Chapter 4

Jennifer

“Ugh, why am I wearing this? I hate dresses.” I exhaled to collect my thoughts. “Can you stand on the chair and zip Mommy up?”

I felt Madison’s little fingers tugging at the zipper on my little black dress. “There you go Mommy. Turn ... see, you look pretty! Just like Miss Whitney said you would.”

I bent down to give her a kiss on the forehead. Normally I would kneel down, but that wasn’t an option in this thing.

How did I let Whit talk me into this? Oh yes, on the car ride home from the island she suggested we go on a proper date, just the two of us. That’s what couples do, right? Then she got a bee in her bonnet about what I was going to wear and insisted that I get a “sexy” dress. Thus, on Tuesday night we were at Nordstrom with her picking out a dress for me. She tried to get me in a pair of black pumps too, but at least I talked her out of that and into a pair of black boots. They still had a small heel to them, but what can you do? I did put on my favorite black tights instead of the thigh-high stockings she suggested. A girl has her limits.

Or at least, this one does. Besides, the tights would keep me warmer on a cold January evening. I was brushing my hair when the doorbell rang.

“Coming,” I yelled out as I went to the door. “Hi, come on in,” I said, greeting my usual babysitter. That is, when I hire one and not swap sitting with a friend.

“Annabelle!” Madison ran over to give her a hug. Annabelle was one of Madi’s favorite teens from the church. I liked her as she got along well with Madison, plus she was old enough to drive.

“You look good, Ms. DeLuca.”

“Thanks. And please, call me Jennifer. I’m not that much older than you.”

“Sure.” She looked down at my daughter. “Are you ready to have fun tonight?” Madi took Annabelle’s hand, and dragged her off to show off her Nani and Anna dolls, when the doorbell rang again.

I opened the door and there was Whitney. Wow! I thought. Her red bandage dress left little to the imagination. The parts that were left to the imagination, I could easily complete in my mind. Annabelle insisted that we let her take our picture, not that I minded, as my hawt girlfriend put her arms around me.

As Annabelle texted me a copy of the picture, Whit leaned down and whispered in my ear, “You look fucking hot tonight, my dear.”

Apparently, she wasn’t as quiet as she thought she was.

“Mommy, Miss Whitney said a swear.”

Whit looked at me and shrugged. “Sorry Mommy, I guess I’ll have to make it up to you later.” She turned to Annabelle. “Okay if we’re home around eleven?”

“Sure thing. I have a bunch of schoolwork to do once Madison goes to bed. Eight PM right?”

“Yes.And don’t let her talk you into a later one, okay?”

“Sure, have fun you two.”

“Bye Mommy, bye Miss Whitney,” Madi said, waving as only little girls can.

Whit held the door to her Jeep open for me and then we headed downtown in her Jeep. As we pulled up to the valet at the Seattle Art Museum, I had to giggle as I watched the valet girl check out Whitney as she opened her door. The other valet did the same to me as he helped me out, but I think both were looking at my girlfriend’s ass as we sauntered away. Fine with me, the fewer eyes on me in this ridiculous dress, the better.

We headed up to the banquet room. The SAM was a popular spot for fundraisers. Tonight was some fundraiser for the children’s hospital or something like that. Whit was waving the company flag I guess I was as well. There were about twenty tables set up, each with eight seats. I guess my catering instincts were kicking in for me to notice that. It dawned on me that this was the first time I’d ever been to an event like this where I wasn’t on the catering staff. Looking around, I noticed all the other guests were all dressed up. For as much as I hated this dress, I was thankful that Whit had pushed me to dress fancy. I realized I would have really felt out of place if I hadn’t.

Whit must have sensed my nervousness and held my hand, which was reassuring. I dutifully followed her and tried to keep up with the small talk as she greeted the other guests she knew. I looked around at the catering staff and tried to see if there was anyone I knew, but there were no familiar faces. Not that there would have been any time for me to talk to them, but a simple smile and hello would have been nice.

What I did notice was that we weren’t the only lesbian couple in the room. There were four others that I spotted and a few gay men couples as well. Well, this was Seattle, so it wasn’t all that surprising. But for me, it was the first time I noticed multiple LGBTQ+ couples at the same time. We had a few come through the diner now and then, but they were a rarity there.

I watched how they interacted with each other and how people treated them. They all seemed just like any other ordinary couple

Whitney introduced me to an older gentleman and his wife. “This is Mario Lombardi and his wife Janet. Mario is the other half of Mitchell and Lombardi.”

“How do you do Jennifer? It’s a pleasure to meet you. Ben’s been telling me about the young lady who’s swept his daughter off her feet. You must be a special lady to capture this one’s eye. I’ve had fun watching her grow up to be the confident woman she is today.”

“It seems like only yesterday she was running around the company picnic in sandals and pigtails,” Janet chimed in.

I giggled. “Now that is a sight I’d like to see.”

“And if I recall correctly, you drank a ridiculous number of grape sodas that day.”

“Yeah, Mom got mad at me for that. I was so sick that evening from all the sugar and carbonation. I don’t think I’ve had grape soda since.”

The hosts started going around trying to get people into their seats, so we said goodbye to the Lombardis and found our table. We were seated with three other couples. One of them was a lesbian pair, up from LA. I was seated next to the older of the two, Taylor, who as it turned out was from Idaho as well. They had been invited to the fundraiser as she was an artist who was exhibiting her work at the museum. Her show was opening the coming weekend.

We talked about Idaho, and although she was from Boise, she at least had heard of the wide spot on the road that was my hometown. I admired the dark gray men’s style suit she was wearing. I had never thought about something like that for an event like this. It was classy, masculine but not manly, clearly made for the female form. Thinking about all the events I had worked, I probably had seen someone in something of the sort, but never mentally processed it before.

“I like your suit. I think I might have to get something like that if Whitney drags me to any more of these types of events. This dress, ugh, so not me. Just give me my jeans and a hoodie and I’m a happy girl.”

“I know the feeling,” Taylor said with a smile, “I’ve been doing so many of these art shows and openings that my wife talked me into wearing this.”

We had a really good conversation over dinner. I was impressed as to how she dealt with coming out to her family and the problems she faced doing that. I realized that I needed to think about how to come out to my mom. I thought she’d be fine with who I am; she wasn’t the religious type by any stretch of the imagination.

I showed her a picture from Christmas day of Madison in her Elsa dress and both Taylor and her wife, Aly, said she was cute. Whit scooched over closer to me, holding my hand as we listened to the presentation about the work the children’s hospital was doing and what the funds that were raised tonight would be used for. I had caught bits and pieces of these while working at similar events and knew what was coming. Near the end, people were encouraged to go into the museum, which was closed to the public for the evening, to check out the exhibits and to bid on the various items up for silent auction. Taylor was introduced, and people were encouraged to see her sculptures. She and her wife took off as soon as her intro was done so she could get stationed near her exhibit to greet people.

Whit and I made our way around the museum. I felt like I was a movie, walking through the museum while being served flutes of champagne as we navigated the exhibits. We stopped by Taylor’s exhibit, her metal sculptures were beautiful.

I stopped to admire a piece called “Pacifica”. The note card said it was a miniature version of a signature installation she had on the North side of L.A. The model had clearly been her wife. In fact, you could see her wife’s face in several pieces. I was studying the curves of the metal when Whit whispered in my ear, “You know, we have a couple hours until we need to get back to relieve the sitter. We could stay here, or we could head back to my place for some adult playtime. Got a preference?”

“Um, I think the only real question is which way is the coat check?” We beelined out of there back to her place. I’m not sure what I was looking more forward to, getting out of that ridiculous dress or making love to my girl. Once again, Whit put on our not so little red friend, who we had taken to calling Big Red, and we made love until we collapsed. Best part was, we made it back with five minutes to spare before the agreed upon time to let Annabelle go home.----------

“Hand me that hot pad, will ya?”

I took the offered pad and checked the chicken in the oven for dinner that night. The three of us sat at my little table. Madi frowned at the piece of broccoli on her plate. “It’s just a single piece, okay honey?” I looked at Whit. “So how was work today?”

“Good, getting the hang of the place. I was talking with Uncle Silas today and he said that his ski condo is available this weekend if we want it. It’s a three-day weekend. Interested?”

“Um, I don’t know how to ski and we don’t have gear.”

“Don’t worry about that. There are a ton of ski sets and lots of coats, ski pants and the like there. Even sizes for Madi. Come, it will be fun. All we have to do is buy lift tickets and food.”

“Hmmm ... where is it?”

“Northern Idaho. Schwitzer Resort.”

I knew right where it was. “That’s about thirty minutes from where I grew up. Maybe we can swing by mom’s and say hi. Been over a year since she’s seen Madi, and she should probably meet you.” I noticed little eyes perk up at the suggestion of visiting my mom.

“Have you told her about me yet? About us? About you?”

“No, not that we’re an item or that I’m dating you. Nor that I’ve realized I’m gay. She knows that I have a new friend that I have been hanging out with.” Not that I haven’t thought about it. I’d run through hundreds of conversations in my head, but never quite come up with how to say it.

“So, you’re just going to spring it on her?” Whit squinted a bit and rolled her lower lip under her teeth.

“I don’t know. I ... I just haven’t figured out how to bring it up.”

“Well, we should probably come up with a plan.”

“I’ve been trying, I just don’t know what to say,” my toes began to wiggle in my socks and I noticed a hole starting to form in them. “What if we don’t say anything, are you okay with that?” My finger started to pick my thumb.

“I don’t know. I’ve never hid before. I mean, sure, it took me a couple months to tell my folks, but that was back in high school. I had a bad breakup with my boyfriend at the time and got rather introspective for a while. I started to figure it out when I went to a movie with ‘a friend’ which turned out to be my first date with Marci. We held hands. She gave me a goodnight kiss and then I knew for sure. My parents started to get a clue and asked me. For a while they thought it was a phase, just something I was going through. I’m not sure it clicked for them until I was well into college.”

“Humm, interesting.” I pondered this but knew I wouldn’t come up with a good solution right now, so time to change the subject. “So, for the ski weekend. Do we need lessons? You do know it’s at least a 6-hour drive, longer if the pass is bad.”

“You’ll have the best private instructor there is, me! I used to race, you know? And yeah, it’s a bit of a drive. Sometimes I’ve made it in one shot and get in late if I left right at the end of work on Friday, but sometimes I had to find a hotel in either Ellensburg or Spokane. But let’s go, we can have fun. Just the three of us.”

“Okay, okay. Well pumpkin, do you want to be a ski bunny?”

“And see grandma?” Madison said, bouncing in her seat and clapping her hands.

“Yes.”

“Yeah! Will we see Babcia and Opa too?” Dallas’s parents didn’t live far from my mom and loved to dote on their only granddaughter.

“Probably not pumpkin, but we’ll see. We’re not going to be there that long.”

Friday afternoon found Whit waiting for me in her Jeep with all our stuff already loaded. I must admit it’s nice having your girlfriend work a block away. I shut the phones down for the weekend and a few minutes later we were on our way to pick up Madi from preschool and then head out. The mountain pass was clear, thankfully, and we made it to the condo late that night.

Madi had slept in the back seat of the Jeep most of the way over, so while I would have liked to have slept in, Little Miss was up and bouncing on the bed early, ready to go. We got ready while Whit dug through the piles of coats and pants and found sets that worked well for both of us, including thick socks to keep my tootsies warm.

Whit handed Madi a munchkin sized set of skis. “I think you’ll like these. This was my first pair.”

Her little eyes lit up, and she got even more excited.

The slopes were packed for the holiday weekend, but we were able to find enough space for Whit to show us the ropes. Of course, it helped that Little Miss took to the slopes like a duck to water to the point that she took off down the bunny slope and Whit had to go chasing after her. leaving me alone for a bit. I did okay. Being a skateboarder in high school gave me a few skills I could adapt to standing on a pair of skis. I wished Whit had a snowboard, as that might be a little closer to what I was used to, but apparently her family wasn’t into snowboards, so it was skiing by default.

I made it down without falling over too much, and found the two of them at the foot of the run. We went back up a couple more times before stopping for lunch. The café was a busy place, so I grabbed a table while Whit and Madi got in line to grab some food.

I was busy on my phone when I saw someone slide next to me at the table.

“Hey pretty lady, you here all alone? I saw you on the bunny slope by yourself. Do you need a personal instructor?” The guy was in his mid-twenties and was clearly looking me up and down. His grin belied his carnal intentions.

“She’s got a private instructor already.” Whit’s voice chimed in, as she returned to the table with our food.

“Hi mommy, I got you a pizza.”

The douchebag took a look at me and then one look at my daughter and furrowed his brow.

“Sorry,” I said, “but I think my girlfriend is cuter than you.”

The dude got up and muttered, “Fucking dykes.” as he left.

I was about to follow him at full volume when Whit grabbed my arm. “Let him be. Guys like that will never be convinced.”

“Well, he shouldn’t say stuff like that.” I scowled.

“Welcome to our world, babe. There will always be a few troglodytes out there to contend with.”

“It shouldn’t be that way.” She shrugged at me and we ate our lunch without saying much.

We spent the rest of the afternoon on the slopes. Yeah, I was having fun. Going down the slope was good, but what was better was seeing my daughter bond with my girlfriend. They were two peas in a pod. Madi had no fear, she just went for it. Of course, she did faceplant a few times. So did I, for that matter, but Whit was right there to pick us up and get us right again.

It was Madison who encouraged me to get onto the intermediate slope. Going up the chairlift wasn’t so bad. I was focused on making sure Madi got off okay. But as soon as Whit cleared the chair behind us, she was ready to go.

“I’m right here with you. You got this.”

I was trying to get my nerve up to head down the much steeper slope, when I heard from behind me, “Out of my way, you fucking dykes.” Seeing the douche canoe from the cafe resolved my nerves, and I took off, passing the douche as he stopped to tighten a buckle on his boot. I got going a little faster than I wanted and almost biffed it when I came to a stop to wait for Madison.

It was good that I stopped where I did; it gave me a ringside seat for what happened next. Just as Whit pulled up next to me, the douche canoe went past us and as he was starting to yell at us, he instead had an epic face plant. We all had a laugh at his expense. As we skied past him, Whit yelled at him, “You need a private instructor!”

But the best was from my Madi, “Maybe you should be nicer to my mommy!” That made me smile.

We called it quits as the sun was setting behind the mountains. The little ski village was lit up like a postcard, and there were all kinds of people milling about. We dumped our wet clothing in the dryer and changed for dinner. I was getting myself ready after helping Madi when I overheard her and Whit talking.

“You look so pretty Miss Whitney.”

“Thank you darling, so do you.”

“You always look pretty.”

“You want to know why? It’s ‘cos I want to look pretty for your mommy. It’s one of the things adults do when they love someone, they want to look pretty for them.”

“Then you must really love Mommy.”

“That I do Madi, that I do.” My heart leaped for joy when I heard this and since I was entering the living room where they were, I slipped my arms around her and gave her a kiss. I took a good look at what she was wearing, tight jeans, a thick green sweater, and what really did it for me were the black wedge boots that encased her lower legs. It was all I could do not to take her right then and there.

“And Mommy loves Miss Whitney too.”

The three of us headed out for dinner. As we walked to the restaurant that Whit knew, we each held Miss Madi’s hand. Whit and I traded smiles. Yeah, I had fallen for this woman. Not only did she like me, but she was 100% into my daughter. And my daughter felt the same for her. It was more than I could ask for from anyone.

The pub that Whit picked out was a fun place. It was hopping with people and since it was a Saturday night, there was a live Irish band playing. They played mostly traditional Irish tunes, but occasionally would play an adaptation of a modern rock or folk tune. Whit kept trying to pull me out onto the dance floor, but dancing wasn’t my thing. Instead, my mini me went out with Whit. It was fun watching them cut a rug. The folks in the booth next to us were commenting on it as well, and the older man leaned over and said how nice it was that my girl took to my daughter so well.

Eventually the pair of them talked me onto the dance floor and we danced to a traditional jig. I wasn’t expecting what came next. The singer announced that the next song was for all the lovers in the room. Whit shooed Madison back to our booth and took my hand.

Somehow my arms were wrapped around her neck and hers around my waist as we slow danced to Declan O’Rourke’s Galileo (Someone Like You). I just rested my head on her shoulder and felt that all was well with the world.

At that moment I didn’t have a care in the world. The song finished, and we slid back into the booth. We enjoyed the music a while longer until it was time for a certain little girl to get to her bed.

As I came out of Little Miss’s room after tucking her in, Whit handed me a glass of wine and we relaxed by the fire. She held me in her arms as we sat on the sofa and watched the flames flicker.

Upon finishing my glass, I relaxed in her arms. A hand crept up underneath my tee shirt and it began to cup my breast.

“Oh god, yes.”

“You like that baby?”

“Yes,” I moaned. Her hands felt so good, teasing me, getting me excited. I grabbed her and pressed my lips to hers. “Bedroom now,” I panted. She pulled me up from the couch, and I followed her down the hall. As I locked the bedroom door, she pushed me against the wall and resumed kissing me.

Not being able to take it any longer, I swung her around and pushed her back onto the bed. We wiggled her out of her sexy jeans, and when I lifted her sweater off, I saw my prize for the evening. Whit was wearing a sexy green satin bra with black lace and a pair of matching boy shorts.

Stripping myself down to my boxer briefs, I lay on top of her. Feeling the lace of her bra against my hardening nipples, and it made my arousal even stronger. My hand pressed against her satin shorts, and Whit writhed in response. Needless to say, it didn’t take long, and I had her seeing stars.

When she started to come down from her bliss, I held my Whitney and marveled at my feelings for her. So much has happened in the month since we first had tea together.

“Let me return the favor.” Her voice was husky and sexy. But I had to put my hands on hers and stop her.

“Maybe in a few days? I’m a day early. But if you just want to hold me that would make me happy tonight.” And that is how I was when sleep found me.

The next morning, we hit the slopes again. It was another fun day, but my mind was occupied by what might happen tonight when we got together with my mom. At lunch, my anxiety about the evening began to take hold, and I was starting to not feel that good. The anxiety just made my normal cramps worse. I left my two ski bunnies and treated myself to a nap. The large bed and the knowledge that I wasn’t going to be disturbed for a while was glorious.

I was feeling a bit less grouchy when my bunnies came in. Naps are a great thing.

“Mommy, we brought you something.” Little hand held up a small grocery sack. I peeked inside to see a bar of my favorite dark chocolate.

“I thought you might need a little ‘medicine’ to help with your cramps.”

“Thanks babe, this is the kind of surprise I like.” I gave Whit a kiss. “Well pumpkin, you ready to go see grandma?” I put my best happy face on. Madison started to skip around. Where does she get all her energy?

We pulled into mom’s tavern just after it got dark. “The Rusty Spike huh?” Whit was looking at the old fashion letter reader board on the street with some lights forming an arrow to the building. As usual, a few lights were burned out.

“‘Now with family dining’ that’s new.” I commented. Then I remembered that about six months ago mom said something about a small remodel. We walked in the door and I figured out what her small remodel was. Instead of there being a couple of pool tables as you walked in, there were some tables and a roped off divider separating the ‘family dining’ area from the bar. On one of the divider posts was the state required sign saying only those over 21 could be in the bar area. Yeah, right, like anyone was going to enforce that way out here.

“Grandma!” Madi took off and leaped into my mom’s arms.

“How is my favorite granddaughter?”

“Good. I can ski now!”

“She’s a natural. Mom, this is my friend and ski instructor Whitney.” Whit glanced at me with a bit of a look. I think she was expecting me to introduce her as my girlfriend. But at the moment, it was harder to say than I thought.

“Hi Mrs. DeLuca, pleasure to meet you.”

“Well welcome to the Rusty Spike. Come over here and have a seat. Like what I did Jenny?” I rolled my eyes at her. I hate being called Jenny, but only my mom can get away with it now.

“Don’t get any ideas.” I gave Whit the look.

Whit laughed, “Sure ... Jenny.”

“Grrr,” I growled. “So Mom, you got a dining area, getting much business?” I looked around and a few tables were filled with guests.

“Yeah, it’s paying for itself. Hershel’s place closed so there was a lack of basic dining in the area, so I changed things up. Not making much, but it’s better than nothing. Sit, take a load off. Can I get you something to drink? You want your normal Sprite honey?” Madi and I slid into one side of the booth offered, and Whit took the opposite side.

“Sure mom, same for Madi. Whit?”

“Ah, uh, Diet Coke for me, thanks.” Mom went back to the bar to get drinks. “Sort of dark in here.” The place had old 70s wood paneling, and a few lights hung from the ceiling.

“Interesting, I was thinking it was more lit up now. Guess it’s all in perspective.” Mom came back with drinks and some menus.

“I brought you all some of our wings. I know they’re your favorite.”

I do love them; she is right about that. It was a big basket of tasty, spicy goodness. And a proper bowl of blue cheese dressing to dip them in. But I knew what was coming next.

“Grandma, do you have any ranch?”

“When did you start putting ranch on your wings little one? Who taught you that?”

“Miss Whitney did.” Mom looked at Whit with mock horror.

“Oh no, you’re one of those, aren’t you?”

“Yes ma’am, ranch goes on everything. I think it was the eleventh commandment or something like that.”

Mom laughed. “I think I’m going to like you. Okay, I’ll bring out some ranch. But I’m not going to have a lot of time to catch up with you and chit chat. My cook quit a week ago and I’m training a replacement. But I got a few minutes here and there.” With a new cook, both Whit and I didn’t feel all that adventurous with Mom’s menu, but we figured whoever was back there couldn’t screw up a burger too badly. Not that the menu was all that exotic. Most of it was burgers, sandwiches, and fried stuff.

True to her word, Mom scurried back and forth from the kitchen to our table to talk to us. Much of the time, not surprising, she spent learning what was new with her granddaughter. How her new dolls have gone on great adventures, and how things are going in preschool with her friends.

I filled her in on my new job and how great a place it’s to work. In contrast to the food service work I have had in the past, I felt proud of my job and what I have been able to accomplish. Mom was also impressed that Whitney ran the accounting department for the corporate office. But we never quite got to the part that the company was her family’s company.

There were a couple of times I was about to change the topic and let her know that Whitney is more than just a friend, but every time I got the conversation close to a point of being able to bring it up, Mom had to run back to the kitchen and check on things.

We had polished off everything. Whit and Madi were hungrier than I thought, but a day of skiing will do that to you. A couple of the bar flies had seen me and came over to say hi. In a sense, the Rusty Spike was home for me. Many an evening as a kid, I did my homework in Mom’s office, and my first job after Madi was born was working behind the bar here. You can work a bar in Idaho at 19, just not drink what you are pouring.

The place did fill up for the dinner hour and mom was hopping. I even slipped behind the bar for a bit and lent a hand filling drink orders to help keep up. But eventually things died down and Mom sat down with us.

“So, Jenny, anything else new I need to know about. Any boyfriends?”

“Well Mom, actually...” and that is as far as I got before little miss no filter between brain and mouth spoke up.

“She doesn’t need a boyfriend, Grandma; she’s got Miss Whitney. I’ve seen them kiss.” And with that truth bomb dropped, Madi grabbed a stray fry still in her basket and, after dunking it in her ranch, popped it in her mouth.

Whit and I just looked at each other, sort of in disbelief. Nowhere in my thought processes thinking through how this would go did it ever turn out this way. I took a deep breath and exhaled. Mom was sitting there, still a little shocked.

“What I was about to say, Mom, is Madi is right. Whitney is more than a friend.” I reached out and put my hand on hers. “Mom, I’m gay.” Whit squeezed my hand to let me know she was right there with me.

A few minutes later we were getting a crying Madi into her car seat. I slumped into my seat, and Whit peeled out of the parking lot.

“That was unreal. I’m sorry Jenn.”

“Does Grandma not love me anymore Mommy?” It hurt to see my baby crying because of something someone who loved her said.

“I don’t know, pumpkin. But Mommy does, and I always will, no matter what.” I rubbed my temples; my head was throbbing. “Sorry, I’ve never seen her lose her shit like that before. I mean she got mad when I told her I was pregnant, but this was on another whole level.”

“Yeah, that big guy at the bar was cowering in the corner. But I’m proud of you Jenn, you kept your cool and were levelheaded the whole time.”

“I hope that is not the last time I see her. I don’t want to leave it this way.”