The Date Trilogy (Part 8 of 8): 8. Fallout

The morning after the wedding, Tim was woken up late by a gentle tapping at his bedroom door. 

“Can I come in?”  It was his mother.

 He briefly checked he was fully covered by bedclothes before allowing his mother to enter.

“You would have slept until lunch time if I hadn’t knocked.  Did you have a good time yesterday?”

“Yes.  It was fun.”

“You seemed to be getting on very well with that bridesmaid.”

“Her name is Charlotte.”

“That’s a nice name.  She was very pretty.  You both seemed to be gone for a while.”

He shrugged nonchalantly.  Yesterday, Charlotte had ensured he had the most amazing day of his life.

“Where were you?”

Tim could see his mother was not going to let this go.  “We were in the cloakroom.”

“That’s strange, I tried there, but it was locked.  You were... did you... I mean... you were careful weren’t you?”

“Mum!”

“It is ok, I don't mind – you are growing up now.  I just want you to be safe.”

“I am not talking about this with you!”

“Could you talk to Geoff?  I am sure he would understand.”

“I am not talking to him!  He is not my dad and I don't even like him.”  Tim answered, a little sharply.

“Ok... look, just take these, just in case.”  She passed him a box of condoms.

He scowled at his mother, but took the box anyway.  She looked like she wanted to say something else, but perhaps realising she had outstayed her welcome, she left telling him to get showered and have breakfast.

Charlotte had been the only good thing about the wedding.  The best moment of his life so far had been ruined by his discovery that his mother’s partner Geoff was the father of Caitlin’s baby, and he was still having an affair with her.

He had to do something.  He couldn’t remember a time when his mother had been so happy, so it was not as simple as just telling her what he had seen.  Charlotte had witnessed the whole thing too, so she seemed the ideal person to talk it over with.

He looked for his phone and noticed the message light flashing.  It was a text.

“Hi Tim.  Sorry, but my mum made me an offer I couldn’t refuse for me to stop me seeing you.  I think she wants to make sure I stay a virgin, but that ship sailed months ago, haha.  Sorry it wasn’t to be, you are cute.  Charlie.  xxx”

Tim re-read the message to make sure he wasn’t missing something, but the meaning was plain.  He had been dumped, by text, by his girlfriend of a few hours.  He wondered what the offer was – money probably.  Maybe that was Charlotte’s plan all along.  He held back some tears, determined not to cry over the girl.

He felt a steely resolve pump through him.  At least he could make something right.  He pulled on his dressing gown and found his mother in the kitchen.  “Mum?”  He asked.

“What is the matter?”

“I need to talk to you about last night.”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather talk to Geoff?  He should be back soon.”

“It isn’t about Charlotte.  It is about Geoff.”

His mother continued drying up the crockery as he spoke.  She was wearing leggings and a long sleeved lycra top which clearly revealed both that she was not wearing a bra and that she was several months pregnant.  Tim had become used to her not wearing a bra since she had got together with Geoff, but he still found the presence of her baby bump awkward – and she always seemed to dress to show it off.  His so-called friends at school had teased him about her age and her condition.  Last week in biology, his class had watched a film showing gorillas mating and someone had loudly asked if the female was his mother.  His ears had burned with the laughter, and he had noticed even the teacher suppressed a grin.  His mother, the embarrassment.

“Go on then,” Jane prompted.

“When I was in the cloakroom, I saw something.”

She kept quiet, waiting for him to continue.

“I saw Caitlin and Geoff. They kissed, then I heard Geoff ask her about how his son was getting on – he said that Daniel is his baby.”

Tim expected his mother to start denying everything or shouting or throwing things, but she did none of those things.  Instead she just waited for more of what he had to say.

“Then she gave him a... they had oral sex, and afterwards they agreed to meet up after the honeymoon.”

“Is that it?”

“Yes.”

It was Tim’s turn to wait for his mother to react – he had hoped to let her down gently, but in the event it had all just spilled out.  It took a few seconds before she answered calmly.

“Tim, you are going to have to be grown up about this for me.  Geoff is a wonderful lover and is the father of my baby.”  She patted her stomach.  “I realised early on that if I tried to tie him down to just me, I would lose him.  I don't want to lose him.”

“But he is fucking her, mum!”  Tim braced himself for a slap for saying that, but it never came.

“He is fucking me too, and it is the best sex I ever had.  If I have to put up with him screwing someone else occasionally, then I will do.”

“But mum... he got Caitlin pregnant!”

“Drop it, Timothy.  And don't go embarrassing Geoff with any of this.”

Tim wanted to complain, but it was no use.  He would have to sort this mess out another way. 

It was as his mother turned to leave that he noticed a key hanging near the door.  It was the spare key for Kate and Caitlin’s flat and the beginnings of a plan started to form in his mind.

 ***

A week later, Tim met in the local park with Kate who was pushing Daniel in his pram.  Tim had brought along his dog Minty.

“Hello Tim, how are you?” She kissed him on the cheek. “I hope you like cheese and tomato sandwiches.”  She passed him the lunch box container.

“That’s fine thanks.  Did you have a nice honeymoon?”

“It was wonderful – sun, sea, sand and sex.  Lots of sex!  The only bad thing was when we got back, someone had sent us a couple of hate letters and pushed some dog shit through the letterbox.”

Daniel tried to look uninterested.  “Do you know who did it?”

“There is an old lady who lives opposite... Caitlin has been winding her up recently.  We think it might be her.”

Tim nodded without speaking.

“Do you want to see some pictures?  Of the honeymoon, not the dog shit.”

“Sure.”

Kate passed him her phone.  “Don't worry, I have taken off the rude ones, even though you already saw everything I have.”

“I remember... wow, you have a tattoo now?”

“Yes – do you like it?  Caitlin persuaded me.  It hurt like hell when I had it done, but now I love it.”

“What does that say under the devil thing?”

“It is a she-imp.  She is supposed to look a bit like me.  The words say ‘Born to lick cunt’.”

Tim looked again at the photograph of the tattoo.  The devil tattoo was a caricature of Kate with a long red tongue hanging from her mouth.

“It does look like you!”  Tim laughed for the first time that day.

“This seems just like old times – do you remember when we brought Minty and Max here when your mum and my dad first got together?”

“How could I forget!  I wanted to go back to the house, and you told me what I would find if I did.”

“Only now you are all grown up...  and of course there is no Max anymore.”

“Do you still miss him?”  Tim asked.

“I loved him, but he was getting old and nothing lives forever.  I suppose I just miss him when there is a gap that he should be in - like there is now.  I should be letting him off the lead and watching him chase with Minty.” Kate paused for a second, not sure if she should end her question, then continued, “Is it the same for you with your dad?”

“Yes.  Mum is so happy with your dad, but sometimes I just need to talk to someone about man-stuff, and I don't always feel comfortable talking to your dad.”

“So you called me?  I guess I should be flattered you feel you can talk to me about ‘man stuff’.  Is it about a certain bridesmaid by the name of Charlotte?  You seemed to be getting on like a house on fire at the wedding.”

“Actually it wasn’t about her – she dumped me by text the following morning.”

Kate tried to stifle a chuckle.  “That sounds like her – she led her mum a merry dance when I was with her.  I remember her nagging her mum for a dolls house and when she didn't get it I watched her throw herself off the top of her slide.  She broke her wrist, but guess what – she got a dolls house too!”

“Why did you split up with Charlotte’s mum?”

Kate looked across the park at Minty playing with another dog.  “I was stupid.  I had an affair with a friend of hers.  She caught us at it one day.”  Tim looked horrified. 

Kate continued, “What can I say.  I was young and stupid.  She kicked me out and I had to go back to my dad’s to stay and he was furious with me – he liked being a ‘granddad’ for the girls, and all that was suddenly gone.  I couldn’t sit down for a week!”

Tim paused until he realised what Kate meant, “He hit you?”

“He spanked me.  It’s ok – I was a bitch, and I needed taking down a peg or two.”

 “Did you regret cheating on Charlotte’s mum afterwards?”

“I don't think we would last, but yes, I did.”

“Would you ever cheat on Caitlin?”

“Not a chance.  She is for keeps.”

“What if she cheated on you? With someone you trusted?”

“Have you been screwing Caitlin?” She joked unconvincingly.

“No, she has been screwing...”  Tim stopped, wondering if it was really the right thing to tell her about Caitlin screwing Geoff.

Kate broke the silence.  “I know who she has been screwing, Tim.”

The wind had been taken out of his sails.  “You know? How?”

“Caitlin is bisexual –she has needs I can’t satisfy.  She makes no secret of having male lovers, and usually I get a thrust by thrust account.  I asked her who Daniel’s father is, but she wouldn’t tell me. There is only one person she would not want to tell me about screwing, and that person is my dad.”

“They are still doing it – I saw them together at the wedding.”

Kate didn't reply, choosing to watch Minty running in the distance.

“So are you going to leave her?”

“Of course not – she is for keeps remember.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Nothing.  I don't want you talking to your mum about it either.”

“I already told her.”

“What did she say?” Kate asked, a hint of anger in her voice.

“The same sort of thing as you – she loves him, but she realised that she wouldn’t be enough for him.  She doesn’t mind who he fucks as long as he comes back to her.”

At last Minty trotted back from his excursion around the park, filthy but happy.

“Are you going back now?”  Tim asked.

“I need to go into town, so I thought I would go in while Caitlin is at the gym.  This little chap keeps using up the nappies for some reason.  What about you?”

“I was going to call some friends and have a kick about.” Tim lied.

***

The coast was clear.There was no-one around the front door of the flat.  He could do nothing about the slut Caitlin, but he could at least make life difficult for her.  The hate letters and the dog shit had been a start, but since he had found Kate’s spare key that Geoff kept for emergencies, Tim could have some real fun at Caitlin’s expense.  He felt the old fashioned key in his pocket, and traced his finger the chain which attached it to an old lighter.

Tim let himself into the flat which was, as expected, empty.  He realised that he had no plan now he had let himself in.  He looked at some laundry hanging on a clothes rack – it contained various items of underwear. He was unable to stop himself investigating an extremely skimpy thong, and briefly imagining it being worn by Kate.  He slipped the underwear into his pocket for later. 

He sighed.  This was not turning into the vandalism act of the century.  He could just start smashing things, but that would make a noise and was it really going to be fun?  He looked around for inspiration and saw some bottles of spirits and realised he could make the place stink if he emptied them over the carpets.

He undid the stoppers on two nearly full bottles and sloshed the contents around the flat.When they were empty, he opened a third and happily tipped it over the remaining underwear.

“Having a little party are you?”  Caitlin asked calmly from the front door.

Tim span around, dropping the bottle and hearing it smash at his feet.

“I suppose the dog shit mystery is now solved.  You are quite the master criminal aren’t you?”  Caitlin advanced slowly towards him, looking like she was going to kill him.

“So what is all this about?  You don't like Kate, or is it me?”

“It is you, bitch.  You have been fucking Geoff.  I saw you, at the wedding!”  Tim sounded like he was almost in tears.  “He is supposed to be with my mum, and you are supposed to be with Kate!”

“So you thought you would fling a bit of dog shit and some booze around my house.”  She was still advancing slowly on him, cutting him off from the front door.  “So what are you going to do about it?  A bit of bribery perhaps – do you want money... or maybe a piece of what Geoff had...” she unzipped her tracksuit top to reveal some cleavage, still walking slowly towards him.

“Keep back!”  Tim shouted, realising he had the lighter attached to the house key in his hand. 

“You don't have the balls.  Just like your dad.  Jane told me what a flop he was in bed.”

“Stop it!”  He had lit the flame on the lighter without realising it.

“She told me how he used to grunt away on her for 30 seconds and then leave her to sleep in the wet patch.”

“I’ll do it!”  His hand was shaking, making the lighter flame flicker.  Caitlin was nearly close enough to grab the lighter.

“She said she was glad your dad died because at least then she could find a real man to screw her!”

Tim saw her hand make a swipe for the lighter, he moved but in the struggle the lighter dropped to the floor.  The moment it landed there was a muffled noise as the alcohol soaked into the carpet igniting, blowing them both off their feet.

Tim’s ears were ringing and it felt like he had lost his eyebrows. 

“Fucking idiot!”  He heard Caitlin shout.  There were flames leaping up around them, black smoke quickly starting to fill the upper part of the room.

Tim felt her hands at his t-shirt, pulling him to his feet.  “The door is blocked – head for the window.”

“I’m sorry!”

“Save it for later – we need to get out!”

Between them, they managed to pull the old sash window open.  The flat was on the first floor.

“Lower yourself down as far as you can, then drop.  You should be ok.”Caitlin Instructed.

Tim didn't need telling twice and carefully backed out through the open window until he was hanging by his fingertips onto the window ledge, then dropped.

Caitlin had a few seconds to wait for Tim – she could maybe save something while she waited for him.  She peered through the smoke.There was some jewellery in the drawer not far away.  Her favourite handbag was probably in reach.  Then she saw Kate’s battered tablet computer – the pictures on that thing meant everything to her wife.  She managed to get to it, but once it was in her hands, things on the opposite wall starting to explode, multiplying the intensity of the flames and the black smoke.

Tim waited in the rear gardens, watching the window for Caitlin to make her escape. He waited an eternity, and watched in horror as a ball of flame briefly shot out of the window.  Finally he saw Caitlin bundle out of the window with none of the care that he had taken, landing heavily on the grass in front of him.

“Caitlin!” he shouted.

There was no response – she laid still, face down.  “Caitlin! Please don't be dead.” He shouted, panic in his voice.

He rushed over to her.  She was completely still.

His heart racing, he tried to think.  He had done this stuff at school with a plastic dummy.  ‘CPR!’ he told himself.  He dragged her so that she was face up – there was an ugly cut in her hairline oozing blood and below her nostrils was blackened with soot from the fire.

He thought back to his first aid class – it had to have been three years ago that he did it – it was when his dad was still alive.  What did he do?  He could remember laughing with his friends at the female plastic mannequin’s nipples. The memory sparked an answer - chest compressions.

Caitlin had already started to unzip her tracksuit top while she was trying to distract him from the lighter.  He pulled the zip the rest of the way down and pushed the garment away from her chest.  He found where her breast bone was and counted two fingers up, and placed his hands together at that point between Caitlin’s beautiful bosoms, ready to begin.  He hesitated.  This was nothing like practicing on a plastic dummy.  Caitlin was warm and soft and he could feel her heartbeat under his hands.

The wonderful realisation that she wasn’t dead suddenly rushed over him.  He pressed his ear to her breast and he listened to her slow, steady heartbeat and the reassuring rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

“Caitlin, you are going to be ok.” He tried to reassure the unconscious woman.  There were sirens drawing closer at the front of the building.  He could either face the music now, or let things calm down a little. 

Deciding on the latter, he pulled Caitlin into a makeshift recovery position, then ran.

***

Kate smiled to herself as she pushed Daniel’s pushchair, laden with bags of shopping, the last few hundred metres towards her house.  Caitlin would probably be back by now – she could still hardly believe they were actually married.  The thought of seeing her new wife again after a whole three hours apart still brought a tingle to her the bottom of her stomach.

She rounded the last corner towards their flat, but stopped dead.  A police car was outside the flat and black smoke poured from the first floor windows.  She ran to a policewoman nearby.

“Stay back ma’am, the fire brigade has not arrived yet and the place is dangerous.”

“But it is my house.  My partner is in there!” 

“You think there is someone inside?”

Kate did not stop to answer the policewoman.  Instead, she left Daniel with her and dashed for the communal front door.  She used her key to open it and headed up the stairs to her flat.

“Caitlin!”

There was no answer, but the hallway was filling with smoke.  She fumbled with her key and opened the door to her flat.  Flames leapt from the furniture just a few feet away.

“Caitlin!”

There was a creaking noise and the door frame collapsed around her in a shower of sparks.  Something hit Kate hard on the head and the room went black.

***

Caitlin’s hand was still shaking as she sipped the whisky Geoff had just poured her.  She had swapped her soot blackened clothes for some ill fitting ones of Jane’s.  It was dark outside, but they had only just returned from the hospital.

“You should have stayed at the hospital.  You have inhaled some smoke and you might have concussion.”  Geoff said quietly.

“I hate those places.  I watched my dad die in one,” she replied, “and I want them to concentrate on Kate, not me.”

“She will be fine – Kate is a fighter.”  Jane soothed.

“You heard the doctor – she is in a coma thanks to your charming son.  They don't know how long it will be before she wakes up.”

Jane put her hand on Caitlin’s.  “It will be fine.  Tim will come back as soon as he gets hungry.  Kate will be up and about in a few days time, and we can start sorting everything out.  You said you have insurance – you can get all new things.”

Caitlin bit back some more words about Tim. 

“Are you sure Tim was responsible?”  Jane asked, trying not to sound too concerned.

“It was him.  I caught him sloshing some vodka around the place.  He lit the lighter and dropped it on the alcohol.  The place went up really quickly.”

“But he was ok – not burned or anything?”

“He was fine – the last time I saw him, he was climbing down from the window ahead of me.”  Caitlin drained the glass and realised how tired she was.

“I better go to bed.  Shall I go in the nursery?”

“You shouldn’t be alone tonight, and I don't think there is any need to pretend anymore.” Jane replied.

Caitlin looked up at her, “What do you mean?”

“You have been sleeping with Geoff.  You can go in our bed with him – I can go in Tim’s room.”

There was a silence for a few moments while Geoff and Caitlin took this in. 

Geoff finally spoke.  “We have all had a bad day – none of us should be alone tonight.  We can all fit in our bed.”

Apart from some of her husband’s seedy DVDs, Jane had never watched anyone else make love before and had expected it to be something she had to endure.  Instead she found the experience an intense one.  Some parts were familiar, like the moment Geoff had first entered Caitlin and she could see that oh so familiar feeling she had every time on the girl’s face, but other moments, such as when Caitlin went on top and seemingly took control of the lovemaking, were completely alien to her.  It was beautiful.  She watched Caitlin’s legs wrap around Geoff’s backside, pulling him into her.  The experience was making Jane wet, and she stroked herself gently, feeling her baby kick within her.  Jane’s only moment of jealousy was when Caitlin climaxed and she wished it was her in her rival’s place.

With the coupling complete, there was an awkward moment of silence broken by the heavy breathing of recent sexual intercourse.  The moment passed when baby Daniel started crying in the next room.

“I will get him.”  Jane said, leaving the bed to Geoff and Caitlin.

There was a silence until Caitlin finally asked, “What are we going to do about that little fucker Tim?”

“If he comes back, we call the police and make sure he gets sent to prison for as long as possible.  If he doesn’t come back, I can think of only one or two ways for a 14 year old boy to survive on the streets... so I say we let him enjoy that lifestyle for a while.  If he comes back, we switch back to plan A and get him sent to prison.”

“Jane isn’t going to like it.”

“He put my daughter in a coma, and left you for dead.  It isn’t up to Jane.”

Jane returned a few moments later.  “He just wanted a little cuddle.  He is asleep again now.”

Caitlin smiled and pulled open the covers for Jane to step back into the bed.  She admired Jane’s boobs through her flimsy night dress.

“Kate and I both really like your breasts Jane.”

“I kind of got that message.”  Jane replied a little nervously.  Caitlin leaned on her elbow, looking at the pregnant woman’s body before the covers went over.

“I think it is your turn now Jane.”

“I think Geoff may need a little more time...”

“Not with him – with me.  It is only fair.”  Caitlin brushed the strap of Jane’s night dress from her shoulder, exposing her large breast and dark nipple.

“You know I am not that way, Caitlin.” Jane said, reaching for the strap again.

Geoff interrupted her.  “Jane, you should always push yourself to try new things.”

Jane obediently left the strap where it was, and allowed Caitlin onto her, taking Jane’s nipple in her mouth.  Jane gasped as slender fingers began to explore her slick opening.

***

Three months later.

This had to be the most boring dream ever.

It was a dream mostly about nothing.  An empty space, that seemed to stay empty for an eternity.

Sometimes things did happen – every so often she was joined in her dream by people she knew.  Their faces were a bit blurry and whilst she could hear their voices, but could rarely follow what people were saying.  A lot could be inferred from the way they were speaking. 

When her dad appeared in her dream, he seemed to want to read the paper aloud to her, but sometimes his voice would crack halfway through what he was saying.  Jane would be there with him sometimes, and she would sound happy but then just start randomly crying.

Caitlin would talk about Danny.  The words seemed to be in some weird fuzzy language, but Kate could tell her wife was proud of their son.  Sometimes Caitlin would try showing her old pictures from her tablet.  She couldn’t actually see the pictures, but she happily remembered each one.

Tim only visited her dream once.  Weirdly for a dream she could smell him – a strange mixture of sweat, condoms and cheap aftershave.  He seemed really sorry about something, but he was cut short by a man she didn't know telling him to get a move on.

Dreams were best when they involved sex, but at the very least they should make sense. 

One day her dad and Caitlin visited her dream together.  There were the usual fuzzy mixture of words and sadness.

“... so I am pregnant again.” Caitlin finished - the words suddenly clear.  For the first time in this stupid dream, Kate was feeling some excitement at being a mum again.

“She moved!  I saw her eyes flicker when I said I was pregnant!”  Caitlin shouted.

“We discussed how involuntary movements can happen in coma patients Mrs O’Brien.”

“So the first time she moves coincidentally happens to be when I tell her I am pregnant again?” Caitlin replied angrily.

“Coincidentally, yes.”

Caitlin started talking to her almost too fast to follow what she was saying.  “Jane is outside.  She is huge now... she is going to have a girl.  It will be someone for Danny to play with...  He really missed you love... he needs his other mum... Please Kate, move or do something... they want to switch your machine off...”

A moment of realisation came to Kate. 

“I am here!  I am ok!” she shouted silently.

They couldn’t hear her.

Kate’s dream changed.  She is next to the hospital bed, standing unseen next to Caitlin and her dad. She is wearing the suit she first met Kate in.  She sees herself laying inert on the bed, deathly pale, her head bandaged and connected by tubes to a machine.

She realises she is unconscious in a hospital bed and was surrounded by her loved ones. 

“For gods sake, don't do it... I am here... I am ok!” she shrieked.

Her dog Max was at her side and looked up at her with his intelligent eyes.

The machine is beeping and whirring.  The Doctor explains to Caitlin and her dad where the switch is.

Kate watches her dad bend over her.  “I love you.” Geoff says and kisses her forehead.

“I cant do it – I cant switch her off!  Please can we give her a bit longer?”  Caitlin weeps.

Geoff says something to Caitlin about it being a release for Kate...

Caitlin bends forward and kisses her on the lips.  She can feel her hand on her breast, reminding her of her touch one last time.

“Just do something... please...”  Caitlin begs.  Kate helplessly rages at them, but they hear nothing.

“It’s time.”  Geoff says.

Kate hears the click of a switch, and the machine next to her stops making a noise.  Caitlin sobs onto his shoulder.

Her dad was right.  It was time now.

“I guess it is time for us to go Max,” she says, fluffing his ears in the way he always loved.  He wags his tail, ready for their walk together into the distance.