Piper Plus

***

June

One evening, not long after Rosemary’s proposal, Jen was whispering delicious obscenities into David’s ear.

“I’ve been having sex with my girlfriend, David. Just now we were in a sixty-nine. You know what that is, David? It’s where she licks me, and I lick her at the same time.”

His cock twitched inside her as she planted the image of the lovers dipping their tongues into each other’s liquid sex. She grinned at him and goaded him some more.

“Her juice was running into my mouth. I tried to swallow as much as I could. You probably couldn’t hear us cumming because our mouths were buried in each other’s cunts. You can still taste her cunt on my mouth, can’t you?”

“That’s a lot of cunts,” he murmured.

She giggled. “Does that turn you on, David? It turns me on. I want that hot cum of yours inside me, ’cause then it won’t be yours anymore, it’ll be mine! Then I’m going to walk to my other bedroom and I’m going to make my darling Rosie pregnant!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a nice Catholic girl?” he grunted, thrusting hard into her and earning a gasp in reply.

She pulled him into an urgent kiss; her tongue invading his mouth, then breaking to pant, “Now I’m something more.”

Kissing him again, “And it’s all down to you. You’ve led me into bad ways. Darling.”

“Good to know I still have a place in your affections!”

“You think you’ve got problems? Sometimes I worry that I’m going to fall in love with the whole world!”

***

Preparations

Jen had missed church. She’d stopped attending regularly years before, finding the ritual and dogma at odds with her experience, especially now.

However, one day walking past the big Catholic church, she stopped by the huge main door. Some unknown impulse took her inside to the vast, vaulted, silence.

Standing halfway to the altar, looking up at the big stained-glass window, a voice spoke to her. Turning, she saw the priest and he introduced himself as Father Mulcahey.

“What brings you to St James?” he asked.

“I was passing, and I just popped in. I’m not quite sure why,” Jen said, looking round at the massed ranks of wooden pews.

More than anything it was the smell that brought memories of her childhood flooding back. It was the same at the children’s schools.

“The ways of the Lord are mysterious,” he said with a twinkle.

Jen rolled her eyes but smiled at him anyway.

“Were you raised a Catholic?” the priest asked.

“My parents are Italian; how could it be otherwise?”

He chuckled. “I understand. I’m Irish and the Church has a similar grip on me, not just through my faith.”

He paused. “Why don’t you come to mass?”

“Don’t ask me that, Father; I’m married to an empiricist. Besides, I haven’t been for years. It stopped speaking to me.”

“It’s speaking to you now though, isn’t it?”

Jen’s gaze drifted to the altar. Memories of holding her parents’ hands as they took their place among the pews. The sound of the choir and the organ, the smell of the incense and the kneelers.

“I’ll think about it.”

***

Sunday came.

“I’m pleased to see you, Mrs Piper,” Father Mulcahey said, clasping her hands in his own.

“May we expect to see your sceptical spouse, soon?”

Jen took a deep breath. “I’m afraid neither David nor Rosemary are likely to attend.”

Fr Mulcahey paused to consider this statement for a moment.

“David is your husband, is he not?”

“That’s correct, Father.

“And Rosemary is?” he left the question hanging.

“Part of the household,” Jen smiled reassuringly.

She knew there was gossip in the congregation. People that had seen her holding Rosie’s hand in public. Rosie had narrowed her eyes at some of them and they’d suddenly discovered important business elsewhere.

“Mrs Barrett has joined the parish council, Mrs Piper; she lists the same address as you. Also part of the household?”

“Yes,” said Jen, firmly.

Father Mulcahey pondered for a moment.

“How very… modern.”

Jen beamed at him. “Em says exactly that!”

“Em?”

“Mrs Barrett. Marjorie. Em to her friends.”

“Is she also a sceptic?”

“No, she’s C of E. She likes to involve herself in the community.”

The priest smiled.

“She has already proved herself an asset at the meetings. She would be very welcome should she wish to accompany you to a service.”

“I think the gossip mill would go into meltdown!”

“Too late for that, Mrs Piper. Your domestic, ah, arrangements have been a source of speculation for some time now.”

Jen frowned. “It’s nobody’s business but our own.”

“I did hear of your daughter being involved in an altercation at school.”

Jen snorted. “She put some little tyke straight when he called me a lezzer.”

Tilly had come home with a few scrapes and bruises and full of apprehension at what her parents might say. Inevitably it ranged across the full gamut.

Rosie had merely asked, ‘did you win?’ and nodded approvingly at Tilly’s fierce confirmation. David had murmured, ‘that’s my girl,’ and given her a big hug.

It had been left to Jen and Em to give the standard lecture on how violence didn’t solve anything and even that had been spoiled by Em winking at Tilly.

Father Mulcahey pursed his lips.

“Children can be cruel. Unfortunately, so can their parents.”

“Anyone says anything, and I’ll set Rosie on them. They won’t know what’s hit them!” Jen said angrily.

This exchange hadn’t gone unnoticed by some of the other parishioners and the priest looked around.

“Would the four of you come to see me at the vicarage?”

Jen looked at him in astonishment. “What for?”

“I’d like to understand.”

***

It had taken a good deal of persuasion on her part for Jen to bring the gang together that evening.

“I don’t know what the fuck we’re doing here,” Rosemary said, eyeing the porch light with the figure of Christ the Redeemer underneath it.

“Exploring,” David said blandly, and Jen kicked him.

Em was almost as big a bundle of nerves as Rosemary. She’d relaxed a great deal since this phase of her life had commenced three years ago, but she was still at heart a ‘respectable’ woman.

The door opened and Father Mulcahey welcomed them in. They stood awkwardly in the hall while coats were shucked and hung on the row of pegs on the wall.

In the big living room, they eventually settled in pairs on two of the three sofas arranged around a low table. Jen and Rosemary on one, David and Em on the other.

The priest observed the arrangement but made no comment, instead perching himself on the arm of the third sofa.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” he asked.

David and Rosemary opted for whisky, Em and Jen declined.

“You’re wondering what this is all about. Well, I wanted to get a better understanding of you and thought that would be better hearing it from you directly rather than constructing it from gossip. Now, I know Jennifer and Marjorie, I think it’s safe to say that you are David, and you are Rosemary, although Jennifer calls you Rosie.”

David inclined his head and Rosemary spared the priest a look over the rim of her glass.

“So, I think I can say without contradiction that Jennifer and Rosemary are romantically involved?”

Unexpectedly, Em spoke up.

“We’re a ménage à quatre, Father, but there’s no romantic connection between Rosemary and me.”

“Ah! Now the seating makes perfect sense! Rosemary to Jennifer, Jennifer to David and David to you.”

He smiled in satisfaction.

“How did you all come to meet?”

They looked at each other in consternation.

“Oh, this promises to be a good tale!” the priest chuckled. “Is there a great deal of scandal?”

Jen took a deep breath and Rosemary grabbed her arm. “Jen, don’t!”

“It’s okay, Rosie. There’s a child friendly version.”

Father Mulcahey took in this statement, Marjorie Barrett’s horrified expression and David Piper’s amusement. There must indeed be a lot of scandal!

“We all used to live in the same village. David committed adultery, I left him and then Rosie and Em helped put us back together again.”

Jen finished her bald statement and sat back holding Rosemary’s hand, not looking at any of her co-conspirators.

“I see, and then they stayed with you.”

David Piper leaned forward, and the priest noted how the other three held their breath as he opened his mouth.

“It’s like this. As I’m sure you’re aware, there’s a lot that we’re not telling you. To save Jen’s parents and our children a lot of unnecessary pain, there’s a lot that will remain untold. However, what we discovered along the way, is that love is complicated.”

“Ms Desai over there,” Rosemary scowled at him, “is on a fairly steep learning curve.”

He smiled at her, and she shook her head even as Jen grinned at her.

“My lovely Em, here,” the object of his affection blushed and dimpled, “is being rescued in her turn. We’re setting sail together.”

Father Mulcahey beamed at them.

“That’s as good a reason as ever I heard. Thank you for your candour, David.”

He turned to Rosemary. “Did I hear your surname correctly?”

“Yes, and I am a relative,” she sighed, defensively.

He mused, “Could I have your permission to make that relationship more widely known amongst some of the flock?”

Rosemary assessed him with narrowed eyes. He was Irish after all.

“Where do you come from?”

“Originally? Hah! I grew up on the Falls Road.”

She nodded.

“I’m not involved with that side of things, but it might be useful if some of the urchins had the fear of God put into them!”

The priest inclined his head. “Quite so.”

***

One afternoon later in the same week, Rosemary found Tilly in the kitchen, sitting with a glass of orange juice at the table.

“Hi, kiddo.”

“Hi, Auntie Rosie.”

Rosemary had discovered that children weren’t really too hard to manage. At that she chided herself, ‘you do not manage people anymore, Rosemary Ogilvie Desai Piper, or whoever you bloody are these days.’

Josh and Tilly both displayed nascent elements of their parents. Josh was alarmingly like David and both Rosemary and Em had speculated on who he would recruit to be his management team.

“Why do you kiss Mummy?” Tilly said, looking up at Rosemary with that disconcerting openness that children have.

Rosemary thought for a moment. Sooner or later, it was going to come to this. How to explain their, what was it Em had called it? Ménage à quatre? Two plus two?

She paused her calculations and looked at the ten year-old girl. Honesty was probably the best thing in the circumstances. Children weren’t too different from adults in that respect.

“I love her,” Rosemary said, simply.

Tilly considered this.

“Does Mummy love you?”

“Yes,” Rosemary said, unable to keep herself from smiling with giddy happiness. “Yes, she does.”

“Does Mummy still love Daddy?”

Rosemary chuckled. “Yes, I’m afraid she does.”

Tilly frowned. “Don’t you like Daddy?”

“Your father is the man I like most in all the world,” Rosemary said seriously.

“But you don’t love him.”

Rosemary inspected Tilly. This one-after-another recitation of facts hadn’t come out of the blue. There was a young woman in there. She’d already worked out that things were changing, and the child around the emerging adult just needed to be reassured that they were safe.

“Not like I love your mum.”

“Does Daddy love Auntie Em?”

“Yes, he does.”

“Do you kiss Auntie Em?”

“No, Tilly. Em is a friend. Don’t worry, we’re just going to get,” Rosemary struggled for the word, “bigger.”

Tilly regarded Rosemary seriously. “That’s silly!”

“Yeah, I know, I’m not good with words like your Auntie Em. Help me out here, kiddo!”

Tilly giggled and abruptly the atmosphere lightened.

Another unfamiliar emotion stirred in Rosemary, fondness.

Rosemary looked at the youngster and remembered a saying, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’.

‘We’ll be the village for this child’, she thought.

She reached out and tousled Tilly’s hair, earning a bat of the young girl’s hand.

“Don’t worry, Tilly, we’re going to be one big happy family.”

***

August

Anna watched the four of them bickering good-naturedly as they arranged dinner. Em had her hand on David’s arm and then Rosemary put her hand on Jen’s and whispered something in her ear. It looked oddly intimate, and Anna put her hand to her mouth as it all suddenly fell into place.

Seeing the gesture her sister came over.

“What’s the matter?” Jen asked.

“You’re… you’re a family!” Anna gasped. “All of you!”

“Yes,” said her sister matter-of-factly, having discussed this very scenario with the other three before Anna even arrived. Then she delivered the bombshell.

“There’s him and her,” she said, pointing.

“Him and me.”

There was a slight pause. “And her and me.”

Anna looked at Rosemary in amazement and then back to Jen and then back to Rosemary who, noticing the glances and taking in the likely subject, gave a shy smile. Jen beamed at her.

“Oh my God! You’re a lesbian!” Anna exclaimed, rather more loudly than she’d wanted to.

“Only part time,” Rosemary called over. “Then she goes off to him. Traitor.”

David, in the midst of chopping vegetables, put his hand up and waved without looking round.

Em scolded him, “For God’s sake watch what you’re doing with that knife, David!”

“But! But! What about the children?” spluttered Anna.

“They’re fine. She’s Aunty Rosie and that’s Aunty Em.”

Em bustled by with knives and forks.

“They’re quite nice children really. Hopefully they’ll be good siblings for my own.” She patted her belly.

Anna stared at her and then looked back to Jen.

“Yes of course it’s David’s,” Jen said.

Anna drew her to sit on the sofa at the end of the dining room and, in something little better than a stage whisper, said, “But you’re married.”

This came up a lot and Jen knew that it was a tough one, especially with their family background.

Her partners left them to it, Em floating by just long enough to deposit two glasses of Chablis and some smoked salmon.

Jen sipped her wine.

“I’m still married, Anna. And I plan to stay that way. Unfortunately, the law can’t really cope with arrangements like this. Ideally I’d marry Rosie and Em too.”

“You’re sleeping with all of them!” Anna shrieked to general laughter.

“No, no. Not yet anyway.”

Jen gurned at Em who snorted, “Behave!” in reply.

Anna shook her head in disbelief.

“But I’d want to be sure that every child in this family was looked after,” Jen said, firmly.

Anna’s eyes narrowed. “Every child? You don’t mean that you and…”

“With a bit of luck,” Jen grinned.

“Mum and Dad will go mental!” Anna’s eyes unfocussed, visualising the uproar in her head.

“Mum and Dad live two hundred miles away. If they work it out, I’ll deal with it then, but I’m not going to go out of my way to upset them. As far as they’re concerned David and I are happily married and they’re not wrong.”

She looked at David who was batting inquisitive hands away from his cooking and sighed with contentment.

“Besides which, it’s my life. I get to decide.”

Anna’s head spun. Coming to adulthood in the 80s & 90s, she’d thought herself very liberal, but disconcertingly, she realised that in some things she was still very conservative.

Watching warring emotions chase across her sister’s face, Jen patted her on the arm and said, “Come with me.”

They rose and walked out on to the patio.

“I know it’s unconventional, Anna. I’m not blinded by love, none of us are. We’ve discussed all the ways in which it could go wrong. There will be bumps in the road.

What if the children don’t get on? Em disapproves of some of Rosie’s exploits. David is far too easy going for his own good. I know all this. But it was you that put me on this path, Anna.”

“Me!” her sister said in astonishment.

“Do you remember? ‘If you want him, you’re going to have to keep him.’ Well, this is keeping him. And completing me.”

“I don’t know what to say without sounding like Mum,” her sister said, shaking her head.

“It’s a lot, I know. We’re being as discreet as possible in the circumstances. Neither Em nor Rosie live here yet but we’re looking for a place where we can all be together.”

“You’ll need a mansion!” Anna said.

“Did I mention that Rosie’s rich?” Jen smirked.

“Rich?”

“Very rich.”

***

October

Anna had discovered that her upbringing had forged someone quite different from who she had imagined she was.

Being the first child naturally nudged her towards conformism and she had been the dutiful daughter. Predictably though, her teenage years led to rebellion against her traditional conservative parents, and she developed a feminist streak.

However, watching her sister flex into seemingly radical arrangements made Anna think again about her ideals.

Her reaction to her sister’s domestic situation had initially triggered her conservative instincts but explaining them to her parents was going to need her best egalitarian side to the fore.

“Mama, Papa? Can I talk to you?”

Her father was sitting at the kitchen table and her mother was preparing the evening meal. They looked at her.

“Certainly, Anna, you can always talk to us, you know that” her father said with a smile.

Anna leaned against the worktop and took a deep breath. “It’s about Jen and David.”

“Oh no, what now?” said her mother, drying her hands on a tea towel and coming to sit next to her husband.

“I knew it!” growled her father. “I knew there was unfinished business there.”

He folded his arms and lifted his chin.

“Their marriage has become complicated.” Anna said.

Her mother looked alarmed, and Anna quickly sought to allay her fears.

“No, they’re not splitting up. Quite the reverse, actually.”

Her father frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. Are they renewing their vows? I thought Jennifer had stopped going to church.”

Anna was mute. There wasn’t any way to easily explain what kind of thing the Pipers were becoming. She’d rehearsed this conversation a hundred times and it never ended well.

However, she’d promised herself that her parents should witness the ceremony planned for January and that it should neither be a surprise nor a scene of acrimony.

Jean sensed her daughter’s distress.

“Just tell us, Anna. Whatever it is, just tell us. They’re not splitting up so what are they doing?”

Anna steeled herself.

“They’re taking partners.”

“What are you talking about?” demanded her father. “What partners?”

“They’ve met two people that they plan to live with.”

“But I thought you said they weren’t separating?” his wife said, confused.

“They’re not.”

Her father still looked blank, but her mother’s eyes became very round. She understood what Anna was trying to say.

“All… together!”

Fred looked from Jean to Anna and back again, still baffled. “What is she saying, Jean?”

“They’re all going to live together! All four of them!”

Anna nodded.

Finally, Fred comprehended and sat back in his chair, completely nonplussed. After a moment he got to his feet and left the room. They heard the front door slam and Anna looked at her mother.

“He needs to think, Anna. Now tell me more of what Jennifer has got herself into. Who are these partners? What about the children?”

Anna launched into an abridged version of events from the time that David and Jen had become reconciled, emphasising the roles that Rosemary and Em had played in resolving recent events.

Her mother listened impassively. Such a lot had happened, and she was still not being told all of it, she could tell.

“Now, tell me about these people they plan to live with? What kind of man is Em?”

Anna winced.

“What? What is wrong with this Em?” her mother asked.

“Em is a woman, Mama.”

For the second time in an hour, her mother’s eyes grew very round.

“And Em is David’s partner.”

There was silence and then, “Anna, would you get me the brandy? Thank heavens your father wasn’t around to hear that.”

Anna found two glasses, the cognac and a pen and paper.

On the paper she drew the letters E, D, J, & R, arranged in a square. David and Jen occupied the bottom two places and Em and Rosemary the top two.

She drew solid lines at the sides and along the bottom to make a ‘U’ shape. Then a dotted line from Em across to Rosemary, followed by another diagonally down to Jen.

The process was completed for Rosemary by tracing a dotted line diagonally down from her to David. Now each person had three connections.

“That’s how it works.”

Her mother looked at the diagram and then up to her daughter’s face.

“But does it work, Anna?”

“You haven’t seen them, Mama. They’re so in love it makes me cross.”

“You’ve met all these people, then?”

“Yes.”

“So, this Rosemary, that my daughter plans to… ”

Her voice tailed off, then she seized Anna’s hand.

“Is Jennifer a, a lesbian?”

“I think the word is ‘bisexual’, Mama. Rosemary might be a lesbian, but I don’t think it’s that clear cut. She doesn’t sleep with David or Em, her commitment is exclusively to Jen.”

“And David is happy to share Jennifer with her?”

Anna rolled her eyes.

“David just wants everything to be for the best. If Jen’s happiness means him sharing her with Rosemary, then that’s enough as far as he’s concerned.

It was harder on the other side. Rosemary nearly left Jen because she would have to share her with David! You should see the way she looks at her. You wait till you meet her!”

“Meet her!” Jean exclaimed.

“Yes.” Anna took a deep breath. “They want you and Papa to come to a ceremony where they’re all going to commit to one another. They’re calling it a not-wedding. They’ve even got the local priest involved.”

“And he’s going to conduct this travesty!” her mother exclaimed, appalled.

“No, they’re going to do it themselves. He’s just advising them on the form of words. And it’s not a travesty, Mama. They’re already a family, they’re just going to make some promises in front of witnesses, and then sort out all the legal stuff.”

Anna looked wistful. “To be honest, I’m a bit jealous.”

***

November

Em could hardly believe the change Jen had worked in Rosemary.

She was relaxed, charming, funny too in a way that Em had come to appreciate was not necessarily malicious but more a sort of verbal sparring – if you could keep up, which she pleasantly surprised to discover that she could – trading insults over the dinner table.

She was also exceedingly grateful for the information Rosemary had acquired, seemingly at considerable personal risk, to clear her ‘not-husband to be’.

The change in their relationship was such that Em had laughed and hugged Rosemary when she confided that she too was pregnant.

***

“But how are we to do this, David?” said Em, the practical one, as always.

“The way I see it, marriage is two things: promises and legalities. I can’t see us getting a member of the clergy to officiate.”

He dissolved into giggles.

Rosemary regarded him severely.

“You can’t leave anything to him. The next thing we know we’ll all be married to the gatepost, and we’ll have to sort it out.”

She flopped into a chair and picked up a book.

He sobered and sat up.

“The promises are easy. We take the standard central marriage vow and tweak it for spouse or partner. I’ll marry Em, taking out the bit about ‘forsaking all others’, and I’ll partner you. You’ll marry Jen and partner Em and me. We’ll promise to do right by each other to the best of our ability. John Mulcahey will help us out.”

David assumed he was done until he glanced at their sceptical expressions. “What?”

“As Rosemary has just reminded you, David, it has always been us rescuing you,” Em observed.

“Bump Rosemary off, inherit the boodle and live like a king!”

“You’ll not get a penny from me, Piper,” Rosemary said without looking up from her book.

“Besides, David, you already live like a king,” Em said, running her hand along his shoulders as she walked past.

Jen shouted for help in the kitchen and David bounced to his feet. He started to whistle as he trotted round the island to where Jen was assembling their meal.

Em watched him with a level of contentment so profound it almost made her ache.

Rosemary glanced up from her book.

“Oh, stop looking so bloody happy!”

“After Jim died, I never thought I’d find it again.”

Rosemary thought of Harold and her father.

“Yeah.”

Em put her hand on Rosemary’s shoulder and the other woman covered it with her own.

Rosemary sighed. “Happy ever after doesn’t exist. I’m expecting to wake up and find that life’s just as shit as always. It’s all been a beautiful dream.”

Em chuckled. “I know what you mean. Things like this don’t happen outside of stupid romcoms.

Rosemary looked up at Em. “You too?”

Em looked away for a moment and then down at her.

“Of course. I never imagined that I’d find myself here, with you. And I get that it’s better; what I don’t understand is how!”

Rosemary came to her feet and gathered Em into an embrace.

“We’ll be good, yeah?” Rosemary murmured into Em’s ear.

“Stop clutching me, you maudlin cow!”

Rosemary held Em at arm’s length.

“I’m going to make your life hell!”

“Just try, you trollop!”

The two of them dissolved into laughter.

David arrived bearing cocktails. Em wiped the tears from her eyes and offered the dry martini to her adversary.

“Bitch,” Rosemary said, toasting her opponent.

“I learned from the best,” Em said happily, sipping her Bellini.

***

Four of a kind

December

Em was finding it a nuisance at six months pregnant; and scowled at the consultant who’d breezily informed her that most of the baby’s weight gain was in the third trimester.

She had also been astounded to learn that there was an industry devoted to bridal wear for expectant women. However, she wasn’t going to be a bride, except she sort of was. And so was Rosemary.

Rosemary had even persuaded Em to take some advice on couture, dragging her into some very high-end boutiques in London.

Seeing the price tags, Em had balked, to Rosemary’s irritation.

“For Christ’s sake, Em, what’s money for? Now shut up and do as I tell you!”

Em surrendered to the delights of shopping when money isn’t an issue.

When, at the end of the day, they returned home, David and Jen turned to see them come in. Rather gratifyingly, as one, their mouths fell open.

“Em!” David said in astonishment.

Em smiled shyly and Rosemary spun her in a twirl to show off her new clothes. She looked radiant and luxuriated in their appreciation.

Later the same evening, the subject of money had surfaced again, and Rosemary had dismissed it, waving away the cost as ‘not allowing the wife of the husband of her wife to get married in any old tat.’

This statement set Em and David off first into chuckles and then fits of laughter until they were holding on to each other for support as the tears ran down their cheeks.

“Wasn’t that fucking funny,” muttered Rosemary, nettled.

David came round the table and took Rosemary’s face in is his hands, kissing her soundly.

“Don’t ever change!”

“You lot are fucking impossible!” she said, breaking from his embrace. “Lord knows why I ever agreed to this.”

Then, surveying their smiling faces, “Don’t laugh at me!”

Jen leaned in and kissed her. “We love you.”

“Not playing fair,” Rosemary grumbled.

***

January

The not-wedding was, of course, on New Year’s Day. For the ceremony they’d hired a hotel function room with big double height bay windows on two sides, facing south and east.

Some winter sun made its way through the glass to illuminate the high-ceilinged room.

Four rows of chairs were arranged to face the unlit bay. Later on, there would be a string quartet and food and drink to celebrate the event.

The brides, groom, and consorts – depending on perspective – were standing in a little huddle in front of the seating.

David was attired in a charcoal grey suit with his usual white shirt, open at the collar. However, peeping from his cuffs were diamond studded links, the stones chosen to match the ones in Jen’s ears. They were a present from Rosemary and David had been uncharacteristically silent at the gift.

“I don’t know what to say, Rosemary.”

“That’s not like you, David!”

She put her arm round him and whispered, “I never did thank you for rescuing me.”

He looked at her, wide eyed.

“Rescued?”

“Yes, David. I think I would be going down for the third time if I hadn’t met you and the gang.”

He smiled wryly. “Strange how things turn out.”

Rosemary had rolled her eyes at the idea of a not-wedding but allowed Jen to cajole her into getting set for the occasion.

She looked razor sharp in an all-black ensemble of smart trousers, silk shirt and jacket, accented by a white gold torc around her neck. For once she had make-up on and Jen thought she looked like a tigress.

Em, although somewhat bumpy, was in a cream silk dress topped with a lace shawl. David kept stealing sideways glances at her. Em had always been elegant and demure but now she looked like something out of a dream.

Jen herself had opted for a cream coloured jacket and skirt with a black blouse. Unconsciously, her choice had been influenced by Rosemary’s outfit, and now she realised that when they stood in order their outfits went from all black, to white and black, to black and white, to all white.

“I have won the lottery and been struck by lightning,” Jen murmured.

“What did you say?” Em exclaimed, and the others turned to look at her.

Jen stuttered, “It’s all just so fragile. It could all have gone horribly wrong, and I’d still be stuck at Mum and Dad’s wondering what the hell I was going to do next.”

She ground to a halt. She didn’t think she had the words to articulate her awareness of the universe’s vast, dangerous sense of humour.

David reached out and squeezed her shoulder and she smiled gratefully at him. David understood.

“After we got back together, I felt like I’d won the lottery, but I read somewhere that you were more likely to be struck by lightning than win the lottery, so part of me was wondering when I’d get struck by lightning. Then I met Rosie.”

Rosemary blushed and embraced her.

Em wiped a couple of tears from her eyes and took David’s arm.

“Let’s face it, we’ve all won the bloody lottery.”

David surveyed the assembled company. There was Anna and Jen’s parents, Fred and Jean, sitting with Josh and Tilly. The children had been persuaded to be ring bearers.

Tilly, having defended her mother’s honour at school, had discovered that she was rather proud of her unusual household and was enjoying the benefits that come from having seen off a notable loudmouth.

Father Mulcahey had become a frequent visitor to the house, ostensibly to talk parish business with Em, but also to enjoy a glass of bourbon with David and to be a sounding board for Rosemary’s doubts and insecurities.

Jen had privately observed to Em that a woman with no time for organised religion seemed to benefit from the informal confessional.

The priest, sitting a couple of rows back, twinkled at them. His presence had caused Jen’s parents no small amount of consternation.

“You approve of this, Father?” Fred Mollica had asked, incredulously.

“Officially? No. I’m here as a friend. However, I consider it part of my calling to discover more about the human condition. These young people are on a remarkable journey. I look forward to learning more about it.”

“But!” Fred spluttered.

“It’s unconventional, but hardly new. I think it helps too that they’re older; less starry-eyed. People having been trying to find out how to be happy since time began. Some are lucky enough to succeed and that can only enrich the world.”

Fred had no answer to this.

His wife was looking at her daughter, who was arm in arm with her son-in-law and this strange, coiled presence who met her gaze fearlessly.

Anna had told them some of Rosemary Desai’s story and her mother tried to reconcile the narrative with the young woman on Jennifer’s arm.

In the distant past, David had asked Fred for Jennifer’s hand. Rosemary Desai didn’t look like the kind of woman who would ask for permission for anything.

Yet, if the story was to be believed, she and David had come to some kind of arrangement which had led to this day.

And then this other woman, ‘Em’, was to be to David what Rosemary was to Jennifer! Jean had never envisioned life as anything other than a commitment to one person.

And yet. And yet.

Anna listened with one ear to her father’s grousing and looked at the guests slowly filling the room. A bit of a rustle went through the room at the entrance of a stunning blonde woman in a simple dress. The dress being at once apple green, and screamingly expensive.

Anna smiled. Her sister had warned her that some star quality would be gracing proceedings. A tall, rugged man in his sixties had her arm. That would be David’s boss, Derek Cross.

Behind them came two men, one approximately the same age as Derek Cross and the other… Anna’s mind went blank. She looked down at the floor, the blood thundering in her ears.

Her mother noticed her distress.

“Are you all right, dear?”

“Yes, fine,” she muttered.

With an effort, Anna lifted her head to look again at the tall, dark haired young man to the rear of the Cranshaw party.

He bent his head to hear something his partner was saying. His partner? Oh, that would be cruel!

Anna was aghast. Where had that thought come from? Now thoroughly disarrayed, she excused herself from her parents and went in search of her sister.

“Jen, I recognise Jane Cranshaw so that must be David’s boss with her.”

“That’s right. The two behind them are Max Wellborn, he’s the other senior at the firm, and Charles, he’s one of David’s colleagues.”

Anna nodded and then, noticing that the Cross party were heading towards them, melted away.

Jen was momentarily baffled at Anna’s disappearance as she’d imagined that all anyone would want to do today would be to meet Jane.

For his part, Charles had noticed the dark-haired woman talking to David’s wife and how she’d cast a worried glance in his direction before she absented herself.

He watched her retreat with perhaps more than decorous interest, before remembering himself and greeting the wedding party.

David made the introductions and thankfully no-one came over too starry-eyed at Jane. Max and Derek were all good old-fashioned hail-fellow-well-met male charm.

Charles hung back a little and David went to gather him in to meet the gang.

Rosemary earned a dig in the ribs from Em after she batted her eyelashes at Charles just to discomfit him. David laughed and Charles gave him a dry look.

David noticed Charles’ eyes drift sideways from time to time and realised with amusement where his attention was focussed.

He nudged Jen and inclined his head. Jen followed his gaze and caught her lower lip in her teeth. She turned to him, eyes sparkling and Rosemary and Em exchanged glances. What fresh mischief was this?

Ros Squires and her beau were in attendance. Derek Cross had observed this and frowned, only relaxing when Jane whispered in his ear.

“This is Miles,” Ros said, introducing a tall, handsome blonde man to David.

“How did the two of you come to meet?” asked Miles.

Ros and David looked at each other. David opened his mouth to speak and Ros, fearing the worst, interrupted.

“We met through Em and then we had…” her voice trailed off and she looked at David uncertainly.

“Some adventures?” said David, helpfully, widening his eyes.

Miles looked from one to the other. The two of them had some history for sure.

“You’re quite the showbiz couple,” David observed, changing the subject. “Very glamorous!”

“I don’t think we’ll outshine Jane Cranshaw,” Miles said.

Rosemary had invited her cousin and her spouses had a group cardiac arrest.

“He had me beaten up, Rosemary!” David protested.

“Trust me, he’ll be as good as gold,” Rosemary assured them.

“Besides, I’d like to introduce him to Father Mulcahey.” She’d grown to like the priest. In some ways he reminded her of Harold.

Ankit Desai got on like a house on fire with the boy who’d come to manhood in one of the more militant areas of Belfast during the Troubles. It was a welcome change to talk to a man that both understood his milieu and was yet unafraid of his reputation.

Lakshmi Desai was pleased to be present on so many levels. It was lovely to come to something that had no connection whatsoever with her husband’s business.

She’d always had a soft spot for Rosemary, knowing what a tough childhood she’d had. And such scandal! Ankit might be a gangster, but they were very conservative otherwise and this was so far outside of propriety that the gossip would be priceless!

“No hard feelings, yah?” Mr Desai had said as he shook David’s hand.

“None at all,” David said faintly.

It took more than a little self-control to stand unmoved in the presence of a djinn, even if he was currently manifesting as a twinkly eyed, dark-skinned Santa Claus.

Em had invited no one and had insisted that that was fine. She’d been alone since Jim had died, and there was nothing of her old life she wanted to bring with her.

David called for order and addressed the gathering.

“Thank you for coming, everyone. I know this is unusual but we’re each going to make a dedication and exchange rings. I hope everything will become clear!”

He smiled and the three women alongside beamed at him. The mood was infectious and even those with reservations mellowed.

“Rosemary, you’re first up!”

Rosemary and Jen turned to face each other.

“I Rosemary, take thee, Jennifer, to be my wife. To have and to hold…”

The ancient phrases flowed and shortly Rosemary took a gold ring from Tilly and placed it on Jennifer’s finger next to the one she’d been given by David.

Then she moved to stand in front of David and Em and took their hands and made a slightly different vow, although still a profound promise of loyalty and devotion.

She placed a silver ring on the fourth finger of both David and Em’s right hand.

Jen went next, saying the words separately to Rosemary and Em, placing a gold ring on Rosemary’s finger and a silver one on Em’s.

Then she turned to David, and they clasped hands and jointly renewed their commitment to one another.

David did the same but in reverse. Gold to Em, silver to Rosemary.

Lastly, Em placed a gold ring on David’s hand and silver ones on Jen and Rosemary’s.

The four of them held up their hands to show the three rings they each bore, gold on the left hand, silver on the right. Then they embraced one another.

Father Mulcahey started to clap and after a moment everyone joined in; Max Wellborn and Ankit Desai competing to see who could whistle the loudest.

This was the signal for waiters to enter, bearing trays with flutes of champagne, and the string quartet to set up by one of the bay windows.

Jean and Fred hardly knew what to do with themselves when Rosemary came across to greet them.

“Ms Desai,” Jean offered.

“I hope you’ll call me Rosemary. And I’m going to change my surname to Desai-Piper.”

Fred sighed; her self-possession was daunting. He was in the midst of opening his mouth when Em fetched up alongside her, her what? Wife? No, that wasn’t right.