*** This story was awarded
Best Lesbian Story
in the
2020 Reader's Choice Awards
. Thank you to all who voted. ***
If you haven't read Chapter One, you won't get this story at all. You'll be shaking your head with that confused look I usually get when I have to do long division, so don't do that to yourself. Go read Chapter One, then come back. It's short, and I'm a patient lil' author.
Thanks to my beta-reader ArmyGal33 and a shout out to my editor, AwkwardMD. She makes me a better writer every time we go through this.
~~ Arlington, Virginia, December ~~
"Is this okay, Mommy?"
Caitlyn was kneeling on a chair at the tiny kitchen table, carefully stirring the contents of the bowl in front of her. Kathryn took the two steps from the counter to where her four-year-old was laboring with her wooden spoon. Kathryn had chopped up a bag of cranberries, an apple and an orange in her mini food processor, then dumped everything in a mixing bowl with a cup of sugar. She saw that Caitlyn had pretty thoroughly mixed the sugar in by that point, and she patted her head, giving her a big smile.
"That's perfect, baby, good job!" Kathryn turned back to her apartment's little stove and said, "Now we just need to mix in the Jell-O." She had all four of the tiny burners going, as well as the oven, which was roasting the world's tiniest turkey breast, which had been all she could manage to afford, and the kitchen was uncomfortably warm.
She picked up the smallest pot off the stove and carefully walked it over to the table.
"You keep stirring while I pour this in, okay? Be careful not to splash."
"Okay!"
Kathryn slowly poured the steaming liquid raspberry Jell-O into the bowl as Caitlyn kept stirring the mixture carefully, but with the enthusiasm of a four-year old helping with a Very Important Job.
"Okay, now we need to put this in the freezer for thirty minutes, then it will be
just
like you like it, okay?" she said, taking the bowl.
"What can I do next, Mommy?"
Kathryn looked at her daughter and smiled again. Caitlyn was almost giddy with excitement at the thought of having a guest for their 'Christmas party'. She had flour all over her clothes from the biscuits she'd rather enthusiastically helped make.
"I think we're almost ready. Can you go change into your pretty Christmas dress for the party?"
"Yay!" she yelled, as she ran out of the kitchen to their shared bedroom.
Kathryn watched her go, rubbing her hand across her stomach. She was as nervous as Caitlyn was excited. Perhaps more so.
Her daughter's excitement was based on the fact that other than a few playdates with kids from the daycare, they rarely had guests over to their apartment, much less for a meal, much less for something like the fancy Christmas dinner that she'd been working on all morning.
Kathryn's nervousness was grounded in the fact that today would be the first time she'd seen Megan since Christmas Day, and it was their first 'official' date. They'd spent most of Christmas Day together, and Megan had made love to her twice more after their morning wake-up session. Kathryn had reveled in the attention, in the feeling of being wanted, and in the sensuality that Megan had shown her. However, once Megan had gone home that night, the doubts about what they'd done together began to creep in.
The next day, she'd met her daughter's grandmother, Amanda, in the Target parking lot on Route 50, the usual rendezvous spot for her to pick Caitlyn up from a visit to grandma's. Steve, Caitlyn's dad, was along for the ride this time. As usual, he'd made some awkward conversation, not-so-subtly hinting that they should get together socially sometime soon.
Kathryn knew it only was because Amanda was pushing him to do so, and that his heart wasn't in it. She surely had no interest in getting together with him, but it reminded her that her fantasies about a happy family life as she'd raised Caitlyn by herself had centered around finding a handsome, gentle, caring man; one who would fall in love with Caitlyn as much as herself. A man who would make himself a part of their lives, and make them into a happy little family.
Over the last four days, she'd caught herself thinking over and over, "What are you doing, Kat? Having a woman over for a date? And with Caitlyn here?"
The fact she was now thinking of herself as 'Kat' spoke volumes. No one had called her that since Caitlyn had been born. She'd stopped using that name for herself in her mind years ago. After one day with Megan, though...
The cheerful, quirky bartender/paralegal/law student had immediately taken to calling her 'Kat', and now she was using the nickname for herself again.
Also, very present in her thoughts, was the very real awkwardness of being with a woman that she'd felt each time Megan had initiated more lovemaking. But there was no denying that Megan had made her feel things that none of her post-high school party boys had ever made her feel. She was a patient and thoughtful lover, focused on Kat's needs as much, if not more, than her own. and Kathryn couldn't deny, despite Megan not being a man, she had an undeniably powerful attraction to her. The amount of time she'd pictured Megan's naked body over the last few days was proof of that.
She'd wavered back and forth from excitement and cautious hope, to see how Megan would interact with her daughter, to nervous butterflies and the urge to text Megan to call the whole thing off. But now, it was too late, it was almost—
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sour, mechanical note of the buzzer from her apartment's ancient intercom.
Shoot,
she thought,
I'm so not ready for this.
She pressed the button by her front door, "Yes?"
"
Hey Kat, it's me!"
Megan's voice sounded tinny through the intercom, but still carried the cheerful enthusiasm Kat had come to like in the short time they'd spent together.
"Come on up," Kathryn said, then held the button to buzz open the security door downstairs. She looked down at herself with dismay. A day of putting together that little Christmas dinner had her in disarray, with stains and splotches all over her apron. With no time to change, she took off her apron hanging it back on its hook next to the stove, then grabbed a dish towel and started furiously wiping at any remaining stains on her simple blouse and jeans. All too quickly there was a knock at the door.
Caitlyn came flying out of their bedroom, resplendent in her green and white striped Christmas dress. "I'll get it Mommy!" she said, beating Kathryn to the door.
Kathryn stood behind her as her daughter struggled to unlock, then throw open the door.
Megan stood there with a huge grin on her face. Kathryn slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Megan was wearing jeans and a soft, green vee-neck sweater under her leather biker's jacket, and had a huge canvas bag hanging from one shoulder. She was also wearing the green stocking cap trimmed with white faux fur she'd been wearing at the Christmas village the first night they'd met, and her big, fake elf ears were poking rather obviously out of her black, shaggy hair. She looked down at Caitlyn and immediately squatted down on her haunches in front of her, the strap of the bag slipping off her shoulder.
"Hi Cait! It's so good to see you again!" She said, using the high, squeaky elf voice she'd used at the Christmas village.
"Miss Elf!" Caitlyn happily exclaimed, "Are you our guest for the party?!"
"I am! My name's Megan, remember? Your Mommy invited me, because she knew I needed your special help!"
"My help?" Caitlyn's eyes grew round.
"You might be the only one who can help me, Cait," Megan said seriously. "I'm back from the North Pole on a mission. Santa sends me to watch over little boys and girls during the year for him while he's busy building toys, but my disguise magic is stuck."
"Disguise magic?" Caitlyn was hanging on Megan's every word while Kathryn stood in rapt fascination.
