A Family Christmas Ch. 02

Once I got the idea in my head I became actively aggressive towards Aunt Julia whenever we came together at family gatherings. To everybody's surprise I was rude, disobedient and generally unpleasant, totally out of character for me really. I made Aunt Julia angry with me and she regularly gave me a strong tongue lashing when I got out of line; I made Mother angry with me which upset me no end, but was intractable even under threat of punishment; I made Cora unhappy because she was caught in the middle of what was going down.

In the end when Aunt Julia was next due to come for a visit Mother sat me down and gave me an ultimatum. "If you can't behave in a civilised and polite way when your Aunt is here then you can go to your room and stay there on your own for the weekend....no going out....no television and you can have your food on a tray..." I did and it was awful. I stuck it out even though it meant missing playing in the opening house rugby match of the new season.

I think I was eleven; the next year Aunt Julia didn't visit so I was off the hook and by the time that I was thirteen I had learned not to be a total arsehole and my aunt and I avoided each other as much as possible and tolerated each other when we had to be together. Things had been that way ever since; a sort of armed truce with each of us being civil but prepared to go to war if provoked.

A couple of years later I spoke to Uncle Ted about Aunt Julia. He had come over for the racing at Newbury and it was the day that he took me out and gave me some crappy fatherly advice about sex. He had bought me my first pint of beer and we were walking back from the pub and he offered me one of his thin black cigarillos. Legal smoking age had just gone up from 16 to 18 that August and so the idea of smoking in the street felt a bit bold and daring. He lit me up and I sucked a cloud of noxious smoke into my lungs. I thought that I was going to die, right there on the street....I coughed and hacked and bent double, but managed to stop myself from throwing up. "Shit, that was foul..." I gasped.

Uncle Ted was his usual self....totally unfazed. He patted me on the back and simply commented, "....p'haps that wuz a bit strong to start you off with....boy..." At the next turning he dashed into the corner shop and came back with a packet of Marlboro and a disposable lighter and handed them to me "These should suit you better..." was all he said on the subject. I left it for a couple of days before I tried smoking again.

We had found a bench by the river and had sat down to watch the swans floating downstream towards London. I loved Uncle Ted dearly, he was in fact my mother's cousin but we had always called him uncle; I guess he was the nearest thing we had to a grandfather-figure; mother's parents had died before we were born. He was also not the best person to ask about Aunt Julia. He could be a lovable old rogue but he possessed an acidic tongue and had no love for Julia although he was devoted to my mother.

"Tell me about Aunt Julia..?" I asked "What is it between her and Mother?"

He produced a large hammered silver hip flask from inside his Harris Tweed jacket, took a deep swig and then offered it to me. When I declined he tucked it back into his pocket and lit another cigarillo.

"Well now...there's a strange woman, for you....that Julia...the fucking Ice Queen..." He started. "Like chalk and cheese those two girls, her and Gillian..." he paused in deep though for a moment "Well more like ice and fire really..." He went on "Julia as you know is almost ten years older than your mother and so by the time that Gillian left school and started university she was already established as an up and coming young barrister and an associate at a good chambers in London. Yer, mother on the other hand had chosen a career in uniform and had won an army sponsored degree course which meant that she was serving as a Territorial Army officer from the get go..... and could be called for active service at any time."

"Yes, it's a bit different now but the conditions will be similar for me too, if I want to join-up after university..." I added. I had already applied to join the Territorial Army as soon as I knew where I would be going to college.

"The problem really began with yer Grand-pa and Grand-ma, my mother's sister. Both of the old 'uns got sick whilst yer mother was serving in Ethiopia as part of the British Military Famine Relief Operation....and yer mother had to come home to see to their care."

"But, what about Aunt Julia...couldn't she have.....?"

"Yer got to realize that above all yer aunt is ambitious....and totally bloody selfish...." He took another snort from his flask of Bushmills. "Julia had her sights set on becoming the youngest ever female Supreme High Court Judge, and stood a good chance of getting there. She was pretty ruthless in those days and was prepared to trample over anybody to get what she wanted. When yer gran' parents got taken ill she totally refused to take time out from her career to help care for them, and yer mother had to apply for compassionate leave from the army, which completely fucked up her chances of promotion at that time."

"Oh shit, I never knew that..." I commented.

"Obviously that was goin' to cause grief between them, but then the old couple died...one after the other... and guess what.....they left everything....house, money the lot to Gillian!" He let out a small snigger, "Did the shit hit the bloody fan, then....! Julia was like a bee in a bottle!

Naturally, yer mother did what she considered to be morally the right thing and split the estate with her sister but the damage had been done....It wasn't Gillian's fault or doing but Julia just got on her high horse, yer mother bit back and words passed between them that can never be forgotten."

"Things seem to be OK between them now....." I suggested.

"Well they only see each other a few days a year and even Julia can be amiable for a short period..." Uncle Ted pulled a face to show that he did not really believe it, "...yer aunt is a bitter, twisted woman, James. She got passed over for the appointment that she coveted back in the '80s and ended up a Circuit Judge at York, not a small achievement by any means but now she is too old to ever be considered for the top job. Not a bad thing in my mind....Julia would be a 'Hangin' Judge' if ever there was one....I wouldn't want to come up before her at the Old Bailey."

"God, no wonder she is so scary...." I laughed. "Was she ever married?" I knew that she lived alone in a big house just outside of York and I had never heard anybody mention a husband or partner...she did not wear a wedding ring.

"Who the fuck would marry her...." Uncle Ted snorted. "She's the sort that would chew a man's balls off and spit 'em out.... She'd shrivel a fella's heart up ....." He lit a fresh smoke and grinned lecherously "Julia is a bloody good looking woman, even now..... given the chance I would get between her legs in a flash..... but you couldn't live with her... ice cold she is.... She would destroy yer soul!"

I sensed that there was more to Uncle Ted's animosity towards Aunt Julia than he was saying but decided it was probably best to let it drop.

Knowing what I now did about the family history left me with something of a dilemma. I was too stubborn to bring myself to warm to my aunt unconditionally but I was starting to be mature enough to realise that life was not black and white and how you viewed the shades of grey was dependent upon where you were standing. I was determined to uphold my promise to Mother and Cora to try and be amiable with Aunt Julia during the coming holiday.

With my aunt arriving sometime in the late evening Mother had decided that whilst we would attend the Windsor Castle carol service as usual we would skip the drinks with the army afterwards and come straight home so that we could all have supper together when Aunt Julia turned up.

As we pulled into the drive the first thing that we saw was a brand new sleek black Audi S6 5.2 FSI Quattro in front of the front door of the house. It took me several moments to realize that this had to be Aunt Julia's ride.

"Bloody hell!" I exclaimed, "That is a serious set of wheels...." I think that my opinion of my aunt went up a couple of notches, if not for her taste in cars, then certainly for her spending power, that motor must have cost at least two years salary for the average man in the UK.

Cora and I got out of the car and walked over to check out the visiting vehicle whilst Mother put her Landrover into the garage. The car was empty and the bonnet was cool to the touch so it must have been parked for some time, a glance at my watch confirmed the time to be just after 8:30 so Aunt Julia must have arrived quite a bit earlier than expected.

"Any sign of Julia?" Mother asked as she joined us. She stroked the wing of the Audi, "H-m-m-m-m your aunt always did like smart cars..." she commented.

"I would have thought she preferred broomsticks...." I whispered to Cora.

She punched me hard on the arm "Jim, don't you dare start anything..." she hissed, "Try and be nice....It's Christmas.... Let us all try to get on just for a couple of weeks...." She found my hand and squeezed it affectionately. "Please try...for Mum's sake..."

"Yeah, sorry Sis..." I mumbled. I was not looking forward to sharing our precious Christmas holiday with my aunt but I had made up my mind that I would try to make the best of things. Anyway, I thought, somebody who took pleasure in driving that sort of top gear custom car could not be all bad.

"She cannot have gone very far...." Mother said. "One of you take a look around the back of the house and the other check out the side door.... I will go in and get the supper started..."

"Yes, Ma'am," I chipped giving a mock salute and immediately headed off around the house for the back garden my shoes crunching on the gravel drive. As I got to the corner of the house Mother switched the outside floodlights on and the upper half of the back garden was bathed in white light causing dark shadows from the bordering trees and bushes to leap across the lawn like pouncing beasties.

I was halfway down the garden before I spotted Aunt Julia. She was sitting quietly in one of the garden chairs on the veranda of the summer house the dark shadows cloaking her so that she was almost invisible, only the lighter shade of her hair and paleness of her face making her visible to the diligent observer. I turned and walked towards the summer house but it was not until I was almost upon her that she stood up and stepped towards me.

"Hello Auntie Julia..." I greeted her as cheerfully as I could. I was going to make an effort if only for Mum's sake. "Merry Christmas.....Mum is getting supper ready.... Come up to the house and get warm...."

"Hello James," she responded neutrally, "You have grown since I last saw you....."

I guess all adults seem to feel the need to say that to teenagers. We walked up the garden side by side in a slightly awkward silence. I guess that neither of us were too comfortable with being nice to each other. As we got to the house the door into the kitchen opened bathing us in yellow light and Cora stepped out and ran straight up to my aunt and put her arms around her in a welcoming hug and guided her into the warmth of the house. I followed them into the kitchen as Julia and Mother came together in a sisterly embrace and then parted, Cora stepping in to take my aunt's coat.

Standing side by side the resemblance between the two sisters was obvious, something I had never really noticed before. My first impression of seeing them together took me by surprise..... Regardless of age these were two really hot women. I had always thought of my mother as being beautiful but she was my mother and I had never really considered her as a woman who might be desirable to men. I once heard a lady described as 'an attractive woman of indeterminate age...' I guess that appellation could be applied to both Mother and Aunt Julia.

My mother has one of those sweet, soft, expressive faces that seems capable of showing a hundred emotions all at the same time, when she smiles her whole face lights up. Her eyes are deep brown pools, and her hair which had once been a dark brown was now streaked with grey which she lacked the vanity to disguise with colouring; but those grey highlights added a softness to her face which I began to think of as very sexy. It was cut in almost the same shoulder length page boy style I remembered as a child and softly swayed around her face. Mother always wore the minimum of make-up just a hint of eye shadow, and her wide lips were painted with a very light red lipstick.

She was about 5' 6" and terrifyingly fit and so her figure was still good for a woman in her early fifties with the rounded voluptuous curves of the mature woman emphasised by her hourglass waist and a cute little round tummy. Unlike many of my friend's mothers she was not obsessed with staying skinny and did not go to the health club or gym but instead took a three mile run every morning before breakfast rain or shine and played golf and squash at least once most weeks. That evening she was wearing a very smart plain dove grey, tight fitting wool dress with a narrow patent black leather belt which emphasised her tiny waist, black tights or stockings and plain black leather court shoes. She looked elegant and extremely sexy.

Aunt Julia was almost ten years older than her sister but a stranger would be forgiven for believing them to be much closer in age, twins even. My aunt had changed since I last saw her, or perhaps I was now seeing her through the eyes of a man rather than the prejudiced eyes of a disgruntled teenager. Uncle Ted was right...she was a good looking woman. Her face had the same delicate features as my mother but where Mother's eyes were a soft brown Julia's were grey and piercing. I remembered those eyes flashing when she was angry and the cold baleful stare that could be genuinely scary. I recalled her as having dark hair, almost black, which was usually dressed in a tight sock bun or pulled into a short pony tail but it was now totally grey and that day was worn loose around her shoulders fanning out into a candyfloss cascade when she shook her head showing the white highlights. Where my mother had a mouth always ready to smile, Aunt Julia's lips were shapely but appeared thinner and rested in a straight line cast from years of habitual scowling, but when she did smile, however infrequently, it was the same dazzling smile that lit up her face that I so loved on my mother. Her make-up was modest but immaculate, her eyes perfectly lined and her lips just the right delicate shade of pink.

She was dressed in a black cotton and silk business style skirt suit with a pure white silk blouse, the shirt collar turned over the collar of the jacket and her throat decorated with a single row of pearls. She looked smart, elegant and sheek, a fitting driver for the high end sporty car parked in our drive. She and Mum were about the same height, I am not sure if Julia is slightly taller by about an inch or two, or if it is her stiff backed posture and kitten heels, or perhaps her tidy, slim figure. My aunt lacked my mother's soft curves but had the same tiny waist with generous hips and breasts that swelled to give her a slim but firm mature figure without being in the slightest bit matronly. Her legs were probably her most striking feature, they were perfectly shaped with nice rounded calves clad in black silk stockings and seemed to go on for ever ending with tight rounded buttocks.

"Jamie, Darling..." Mother beckoned me over breaking my reverie about my aunt's arse. "Be a sweetie and fetch Auntie Julia's bags from her car and take them through to the guest flat, will you dear...." She turned to my aunt, "You can move the car around to the side porch after supper...."

Julia held out the keys to the Audi and smiled at me sweetly, "You won't mind moving my car for me will you, James...?"

"Er, that may not be a good idea....." Mother started. Cora pulled a face and started to giggle, and I just stood there with my mouth hanging open, like an idiot. Her car was worth a cool £60,000 and I did not have a reputation for driving competence... or a full licence.... And she was a High Court Judge.... If I damaged her car I would be in deep shit!

"I am sure that James is perfectly able to move a car for a few hundred yards...." Aunt Julia insisted and with a flip of her wrist tossed me her keys. For a brief moment our eyes met and held and I read and understood their unspoken message...... "I am trusting you with this....don't fuck-up and make fools of both of us...."

The Audi was a dream to handle. I had to push the driver's seat forward a bit, I guess Aunt Julia's shapely slender legs were slightly longer than mine. The side gate and car porch was just around the corner in a lane that ran at the side of our house and by the time that I got there Cora had cut through the house and unlocked and opened the gates for me. I parked and then flipped the boot open and fetched out her bags, a couple of designer suitcases, a leather overnight bag and a lap top satchel whilst Cora made a pretence of checking the bodywork for damage.

"Well done, little brother," she chuckled, "Three hundred metres and no dents or scratches..... must be a record...." In fairness I had never actually pranged the car during a driving lesson.....I had just got lost in the London traffic system, turned the wrong way up a way-one street and provoked some interesting comments from a whole line of cabbies coming in the other direction. Mother and Cora teased me about the incident constantly.

"I wonder why you are the 'golden child' all of a sudden...Auntie's little soldier....?" Cora mocked as we ferried the luggage into the flat and stacked it in the bedroom.

"Perhaps she has finally recognised what a fine, upstanding young man I am..." I quipped.

"You had better not start getting too upstanding around her......." Cora hissed, sneaking up behind me and slipping her hand around to rub my dick. "I saw you watching her arse and legs.... Just remember she is your auntie.... Getting into her knickers would be incest...."

"So what would you call our 'relaxation sessions' ....eh?" I retorted.

"That's different....we are twins..... twins are supposed to share everything....." She spun away and made for the connecting door into the house. I made a grab for her but she darted out of the door flipped me the finger and sprinted down the hall into the kitchen. We burst through the door together wrestling and laughing like kids as Mother turned from the hob with a steaming joint of salt beef on a wooden board.

"If you two idiots have finished messing about you can help get supper ready," She smiled. "Jamie, would you mind carving the meat.... Cora can butter the rolls...."

"Is there anything that I can do to help...." Aunt Julia offered.

I was infused with the Christmas spirit and had promised to be nice..."You are our guest.... Just find a seat and enjoy supper..." Mother and Cora just stared at me in amazement and I hoped that I had not gone over the top.... If Aunt Julia thought I was taking the piss it would bring the sky down upon my head.

"Thank you James." She sat down at the kitchen table. I began to carve thin slices of the hot juicy beef onto a serving dish whilst Cora buttered the warm bread rolls that she and Mother had baked that morning and re-heated in the oven.

"Oh, I nearly forgot, " I said digging into my pocket, "Your keys...." I held them out and she reached over to take them from me. The moment our fingers touched, it was like a mild electric shock, surging up through my finger tips to my brain and downwards to leave a tingling in my balls. It left me wide eyed and breathless. She had obviously felt something too, her face wore a look of surprise and she gave a little gasp.