Chapter 18

I went home by train for the holidays on the Tuesday before Christmas, with a week to go until the 25th; I hoped that Julie was going to come up on the Thursday for a couple of days, after a quick trip home. She was probably going to have to sleep in Jen's bedroom; Mum wasn't the type to be having any hanky-panky going on in her house!

Jen was already back from Reading, Mum and Dad having collected her and her record player on the Saturday, and she picked me up from the station in Mum's mini. We were delighted to see each other again; we had a big hug when we met, and a kiss in the car on the way back, but as my train had arrived late, we couldn't hang around for too long.

I told her that I had invited Julie to stay for a couple of days.

"I'll ask Mum and Dad tonight if that's okay, but there's no way they'll let her sleep with me - do you mind if she has the put-you-up bed in your room?"

"Not at all! We'll be able to talk about you to our hearts' content!"

"Hmmm. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all!"

Mum was also pleased to see me back home; she had a long list of jobs for me to do around the house to prepare for Christmas, like polishing all the brass, cleaning her silver teapot for its annual outing, bringing in the logs and coal for the fires, and helping her empty and defrost the freezer, ready for reloading with all the Christmas goodies.

The first job after lunch was to go and collect the Christmas tree from outside the greengrocers; I had to hold a number of trees up for inspection until Mum and Jen at last agreed on one that was the right height and shape for the sitting room, and then I had to carry it home.

There were lots of smiles from other pedestrians as I weaved my way down the High Street, trying very hard not to collide with anyone. My vision was impaired by prickly evergreen branches swaying in front of my face, but we clearly made a very Christmassy group with Mum and Jen smiling triumphantly, Jen waving the bunch of mistletoe threateningly, and Mum clutching a sheaf of holly with bright red berries.

We set the Christmas Tree up in an old sherry barrel in the living room, weighting and wedging it with half bricks until it was vertical and stable. Jen and I then lay under it and turned it slowly round and round, until Mum was finally satisfied that it was showing its best side.

Then Jen and I played the traditional festive game of 'find the blown bulb'. Our set of Christmas Tree lights consisted of fifty tiny white bulbs on a double strand of wire, each set in a small coloured plastic shade. The problem was, as they were wired in series, every single one of those bulbs had to be working and properly screwed in before any of them would light, and every year one or more of them would manage to work loose or blow in storage.

And, to add insult to injury, although Jen and I knew just how much care we had taken to coil the wire up neatly when we had put it away the previous Twelfth Night, yet again it had somehow tangled itself in the box, so we ended up effectively playing a frustrating game of 'cats cradle' before we could lay the wire out in a long line.

I thought about winding the cable around Jen's forearms, so that I could sneakily tie her up and molest her without retaliation, but Mum kept coming and going so there was little chance of that. I whispered my intentions to Jen, and she giggled and said that she wouldn't mind trying that idea out sometime!

It started getting dark, so we went round the house closing all the curtains to keep the heat in. At about five, Dad came home from work, and we all sat together at the kitchen table drinking a cup of tea and eating one of Mum's Victoria Sponge cakes. I really felt that I was now home for Christmas. I luxuriated in the feeling of familiarity.

I could put the moment off no longer.

"You know that I've talked a bit about my girlfriend Julie? I'd really like you to meet her. Would it be okay if she came up on Thursday for a couple of nights so you have a chance to get to know her? Please?"

Mum and Dad spoke at almost the same time.

"It's like that, is it, Son?"

"About time too!"

Jen just roared with laughter. Clearly there had already been some discussion about my girlfriend, and she had been dropping the odd hint to our parents before I got home.

"Can I use the phone and let her know that it's okay?"

"Of course! Tell her that we're looking forward to meeting her!"

So I went into the hall, closed the kitchen door behind me for a bit of privacy on the phone, and told my darling that I loved her, and that I couldn't wait until Thursday came and we were reunited.

Jen came into my bedroom that night, just as I was stepping into my pyjama bottoms, and ostentatiously ogled Gustav, who of course responded to her admiration in his own inimitable way. I put him away before he could get us into very much trouble, as Mum and Dad were still up and about, and might just pop into one of our rooms to tell us something.

I put on my pyjama top and got under my quilt, and Jen sat down on the side of my bed in her long nightie, looking very desirable in my eyes. Our intimacy in September had pulled us extremely close together; she was now far more than just a sister to me!

We hadn't had a chance for a decent private chat since I had got home. Mum had kept us far too busy that day.

I held her hand and caressed her fingers with mine.

"How are things, Sis? I'm so sorry that we didn't manage to meet up during the term; Julie and I were very much looking forward to showing you all the sights of our new bedroom! How's life really treating you at Reading?"

"Oh, as I said, Uni is great now, and I'm having a lot of fun. I've taken up swimming quite seriously, and I'm really enjoying my course."

"And your love life? That's the bit I've been worrying about!"

"Love life absolutely zero. Sex life pretty close to zero since I went down to Clifton, but I'm hoping for a dramatic improvement in the next few days!"

"So you did find someone worth shagging at Reading?"

"Not really. I've let two boys have a go, and neither of them were worth seeing again. One of them came in his pants before we were fully undressed, and ran off in embarrassment, and the other was grunting so much while he did it that I couldn't stop laughing! It was a great pity, because otherwise he was quite a hunk."

"Well, good girl for trying, and let's hope that the New Year brings some new luck!"

"I'm hoping that my virile big brother will help me out much sooner than that!"

"If we can find a way that doesn't involve me being lynched by our parents afterwards, yes, I'd be absolutely delighted!"

"Oh goodie! I haven't had a proper orgasm since I was with the twins, and that's a couple of months back!"

"Sheila said that you had a good time, and that you had a threesome in the shower."

"Oh yes, that was a brilliant idea of theirs - remember how wobbly we were at the end of the summer holidays in the shower here?"