Serendipity By Rocky

CHAPTER 11

The sun was at the uncomfortable place on the horizon where it shone directly into the windshield. George pulled the visor down and grabbed his sunglasses off of the dashboard. Sitting at the end of the block he watched the dark sedan that remained parked outside of a single story brick building. A colorful sign beside the sidewalk announced, 'Happy Times Daycare'. 'Why on earth was Stafford parked in front of a daycare, two towns away?' George wondered as he noted the name and address of the building and the time.

Ten minutes later, the banker emerged from the building holding the hand of a small boy, who he led to the car and dutifully belted into the passenger seat. This wasn't the same man who had left the bank an hour earlier, he was animated and smiling, he seemed to be talking with the child and interested in what the boy was saying to him. George watched amazed as he saw the man laugh and lean over to tousle the child's hair before starting the car and pulling out into traffic.

Keeping well back, George tailed the car to suburbs filled with neatly ordered rows of yuppie bungalows. Again he parked a block and half from where Stafford had pulled into a driveway at the end of a cul de sac. Reaching into his pocket, George extracted a stick of gum and peeled away the foil wrapper. The familiar aroma of spearmint was comforting and took the edge off the hunger he was feeling.

The child hopped out of the car first, skipping up to the front door of the house to meet a young dark haired woman who had come out to greet him. The woman bent and scooped the boy waiting for Carson to follow up the walk to the door. The banker's whole countenance had changed, looking younger without his usual sober frown; he was smiling as he met up with the young woman and the boy. When Stafford hugged the pair to his chest and kissed the woman, George nearly swallowed his gum.

Fumbling one hand over the seat to find his cell phone, George quickly glanced down to dial the number and then back up, watching the family walk into their home… "Hey Murray." He said into the phone, busily scribbling down the address and description of the house.

"Hey yourself." George smiled in spite of himself when he heard Murray's voice coming back over the phone. "What's up?"

"You are not going to believe this."

"Let me guess… Hooker right?"

"Nope."

"Gambling?"

"Uh uh."

"Well I know it can't be another man."

George laughed out loud. "No definitely not another man."

Murray's voice was laughing too. "Okay, I give. I know he has to be up to something. What is it?"

"Are you sitting down?"

"Come on Georgie, quit being cute and just tell me."

"Aw… you haven't called me Georgie since college."

"George!"

"Okay… Okay." George replied with a snicker. "I suspect that Mr. Carson Stafford is a bigamist." He had to hold the phone away at the sound of Murray's receiver hitting the floor.

George waited a couple of seconds and put the phone back to his ear. "…George you still there?" Murray's voice asked.

"Yeah, still here."

"Are you sure about this?"

"I just followed him home after he picked up his kid."

"Kid?"

"Yup a little boy, looks to be about four years old. The mom is young, late twenties all tucked away in a house up here at Lorilei Park."

"Lorilei Park, shit that’s way over in the next county." Murray's voice was quiet for a moment. "Hmm… Georgie come back, there's not much more you can do up there. Bring your notes and meet me at my place, I'll make you supper."

"'Kay, see ya in about an hour or so."

"George?"

"Yeah?"

"…Any place you have to be tonight?"

George smiled and ran his thumb over the edge of the phone. "No." He said softly.

"…Good." Murray sounded relieved. "See ya" The phone went silent; George sat looking at it, waiting for his heartbeat to slow before he started the car to return to the city.

Amy turned the large envelope over in her hands. Other than her name in angular block letters nothing else was written to indicate what was in it. "This is it… What mom was looking for." She looked up into the blue eyes beside her. A feeling of melancholy swept through her whole body leaving her shaking. "Baby, I'm scared."

"Don't be." Rory pulled the smaller woman down into her lap. "What ever it is, I'm here for you." She stroked the soft golden curls on her shoulder and placed a gentle kiss at Amy's temple. "Go ahead open it."

Slowly unwinding the string from the two round red tabs, Amy opened the flap on the top of the envelope and pulled out a thick stack of papers that were bound together. A single smaller envelope was attached with a paper clip. "It looks like a contract of some sort." She frowned and handed it to Rory without even trying to read it. "You know about this stuff. What does it mean?'

"Are you sure you want me to do this?" Rory asked softly, searching the young woman's eyes. Amy just nodded and pushed herself to her feet, walking over to the window at the far side of the room.

The single bare bulb that swung from the ceiling wasn't really the best light for reading legal documents and Rory wished she had her glasses but she flipped through the first few pages trying to get the gist of the words before her. "Oh my God!" The words slipped out under her breath. Flipping through a few more pages to make certain that she was right about the contract, she looked up at her lover who stood by the window hugging herself and looking out a nothing. "Honey… What was your Mother's maiden name?"

"Ross… Why?"

"This is a Surogacy contract. Your Aunt and uncle couldn't have children so they paid a woman to carry a child to term."

"What!" Amy's gaze left the window, her eyes filled with confusion. "What has that got to do with my name on the envelope?"

Rory took a deep breath. "Your name was on the envelope because that child was you… and the woman was your mother."

"Then… then my father was…"

"Paul York."

Amy didn't say a word. She simply made a little sound like the air leaking out of a balloon and collapsed in a heap were she had stood.

"OH shit!" Rory scrambled to get herself up on her crutches hobbling over to where her lover had fallen to the floor. Throwing herself down beside her, and sliding her arm under the small woman's shoulders, she slapped lightly at her cheeks trying to bring her back around.

The green eyes flickered open to find loving blue ones looking back, they filled with tears. With a heart-rending sob, Amy buried her face in her lover's shoulder, her whole body shaking from the weight of the world. She held on to Rory, her anchor, the only solid thing left when everything in her life seemed to be spiraling away beyond her control.

Suddenly Amy was filled with a need to burrow her way into the soul of the woman holding her in a warm protective embrace. She simply had to reaffirm this fresh new love, even though part of her knew that it existed on some level as a bond older than time itself. Hungrily she captured her lover's lips and pushed her back on to the dusty floor.

"Whoa! …Are you okay?" Rory asked pulling away slightly, her voice trembling with concern.

"Need you." Amy said simply. She was so filled with emotion that the words that usually flowed freely from her lips were gone. Instead she conveyed her feelings in the most physical way possible by sucking her way down Rory's neck in sweet wet kisses, and then down to her chest as she fumbled open the buttons to clear the way.

Rory wasn't sure how to respond. When she had seen her lover collapse this wasn't the reaction she anticipated. Should she call a halt to this unexpected emotional foreplay? Warm lips had found their way to her breasts, the question shot out of her mind as the thinking organ was left bereft of the available blood supply.

Working her way back up to her lover's face, Amy teased and tasted the soft lips if the only life sustaining breath existed there. "Love you!" She mumbled between kisses, and quickly leaned back so she could pull her T-shirt off, to be dropped unceremoniously to the dusty floor.

As she gazed up with wonder, Rory could only look on in dazed amazement at the heart-stopping beauty of the half naked body above her. The dimming light from the window combined with soft yellow glow from the single light bulb gave the moment a surreal quality; the half-shadows extenuating the curves of muscles and flesh. Rory drew her eyes up over the smooth flat stomach to the full round breasts that moved gently up and down with each panting breath. "If this is what you need… then take it." She said softly, reaching up one hand to cup Amy's face.

Leaning her cheek into the warm palm, the young woman turned her head slightly and placed a tender kiss there before running the tip of her tongue up the inside of each finger. She sucked the middle finger into her mouth and slowly drew it in and out, watching the blue eyes close in rapture. Sliding the shining digit from her lips, she guided the hand down to move the wet finger in small circles over the erect tissue of one breast and then the other.

Rory's jaw dropped open as she pulled in a lung-full of air, the sheer eroticism of Amy guiding her hand over the taut nipples sent a shiver down through her arm that spread throughout her entire body. She could feel the gentle rocking of her lover where she straddled her hips, hear the soft moans that rose into the air above them. Her head fell back to the wooden floor as she released the breath with a cross between a growl and a groan.

Amy pulled the hand back up to her lips kissing each knuckle before lowering her torso down to cover the body below her. Leaning on her elbows she allowed her breasts to touch the pair that were straining up to greet them. Rocking, circling, touching before pressing her mouth down to hungry lips.

With one hand running down the velvet skin of the woman's back to clasp the firm, tight bottom, Rory cupped the other in the blond curls at the base of Amy's neck, pulling her as close as possible while exploring her mouth, lips and tongue with her kiss. A kiss that was long and hard, bruising in it's force as if they needed to weld their two souls together to be whole again. She could feel her essence passing out through her mouth into the small woman that held her heart, only to get it back; enriched and nurtured from the love it had entered and returned.

Rolling to one side, Amy eased back from the kiss to look down at her lover. She stroked the strong features, starting at the brow over the cheekbones carrying on to the firm jaw line. Marveling again at the soft smooth skin of the throat as if touching it for the very first time. The pulse under her fingertips was thrumming in time with her own. Pushing aside the collar of her blouse, her lips moved to feel the rhythm and the heat.

Overwhelmed. Yes that's what she felt. Rory couldn't process all the different reactions the assault was causing in body. Cool air hit the tingling trail that a nomadic tongue left from clavicle to swell of breast. Wandering from the hills to the rippling plains it stopped at the oasis of her navel. She realized that somehow both of her hands were now tangled in the soft curling locks, guiding the trek southward.

'Mine, mine, mine…' the mantra ticked away in Amy's head as she possessively kissed, nipped and tasted every inch of available skin and tugged aside any obstructing clothing in order to find more. She didn't want to think, only to lose herself in her own need, basking in the sensate rather than the real world. A small chorus in the back of her mind cheered the fact that her lover had taken to wearing sprint pants because of the awkwardness in dressing caused by her cast.

Pop! Pop! Pop! The sound of the snaps being pulled open reverberated, bouncing off the walls of the dusty attic. The parting fasteners revealed a familiar pair of red silk boxers. Amy glanced up and grinned.

Rory shrugged and smirked. "Hey!" She said in mocking indignation. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get briefs up over that damn foot!"

The small blonde woman dropped her head into the red silk lap, affected by a fit of giggles. "God I love you!" She managed after composing herself somewhat.

Teasing the satiny skin at the nape of her lover's neck. Rory leaned down to drop a kiss on the head that rested on her leg. "I love you too Honey." She let her fingers wander down to ride over the bumps of Amy's spine trying to ignore the ache from the feel of her warm breath on the material covering her sex. Her heart started hammering, back at a fever pitch when the younger woman buried her face back in the soft red cloth, nuzzling with her nose and tugging at the elastic waistband.

Enjoying the endorphin buzz she was getting from the musky scent of her lover, Amy felt the hips beneath her shift upwards allowing her to shift the veil away from her prize. Easing the garment off of one long leg so that it hung like a flag from the knee of the other, she surged forward to claim the soft skin of inner thigh.

As each sacred kiss ventured closer to their goal Rory felt for certain she was going to die. Every shred of patience went into a white knuckled grip on the shirttails that were gathered at her hips. Gasping like a fish out of water, she fought to remember to draw in air, as all the focus of her body converged down to a single point and the clever mouth that was leading it there.

The quiet 'Thump' of a cast hitting the wood floorboards, registered in the back of Amy's subconscious, as a knee with it's scarlet pennant moved to accommodate the breadth of her shoulders. Reaching her goal she touched and tasted with abandon the engorged flesh in its warm nest. The resulting string of four letter expletives that burst from her lover's lips surprised her almost to the point of pausing. Almost.

"Ohshitohgodohhoney… Ohfuckohfuckohfuck… Don't STOP!" Teasing lips brought her to the brink only to slow and ease back. Rory's whole world at that moment rest between her thighs. Each time the small woman brought her closer to the crest; building up the erotic tension until the tall woman was a giant bubble ready to burst at the next touch. All it took was a final sweep coursing over the sensitive tissue from bottom to top, and Rory shuddered and rose off of the floor with a joyful shriek.

Hanging on for all she was worth, Amy tagged along for the ride, drawing out the series of explosions, stopping only when she was forcibly pulled up, albeit gently, by the ears. Green eyes twinkled impishly as she looked up into the sweat washed and flushed face above her. "Mine!" She stated positively and dropped a single kiss on the dewy curls.

Laughing Rory pulled the smirking blonde into a crushing embrace. "Yes." She answered with a chuckle and kiss. "Yours!" Delivering another panting kiss to moist lips. "Forever Yours. And…" She traced kisses over to her lover's ear. "You are MINE!" She whispered with a low growl.

A warm surge of contentment swept over Amy's soul. To hell with her mother, and whatever circumstances lead to her birth. All doubt was gone. No matter what the future held, she had a place in the arms that even now held her tight.

The plug was in the tub and the water roared in to fill it sending up a fine mist of steam into the bathroom. Tugging the shirt over her head, Amy caught her reflection in the mirror. 'Oh good grief!' She thought, seeing the smudges of dirt over the bridge of her nose and on her chin. To top it all off the color of her eye had darkened to the point where she looked like she had gone at least ten seconds with Tyson. When she brought one hand up to touch the mouse she also noticed that her arms from wrist to elbow were covered in dusty grime. Starting to giggle she stepped back from the mirror so that her upper torso was visible. There wasn't ten square inches of skin that wasn't covered in dirty fingerprints. " Tsk!" She scolded herself. "No more rolling around in a dusty attic for you!"

"What was that Honey?" The Marketing exec called from the other room.

Laughing Amy stepped into the bedroom to display the evidence. "I look like a 'Grime scene' and I've all ready been dusted for prints."

Rory looked up over her glasses from her seat on the trunk at the end of the bed. She had been studying the contract and now she set it aside and chuckled. "If that’s what you look like, I'd hate to think how dirty my ass is."

"The tub will be ready in a couple more minutes. Did you find anything more in that thing?" Amy asked nodding to the bound bundle of legal papers.

"Well I can clear up one mystery for you." Long fingers flipped through the multitude of pages with ease. Finding the section she was looking for, she pointed out several lines. "This is an eleventh hour clause. What it means is that if the surrogate… in this case your mother… wanted to, she could call off the adoption and keep the baby up until the adoptive parents… your Aunt and Uncle… completed the proceedings of adoption; in other words took you home. It seems that your mom decided to evoke this option."

"So my mom decided that she wanted me more than she wanted the money."

Blue eyes looked up with a frown. "No. That's the surprising part. As near as I can see here, your Aunt and Uncle beggared themselves to pay and this contract let your mother keep the money and you."

"Huh? I don't get it."

Rory removed her glasses and set them and the contract on the bed. "Frankly neither do I. It's irresponsible to sign a document like this no matter how much you trust the other party."

"This is starting to make my head hurt. Let's get cleaned up and think about it later." Amy said, retreating back to the bathroom.

Hearing the sound of the water being shut off. The tall woman reached down to gather up her crutches when she noticed the envelope that had been attached to the document lying on the floor. It was sealed and nothing was written on it. Carefully she placed it in her teeth and followed her partner into the other room. "Mmmph!" She bent forward and let the smaller woman take the paper from her mouth.

"What's this?"

"It was clipped onto the contract, I'd feel better if you opened it."

"Okay." Amy picked up a rat-tailed comb from the back of the sink and used it as an impromptu letter opener, inside were three sheets of paper folded into each other. The first was her birth certificate complete with a tiny footprint blotted into the corner. "I can't believe that my feet were ever that small." She said with wry smile as passed the document over to Rory, who had made her seat on the hamper.

The next piece of paper appeared to be an appraisal from a jeweler for something called a 'Matched set of Nacre Gems'. Even though it was dated for more than thirty years ago, the quote was phenomenal. "I don't know what this has to do with me." She said holding out the appraisal. "I don't even know what a 'Nacre Gem' is."

"It's a rare pearl." Rory answered looking up from the certificate and taking the paper from her hand. "Wow!" Her eyes widened as she scanned it. "If these were worth that much back then imagine what they must be worth now."

"Well I don't see any pearls in this envelope so it's just an old piece of paper now." Amy shrugged and unfolded the last piece of paper. 'Certificate of Ownership' was scrolled in large letters across the top. 'This document does hereby attest that the "Soul Mate Pearls" are a family heirloom and are now the sole property of the latest heir "Amanda York".'

Anger rose like smoke over the small woman's features. As long as she could remember her mother had worn the same string of pearls only taking them off to bathe, and now she know why. "That bitch!" Her hand was shaking as she showed her lover the last paper. "My mother didn't really want me at all… She wanted the jewelry that I came with!"

She stalked across the room angrily pulling off the rest of her clothing. It wasn't until she was sitting in the tub that she started to cry.

Rory didn't know what to say, so instead she carefully refolded the papers and tucked them back in the envelope. She loathed leaving Amy alone but knew these had to be put in a safe place. Once the papers and the contract had been stashed between the mattress and the box spring, she returned to the bathroom.

A short while later found the tall woman sitting behind Amy in the tub the cast dangling over the edge. It was a cramped fit but neither was complaining. Amy lay back with her head on a damp shoulder and sighed. Tomorrow was soon enough for all the pain. Tonight they had each other.

(c) 1999 S. Day

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