Man's Best Friend Ch. 09

Alice slept deeply, and woke slowly, feeling happy and contented. It had been such a lovely day yesterday, spending precious time with Greg and seeing how their respective daughters bonded on their very first meeting. She took it as a good omen, all four of them getting on so well, having fun, like the happy family she'd never had. And then, after the youngsters had left her and Greg alone down by the pool, their romantic tryst in the log cabin. The memory of creeping back to the house by torchlight, whispering so as not to wake the kids, made her smile all over again.

She rolled over and found Greg already awake, sitting up in bed with a pensive look on his face. She snuggled into his warmth and felt his arm go round her.

"Hey, sleepyhead!"

"Mmmmm, what time is it?"

"Almost ten. It's OK, it's Sunday, no need to get up."

He smiled at her fondly as she sat up herself, the sheet falling away from her bare breasts. He loved her body so much - almost as much as her mischievous smile, which was much more in evidence these days.

She saw him looking. It was so nice to be appreciated, to see the attraction in someone's eyes after years of feeling as though she was invisible. She put her arms round his neck and kissed him.

"Are the girls up yet?"

"I haven't heard anything. I think they were pretty tired last night."

"Kim's lovely. She's so caring, and she seems a happy person, in spite of what she's been through. Chloe really likes her, too."

"She's always been a ray of sunshine, wanting to save the world. I'm sure she'll bounce back. I just hate to see her heartbroken because of someone else's selfishness."

Alice liked the way Greg and his younger daughter interacted - it can't have been easy for either of them since Kim's mother died, and now they were having to adjust to sharing the house again, but their love was helping them through a difficult time.

"The two of you are obviously very close. You're a proper family."

That slight frown was back on his face as he took a deep breath before answering.

"Yeah, about that. Alice, I've been thinking ..."

She caught her breath, her fears resurfacing. That sounded ominous. To cover her confusion, she retorted with an attempt at wit which sounded false, even to her own ears.

"Ooh, careful!"

He didn't smile, chiding her gently.

"I'm serious, Alice. How would you feel about moving in with me?"

Oh, that wasn't at all what she'd been expecting. Her heart leapt, hammering against her rib cage with excitement, but her insecurities still made her hold back, even though her instinct was to shout a very loud yes!

"Oh, Greg! Are you sure? I mean, what about Kim, and Chloe?"

"Well, there's plenty of room here, and Chloe could have the back room downstairs so she wouldn't have to sleep on the sofa bed or get up the stairs every night. I know it's a mess at the moment, but I could easily clear it out for her."

She considered the options with a furrowed brow. Could they make it work?

"We would have to make the whole place wheelchair friendly, it would be a lot of work. And would Kim be OK with it? Have you asked her?"

He noted the "we" with a surge of elation, and pressed home his advantage.

"I've been doing some research into accessibility, and it's definitely doable here. I haven't said anything to Kim yet, I wanted to ask you first, but I'm sure she'd be happy with it - besides, I'm just being selfish, really. I want to see much more of you, instead of making do with weekends. I want to wake up with you every day."

Alice was welling up again. He'd really thought this through, with an answer for everything, and he was serious about a long-term relationship with her. Her mind was a wonderful confusion of love and gratitude.

"Oh, Greg, would you really do all of that for us? I'm so happy, I don't know what to say ..."

He smiled and gently turned her face towards his.

"Just say yes, my love."

She was babbling now.

"I'd have to ask Chloe, and think what to do about transport to college and King and what to do about my place and everything, but yes. Yes!!"

His face broke into a huge smile of relief and joy as she flung her arms around his neck, huuged him and kissed him, long and lovingly.

She slid down to rest her head on his chest, murmuring in a daze.

"I love you so much, you amazing man. Do you really think we could make this work?"

"Absolutely. Talk to Chloe, and I'll talk to Kim, and if they're OK with it, I'll start getting some quotes for things like building wheelchair ramps and converting the downstairs toilet into an accessible bathroom."

Alice's eyes were shining with excitement, her mind a whirl of possibilities as he took charge of the situation. She kissed his chest, then raised her head, that wicked smile playing around her lips again.

"Be warned, I'm all emotional right now anyway - I came on during the night. So, no celebratory sex, I'm afraid."

He grinned at her.

"No problem, we'll just cuddle instead. And thanks for the warning - I'll watch out for that complete psycho!"

She giggled as he quoted her own words back at her.

"Mmm, cuddles are lovely, but I have a better idea. I want to thank you properly."

With that, she resumed kissing his chest, then slid down in the bed, leaving a trail of tender, loving kisses down his stomach as she went, lower and lower ... He closed his eyes and sighed happily as she ministered to him.

"Oh, yes, sweet babygirl ..."

An hour later, Alice was sitting in the front room on the end of the sofa bed, deep in conversation with her daughter.

"So, what do you think, Chloe?"

"I'm really happy for you, Mum. I'm just a bit worried about him having all that work done just for me. It's very sweet of him, but it would cost a fortune. I could manage without all of that."

"I know you could, but I think that he wants to make a real commitment, and to make your life easier. He likes you."

"I like him, too, but don't tell him I said that! Can he afford it? And what if it doesn't work out? Would you keep our flat on, just in case?"

"We've never really talked about money, to be honest, but I think he's pretty comfortable. Yes, I think we shouldn't get rid of the flat yet. We could always rent it out or sell it later."

Chloe nodded thoughtfully. It would be sad to leave the place where she'd grown up, but she only had a tiny box room there, and the back room at Greg's place was much bigger. And she'd get to go swimming whenever she wanted. And Greg could help with things like driving - it would be a lot easier for her Mum if she didn't have to do all the ferrying around. And she'd see a lot more of Kim - they'd had such a ball listening to music and singing together last night, and Kim had offered to teach her guitar! She grinned.

"Go for it, Mum!"

Upstairs, Greg was having a similar chat with his own daughter.

"She seems lovely, Dad, and so is Chloe. So long as you're happy, that's the main thing."

"I am, very. Do you think it's too soon?"

Kim shook her head.

"No. It's over two years now, and Mum wouldn't have wanted you to be alone. Didn't she say that to you at the end?"

"Yes," he admitted, "she told me to look for someone else and to be happy, but I never thought it would actually happen."

"Don't let it slip through your hands, Dad. She's good for you."

"You don't mind sharing the house?"

"No, and to be honest, I don't know how long I'll be here anyway. If I meet someone else, or get a job a way away, I might be off again, but in the meantime, it'll be good to have some female company around the place."

"Talking of which, the three of us have been planning a holiday in Portugal next summer. Would you like to come with us? I haven't booked anything yet."

"Oh, that would be fantastic, Dad! I'd love to come. Is it going to be a naturist trip?"

"I don't think so. Alice would be up for it, I'm sure, but don't forget that Chloe's only sixteen."

"True. Pity, I love getting naked on the beach and in the sea."

"Yes, but you were brought up in a naturist family and you've always been very broad minded. Other people think it's all about sex."

"Yeah, I suppose so. It isn't of course, but that's the old partriarchal stereotype."

She chuckled.

"You'll have to keep Chloe away from all those nice young Portuguese boys."

Greg bit his tongue, thinking of what Alice had told him about her conversations with Chloe, and smiled.

"I'll have to keep all of you out of trouble!"

"Poor Dad. Going from all on his own to being surrounded by three women within a few months! Sure you can handle it?"

He laughed.

"No, but I'll do my best! Hey, does that mean I get all my housework done for me?"

"Not a chance! Not that you ever do much, anyway!"

It was true. He had let the place go a bit since Isobel had died. He was naturally a bit lazy, and there just didn't seem much point. Until now.

"We'll soon get you trained, Dad, don't worry!"

He had a vision of three women taking over his house, nagging him to sort out his life and wrapping him round their little fingers. For some reason, the thought made him smile.

Breakfast was an excited babble of discussion and planning for their new living arrangements. Alice smiled across the table at Greg as they listened to Kim and Chloe having an animated debate about the best colours to paint Chloe's new room and what sort of furniture would work best.

"You totally have to let me do some wall hangings and paintings and stuff. We'll make it really cool."

"Would you? That'd be amazing!"

"I'd love to. Let's have a look now, if we can get into the room. It's full of junk right now!"

Kim pushed the wheelchair out of the kitchen and the pair of them went off to investigate all the possibilities.

"Well, they seem sold on the idea, anyway!"

"Oh, Kim will treat it as one of her art projects if Chloe lets her. She's very good, actually, so I'm not too worried about how it'll turn out."

"Are you sure you don't mind having your house turned upside down?"

"No, it's about time, to be honest. It needs completely redecorating, really, and this is a good opportunity to get a few other jobs done around the place. It might be a while before all the building work is done and you can actually move in, though."

"That's OK. Chloe's already told me that we should come round as often as we can and help out with all the work!"

"She really is keen! Right, whilst they're otherwise occupied, come up to the bedroom with me."

"Bad boy! We don't have time for that, I need to get back soon."

"Not that! There's something else I want to show you."

Intrigued, she followed him up the stairs, and noticed something different immediately. On the wall opposite the bed, there was a new picture, next to the ones of his girls. It was the one he'd taken of her soon after they'd met, looking out over the river, silhouetted by the setting sun.

"Oh, you had it blown up! That wasn't there yesterday, was it?"

"No, I put it there this morning while you were chatting to Chloe. Is that OK?"

"It's lovely. I really like that photo - at least you didn't use the one of me flashing!"

They laughed at the memory.

"No, but I would like to take some more of you like that."

"What, flashing?"

"No, nudes. Arty shots, maybe taken outside in wild places."

"I don't know. I'm no model."

"You're beautiful, Alice, you'd make a stunning model."

"Hmmm, flattery will get you everywhere. Maybe ... if you feed me enough wine and promise not to post them all over the net!"

"I promise!" he grinned. "White wine it is, then, or maybe I should just dare you ..."

"Hmm, you know me too well."

She hesitated a moment before posing another question.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What did you do with the picture of your wife which was there before?"

"Um, it's in the drawer there at the moment."

"Put it back up, please? Not there, maybe, but somewhere where you and your kids will still see it. I don't want you to forget Isobel, she was your first love and the mother of your kids."

He kissed her gratefully.

"If you're sure you don't mind. I was going to ask you whether you wanted to get a new bed, or redecorate the room or anything."

"No, that's fine. Thank you for asking, but you don't need to do that until it's really necessary, the same as any other room. I might want to put some of my books and things in here, though."

"Please do. So long as they're not rubbish romance novels!"

"Hah, you're such a snob. There's nothing wrong with a good romance. Or a good erotic novel. It might give us some new ideas."

He pulled her in close and kissed her hard.

"I've got some of those already ..."

Greg had underestimated the amount of effort and time it would take to complete all the work required to make the house fully accessible for Chloe. The months dragged on, the bills mounted and his frustration increased, impatient as he was for his lover and her daughter to move in. If it weren't for Alice's calming influence, the voice of reason suggesting compromises and stopping him from making too many unnecessary changes, his temper would have been far worse. They did as much of the work themselves as they could to keep the costs down, but there was still a lot which required professional help, and teams of builders seemed to be in constant attendance, transforming every aspect of the house.

It was an eye-opener to realise just how many of the things able-bodied people took for granted could cause real difficulties for someone in a wheelchair. There were the obvious things like ramps and handrails for the front and back doors, and a walk-in bathtub, but he hadn't considered that doorways would need to be widened, that thick carpets weren't ideal for a wheelchair and that there needed to be enough room not only to get the chair through, but also to turn it through three hundred and sixty degrees. Door handles, light switches, counter tops and even sinks needed to be lowered, and grab rails added.

He looked into the cost of buying stairlifts, determined that Chloe shouldn't be confined to the ground floor of the three storey house, but Alice was horrified by the prices, and tried to talk him out of it. They compromised by getting just one stairlift, on a rental basis, which could be returned if no longer required. That way Chloe could have free run of the ground and middle floors, and there was only the spare attic bedroom at the top, which she wouldn't need to access. He was grateful to discover that at least the stairlift didn't attract any VAT, as equipment intended for disabled people was tax free.

They kept the final cost of all the modifications from Chloe, although she had a pretty good idea of how much Greg was investing in her, and marvelled at his commitment to her mother and herself, although that didn't stop her from teasing him at every opportunity. He took it, rightly, as a compliment that she talked to him in the same way that she spoke to Alice, being markedly less stressed out when she was around. It also helped that Alice was spending as much time there as she could after work and at weekends, and sharing his bed at every opportunity.

Once the main building modifications were complete, Chloe insisted on working on what would be her room, helping to clear out all the boxes of assorted junk from when it had been used as a store room. When it was finally empty, she and Kim set to work, barring Greg and Alice from the room and working in tandem, Chloe painting everything she could reach at the lower levels while Greg's daughter took charge of the upper parts of the walls and the ceiling.

The improvements weren't only to Chloe's benefit: Alice loved the new floors, where the old carpet had been stripped out and the existing floorboards had been sanded, treated and polished to within an inch of their lives, bringing out the rich glow of natural wood. Greg had also taken the opportunity to make a few changes to quirks of the old house which had irritated him for years, but which he'd never had sufficient motivation actually to rectify.

The ground floor toilet, which had been poky and featured an ancient, unappetising loo, was now much larger, borrowing some excess space from Chloe's room, and boasted a shiny new suite, walk in bath and grab rails. The wall had been knocked through, too, so the bedroom was now fully en-suite. His - soon to be their - own bedroom now had a wash basin and the tatty free-standing wardrobes had been replaced with fitted ones, allowing plenty of space for Alice's clothes as well as his own.

The works had taken a big bite out of his bank balance, but with his generous occupational pension and the savings he'd accumulated over the years, they'd still be comfortable, if not rich. Besides, it felt as though they were all moving into a new home, so radical were the changes.

At last everything was ready, and the day finally came when Alice and Chloe arrived at the house knowing that they wouldn't be returning to their flat that night. Greg and Kim met them at the front door.

"Welcome home!"

Alice was a little teary as she fell into Greg's arms, while King was already sniffing around, investigating all the new sights and smells before trotting off to the kitchen in search of food. The girls had immediately gone into a huddle and then disappeared in the direction of Chloe's new den, leaving Greg and Alice alone in the living room.

"I can't thank you enough for doing all this. It's incredible, and I'm a bit overwhelmed, to be honest."

He kissed her forehead gently.

"That's OK. You're worth it, both of you. Besides, how else would I get to sleep with you every night?"

She laughed at that.

"Ulterior motive, huh? Only at night?"

"Nope. All day, too, if you like!"

"I like."

They were still standing there, lips locked, oblivious to everything except each other, when they were interrupted by Kim.

"Oi! Knock it off, you two! Time for the grand opening of Chez Chloe! Step this way!"

They sprang apart, slightly embarrassed, although Greg couldn't resist one last kiss before obeying his daughter's command. She rolled her eyes and muttered, just loud enough for them to hear,

"Bloody heterosexuals, they're all the same."

The lovers collapsed into giggles, then followed Kim down the hallway to Chloe's doorway, where she was waiting for them.

"Ta daaaaa!"

"Oh, my God!" exclaimed Alice, stunned.

The girls had completely transformed the room. The walls were a rich purple, which shouldn't really have worked, but somehow did when combined with the gold and red fabric wallhangings and bedspread, and the painted dragons and fabulous beasts which reared up in awesome splendour around every corner. An antique desk in the corner already housed Chloe's computer, and a huge old wardrobe stood ready for her clothes.

"Wow!" said Greg, "it looks like a scene from Harry Potter, or Game Of Thrones."

"That was the plan!" said Chloe. "Kim did all the arty stuff, though, and found the amazing furniture. Isn't it sick?"

Kim caught the bemused expresson on her father's face.

"That means good, Dad."

"It means more than good, it means it's amazing!" cried Chloe!

"You're really talented, Kim." said Alice, seriously impressed. "Have you thought about going into interior design?"

Kim, who had been half expecting the oldies to recoil in horror, was delighted that they liked it.

"You know, I might just give that a go."

Impulsively, Kim rushed over to the older woman and hugged her tight.

"Thank you, Alice. I'm so glad that you're both going to be living here."

Later that evening, when first Chloe, then Kim, had yawned and gone off to their rooms, Alice kissed Greg softly.

"I'm so happy, Greg. Shall we go upstairs? I have a present for you."