Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 6
anonymous
June 7 2012, 15:09:12 UTC
October 13th, 2170 CE Arcturus Station
It had been a good week for Jane Shepard. She'd had time off from school to spend on the station, and her mother's ship, the SSV Einstein, had been docked for half of that time, allowing the two Shepard women to spend some time together. The SSV Einstein was one of the ships that had responded to the recent batarian raid on Mindoir, and after many of its crew had been subjected to the atrocities there the ship was allowed to dock in more often for regular shore leave. It was apparently the Alliance's way of trying to keep up morale and not overstress its people. Jane was happy to hear that her mother was spared the horror of getting involved directly in the events, but she could tell seeing what it had done to some of her closest friends had still affected her in the wake of it. Her mother never really spoke of it any more, and it had been months ago, so she seemed back to her old self for the most part. At the age of 16 now, Jane herself was about one and a half years away of reaching the goal she was most gunning for: joining the Alliance military.
Jane walked confidently down one of the station's corridors, a clean white towel draped over her shoulders and a gym bag in one hand. With athletic shoes on her feet, some plain gray track pants and a loose white tank top, Jane was doing something few other teenagers her age did on their time off from school: hitting the gym. It was no surprise when she walked in to see her mother already present, walking on a treadmill. From the look of it Hannah Shepard had been there a little while already. The two of them had come there each afternoon for the past couple of days, working out for an hour or two and catching up at the same time.
"Hey, honey," the elder Shepard greeted her daughter. "A little later today than usual."
"Sorry, Mom," Jane said, "I caught up with a friend of mine on the way here. I didn't know they were on-station too."
Jane tossed her gym bag on a bench across from where her mother was running on a treadmill, then flicked the towel on top of it casually. Jane wandered over to a treadmill beside her mother's one, not noticing the smirk on her mother's face. As Jane mounted the gym equipment, Hannah spoke up. "Anybody special?"
"Nope. Just a friend from school," Jane answered casually. "I don't think you've met them."
"A friend by choice, or because you haven't tried for more?"
"Moooom!" Jane whined. "Stop doing that! Not every person I mention that I've befriended in high school is going to be Jane Shepard's future husband."
"I'm just teasing, honey," Hannah said, clearly getting a kick out of frustrating her daughter. "I just want to make sure you're not being reckless. You're at that age where your hormones can override your common sense."
Jane's machine whirred to life and she began jogging upon it. The pace was a bit slow for her taste, so she tapped it up a few notches before turning back to her mother with a smirk. "Me? Reckless? When have I ever been reckless?"
Hannah laughed. "When haven't you been?"
"Mooom!"
"Okay, you're not reckless," Hannah admitted. "But you do tend to throw yourself into things and push yourself too hard. With almost everything. Even now in fact. Are you sure that treadmill isn't going just a little too fast for you? It's at almost twice my speed."
"It's fine, mom. I can handle this level easily." Jane paused. "Besides, I can't be the best Alliance soldier if I hold back."
"All I'm saying is, I just don't want to see you with a big belly full of baby before your next birthday or something."
"Jeez, Mom! What type of girl do you think I am?" Jane said, half-shocked, half mocking.
"I don't mean that, honey," Hannah answered honestly. "I just mean that it's easy for one to do something silly when their brain isn't the one with the loudest voice. And don't push yourself too far, that's all I'm saying. You're a tough girl, but you're also human." Hannah let that settle before adding something else. "Besides, you're pretty fit as it is. You don't want to go from chasing off boys to beating them up."
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 7
anonymous
June 7 2012, 15:10:39 UTC
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jane said, one raised eyebrow. She cranked the speed up a little more on her treadmill.
"That if you keep up at this pace, you'll lose your femininity and be more muscle than woman," Hannah joked. "You don't want that."
"I want to be strong and fit, not a bodybuilder."
"Good to know," Hannah said with a smile.
"As for getting knocked-up, trust me, Mom," Jane said with conviction, "there's pretty much no chance of that happening."
"Too dedicated to becoming the best humanity has to offer to get involved with somebody else, is it?" Hannah queried. "A career military woman married to the Alliance."
"There's a bit of that," Jane said, her tone growing a little more serious. "And other stuff. Personal stuff."
"Personal stuff you can't tell your mother?"
Jane sighed, a slight shake of her head. She turned her head to look at her mother, who had that look in her eyes that said, "if there's some problem you have that you're too embarrassed to tell me about, it doesn't matter and I'll love you no matter what it is." Jane looked around the room, which wasn't an overly big gymnasium, but still not tiny either. In either case, she and her mother were the only ones using it right now.
"I guess I should probably tell you, in case I do find myself involved with somebody suddenly," Jane said reluctantly. "I wouldn't want to shock you too suddenly."
"Go ahead, honey," Hannah said, rather calmly, yet Jane could hear the slight waver in her mother's voice. Like she was dreading what was to come.
"I might as well come out and say it," Jane said, getting that determined look on her face her mother knew all too well. "I don't like guys, Mom. I'm not attracted to them. They don't interest me. I like.... girls.... Mom."
Jane noticed her mother's eyebrows rise up at this, and Hannah looked down and let out a loud sigh. At first Jane thought her mother was gravely disappointed, but then Hannah swung her head back and looked up at the ceiling with a smile.
"Thank God!" she declared, surprising Jane to no end. "I was really worried there for a moment. I thought you were going to say that you were into some weird fetish or something. Or that you were becoming a nun."
"So.... you're okay with this?" Jane asked, brow furrowed and with an expression that suggested she was questioning whether the woman beside her was her mother at all. "We're cool?"
"Oh, honey," Hannah said, gazing at her daughter with eyes of care and understanding. "Of course we are. You're free to be whoever you want to be, and love whoever you want to love. You're my daughter and I love you, and you being a lesbian isn't going to change that."
"What about Dad?" Jane asked.
Hannah's smile faltered, and this time her brow twisted. "Now that I'm not so sure about. Oh, don't be worried, honey! He won't disown you or shun you or anything. He just might take some time to adjust, but he won't stop loving you either. You're his pride and joy. He was probably hoping to get some true-blue Alliance son-in-law or some such, and possibly some grandchildren down the line, but no.... he'll be fine. He's not the type of man to look down at you for this or anything like that. Certain hopeful wishes and hopes of his are simply going to be called to question, nothing more."
"I have to say, Mom," Jane said, grinning widely now, "you're taking this a lot better than I expected."
"Well, perhaps since you've told me a secret of yours, I should perhaps tell you a similar one of mine," Hannah said, an almost devious look on her face.
"What's that?" Jane asked playfully, believing that some kind of joke revelation was incoming.
"I'm attracted to women too," Hannah revealed, as casually as if she had said, "I like chocolate."
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 8
anonymous
June 7 2012, 15:12:34 UTC
Unfortunately for her, the sudden revelation of her mother's sexuality took Jane completely by surprise, and she had the type of reaction she was almost expecting her mother to have from her own admission earlier. Her large green eyes went ever larger, and all she got out of her mouth was the word "what" before she stumbled on her treadmill. She tried to correct herself, but her left foot didn't land well with the fast whirring treads, wrenching the leg suddenly and sending a jolt of pain down her left thigh. The pain caused her to let go of the handlebars and she fell backwards, almost hitting her head on a weight machine a few feet behind the treadmill. Before she could open her eyes again, she felt two comforting hands on her shoulders and heard a soothing voice from her right.
"Honey!" Hannah said sharply. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
Jane opened her eyes and saw her mother's face looking at her lovingly just a few inches away.
"I'm not sure. I think I'm...."
Jane tried to stand up, but groaned in pain and slumped back down as a burning sensation seared up her inner left thigh and at her left hip. Hannah noticed her daughter's hand move to where the pain was most intense and she nodded at Jane with a frown.
"You've probably wrenched a few muscles in your upper leg and lower back," Hannah said. "There’s a medical kit in the locker room, it's probably got some medi-gel in there."
"No!" Jane objected sharply. "No medi-gel."
"No?" Hannah questioned with raised brows. Jane shook her head.
"It's just some sprained and pulled muscles, Mom," Jane stated firmly. "I can't go running to medi-gel for every minor injury. I need to grow fitter, stronger and tougher, and medi-gel won't do that if I use it for every scratch, scrape, bump and sprain. We fix this and let it heal the traditional way."
"Ever the stubborn one," Hannah said, shaking her head but with a smile. "Let's go then. Need a hand up, or are you too tough for that?"
"That would be appreciated," Jane said. "Just so long as you don't carry me in. I still need to have some dignity."
Hannah tousled her daughter's hair with a laugh, and then slowly helped her to her feet. Using her mother to support herself, Jane was slowly led from the gym to the female locker rooms. Hannah helped her daughter take a seat on one of the benches. While Hannah rifled through the first aid kit just inside the doorway, Jane winced and rubbed at her sore leg, then moved her neck and arms around a little to make sure there were no other injuries she hadn't noticed yet. Aside from a big bruise on the back of her right shoulder, a smaller one on the same forearm and a slightly sore spot on her right knee, the rest of the pain was pretty much all concentrated in the same area.
Hannah placed the first-aid kit down, then got Jane to sit there and try and move her left leg, telling her when it hurt and where. Hannah nodded and confirmed Jane's reports each time, then asked her daughter to lie down face-first on a soft, thin gym mat at the back of the room. Jane felt her mother press down on the left side of her lower back, and after a couple of minutes of this her mother asked her to turn over and sit up. Gathering the medical kit from the bench where Jane originally sat to cart it to where she now sat, Hannah gave Jane her diagnosis.
"It definitely seems you've pulled some muscles rather nastily, so I think we'll just do a few stretching exercises to help you out, then you'd better see the doctor. There's also something in her that you can rub into your leg that might relieve some of the pain. Unless it's too close to medi-gel for you."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Jane said.
"Good," Hannah nodded. "For starters then, lie down on your back flat."
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 9
anonymous
June 7 2012, 15:14:21 UTC
Jane did, then Hannah kneeled down to Jane's feet. Taking Jane's left foot in her hands, Hannah looked back to her daughter's face.
"Now, I'm going to carefully raise your left up, and you bend your knee as I do. I'm then going to put pressure on the leg, okay?"
"No problem," Jane nodded. "Go ahead."
Hannah nodded back silently, and then did what she told her daughter she would. Jane winced a bit at the motion, but it wasn't too bad, especially as it was done gradually. It hurt all right, but the way her muscles stretched and the manner of the pain let Jane know that it was having a positive effect.
"How's that? Not too bad?" Hannah asked, now resting most of her torso down upon Jane's left leg. Jane nodded up at her mother, whose head was only about a foot above hers, though hovering over her chest rather than her face.
"Good," Hannah smiled. "I'll let the leg down now for a few seconds, and then we'll bring it up again, and repeat the process a few times."
The first couple of times they repeated the process neither Shepard said anything not to do with the stretching exercise. On the third time back up, Hannah let out a laugh as she gazed down at Jane and spoke more casually. "Sorry about that, honey. I shouldn't have acted so casual about it."
"So it's true?" Jane asked. "You're not just messing with me or trying to make me feel better because I got hurt?"
"Oh, it's true alright," Hannah said. "I've been bisexual since before your age. Not exactly sure why, and I haven't exactly been shouting about it across the treetops or anything. In fact, you're now one of only a small handful of people that know."
"Dad knows then?"
"He knows, honey," Hannah said. "Not that it's mattered since we got together and you were born. I still appreciate the female form though. I may be married to your father, but that hasn't changed how I feel. It doesn't mean I'm going to cheat on him or anything, but I'm still human. The important thing is controlling yourself, like with anything."
"Is that some kind of dig at me?" Shepard joked. Hannah laughed.
"It wasn't intended that way, but it is now," the elder Shepard said with a wink. "Okay, that's enough of that for now. We'll see if some of this stuff helps before it starts swelling-up."
Jane nodded and Hannah released the pressure on her leg, letting her lower it. Fishing a small oval container from the first aid kit, she opened the lid and gave her daughter more instructions.
"You'll have to lower those pants, honey. I have to rub this into the skin."
Jane didn't think twice, since this was her mother, and she carefully pulled her track pants down her legs. It wasn't easy with a jolt of pain tearing down her thigh, so Hannah helped her until they were below her knees.
"That's far enough," Hannah said. "Open your legs a bit now, honey. Where's the pain worst?"
"Here," Jane indicated.
Hannah scooped out a gob of some fairly dull looking creamy paste and applied it to Jane's upper leg, just above the knee where the pain reached the lowest. The stuff itself was cold upon contact, but as her mother began running it in it began to feel warmer. Jane looked up at her mother as she leaned down over her, applying and rubbing all the while.
"So," Hannah started. "Now that I know.... is there really still nobody special in my little girl's life?"
"That's still the truth," Jane said, almost regretfully it sounded. "It's not like I'm not focused on other things though."
"Yet at the same time, you know you like other girls," Hannah said, putting Jane on the spot.
"I know I find girls attractive, but.... I haven't found anybody that's, well...."
"Special?" Hannah finished.
"Yeah, I guess that's right," Jane said. "Still.... what does another woman look for in a woman?"
"You're asking me?" Hannah said.
"Well, you've told me you like women too now. What do you look for in a girl?"
"Honey, different women look for different things in a woman, just like they do if they're interested in men. There's no single answer. You yourself will like certain kinds of women for different reasons than somebody else will."
"I guess," Jane said with a sigh. "I just sometimes wonder if you're right about what you said earlier."
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 10
anonymous
June 7 2012, 15:16:18 UTC
"I mean about me being too, I don't know... butch. Too much of a tomboy, or too tough for most women. I mean, women are into women for them being like women right? For being feminine, like you said, not for being mannish!"
Hannah laughed, still rubbing the cream into Jane's thigh as she did. When she stopped, she leaned in close to Jane and looked down at her daughter with one of the most loving and caring expressions Jane had seen.
"Honey.... you are anything but mannish. You are beautiful and gorgeous, and you have a wonderful personality and a very attractive figure. You are strong, but you have in no way lost your femininity."
Jane felt her mother's free hand gently stroke her cheek, and as she gazed up at her she felt a strange sensation in her stomach. She always knew her mother was beautiful, and at the age of 34 Hannah Shepard was in her prime, looking closer to 28 thanks to her lifestyle and career. But as she gazed down at Jane with that loving, half-lidded look of warmth, with locks of brown hair clinging to her forehead and her skin glistening with beads of sweat all over, it was suddenly quite different for Jane. She was suddenly aware of her mother's lustrous lips, the way her mother's tank top clung to her body and the fact she was wearing small athletic shorts that revealed almost all of her perfectly sculpted legs. Jane noticed the way her mother's tank top plunged down at the front into a soft valley, and the swell of the mounds that it led to, peaked off with two distinct imprints pressed against their sweat-soaked covering. Time had seemed to slow, and Jane noticed the incredible softness of her mother's palm against her cheek, the weird sensation in her stomach that seemed to rise and fall between fear and want somehow, and most of all how closer her mother's hand now was to her most tender, sensitive area. Jane felt her heart begin to beat, and her face felt hot, and what her mother did next didn't help matters.
Hannah lent down slowly towards Jane, and placed a gentle peck on her daughter's lips. It was no different from any other kiss that she'd been given before, but while it only lasted a split second, for some reason the sensation seemed to linger there for longer. Her mother pulled back away slowly, and for a moment Jane thought her own beating heart was going to drown out her mother's words.
"You're perfect, Honey," Hannah said. "If I was half my age and I wasn't your mother, I'd jump on you in a heartbeat."
Jane's mind was a fog after that, which is why she replied with what she did. "If you did, I think I'd let you."
At first Hannah smiled at the comment, clearly taking it as just a joke on her daughter's part, but as she looked at her daughter's face she noticed the reddened cheeks and hazy eyes that seemed to stare straight through her. It clicked that Jane had said it with rather heavy breathing, and how much her daughter's chest was rising and falling. Hannah looked into her daughter's eyes with a puzzled expression, and her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Suddenly aware of her hand still rubbing her daughter's thigh, she gazed down to notice the tips of her fingers less than an inch now from Jane's sex. She stopped the motions, and then slowly took her hand away, leaning back up to kneel at Jane's feet.
"Well, I.... I think that's enough for now," Hannah said, clearly flustered. "I think we'll leave your care in the hands of a doctor now. You'd better pull your pants back up and I'll help you to the med-bay."
"Mom, wait," Jane said as she pulled herself up without Hannah's help. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Jane. I understand," Hannah responded.
"No, it's not okay," Jane huffed. "I didn't mean to say that to you, I was just.... I just got caught up in the talk, and then what you said, and.... Like you said before, at my age my hormones run wild, and with you rubbing my thigh like that and all the...."
"Honey!" Hannah interrupted, and she smiled at her daughter and stroked some matted red locks of hair away from her eyes. "It's okay. Like I said, I understand. I was a teenager too once."
Hannah opened her arms. "Come on," she said, and Jane hugged her mother back. "Let's just get you to the doctor, and we'll forget about it all."
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 11
anonymous
June 11 2012, 13:08:12 UTC
February 14th, 2186 CE SSV Orizaba
Jane had joined her mother aboard the Orizaba just as promised, taking a tour around the ship and meeting the senior officers, before joining her mother for lunch in the mess hall. Jane was glad in some ways that they were eating in a public area with Alliance personnel walking back and forth around them or sitting at other tables nearby. She knew her mother wasn't going to say anything to appropriate while they were out in the open like that. The mealtime conversation was actually mostly about Hannah, with Jane wanting to know more about what her mother had been up to over the past few years, particularly during the two-year gap where Jane had essentially been dead.
Jane was proud that her mother was a Captain now, and even understood why she'd turned down the offer to be an Admiral. Jane too wondered whether a desk job would ever suit her quite often, but every time the thought crossed her mind it was eventually dismissed. She and her mother were peas of the same pod; they had to be out there making a difference directly, not pushing papers and telling others to do the dirty work. Eventually, well after they'd finished the last of their food, the Orizaba's XO came over the comms with a message for Hannah: it was only half an hour until their scheduled departure.
"Sorry, honey. Duty calls," Hannah said with a pout.
"I understand," Jane said. "I'd probably best be heading off myself."
"Before you go, honey," Hannah said, reaching over the table to take Jane's hands in hers. "I just want to tell you something."
Jane looked over at her mother, and saw the intensity and seriousness of her gaze. It dawned on her that they were basically alone, with the nearest other person a kitchen hand clattering in the kitchen a fair distance away. "What is it, Mom?" Jane asked.
"If things don't work out for you in the future, whether it's at the trial, this whole Reaper thing, or.... other things," Hannah said, and Jane was pretty sure that last, unspecific thing was referring to her relationship with a certain blue-skinned person. "I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you."
"As a mother?" Jane asked.
"As whatever you want me to be," Hannah said, squeezing Jane's hand. "I don't want to pressure you, and I understand that it's probably for the best to keep things how they are. But.... I love you. I always will. And if you need me at all, I'll be here."
Jane didn't say anything, instead just trying to read her mother's face. Hannah blinked away some tears and let go of her daughter's hand, then stood up and smoothed her uniform.
"I should be on the bridge, honey," Hannah said, and she came around the table and opened her arms. Jane hugged her mother, and Hannah sighed contentedly at her shoulder. "I'm glad we finally caught up again. I missed you."
"Me too, Mom," Jane said.
"Just remember to stay in touch," Hannah said as they parted, prodding Jane just below her throat. "If I can ever help you with this Reaper thing, I'll do what I can."
Hannah saluted, and Jane returned the gesture. With a smile and a nod, Hannah turned and left, heading towards the main elevator. Just before disappearing from sight, she stopped and turned back to her daughter, saying one last thing.
"Take note of what day it is today, honey," Hannah noted with a bittersweet smile. "Perhaps it's fate we met today."
Jane's brow furrowed briefly, and then it hit her what her mother had meant. She replied, more to herself than her mother, and it came out as a whisper nobody else caught. "Valentine's Day," she breathed.
Jane returned to her own ship straight away, and the Normandy left The Citadel less than an hour later. It had been a long day for Jane, and what had been a lunch for her and her mother was closer to a late evening meal on Jane's timeline. Jane retired for a night's sleep, but sleep didn't come easily. Her mind kept drifting back to what her mother had said, then to her future, and finally back to the past. Events of her first hints of attraction to her mother had flooded back to her before the meal, but now more memories returned. If those earlier memories had been the moment when the line was set, these would be the memories when the line was crossed.
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 12
anonymous
June 11 2012, 13:12:33 UTC
April 10th, 2172 CE Shepard Family Home, Earth
It was soon to be a big day for Jane. Come midnight she would be 18 years old, and at sunrise that following day, she'd be enlisted in the Alliance military. That's why Jane Shepard had been home for the last couple of days, on Earth. Although if she had to be honest, to her it wasn't really home at all. With her parents going from ship to ship and station to station, and her in much the same predicament, the Shepard residence on Earth was used so infrequently it was more like a vacation house than a real home. Every year the three of them had to have spent only a month there at the most, and most of the time that was squandered largely around Christmas and New Years as a big three-week lump, and then perhaps a few days scattered throughout the year now and then. The Shepard family were nomads, and career military, and as such even a transfer to new Alliance cruiser felt more familiar and homey than this place.
But this was a special occasion, and there was a certain special something about the Shepard home. There had been lots of good memories within those walls, a lot of laughs and a lot of times when they could just be a family and forget about military doctrine and rules. Home may not have truly been where the heart was, but it was at least safe and stable, and allowed them all to simply relax. That said, they were here right now largely because of all that military nonsense, with the youngest member of the family finally joining her parents in its ranks. Jane was in a great mood, as was Hannah. The two had spent the day making and icing Jane's cake, blowing up balloons and generally goofing off, and for a moment Jane felt like a kid again. But there was still one member missing from the party, and late that afternoon Hannah got a call that would come close to ruining a good day.
"You're joking! God damn it, you're her father!"
Watching a vid in the living room, Jane heard her mother yelling from the next room. Judging from those words, she had already pretty much figured out what the story was. She waited quietly for her mother to finish and appear in the doorway before she spoke.
"He's not coming, is he," Jane said. It wasn't a question.
"No, honey, he's not," Hannah sighed. "Damn it! I should have known this would happen."
"He's got a job to do, Mom. He's out there fighting for Earth."
"Don't defend him, honey. Surely he can take just two days off for his daughter's special day," Hannah grumbled. "He applied for the leave, it was granted. There's no excuse. I got the time off and I'm here, and we're both in the same boat."
"It's okay, Mom," Jane said. "It's not that big of a deal. I understand."
"It's not okay, Jane!" Hannah barked. "And you don't understand!"
Jane flinched at her mother's outburst, casting her head downwards. "Okay," she whispered.
Hannah's heart broke, and she strode across to her daughter. "Oh, honey.... I'm sorry," Hannah said, scooping Jane up in her arms. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that.... he's.... he's never here, honey. He always promises he will be, but he's not."
"I'm sorry too, Mom," Jane said, returning the hug as much as she could. "I forgot this doesn't just affect me."
"It's okay, honey," Hannah said. "It's not your fault." She pulled away and stroked her daughter's hair. "Tell you what, how about we just go ahead and have the best damn birthday party for you without him anyway. That way it's his own damn fault for missing out. We'll have stories that'll make him wish he'd been here and never miss another important event like this again."
"Sounds good, Mom," Jane beamed back. "We'll have a real girl's night, just the two of us."
"Now you're talking," Hannah said. "Now let's finally cut that cake that's been taunting us the last couple of hours."
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 13
anonymous
June 11 2012, 13:20:16 UTC
The Shepard girls did as they had planned, and the rest of the afternoon and evening was a blast for the two of them. Not once did they pause and lament the absence of Jane's father. Jane thought everything had gone perfectly, until just after she'd gone to bed. Feeling thirsty she went to get a glass of water, but heard a strange noise coming from her mother's room. Getting closer to investigate, she realized it was her mother sobbing. Jane couldn't ever remember hearing her mother cry, usually thinking her mother to be so strong. When Hannah Shepard was upset she usually got mad, not sad. Jane felt something stab her heart hearing that sound, so she tapped on her mother's door quietly. "Mom? Can I come in?"
"Sure," she heard her mother eventually reply. "It's not locked."
The door beeped and whisked aside, and Jane tiptoed in. Her mother was lying on her back in her bed, initially staring at the ceiling, but as Jane approached she turned her head and smiled, trying to sniff and blink away whatever had upset her. Jane was only wearing a loose tank top and her panties, so she rubbed her arms as she stood there. Had her father been home she probably would have put on a dressing gown before leaving her room in the first place, but she knew it was just her and her mother, so her lack of covering wasn't an issue.
"Is something wrong, honey?" Hannah asked. "Couldn't sleep or something?"
"I was actually going to ask you the same thing," Jane said straightforwardly. "I heard you crying."
"Oh, it's nothing, honey. Don't worry yourself about it."
"It's not nothing, Mom," Jane said stubbornly. "If it was nothing, you wouldn't be doing it."
"Even so, I don't want to bother you with it, Jane," Hannah said with a sigh.
"Too late. I'm already bothered. So tell me."
Jane sat on the edge of her mother's bed and took one of her mother's hands in her own. Hannah looked at her daughter, and she couldn't say no to those eyes. Even if she had, she knew Jane wouldn't let her. Hannah sighed heavily.
"It's just.... your father, Jane. He's never here. He's too married to the Alliance and not enough to me."
"That's the career you both chose, Mom," Jane said straightforwardly. "You had to know it would be like this."
"I know, but.... that's not quite what I meant," Hannah said. "I mean, he's not here for me. He's not...."
Hannah's sentence evaporated, and she seemed to struggle with words. Eventually she gave up.
"Damn it! I used to be able to avoid this by telling you that I'll tell you these things when you're older, but I can't do that now. You'll be eighteen soon. You ARE older."
Jane looked puzzle for a moment, then her eyes bugged out for a split second, and her brow twisted.
"Are you saying that, him not being here, that.... you're talking about...."
"Yes, honey," Hannah said, saving her daughter from embarrassment. "I'm saying that I'm lonely. And your father isn't here to.... ease that loneliness." She sighed. "He's not even here sleeping beside me in bed, let alone anything else. I'm sick of lying here alone."
It was deathly quiet for a moment between them, with Hannah just staring up at the ceiling. After a while, without a word, Jane pulled back the covers of her mother's bed, then crawled in beside her. Hannah just watched silently, her eyebrows raised, until Jane pulled the covers back over both of them and snuggled up to her mother. Jane smiled widely at Hannah. "That better, Mom?" she asked.
"Oh, honey," Hannah said, kissing Jane's brow. "Of course it is. Thank you."
"Any time, Mom," Jane said, nestling her forehead into the nape of her mother's neck.
"I don't know," Hannah said jokingly. "You're starting to get a bit old for this now."
"I'm never to old to love my Mom," Jane answered.
"Glad to hear," Hannah sighed.
"Besides, I was getting cold sitting there in my underwear," Jane added.
Hannah laughed, kissing the top of her daughter's head. Jane wrapped her arms around her mother's body, her fingers playing with the silky material of the chemise her mother wore to bed. For what seemed like eons they just lay there in each other's arms, basking in the moment and each other's warmth.
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 14
anonymous
June 11 2012, 13:22:44 UTC
"So, do you want to talk about it, Mom?" Jane broke the silence with.
"Are you sure you want to hear it?" Hannah replied with a deep sigh. "I don't want to warp my poor daughter's mind."
"Just be honest about it, Mom," Jane said. "No need to go into intimate details, just.... tell me why you're frustrated."
"I'm not sure you'd like to hear the honest truth, honey," Hannah said. "You might hate me for it."
"I'd never hate you, Mom," Jane said. "No matter what you said."
Hannah stared into her daughter's honest eyes and then hugged her tighter. "Oh, my poor Jane. I hope you don't eat those words."
"You can do it, Mom. Just let it out."
"Okay," Hannah said, and she inhaled and exhaled loudly. "Okay, here it is. Simply put, your father doesn't really satisfy me. He's never here, and even when he is, he just.... isn't what I'm after."
"Are you saying you don't love dad?" Jane asked.
"No, honey. I do love him. But, not in the way you may of thought or hoped. He's very special to me, but...."
Hannah searched for the next words, but couldn't think of anything that was right. She looked to Jane who just had wide eyes looking like they'd brim with tears any moment if she didn't say the right thing, so she sighed and turned over on one shoulder to face her daughter.
"I think the best, most honest way of putting it is that I love your father, but I'm not IN love with him. Do you understand, honey?"
"I.... I think so," Jane said. "Is this something new or.... or did you always feel like that."
"Honestly, I think I always did," Hannah admitted. "If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't have married him."
"Because I was an accident?" Jane said, her eyes downcast.
"Oh no! No, honey!" Hannah said, kissing Jane on the forehead. "You weren't an accident, you were a miracle. I never, ever regret you coming into our lives."
Hannah took Jane's chin, forcing her to look her in the eyes. "Never doubt that, honey. You are the most special thing that's ever happened to me, and I love you more than anything. Never. Doubt. That."
"Then why?" Jane asked. "Why don't you truly love Dad?"
"Because he's...." Hannah started, and again searched for a satisfactory answer for her daughter. "Because he's...." Still nothing, and she gave up and sighed. "Because he's a he, Jane. Because your father is a man."
Jane's brow twisted and she looked at her mother sideways. Hannah shook her head, then stroked her daughter's hair lovingly.
"I'm like you, honey. I lied to you when I told you I liked men as well.... when I said I was bisexual. I'm not. I just like girls. And your father simply can't cut it in that department. That's the honest truth."
"I'm sorry, Mom," Jane said. "I didn't know."
"You're apologizing to me?" Hannah said with puzzlement. "I'm the one who should be apologizing!"
"No, you're not," Jane said. "You shouldn't apologize for who you are."
"I wish the rest of the world was as insightful and accepting as you are, honey," Hannah said. "Or even just my parents and the Alliance brass would do."
"So Grandpa and Grandma are part of the reason you married dad?"
"They always wanted me to find a husband," Hannah said frankly. "I never dared to try and find out if they would have accepted me finding a wife or even simply a girlfriend. They just went on and on far too much about traditional family values and grandchildren and the like, it just never seemed likely, so I kept it from them. Still have."
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 15
anonymous
June 11 2012, 13:32:32 UTC
"I'm so sorry, Mom," Jane said, hugging her mother closer. "I wish I could help you."
"It's okay, honey," Hannah said, stroking Jane's hair. "It's not your problem to fix. I just have to face the facts: I'm stuck like this. Sacrifices must be made if I'm to be an Alliance soldier, and one of them is being lonely and being married to my career. It's as simple as that. Don't worry, it's not as bad as I make it out to be. I'm usually fine, it's only times like this when I'm off-duty and not busy that it bothers me. I'm only lonely when I'm alone."
"You might find somebody someday, Mom," Jane tried to assure. "There has to be somebody out there who you can trust and love, and who will trust and love you back."
"It's a nice thought, honey," Hannah said, turning back over to stare at the ceiling. "But a futile one. The closest person I have to that is you, and that's as close as I'm going to get."
"I hope you're wrong, Mom," Jane said, nuzzling into the nape of her mother's neck. "But if it is, I love you, and I'm always here for you."
A smile came to Hannah's lips and she laughed, turning back to face her daughter. "Oh, of course you are honey. I know you are. But you're my daughter, and...."
Hannah's voice seemed to vanish, her smile along with it. Jane wasn't sure what the expression was the replaced it. Her mother began to look a little confused, or as if something had just dawned on her. She stroked Jane's cheek, mouth opening as if about to say something, but it seems she was still finding the words. The smile returned and she stroked some locks of hair away from Jane's face.
"And you're so loving and beautiful," Hannah said, as if ending the sentence she'd abandoned before.
Jane smiled back at her mother, and Hannah's own smile faltered, replaced by that same look she'd just had before. Her pupils moved around, like she was taking in every inch of her daughter's face, and Jane's smile too left her to be substituted with one of curiosity. Hannah's gentle stroking of her cheek became a single finger tracing Jane's jaw line before it curved around and rested on her lower lip.
"Honey, I think...." Hannah began, and she abandoned that and cleared her throat. "Honey, remember back when you.... Remember that day when we both told each other about how we liked women? When you hurt yourself in the gym?"
"Yes," Jane responded after a slight delay where she was trying to figure out where this was going. She suddenly noticed how large and wide her mother's eyes were, and how there seemed to be fear in them for some reason. Jane's answer made Hannah look down smile for a moment, then her mother took a deep breath and looked back at her with an intensely deep gaze. Hannah's next question to her seemed to almost be forced out, her voice breaking a little as she spoke.
"Do you.... Do you remember what I said to you, when.... When you were doubting your ability to draw the interest of a woman?"
"I think so," Jane said, feeling a weird yet familiar sensation in her stomach. "Something about me being beautiful and attractive, and that I was still feminine?"
"Yes. And what did I say after that?" Hannah said, her gaze seeming deeper than before. In fact, Jane had never been stared at so intensely before.
"Tha.... That if you were half your age and not my mother, you'd be...." Jane's throat felt dry, so she swallowed. "You would be on me in a heartbeat."
"That's right, honey," Hannah said, blinking swiftly. Jane noticed there seemed to be tears in her mother's eyes, and then Hannah averted them down. "I just.... I just wanted you to know that, I.... I meant it." There was a pause and she looked up again, streams glistening down her cheeks and that intense gaze returning. "I still do," she added.
Jane couldn't think of how to respond, just lying there looking back at her mother with confusion. The sensation in her stomach seemed to grow, and she recognized it fully now. It was the same feeling she'd had when her mother was leaning down over her during the very moments they were just discussing. Jane felt her mother's finger upon her bottom lip again as Hannah began to trace an outline around her daughter's mouth while her eyes seemed to trace her face.
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 16
anonymous
June 11 2012, 13:46:14 UTC
"And do you remember what.... you said to me?" Hannah asked, voice wavering and eyes shiny.
"That.... That I would.... let.... you," Jane said, almost a whisper.
Hannah smiled and nodded softly, a blush coming to her cheeks. She removed her finger from Jane's lips and shifted slightly in the bed until her face was about an inch closer to Jane's. As her mother spoke, Jane could feel the warmth of her mother's breath gently drift against her lips and chin.
"And, did you.... mean it?" Hannah queried.
Before Jane could even take in her mother's question, she felt a sudden warmth on her thigh, causing her to gasp slightly. It was her mother's fingers, which gently began to rub her in a callback to that very event, right in the same place they had been that fateful day. Jane looked into her mother's eyes, which were now slightly heavy-lidded and hazy. Hannah's lips were parted a little, and Jane could feel shorter, sharper breaths blowing against her own. The younger Shepard didn't respond verbally, instead just nodding her head.
"Good," Hannah said, sniffing and smiling as a fresh stream of liquid slid down one cheek. "Even now?"
Jane nodded again, her own eyes beginning to tear up. A short laugh sounded from Hannah, who removed her hand from Jane's thigh to stoke her cheek again.
"You make me so happy, honey," Hannah said lovingly, looking deeply into Jane's eyes. "I'm so proud of you, and I love you. I just don't want to hurt you or betray your trust."
"You could never do that, Mom," Jane croaked, reaching up and stroking her mother's upper arm gently. "I'll always trust you and love you."
"I'm relieved to hear that, Honey," Hannah said. "I want you to trust me. I want you to love me. I want you to...."
Hannah's voice vanished and she studied her daughter's face again for a moment, still stroking her cheek. Again the strokes transformed to one index finger tracing down to her daughter's lips, and her loving gaze became more intense until she seemed to stare straight into Jane's soul. "God forgive me, Jane.... I simply want you," Hannah finished.
To both of them it seemed like an eternity of just staring at each other after those words, like the whole universe was on pause for a while. Jane was the one to break the silence.
"Mom, I...."
"Hush," Hannah said, pressing a finger to her daughter's lips. "Don't speak. Just...."
Time seemed to stop again for a while, until the finger gradually left Jane's lips. Hannah began to slowly lean towards her daughter, and Jane closed her eyes and just parted her lips, letting them just go limp for a while. She felt the warmth of another set of lips make contact with her own, and press gently against them. There was just one small peck to start, no different than any other kiss her mother had given her. Two more followed much the same. The next lasted a little longer, and Jane heard and felt her mother shift beside her afterwards, then felt familiar fingers stroke her cheek.
The kiss after this was something special though, as Jane immediately felt a more intense pressure against her lips, and felt another moist tongue slide past them to make contact with her own. Jane felt the need to no longer keep her mouth limp any further, compelled to respond with as much as she was being given. Jane had never been kissed like this before, and the sensation was incredible to her. Her returned efforts were almost an instinct, and they seemed to be working, with no sense that she was being clumsy or doing a bad job of it. Somehow it all seemed natural.
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 17
anonymous
June 19 2012, 15:31:47 UTC
It had to have been almost two minutes before they stopped, and Jane opened her eyes. She stared across at Hannah's loving face, and only then the nature of the situation seemed to dawn on her. She was French-kissing with her own mother, the woman who brought her into this world. How did this happen? When did she go from lying in bed talking with her mother about her problems, to making-out with a beautiful goddess? As Hannah stroked Jane's hair, the younger Shepard looked back and realized it was because they were the same person. Her mother was a beautiful goddess, and she was the most attractive woman Jane had ever come across. She was smart, beautiful, witty, caring, sexy and loving. Hannah was everything Jane wanted from a woman, but she was her mother. Jane knew it was wrong to feel this way, and that they should probably stop before things got out of hand. But she wanted it, and she could tell by looking into her mother's eyes that so did she. For the first time in a long time, the usually strong Jane Shepard began to shake.
"Honey, you're trembling," Hannah said with concern, stroking Jane's cheek. "Have I.... Have I made you feel uncomfortable? Do you not...."
Regret seemed to strike Hannah's features as she looked for the next words, but Jane reacted up and cupped her mother's chin, causing the older woman to glance into her eyes curiously. Jane tried to give her mother a reassuring smile.
"It's not that, Mom," Jane soothed. "It's.... a mix of things. Part of me is nervous, because we're.... well.... mother and daughter."
Hannah seemed to wince at that, closing her eyes and half turning away. Jane continued, not letting her hand leave her mother's chin, as the thumb gently stroked Hannah's cheek. "But, I'm also shaking because.... I want.... this, Mom. As strange as that admission may sound. It's as much anticipation and desire as anything else."
Hannah opened her eyes again, and saw Jane's wide, honest ones gleaming back at her. She could see the sincerity and love in them.
"I love you, Mom," Jane said. "More than anything and anyone. More than society would say I should. And I want you to love me back, in the same way." Jane paused, taking in a deep breath. "I want you to love me and.... make love to me."
For a while Hannah simply stared down at her daughter, her eyes a little bigger and her mouth slightly open in what seemed like mild disbelief. Then she smiled, taking Jane's wrist and moving her daughter's hand from her chin to the side of her face. She stroked her cheek against Jane's fingers, then turned her head and softly kissed the palm and wrist. Her mother again nestling her hand into her cheek, Jane could not remember seeing Hannah's expression look as calm and happy as this before.
"I love you so much, Jane," Hannah cooed down at her daughter, followed by a peck on her wrist again. "God help me, I love you more than I should."
Hannah leaned down and pressed her lips against Jane's gently, giving her a kiss that was somehow both very soft and yet somehow deep. As their lips parted, Jane let out a contented sigh and leaned her head back into the pillow. She closed her eyes and smiled, feeling a warm, wet pressure briefly upon her chin accompanied by the faint sound of a moist smack. She heard the same sound and felt the same sensation upon her throat next, and then a few moments later upon her collarbone. At the same time as she felt a second kiss at her lower throat, Jane also felt a palm make contact with the side of her body, just below her armpit, and slowly begin running down the curve of her back towards her hip. Another soft peck slurped at the center of her upper chest, while the palm flicked across the band of her panties like they were a small speed bump, meeting the bare skin of her upper thigh. Jane sighed again, absent-mindedly both moving one of her own hands down to stroke through her mother's hair just as the next kiss was planted just above the neckline of her tank top, and rising her left knee up as Hannah's hand stroked along the thigh above it, then circled back up to her hip again.
Red Sky At Night, Red Sky in the Morning - Part 18
anonymous
June 19 2012, 15:33:38 UTC
"You have such a beautiful figure, honey," Jane heard Hannah say as if entranced. Jane felt her mother's hand following the same path up and down from just beneath her arm, down her hip and to her thigh. "So muscular and fit, and yet soft and feminine. Both the perfect soldier and the perfect woman, all rolled into one."
Jane opened her eyes and looked up at her mother, who smiled back at her sweetly. "What can I say, Mom," Jane said. "I got it from you."
"Flattery will get you everywhere," Hannah said smoothly, leaning down again to capture her daughter's lips with her mouth.
The way she said "everywhere" made Jane's heart begin to beat faster, and the way Hannah's tongue slid into her mouth quickened it even more. As their mouths and tongues slurped at each other, Jane felt Hannah's fingers stroke her left cheek, then glide down her neck to her shoulder. Hannah's fingers hooked into the left shoulder strap of Jane's tank top and Jane only barely noticed it being slipped down to her upper arm. Hannah's lips retreated from Jane's, and the younger Shepard looked down as her mother planted a kiss down the center of her throat and upper chest, then paused to regard the loosened strap. Jane's eyebrows raised as Hannah's fingertips gently took the upper hem of her top where the collar met the strap, then slowly eased it down until the gentle swell of Jane's left breast began to squeeze itself out of the garment. It didn't take much for the perky bosom to pop itself free, shaking for a brief moment before it sat still, sticking upwards like a mountain with a dark pink cap at the peak.
Jane looked at the exposed breast, then to her mother's face. Hannah was looking at it in a manner somewhere between looking at an adorable puppy and at a delicious dessert. Hannah's first contact with it involved her running her finger around the edge of it a couple of times in a circular motion, followed by her cupping it gently and seeming to test its weight and firmness with a slight squeeze and lift. She looked into her daughter's eyes as she did, letting out a small laugh when she noticed Jane gasp a little at the contact. Hannah pursed her lips, then placed her index finger at the top of Jane's chest, where she slowly ran it down it, and then up the curve of the exposed boob. Like a rollercoaster making the summit of an uphill track, she slowed the ascent as her finger approached the top, paused, then flicked Jane nipple as she ran it down the underside, laughing again as Jane gasped and twitched a little at that moment.
Hannah's next move was to repeat this, but not with her finger. She leaned down to place a kiss on Jane's upper chest, then stuck out her tongue, running it slowly down the path her finger had taken before. Jane felt the pleasant warmth where her mother's tongue was, following by the cooling sensation in its wake as the air touched the moist, saliva-coated trail upon her skin. Just as Hannah's tongue was about to make it to the summit, it detoured around, circling the pink peak twice before stopping just below it. Hannah looked her daughter in the eyes, and Jane looked back. Hannah wanted to know if her daughter really wanted this, and the look in Jane's eyes said yes. Jane thought she could make out the slightest hint of a smile before her mother gracefully flicked her tongue up and across her nipple, sending a pleasant tingle through it. Hannah did this about a dozen more times, and Jane felt the sensation begin to grow and other parts of her body to begin reacting to the stimulation too. Hannah's final flick of Jane's nipple was immediately followed up with her sucking onto the teat, whereby she gently nibbled, suckled and caressed it with her tongue.
Arcturus Station
It had been a good week for Jane Shepard. She'd had time off from school to spend on the station, and her mother's ship, the SSV Einstein, had been docked for half of that time, allowing the two Shepard women to spend some time together. The SSV Einstein was one of the ships that had responded to the recent batarian raid on Mindoir, and after many of its crew had been subjected to the atrocities there the ship was allowed to dock in more often for regular shore leave. It was apparently the Alliance's way of trying to keep up morale and not overstress its people. Jane was happy to hear that her mother was spared the horror of getting involved directly in the events, but she could tell seeing what it had done to some of her closest friends had still affected her in the wake of it. Her mother never really spoke of it any more, and it had been months ago, so she seemed back to her old self for the most part. At the age of 16 now, Jane herself was about one and a half years away of reaching the goal she was most gunning for: joining the Alliance military.
Jane walked confidently down one of the station's corridors, a clean white towel draped over her shoulders and a gym bag in one hand. With athletic shoes on her feet, some plain gray track pants and a loose white tank top, Jane was doing something few other teenagers her age did on their time off from school: hitting the gym. It was no surprise when she walked in to see her mother already present, walking on a treadmill. From the look of it Hannah Shepard had been there a little while already. The two of them had come there each afternoon for the past couple of days, working out for an hour or two and catching up at the same time.
"Hey, honey," the elder Shepard greeted her daughter. "A little later today than usual."
"Sorry, Mom," Jane said, "I caught up with a friend of mine on the way here. I didn't know they were on-station too."
Jane tossed her gym bag on a bench across from where her mother was running on a treadmill, then flicked the towel on top of it casually. Jane wandered over to a treadmill beside her mother's one, not noticing the smirk on her mother's face. As Jane mounted the gym equipment, Hannah spoke up. "Anybody special?"
"Nope. Just a friend from school," Jane answered casually. "I don't think you've met them."
"A friend by choice, or because you haven't tried for more?"
"Moooom!" Jane whined. "Stop doing that! Not every person I mention that I've befriended in high school is going to be Jane Shepard's future husband."
"I'm just teasing, honey," Hannah said, clearly getting a kick out of frustrating her daughter. "I just want to make sure you're not being reckless. You're at that age where your hormones can override your common sense."
Jane's machine whirred to life and she began jogging upon it. The pace was a bit slow for her taste, so she tapped it up a few notches before turning back to her mother with a smirk. "Me? Reckless? When have I ever been reckless?"
Hannah laughed. "When haven't you been?"
"Mooom!"
"Okay, you're not reckless," Hannah admitted. "But you do tend to throw yourself into things and push yourself too hard. With almost everything. Even now in fact. Are you sure that treadmill isn't going just a little too fast for you? It's at almost twice my speed."
"It's fine, mom. I can handle this level easily." Jane paused. "Besides, I can't be the best Alliance soldier if I hold back."
"All I'm saying is, I just don't want to see you with a big belly full of baby before your next birthday or something."
"Jeez, Mom! What type of girl do you think I am?" Jane said, half-shocked, half mocking.
"I don't mean that, honey," Hannah answered honestly. "I just mean that it's easy for one to do something silly when their brain isn't the one with the loudest voice. And don't push yourself too far, that's all I'm saying. You're a tough girl, but you're also human." Hannah let that settle before adding something else. "Besides, you're pretty fit as it is. You don't want to go from chasing off boys to beating them up."
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"That if you keep up at this pace, you'll lose your femininity and be more muscle than woman," Hannah joked. "You don't want that."
"I want to be strong and fit, not a bodybuilder."
"Good to know," Hannah said with a smile.
"As for getting knocked-up, trust me, Mom," Jane said with conviction, "there's pretty much no chance of that happening."
"Too dedicated to becoming the best humanity has to offer to get involved with somebody else, is it?" Hannah queried. "A career military woman married to the Alliance."
"There's a bit of that," Jane said, her tone growing a little more serious. "And other stuff. Personal stuff."
"Personal stuff you can't tell your mother?"
Jane sighed, a slight shake of her head. She turned her head to look at her mother, who had that look in her eyes that said, "if there's some problem you have that you're too embarrassed to tell me about, it doesn't matter and I'll love you no matter what it is." Jane looked around the room, which wasn't an overly big gymnasium, but still not tiny either. In either case, she and her mother were the only ones using it right now.
"I guess I should probably tell you, in case I do find myself involved with somebody suddenly," Jane said reluctantly. "I wouldn't want to shock you too suddenly."
"Go ahead, honey," Hannah said, rather calmly, yet Jane could hear the slight waver in her mother's voice. Like she was dreading what was to come.
"I might as well come out and say it," Jane said, getting that determined look on her face her mother knew all too well. "I don't like guys, Mom. I'm not attracted to them. They don't interest me. I like.... girls.... Mom."
Jane noticed her mother's eyebrows rise up at this, and Hannah looked down and let out a loud sigh. At first Jane thought her mother was gravely disappointed, but then Hannah swung her head back and looked up at the ceiling with a smile.
"Thank God!" she declared, surprising Jane to no end. "I was really worried there for a moment. I thought you were going to say that you were into some weird fetish or something. Or that you were becoming a nun."
"So.... you're okay with this?" Jane asked, brow furrowed and with an expression that suggested she was questioning whether the woman beside her was her mother at all. "We're cool?"
"Oh, honey," Hannah said, gazing at her daughter with eyes of care and understanding. "Of course we are. You're free to be whoever you want to be, and love whoever you want to love. You're my daughter and I love you, and you being a lesbian isn't going to change that."
"What about Dad?" Jane asked.
Hannah's smile faltered, and this time her brow twisted. "Now that I'm not so sure about. Oh, don't be worried, honey! He won't disown you or shun you or anything. He just might take some time to adjust, but he won't stop loving you either. You're his pride and joy. He was probably hoping to get some true-blue Alliance son-in-law or some such, and possibly some grandchildren down the line, but no.... he'll be fine. He's not the type of man to look down at you for this or anything like that. Certain hopeful wishes and hopes of his are simply going to be called to question, nothing more."
"I have to say, Mom," Jane said, grinning widely now, "you're taking this a lot better than I expected."
"Well, perhaps since you've told me a secret of yours, I should perhaps tell you a similar one of mine," Hannah said, an almost devious look on her face.
"What's that?" Jane asked playfully, believing that some kind of joke revelation was incoming.
"I'm attracted to women too," Hannah revealed, as casually as if she had said, "I like chocolate."
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"Honey!" Hannah said sharply. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
Jane opened her eyes and saw her mother's face looking at her lovingly just a few inches away.
"I'm not sure. I think I'm...."
Jane tried to stand up, but groaned in pain and slumped back down as a burning sensation seared up her inner left thigh and at her left hip. Hannah noticed her daughter's hand move to where the pain was most intense and she nodded at Jane with a frown.
"You've probably wrenched a few muscles in your upper leg and lower back," Hannah said. "There’s a medical kit in the locker room, it's probably got some medi-gel in there."
"No!" Jane objected sharply. "No medi-gel."
"No?" Hannah questioned with raised brows. Jane shook her head.
"It's just some sprained and pulled muscles, Mom," Jane stated firmly. "I can't go running to medi-gel for every minor injury. I need to grow fitter, stronger and tougher, and medi-gel won't do that if I use it for every scratch, scrape, bump and sprain. We fix this and let it heal the traditional way."
"Ever the stubborn one," Hannah said, shaking her head but with a smile. "Let's go then. Need a hand up, or are you too tough for that?"
"That would be appreciated," Jane said. "Just so long as you don't carry me in. I still need to have some dignity."
Hannah tousled her daughter's hair with a laugh, and then slowly helped her to her feet. Using her mother to support herself, Jane was slowly led from the gym to the female locker rooms. Hannah helped her daughter take a seat on one of the benches. While Hannah rifled through the first aid kit just inside the doorway, Jane winced and rubbed at her sore leg, then moved her neck and arms around a little to make sure there were no other injuries she hadn't noticed yet. Aside from a big bruise on the back of her right shoulder, a smaller one on the same forearm and a slightly sore spot on her right knee, the rest of the pain was pretty much all concentrated in the same area.
Hannah placed the first-aid kit down, then got Jane to sit there and try and move her left leg, telling her when it hurt and where. Hannah nodded and confirmed Jane's reports each time, then asked her daughter to lie down face-first on a soft, thin gym mat at the back of the room. Jane felt her mother press down on the left side of her lower back, and after a couple of minutes of this her mother asked her to turn over and sit up. Gathering the medical kit from the bench where Jane originally sat to cart it to where she now sat, Hannah gave Jane her diagnosis.
"It definitely seems you've pulled some muscles rather nastily, so I think we'll just do a few stretching exercises to help you out, then you'd better see the doctor. There's also something in her that you can rub into your leg that might relieve some of the pain. Unless it's too close to medi-gel for you."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Jane said.
"Good," Hannah nodded. "For starters then, lie down on your back flat."
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"Now, I'm going to carefully raise your left up, and you bend your knee as I do. I'm then going to put pressure on the leg, okay?"
"No problem," Jane nodded. "Go ahead."
Hannah nodded back silently, and then did what she told her daughter she would. Jane winced a bit at the motion, but it wasn't too bad, especially as it was done gradually. It hurt all right, but the way her muscles stretched and the manner of the pain let Jane know that it was having a positive effect.
"How's that? Not too bad?" Hannah asked, now resting most of her torso down upon Jane's left leg. Jane nodded up at her mother, whose head was only about a foot above hers, though hovering over her chest rather than her face.
"Good," Hannah smiled. "I'll let the leg down now for a few seconds, and then we'll bring it up again, and repeat the process a few times."
The first couple of times they repeated the process neither Shepard said anything not to do with the stretching exercise. On the third time back up, Hannah let out a laugh as she gazed down at Jane and spoke more casually. "Sorry about that, honey. I shouldn't have acted so casual about it."
"So it's true?" Jane asked. "You're not just messing with me or trying to make me feel better because I got hurt?"
"Oh, it's true alright," Hannah said. "I've been bisexual since before your age. Not exactly sure why, and I haven't exactly been shouting about it across the treetops or anything. In fact, you're now one of only a small handful of people that know."
"Dad knows then?"
"He knows, honey," Hannah said. "Not that it's mattered since we got together and you were born. I still appreciate the female form though. I may be married to your father, but that hasn't changed how I feel. It doesn't mean I'm going to cheat on him or anything, but I'm still human. The important thing is controlling yourself, like with anything."
"Is that some kind of dig at me?" Shepard joked. Hannah laughed.
"It wasn't intended that way, but it is now," the elder Shepard said with a wink. "Okay, that's enough of that for now. We'll see if some of this stuff helps before it starts swelling-up."
Jane nodded and Hannah released the pressure on her leg, letting her lower it. Fishing a small oval container from the first aid kit, she opened the lid and gave her daughter more instructions.
"You'll have to lower those pants, honey. I have to rub this into the skin."
Jane didn't think twice, since this was her mother, and she carefully pulled her track pants down her legs. It wasn't easy with a jolt of pain tearing down her thigh, so Hannah helped her until they were below her knees.
"That's far enough," Hannah said. "Open your legs a bit now, honey. Where's the pain worst?"
"Here," Jane indicated.
Hannah scooped out a gob of some fairly dull looking creamy paste and applied it to Jane's upper leg, just above the knee where the pain reached the lowest. The stuff itself was cold upon contact, but as her mother began running it in it began to feel warmer. Jane looked up at her mother as she leaned down over her, applying and rubbing all the while.
"So," Hannah started. "Now that I know.... is there really still nobody special in my little girl's life?"
"That's still the truth," Jane said, almost regretfully it sounded. "It's not like I'm not focused on other things though."
"Yet at the same time, you know you like other girls," Hannah said, putting Jane on the spot.
"I know I find girls attractive, but.... I haven't found anybody that's, well...."
"Special?" Hannah finished.
"Yeah, I guess that's right," Jane said. "Still.... what does another woman look for in a woman?"
"You're asking me?" Hannah said.
"Well, you've told me you like women too now. What do you look for in a girl?"
"Honey, different women look for different things in a woman, just like they do if they're interested in men. There's no single answer. You yourself will like certain kinds of women for different reasons than somebody else will."
"I guess," Jane said with a sigh. "I just sometimes wonder if you're right about what you said earlier."
"Oh? How's that?"
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Hannah laughed, still rubbing the cream into Jane's thigh as she did. When she stopped, she leaned in close to Jane and looked down at her daughter with one of the most loving and caring expressions Jane had seen.
"Honey.... you are anything but mannish. You are beautiful and gorgeous, and you have a wonderful personality and a very attractive figure. You are strong, but you have in no way lost your femininity."
Jane felt her mother's free hand gently stroke her cheek, and as she gazed up at her she felt a strange sensation in her stomach. She always knew her mother was beautiful, and at the age of 34 Hannah Shepard was in her prime, looking closer to 28 thanks to her lifestyle and career. But as she gazed down at Jane with that loving, half-lidded look of warmth, with locks of brown hair clinging to her forehead and her skin glistening with beads of sweat all over, it was suddenly quite different for Jane. She was suddenly aware of her mother's lustrous lips, the way her mother's tank top clung to her body and the fact she was wearing small athletic shorts that revealed almost all of her perfectly sculpted legs. Jane noticed the way her mother's tank top plunged down at the front into a soft valley, and the swell of the mounds that it led to, peaked off with two distinct imprints pressed against their sweat-soaked covering. Time had seemed to slow, and Jane noticed the incredible softness of her mother's palm against her cheek, the weird sensation in her stomach that seemed to rise and fall between fear and want somehow, and most of all how closer her mother's hand now was to her most tender, sensitive area. Jane felt her heart begin to beat, and her face felt hot, and what her mother did next didn't help matters.
Hannah lent down slowly towards Jane, and placed a gentle peck on her daughter's lips. It was no different from any other kiss that she'd been given before, but while it only lasted a split second, for some reason the sensation seemed to linger there for longer. Her mother pulled back away slowly, and for a moment Jane thought her own beating heart was going to drown out her mother's words.
"You're perfect, Honey," Hannah said. "If I was half my age and I wasn't your mother, I'd jump on you in a heartbeat."
Jane's mind was a fog after that, which is why she replied with what she did. "If you did, I think I'd let you."
At first Hannah smiled at the comment, clearly taking it as just a joke on her daughter's part, but as she looked at her daughter's face she noticed the reddened cheeks and hazy eyes that seemed to stare straight through her. It clicked that Jane had said it with rather heavy breathing, and how much her daughter's chest was rising and falling. Hannah looked into her daughter's eyes with a puzzled expression, and her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Suddenly aware of her hand still rubbing her daughter's thigh, she gazed down to notice the tips of her fingers less than an inch now from Jane's sex. She stopped the motions, and then slowly took her hand away, leaning back up to kneel at Jane's feet.
"Well, I.... I think that's enough for now," Hannah said, clearly flustered. "I think we'll leave your care in the hands of a doctor now. You'd better pull your pants back up and I'll help you to the med-bay."
"Mom, wait," Jane said as she pulled herself up without Hannah's help. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Jane. I understand," Hannah responded.
"No, it's not okay," Jane huffed. "I didn't mean to say that to you, I was just.... I just got caught up in the talk, and then what you said, and.... Like you said before, at my age my hormones run wild, and with you rubbing my thigh like that and all the...."
"Honey!" Hannah interrupted, and she smiled at her daughter and stroked some matted red locks of hair away from her eyes. "It's okay. Like I said, I understand. I was a teenager too once."
Hannah opened her arms. "Come on," she said, and Jane hugged her mother back. "Let's just get you to the doctor, and we'll forget about it all."
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SSV Orizaba
Jane had joined her mother aboard the Orizaba just as promised, taking a tour around the ship and meeting the senior officers, before joining her mother for lunch in the mess hall. Jane was glad in some ways that they were eating in a public area with Alliance personnel walking back and forth around them or sitting at other tables nearby. She knew her mother wasn't going to say anything to appropriate while they were out in the open like that. The mealtime conversation was actually mostly about Hannah, with Jane wanting to know more about what her mother had been up to over the past few years, particularly during the two-year gap where Jane had essentially been dead.
Jane was proud that her mother was a Captain now, and even understood why she'd turned down the offer to be an Admiral. Jane too wondered whether a desk job would ever suit her quite often, but every time the thought crossed her mind it was eventually dismissed. She and her mother were peas of the same pod; they had to be out there making a difference directly, not pushing papers and telling others to do the dirty work. Eventually, well after they'd finished the last of their food, the Orizaba's XO came over the comms with a message for Hannah: it was only half an hour until their scheduled departure.
"Sorry, honey. Duty calls," Hannah said with a pout.
"I understand," Jane said. "I'd probably best be heading off myself."
"Before you go, honey," Hannah said, reaching over the table to take Jane's hands in hers. "I just want to tell you something."
Jane looked over at her mother, and saw the intensity and seriousness of her gaze. It dawned on her that they were basically alone, with the nearest other person a kitchen hand clattering in the kitchen a fair distance away. "What is it, Mom?" Jane asked.
"If things don't work out for you in the future, whether it's at the trial, this whole Reaper thing, or.... other things," Hannah said, and Jane was pretty sure that last, unspecific thing was referring to her relationship with a certain blue-skinned person. "I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you."
"As a mother?" Jane asked.
"As whatever you want me to be," Hannah said, squeezing Jane's hand. "I don't want to pressure you, and I understand that it's probably for the best to keep things how they are. But.... I love you. I always will. And if you need me at all, I'll be here."
Jane didn't say anything, instead just trying to read her mother's face. Hannah blinked away some tears and let go of her daughter's hand, then stood up and smoothed her uniform.
"I should be on the bridge, honey," Hannah said, and she came around the table and opened her arms. Jane hugged her mother, and Hannah sighed contentedly at her shoulder. "I'm glad we finally caught up again. I missed you."
"Me too, Mom," Jane said.
"Just remember to stay in touch," Hannah said as they parted, prodding Jane just below her throat. "If I can ever help you with this Reaper thing, I'll do what I can."
Hannah saluted, and Jane returned the gesture. With a smile and a nod, Hannah turned and left, heading towards the main elevator. Just before disappearing from sight, she stopped and turned back to her daughter, saying one last thing.
"Take note of what day it is today, honey," Hannah noted with a bittersweet smile. "Perhaps it's fate we met today."
Jane's brow furrowed briefly, and then it hit her what her mother had meant. She replied, more to herself than her mother, and it came out as a whisper nobody else caught. "Valentine's Day," she breathed.
Jane returned to her own ship straight away, and the Normandy left The Citadel less than an hour later. It had been a long day for Jane, and what had been a lunch for her and her mother was closer to a late evening meal on Jane's timeline. Jane retired for a night's sleep, but sleep didn't come easily. Her mind kept drifting back to what her mother had said, then to her future, and finally back to the past. Events of her first hints of attraction to her mother had flooded back to her before the meal, but now more memories returned. If those earlier memories had been the moment when the line was set, these would be the memories when the line was crossed.
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Shepard Family Home, Earth
It was soon to be a big day for Jane. Come midnight she would be 18 years old, and at sunrise that following day, she'd be enlisted in the Alliance military. That's why Jane Shepard had been home for the last couple of days, on Earth. Although if she had to be honest, to her it wasn't really home at all. With her parents going from ship to ship and station to station, and her in much the same predicament, the Shepard residence on Earth was used so infrequently it was more like a vacation house than a real home. Every year the three of them had to have spent only a month there at the most, and most of the time that was squandered largely around Christmas and New Years as a big three-week lump, and then perhaps a few days scattered throughout the year now and then. The Shepard family were nomads, and career military, and as such even a transfer to new Alliance cruiser felt more familiar and homey than this place.
But this was a special occasion, and there was a certain special something about the Shepard home. There had been lots of good memories within those walls, a lot of laughs and a lot of times when they could just be a family and forget about military doctrine and rules. Home may not have truly been where the heart was, but it was at least safe and stable, and allowed them all to simply relax. That said, they were here right now largely because of all that military nonsense, with the youngest member of the family finally joining her parents in its ranks. Jane was in a great mood, as was Hannah. The two had spent the day making and icing Jane's cake, blowing up balloons and generally goofing off, and for a moment Jane felt like a kid again. But there was still one member missing from the party, and late that afternoon Hannah got a call that would come close to ruining a good day.
"You're joking! God damn it, you're her father!"
Watching a vid in the living room, Jane heard her mother yelling from the next room. Judging from those words, she had already pretty much figured out what the story was. She waited quietly for her mother to finish and appear in the doorway before she spoke.
"He's not coming, is he," Jane said. It wasn't a question.
"No, honey, he's not," Hannah sighed. "Damn it! I should have known this would happen."
"He's got a job to do, Mom. He's out there fighting for Earth."
"Don't defend him, honey. Surely he can take just two days off for his daughter's special day," Hannah grumbled. "He applied for the leave, it was granted. There's no excuse. I got the time off and I'm here, and we're both in the same boat."
"It's okay, Mom," Jane said. "It's not that big of a deal. I understand."
"It's not okay, Jane!" Hannah barked. "And you don't understand!"
Jane flinched at her mother's outburst, casting her head downwards. "Okay," she whispered.
Hannah's heart broke, and she strode across to her daughter. "Oh, honey.... I'm sorry," Hannah said, scooping Jane up in her arms. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that.... he's.... he's never here, honey. He always promises he will be, but he's not."
"I'm sorry too, Mom," Jane said, returning the hug as much as she could. "I forgot this doesn't just affect me."
"It's okay, honey," Hannah said. "It's not your fault." She pulled away and stroked her daughter's hair. "Tell you what, how about we just go ahead and have the best damn birthday party for you without him anyway. That way it's his own damn fault for missing out. We'll have stories that'll make him wish he'd been here and never miss another important event like this again."
"Sounds good, Mom," Jane beamed back. "We'll have a real girl's night, just the two of us."
"Now you're talking," Hannah said. "Now let's finally cut that cake that's been taunting us the last couple of hours."
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"Sure," she heard her mother eventually reply. "It's not locked."
The door beeped and whisked aside, and Jane tiptoed in. Her mother was lying on her back in her bed, initially staring at the ceiling, but as Jane approached she turned her head and smiled, trying to sniff and blink away whatever had upset her. Jane was only wearing a loose tank top and her panties, so she rubbed her arms as she stood there. Had her father been home she probably would have put on a dressing gown before leaving her room in the first place, but she knew it was just her and her mother, so her lack of covering wasn't an issue.
"Is something wrong, honey?" Hannah asked. "Couldn't sleep or something?"
"I was actually going to ask you the same thing," Jane said straightforwardly. "I heard you crying."
"Oh, it's nothing, honey. Don't worry yourself about it."
"It's not nothing, Mom," Jane said stubbornly. "If it was nothing, you wouldn't be doing it."
"Even so, I don't want to bother you with it, Jane," Hannah said with a sigh.
"Too late. I'm already bothered. So tell me."
Jane sat on the edge of her mother's bed and took one of her mother's hands in her own. Hannah looked at her daughter, and she couldn't say no to those eyes. Even if she had, she knew Jane wouldn't let her. Hannah sighed heavily.
"It's just.... your father, Jane. He's never here. He's too married to the Alliance and not enough to me."
"That's the career you both chose, Mom," Jane said straightforwardly. "You had to know it would be like this."
"I know, but.... that's not quite what I meant," Hannah said. "I mean, he's not here for me. He's not...."
Hannah's sentence evaporated, and she seemed to struggle with words. Eventually she gave up.
"Damn it! I used to be able to avoid this by telling you that I'll tell you these things when you're older, but I can't do that now. You'll be eighteen soon. You ARE older."
Jane looked puzzle for a moment, then her eyes bugged out for a split second, and her brow twisted.
"Are you saying that, him not being here, that.... you're talking about...."
"Yes, honey," Hannah said, saving her daughter from embarrassment. "I'm saying that I'm lonely. And your father isn't here to.... ease that loneliness." She sighed. "He's not even here sleeping beside me in bed, let alone anything else. I'm sick of lying here alone."
It was deathly quiet for a moment between them, with Hannah just staring up at the ceiling. After a while, without a word, Jane pulled back the covers of her mother's bed, then crawled in beside her. Hannah just watched silently, her eyebrows raised, until Jane pulled the covers back over both of them and snuggled up to her mother. Jane smiled widely at Hannah. "That better, Mom?" she asked.
"Oh, honey," Hannah said, kissing Jane's brow. "Of course it is. Thank you."
"Any time, Mom," Jane said, nestling her forehead into the nape of her mother's neck.
"I don't know," Hannah said jokingly. "You're starting to get a bit old for this now."
"I'm never to old to love my Mom," Jane answered.
"Glad to hear," Hannah sighed.
"Besides, I was getting cold sitting there in my underwear," Jane added.
Hannah laughed, kissing the top of her daughter's head. Jane wrapped her arms around her mother's body, her fingers playing with the silky material of the chemise her mother wore to bed. For what seemed like eons they just lay there in each other's arms, basking in the moment and each other's warmth.
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"Are you sure you want to hear it?" Hannah replied with a deep sigh. "I don't want to warp my poor daughter's mind."
"Just be honest about it, Mom," Jane said. "No need to go into intimate details, just.... tell me why you're frustrated."
"I'm not sure you'd like to hear the honest truth, honey," Hannah said. "You might hate me for it."
"I'd never hate you, Mom," Jane said. "No matter what you said."
Hannah stared into her daughter's honest eyes and then hugged her tighter. "Oh, my poor Jane. I hope you don't eat those words."
"You can do it, Mom. Just let it out."
"Okay," Hannah said, and she inhaled and exhaled loudly. "Okay, here it is. Simply put, your father doesn't really satisfy me. He's never here, and even when he is, he just.... isn't what I'm after."
"Are you saying you don't love dad?" Jane asked.
"No, honey. I do love him. But, not in the way you may of thought or hoped. He's very special to me, but...."
Hannah searched for the next words, but couldn't think of anything that was right. She looked to Jane who just had wide eyes looking like they'd brim with tears any moment if she didn't say the right thing, so she sighed and turned over on one shoulder to face her daughter.
"I think the best, most honest way of putting it is that I love your father, but I'm not IN love with him. Do you understand, honey?"
"I.... I think so," Jane said. "Is this something new or.... or did you always feel like that."
"Honestly, I think I always did," Hannah admitted. "If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't have married him."
"Because I was an accident?" Jane said, her eyes downcast.
"Oh no! No, honey!" Hannah said, kissing Jane on the forehead. "You weren't an accident, you were a miracle. I never, ever regret you coming into our lives."
Hannah took Jane's chin, forcing her to look her in the eyes. "Never doubt that, honey. You are the most special thing that's ever happened to me, and I love you more than anything. Never. Doubt. That."
"Then why?" Jane asked. "Why don't you truly love Dad?"
"Because he's...." Hannah started, and again searched for a satisfactory answer for her daughter. "Because he's...." Still nothing, and she gave up and sighed. "Because he's a he, Jane. Because your father is a man."
Jane's brow twisted and she looked at her mother sideways. Hannah shook her head, then stroked her daughter's hair lovingly.
"I'm like you, honey. I lied to you when I told you I liked men as well.... when I said I was bisexual. I'm not. I just like girls. And your father simply can't cut it in that department. That's the honest truth."
"I'm sorry, Mom," Jane said. "I didn't know."
"You're apologizing to me?" Hannah said with puzzlement. "I'm the one who should be apologizing!"
"No, you're not," Jane said. "You shouldn't apologize for who you are."
"I wish the rest of the world was as insightful and accepting as you are, honey," Hannah said. "Or even just my parents and the Alliance brass would do."
"So Grandpa and Grandma are part of the reason you married dad?"
"They always wanted me to find a husband," Hannah said frankly. "I never dared to try and find out if they would have accepted me finding a wife or even simply a girlfriend. They just went on and on far too much about traditional family values and grandchildren and the like, it just never seemed likely, so I kept it from them. Still have."
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"It's okay, honey," Hannah said, stroking Jane's hair. "It's not your problem to fix. I just have to face the facts: I'm stuck like this. Sacrifices must be made if I'm to be an Alliance soldier, and one of them is being lonely and being married to my career. It's as simple as that. Don't worry, it's not as bad as I make it out to be. I'm usually fine, it's only times like this when I'm off-duty and not busy that it bothers me. I'm only lonely when I'm alone."
"You might find somebody someday, Mom," Jane tried to assure. "There has to be somebody out there who you can trust and love, and who will trust and love you back."
"It's a nice thought, honey," Hannah said, turning back over to stare at the ceiling. "But a futile one. The closest person I have to that is you, and that's as close as I'm going to get."
"I hope you're wrong, Mom," Jane said, nuzzling into the nape of her mother's neck. "But if it is, I love you, and I'm always here for you."
A smile came to Hannah's lips and she laughed, turning back to face her daughter. "Oh, of course you are honey. I know you are. But you're my daughter, and...."
Hannah's voice seemed to vanish, her smile along with it. Jane wasn't sure what the expression was the replaced it. Her mother began to look a little confused, or as if something had just dawned on her. She stroked Jane's cheek, mouth opening as if about to say something, but it seems she was still finding the words. The smile returned and she stroked some locks of hair away from Jane's face.
"And you're so loving and beautiful," Hannah said, as if ending the sentence she'd abandoned before.
Jane smiled back at her mother, and Hannah's own smile faltered, replaced by that same look she'd just had before. Her pupils moved around, like she was taking in every inch of her daughter's face, and Jane's smile too left her to be substituted with one of curiosity. Hannah's gentle stroking of her cheek became a single finger tracing Jane's jaw line before it curved around and rested on her lower lip.
"Honey, I think...." Hannah began, and she abandoned that and cleared her throat. "Honey, remember back when you.... Remember that day when we both told each other about how we liked women? When you hurt yourself in the gym?"
"Yes," Jane responded after a slight delay where she was trying to figure out where this was going. She suddenly noticed how large and wide her mother's eyes were, and how there seemed to be fear in them for some reason. Jane's answer made Hannah look down smile for a moment, then her mother took a deep breath and looked back at her with an intensely deep gaze. Hannah's next question to her seemed to almost be forced out, her voice breaking a little as she spoke.
"Do you.... Do you remember what I said to you, when.... When you were doubting your ability to draw the interest of a woman?"
"I think so," Jane said, feeling a weird yet familiar sensation in her stomach. "Something about me being beautiful and attractive, and that I was still feminine?"
"Yes. And what did I say after that?" Hannah said, her gaze seeming deeper than before. In fact, Jane had never been stared at so intensely before.
"Tha.... That if you were half your age and not my mother, you'd be...." Jane's throat felt dry, so she swallowed. "You would be on me in a heartbeat."
"That's right, honey," Hannah said, blinking swiftly. Jane noticed there seemed to be tears in her mother's eyes, and then Hannah averted them down. "I just.... I just wanted you to know that, I.... I meant it."
There was a pause and she looked up again, streams glistening down her cheeks and that intense gaze returning. "I still do," she added.
Jane couldn't think of how to respond, just lying there looking back at her mother with confusion. The sensation in her stomach seemed to grow, and she recognized it fully now. It was the same feeling she'd had when her mother was leaning down over her during the very moments they were just discussing. Jane felt her mother's finger upon her bottom lip again as Hannah began to trace an outline around her daughter's mouth while her eyes seemed to trace her face.
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"That.... That I would.... let.... you," Jane said, almost a whisper.
Hannah smiled and nodded softly, a blush coming to her cheeks. She removed her finger from Jane's lips and shifted slightly in the bed until her face was about an inch closer to Jane's. As her mother spoke, Jane could feel the warmth of her mother's breath gently drift against her lips and chin.
"And, did you.... mean it?" Hannah queried.
Before Jane could even take in her mother's question, she felt a sudden warmth on her thigh, causing her to gasp slightly. It was her mother's fingers, which gently began to rub her in a callback to that very event, right in the same place they had been that fateful day. Jane looked into her mother's eyes, which were now slightly heavy-lidded and hazy. Hannah's lips were parted a little, and Jane could feel shorter, sharper breaths blowing against her own. The younger Shepard didn't respond verbally, instead just nodding her head.
"Good," Hannah said, sniffing and smiling as a fresh stream of liquid slid down one cheek. "Even now?"
Jane nodded again, her own eyes beginning to tear up. A short laugh sounded from Hannah, who removed her hand from Jane's thigh to stoke her cheek again.
"You make me so happy, honey," Hannah said lovingly, looking deeply into Jane's eyes. "I'm so proud of you, and I love you. I just don't want to hurt you or betray your trust."
"You could never do that, Mom," Jane croaked, reaching up and stroking her mother's upper arm gently. "I'll always trust you and love you."
"I'm relieved to hear that, Honey," Hannah said. "I want you to trust me. I want you to love me. I want you to...."
Hannah's voice vanished and she studied her daughter's face again for a moment, still stroking her cheek. Again the strokes transformed to one index finger tracing down to her daughter's lips, and her loving gaze became more intense until she seemed to stare straight into Jane's soul. "God forgive me, Jane.... I simply want you," Hannah finished.
To both of them it seemed like an eternity of just staring at each other after those words, like the whole universe was on pause for a while. Jane was the one to break the silence.
"Mom, I...."
"Hush," Hannah said, pressing a finger to her daughter's lips. "Don't speak. Just...."
Time seemed to stop again for a while, until the finger gradually left Jane's lips. Hannah began to slowly lean towards her daughter, and Jane closed her eyes and just parted her lips, letting them just go limp for a while. She felt the warmth of another set of lips make contact with her own, and press gently against them. There was just one small peck to start, no different than any other kiss her mother had given her. Two more followed much the same. The next lasted a little longer, and Jane heard and felt her mother shift beside her afterwards, then felt familiar fingers stroke her cheek.
The kiss after this was something special though, as Jane immediately felt a more intense pressure against her lips, and felt another moist tongue slide past them to make contact with her own. Jane felt the need to no longer keep her mouth limp any further, compelled to respond with as much as she was being given. Jane had never been kissed like this before, and the sensation was incredible to her. Her returned efforts were almost an instinct, and they seemed to be working, with no sense that she was being clumsy or doing a bad job of it. Somehow it all seemed natural.
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"Honey, you're trembling," Hannah said with concern, stroking Jane's cheek. "Have I.... Have I made you feel uncomfortable? Do you not...."
Regret seemed to strike Hannah's features as she looked for the next words, but Jane reacted up and cupped her mother's chin, causing the older woman to glance into her eyes curiously. Jane tried to give her mother a reassuring smile.
"It's not that, Mom," Jane soothed. "It's.... a mix of things. Part of me is nervous, because we're.... well.... mother and daughter."
Hannah seemed to wince at that, closing her eyes and half turning away. Jane continued, not letting her hand leave her mother's chin, as the thumb gently stroked Hannah's cheek. "But, I'm also shaking because.... I want.... this, Mom. As strange as that admission may sound. It's as much anticipation and desire as anything else."
Hannah opened her eyes again, and saw Jane's wide, honest ones gleaming back at her. She could see the sincerity and love in them.
"I love you, Mom," Jane said. "More than anything and anyone. More than society would say I should. And I want you to love me back, in the same way." Jane paused, taking in a deep breath. "I want you to love me and.... make love to me."
For a while Hannah simply stared down at her daughter, her eyes a little bigger and her mouth slightly open in what seemed like mild disbelief. Then she smiled, taking Jane's wrist and moving her daughter's hand from her chin to the side of her face. She stroked her cheek against Jane's fingers, then turned her head and softly kissed the palm and wrist. Her mother again nestling her hand into her cheek, Jane could not remember seeing Hannah's expression look as calm and happy as this before.
"I love you so much, Jane," Hannah cooed down at her daughter, followed by a peck on her wrist again. "God help me, I love you more than I should."
Hannah leaned down and pressed her lips against Jane's gently, giving her a kiss that was somehow both very soft and yet somehow deep. As their lips parted, Jane let out a contented sigh and leaned her head back into the pillow. She closed her eyes and smiled, feeling a warm, wet pressure briefly upon her chin accompanied by the faint sound of a moist smack. She heard the same sound and felt the same sensation upon her throat next, and then a few moments later upon her collarbone. At the same time as she felt a second kiss at her lower throat, Jane also felt a palm make contact with the side of her body, just below her armpit, and slowly begin running down the curve of her back towards her hip. Another soft peck slurped at the center of her upper chest, while the palm flicked across the band of her panties like they were a small speed bump, meeting the bare skin of her upper thigh. Jane sighed again, absent-mindedly both moving one of her own hands down to stroke through her mother's hair just as the next kiss was planted just above the neckline of her tank top, and rising her left knee up as Hannah's hand stroked along the thigh above it, then circled back up to her hip again.
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Jane opened her eyes and looked up at her mother, who smiled back at her sweetly. "What can I say, Mom," Jane said. "I got it from you."
"Flattery will get you everywhere," Hannah said smoothly, leaning down again to capture her daughter's lips with her mouth.
The way she said "everywhere" made Jane's heart begin to beat faster, and the way Hannah's tongue slid into her mouth quickened it even more. As their mouths and tongues slurped at each other, Jane felt Hannah's fingers stroke her left cheek, then glide down her neck to her shoulder. Hannah's fingers hooked into the left shoulder strap of Jane's tank top and Jane only barely noticed it being slipped down to her upper arm. Hannah's lips retreated from Jane's, and the younger Shepard looked down as her mother planted a kiss down the center of her throat and upper chest, then paused to regard the loosened strap. Jane's eyebrows raised as Hannah's fingertips gently took the upper hem of her top where the collar met the strap, then slowly eased it down until the gentle swell of Jane's left breast began to squeeze itself out of the garment. It didn't take much for the perky bosom to pop itself free, shaking for a brief moment before it sat still, sticking upwards like a mountain with a dark pink cap at the peak.
Jane looked at the exposed breast, then to her mother's face. Hannah was looking at it in a manner somewhere between looking at an adorable puppy and at a delicious dessert. Hannah's first contact with it involved her running her finger around the edge of it a couple of times in a circular motion, followed by her cupping it gently and seeming to test its weight and firmness with a slight squeeze and lift. She looked into her daughter's eyes as she did, letting out a small laugh when she noticed Jane gasp a little at the contact. Hannah pursed her lips, then placed her index finger at the top of Jane's chest, where she slowly ran it down it, and then up the curve of the exposed boob. Like a rollercoaster making the summit of an uphill track, she slowed the ascent as her finger approached the top, paused, then flicked Jane nipple as she ran it down the underside, laughing again as Jane gasped and twitched a little at that moment.
Hannah's next move was to repeat this, but not with her finger. She leaned down to place a kiss on Jane's upper chest, then stuck out her tongue, running it slowly down the path her finger had taken before. Jane felt the pleasant warmth where her mother's tongue was, following by the cooling sensation in its wake as the air touched the moist, saliva-coated trail upon her skin. Just as Hannah's tongue was about to make it to the summit, it detoured around, circling the pink peak twice before stopping just below it. Hannah looked her daughter in the eyes, and Jane looked back. Hannah wanted to know if her daughter really wanted this, and the look in Jane's eyes said yes. Jane thought she could make out the slightest hint of a smile before her mother gracefully flicked her tongue up and across her nipple, sending a pleasant tingle through it. Hannah did this about a dozen more times, and Jane felt the sensation begin to grow and other parts of her body to begin reacting to the stimulation too. Hannah's final flick of Jane's nipple was immediately followed up with her sucking onto the teat, whereby she gently nibbled, suckled and caressed it with her tongue.
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