Amy's Christmas Guest Ch. 07

Donald and Caroline's car pulled up outside. The weeks between Amy's visit in the summer, and the start of her term at uni, had gone more quickly than I'd expected.

Amy was first out of the car and up the path. "Hi, Aunty Pam," she said, "Hi, Tim." She gave Pam a hug first, then squeezed me till I thought my ribs would crack.

"She's been talking about nothing else since she got her results," said Caroline, walking up the path with a large rucksack. "Going to uni, staying with her aunt and uncle, getting to see where Tim works."

"I'm sure she'll miss us when the excitement's worn off a little," said Donald. He put down a heavy-looking suitcase on the path; I tried the handle.

"Goodness, Amy, what have you got in here?" I teased. "If you want some bricks to make bookshelves, I've got some in the garage – you didn't need to bring your own." She stuck her tongue out at me and I pretended to be shocked. "Now see here, young lady." She feigned a chastened look, and I remembered all over again why I loved this young woman.

Donald and Caroline made their farewells, hugging their daughter. "Call us when you get back from registration day," said Caroline, as they drove off.

Amy waved at them as the car disappeared down the road, then turned back to us. "Here's your house key," said Pam. Amy took the offered keyring and said, "Thanks, Aunty Pam. I promise I'll take care of it."

"I have a key for you too," I said. I looked across at Pam and she smiled. Amy took the key, puzzled.

"Look in the garage," I said.

Amy went round the corner of the house and lifted the garage door, then squealed with delight at what she saw. She raced back round and stood on tiptoe to kiss me right on the lips. My look of dazed confusion wasn't in the least feigned; I looked over at Pam, but she just raised her eyebrows, as if to say, 'What can you expect? She's young.'

"A Mini! Uncle Tim! They're my favourite – thank you so much."

"Well, you have to get to and from the campus somehow," I said. "At least this way we know you're not going to be hassled by some stranger on the bus, or get lifts from older students with less than honourable intentions."

"Come on in," said Pam. "Tim will take your things up to your room and we'll leave you alone to settle in."

I hauled Amy's luggage up to her room, and stood there getting my breath back. Amy came up the stairs and into the room, standing out of sight of the landing. I put my arms around her and squeezed, feeling all of my affection for her come flooding up out of my heart.

"Mmm," she said, "that's good, but don't forget we have to be careful."

"I haven't forgotten," I said, "I just needed to hold you for a moment."

She buried her head in my shoulder for a few seconds, then released me.

"Later," I said. She nodded.

I went back down the stairs to the kitchen. Pam was making dinner. She said, "Do you think Amy will want to eat with us every night?"

"She's a thoughtful girl – I'm sure she'll let us know when she won't be coming home for dinner any evening. Let's talk about it while we eat."

Amy came down the stairs. "I've got most of it sorted out," she said. "Mmm, that smells good."

"Come and sit down, dinner's ready," said Pam. We went into the dining room, and Pam served.

"We should probably talk a bit about how things are going to work," I said. Amy nodded.

"You can come and go as you please," I said. "But we'll assume you're coming in for dinner unless you call us to say otherwise. There's no curfew, and we won't wait up for you to come home, though if you plan to stay out late – or all night – we'd prefer it if you mentioned it beforehand."

Pam chipped in, "It'd be nice to have some help with washing up, and you can cook if you like, but I won't expect you to do any other housework, or food shopping, or your laundry – I'm used to sorting clothes. We don't mind you bringing people back, and you can use any room, including your bedroom –" at this Amy's face went pink – "but I think we'd prefer you didn't have anyone to stay overnight – that can wait until you get a flat on campus next year or the year after, if you want to. Of course you can stay with us the whole three years if you like."

"Does that sound OK?" I said.

Amy grinned. "More than OK – you two are the best! Now, where do I sign up to do these dishes?" She practically skipped into the kitchen.

"I think this will be OK," said Pam. I nodded.

We all sat in the living room and talked for a while longer, then Amy said, "Well, it's registration day and freshers' fair tomorrow, big day. I'd better get some sleep." And she went upstairs and closed the door.

I yawned. "Time for us all to be asleep, I think."

Pam nodded, and we climbed the stairs, got ready for bed, and were quickly asleep.

I woke the next morning, and for a moment couldn't place the reason for the rush of happiness I felt. Then I remembered. I went down the stairs and found that I was last up, and that Amy and Pam were already sitting at the breakfast table.

"My two favourite girls," I said, kissing Pam on the lips then tousling Amy's hair with my hand. She pretended to look annoyed.

"What? You were going to do something with it before you went out anyway, weren't you?"

She stuck out her tongue again, and I reflected that there were benefits to teasing her.

"Anyway, I have to go to work," I said, gulping down half a cup of coffee rather too hot.

Pam leaned over for another kiss, and I patted Amy's shoulder.

"Good luck with registration day," I said. "Don't join too many societies at the freshers' fair." And I headed for my car, looking forward to hearing Amy's eager recounting of the day's events over dinner.

The next few days seemed to race by; Amy started on all her classes, and spent a lot of time at the study desk we'd set up for her at one end of the dining room, chewing on the end of a pen and absent-mindedly tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. I had long days at work, and Pam took on the extra effort of having a third person in the house. Amy helped as much as she could, but I knew Pam had deliberately held off asking her to do more so that Amy could spend her time studying. All in all, the household worked, though I did begin to wonder when Amy and I would get to spend time alone, and enjoy more than our occasional snatched kisses and caresses in moments when Pam was elsewhere.

Then almost at the end of Amy's first term, Pam said, "I have to go on a training course, and it means staying away, just one night next week."

"Ok," I said. "I think we can manage to cope for one night without you."

Amy chipped in, "I'll cook something for Uncle Tim." I thought back to last Christmas when Amy had cooked a meal for me; the scent of the perfume I'd bought her, mingled with the herbs she had used in her cooking, came sharply into my memory.

The next day I went into work and booked the two days off either side of Pam's trip. The night before she left, when Pam and I went to bed, she said, "D'you want to make love tonight? I'll miss you."

"You bet," I said, and did my best to give my wife an evening she would remember with pleasure when she lay alone in her hotel room the next night.

In the morning, Amy and I saw Pam off for her trip, then went back into the house. I'd expected Amy to grab me the moment the door closed behind me, but instead she put her arms around me gently, even tenderly.

"I know we've waited a while for this," she said, "but I want to enjoy the time we have, not eat you all up at once as though I was starving."

Again I couldn't help but be surprised at the maturity of the young woman before me. "So how would you like to start?" I said.

"Well, actually I have one lecture today I can't miss," she said, "so how about we go up to campus? You can have a coffee while I'm in my lecture, then we can have some lunch, and decide what to do next."

She got ready, and we went out. "I'll drive," she said, and I had my first experience as a passenger in her Mini as she drove it up to the campus.

"Actually you're not such a bad passenger," she teased. "I was expecting you to be a terrible back-seat driver."

She parked outside the Student Union building, and we walked in. Quite a few people waved at Amy, and she waved back.

"That'll get them wondering," she grinned.

"Hmm, so who am I, if anybody asks?"

"Tell them the truth – you're my uncle, and you're visiting me. They won't see any more than Pam sees, so there won't be a problem."

I settled down in the cafeteria with a coffee and that day's paper, and Amy went off to her business studies lecture. It seemed no time at all before Amy returned, accompanied by a petite blonde girl. "This is Laura," said Amy.

I wondered if she remembered my story of my friend Laura from university. "Hi, Laura," I said. "Are you a business student too?"

She laughed, and replied, "Not me! I'm doing art." At that point I noticed the portfolio case she carried. "I've been trying to persuade Amy to sit for me, but she seems a little reluctant."

"Well, I'll see what I can do to persuade her," I said. "Are you ready for lunch, Amy?"

"Sure thing. You want something, Laura? Tim's buying."

"Ok – I have no problem hanging out with your generous uncle," grinned Laura.

We queued up with trays, and I paid for our meal. We sat down at a table by the window and began to eat.

"So how come you're taking such an interest in Amy's progress?" asked Laura, when Amy went to get a drink of water.

"Well, my wife and I don't have any kids, so it's a chance we've not had before to help someone along the way a little. And she's a great girl."

"I'm a little envious, actually," said Laura, half-seriously.

"Well, you're welcome at our place anytime with Amy," I said.

She looked genuinely touched. "Thank you," she said, "I'll remember that."

Amy returned. "Tim says I can come to his place with you if I'd like," said Laura.

Amy grinned. "Sure," she said. "They have a pool and everything."

"Well," said Laura, "this sounds better and better. I have life class today, but could I come over tomorrow morning?"

"Sure," said Amy. "That's all right, isn't it, Tim?"

"Definitely," I said.

Laura headed off to her class, and when she'd gone I said to Amy, "That's OK, isn't it? It'll be great to get to know some of your friends."

Amy put her hand on mine. "That's fine," she said. "If Laura is a little surprised by how affectionate I am with my uncle when we're at home, I'm not going to worry about it."

We went back to the car and Amy drove us home. When we got back into the house, she put her arms around me again. "Can we do what we did before, just get in bed and hold one another to start with?"

"Of course," I said. We went upstairs to the master bedroom and she quickly undressed, climbing under the big duvet. "Brrr," she said, "it's a little chilly in here. Come in and warm me up."

I shed my clothes and joined her, putting my arms around her and enjoying the feel of her naked body against me, her silky skin touching mine.

After a while she said, "Mmm, I think I'm ready for you to make love to me now."

She turned over in the bed so her back was to me. I started to run my hands slowly over her arms and shoulders, her back, her bottom, her hips. She shifted more onto her front, and bent one leg, giving me access from behind to touch her between her legs. I entered her with my finger, then touched her clitoris.

"That's nice," she said. "If you put a pillow under me, I think you could enter me like this."

She lifted her body for a moment, and I pulled a pillow from the other side of the bed and put it under her. I shifted my weight carefully on top of her, and found that as she'd suggested, with her hips slightly raised and her legs apart, I could put my tip against her entrance. I entered her, and she gave a moan of pleasure.

"That puts pressure in exactly the right spot," she said. I began to move in and out of her, and she began to gasp each time I thrust deeply into her. I moved more quickly, and soon felt myself nearing my own climax. I slowed again, and she said, "Mmm, I like it when you nearly get there and pull back a little. Gives me time to catch up. But I'm ready now, so don't hold back any more."

I moved urgently in her and groaned as I came, spurting deep into her. As she felt the first spurt, she climaxed, and her muscles rippled against me, as though they were trying to draw out of me what I was already spurting into her.

Afterwards we lay for a long while, until I softened enough to finally slip out of her. I rolled onto my side and she snuggled back against me.

"Well, I promised you dinner," she said eventually.

"Guess so," I said. "Got to keep our strength up for later."

She gracefully got out of bed – I looked with fresh wonder at her as she stood – and found a dressing gown. "I don't need to dress to cook, do I?" she asked, smiling.

"Don't think so," I said. "Only problem is, I might get tempted to take that off you, if you look too irresistible while you're making dinner."

"I'll take that risk," she grinned.

I dressed, and we went down to the kitchen. Amy started to pull pans and other utensils from the shelves.

"Oho," I said, "I can see I'm going to have my work cut out cleaning up after you've had a session in the kitchen."

She grinned, and said, "It'll be worth it." And she started a blitz of peeling, chopping, frying, simmering.

"Can I do anything?" I asked.

"Well, set the table, and you could open a bottle of wine."

I went into the dining room, and decided that if this was my part of the preparation, I would do my best to make it as special as possible. I spread a cloth on the dining table, and set it with our best china, silverware, crystal, then found a candlestick and lit the candles. I moved a vase of flowers into the centre of the table, and turned the lights down low. Then I went back into the kitchen to fetch the wine.

"Won't be long now," said Amy.

"Why don't I watch and stir, while you slip into something else?" I suggested.

"OK. Just don't get anything burn," she said, feigning a threatening expression.

"More than my life's worth."

Amy returned after a few minutes in a simple black dress, with her hair up, a few stray strands making her look beautiful and vulnerable at the same time.

"Wow," I said. "Why don't you sit down, and I'll serve."

I led her into the dining room and she said, "Tim, this is perfect – thanks for setting everything so beautifully."

I held her chair for her to sit down, then fetched the food from the kitchen and served. "This smells amazing," I said.

"I think you'll enjoy it," she said, already reaching for her own fork.

I poured wine for us, and we ate without talking, savouring each bite.

When we'd finished the main course, I cleared the plates away, and said, "I already have dessert sorted – it's not exactly sophisticated, but I know you'll like it."

I returned from the kitchen with two heaped bowls of chocolate ice cream.

"Mmm," said Amy, "just what I had in mind."

We finished the meal and sat talking for a while about how Amy's first term was going.

"I'm getting really good marks in my coursework, and I have one final paper to submit before Christmas," she explained. "Then in the New Year I need to do my first placement."

"Already sorted," I said. "You'll have four weeks with my team – I arranged it that way so I can give you a really thorough induction into the company, so you know who's who and how everything really works, before you go and work with any of the other departments."

"Thanks, Tim. Or will I have to call you 'Mr Smith' at work?"

"Actually these days in the business world, everyone is more or less on first name terms – the whole power and deference thing just shows up in different ways."

She looked thoughtful. "I'll remember that – it's not something any of my tutors have mentioned."

"See – there's the first thing you've learned from your placement, and you haven't even set foot through the door yet."

She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks – it's not the first new thing I've learned from my big-shot manager uncle, though."

I grinned. "True – but some of that isn't the sort of thing you'd put in a business book. Now, I think I'd better go and restore some kind of order to the kitchen. How about I make coffee, and you sit at the kitchen table and talk to me while I wash up?"

"Great idea," she said, and we went through to the kitchen.

I made the coffee, and Amy sipped it while I clattered in the sink. When everything was washed and dried and back in its place, she said, "That was pretty efficient."

"Long practice," I said. "Now, how about another coffee back in the living room?"

We took our drinks and sat together on the couch, with just a lamp for illumination. Amy settled her head on my shoulder, and we sat in comfortable silence for a while.

"So, how are we going to entertain Laura tomorrow?" Amy mused aloud.

"I think she was looking forward to using the pool," I replied. "And she did hint that she'd like you to sit for her; perhaps she'll bring her art materials."

"Hmm," said Amy. "You know when she says 'sit' she means nude, don't you?"

"Ah," I said. "I thought she just meant a portrait, or 'Girl at a Window', or something. I see now why you had some reservations."

"Well," said Amy, "we'll see how it goes. At least if it's here, it'd only be Laura – no risk of any other would-be 'artists' barging in because they've heard there's a girl modelling."

"So if you did it, you'd have no problem with me being around?"

She shifted position to face me. "It would be a bit silly if I did, given what we already are to each other."

"And what's that?" I said, the teasing expression on my face making it clear I was fishing.

She thought for a moment. "To begin with, friends, I hope."

She glanced over to me for assurance, and I nodded.

She continued, "Looks like you'll be my mentor, when I'm at your company."

"Certainly."

"Now," she said, "I'm almost sure there was something else, can't quite put my finger on it, it's on the tip of my tongue." Her eyes danced with amusement.

"Does this help?" I said, leaning over and giving her a soft, lingering kiss on the lips.

She was silent for a moment, her face now serious. "Lovers," she said quietly. I felt my heart nearly burst with emotion as she smiled and reached for my hand.

"So, lover, shall we go to bed?" I said.

"Yes, please," she replied.

I got up, and held out my hands to hers to pull her to her feet. As she stood, she came into my arms and I wrapped her in a tender embrace. We held each other for long moments, then I led her toward the stairs, my arm still around her waist.

When we reached the bedroom, she said, "Let's just sleep, shall we? We can make love in the morning – that'll help you not get too excited watching two scantily-clad young women fooling about in the pool."

"You know you're much more to me than that, don't you?" I asked.

Her face was serious again. "Tim," she said, "I'm not taking anything for granted. I love what we have together – I love you, and I'm grateful for everything we have and everything you've done for me. I don't know how long we'll have this, and I don't want to spoil it by assuming too much, or trying to tie you down, put boundaries you might not like on anything."

I was silent for a long time, then I spoke slowly. "Amy, I know I told you about some of the things I did when I was at uni. I'm not proud of those, I really regret hurting those young women, and sometimes I wake up at night under the weight of responsibility for how it might have made their lives turn out. But I'm older now, and I hope wiser."

My face betrayed my feelings. "I don't have a script for this – I don't know how it's going to turn out. But the one thing that I'm determined is that you'll take away something good from this – something you can look back on really positively, whatever else your life holds."