of carrying a child for nine months and then having to squeeze it out through her you-know-where. "That's nonsense," Margaret muttered. "It's not," I said, then explained carefully, so it wouldn't sound patronizing, how surrogacy works: How the doctors take egg cells from the mother, fertilize them with sperm from the father or from a sperm bank, and then implant the fertilized egg into a different woman—the surrogate—who carries and births the child. And I could totally imagine myself in that role, if that's what it would take to be with Katrina. "That's an actual thing?" Margaret asked her husband. Reginald nodded. "I still don't like it," Margaret continued. "That may solve the children issue, but she still needs a husband." "I don't like it, either, Margaret," Reginald said. "But we can't force her to marry Richard or anyone else for that matter." "But we can cut her off financially until she reconsiders," Margaret said with a scoff. "You'd put your own daughter in rags?" Reginald asked, his forehead creasing. I almost wanted to point out that my family wasn't poor and we didn't go around wearing rags, but decided that wouldn't help. And even if we were poor, I could still imagine being happy with Katrina, and our children would be as well. "If it saves her from... whatever this is we're talking about, then I say cut her off!" Margaret rasped. "Let's not be hasty, Margaret," Reginald replied. "Well, what else can we do? She's being completely obstinate!" "Okay, if you're going to talk about me in the third person, I think we're done here," Katrina said. "And honestly, Mother, I'm fine with you cutting me off it if it means I can finally be free of your control!" "You have no idea what it's like to live beneath your station," Margaret said with a scoff. "No. But I'm about to find out. Come on, Allie." I looked up in surprise as Katrina held her hand out to me, but I only hesitated a moment before pushing my chair back and standing as well. "Goodbye, Father," Katrina said as I took her hand. "And Mother, I hope you find peace some day." "If you leave, that's it! You get nothing more from us!" Margaret barked as Reginald reached out, his stern gaze now mixed with regret it seemed. But Katrina merely held up her other hand as if to say, 'Enough,' and pulled me towards the door. I nodded awkwardly at her parents, then let Katrina lead me out of the posh private dining room. The hostess retrieved our coats and scarves, and we headed back outside. Katrina turned to look at me as we stepped out onto bustling Berkeley Square. "I expected it to go that way, but I needed to know if I was strong enough to stand up to them." "Well, mission accomplished," I said with an exhausted attempt at a laugh. "I could only do it because you were with me, though," she said, squeezing my hand. "I'm finally free, and I couldn't have done it without you." I smiled, but part of me still worried: Would Katrina actually be able to settle into a middle class existence? My family wasn't poor, but to someone who grew up in luxury, even middle class could seem like a struggle. Would I be able to make her happy enough to justify such a sacrifice? "Hey, would you really bear my children?" she asked. "Of course," I answered, pushing my doubts back down into my subconscious. "I love kids, so why wouldn't I have yours?" She squeezed my hand and I could see her eyes moistening. "I hope I'm not coming on too strong, especially after only a week of officially being girlfriends, but I just really want to say... I love you, Allie." My heart fluttered, and I bit my lip and wrinkled my nose at her to keep from becoming too emotional in public. "You silly girl, Kat. Don't you know I've loved you since Wycombe?" "I suppose I do," she murmured. "I'm just catching up, really." And then she kissed me, fully and passionately, right there in bustling Berkeley Square. I imagine some people turned and stared, but I don't really know, because I closed my eyes and let the world fall away. I still harbored doubts about Katrina's ability to live my lifestyle, but deep down, I had to believe we would find a way. If nothing else, I held out hope that my own parents would be more accepting of us. But that is a story for another day... THE END (for now, although we may continue this story at some later date)