Chapter 18

Terry stared at Grace open-mouthed.

She smiled at him. “Yes, Terry, I mean it. We love each other. You have been so patient and restrained and I know why. You thought it might be too soon after Mike and you wanted to make sure that my family were OK with you. Terry, my precious love, our love for each other is too strong for any of those things to get in our way and in any case I consigned Mike to the dustbin months ago. You, Terry, are my love and my life and I’m pretty certain I’m yours.”

“You are, my darling Grace, but ... but I’d really like it if your parents were on side and ... and while I long to make love to you I j-just feel I ought to have their blessing on our love first.”

It was Grace’s turn to stare at Terry.

“I know family is important to you and I have no worries about your’s affection for me. In any case it’ll become quite obvious tomorrow at lunch that our friendship has changed to love.”

“Yes but I’d like your family to accept me as an OK bloke before our love becomes apparent. If I make love to you now, which God alone knows I long to do, we’ll seal our love and risk you losing your family’s love if they don’t think I’m good enough.”

They were still in each other’s arms.

“Terry, my love, my precious love, we are in love, totally, irrevocably, eternally, aren’t we?”

“Yes!” It was little more than a whisper though.

“So! If my parents are a bit stuffy so what? They’ll soon see the depth and sincerity of our love and will love you too. They won’t be able to help themselves.”

Terry looked into her eyes and saw fierceness, then love and then happy understanding.

“We are in love,” she whispered, “totally and so our minds are in tune and you, without having to think, know that our minds are the same. If I love you as deeply as I do and therefore you love me equally back they cannot help love you and welcome our coming together not just while the passion lasts but forever and ever just as passionately until after death do us part.”

Terry was still held by her eyes, chiefly by the love and earnestness in them. Finally he could contain himself no longer and kissed both of them gently, almost devoutly.

“Oh God! My Grace! My most wonderful, beautiful, gentle and loving Grace! I love you so much and ... and I trust and believe in you too.”

He swept her up in his arms and carried her to her bedroom where he set her gently down.

She beamed up at him, full of love, excitement and ... She was not quite sure what. Expectation or slight fear? Neither mattered. For the first time ever she was going to make love, truly make love not hopefully or just lustfully but with all her heart.

Everything that followed fulfilled that feeling. Terry took her in his arms and quietly and gently told her his love. His hands explored her tenderly as did his lips. She could not but respond and the passion built but slowly, lovingly and finally very passionately.

Their first coupling was, inevitably, quickly over and they lay for some time just savouring their love. The second was slower, gentler and even more rewarding. Still intertwined they fell asleep. Both woke during the night but at separate times. Neither moved but just lay blissful to feel and smell the other and, more importantly, to rejoice in their love for each other which they had now consummated.

Sunday lunch with Terry’s family was, as expected, fun but also as Grace had predicted. Jean pulled Terry away afterwards.

“You’re both in love now, aren’t you, Terry darling?”

He nodded, unable to speak.

Jean hugged him tightly. “You’ve picked the right girl too, Terry. She’s a lovely, lovely girl: highly intelligent, full of laughter and very, very pretty.

“She’s all of those, Mum, and can read my mind like a book and reacts: sadly, sympathetically, gently, critically, happily and lovingly as appropriate. She’s very, very special.”

Jean kissed him again. “Stay happy with her,” she whispered.

She cornered Grace a little later and hugged her.

“Thank you, Grace dear, for loving Terry as you do. Not only have you made him happy but all of us too. We’ve all liked you from the beginning and now we can love you and make you part of our family.”

Grace was unable to reply; just hugged Jean fiercely.

It was back to normal the next morning. Grace was up at five and out of the house by six having left the makings of breakfast for Terry on the worktop. He fed himself an hour later and attended his first lecture at nine. Both had a good morning and Terry made his way to the library to eat his picnic lunch. On the way he met Gareth with his usual gang of hangers-on.

“Ah!” said Gareth. “Lover-Boy’s back.”

Terry feigned not to have noticed but Gareth blocked him.

“Didn’t you hear me, Lover-Boy?” he asked.

“Were you talking to me, Gareth?”

“Who else?”

“I don’t answer to that name. Try Terry next time.”

“Why? That’s who you are, Grace’s lover-boy.”

“No. I’m her boyfriend and she doesn’t like it when you refer to me as Lover-Boy. Would you please move back out of my way?”

“Why? I’m talking to you.”

Terry said nothing but took a side-step. Gareth did so too.

“I’m talking to you,” he said.

Terry again said nothing, just turned and started to walk away.

Gareth grabbed him by the jacket, turned him and said, “And I haven’t finished.”

Terry still said nothing.

Gareth and his cronies did not notice the proctor, who had witnessed the confrontation, approaching closer.

“You insolent little shit!” snarled Gareth and took a swing at Terry catching him squarely on the left side of the jaw. Terry went down hard banging his head on the asphalt which stunned him and grazed and bruised his right cheek.

Gareth was gathering himself to kick Terry.

“Stop!” the proctor shouted. “That’ll do, sir.”

Gareth obeyed and made to move away.

“Stay where you are, sir,” ordered the proctor as he knelt by Terry who was beginning to stir. He helped him to sit up and looked at his face. “You need to go to the MI Room and have your face looked at, sir,” he said gently to Terry.

Terry nodded.

“May I have your name, sir?”

Terry gave it and the proctor helped him to his feet and Terry walked slowly and rather unsteadily away towards the MI Room.

The proctor turned back to Gareth. “And your name, sir?”