Chapter 10

Rebecca

With Caitlyn out in Iowa training for her pageant, it was up to Becca to go homecoming dress shopping with Cecelia, who still didn't understand the concept of a school dance… let alone tied to football.

But she understood that it was a very big deal, and the few friends she had made at Winchester Academy insisted she come along. Likewise, her friends back in Hong Kong begged her to go take pictures and report back on what it was like. So it was settled. Cecelia was off to the homecoming dance that weekend, and Becca was stuck helping a teen girl shop for a dress.

"Here is a list of the dresses already purchased by other young ladies," said Gertrude, the shopkeeper in charge of The Crimson Dove that day. According to everyone Becca knew, this was the place to take a girl dress shopping if she wanted to feel fancy and "in" with her peers. Many of the gowns, even the cocktail dresses, cost thousands of dollars – far out of the realm of financial possibility for someone like Becca in high school, that was for sure. But Jane had handed her a credit card, and that was that. "Purple is a very popular color this year, but looking at your complexion, Miss Cecelia, I think we should start with a rich burgundy or deep crimson red. What do you think?"

Cecelia shrugged, attempting to hide the giddy grin that dress shopping brought her. "Sure. I also look really good in black. Just saying."

Gertude's retail smile may have snuck past Cecelia, but Becca recognized it as the tell-tale sign that the professional shopkeeper knew better than a sophomore in high school. "Yes, I think we'll go with a body-hugging bodice and a hem that ends above the knee. How does that sound?" she asked Becca, who was the guardian in this situation.

"Oh, she can get whatever she wants, as long as she's decent." Becca cleared her throat. "That sentiment comes from her aunt, by the way. Who is paying for this."

"Of course. Be right back with some selections."

Cecelia stood on the dais in front of three mirrors, flipping through a picture album of dresses already purchased by her fellow Winchester Academy students. "Wow, that one is so pretty. I bet Opal Meyer is wearing that. It screams her."

"Who's that?" Becca asked for the sake of conversation.

"This popular girl in junior year. She's said hi to me a few times, so she must be nice."

Is that all it takes these days? "Cool. Guess she has a good sense of style."

"Oh, my God, so good. She's always so carefully put together and always wears pastels. They're, like, her signature palette." Rebecca didn't know if Cecelia had always sounded so "teenage American girl" but it shone through now that she had been in school for six weeks. "I didn't know anyone could get away with wearing pastels at Winchester Academy, but she does it! It's soooo subtle, too. Oh, my God, she has this baby pink headband that she pairs with her dark crimson turtleneck and plaid skirt…"

Rebecca struggled to pay attention, but if Cecelia was happy to keep prattling on, then good for her. She'd pretend to listen while texting Caitlyn, who had sent some photos of her lakeside property. At least that's gorgeous in the fall. Becca was due to head to Iowa around Halloween, but until then, she lived vicariously through photos and descriptions of pumpkin pie and apple cider in the air. Ugh. So jealous. Since Caitlyn's departure, it had been up to Becca to get the apartment ready for fall so Cecelia could properly enjoy her first Halloween season in America, but she was nowhere near as good as the original Ms. American Midwest.

"By the way…" Cecelia wrinkled her nose and knotted her hands together, something she always did when she struggled to think of how to say something. Whether in English or at all. "Don't tell my aunt yet, because I promise I will tonight, but I have a date for homecoming."

Well, if anything was to break Rebecca's concentration on the phone in front of her, it was that. "Really? Who?" Opal Meyer? Rebecca would explode into a righteous sapphic dance if that turned out to be the case, but she knew better than to think those genes ran that hard in the Wong family. Just because Jane was gay and Lilian was bi…

"His name is Perry." Cecelia bit her lip. "Perry Merryweather." She concentrated on saying his last name without missing a single syllable. "He's one of Opal's friends in junior year. He asked me yesterday. That's why I haven't said anything yet."

"Oh. Nice. Is he cute?" Becca didn't know what else to say.

"Sure!"

"Do you have a picture?"

"Oh, no, not yet. But I think he wants to pick me up at the apartment to take me to the dance. I think that's the tradition?"

Becca nodded. "If memory serves me, he will bring a corsage, take some pictures, and whisk you away while your guardian threatens his manhood if you're not back by midnight."

"I could see Auntie Jane doing that."

Me too. Except she'd do it in a few quips peppered with Britishisms that would probably fly right over an American boy's head. And she would be all bark, no bite. Jane knew she had nowhere to talk. By the time she was her niece's age, she had already broken at least one heart. I was as bad… Becca wouldn't bring up that she always had dates for homecoming and prom. And they usually wanted something from her in exchange for a corsage and car ride.

She would have to be the one to give Cecelia the talk, wouldn't she? Great.

"If you like him, and he seems respectful enough, then whatever, right?" Becca relaxed into the circular sofa spectators like her had to occupy when helping a lucky woman shop at The Crimson Dove. She had turned down the complimentary Champagne and instead nursed a bottle of Perrier via a chilled glass, but that wasn't the only thing to distract her. Gertrude had returned, and she bore with her five different dresses that were perfect for an evening at one of Winchester Academy's many social functions.

Becca only half paid attention while she mulled over Cecelia's announcement that she was dating a local boy. Time to tuck his name away for later. The first thing Jane would want to know was his background. Second? His family's. But unlike her own family, who would care about these things as a way to possibly set up their children's marital future, Jane wanted assurance that she wasn't fucking up having a ward under her roof. It would be Becca's job to do the digging as soon as they were home.

Perry Merryweather. Yup, that sounded like a rich boy's name.

"Can you believe it? Already some boy has the gonads to ask her out!" Jane flopped onto her side of the bed after she emerged from her shower. It was almost ten. Cecelia was locked up in her room for the rest of the evening, probably texting with Perry, and Becca had agreed to sleep with Jane that weekend. So much for having Caitlyn's big bed all to myself. It had been a good run for the first few days Cait was away. "I don't know anything about these ‘Merryweathers.' What a silly name. Can you imagine the weather being merry? It sounds so English, yet that is the last place you expect happy weather!"

Becca gave up finishing the book she had started eight weeks ago. As she set it aside, she got under the covers and said, "I don't know anything about them either. All that came up in my Google-fuing was that his father runs a regional transportation company and his mother is a trust fund daughter, maiden name Kleinschmidt."

"How brilliantly German."

"Think your sister will live if she finds out?"

"Oh, I doubt Lilian cares as long as she is not a grandmother before sixty-five when it will be fashionable for her to dote on a tyke. Now, my mother will do that thing where she wrinkles her nose and hitches her breath in her throat because he is not even Asian, let alone of Chinese descent. But she will not say a bloody thing because it's her daughter's daughter, and quite frankly, Willow Wong is done playing matchmaker if you ask me. All of her get are married once again. She can die happy!"

Becca turned off her light and rolled toward Jane, who still wasn't beneath the covers. "Maybe I should talk to her about the culture around school dances. Let alone entitled boys from wealthy private schools…"

"Oh, please, if anyone is talking to her about the birds and the bees, it better not be me."

"Way ahead of you, Jane."

"But I am sure it will be fine. I will have a chat with the bloke before he runs off with our Cece." Something about Jane's self-assured laughter wasn't cutting the muster. Countdown in three… two… "Let him know that Cecelia comes from two very powerful families in Hong Kong. Anyone who owns an estate in Hong Kong is powerful, you know. Us Wongs with White Fir and the Lams with Cypress Ridge. He will not live past the age of eighteen if my mother catches wind that some American kid has made her oldest granddaughter cry. That is when Willow Wong gets involved!"

There it is.

"But let's not talk about that." Jane pushed herself against Rebecca, clamping a hand against the small of her back and nuzzling her nose right into her girlfriend's neck. "Let's talk about how much I have been thinking about you all day, Becca."

She gently shoved Jane away with a solid hand to the chest. "I started my period tonight. I would rather stab myself in the gut than have sex, sorry."

Groaning, Jane flung herself back onto her pillow, legs still twisted in Rebecca's direction. "Just my bloody luck. Caitlyn's gone, you're bitten by the evil little sister, and I'm here probably ovulating based on how badly I want to shag something. Wa! Kill me. My mid-40s are so callous."

"Sorry. Cramps are not kind tonight." If Rebecca took medicine the moment she noticed her period was starting, she usually skirted the worst of it. But she had been distracted and waited too long before the cramps settled in. I'll be lucky if they go away in the next couple of days. "You know where the vibes are."

"If you think I am going to bang one out while you are asleep next to me, no thank you."

"You could do it alone without me being any the wiser, but you insisted I sleep with you."

"Because I thought I had a shot at some shagging, love."

"Well, you didn't."

"Becca!" Jane flung herself around her girlfriend, creating a cacophony of surprised cries and the whole bed squeaking against the wall. Oh, god, there goes half the contents of my uterus. Becca was simultaneously grateful for her industrial-quality period panties and so turned off by what she felt that she was liable to knee Jane between the legs to get her to calm down. "I love you! Let me tell you all the ways, love!"

Before Becca knew it, she was on her back, Jane straddling her. "Caitlyn was right when she once called you a menace to society."

"Admit it, you love me back."

"Do I have a choice at this point? You're a riot."

Becca may not have been in the mood to make love, but she could be convinced to indulge in the kind of kisses that often led to lovemaking. And when Jane excused herself to take another shower as if she hadn't just done so, Becca took the opportunity to whisk herself off to a wistful sleep where she didn't have to think about cramps or teen girls going to homecoming.

"So…" Becca served their guest some ice water while Jane sat him down in the living room for a quick chat. "Perry Merryweather. I believe I once attended the same cocktail party as your father. Jason, is it?"

The gangly teenager wearing a well-fitted suit and sporting a broccoli haircut looked mildly impressed. "Whoa. Yeah. That's my dad!"

"Brilliant. I do love a good Biblical name. They are so easy to remember."

Becca took the serving tray back to the kitchen, still in ear's reach of the conversation in the living room. "Whoa." Perry sat up straight for the first time since he crossed the threshold. "Jason's in the Bible?"

Becca happened to glance over and catch Jane's disbelieving gaze that said, "How do I know more about his people's book than he does?" "Never mind that." She changed course at the same moment Becca realized that Perry had not gotten into Winchester Academy on mere academic merit. "While we await our star of the evening, I thought we would have a wee chat about our expectations tonight, Perry."

"Oh, don't worry Mrs. Lam, I am a very respectful guy."

Becca contained a snort while Jane's pitch grew increasingly higher with her frustration. "You can call me Jane, love. And it's Ms. Wong. Our Cece is my niece through my sister."

"Whoa."

Jane asked him to bring Cecelia home by midnight and to treat her as he would treat his distant cousin, which Rebecca found to be odd phrasing, but Perry seemed to get the message. There was also the reassurance that Jane understood teens liked to have a pint or two while celebrating on the weekend, but Cecelia was not to come home drunk, nor would anyone be driving her home drunk. Jane asked if he needed funds for a potential Uber ride, but he turned her down, reassuring Jane that one of his buddies was the designated driver after a recent stint in rehab. Yup. That's solid teen logic right there. In advance of that night, Becca had given Cecelia some money for a ride if she needed it. As well as the reassurance that if she called and needed help, Jane would get her with no questions asked.

But it wasn't easy convincing a teen heiress from Hong Kong that not everyone in her family was out to judge her for every little thing. So Becca likewise informed Cecelia that she would come to get her if necessary.

Cecelia emerged from her room in her burgundy gown that was more about accentuating her natural lines and tones than calling attention to itself. She and Becca had gone to the salon earlier that day, the latter conceding to have her hair straightened again while Cecelia had hers dolled up in an intricate style that commanded fake flowers and a repurposed leather collar she had found at a thrift store. When Jane heard "leather collar" she thought of something quite different. Becca had not enjoyed explaining how so many necklaces could be called the same thing in English.

But Jane had forgotten about that by the time her niece arrived in full homecoming attire. She and Becca took pictures of the couple in front of the window and a well-lit wall. Cecelia signed off on which picture was allowed to be sent to the family, and Perry presented her with a corsage that vaguely matched her dress. When Cecelia finally relented to carrying a tracking device in her clutch, it was because Jane reassured her that it was "in case the family gets on my arse about where you are."

Rebecca was happy to see them go. Not because she was eager to get rid of Cecelia for good, but because she had a date with herself that night while Jane lounged in the living room and suggested they watch a movie.

"I'm taking a bath in Cait's room," Becca announced. "Me and a bottle of ibuprofen."

"You still dancing with Bloody Mary?" Jane called after her. "It has been three days!"

"You know I go the full six or seven!"

"I do not understand!" Jane's voice rose in volume as Rebecca walked farther away. "Mine only lasted about two!"

"Yes, and it's very rude of it to not afflict you as hard as it does Cait and me!"

Locked in the silence of Caitlyn's room, Rebecca treated herself to a bath and the book she still had yet to finish after all this time. As the jetted tub massaged her back and thighs, she checked her phone for any messages from anyone of note and leaned back in the hot water.

She almost fell asleep, the only thing keeping her awake was the sensation of the book smacking her on the face.

"Have you heard anything from Cece, love?" Jane stared at her phone while Becca climbed into bed next to her. While she adjusted her pillows, her girlfriend continued, "I know her curfew isn't until midnight, but I feel like I should have heard something by now. Christ. What is this feeling? Why do I care so much about a teenager's wellbeing?"

Rebecca turned off the light and lay at a higher angle than Jane, who preferred to sleep completely flat on her back with the thinnest pillow in existence. Not Rebecca. Especially when I'm cramping. Especially when her hair was recently done!

"Just make sure your phone isn't on silent in case she calls. It's all we can do."

"At this rate, I'm not sleeping until she's either home or I've exhausted what the local police can do to find a missing girl."

"Jane."

"What? It's her first night out with a group of youths who have probably snuck liquor into their dance and are doing God knows what." Jane yawned. "You think I do not remember what that is like?"

"Or me, for that matter? I never had a date to a dance who didn't think I owed them something for existing." Becca attempted to resituate herself again but suffered to get comfortable with her back hurting.

"You all right, love? You look like you are possessed by the world's laziest demon."

"Lower back cramps. Medicine isn't cutting it tonight." Sighing, Rebecca turned to Jane. "Don't suppose you could give me a massage, huh?"

Jane tossed aside her phone. "An excuse to put my hands all over you? I would say that I thought you would never ask, but what a lie. I knew you would. We have this place all to ourselves tonight, and that simply never happens."

Becca assumed the position on her stomach. "Be nice, huh? And don't forget to put extra pressure right where my ass starts. That's where it gets really sore every month."

Jane pulled back the covers enough to assume the massaging position above her girlfriend. "Shouldn't you go to the doctor for this? You might have one of those unfortunate conditions that has your hormones all out of sorts."

"If you don't want to give me a massage," Rebecca sputtered into the pillow covering most of her face, "then say so."

"You and Cait do say that I don't know how to do it properly."

"That's Caitlyn! She's got all those knots in her back and even I can't do it right."

Jane's hands landed on Becca's back. Yet even as she started rubbing her girlfriend's upper back, all Becca could think about was how lovely it was to have all that weight situated above her waist. That's the real trouble area there. She wouldn't say no to Jane giving it a good try to work some kinks, though. She has a touch like a god, after all. Caitlyn provided powerful vibes and knew all the right things to say, and Jane was the dexterous lover who brought the fun.

"Yeah, like that. Ugh." Becca pushed her face into her pillow as Jane pressed her knuckles into the troublesome spot on her girlfriend's shoulder blade. "Right on my neck."

"Come again, love? You sound like you are underwater."

Becca groggily lifted her head. "Back of my neck!"

She groaned in bliss once Jane's firm thumbs were right where they needed to be. This was made even better when Jane leaned forward, pushing her thighs down on the small of Becca's back. What have I done to deserve such beauty in this world? Back? Less sore. Cramps? Forgotten!

"You know…" Jane leaned her elbows down on Becca's back as she spoke. "You are one captivating creature in this position."

"Yeah, I'm quite aware that your pelvis is hot, Jane."

"All I am saying is that our beautiful Cait has been gone for over a week and we still have not made the most of it. And with Cece gone out tonight, we could be loud, Becca! Loud and proud with our lust, like old times!"

"Old times as in two months ago?"

"That's like two years ago in my head."

Becca crumpled her pillow beneath her head and sighed. "I'm still super periody."

"And I'm super horny!"

"Good god." Rebecca pushed her hair out of her face. "You said horny."

"My cup runneth empty of flowery prose to describe my need to come, Becca. Or however you expect me to say that in English!"

Becca had to think about it for a few seconds. On one hand, she was in no condition to have the kind of sex she was accustomed to with Jane, who liked it quick, yes, but also intense enough to make a woman forget where she was for an hour. But on the other? She had a hard time telling either of her girlfriends no when they bared their sexual souls to her. Becca was the kind of woman who had her distinct way of "giving" in the bedroom. Sometimes, giving was lying there and taking it like a pro. What? That's hot too! Had it landed her in trouble multiple times before? Yes! But that was in worse situations with people who took advantage of her. Not once in her five years with this crazy couple had Becca ever felt used. In the bad way. Because she had to remind herself there was a bad way.

"Tell you what," Becca said with the sultriest voice she could muster. "I am quite happy in this position. And I am quite happy to have you putting all your weight right where the pain is. Do you read me?"

She saw Jane's grin out of the corner of her eye. "Loud and clear, love. As long as you are happy, I get to do whatever I want."

"Mmhm." Becca created a nest for her face out of her pillow, arms wrapped beneath it as her legs flattened on the mattress. "My underwear stays on, though. For both of our sakes."

"Nothing you say can ruin my mood now. Even references to your little sister taking residence in your sweet abdomen, love."

Little sister my ass. Becca knew that was a common Chinese euphemism for menstruation like one might refer to a certain aunt who visited once a month, but it always conjured the ridiculous image of some bratty child knocking down the bathroom door and screaming at a captive audience trapped on the toilet. Maybe that's what my period feels like.

Jane's underwear landed on the pillow next to Rebecca. She grabbed them before her girlfriend had the chance to toss them elsewhere.

"Are you holding my knickers hostage?" Jane nuzzled her nose against the back of Rebecca's head. Hope she enjoys all the products currently in my hair. "If tonight were a friskier night I'd tell you to keep them beneath your pillow."

"What would stop me from doing that anyway?"

Becca gasped when Jane's naked mound slammed against the small of her back. "Don't let me stop you. My sweet, darling Rebecca, always so generous with her body…"

"You really know how to woo a woman, Jane."

"No, no." Fingers slammed into Becca's shoulders, simultaneously pinning her down while espousing a certain mood. "If I'm asserting this much dominance over you tonight, I think a different title is in order."

Rebecca hid her pleasantly surprised grin in her pillow. "Yes, ma'am."

"God, you are the only woman who can call me ‘ma'am' and not make me scream." The pressure in Jane's fingers only intensified as she began moving her hips against Rebecca's waist, sometimes pressing down on the small of her back and relieving the discomfort there, sometimes pulling back and lingering on her ass. Becca remained still. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally knock Jane off and ruin the moment. "But I do like it." Both of Jane's hands slipped down from Rebecca's shoulders and found the bottom of her shirt. "Say it again, would you?"

"Yes…" Becca held her breath as Jane reached beneath her clothes and easily searched for her girlfriend's breasts. "Ma'am."

Funny, wasn't it? Only ten minutes ago, Becca balked at the idea of having sex tonight. This wasn't a testament to Jane's charms, though. It's more like a testament to what kind of woman I am. One who loved to bring happiness and relief to the people around her. Becca had learned to accept her preferred role in these kinds of relationships. She wasn't the kind to declare to the world "I am submissive, hear me roar!" but she had made peace with it. Being easily pliable in both senses of the word didn't make her less of a person. Nor did it take away from her precious agency, the one thing she had fought hard to reclaim in the wake of her last long-term relationship. The things I did to myself… No, Becca didn't want to think about that while Jane used her to get off. Is it really using me, though? Becca may not be bucking her hips or audibly begging for it, but she still wanted it. This was as much an expression of love as it was her reclaiming the ability to say no if she wanted.

Why say no when it felt damn good?

Becca buried her face as deeply as it could go in her pillow, eschewing air if it meant she could make the most pathetic sounds of acquiescence without embarrassing herself. She let the loud groans and grunting go to Jane, who closed the evening by entering a stage of primal ferocity that Becca was more than happy to indulge.

Nothing made her happier than feeling Jane's rhythm slow after she cried out in ecstatic desire. Becca couldn't hear anything else now that the pillow closed in around her ears, but she lifted her hips, likewise lifting Jane high enough to make her fall forward and cover her girlfriend's neck in kisses while groping her beneath her shirt.

That's right… Becca didn't have to say anything. Jane already knew what to do. Touch me. Kiss me. Use me.

Becca raised her head and intercepted one of those kisses. As Jane's hunger abated and the seconds slowly rolled by, Becca fell into a fit of laughter, knocking Jane onto her own side of the mattress and making the bed smack against the wall.

"What are you doing?" Becca asked, still lying on her stomach as Jane picked up her phone off the nightstand. "You better not be taking pictures!"

"Relaaaax, love." Jane quickly texted something before lifting her arms in accomplishment. "Just telling my wife that I humped another woman's arse tonight. If she is feeling cute, we should get some nudes."

"She's not gonna send you nudes!"

"It is like five hours behind here! Maybe she's feeling horny too!"

"It's only a one-hour difference!"

"So?"

Becca rolled over so she could snatch Jane's phone out of her hands. "Gimme that. I'm going to tell her what happened."

"Go on, then. I have all night to amuse you both."

Unlike Becca's threats to her girlfriend, this time she was the one taking pictures to send to someone else.

"Oh, God, surely that was flattering," Jane said.

"This is the face of a menace," Rebecca wrote in the text she sent Caitlyn. "Get your ass home immediately so she can take this out on you for a change."

She sent some fire and faux-angry emojis to send the point home.

"So, round two?" Jane cheekily asked. "This time you can ride my arse."

Rebecca thought about it. The fact she did made her laugh again.