The Pointless Pleasure of Sex 03

The Pointless Pleasure of Sex Part Three

An Unexpected Reappearance

EMMA

James Connelly was New Zealand CEO of Cuthberts Aerospace. After divorcing his first wife, Emma, he had married Siobhan O'Doherty, a New Zealander of Irish descent. Siobhan came from a good family but suffered a hypersexuality condition from an early age which caused her to be estranged from her family for a number of years. She was a solo parent with one son, Mason, and although struggling with her condition had returned to her home city of Christchurch and had worked herself back to respectability as Dean in the Environmental Department of Canterbury University. She met James through her brother Adrian who as well as James' best friend had married James' sister Cynthia, or Cyn as she was known.

Against all odds the strength of the marriage between James and Siobhan had managed to largely overcome the temptations and social triggers that could cause Siobhan to revert to impulsive sexual behaviour and through the highs and lows of their relationship Siobhan was now pregnant with their second child.

It was shortly after the announcement of the pregnancy when late in the evening James received a telephone call which would change all their lives. Siobhan watched as James paced the room, his face first registering surprise followed by horror. As he put down the phone Siobhan looked at him questioningly.

"That was Emma's parents from Auckland. Emma is back living with them. She has terminal cancer and she has a son. They claim it is mine and his name is James as well."

The shock of the statement left Siobhan wide eyed, her mouth was moving but she did not know what to say.

James continued, "she is dying apparently and has only months to live. She is hoping that we can adopt him."

"But you never knew she had a child," Siobhan angrily retorted.

"It never came up in the divorce proceedings. Surely, they would have advised me unless they thought it was someone else's. I will be getting a DNA test of course."

"Well, she has a nerve, if you ask me. Why can't Emma's parents take the child."

"They are quite old and the mother is unwell apparently."

"Where is Nicola in all this?"

"I haven't a clue. They must have split."

"I suppose that's not surprising. If it is yours, they may have known before they left. Maybe that was the plan."

"I would not put it past Nicola to dream that up."

James continued "Any way they want to come down and introduce us to the child. I said once we have the DNA results that can be arranged. To be reasonable I will have to, I guess, but I really do not want to see Emma."

James was angry about this twist of events. He undertook a DNA test and the two were matched up. The boy was indeed James. He naturally spent a lot of time thinking about the past in the intervening period.

He was surprised he felt so little for Emma herself. He had been through the process of grief long ago and no longer thought about her. She had been quite a different person than Siobhan, so much so that he felt embarrassed that he had ever married her. For Siobhan it had been a hard road to discover love, to Emma it just seemed to come easily. Siobhan had a matter-of-fact attitude and values mattered to her. It had been part of coming to grips with her past. She clung on to ethics and morals as an antidote to the lack of them in her youth.

Despite Emma's obvious intellectual intelligence and her profession, she had a paradoxical emotional side that seemed to cancel her logical brain. Good sense was eclipsed by her heart.

What rankled James more than anything else was betrayal and injustice, not so much by Emma but Nicola. He had loved Emma and he tended to excuse her actions. He had lost her because of his work commitments allowing interference in their marriage by Nicola. The issue of his son, that he never knew, confused him more. His initial anger turned to curiosity as he discussed it with Siobhan.

After her own initial anger, for Siobhan there was some serious amusement in the way Emma had behaved and now turned up. She did not feel jealous over it. She felt she had come to understand James very well. They seemed to be kindred spirits and their day-to-day interests meshed whereas Emma had altered her interests to please James. So, Siobhan was not threatened by this appearance, just curious, as was James, but for different reasons. She was intrigued about the son, little James.

Having got over her depression Siobhan's maternal instincts had blossomed and despite the possible risks of the second pregnancy. She warmed to the thought of having one more child than they planned with the addition of little James. As a mother Siobhan was also genuinely sorry for Emma for the trauma of the cancer that will stop her from enjoying her child grow up to an adult. Siobhan saw a parallel in her hypersexuality being a metaphorical cancer of her own and even now she was not in full remission. As a result, she imagined Emma as a kindred spirit.

Following the results of the positive DNA test an arrangement was made for Emma, her parents and little James to fly down to Christchurch. Emma was the one to phone this time and confirmed that Nicola had abandoned her and the baby years ago and she was now a fully-fledged single mother. She had struggled with the baby but had been afraid to contact James for help. When she heard that James was getting married, she did not want to interfere and gave up on help from him.

James was struck by the weakness in Emma's voice which further softened the anger he first had when he heard about her reappearance. Emma became emotional saying that little James was super excited to meet his new Family. Although Emma called her son James, they all agreed that they would call little James, Jimmy so as not to confuse him with his dad. Little James was happy with name change as he did not like being called 'little' anyway.

James and Siobhan agreed to having them come down and it was arranged that they should visit them at James and Siobhan's Christchurch lifestyle property in Tai Tapu. Even so this was being done with some trepidation for James. His thoughts were for Siobhan but she seemed to be taking it in her stride, even enthusiastic about Jimmy potentially becoming part of the family. Siobhan's attitude did much to ameliorate James' initial resistance to the idea. There was much discussion on video link about what they would do. Siobhan also took to chatting with Emma privately as they had never previously met.

Emma's group checked into a hotel in Christchurch, picked up a rental car and travelled out to Tai Tapu to meet the family. There was a great deal of family curiosity so to meet them gathered quite a crowd. Both Siobhan's and James' parents were there as well as Adrian and Cyn with their own child, Saoirse who they named after Adrian's Irish aunt. Also present were James' other siblings with their children.

The Tai Tapu block was carved from a once a large country estate. Their house was a picture of architectural elegance; two white planes landed on boxes of crystalline glass. The front plane extended out cantilevering over a wide deck area on the north side. The glazing reflected over an infinity pool and a large cut lawn sloped down to a stream where there was a summer house and deck shaded by a small grove of outlandish spiky cabbage trees. The south side cantilever was an entrance porte cochere through which you could see through to the other side of the transparent house. At any time, the transparent glass could be converted electronically to opaque.

The entrance addressed an almost paradoxical old worldly courtyard surrounded in gated creeper clad walls with garages alongside matching the house. At the rear a large thick grove of textured trees hovered above dense lower vegetation. There was a small cottage there in the transparent house style surrounded by tree ferns and nikau palms with a fernery and garden shed to the rear. The whole complex was electronically controlled and monitored.

James had a pizza oven set up with a fire pit serving as a conversation area by the pool and in view of the number of younger family members they opted for Pizza along with the drinks for the welcome party. They had determined that no matter what anybody thought about Emma, as she was dying, they would make her and her family welcome. They wanted Jimmy to feel part of a big family. A large welcome banner for Jimmy was spread above the entrance.

As Emma's rental car pulled up under the porte cochere the younger family members rushed to see their new cousin. Jimmy was the spitting image of James at that age so there was no doubt whose son he was, at the outset. The children overwhelmed him and ran him through the house to the deck on the other side.

Emma was pale and gaunt. She had a double mastectomy and had lost what curves she had and her hair was short as a result of earlier chemo treatment. They had thought the cancer had been beaten but it reemerged spreading elsewhere. She had just completed a new round of treatment and there appeared signs of a remission. This treatment was new and still experimental. Without this treatment the doctors had given her life expectancy three months on the outside so fingers were crossed about the new treatment's success. Baring a miracle her life expectancy would probably still be limited but she would have more time with her son.

It was arranged that the others would go home early and that Emma's family would stay and would then discuss the situation and the future with James and Siobhan.

As her parents were now retired, they were prepared with Emma and Jimmy to move to Christchurch. They were hoping to rent a house somewhere reasonably close to Tai Tapu for Jimmy to adjust and get to know the family, especially his stepsister Fleur and Mason.

James' emotions were mixed about the whole thing. He would have been reluctant to accept them moving nearby earlier but Siobhan was relaxed about it and both she and James were now in a good place as husband and wife. The sight of Emma had awakened the compassion in him and he realised he still had some love for her other than the indifference he had assumed. He did not feel hatred and could see no possible threat to the impregnable fortress that James and Siobhan's marriage now was.

Then there was Jimmy. He was cute and had immediately endeared himself to family. He knew who James was, James was his daddy, but all the same Jimmy was shy with him. James knew it would take some work but was immediately determined to be a proper dad for him.

*******

EMMAS STORY

As time passed, the idea of renting a house nearby in Lincoln prevailed. Jimmy was then enrolled in Mason's School and Mason rapidly became Jimmys best buddy and was wanting to spend all his time at the Tai Tapu house. Siobhan also got on well with Emma. Any discussion on what had happened with Emma and Nicola was off limits in the early days and was left to Emma to initiate. James elected to stifle his curiosity for the time being, not wanting to affect Jimmy if things became emotional. It was clear it was a subject that would have to be approached at some future time to fully understand the situation they now found themselves all in.

Surprising James, Siobhan floated the idea of Emma moving in with them. Earlier Siobhan would not have considered it but once she had met Emma and Jimmy, she thought they could at least trial it and it would help Jimmy in getting to know his father.

James was nervous about having his ex-wife living in the house with them. With Emma his emotions were mixed. Alongside his compassion for her there was still a great deal of buried resentment over her betrayal which could surface. He wondered how Emma's presence might interfere with his relationship with Siobhan. He was deeply afraid she could work herself between them.

On the plus side he was also getting used to the idea of having a bona fide son. There might be a risk of them falling out, but Siobhan was getting on so well with Emma. As well as being a companion, Emma was helping with child-minding duties and housework when she was able.

With Siobhan's pregnancy and their busy professional lives, it was convenient to have such a surrogate mum. James marvelled that Siobhan showed no jealousy at all but he imagined that she would not tolerate anything untoward. Siobhan was the dominant one in the relationship with Emma and history seemed to show if things remained that way it would amicably suit both Emma and her.

Despite James misgivings, they decided to give Emma moving in a try, but before committing to it, there had to be a full disclosure by all to the background of their relationships. Siobhan had hinted to Emma that her background had some problems and suggested that they should share their backgrounds to develop a level of trust between them. Siobhan was blunt, stating that when Emma had left James, she had wilfully lied to and betrayed him in the worst possible way. It was only natural that it would not be easy for him. James agreed with Siobhan's point of view that none of them were perfect so if it was going to work, they needed to lay out their histories in full to understand one another. A night was set up for the full disclosure.

After dinner and all the children had been put to bed James, Siobhan and Emma settled into the intimate surrounds of the house conversation pit. In front of them a gas driven faux log fire flickered while behind them the twinkling lights of Christchurch could be made out through the floor to ceiling glazing. The atmosphere was warm and relaxed as they sipped their wine.

Siobhan began by telling of her battles with hypersexuality and how she and James had come to terms with it. Emma took it all in but apart from showing some sympathy, asked no questions. It just did not seem to faze her. James wondered at this lack of reaction but eventually Emma's tale went a long way to explain and understand where there would never be much that would shock Emma.

Coming to Emma's turn she began with their split and explained her life chronologically.

She commenced," First I would like to say I profoundly regret my actions. I simply left the home we had built for ourselves and abandoned James and everything we had. It was as though I was possessed and I cannot explain why. I erased my life and created this new hell, I just set sail into the abyss without knowing where I was going. I threw my all in with Nicola believing she would look after me but, in the end, she never really cared for me at all, in fact I am sure she secretly hated me as she hated James. I have no explanation why I did all those terrible things."

Her statement stunned Siobhan and James.

Siobhan was the first to reply, "Did you think that life would be better with Nicola than with James?"

"No, I didn't think that way. I certainly thought that life would be happier and more exciting."

"So, you did it for pleasure."

"That and love.... Blind love, I suppose,"

James questioned her on that. "Surely, that is something you could control."

Emma replied, "But love is not something you can control. If you are in love it is meant to be. Or so I believed."

Siobhan questioned that, "So you no longer believe that."

"I don't know what to believe. I looked up to her and just felt a compulsion to obey her every whim."

Siobhan continued her line of question, "why Nicola and why Nicola over James?"

"There initially was just an attraction; she was fun to be with and listened to all my problems. James was not very available at that time; the project took all his time. To me Nicola had an equally demanding job but she was always there for me. She was always talking herself up. The last couple of CEOs in the company had previously moved up from Chief Financial Officers. She thought the business was in trouble and thought she could deal with it. She thought James had fallen from grace and was being shoved out into the R & D area with no real future with the firm. Nicola presented herself as offering me a future where she was going to be my Queen in shining armour to lift me out of my marital loneliness."

Siobhan stepped in, "you obviously know this now but you were not fully committed to James like I am. Otherwise, you would have blocked those feelings of attraction toward Nicola. In the past, I suppose I was used to suppressing any romantic feelings. With my issues I never thought a romantic relationship was possible. I Thought it would always end in heartbreak, I would inevitably cheat and destroy it.

Because you were in love with Nicola you withdrew your trust and loyalty to James and transferred them to Nicola. You believed her when she said she was superior to James and you put her at the top of your tree. James has always been at the top of my tree but perhaps I understand him more. Perhaps James and I have more in common." This was brutal but true, she was deliberately laying the foundation for what Emma would have to accept if she moved in. Emma seemed to take this in silent agreement, staring forlornly but not disagreeing as Siobhan spoke.

Siobahn continued as James nodded, "the main thing James and I share is values. Perhaps it was my prejudice but I never thought a business man of his stature would share my values. But most of all he gave me what I needed and that was compassion. You see, Nicola would see empathy and compassion as weaknesses to be exploited. James' mistake was that he thought that if he gave empathy and compassion he would be rewarded with trust. But do you know he has never fully trusted me."

Emma raised her eyes at this announcement and Siobhan went on," and you know, I don't care. Perhaps this lack of trust was borne out of his experience with Nicola and you but it has served me well. In not trusting me he helps protect me from myself. Keeping me in line has become a responsibility he shares with me. It is our problem." Siobhan emphasised the 'our.' "And he lives to solve problems, after all he is an engineer.

Nicola could never be trusted because she was determined to be the hard transactional business woman, break down that glass ceiling and be tougher than the men around her. But she treated her staff with disdain and literally abused them and that was her downfall. James may not be the hard businessman but he is an astute one and he values those that work for him and they love him for that." It was Emma's turn to nod as a silent tear trickled down her cheek.

Although he was flattered by Siobhan's burst of love and loyalty, Emma's disclosure about Nicola and how she fell in love with her depressed James. Their communication at the time of the split had not been great. "I agree, I perhaps should have put more effort into communication and your needs at the time. I took it for granted that you understood the situation and that it would take some sacrifice on your part and I trusted that you would support me on that. I suppose we never really talked it through properly.

I thought I had told you that this was a grand new initiative. It necessarily had to be secret as there were overseas investors, space agencies and military involvement. Nicola had no understanding of it. It was being financed separately from the company accounts. In that period, it was a separate company. She was not the only one who knew the company was in trouble but she mistook the reason. The reason was that our mode of manufacturing was obsolete. Our business was being overtaken by technological advances that we could not compete with. We had to come up with something completely new, it was not going to get fixed by fancy accounting.

Look at it this way, if a big-time film producer is going to create a big new movie that everyone wants to see, he doesn't go to an accountant he goes to a film director with a vision. That is exactly what we were doing: we were creating something new and it would have to be financed accordingly. The business as it was, was to be eventually absorbed into this and old systems discontinued. Nicola had no experience of accounting for such an eventuality. The financial services I was using came from our partners."

As Emma thought about this, she realised that she had provided the legal building blocks for the partnerships but was never privy to or fully understood where it was all leading. Neither did Nicola who just misled Emma for her own purposes. Nicola just viewed the grand initiative as some kind of desperate burden on the company and was bound for failure. To her it was not addressing the root cause of the decline.

But in the end, love clouds judgement, and a woman's feelings and intuition transcend logic and process. James was not giving her the emotional support Emma needed and Emma just submitted to her love with Nicola and believed her point of view.

Listening to James' explanation was now an epiphany for her. In those days she would not have fully listened or understood it and she admitted it. "I should have taken more interest in what you were doing but it did not sound very exciting to me and the way Nicola put it, the project was avoiding the true causes of the business failings. It was a distraction and would doom the business. I believed her."

She was silent for a short time and continued her story, "I suppose that's the time I transferred my trust to Nicola and ceased to be your committed partner. I still loved you though or thought I did. She had this thing where she would give me her attention, she was a very good listener and give me advice on stuff. Do you remember you said, she would listen to me and use it against us. Your remark stayed with me. Well, you were right. I understood that eventually. I spent a lot of time trying to rationalise my love for you and her and tried to fit both of you into our future but it became very clear that Nicola did not want you in our future.

I think she initially saw me divorcing you and she would dump Elise. When she began to realize that she would not be made CEO, that's when going to Australia came into the picture. When we set out to have a baby it was then her idea for me to have your baby but make it ours."

An angry James stepped in at that point. "So, you both planned to deliberately abscond to Australia and have the baby, not telling me about it."

"No, No, No. That was her idea, I never wanted it but she had a hold over me, I could not explain. I even wanted to leave a note but she would not let me. The only thing I could do was not fully clear my phone and leave that contact message. She wanted to disappear to Sydney or somewhere nobody could find us. She was a dom and I was totally submissive to her. I did not want to do any of it but in the end I could not resist. I just left everything up to her and I did not know what was going on at times."

James and Siobhan looked at one another. Siobhan nodded, uttering, "yeah I get it."

James didn't, "But she's a lawyer...." He was lost for words. This was the woman who he watched eviscerate the opposition in the hearing by the commerce commission.

Emma continued, "we got to Sydney and linked up with someone she knew of, who helped us get an apartment. I got a job pretty quickly and we settled down to a life of domestic bliss. I received a good reference from Maxwell Dow in Christchurch despite the circumstances of my dismissal and joined a legal firm they had links to.

Nicola however had trouble getting a position she would accept. She was very particular and really just ended up living off me. When we arrived, she was domineering but dropped all that Dom crap she had been subjecting me to. During my pregnancy she was good and was the perfect housewife but she linked up with a group of women. I discovered that they were mainly ex-prisoners and were a sort of gang which worried me because of my job. I gave Nic an allowance but she seemed to be able to spend more than I gave her. I know she was doing drugs; I didn't because of my pregnancy but I think she was probably dealing as well. She got more and more secretive about what she was doing. I was emotionally dependent on her because of my pregnancy and apart from work I was quite isolated. I saw nothing of the women she was socializing with.

She began to get more physical in her sex. Nothing too rough, just things like blindfolding me and tying me to the bed then stimulating me. It was nothing that would affect the baby. I enjoyed that.

The birth, thankfully, was straight forward but once I had the baby everything fell apart. We had planned that we would somehow share looking after the baby so I could continue working at least part time. That did not work out and I had to stop work. I had very little put aside because I had to pay the rent and support Nic. Nic did not like the baby once it was born and refused to help. She would just confine herself to housework. She was constantly complaining about the baby crying and that. She then decided that we could live full time on her drug dealing but we had to move out of our apartment into a sort of communal arrangement with these women she had been socializing with. The whole thing was traumatic for me but I was under her dominance, and I was lumbered with the baby. I did not feel I could reach out to anyone.

I quickly discovered these women we were living with were a sort of femdom group. They actually had a dungeon in the basement of this huge house we were in. Nic protected me from their activity for a start but she was right into it. Eventually she started introducing it to me. It might be cuffs and a ball gag. She would string me up against the wall and work on me with vibrators. I had to wear a choker at all times. It was fun for a start in that it did turn me on but then the pain started. She started using spanking paddles and a riding crop. She had a thing called a violet wand. She began using a strap on like she did in Christchurch but she was much rougher. I felt I was being punished for the baby.

I tried to reason with her about the baby. She told me it was not really their baby. She hated that I called him James. She had a crazy idea that we would somehow adopt James out and she would take me to Spain where she would get her father to fuck me so that we would have a baby of our own. I think he must have abused her in the past because she told me she knew he was a good fuck. He was called Pete the plumber when he lived on the West coast so I have no doubt he was a good fuck but I would not call it an attraction. No way was I going to do that. In the end it all blew up and she went by herself. I believed she just wanted to escape from me, the baby, the coven, the drugs and the mess her life was in.

She went to live with her father and picked up a Spanish wife who then had a baby. So, after all she was serious about that. Soon after the baby was born, I lost contact with her, she no longer messaged and blocked me. In her last message she seemed to be on the way up. Her new wife was a business woman herself and they seemed to be living the highlife, but with her father's reputation I wondered which side of the law she was operating in."

Emma then brought up an issue which underlay Nicolas's behaviour," You realise you defeated Nicola."

"I didn't Know we were in competition?"

"Of course, you must have known."

"The competition was in her own head. I was on a trajectory I had planned since school days. The firm realised my aim was for the greater good, not just position. She created a competition for herself she would never win."

"And so, she was defeated. I think taking me from you was an attempt to win at least something, but in the end all she had was not what she wanted. The ashes of a wasted life."

"Whatever, I was just trying to live my life and achieve something for the firm, no, for the world, I guess. There was no aim in my life to beat her at some game.

Well anyway, in the meanwhile I was totally up shit creek without a paddle. Luckily a new member of the group, Josie, moved into my room. Josie became utterly devoted to me and the baby. She was my pet. It enabled me to go back to part time work and support her and the baby. I had finished breastfeeding by then which made it easier. Most of the women in that big house and their hangers on were lesbian lags and tough. If I was to stay on, I was going to have to be initiated into their group. It turned out that they were a coven and were into witchcraft and the femdom was part of that. They called themselves the sewing circle. I did not realise at the time; they basically hated me because I was a lawyer. Josie was dependent on me but after Nic left I felt a gap, I needed to be dominated and I suppose the sewing circle offered that. I should have got out at that stage and I could have asked someone at work to help me but I was a loner there and besides the coven held the baby as a sort of hostage.

I just allowed myself to be sucked in.

The initiation ceremony was a complete act of naked humiliation where the entire group participated. Many of these women I had never seen before. They all wore robes with hoods, I was left completely naked. They had me tied to an x-frame and each woman was free to do whatever while I was in that position. It was supposed to be a greeting.

I was subjected to some tests for example one of these was me being suspended by an anal hook and nipple clamps while selected women came forward to French kiss me. Then they took me to the altar..." At this point Emma broke down. "I... I really, I know what we said about full disclosure but I cannot go on about any more of that. Except to say at the end of it I had my robe, which I still have somewhere."

"That started a cycle of abuse. For the first time I was taking cocaine, MDMA and then meth. I could not have handled the abuse straight. The things they did to my tits you would not believe. I suspect that it was no small part in my contracting breast cancer, especially the breast press and the nipple clamps but there was the unspeakable cruelty in just twisting, mashing and flogging. I was constantly forced to submit and tied in so many ways. I had to wear a choker the whole time when at home and was often put on a lead. I was ordered to grovel and crawl around. I had to respond to all their commands no matter how ridiculous. I had my arse manipulated so many times I had constant problems shitting. The thing I hated most was the electric shocks while wearing a bondage hood. To this day I have an intense fear of suffocation and any kind of restriction."

Siobhan and James had been in stunned silence through all this. James spoke up. "You say you hated it but you still stayed there. Surely there was something you liked about it."

"Not like, craved. There is a difference. I was punishing myself I suppose. For what I did to you, the baby and that I could not satisfy Nic. For the mess my life was in."

"Did you see a doctor at any time about all this?"

"Yes, their doctor, who kept me going and nothing else."

Emma continued, "The worst of it came when they forced me to take part in a sort of humiliation burlesque act they had going at a discrete club along the road from where we lived. There was a theatre where the public could go in small discrete groups to watch women and guys being humiliated. They were keen for me to be involved because they seemed to get off on the public watching a lawyer sexually humiliated. I was hooked on meth at this stage so I was never going to resist."

At least I had a mask on and my hair tied back when these public events happened. Hopefully nobody would have ever recognized me on the street. My act usually involved me being tied on a wooden pony or sybian and then I would be stimulated by whatever means until I orgasmed.

I didn't mind the sybian so much. I sat on this kind of saddle with the vibrating dildo up my twat and somebody would stand behind me and twiddle with my tits. There was something about that. I couldn't see the audience of course but I was conscious of them there and it really turned them on. I didn't like the pony though. That was all about pain and it could damage my cunt."

James was surprised that Emma's language became coarse as she was telling this.

"Unfortunately, they introduced a sex machine. The one they used on me had a double wand to thrust into my arse and vagina. You must know this sort of thing. It has wheels and stuff and pumps a dildo into your holes like a piston. Well, I had one pumping dildos into my arse and cunt at the same time. The third time I did the act something went astray with the wand in my vagina and it tore my guts.

Josie reckoned that somebody sabotaged the thing. I know some of the women hated me enough there and I would not have put it past them. The dildo dropped off it and a steel arm fucked my womb. I had to be rushed to hospital. At the outset nobody investigated it, the women would not have the police involved and I cannot explain why the hospital did not report it as soon as I arrived. I had to have a hysterectomy. That ended my ability to have any more children and ultimately my association with the sewing circle.

Through all this I had been a functioning drug addict and holding down my job. That is not to say it went totally unnoticed and apparently the sewing circle was under investigation for drug and trafficking.

Soon after the incident, when I was still in hospital one of the partners came to see me and he warned me about what was happening. After what they did to me and all the shit they had been doing, the cops finally came down hard on the sewing circle and of course I was a key witness. They never nailed a person who could have sabotaged the machine but I gave evidence against the sewing circle and I was put into a witness protection programme. The law firm kindly offered to get me into rehab and transfer me to a job in their Melbourne office. In fact, they transferred both Josie and me as Josie was, to all intents and purposes, my wife. I cannot believe how kind they were and I think Phillip in Maxwell Dow's office in Christchurch may have had something to do with it.

Well Josie, James and I set up a house in Melbourne and from then on things slowly became stable and normal. As for Josie I cannot speak more highly about what she did for me but although we slept in the same bed, we never had sex. I was not sexually attracted to her at all. She also came from circumstances that were quite different from me. It was inevitable that she would find someone new, someone she could have a normal lesbian relationship with and she eventually moved out.

I was diagnosed with PTSD and got decent mental health treatment in Melbourne, enough to straighten me out and become a decent mother for Jimmy. I always believed he needed a proper father but with my background I did not have the confidence to go out and meet anyone and I really had nothing to offer them. I concentrated on earning a good income and being a good mother to Jimmy.

I made a few friends in Melbourne and settled into the life of a single mother. I had kept my parents at bay until I was in Melbourne. When I was settled there, I reached out to my mother who would come and stay. Everything else was mundane until I contracted cancer. I never fully told my parents what happened in Sydney. This is the first time I have told the whole story to anyone."

Emma's last word was about her love for James. "Even though I left New Zealand with Nic I still thought I had a love for you, James. I was prevented from contacting you but I still thought that you would somehow bring me back and save me. It sustained me through my darkest days but when I began to get on my feet in Melbourne, I realised my feelings had gone and there was never any hope of you pursuing me, it was just a vain hopeful fantasy when I was going through the worst of it. So that's it, I don't think I could explain anything further than that."

James exhaled audibly at the conclusion of the tale. Both Siobhan and James were deeply affected by it, each for their own reasons. James' heart reached out to her, he felt a profound guilt that he had been complicit in her agony by not pursuing her. He felt a deep sorrow and compassion for the world she had brought onto herself but on the other hand he felt repelled as though she had been tainted by some evil.

Siobhan privately thought that 'by the grace of god go I.' She could relate to Emma's determination to straighten herself for Jimmy, for that was her motivation for Mason. She was also reminded of Beth. She had not heard from Beth for a while. Was she being drawn into the same abyss? She made a mental note to give her a call.

James tried to reach out, expressing his own guilt, he was somehow thinking he was the cause of all this but Emma cut him off. "James you don't know what my guilt was like, my guilt had me vomiting in the car on the way here for what I did to you, guilt keeps me awake, night after night infecting my dreams, its guilt from what I have done affecting Jimmy's life without a decent dad, and the guilt hits me every time when I look into his eyes and see you reflected there. He looks so much like you he constantly agonizes me"

James reacted," listen I did not mean this to be a competition, now you are hanging the victim card on me."

"I, I, I am not hanging it on you, I am the victim of m... me." Tears were streaming down Emma's face as she spoke haltingly.

Siobhan stepped in, "James, James," She whispered, "back off a little, a person may be injured and suffer trauma in an accident they caused but the fact that they caused it does not make their pain less palpable. Emma has suffered PTSD and her trauma is real. We need to be compassionate here and recognise what she has been through far outweighs any lingering resentment you feel. I think she has suffered enough."

James was surprised that Siobhan had taken her side so vehemently and it did force him to take stock of himself. Siobhan was not stupid and although she was loyal to James she was also to an extent impartial. Thinking about it he could only agree. He did not resent Siobhan's rebuke but it did alert him to the need to take command of the situation. This was not about petty revenge or punishment, they were past all that.

A silence settled on the three, all caught up in their own thoughts. Emma looked at James and Siobhan, looking for some clue to how they might now react. Siobhan and James were not outwardly disgusted, they did not condemn her or react badly but thoughtfully returned to the future, deciding that they had plenty of room for Emma to move in. They were aghast at how her nightmare and the cancerous death sentence must affect her. They asked about what mental health support she would need alongside her cancer treatment. They were lucky that the Christchurch health services could provide all the treatment she required and she would not need to travel.

******

COMING TOGETHER

Staying with them she would have plenty to do helping with the house and family and with her parents close by they could visit at any time. The cottage at the rear of the house had been intended as a B&B and it would be perfect for both Emma and Jimmy.

The acceptance into the family enabled a new lease on life for Emma and seemed to aid her cancer treatment into a remission. She was able to take part in wider family activities. Siobhan and Emma became close friends and confidants. Both had experience in the twilight zone of deviancy. Mason and Jimmy enjoyed each other's company as brothers sometimes falling out but usually as a tight two.

Something that surprised James was that Emma was an incredible doting mother and was a magnet for the children and their friends. She now kept her blonde hair in a pixie cut after it regrew following her cancer treatment. She introduced herself to Fleur as Mrs Bunny. She would partially purse her lips to emphasise her two front teeth and wriggle her nose which sent Fleur into a paroxysm of giggles.

That plus the pixie cut seemed to make her for all the world like a little bunny and the moniker Mrs Bunny stuck. The children and their friends delighted in calling her that. Emma never took it as a slight and encouraged it especially when she was in an entertaining mood. She would hold up two fingers in a peace sign and flopping one would call on her bunny power and the kids knew it was time for fun.

James took this as an indication of how much Emma had changed. When they were first married her vanity would have had this sort of behaviour beneath her dignity. James guessed that since her maternal instincts had kicked in then her 'good time girl' nature could be expressed with the children.

Her behaviour endeared her to Siobhan furthering her closeness to Emma and this extended to Siobhan opening Emma up to her world of ecology and the environment. Siobhan and James had already booked for a cruise of the Southern Ocean visiting the southern reaches of New Zealand's many southern islands and on to Antarctica; They were able to take advantage of a cancellation and include Emma. It was an intellectual something that James, Siobhan and Emma could share, a unique memorable occasion that might help erase the nightmares of the past.

It served its purpose as they absorbed themselves in the world of southern Seabirds, untouched islands with sea lions and penguins and on to the wondrous ice and snow of Antarctica. The Southern Ocean with its storms were challenging for Siobhan in her second trimester but the stoic Siobhan was in her element standing, with her baby bump, on deck with binoculars in hand pointing out each species of sea birds from Rakiura through Auckland to Campbell Islands to Antarctica itself. For Siobhan it was a life's dream to take the cruise and her enthusiasm was infectious drawing all three closer with the collective experience. It was on this cruise that Emma would from time to time fall asleep with Siobhan in her and James's cabin. It was nothing more than drifting off after whiling away time from a card game or reading. It was nothing sexual but it expanded their affection as they lay together in the close confinement of the cabin.

Three months after the cruise Siobhan had her second baby, a girl they named Celeste, the name of the keeler where they first met, completing the family unit of the two boys, Mason and Jimmy and now two girls Fleur and Celeste all living idyllically in a large house on a lifestyle property in Tai Tapu.

Celeste arrived into a happy and noisy household. Siobhan's maternal instincts were now in full force. Now there seemed to be two mothers with Emma taking to her as well, and a fair crowd of grandparents. Arriving home with the baby Siobhan could not be happier, it was unusual for Siobhan to gush, but gush she did. "She is so adorable, she makes my heart dance." Happily, this time there would be no return of the depression. Also, as Siobhan eventually came off breast feeding there seemed to be no unmanageable resurgence of her libido. Siobhan for the first time seemed to be at peace with herself.

During this period their house became the centre of a small community of wider family and close friends. In New Zealand such a family community is called a whanau. It was largely driven by the children but in particular by Emma. Emma was now in her social element, the Emma that existed when she was newly married. She regarded the house and grounds as her dreamt of entertainment place and she orchestrated events, be it concerts or simply get togethers for barbecues, pool days or croquet, whatever came to mind. James found himself behind a barbecue, a giant paella dish or in front of the pizza oven catering for grandparents and kids as well as their parents. This was heaven as Emma would have wanted it.

Emma became deeply embedded in James and Siobhan's family and Emma along with Jimmy would regularly have their early evening meal with James and Siobhan. As was their custom after Siobhan had fed Celeste, James and Emma would take Celeste, rock her and settle her back into her cot. James would play her a soft lullaby from his phone or Emma would quietly sing to her. As Celeste usually did, she settled into sleep very quickly.

But eventually Emma's cancer manifested once again and she resumed treatment for a period. This affected Siobhan as she was now extremely attached to Emma. They were so close it sparked fear in James remembering his previous experience of Nicola and Emma's lesbian affair. They were occasionally in each other's arms giggling over this and that.

When Emma took a turn for the worse, Siobhan suggested she move from the cottage into a bedroom close to theirs. As she brought it up, she detected James' discomfort with the suggestion and Siobhan convinced him that it would be for the better as she would not be left alone as she would in the cottage. She would also be a help with Celeste.

Although he remained reluctant with the idea, James came around. The spectre of lesbian betrayal haunted him. He wondered what it was about him that affected women close to him in this way. Then again perhaps all women are potential lesbians in their makeup. It was a problem, in his eyes, that had to be managed and he brought it up with Siobhan who was surprised. "There may be something in that," replied Siobhan," perhaps in this individualistic age, outside of families, many women do not want to be seen to need protection of men, in fact they have become afraid of them. As they understand one another more than they do men it is easier to commit to companionship with other women to protect them. I believe there is a spectrum in all this but most confident women would default to being heterosexual."

James was confused about her reply. James' point was about Emma and Siobhan. Was she distracting him from the issue? "Hang on Siobhan, how does what you have just said apply to you and Emma. Surely you are not afraid of me and you need Emma's protection. I'll ask straight out, are you falling in love with Emma?"

The question caught Siobhan in a bind and she reddened. It was something she had not thought of. She tried to reply without becoming angry

'Hell, James, I am not planning on fucking her, she is not turning me on that way and I am categorically not romantically in love with Emma. I cannot speak for her but perhaps there is something in what I said that applies to her. She is afraid of you, you know. She will be afraid of her feelings toward you and how you might react if she displayed them. I'll admit to our affection toward one another and I put my part down to compassion for someone who is nearing death. Perhaps there is a kind of love in that"

James thought about her reply. This was a new situation for a relationship which paradoxically accepts a lack of trust. His closing remark exhibited his wariness and the feeling that Siobhan was not being honest with herself. "OK, I accept what you say but one thing is clear. You are the alpha in the relationship. You lead. Emma follows you like a puppy dog so whatever happens is in your court."

His statement was a nuanced threat but Siobhan did not take it unkindly. She understood James' concern, after all it was her concern as well. She lightly kissed him on the cheek," I understand, darling, it's difficult for both of us. I am not sure she will be with us for much longer. It's delicate, I know, but I promise I will not intentionally hide anything from you."

******

About this time Cuthberts aerospace had matured to the point that manufacturing was ramping up. As they were supplying space technology for specialist projects James was travelling more than usual within New Zealand. He had to attend business meetings in Auckland and be present at rocket launches at the spaceport in Mahia, where their experimental technology was either part of the payload or an integral part of the propulsion.

Because of the frequency Siobhan was not travelling with him as they had done in the past and none of her earlier issues had resurfaced. Being apart troubled James and for the first time since the recovery from Siobhan's postpartum depression James felt that Siobhan was beginning to distance herself from him a little. He discussed this with Siobhan who tried to reassure him. It was a wakeup call for them to ensure that they remained communicating with one another. As Siobhan could not be regarded as fully cured, James felt uneasy especially with her unsettling relationship with Emma. Siobhan had elected to take maternity leave so she was for the time being a full-time mother and with Emma all day. Emma and Siobhan were doing everything together now. He would come home to find them preparing the evening meal together or just slumped together on the sofa watching TV. The children called them their two mums.

Apart from affection nothing overtly sexual seemed to be happening but inside James's mind, the uneasiness prevailed and was developing into a jealous suspicion. Outwardly James controlled the emotion but it made him wary. Following their earlier discussion, he felt unwilling to talk about it. It was as though the relationship between Emma and Siobhan had created a barrier between him and his wife.

In any discussion Siobhan put it down to Emma's deteriorating condition. She told James that Emma needed their hugs and kisses. If she is going to die then she should at least know she was dying, loved by those around her. Even though her life's trauma had been of her own making, it was much as misfortune and the same could be said of Siobhan herself. It was something Siobhan understood and drew her closer to Emma and James accepted this.

Siobhan's hypersexuality had tapered off over recent years especially after the birth of Celeste. He noticed it one night as he was spooning Siobhan when she was asleep. Her nightdress had ridden up over her hips and he was pressing his inflated cock into her crack. He cupped and softly squeezed one of her breasts before moving his hand down and cupping her thick hairy mons. Although still asleep, Siobhan shifted slightly, allowing him to press a finger into her hair-covered cranny. Nothing shifted. In the past she would already be wet then as he pressed his finger the hair would simply give, allowing his finger to plunge into the warm slick interior. She would inevitably awake and furious sex would result. But that now seemed to be a thing of the past.

James was relieved that after the birth there was no repeat of the depression but he held the justifiable fear that despite Siobhan's reassurances the relationship between Siobhan and Emma might develop into sexual attraction, and trigger a relapse. This fear played on his mind and he began having intense erotic dreams. The dreams fused the photographs and stories that he had heard from Siobhan. They included sex with Emma or Siobhan and often both together. It was always the Emma he knew when they were married. Siobhan would be as she was now or as Shay. A reoccurring dream was of James fucking Shay as a part of a gang bang. A variation on this was Emma joining them with a strap on pegging James's arse as he banged Shay. The dream progressing would have Emma French kissing Shay over his shoulder with impossibly long tongues. As he would become restless this woke Siobhan. One night James ejaculated in his sleep. Feeling the warm sticky fluid Siobhan shook him awake. "Hey, you lump, you just had a wet dream without me! What is this, an adolescent relapse?"

James shook his head and looking down raised the sheet to observe the aftermath.

"What's going on James, was that supposed to be for me."

James cleared his head and explained his reoccurring dreams. Following that incident when he became restless in the early morning and woke Siobhan, she would feel for his morning glory and initiate a bout of very passionate sex. With its regularity came Siobhan's own recurring dreams. As pleasurable as it was, it did not relieve James of his worries.

******

Siobhan was still breastfeeding, one night she had gently put celeste into her cot when she returned to the sofa where Emma was sitting watching TV. As Siobhan sat down next to Emma, she noticed Emma staring at her cleavage visible in the break of the dressing gown she was wearing. With a cheeky smile Siobhan parted her gown revealing her still moist swollen boobs from the feed. She then closed the gown as Emma lowered her head onto Siobhan's lap as she often would. With the combined effects of the cancer and its treatment Emma was having problems with her food at the time. Siobhan was thinking of this when she impulsively exposed one breast and lifted Emma's head who immediately began to suckle it. Eventually Emma stopped and they both sat up silently staring at each other. Nothing was said and they turned their attention back to the TV.

Siobhan explained what happened to James who was not happy as it seemed to confirm his suspicions. Siobhan explained that it was a compassionate response of nurturing and she had not become wet or sexually aroused. It was not lust. She said she could not speak for Emma but it appeared she could digest her milk more easily than the food she had been trying to eat at the time. So, against his better nature James reluctantly agreed that maybe it was a good thing and it became a regular feature.

During one of these sessions Emma told Siobhan that her libido was coming back with a vengeance which implied that she was becoming aroused in their breastfeeding sessions. In order to distract Emma's attention from her, Siobhan mentioned her selection of sex toys and suggested that she use those. Emma was grateful that regularly used them in the privacy of her room.

It was obvious that there was probably no coming back from the advance of the cancer by this time. Emma told of her regret that her libido had returned that there was no one to share it with. She missed the close intimacy of sex and sharing a bed naked, skin to skin with someone. Siobhan explained this to James. For him it was his worst fear and he was adamant that neither he nor she should do anything to become intimate with her.

It was one night when Siobhan had heard Emma crying in her room that she lay awake thinking about her. She found herself becoming aroused and got up and walked down the dark corridor to Emma's door. She stood outside wondering what she was doing there and what she should do. In an involuntary action she pushed a hand into her mons pressing through her nightgown. James had risen with the activity and caught her. He was annoyed at what was happening. They returned to the bedroom but it was obvious emotions were high and they both ignored one another and fell into a fitful street.

Next morning it was Saturday and after feeding the children breakfast as a special treat Siobhan prepared eggs benedict with ham and a side avocado and tomato for James. Finishing off with a second coffee Siobhan brought up the previous evening. From James point of view Emma was triggering a relapse in Siobhan but Siobhan felt that as she was still lactating, she could control it. She felt if they were both involved, they could give Emma a dying wish. The conversation ended when Emma entered the room puzzled at their guilty reaction. She was aware they had been talking about her. The conversation ended there but that night there was a repeat. Siobhan stood beside Emma's door and although late at night she could hear her sobbing. This time she went back to James, waking him and saying that they needed to have a serious discussion about it. James caved at that and agreed. He was not sure about taking part but felt he, at least, he needed to be there.

Siobhan approached Emma who was elated at the idea and thus began a short extraordinary chapter unique in the married life of Siobhan and James.

*****

A WEEKEND OF COMPASSIONATE LUST

They decided to start with a special night and then make it a weekend. All the children would go to the grandparents for a sleepover for the Friday and Saturday nights. Celeste would go as well accompanied by a good supply of expressed milk. Both Emma and Siobhan became very excited about the idea. They spent the week planning. All week there was an air of happiness, with spontaneous singing and dancing accompanying their housework. There also began advanced pre-weekend bouts of light lovemaking when out of sight of the children. It began with Emma and Siobhan but included James when he was present. It was nothing in tense, it might be just a kiss, and embrace and a feel. It was all meant tease in anticipation of the weekend.

For the women everything, the atmosphere, the food, the drink, the music had to be perfection. Siobhan took Thursday and Friday off work to shop with Emma for clothing and lingerie on the Thursday and on Friday they spent having a makeover, Starting with a spa and massage. They had a pedicure and hair, nails, makeup all done. Their bodies were subject to exfoliation and epilation and by evening both women were perfection.

They decorated the dining area and Emma's room with flowers and candles. With a background of soft music, they had a quiet candlelit meal they had prepared and delivered. There were several small courses and drinks taking account of Emma's delicate diet.

Emma and Siobhan were dressed in long cocktail dresses; Emma's white and demure while Siobhan's was black and slinky with James in a formal white jacket and black trousers with a cummerbund for effect. To mark the occasion Siobhan and James had made a special pendant made from Pounamu (Green jade) and silver for Emma. Emma took it and began to weep with joy. Clutching the pendant to her chin she announced that she had kept her engagement and wedding ring.

James raised his eyebrows initially scaring Emma, "You kept them all these years, why?"

A part of me always thought that spiritually I was still your wife. Divorce and paperwork are only bureaucracy. You see I never dated another man and had no intentions of marrying. I expected you to move on but my heart always stayed with you. Now we are altogether and we are about to make love, I... I thought I might wear my.... our rings, I suppose." Emma was nervous looking at both Siobhan and James. Siobhan turned to James, "You never asked for them back?" Siobhan had raised an eyebrow, why would he not do that she thought suspiciously.

James was backfooted by this development and looking at Siobhan, explained, "Emma just left, no explanation and took the rings. At the time I had no idea whether she would come back or whatever the future might hold. Out of sight they were meaningless to me and I simply forgot they existed. Simple as that. Now that we know they are here why shouldn't Emma wear them if it helps her connect with us. History simply exists, we cannot erase it and the rings are, after all, symbols of love."

Siobhan thought for a few seconds, she fingered her own rings, glanced back at Emma. "Why not? Go get them." And Emma scurried out to her little bach and arrived back a few minutes later with them already on. She held her hand up to display them, Siobhan swiftly joined her hand and finally James, their hands held high, their rings announcing their unity for what was to come.

James remained in the dining area clearing some dishes while Siobhan and Emma retired to the bedroom where they had gathered their accessories, their toys and lubricant. They had obviously prepared themselves and were standing, bracing while kissing. James joined them but stood in the shadows watching them as their tongues met, sucking and lapping at each other's mouth. It felt peculiar. The prospect of yet another woman in his life becoming lesbian began to bite. He swallowed a little surge of anger, rationalising what he was seeing was part of what they had agreed. Then why did he feel such a wallflower? Siobhan noticed him standing there alone and James could see the guilt in her face as she looked at him sadly. She whispered something to Emma who turned and smiled radiantly frantically waving James over. "Sorry, we started without you, we just couldn't wait... Come on stop looking like the cats have stolen your cream," Emma exclaimed, reversing the metaphor.

James approached wrapping his arms around both as each took turns to express their pleasure. James's feelings subsided a lust took hold. The embrace of these two beautiful women evaporated any misgivings he might have had.

James began removing their dresses. First Siobhan as he carefully unzipped her and lowered the dress then he did the same for Emma. They stepped out of their dresses revealing their lingerie, Siobhan in red with suspenders and stockings, with a cup bra emphasising her large baby breasts, Emma's, simple, white with suspenders and stockings. She wore a chest binder in place of her bra. Both had inserted butt plugs into their lubricated arses, being fully prepared for what was anticipated that night. They bent over and shimmied a little to show them off.

They then stood silently caressing one another. Siobhan reached behind her back, unclasping and partially removing her bra. She briefly held it to her boobs before letting it drop revealing her two breasts like two huge tears. Siobhan took her breasts and offered them to Emma and James and they took advantage of her lactation caressing and feeding off them.

Emma stepped back leaving Siobhan to stand before James, both entirely naked. Curtesy of the blue pill he had taken, James' dick was now standing vertical. Its form, a slight curved and the defined cap appeared carved to perfection. Siobhan moved and grasped it. Stepping close to James, she levered it into her bush, exposing her own large erect clit. James bent his legs slightly as Siobhan widened hers. She used his dick to massage her vulva and it began to lubricate and swell. With a jerk James entered her vagina and gently began to thrust while they came together into an undulating embrace. Emma moved in kissing both, she lent in and she too grasped James's dick as it slipped from Siobhan, only this time she knelt down and levered it into her mouth licking and sucking, drawing in Siobhan and James' combined juice. This was the aperitif, the appetizer. They paused, intending to take their time.

Emma slipped off her suspenders and undies, leaving her chest binder in place then the two women backed onto the bed, collapsing on to it, to recline side by side. They waved to James to join them. They immersed themselves in the atmosphere, the soft amber flickering lights of the candles, the fragrance of the flowers. All the time above them was the ethereal sound of the mindfulness music that Siobhan loved dearly. An electronic background of natural sound, water and leaves laced with the birdlike sounds of the flute and a low rhythmic pulse that ebbed and flowed, weaving the soundscape. They were in no rush and lay absorbing the music, while sipping wine and chatting until they began touching and lightly teasing one another.

Siobhan was first to move; she picked up some oil and worked it into her hands before working Emma's thighs with it. before long they would be all lubricated, their skins slippery with oil and perspiration with their exertions.

James leaned over and began kissing Emma using his tongue. A sexual tension pervaded the three that transformed into passion. Siobhan worked her fingers into Emma's hairless cunt. Using both hands she energetically worked both her vagina and her clit. Emma turned over and straddled James who was lying on his back. She took some of the oil and began to give James a slow hand job, his cock rising stiffly to the occasion. She lifted herself into a squat and gently lowered onto his cock and slowly began to grind. This was the first cock she had felt since her last time with James and she stiffened at her fullness. She stared down into James' face with her clear blue eyes. They seemed to sparkle with the delight of returning to those early years together. James surveyed her body, pale and emaciated. Her head bald, shaved from the treatment, hairless in a look that was androgynous. Her bald pale plump pussy flaps were wrapped about James's dick. She started to pump. Siobhan crossed over to James and straddled his face and began to passionately meet Emma face to face, tongue to tongue. James's head rose to savour Siobhan's weeping cunt hovering above his face.

The night wore on until Siobhan retrieved her strap-on and put it on Emma who was kneeling beside the lying James. Siobhan removed her butt plug then worked lotion into her arse crossed over on to James and while facing away from him lowered her arse onto his dick. Then she motioned to Emma who pointed the strap-on at Siobhan and plunged down into her self-lubricated depths in a missionary position.

Both then worked to establish a rhythm double penetrating Siobhan and working her to climax. Siobhan rolled her hips and thrusted so that both appendages pumped her holes in sync. Emma and James barely had to move. James could feel the vibrations from Emma's dildo and he struggled to prevent a premature ejaculation.

Images in James mind came forth from his erotic dreams and he found himself replicating them. Siobhan became Shay and Emma became the girl he married.

The image of shay the goth drove him hard into Siobhan, as Emma removed herself, he pushed Siobhan forward until she was on all fours and climbing up on her he straddled her butt and began pumping vigorously oblivious that Emma had moved behind him. She fingering his arse with lotion and then suddenly her dildo plunge into him causing him to ejaculate wildly and released from Siobhan and sprayed across her butt.

The three of them descended into a writhing orgy of lust consigning their bodies totally to one another, never willing to let go and standoff. James lay on his back as Emma and Siobhan worked over him.

Siobhan hovered above James while Emma curled around her neck licking her face red and raw. Siobhan shuffled into a squat above James' unwavering pill enhanced erection, pointing directly at her lubricated anus as she lowered herself onto it until it had totally engorged his penis into her bowel. Emma pulled her awkwardly back so that her legs spread revealing her inflamed and gaping vagina bursting from her thick bush. James had never seen it so wide so, like a luscious bloom beckoning.

That grotesque image of the evening in the hotel room when the traveller fisted her infested his mind. He couldn't resist; he wanted that. He reached for her vagina. Pursing his fingers he entered her. It was so easy, so lubricated and there was no resistance, until his whole hand was enveloped in her abdomen. He felt around, feeling her cervix, her portal for new life. He settled on his stiff dick in the cavity behind and started to thrust masturbating himself from the inside. He felt that he was as anatomically connected to Siobhan as he could possibly be and the thought of seemed to make his dick impossibly hard.

James looked up and both Emma and Siobhan were staring at what he was doing. Emma began firmly manipulating Siobhan's breasts and nipples. Siobhan raised her eyes to stare directly at James'. Her eyes went wide as she frantically began to lick her lips. First there was a tremor in her face then her eyes rolled back and with her mouth agape she gave a silent scream as her body convulsed. Her spasming caused James to ejaculate, his back arching, lifting Siobhan high where she tore herself from him and curled up in a foetal position alongside. For a full five minutes she lay there panting, too sensitive to be touched. This brought Emma and James back to ground in a fuss thinking she had taken some kind of epileptic fit. Eventually a full grin tracked across her face. "Never, never in all my life have I experienced that."

It was left to Emma and James to quietly complete their night together as Siobhan recovered herself. After that drama anything else would be an anticlimax. The rest of the night was a fitful casual pairing from time to time. In the morning James was awakened by bright sunshine. He wandered naked into the kitchen to find the pair happily preparing breakfast in their lingerie. This morning there would be mimosas followed by toasted bagels topped with avocado and salmon with their lattes. Emma was as though she was in complete remission, her old vivaciousness had returned as she sparkled around the Kitchen humming as she went. She glanced up at James and smiled broadly.

James could hardly believe the transition from the broken woman to this Emma who had joined the marriage.

Siobhan turned and smiled as well, "Good morning, Mr Connelly." They decided that they would spend most of the day by the pool. It would be a day of swimming, cocktails, dancing and sex in the pool, Siobhan in her bikini and Emma in a one piece.

Later James found Siobhan and Emma lying and cuddling on the master bed. Siobhan had a boob out and was breastfeeding Emma. James joined them spooning Emma as she lay on her side hungrily feeding off Siobhan.

That night they began with a prepared burlesque performance in the lounge by Emma and Siobhan. Both danced seductively slowly stripping their costumes down to their lingerie when James joined them and they danced together and separately. As the dancing became slow and close they played with one another in their lingerie, feeling and fingering each other as they danced. It was decided then that they would couple each in turn and put a show on for the third. It was to be Emma's night. Siobhan suggested that to begin, James did to Emma as he did for Siobhan on the first night after their tramp.

They lay Emma back to relax, keeping her hips steady. They both laid their hands flat onto her stomach and gently rubbed her until James slowly moved his pursed hands into her exposed hairless slit exposing her little hooded clit and getting it used to the motions. Siobhan squeezed some lube onto her mons and James gently slit exposing her erecting clit. Emma stretched her legs as wide as she could, responding to the thrill of the stimulus. James lubricated her clit and with a gentle squeeze stroked the lubricated shaft upward rhythmically. They could see her sexual tension rise as her face flushed red and she stiffened. As he had with Siobhan, he let her down pushing his thumb into her anus, then returning to the shaft, he worked with one hand while using the other to finger under the hood. All this time Siobhan applied a gentle pressure to Emma's shoulders as she knelt behind her head. James repeated patiently leaving Emma in a heightened state for what seemed like an impossibly long time, never letting her cum and with no respite.

Finally, Siobhan came around and as James pursed his fingers pushing into her dilated vagina, Siobhan took Emma's clit and mons into her mouth and sucked working her tongue stiffly under the hood. James worked his fist into her vagina rubbing vigorously against her sensitive spot. Emma's body arched, as she orgasmed her entire body trembling, clamping over James's hand, and as he withdrew his hand she squirted just as Siobhan had done. She emitted a low extended grunt and curled up in a ball on her side not being able to take any more. She panted as she steadied herself back into a relaxed state then turning onto her back she lifted. Oh my god, not even Nic could have done that, she gasped.

They then moved on to the rest of the programme. They had Siobhan's array of dildos and all the furniture in the sitting area as their props. They used the kitchen bench, the arm of a sofa, and the floor.

Watching Emma and Siobhan in uninhibited lesbian sex became highly arousing and unexpected for James. He watched with the condition that he was not allowed to masturbated. Siobhan on all fours as Emma worked her with her strap-on. Siobhan's hanging baby boobs swing backwards and forward with each thrust. Emma would lean over and fondle her tits while keeping up the rhythm

James' resulting continued with the next act where Siobhan used the sybian. Siobhan sat on the sybian as James knelt behind her, his rock-hard constant erection aching as he pressed it into her back while he manipulated her tits and nuzzled her neck. Emma sat gently stroking herself, watching in the afterglow of her own pleasuring.

For Siobhan and Emma's turn, James again would have to watch and not masturbate. Once Emma and Siobhan had finished James took advantage of Siobhan's plateauing libido to take her with his aching dick more forcibly than she had recently been used to, grinding into her as she lay prone on the floor and finally finishing in her arse.

He lay there compressed against her, his dick remained hard deep in the warmth of her bowel. Emma became concerned and was tempted to intervene but James came and collapsed onto Siobhan's back who wriggled out and to Emma's astonishment seemed none the worse for wear. Siobhan muttered, though, her cervix had taken a beating so she might avoid penetration for a while.

At the end of the night the three of them kissed, embraced and after showering separately snuggled into the super king size master bed.

Early morning James was having one of his intense dreams, Shay was shagging Emma the bride when he felt his intense morning wood being ministered to. He opened his eyes to see Siobhan's mouth taking his wood into her throat while Emma was behind her thrusting into her arse. Seeing James awake she climbed up onto him and lowered herself onto his outstanding pole. Emma followed her up and soon they were both pumping Siobhan together, only this time James felt a weird thrusting sensation as he moved his dick in his wife's vagina. With the thrusts Siobhan was making a strange guttural rhythmical grunt. The sensation was overwhelming for James and he prematurely blew whereupon Siobhan collapsed onto him mashing her tits against his chest, she hung onto him, her arms around his neck as she continued with her grunts until she hit a crescendo and she gave a shuddering roar.

Emma pulled out revealing a different coloured dildo that he had never seen before. Emma saw him peering at it and explained that it was her own and it was a thrusting dildo.

Following the sex, they took a shower together in the bedroom ensuite. Taking off her chest binder Emma timidly revealed the neat scars of her mastectomy. It was difficult for James to remember how lovely her breasts once were. He tried not to but he looked away, it brought home to him their mortality and that Emma was in the twilight of her life. Siobhan moved in, distracting him by soaping his penis and so the shower began. He took Shiobhan's arse first as she kissed and fondled Emma's vulva Then he took Emma as she braced herself against the shower wall. As Siobhan fondled his balls and fingered his arse.

Having all reached their final climax of the morning they towelled each other off and retrieved their night things, retiring to their respective bedrooms to dress for the day.

******

EMMA FADES

The children were dropped off early in the morning. Emma was ready to greet them and brought Celeste in for Siobhan to feed her. James arose to shower and dress and left Emma and Siobhan to talk as Celeste was fed. Emma later joined him in the kitchen with Celeste to help prepare breakfast. Siobhan could smell coffee as they toasted bagels and scrambled eggs accompanied by some cooing from Celeste.

With Siobhan there Emma announced, "We have decided we are having so much fun that next weekend we will share it with the kids. It will be Jimmy's 7th birthday and it will a birthday like he has never had before and I vote me to preside over it."

Later that morning James and Siobhan were discussing Jimmy's birthday. With their weekend together Emma's health had rallied. They were amazed how good she was but knew it may not last. They wondered how she would be when the adrenaline and all the dopamine wore off from the week's activity. In the end they decide to ride with it and give Emma every chance to enjoy the children until she decides herself that she can't. When the children arrived after lunch, she surprised them by dancing with them. They thought she had miraculously got better. That afternoon, she felt well enough to go with James, Mason and Jimmy to the local basketball league final between the local Canterbury Rams and their rivals the Saints.

Emma's new energy did not let up that week and she took all the children and Siobhan shopping, buying them all gifts. She and Mason got together over Jimmy's surprise birthday party. There would be some boys from the junior Cricket team that Jimmy played for. It had also been Mason's team and James had become a parent coach for it. There would also be some boys from his class at school and of course his cousins. Siobhan helped in the prep and Cyn was roped in as well. James had never had a party like this before and was overwhelmed at being the centre of attention. They hired a special children's theatre for him and his cousins provided live music for him and he danced with his mother and their friends. James had never seen Emma so happy with children as she sang and danced with her infectious grin, her eyes sparkling as she laughed.

Jimmy had all his favourite food to share with his friends including a very large cake with his name across it with seven candles. A lasting memory of the occasion was made on video and a photograph taken of Emma and James with Jimmy beside his cake. Emma's eyes were sparkling and she shared a huge grin with Jimmy as though there was absolutely nothing to care about. It would be framed and be a permanent feature on Jimmy's bedroom wall.

It was the end of the party when the guests had left and Siobhan was bathing the children that James noticed that Emma had gone. He searched for her, finding her in her bedroom on a chair. She was clutching her stomach in obvious pain.

The following morning James and Siobhan awoke to Celeste crying and being comforted. Emma appeared at the door in her nightgown holding Celeste kissing and cooing to her. "Hi guys, I have just changed her, I think she would like breakfast but unfortunately I can't help her," she sniggered. It had become a custom of Emma to bring Celeste in for her morning feed. She had come to love Celeste almost as much as Siobhan. This morning was no different except the snigger was followed by wince. The pain was becoming relentless.

Following the party Emma's condition deteriorated sharply within a couple of weeks and she had to enter a hospice for palliative care. It was clear that her remission was over and there was little that could be done as the cancer moved to vital organs. She stabilised a little in the hospice and it was decided that she would return to James and Siobhan's ending her days in the B&B with nursing help. One calm day, Cyn, her sister and mother put on a Classical concert for her and their close friends and family in the garden outside the B&B. Heavily sedated with painkillers Emma was able to enjoy it with people she loved. Within two weeks of the concert, she died peacefully in her bed with her parents and Jimmy beside her. Shortly before her death James and Siobhan sat with her.

Emma looked at James and Siobhan, "You two have been marvellous to me. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that you both would accept me back and make me feel loved again."

James replied, "I think we understand what you have been through. Whatever happened in the past, nobody should go through what you have."

"Well at least I die happy, I don't think I have ever been this happy," Emma could see by James's eyes that he was not convinced. "When I die there will be no chance that I will feel pain again. My last memory will be of happiness."

"But you say you are happy dying?" Siobhan queried.

"Ah, but I am not happy dying. Dying is just inevitable. You see, when you have been in despair like I have for so long, only then can you appreciate what true happiness is. I die with that knowledge."

********

Her funeral was emotional with many speaking including Teri from her school days; her former boss Phillip and James himself spoke. James spoke of someone who was led astray in the pursuit of pleasure and suffered for it but was able to come back to the fold and learn what true love was. He mentioned her last words to him about happiness as a lesson to all.

He paid tribute to Jimmy who had helped his mother in her final days and would share memories of her smile and happiness in those days. James was too emotional to say more. Before the casket was taken out to be transported to the crematorium, Cyn's string quartet played Canon D as they had done at James and Emma's wedding. As the pall bearers removed the casket they played a classical rendition of Bill Withers' 'Lean on me." It was Siobhan and James's homage to her.

During the service James thought back to those three women who had dominated his life for better or for worse. All were different but one thing stood out, of the three of them the least selfish was Siobhan. Through his life with Siobhan, he came to understand how selfish Nicola and Emma had been. Siobhan was always there for James and the children. She was not a slave to them; she could be assertive about that but she was always thoughtful. She respected those around her, and whether it was a gift, a concern for feelings or health it was obvious she constantly cared and had time despite having a demanding job and family. With Nicola her selfishness seemed to be about conscious determination. James, or anyone else for that matter, were only there for her, for whatever she was striving to achieve with little thought to reciprocation.

But Emma's selfishness was innocent and naive. She just grew up that way, she had always been given what she wanted and naturally felt entitled. But she had come to ground with the birth of her baby and the endurance it took to protect it. In the end the experience was one that could connect her to Siobhan. A baby had been a sobering experience for both, and both discovered they had maternal instincts that gave them the will to transcend all the meaningless dross that was weighing them down. Both had different sexual experiences that had threatened their very existence.

James could never equate Emma's submissive side to her character and the confidence and dominance she held in her profession. Perhaps there was an underlying insecurity in having to play the role of a lawyer and negotiator. Having to manage Jimmy seemed to have helped her break out of her submissive fetish for a normal personal life.

Siobhan was never a dom. Between James and Siobhan she would dominate in some areas and James in others.

Under whose terms? Really, neither, they just jostled into some kind of equilibrium each was prepared to tolerate. In the end Siobhan did dominate Emma but in a benign, sensitive and caring way. Emma knew she needed help and Siobhan was prepared to go the extra mile for her. It took courage for Emma to reconnect but she did so in her role as an advocate, an advocate for Jimmy and in the end, it was her final and greatest success. The highlight of a sad life with so much disrupted promise.

The happiness that Siobhan and James could give Emma in the end was of profound satisfaction to James. He was long past the hate and only saw tragedy. Siobhan and he were able to enact an extraordinary gift of compassion in giving her the loving sex of her final days. It was borne out of their unique combined experience to allow them the freedom of a menage de trois. It was never something James would have ever imagined in his younger self.

To him sex was to bond couples together, and to have children' anything else was meaningless. Now he would question if this was true, surely there was meaning for Emma in her final days knowing that all was not bad despite her world of hurt.

And so it goes, Emma's ashes were spread in the garden where she saw the end of her life and on which Jimmy would play and grow. That chapter of Jimmy's life would live on in his memory into the future but it would also spell the end of a chapter in his father, James' life. He would receive a closure he did not think he needed.

In the end he had a polyamorous experience and that with Siobhan's' corresponding lesbian experience was something that neither would previously tolerate. Yet they had welcomed Emma into the inner sanctum of their marriage. The tragic circumstances that Emma had endured had touched both Siobhan's and James heart.

In discovering a closure that he had denied Emma since she had left James had found a way he could expiate his guilt by not being there to protect his young bride. For Siobhan Emma was someone she could understand, they shared experiences for which most everyday people would condemn them.

However, James and Siobhan were not about to descend into an exciting new sexual rabbit hole, and it became consigned to a short chapter in their life story, something that they could do for someone in a crisis. A helping hand of empathy and compassion that they could uniquely give together.

******

CODA

Following Emma's death Siobhan and James had entered their goldilocks period of intimacy. There had been no return of the depression that Siobhan experienced after the birth of Fleur. Despite their worry that their shared experience with Emma might cause a new resurgence in Siobhan's libido, it did not eventuate nor did an expected lift in libido occur when breastfeeding Celeste ended.

Based on their experience leading up to Emma's death Siobhan asked James if she was not there would he have forgiven Emma. James said no. The situation with Emma only occurred because of Jimmy and Siobhan's own extraordinary kindness and compassion.

It was within six months after Emma's death that Siobhan learnt of the passing of Beth. Siobhan had rekindled her correspondence with Beth and their friends but Beth had been uncharacteristically closed about her intimate life. She learnt from her friends that Beth had been let go from her job under mysterious circumstances a year ago. She had been found hanging in a hotel room with a plastic bag over her head and a large vibrator in her cunt. The room was booked to her and it was not known whether it was suicide, BDSM gone wrong or murder.

Siobhan was sure it was suicide telling James that Beth had once talked with her about her ultimate death. Siobhan was sure when Beth died, she would also be under the influence of a massive dose of LSD, an idea she got from Aldous Huxley.

Beth's death sparked a discussion between them about whether Siobhan was effectively cured or what might trigger a resurgence. Possibly they were being complacent but although their phones were still linked James no longer checked her whereabouts and only occasionally accompanied her at events. Siobhan was also back at work at the university full time. Siobhan still had her emergency message system but there had been no need to use it. This meant that James effectively had put his trust in her although Siobhan had limitless opportunity to cheat if the impulse was triggered.

Beth's funeral had been delayed and Siobhan desperately wanted to attend the funeral of someone who, for a while, had been her only friend.

Her other UK friends told her that Beth had effectively gone on the game since losing her job.

"Beth was really no good with money. She spent it as fast as getting it," Siobhan told James as they were quietly cuddling in bed.

James replied cynically, "It seems like she made her hobby into her earner. She ended up being a slave to the pointless pleasure of sex."

Siobhan expressed annoyance at James unkindly passing off her friend and curtly drew a comparison with Emma, "Emma, I guess, was also a victim of your so-called pointless pleasure however you are married to me, am I simply a survivor of pointless pleasure?"

Siobhan continued, "Perhaps if Emma had found a more benign community of Lesbian women she may have thrived."

James' reply continued his cynicism, "She was never going to find that with Nicola. Anyway, she had the chance in Melbourne. What she wanted was someone to dominate her. That was her real turn on."

Siobhan added," She would not have ever found that with you. You thrive with an equal like me." Siobhan winked at James with that remark. James softened his attitude and paused to digest the idea.

"You know, you are right. I really don't think my marriage to Emma would have ever survived." Back to the point, James asked, "Who is going to be at this funeral anyway?" For the first time since Emma died James was becoming worried about the possibility of Siobhan being triggered while among Beth's friends and associates.

"I don't know, do you want to come to support me?" Siobhan sensed James's unease as he pulled away.

James thought for a while. "Would you mind? I do have confidence in you but your old connection with Beth still hangs over me. Surely there will be much in that environment that may stimulate an impulse?"

Siobhan understood. This came up at their wedding. "Listen, there's really no problem in your coming. Is there anything in the UK that might assist you at work? I might call in on one or two people while we are in Cambridge myself. We could also spend a couple of weekends in Ireland; I would dearly love to visit my relatives there."

James liked the idea and indicated that he could use the trip and it was settled.

Travelling to the UK, the plane was delayed at one point. Missing a connecting flight, they stayed an extra day in the middle east which they utilized by sightseeing. Having eaten some street food James found himself on the morning of the funeral sitting in a hotel room with a severe bout of vomiting and diarrhoea. Not being physically able to go, Siobhan was faced with going alone. She would meet up with some mutual friends of hers and Beth, none of whom inspired James with confidence. She was still a beautiful woman and even though she attempted to dress down her pre-baby figure had been restored by gym work and she still scrubbed up well with her curly hair in a bob. Her makeup accentuated her cheek bones adding an extra elegance to her. She was not in appearance a soccer mum, she was a professional used to making a daily presence. James just knew she would be hit upon.

She finally left on her own. James blew her a kiss farewell and she slipped through the door and was gone.

James was immediately on his tablet tracking her movements. She took an Uber and went predictably to the church but then went to an unknown destination where there was to be a reception. James's imagination was working overtime. He wondered who might travel with her.

The reception was something that neither of them had thought of. He identified the destination on google as a large private home on a sprawling estate. Siobhan moved about within the home. It appeared she was doing a tour.

She lingered in one spot. Who was she with? Was it crowded? Were guys hitting on her, pressing against her, pawing her, feeling her up in some dark corner?

She moved into the garden but James had no idea what she was doing and fantasized the worst. The little tick on the screen showed her moving into some trees where she stayed in one place for some time. What was she doing there? Was She braced against a tree while some guys had her dress lifted and were taking turns on her? His fantasies made his appendage stiff but he was afraid of masturbating in case he reinfected himself.

She moved back inside. The thought that she would be drinking crossed his mind. They had not discussed that and his heart sank. She would be drunkenly melting into someone's arms. She stayed in one place for some time and James had no idea what room it would be. With the jet lag and all, James had fallen in and out of a fitful sleep dreaming erotic dreams. Drifting off he briefly awoke at eight o'clock. He looked on the screen she was still in that same spot. He just knew she was fucking and could not resist massaging his cock before drifting off again.

Siobhan did not return until shortly before midnight. She had sent him a text about six to say she would be late and as she was drinking and she would get an uber home with a friend. But while asleep he had not answered it. James had not expected her to be as late as this. He thought she would be back in the afternoon. He checked the phone and panicked, 'what friend, where are they?'

He was now wide awake and was going to ring her when there was a noise at the door followed by a tipsy Siobhan stumbling into the room. The lights flashed on leaving James squinting trying to adjust to the glare. He was extremely uptight expecting the worst. It was not helped when he was presented by the sight of Siobhan standing over him lifting her skirt.

"Here feel this" She tried to drag his hand under her skirt.

James pulled back trying to clear his head, "What, what going on?"

"I am here for you. "I had a few drinks and have just been dropped off by an uber. And the good news is I think I'm cured. I think I am OK, I finally feel I am past all that."

"Really. What brought you to that conclusion."

"Maybe it was the passing of Beth. The shock of the way she passed and also, I suppose her influence."

"You hadn't seen her for I while though."

"Yes, but she was always at the back of my mind. I suppose there was always some unspoken competition between us. And maybe the shrink was right in that a large component was habitual behaviour. I always had arousing expectations that I think created a self-fulfilling prophesy."

"Or maybe the body is getting older and changing."

"Maybe, I suppose all of the above. I think the birth of Celeste may have been a large stepping stone. There were absolutely no complications throughout the pregnancy and the birth. I was so happy with her, and she was an adorable little creature and so easy as a baby."

"So, what happened at the reception."

"At the reception, I was hit on and even given an interesting proposition but all I could think was that they were all a pack of sleazy contemptible bastards. I looked around me, and they were soulless and as far as I was concerned, with meaningless lives. Beth died because she had no meaning in her life, it was just a continuous search for happiness through the pleasure of sex and that was always going to be a blind alley."

"Really?"

"I thought how full my life was now. No way would I risk that. You know, you give me meaning because you give me stability and you always have my back. My children give me meaning because they fulfil my motherly desires and are adorable. My work gives me meaning because it positively contributes to the world and the income is not bad either. 3 out of 3 is pretty damn good so why would I need more."

"So how does that equate with the meaning of life?"

"What are you saying."

"Well, the 'Hitch hikers Guide to the Galaxy' gave the meaning of life as number 42."

"James! I am being serious here." Siobhan was annoyed with James taking her lightly. "I am talking about meaning from sex. Sex is just a tool to keep us close and give us kids when we want them, there is no other meaning in itself. Beth died because she had no one, lost her job and all the sex gave her was death, in contrast we have everything to live for and that's it."

James apologised, "Sorry I was flippant, but it does lead to meaning in life when you think about it. To me sex by itself is entirely a selfish act. Even though it involves physically connecting bodies it is not about togetherness. Togetherness is represented by altruism and empathy. You have to have those values to get the maximum enduring pleasure from sex. Sex should be selfless.

What about Emma? Do you see what we did for Emma as meaningless. I don't think it was."

"It was her final days, it was, as you say, an act of altruism and empathy that drew three of us into a marriage, don't you think.""

James blinked, "do you think Emma saw that too."

"Yes, she did. That's why she wanted to wear her rings?"

"She said so in her own words. Looking back, I think we finally consummated a relationship we had been having for months over that weekend. What we did had real meaning for a dying woman and in our grief, for us as well. It was our last act of togetherness. Our gift for each other. That's how I will see it. Spiritually Emma and I were never divorced, it enabled us to understand and demonstrate that. The weekend simply formalized that the fact that spiritually we had a 3-way marriage. How do you feel about that?"

There was a long silence." I think.... I think this was the most profound and intensely deep union of my life. It makes those children, our family and our whanau very special indeed and Emma, despite all her flaws, should never be forgotten. Yes, for a short time I believe too, all three of us were spiritually married."

Siobhan turned to the issue that was hanging unsaid, "So, the experience must change your ideas about sex and marriage somewhat."

"y-y-Yes, I have to admit it does." James was cautious in his reply.

"Do you see yourself open to something similar in the future?"

James wondered where this line was heading, "Are you thinking of expanding your horizons?"

"Certainly not me, unless you had the desire."

"I have no desire whatsoever. This was borne out of a special circumstance, it was unique. For a short time, it was our strength our own special alliance and I do not foresee any possibility of it happening again unless Emma was resurrected from the grave."

"She was not that divine," Siobhan chuckled. "As far as I am concerned the risks would be too great for our marriage. Each to their own, For us? No.

James sighed in relief. The conversation had made him a little tense. They both descended into silence, broken by James, "And so what else happened at the reception?"

"Not a lot it was mainly catching up with people that I knew. Oh, I ran into Mason's father."

James' mouth dropped thinking this could be an issue. But Siobhan saw the look on his face.

"Don't worry James nothing was about to happen. But there is a positive from it. He was there without his wife. I only saw him at the service; he did not come to the reception. He still says he does not want any claim on Mason; and he does not want his wife ever to know about it. He did say if there is some kind of emergency he would be prepared to help and if one day Mason wants to meet him, he would oblige but it has to be absolutely discrete. I told him about you and he was very, very impressed. He actually knows who you are, and he said if circumstance were different, he would have been honoured to meet you. You apparently have a global reputation."

"Oh, so you are surprised," James could not help his pride to show.

"Yes, he is in your field as he heads an organisation involved with the European space programme. The upshot is that he is happy that someone as distinguished as you is adopting Mason and has confidence his own DNA is being given the best possible care."

The air of positivity hung in the air. Siobhan noticed James's staring and smiling at her. She met his gaze. After the moment's silence James asked, "Now that we have turned to more pleasant things, when you arrived you seemed very excited, would you be wet, wide and wonderful about someone?"

"I am, I am, I'm wet wide and wonderful for you, and only you. Forget that at your peril, you lovely bastard!"