"I love you too," Crystal said, sniffling as she brought herself back under control. She gently smacked Laura's arm.

"Hey, what was that for?" Laura asked with mock indignation.

"You know what your sweet talking does to me," Crystal said, causing Laura to chuckle.

"Serves you right for making me as limp as a washcloth," Laura said. She felt Crystal's lips on her neck, the soft tongue slipping out to taste her. She groaned, knowing she could no more resist her lover's touch than she could resist breathing. "There's a nice warm bed right in the next room," she tried.

"Uh huh," Crystal mumbled, moving down to capture Laura's left breast with her mouth while her fingers kept the other breast company. "Crystal," Laura sighed, her legs automatically parting despite her wish to move the action to another venue.

"You really wanna waste time with the towels?" Crystal asked around a mouthful of flesh.

"No," Laura agreed, caring little at the moment about how wet the sheets would get.

"So what's stopping you?" Crystal teased, her teeth lightly scraping the tender peak.

"Now who's being the bitch?" Laura asked, her fingers lightly stroking her lover's back. "You're going to be the death of me." "Not before we get out of here and under the covers," Crystal said as she stood up, the bubbles sliding down her wet body. "It's cold in here." Laura laughed and reached out for Crystal's hand, knowing sleep would not come for quite a while.

Chapter Seventeenth

"Damn," Crystal swore as Laura steered the Jeep into Patty's driveway. "I can't believe I agreed to this."

"You could have canceled," Laura said.

"And say what? Sorry I can't make it to your son's birthday party? How is Thomas going to understand that?" Crystal said, tossing her sunglasses on the dash. "No, I can't do that to him. I have to go." She shook her head and reached for the door handle. "I'll just have to deal with it." "I'll be right there with you," Laura reminded her. "You don't have to stay long."

"Ten minutes in the same room with my mother is too long," Crystal said as opened the door and stepped out. She took a deep breath, knowing an open display of hostility toward her mother would upset the children. "All right, let's get this over with."

"Don't forget his present," Laura said just as the screen door swung open and the now seven year old came running out, his older sister right behind him.

"Aunt Crystal, Aunt Crystal, did you bring me a present for my birthday?" he asked.

"Mommy says you're not supposed to ask for presents," Jessica said in her best reprimanding tone when they both reached Crystal. "Aunt Crystal, I got an A on my test."

"Oh very good," Crystal said. "And yes, Thomas, we brought you a present."

"See?" he said to Jessica. "I told you I'd get a present."

Jessica crossed her arms and pouted. "I didn't get a present for my birthday."

At that moment Crystal was grateful for Laura's suggestion when they were in the toy store. "Jess," she said, drawing the girl's attention. "I think if you look in the back seat you'll find a belated birthday present."

Jessica's eyes widened in direct proportion to her smile. "A present for me?"

"Yup," Crystal said, looking over the girl's head to share a smile with Laura. "One for you and one for your brother."

Laura curtailed Thomas as he tried to get the back door open. "Hang on, slugger. I'll get it," she said, gently moving him aside and opening the door. "Yours is the one in the long flat box. I'll get Jessica's."

"Hey, her box is bigger than mine," he said in a childish whine.

Laura knelt down next to him. "But yours has more pieces," she said. "Trust me, you'll like it. Now, no peeking in the bag until we get inside, okay?" "Okay," he said, tugging his present out of the car and immediately trying to lift the flap of the paper bag where it was stapled shut.

"All right," Laura said, lifting the package out of his hands. "I'll tell you what. You go tell your mother we're here and Aunt Crystal and I will bring the presents inside."

The colorful decorations caught Crystal's eye when she entered the living room. Blue and white streamers were draped in a crisscross pattern across the ceiling while brightly colored balloons were bunched in the corners. The coffee table in front of the couch was littered with torn wrapping paper. Patty, who had been sitting in the recliner reading the instructions for Thomas' newest video game, rose from her chair when Crystal entered, meeting her halfway for a hug. "I'm glad you made it," the elder sister said, taking the present from Crystal's hands and putting it on the coffee table.

"We can't stay long," Crystal lied, looking around for the woman she wanted to avoid. "Where is she?"

"In the kitchen frosting his cake," Patty said. "Don't worry, she's not going to say anything to you."

"I wasn't," Crystal said with feigned casualness.

"I want open my present from Aunt Crystal," Thomas said, reaching for the present.

Patty paused for only a second before giving in. "All right, but you'll have to wait until after your cake and ice cream before you can open your other presents."

Thomas nodded and tugged open the bag holding his present. "Okay." The black plastic was no match for the seven year old, opening to reveal a race car track set. "Oh boy, thanks Aunt Crystal."

"It's from me and Laura," Crystal said, leaning over to receive the offered hug.

Thomas let go of her neck and turned to Laura. "Thanks Aunt Laura," he said. Crystal exchanged a smile with her lover as Laura bent down to accept the child's hug.

"I want to open my present now too," Jessica said, tugging open the staples and pulling pushing the plastic off the large box. "It's a Singing Suzy make-up center and jewelry box," she said, immediately opening the box. "Thank you."

"Can I play with mine now too, Mom?" Thomas asked.

"You have to put the track together first," Patty said. "And I think something like that belongs in your bedroom, not out here where everyone can trip over it. Jessica, I think you can put yours in your room as well."

Jessica continued to try and open the box. "I wanna show Grandma first. Hey Grandma!" she called in a louder voice.

"What have I told you about yelling?" Patty said just as her mother stepped out of the kitchen.

"Grandma, look what Aunt Crystal got me," the girl said excitedly, holding up the box. Thomas yelped and grabbed his race set. "Me too," he said.

Without meaning to, Crystal's eyes met her mother's and for a moment, she found herself unable to turn away from the sadness in the older woman's face. In that fraction of time, Crystal remembered a Christmas morning so many years ago when her mother had happily handed her a present. She could not remember what the gift was or where her sister or father were, but she recalled hugging her mother, being held in those arms and for that brief moment in time, feeling special. The wisp of memory faded, returning her to the present and, to her surprise, a feeling other than anger at the woman who gave her birth.

Jessica succeeded in getting her grandmother's attention, causing the women to break their eye contact. Crystal looked over to Laura, wondering if her lover could see the confusion in her face. She wanted to leave, to get away from the mix of emotions swirling within her but before the urge to flee could set in, Jessica was before her, asking Crystal to help her put her rings and necklaces into her new jewelry box. Grateful for the escape, she followed her niece down the narrow hallway to Jessica's bedroom.

"Looks like we're going to have to untangle some of these before we can put them away," Crystal said as she looked at the pile of necklaces on Jessica's dresser. "Do you need help getting that?" she asked, her back to her niece.

"No, I got it," Jessica said, setting the box on the bed and pulling out the pink plastic pieces. "Did you have a Singing Suzy make-up center when you were a girl?"

Crystal continued to focus her attention on the twisted up pile of necklaces. "No. I had a plastic tree that held my pierced earrings but I don't remember any jewelry boxes or make up things."

"Oh." The blonde haired girl continued to take the various parts of her new gift out of the box. "Aunt Crystal?"

"Hmm?"

"Why don't you like Grandma?"

Crystal's fingers stopped as the words registered. "Why do you ask that?" she asked cautiously.

"I heard Mommy and Grandma talking," Jessica said. "Grandma was crying and said you hate her."

Crystal set the necklaces down and turned around. "What did your mother say?"

The present forgotten for the moment, Jessica looked at her aunt intently. "Mommy said she didn't think you hated Grandma but that she would talk to you again and Grandma said not to because she understood why you hated her." The young girl tilted her head, the mannerism reminiscent of her mother. "What did Grandma do that you hate her, Aunt Crystal?"

"Um" Crystal scrambled to find the right words to dodge the question. "I don't think you should be eavesdropping on adult's conversations." "She said she's sorry," Jessica said. "When she was crying. She told Mommy she was very sorry."

Crystal turned away and picked up the necklaces again. "You certainly made quite a mess out of these," she said, trying not to think about what her niece was saying.

"Once, my friend Katie and I were fighting 'cause she pushed me too hard and I fell down and cut my knee and Mommy said that because Katie was sorry that I should forgive her and I did and now we're friends again. Are you gonna forgive Grandma?"

Crystal turned and looked at her. "I don't know," she said. "What happened between your grandma and I is different." Moving over to the bed, she sat down and picked up the sticker sheet that came with the make-up center. "Things between adults aren't as simple as they are between kids. Now, let's get this put together so we can get out there and get some cake and ice cream, okay?" She quickly found two pieces and connected them, hoping to distract Jessica. Looking only at the picture on the box, the young girl found the adjoining part and handed it to Crystal. "Good. See? We'll have this finished in no time."

Despite her success in getting Jessica to drop the subject, Crystal found herself unable to stop thinking about it. Sitting in the living room later, she glanced at her mother often enough that Laura noticed and gave her a questioning look. Crystal shook her head as if to say nothing was going on and stared down at her plate. For the next several minutes she concentrated on looking everywhere but at the couch where her sister and mother were sitting. She poked at the ice cream on her plate until it was nothing more than a lumpy, melted mess before setting the plate on the coffee table.

"Here, I'll get that," Patty said, rising to her feet and taking the plate. "Thomas, if you're done with yours, give me your plate, wash your hands, and then you can open the rest of your presents."

"They're clean," he protested.

"No, they're not," Patty said in that unmistakable mother tone. "Go on. Jess, yours could use some soap and water too." "I'll help clean up," Laura said as the kids took off down the hall.

Crystal thought about helping but it was clear Laura had it under control as the clutter disappeared from the coffee table and floor. She had a sense of being watched and turned her head to catch Margaret looking at her. The older woman turned away quickly but not before Crystal caught the look of sadness on her mother's face.

By the time darkness had fallen, Crystal had become progressively quiet, giving one or two word answers. She and her mother continued to sneak glances at each other, caught more often than not by Patty or Laura if not by one another. The tension was building within her and Crystal found herself struggling to control it. Questions that could only be answered by one person repeated themselves over and over in her mind, refusing to be quieted. They grew louder and louder until Crystal knew it was time to give them voice. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself for what was to come and stood up, her eyes staring directly at her mother. "I want to talk to you."

The room fell deadly silent save the electronic sounds coming from Thomas' video game. Even ten year old Jessica understood to some degree the magnitude of the moment and watched the adults intently. Patty was the first to break the silence, getting to her feet and standing protectively between her mother and sister. "Crystal, can I speak to you in the kitchen for a minute?"