CHAPTER 31

 

Meg woke to the sounds of cheering outside her bedroom window. Unable to decipher what the noise was, she sat up, inadvertently moving the sheet and revealing Allie’s naked body. A rush of emotions swirled through her as she watched her lover sleeping. Love, tenderness, lust. Oh, my heaven, she thought. Lust like she had never experienced. Meg had never been shy about sex; she’d had lovers all over the world, but none had ever touched her heart. When the time had come for her to move on, she had always been able to walk away with no regrets. The passion that she and Allie had shared over the past weeks, though, had been building over a lifetime, and the knowledge that they would continue to build on this love filled her with extraordinary joy.

As if aware of Meg’s scrutiny, Allie stretched and opened her eyes. Hearing the renewed round of cheering, her eyes widened as she and Meg looked at each other in surprise.

“The vote!” they both exclaimed at the same time.

“Damn, where’s the bloody remote?” Meg swore, looking around. As Allie swept back the coverlet, the elusive control fell to the floor, where Meg scrambled for it.

On the television, they were greeted by the scene of thousands of rainbow covered supporters gathered outside Parliament House in Canberra. The ticker tape running along the bottom of the screen announced the news that the Australian government had passed the Same Sex Marriage Bill.

“Oh my God!” Allie shouted in wonder.

“They’ve damn well gone and passed it,” Meg added in disbelief.

Hugging each other, the two women sat up in bed and watched the details unfold on the screen.

Suddenly there was the sound of banging on Meg’s front door.

“Hey, you two love birds, get out here. There’s a party happening,” a voice called.

Quickly putting on a robe, Meg stuck her head out the window to see Pat, Daphne, Bella and several other women outside her cottage, all with glasses of champagne in their hands.

“We’ll be right out, just give us a minute,” she called.

“Don’t make us come in and get you,” warned Pat with a laugh.

Twenty minutes later, Meg and Allie joined the growing group partying outside on the street. Everyone was laughing as the realisation that the vote had finally been won began to hit home.

“So what happened to you two?” Daphne asked with feigned innocence, handing them each a glass of champagne. “I thought you were coming to watch the vote with us. Did you get a better offer?”

Sparrow poked Daphne in the arm. “Stop teasing them. You’ve made Allie blush.”

Allie smiled and took a sip of champagne. “Meg was tired and I thought it would be better for her to lie down, and then I thought I’d lie down too, just to keep her company. Suddenly, we realised we weren’t quite as tired as we thought. Besides, Casey was apparently insistent that Meg get enough exercise, so I decided I would do whatever I could to make sure she followed those instructions. What’s a woman to do?” Allie asked, shrugging innocently.

“Whoa, too much information,” cried Daphne, putting her hands over her ears, while the other women roared with laughter.

“Teach you to try and embarrass her,” Meg smugly retorted.

Catching sight of Leslie’s T-shirt, Daphne stared incredulously. “Where on earth did you find that?”

Leslie proudly turned so they could all read the motif emblazoned across the front: ‘So dip me in honey and throw me to the lesbians’.’

“Why do you ask, Daphne? Do you have a sweet tooth?” Leslie asked with a wink.

“I’m pleading diabetes,” Daphne replied, throwing up her hands and laughing.

As the group continued to tease Leslie, Daphne turned to Pat. “So, now that it’s legal, are you going to marry Bella?”

Pat watched Bella chatting to one of the other residents. “If she’ll have me,” she declared simply. “What about you and Sparrow?”

Daphne frowned. “Well, it’s early days yet, but I’m not really the marrying kind. I mean, I don’t need to marry her to prove how much I love her. What we have is between ourselves. However, just because I don’t choose to marry, doesn’t mean I still shouldn’t have the right to if I want to.”

As the crowd grew, the partying moved to the clubhouse, until one by one, the residents called it a night. Waving goodnight to Pat and Bella, Allie and Meg returned home.

“Well that was some celebration,” Meg declared with a yawn, shedding her clothes and falling into bed.

“I know. I’m so tired I can barely think. I don’t remember when I last danced so much. I think I might have put my back out.” Allie winced.

As Meg watched Allie undress and climb naked into bed, tiredness battled with her libido. “If I were twenty years younger…” she murmured sleepily.

Turning off the bedside lamp, Allie gathered Meg into her arms, kissing her forehead.

“I bet you say that to all the girls,” she whispered.