Two's Company, Three's… Ch. 04

“So, are we staying tonight?” Amy repeated Beth’s question of a few minutes earlier.

“You said you had college in the morning?” queried Beth.

Amy thought for a moment. “My first class isn’t until eleven.”

I nodded. “We can easily make it back for that if you two lazybones don’t sleep in.”

“Hey,” protested Beth, punching me playfully.

“Settled then,” I decided. “So what shall we do next?”

“There’s one thing I’m really looking forward to trying when we move in,” Beth said wistfully.

“What’s that?” I wondered.

“That bath.” The look on her face held anticipation, with just a hint that she was thinking of something risqué. “It’s the perfect size for all three of us.”

“Hmm,” I mused, looking round the kitchen. What looked like a central heating programmer was mounted above one worktop, and I moved closer to examine the controls. “I think…”

I pressed buttons, checked the display again, and I was rewarded with the distant whir of a pump coming to life. “I think you got your wish, Beth. Probably it’ll be an hour or so for the water to be really hot.”

She leaned over to kiss me hard on the lips. “I knew there was a reason I married you.”

“Apart from that you couldn’t keep your hands off me in college?” I teased.

“Well, that too,” Beth admitted with a grin.

“We could probably do with finding something to eat,” Amy ventured. “Those chicken nuggets seem like a long time ago.”

I tried not to look too smug. “Actually I have an idea about that too.”

I reached over to the counter. “This was on the hall floor when we came in.”

“Mm, I love Chinese,” nodded Amy. “But will they deliver, this far out of town?”

“Someone came out here to push the leaflet through the letterbox,” I pointed out. “I’ll give them a call and see. What does everyone want?”

When we’d all decided, I went into the hall to phone. “They’re fine to deliver when we order for three of us,” I reported when I returned.

“Yay!” grinned Amy.

Beth glanced at me, a smile playing over her lips. “While you were phoning, Amy and I decided that you could be the one to get dressed again so you can open the door to the delivery guy — we’ll just stay out of sight till he’s gone.”

“I know the perfect place,” Amy’s voice came from the other end of the kitchen. “Look.”

Past the utility room was the conservatory, and I was surprised to see a set of wicker furniture — two-seater sofa with slightly faded cushions, a couple of easy chairs. “They must not have wanted to take it with them when they moved out,” Beth ventured.

“This is ours, Beth,” Amy chuckled, claiming a seat on the sofa. Beth joined her, and I pretended to scowl at them. “Fair enough. Anyway, I have to go and find my clothes — or enough of them not to shock the takeaway guy.”

I retrieved my shirt, jeans, deciding that’d do, and made my way back to the conservatory. “Tim,” Amy began, looking comfortable as she leaned against Beth. “Can I ask you and Beth something? You don’t have to answer if it’s private.”

“You can ask anything,” Beth reassured.

“Well, I wondered why you decided that Tim should have — you know, the snip, is it called?”

I looked to Beth, seeing her nod. “So… My family has a history of inherited conditions, and when Beth and I got together we took some tests. It was pretty certain that any children we had, would be at much higher risk, so we decided we just wouldn’t go that way.”

Amy’s expression showed sadness, sympathy, but she nodded. “I get it.”

“It has its compensations,” Beth threw me a soft look. “We’ve never had to bother with pills, or any of that.”

Amy managed an answering smile. “I can’t really complain about it either.”

She thought again. “So is there really nothing they’ll ever be able to do? All that research that goes on.”

Beth gave a shrug. “Well, we thought about it — we had some of Tim’s stuff frozen, it was what they recommended — but I don’t think there’s much chance.”

Amy was silent for long moments, then she spoke again, her voice quiet but clear. “If — if my genes turned out to be different –” then the rest of her words in a rush — “would it be possible for me to have a baby, for you I mean?”

A bewildering array of emotions played across Beth’s face — astonishment, a struggle to believe that Amy might be serious in her suggestion, even a hint of refusal, as though it would be too painful to hope again, now she’d come to terms with how things were, best leave them that way.

I swallowed, tried to ground the conversation a little. “Amy — that’s amazing — just that you’d consider it, I — I’m overwhelmed.” I wiped tears from the corners of my eyes. “But that’s a huge step — you’re just starting your course — you should finish your degree before you make any big decisions about your life…”

Amy nodded. “I get it.”

She glanced at Beth. “But — after next summer, I have my language year — I’d be abroad anyway — we could do it then, you could come with me, and say you adopted, nobody would know anything.”

Tears were flooding down Beth’s face now, and I did the only thing I could think of, wrapping my arms round both of them, pulling them close, Beth’s auburn hair mingling with Amy’s blonde…

Finally Beth drew out of my arms, brushed at her cheeks. “Amy — thank you — I don’t have the words… Let’s see how things go for you when you start at uni, and if it’s all working out, then maybe in the summer we can –”

Her voice broke again, and it was Amy’s turn to wrap arms around her. “OK…”

We all jumped, startled, at a loud knock on the door, and I grimaced. “Well, at least he didn’t come five minutes ago,” Amy pointed out.

I went to the door, accepting the cardboard box with our meal. “Thanks so much.”

Beth had thought to fetch the picnic set we always kept in the car, and we sat down to eat. “Spring roll, Amy?” she offered.

Amy accepted a tiny spring roll from Beth’s fingers with her lips. “Mm, this is delicious — we can definitely order from there again.”

When we’d finished eating, Beth stretched luxuriantly. “I’m looking forward to getting some sleep.”

She looked around. “I guess we can take these cushions up, crash out on the floor upstairs.”

“Oh, didn’t I say?” grinned Amy. “There’s a double bed in one of the spare rooms, I looked in while Tim was on the phone to the estate agent. Something else I guess they didn’t want to take with them.”

“And we have that big picnic blanket, don’t we,” I ventured.

Beth smiled. “Sounds like we can make things quite cosy tonight, after all.”

She got to her feet, glancing at Amy. “Think that bath’ll be ready for us now?”

“What about me?” I mock-protested.

“Maybe we can leave some room for you, too,” Amy chuckled.

We made our way upstairs, and Amy looked thoughtfully at the sunken bathtub. “Oh — it has seats built in, too.”

Beth opened cupboards, drawers. “There are even a couple of towels. And I’m sure they can’t have meant to leave this — it was right at the back of the drawer.”

In her hand she held a small bottle of what looked like very expensive bath oil. “Wow,” I nodded. “Definitely make the most of that.”

I set water running, seeing steam rise reassuringly as the bath filled. Beth tipped a little of the oil in, and the room filled with a delicious fragrance. “Mmm.”

She glanced at me. “Haven’t you forgotten something?”

I quickly shed my clothes, leaning to swish the water with my fingers, and my fingers brushed across another chrome fitting I’d not noticed before. “Hmm, wonder what this does?”

I turned it carefully, hearing the note of the water from the taps changing. “Oo,” grinned Amy, “bubbles and everything.”

She dipped her toe in the water, then stepped into the tub, settling onto one of the padded bench seats. “Oh, this feels amazing.”

“Last one in –” teased Beth, sitting opposite Amy, and I was left to take the seat at right angles to both of them, stretching out my legs as I let the water cover me to my neck. “Mm, that bath stuff makes everything just a little bit slippery, doesn’t it.”

“We’re counting on it,” chuckled Beth. “Imagine how our skin will feel when you get both of us into that bed afterwards.”

“I had in mind a little sooner than that,” I teased, moving closer to kiss her, my hands starting to stroke her under the water.

“Ohh…” she murmured, “yes, don’t stop…”

I caressed her breasts, the oil helping my fingertips slide over her nipples. “Do you think if we were careful, we could…?” I hinted.

“Oh — yes — please –”

She leaned back, and I moved between her thighs, my tip finding her centre. I pressed into her, my hands on her breasts again, and Beth moaned softly. “Mm… I’d have bought the house just for this,” I murmured.

I began to move in her, and she gasped. “Oh — whenever you want — don’t wait for me –”

I chuckled. “Not that you’re counting on my mouth, or Amy’s, when we finally make it to the bed…”

I moved more insistently, already feeling the sensation start to build that I knew would end in my release. “Oh — Beth, darling, I’m –”

I tipped over the edge, and as I thrust hard into her, a little water spilled over the edge of the bath onto the tiled surround. “Oops.”

Beth’s face held calm satisfaction. “It’ll mop up,” she chuckled. “You OK, Amy?”

I turned to look at Amy, her expression distracted. “Mmm — where the bubbles come out, it’s under the seat here, and it feels really nice, just not quite enough to…”

Beth grinned at me. “Come on, Tim. Sounds like Amy needs you more than I do, for the moment at least.”

Reluctantly I got to my feet, reached for a towel. I dried Beth, the oil still on her skin making it shine, then patted Amy dry. “Show us where the bed is?”

Beth had brought the picnic blanket upstairs, and I carried it folded over my arm as we followed Amy across the landing, then along to the nearer of the two guest rooms. “Wow,” nodded Beth, “it looks perfect.”

She sprawled on her back. “Come on, Amy — I want to see what it’s like to touch one another, my skin feels so silky…”

“And when we really can’t wait any longer, Tim can do what he’s best at,” chuckled Amy, going into Beth’s open arms.