Part 12 Here comes the Sun

The next morning I woke with a man cuddling me for the first time. I took advantage of his readiness one more time before we went and showered; then dressing before going down for breakfast.

He dressed quickly in his outfit from last night and sat on the bed and watched me as I selected a top and skirt to wear.

When I sat at the vanity to brush my hair he came and stood behind me with us looking at our reflection in the mirror.

He put his hands on my shoulders, “I suppose Barry told you I had a crush on Susan at school?”

I nodded and he went on “Well, she was the prettiest girl around when she was eleven or twelve and bright with it. All that changed when she was about thirteen and she became the moody and angry girl we now all remember. I don’t have that crush now; it disappeared when I met you and is now replaced by love instead.”

“That’s lovely, darling man, I fell for you as soon as I saw you just a couple of weeks ago.”

I stood up and we kissed for a while.

As we went to leave the room he said, “This room is her as she became; my father is a painter, maybe you can pick a colour which is more you and we can redo these rooms.”

I just nodded as that would be in Alberts’ hands in the future. He had wanted to give me a birthday party which, I think, blew away all the old cobwebs left by Susan but whether he wanted me to stay for a while would have to be discovered.

When we got down to breakfast we found the rest of the band and their partners already tucking in. There was a general round of hugs and kisses before we were allowed to sit down.

Mary said “That was some bash last night. We were awesome.”

Barry smiled, “I don’t think we’d ever played so well and for so long. I was on a cloud all the time.”

Albert laughed, “If you think you did well, just how good will you play at our Christmas party next week. I will get it catered so all the staff can come along and I’ll even pay you for the entertainment if you insist. You’ll stay on, won’t you, Samantha?”

“As long as you’re happy to put up with me. It’s been a lot of fun, so far.”

He grinned, “Samantha, I can put up with you as long as you want to call this place home. The house has been sad for too long and you being here has brought it to life again. The gardeners want you to advise them with the plantings and the yards-men think you are some sort of deer whisperer. Everyone, especially me, loves you to bits.”

“I have to go back to the clinic from time to time to get my check-ups to make sure there’s no rejection and I’ll have to move my stuff from the cottage.”

Barry said, “Not a problem, I can get a van.”

Jerry laughed “We’d better get her rooms repainted, those dull colours are not our Samantha at all.” Albert told him that he can arrange it with his father when he goes home to get some extra clothes and his shaving kit.

I blushed and everyone laughed.

Albert then warned, “Be careful, I don’t think we could manage the sound of little feet for a while.”

“That’s not a worry; one of the things that I have to do is to take regular birth control pills, mainly to make sure that my periods were regular so that any changes could be checked up.”

It was the guys turn to blush and all we girls giggled. After breakfast the others went off, Jerry giving me a kiss and saying “I’ll be back!” in a robot voice.

Albert and I sat there in silence for a while and then he said, “Samantha, you’re every bit a daughter as you can be. I didn’t lie when I said that everyone loves you. You have brought me back my little girl even if you do insist that you aren’t her. Your movements and your manner are her as she was once but you are more than her. You are kind, considerate, knowledgeable and caring.”

“If you would allow me, I’ll see if you can be brought in as part of this family. Susan has never been declared dead because there was nothing to bury as you are using her body. We can talk to the lawyers about just changing your surname to Schurbert or Susans’ first name to Samantha. It will be a can of worms but I’m happy to open that can if you’ll live here with us.”

I got up and went and hugged him, tears in my eyes.

“Albert Schurbert, you’re such a good man. I don’t want to be thought of as a money-grabber as I’m not; I’ve a considerable bank balance of my own so will never ask you for anything.”

He laughed, “Maybe I can borrow some off you when things are tight.”

I kissed his cheek, “Anytime – Daddy” and we both had a little cry.

I then went into the games room where the staff had been tidying up. There were a bunch of presents and cards on the snooker table, some wishing Susan a happy birthday. I suppose not everyone got the message.

I had not opened anything. I had thanked all those who brought things and that I would open everything once we had finished having fun.

When I had finished having fun it was about four in the morning and I was in no state to go opening presents after opening my legs for a couple of hours.

When I did open the presents I found a beautiful pendant from Jerry so I’d better thank him properly tonight.

There was a necklace and ear-ring set from Albert which I recall seeing on his wife in one of the pictures in the parlour. I went and found him in the office and thanked him with a hug.

He told me that it had, indeed, been his wifes and that there was more that would be coming my way as I had more birthdays.

It was if the weather gods had been listening as that week before Christmas the sun shone and it stayed in the teens during the day.

Jerry came back with a suitcase and put his things away, his father turned up, gave me a hug and a kiss, looked at the rooms and left us a colour book to choose from.

We made a plan that would kick in after New Year, doing the music room first and then the bedroom. The wet rooms were white so could stay and she had not done anything with the wardrobes, which were a nice light pink inside. I gathered that, with the doors shut, they didn’t worry her.

The two weeks to Christmas and beyond went into my memory as some of the happiest times I had ever had in my two lifetimes. I had a purpose, a man and a future and nothing happened to spoil anything.

Jerry got his thanks for the pendant and I wore it most of the time. We went into the closest town and I bought gifts for everyone. Maisie helped me choose for the house staff and outside guys.

I bought Albert a Mont Blanc pen, not really knowing him well enough for something more personal. Jerry and I went to a jeweller and bought matching gold rings, mine with a ring of tiny diamonds around it and his with a similar ring of emeralds which looked very nice on his finger.

We split the cost after I had quietly spoken to the jeweller on the pretence of checking my size. He put my card through for half the real cost before coming out with the account for the other half.

I found out that my man had to go back to university in January so we would be apart unless I went to visit him on weekends.

He was studying electrical engineering so I thought that there may be a place for him in our business when he graduated.

Barry was working with his father in the transport business while the girls were married to guys with good jobs. Although I didn’t really need to do anything I always had the garden to keep my mind occupied.

Christmas morning was great; we sat around and opened our gifts. Everyone chipped in to get a light lunch and the evening started with the caterers coming with the food for the party that night.

They were on a special rate and had been invited, along with their families, so didn’t mind working on Christmas Day. We had a marquee erected outside the games room with portable heaters in it so we could open up a couple of the big windows and move between the two rooms.

It all went off well, the place was packed that night, all the food in the marquee and the games room now cleared for dancing; and dance we did!

All of the family were there, as well as the band and all of their family, the staff and their families as well as those friends who had enjoyed themselves at the birthday party.

We had the juke box on for a while and I had several dances with several men, as well as a couple of slower ones with Jerry. After we had eaten our fill, the band got set up and we started playing, the dance floor soon filling.

When people tired and went back out to the marquee for a snack or a drink, others came in to take their place. We did half hour sets so we could have our own breaks and we went through to the early hours again.

Jerry was almost too tired to give me my special Christmas present but I managed to get it unwrapped.

In the morning I was laying in his arms and dreaming about having a rest from playing for a while when Jerry said “Did you hear what Albert announced last night, about ten?”

I thought a bit, “No, I think that was the time I needed to make room for more drink.”

“He, the bugger, announced that he was having so much fun he was keeping the marquee in place and invited everyone to a New Year party and everyone cheered.”

“I did hear some cheers in the loo but thought someone may have downed a yard or something. Does that mean we have to play again?”

He grinned, “I can play with you any time you want. It’s wonderful – and the music’s good too; and, I think, getting better the more we play.”

I moved my hand down and took hold of his dick, “Oh, love, I just found a flute” and moved my head to his crotch to play a little sonata on it.

So the mess from Christmas was cleared up and preparations were made for another bash on New Year. Every time we played I was getting better on the guitar and the others were picking up as well.

This was good but the upshot was that a few of our guests were on local committees and we started getting enquiries about playing at local events. As long as Jerry could get back from university we could do it so Mary put her hand up to be our manager, bought a diary and cash book, registered the band as ‘Sammi and the Samoyeds’ and started taking bookings. It would be fun to do and a good cash income for the others.

Between Christmas and New Year Albert took Jerry and me to the factory the family owned. It was huge and quiet at the time of our visit but I could imagine it as a hive of activity on normal working days. Jerry was quite excited with the place and especially with the R&D section where they were working on new ways to harness the sun.

I saw Albert take note of his insightful questions, especially the ones he couldn’t answer.

We had another bash for New Year but managed to call a halt just after midnight so everyone could go home to their beds and celebrate the coming twelve months.

The playing must have energised Jerry as he had no problems celebrating by coming himself.

Part 13 Life in the Fast Lane

After the New Year party I had to take myself back to the cottage and arrange my move north. I was also overdue for a check-up.

We moved everything in the music room into the middle of the room so Jerrys’ father could repaint the walls in the darkish yellow that we had chosen to make it bright and cheerful.

We decided to move everything in the bedroom away from the walls as well so he could do it in the sky blue which would also pick up the ambience.

We chose the colours together as it had become an unwritten wish that we would live here.

When we moved the vanity I found an envelope behind it. I took it aside and opened it to read all of Susans’ pain in what I thought may have been the first draft of a suicide note.

She had been hurt by her brother and her mother had known all about it. The lesbianism was a result of that abuse because she could not consider being with another man in her life.

I could understand her as well as understanding why her mother went downhill so quickly after Susan had left. Her world had stopped without her daughter.

I felt sorry for both of them and went down to the parlour where I fed the note into the fire without telling anyone else of its contents.

The day I went back to the cottage I left with just my handbag, following Jerry in his car to his house.

I waited until he put together all the things he would need when he went back to university and then we drove south to the cottage. He was entranced by it, even though it was freezing cold inside when I opened the door. I put the heat on, unloaded his bags and took him out to the clinic.

“Where I was born,” I told him.

There I was welcomed like a long lost traveller, they having a vested interest in me. I introduced Jerry to everyone and he ended up getting a potted history of how I was created and also pointers on what to look out for in case I had rejection problems.

I don’t think that it had occurred to him just what a fine line I was walking after the operation.

He met the biker, now living in the apartment I had used, with his girlfriend; soon, he said, to be his wife. He and Jerry got on like a house on fire as the biker had been, before his crash, an electrical engineer himself.

Oddly, as I watched them chat while in conversation with the girlfriend, I had the impression that something was not quite right.

Jerry stayed with me in the cottage for a week before I drove him and his luggage to the station so he could get a train to the university. We held each other close before he boarded and promised to keep in touch.

I had a tear in my eyes as the train left the station with him leaning out of the window and waving until it was out of sight. Back in the car I went into the clinic for my check-up.

As they were drawing blood I asked about the biker and described what I thought I had seen. The nurse looked sad and told me that he was on extra medications to stop rejection but the prognosis didn’t look good at the moment.

I had been back two weeks and was slowly putting everything together for my final move north when the doorbell rang and I opened the door to see the biker standing there.

I gave him a cuppa and he asked me if I could do him a favour. He gave me a bit of paper with a name and address on it and asked me if I could go and see the owner of the shop, an old friend of his former self, and ask him if he could supply a sports motorbike ‘suitable for winding roads’.

“If you can buy whatever he supplies and get it delivered here with a set of XL racing leathers and a helmet, I‘ll pay you back later. I really want to ride again.”

That week I went to see the guy at the motorcycle shop and mentioned that I was a friend of his friend. His friend wanted to have a ride in the country but didn’t want to let his medicos know.

He suggested a very powerful looking bike and I paid for it to be registered in my name and delivered to my cottage along with the leathers and helmet. I am sure the guy thought that his pal will be strapped to the rider for his trip out.

A couple of days later a van turned up and the bike unloaded next to the house. I was given the helmet and leathers and told that the fuel tank was full, gave the delivery man a tip and I was now the proud owner of a very powerful bit of kit that I had no idea how to ride.

Next time I went to the clinic the biker raised his eyebrow at me and I nodded, which gave him a smile that lit up the room.

The following Saturday he got married and I was at the wedding. The Saturday afternoon after that he turned up at my door and I showed him the bike. He tried the leathers on and declared them perfect.

Two weeks later he turned up with his wife and put the leathers and helmet on after giving his wife the longest hug and kiss. I could see his arms quivering as he held her.

He then came over to me and hugged me, whispering “Thank you for everything, dear friend” and my blood ran cold.

The two of us watched him get on the bike, start it up and ride away quietly. We held each other and cried together.

She stayed with me for some hours until the police came by to ask why my motorcycle was being ridden by a madman who had died by riding into a bridge abutment at a very high speed.

He had no licence, insurance or any reason to be on the bike in his new name and we said that he had borrowed it to see what it was like to ride.

The fact that it was his wife with me raised eyebrows and led to searching questions down at the station. It was awkward but the lawyer I engaged for the two of us made certain that we were not complicit in his death.

You can legally supply a machine that someone could use to die with these days and the motor-bike did not come with vial of poison, so there wasn’t much they could do other than tell me off.

The clinic was not happy but his passing was not considered a loss as we all knew that he was going through rejection and that he had no consideration of becoming a vegetable again.

He had gone, no doubt with a smile on his face, doing what he loved and what had been taken from him once before. In his will he left me with enough to cover my costs and there was plenty left over from his lottery win for his wife to get on with the rest of her life.

Was it a suitable closure, of course not, but it was a closure of sorts. It made me doubly certain to make my own way so rang Barry after the funeral to come and get my stuff.

When he turned up he stayed in the spare room that night and we loaded the van the next day. I told him that I intended to take a week to get up to the house and make sure no-one worried about me.

I watched my goods and chattels head north and went into the house to make sure everything was turned off. I had a suitcase in the car with enough for ten days so locked the cottage for the last time and took the keys to the real estate office, handing them over and getting a cheque for my bond.

I then went to a florist and bought a bunch of flowers which I went and put next to a similar bunch on the bikers grave. I wished him well in Valhalla and then went south again, back to the place of my earlier childhood.

I took my time and spent a small fortune on flowers for the graves of my parents and my poor brother. I would have put some on Georgina’s grave if I had known where it was.

Then I went back to where Sammy was buried and put more on his headstone, having a little cry as I did. He had been a rock in my earlier world and I hoped, with all my heart, that Jerry would be a similar rock in my new world.

My last task was harder than anything I had ever done before. I had a last bunch of flowers which I laid at my own gravestone.

There I did indeed cry, only to have a hand on my shoulder from an elderly gent who said “It’s good to see someone cry for him. He did so much good in this town with his expertise and empathy. A lot of good folk miss him terribly.”

I thanked him for his kind words and walked slowly away in wonder.

It had been hard but cathartic and I got back to the Lake District in a mind to take on the world. The apartment was really bright and Albert told me that Jerrys’ mother had come over to do the redecorating to suit the new colours.

I must say it looked bright and cheerful, just what I needed after the few weeks I had been through. We had kept in touch by phone and, that evening I rang Jerry and told him that I really loved him.

I also told him that my new bedroom, with its brighter look, was waiting for him. He told me not to hang around but come and visit him on the weekend, he would organise a room for me on the Friday night and told me what hotel to go to.

I drove down to the city on Friday with a small bag which contained a couple of changes of outfits and two very sexy nighties. I checked in and was sitting in the hotel lounge when he arrived.

I half expected something to eat before we retired but he held me close and said “Your room, now, please” and we went up, undressed and made mad, passionate love. About nine we rang for room service and, after a meal, we went back to bed.

Next morning I was too sore to take any more so we showered and dressed and went down for breakfast. I asked him to show me around the university so we walked around all the places that were open on that Saturday.

We were sitting at a little café having a break when I told him about the biker, his marriage and his passing.

He was sad but then nodded, “A Viking death, way to go.”

That afternoon, as we continued the inspection tour, we bumped into one of his tutors and I was introduced as “Samantha Schurbert, my fiancée” which I thought was a bit rich as he had not properly asked me yet.

The tutor asked, “Not one from Schurbert Solar?” and I nodded.

He then looked at Jerry and said “That, my boy; is good news because I was going to see if they could take you on during the summer for your work experience. Excellent!”

As we walked away I took my hand away from his and walked a bit to one side, pretending to be miffed.

He asked, “What did I do?”

I stopped and looked at him, “It isn’t what you did, my boy, it’s what you haven’t done!”

His face was a moving picture while he tried to figure it out and then I laughed, “If you want to introduce me to people as your fiancée you’d better propose first!”

He then dropped to one knee and cried, “Samantha, my darling, will you marry me?”

To which I answered “Of course I will, doofus, now get up and take me back to bed.”

Marianne Gregory © 2022