A Winter's Tale Ch. 01

She stripped down and stepped into the shower to turn the water on quickly avoiding the cold water and looked around for shampoo. There was none so she walked back naked to get it from her suitcase.

"You have a lovely body," Spencer said as she watched Ione bend over and sticking out her bottom.

"Thanks," Ione said and smiled. "I am going to take a shower. If you're quick we can share the warm water or you'll need to go downstairs. The boiler up here isn't that big."

"Shower sounds good," Spencer said and was out of her long shirt and tiny panties within seconds. She was even inside the bathroom before Ione actually walked into the shower.

Ione stepped into the shower and held open the curtain to let Spencer get in as well.

Even though it was all looked very sensual and romantic, neither Spencer nor Ione felt uncomfortable or strange. The warm water was needed to wipe away the sleep and the bad memory for Spencer.

"There's a tray with sandwiches on your dresser, Ione. I saved some for you," a woman said from outside the bathroom.

"Thanks mum," Ione said rolling her eyes. Her mother had always been prone to walk in on her most private moments. Masturbating in her bedroom had been one when she was fourteen, another shaving her pussy in the bathroom. Both occasions had been followed by long talks with her mother, that made her feel less insecure and more open to her mother.

"Thanks, Mrs Winter," Spencer said which caused Ione to giggle.

"You're welcome Spencer. See you soon."

"That was stupid," Spencer said after a long stare at Ione trying hard to stop laughing.

"No... No..." Ione heaved while her giggles died down. "It is ok. Even if I wanted to I couldn't convince my family that we're just friends, besides Paddy."

"Err..." Spencer started as her hands soaped Ione's hair and massaged the strands lost in thought.

"What?" Ione asked.

"I'm going to ask you if you're willing to give us a try."

"Are you serious?" Ione said and turned to face Spencer, her lips were only an inch away from Spencer's now.

"Yes. I am gay too. That was what I wanted to talk about today. My dad threw me out because I am gay. He and my grandfather and my sister really hate me because of that."

"Oh no," Ione said and hugged Spencer hard and long.

"There is another thing. I am not really out of the closet. My family knows and my assistant but no one else besides you and probably by now the rest of your family. Which is half of North Dakota?"

"Approximately, yes."

"Ok then. Great. So... I really like you," Spencer continued as her lips moved closer to Ione's, "I really, really like you."

"When I woke up this morning and you were spooning me I wanted to turn around and kiss you. I am not impulsive. Never been before."

The kiss that followed was sweet and long.

"These are great," Spencer said as she wolfed down a sandwich.

"Yeah, mum really does a good job. She knows what I like and can eat. I am allergic to milk and meat so there isn't a lot I can eat out of the box."

"Wow that's harsh," Spencer said looking at her girlfriend. She loved how it sounded in her mind. "We still need to talk though."

"We do?" Ione asked confused. "I thought that kissing took care of most of that?"

"That part we 'talked' about but there is another thing you need to know about me."

"You're actually an axe murderess?" Ione asked while she moistened her hands.

"Hmm, I can't remember... I was a vampire once who killed a lot of stupid students. Oh, and I also shot a drug dealer on television."

"You're not making sense," Ione said confused.

"Here, this is me," Spencer handed Ione her passport and a photograph of playing Kimberly Solaris, a member of the superheroes group The Strange Seven who could shoot beams of raw energy from her hands and was super strong and resilient.

Ione looked at the passport and then at the picture and then stared at her girlfriend.

"You're Spencer Lucas?"

"Yeah, I couldn't use my real name as there is already an actress with the name Spencer Brennan. I had to pick another name so I used my brother's name for my surname."

"And your real name is Spencer Brennan?"

"Yeah, look at my passport, I have yet to official change my name. It will be soon, I don't think I want to be called Brennan ever again."

Ione nodded and handed back the document but kept the photograph. "Can I keep it?"

"You're not one of those strange fans who get off from my photographs?" Spencer half joked.

Ione got up and walked over to the wall filled with a gazillion pictures and started to rearrange them until the photograph had a place and got pinned. "It is my passion, taking photos. People, landscapes, buildings, but mostly people. I actually like to travel after I am done with college but I guess that will always be dream."

"We'll see," Spencer said as she joined Ione and pulled the raven haired girl closer. "Let's get ready, I don't know why but I really like to meet your mother and the rest of your family."

"I don't want to lie to my family," Ione said as she turned to face Spencer.

For a while they shared a haunting look until Spencer broke the silence. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"I do," Ione said almost a whisper. "I want nothing else than that."

"Perhaps a sandwich, you do need to eat," Spencer said matter of fact.

The smile that painted Ione's face almost made Spencer reconsider going downstairs and meet the family.

"There you are," Kathleen said when Ione walked in holding the empty tray, Spencer followed closely with large eyes experiencing the huge kitchen for the first time. It opened up into a large dining area where one could easily fit two dozen people. To Spencer the whole house looked big, it extended deep into the yard behind the house which was visible through the kitchen side door. Snow had claimed most of the yard and the garden beyond, an arch with white ivy sculpted around a mesh fence ran deep and wide.

Hailey was signing with her brother and his girlfriend Geena at the kitchen table. They were cleaning green beans and throwing them into a large bucket filled with water. Deeper into the house sounds of running children and deep male voices discussing the weather leaked into the kitchen.

"Let me get that," Kylie said when she walked into the kitchen from the hall, her hair wet with melting snowflakes. She took the tray from her sister and rushed off to the side kitchen where an industrial sized dishwasher was pounding the floor.

To Spencer this all seemed a dream. A family that wasn't dysfunctional, weren't passive-aggressive, abusive, something that she had never seen. Not when she was growing up between homes of broken up families, there had never been a place that made her associate family with comfort and love.

"Did you two have a good sleep? I know the room can get a bit cold. I already asked Paddy to move the heater to your room."

Spencer could only gape foolishly at Ione's mother who was wearing an apron over her police uniform and holding a toddler in her arms.

"It wasn't too cold," Ione said as she flashed a smile at Spencer who seemed to have lost her voice.

"I am Kathleen and this little one is Brandon."

Spencer shook the offered hand but wasn't prepared for the pull and almost stumbled into Kathleen's arms. "Winters like to hug," the powerful woman said. Spencer instantly knew where Paddy had gotten the red hair and strong physique.

After she was released from the hug and a giggle from Brandon who had pulled her hair with his tiny fist, Spencer felt Ione's arm slip around her waist.

It had been unthinkable to show such affection in her home, deadly even, thinking about it for a moment.

"Come, let me show you around the house and meet the rest of us," Kathleen said, her face an open book of care and love. To Spencer it was almost frightening.

"You already met Hailey right?" Kathleen asked when they walked over to the kitchen table.

"Only in the passing," Spencer managed.

Kathleen nodded and prodded her daughter with her toes. Spencer almost burst out in laughter when she noticed Kathleen without shoes.

Hailey got up as did her brother and Geena.

"This is Hailey, my own little ice queen. She only got back from the Antarctic two month's ago."

Hailey smiled and pulled Spencer into her and kissed her softly. "Nice meeting you."

Sean looked eager to take her place and did so without the prompting of his mother.

"Sean's my precious, he calls me Gollum when I don't sign when I am speaking."

"You shouldn't call your mother Gollum," Spencer signed and spoke, her signing was a little rusty but it made both Sean and Geena laugh loudly like deaf people do, too loud for normal people. Spencer felt happy hearing their laughter.

"Well, that's a surprise," Kathleen said watching Spencer sign. "You'll have no problem making friends in our family now."

Kathleen moved on to Geena who looked happy and giddy at the same time. "Geena is the happiest person I have ever met. She's so good with children it is amazing. She's also the next in line to get married into the Winter family."

"Are you engaged?" Ione signed when she heard the word married.

Geena held up her hand as a response, a cute engagement ring was on her hand. Her brother held up his hand and showed his sister the matching one on his.

Ione rushed over to her brother while Geena hugged Spencer who signed congratulations.

Kylie walked in on the group hug and rolled her eyes. "All that for a ring... Pathetic."

Before Spencer could react Kylie was mercilessly tickled to the ground by Sean and Hailey. "Take that back," Hailey shouted and giggled.

"Let's leave them," Kathleen said as she pulled Spencer along into the dining room where they exited through the far right door and into another hallway that connected the middle of the house to the bedrooms away from the living room and a play room where six kids were playing, laughing and hugging. Most of them had red hair except for one girl who had blonde hair that curled down her face and down her back. She was the oldest in the room.

"These are my grand children," Kathleen said as she pointed out each one and naming them.

"The wayward one with the blonde hair is Sondra and the one with the bow in her hair is her sister Rose. Their brother Alexander is the one in the union jack shirt. They are all Regan and John's kids. You'll meet them when they return from shopping with Paddy."

Spencer waved at the children but they were too busy with playing except the blonde girl who looked to be frozen in mid-stride. Her eyes had turned into saucers and her left hand let go of the doll she was holding. This didn't go unnoticed by Ione. Then Sondra rushed over to Spencer and hugged her for all she was worth.

Ione held up her hands when her mother beamed the unspoken question to her.

"You're my favourite Spye," Sondra said with tears in her eyes. Spencer got to her knees and hugged the girl back. "I am on a mission so don't tell anyone, ok?"

Sondra nodded and zipped up her lips and then threw away the virtual key.

"What is that all about?" Kathleen asked Spencer when Sondra ran away with the biggest smile Kathleen had ever seen on the face of her grandchild.

"Just something between girls," Spencer said mysteriously.

Ione shook her head. "We'll explain later. Better get that over with in one go."

A shrug was all Kathleen needed to get rid of the questions. She trusted Ione more that any of her other children, something Ione had earned through a lot of hardship.

"Ok then, that is Zooey, Brendan's older sister playing with the crayons. She doesn't like to be picked up so be aware of that. Only her father Henry can."

Scanning the room she spotted Perry and William playing computer games in the far end. "Perry, William, drop those controllers and meet your aunt's new friend."

"Do we have to?" Perry asked, he was the youngest of the two brothers who were both dark red and spotted with freckles. Spencer had never seen so many red haired people in one house before.

"Yes," Kathleen said in a voice that couldn't be ignored.

Two sullen kids dropped their controllers and walked over to the three women.

"This is Perry and this is William," Kathleen said with a loving voice. "Boys, this is Spencer Brennan, she's your aunt's friend."

The boys shook hands and looked slightly startled but didn't say much more than 'hello' and 'nice to meet you' before they walked back to their game.

The three plus one carried walked down the hall to get to the living room which was like all rooms in the house, big.

On one of the three large couches Gerald was sitting nipping at a coffee. Across from him on a comfortable chair sat another version of the winter family, a dark red haired man with a serious face and the greenest eyes Spencer had ever seen before.

Next to him, on another couch, a man of mixed blood, partially asian, partially caucasian who looked out of place, almost a bit shy. His eyes darted to Spencer and then to Ione, there was a slight hurt when he saw the raven haired girl but it went away when Gerald got on his feet.

"Come in," Gerald said to Spencer and guided her to the serious man almost afraid that he would hurt the movie star. "This is my son Henry."

"Hello, nice to meet you," Henry said in a deeper voice than his father. "It makes me very happy to see my sister with someone as pretty and accomplished as you."

Spencer nodded too surprised at the casual remark to her other life. She had only ever met another person as down to earth as Henry and that was her assistant Moira. "Nice to meet you too. I hope I can remember all the names later on."

"You'll do just fine," Henry said with kind smile.

Gerald pulled the black haired man close to him as he introduced Sander.

"Sander is Kylie's other half, they're tying the knot in January. He's been waiting on her long enough to make up her mind."

After the introduction Spencer was guided to the seat next to Gerald while she watched Ione holding her brother and whispering to him. His face turned into a slight mess but he held it together.

"I'm going to the office for an hour to finish a report then I'll pick up Tara and Teagan from Selene's birthday party. Anything you need from town?"

Gerald shook his head. "Is there anything you need?" he asked Spencer just to be sure.

Spencer shook her head. There wasn't anything she needed at the moment. She never had been happier in her life.

Spencer took the seat next to her girlfriend after she had hugged Sander who seemed a little less stressed afterwards.

"Don't worry about all the names, Spencer, I even get them wrong at times," Gerald said to reassure the purple haired girl. "It is sometimes hard to keep track of all the family. Take Sander for example, he and Kylie have been together for four, no, five years now and I have seen him only ten times. It is how life goes but I am not getting any younger. How about you? I wish my daughter would still tell me things."

"Me?" Spencer asked uncertain. When Ione was about to intercede Spencer placed her hand on her girlfriend's knee and stopped her before she could speak with a squeeze. "I live in Seattle when I am there. I don't see it much, work keeps me busy more than I would like to. I hardly have a social life. Perhaps I should take a break and do something else for a while."

"What's it you do?" Gerald asked noticing the amused stare of Henry.

"I'm in the movie business," Spencer said vague. "Been it in for a while now."

"You don't look that old," Gerald said.

"I started when I was eight," Spencer said with a smile.

"Eight... Then you're an actress?"

"I am," Spencer said and suddenly Sander started to cough.

"Spencer Lucas!" Sander said after he took a swallow to get rid of his cough.

"That's me," Spencer said with a smile.

"But..." Sander said but then stopped. "I am sorry. I'll behave."

"Good idea," Kylie said as she slipped into his arm and on his knee. "I wouldn't want you to get all tongue tied, that will really not work when we kiss."

Slowly the room filled with children and adults talking and laughing and completely ignoring the fact that Spencer was a famous person. It was as if it wasn't important. Slowly Spencer realised that it wasn't at all. Her arm had found Ione and her hand kept caressing the raven haired girl's arm. She looked around the room. Sean was into a political discussing with Sander and Hailey who was doing the translation. Geena was playing with the children in a corner of the room and Gerald was telling Henry about a new procedure they were doing at the hospital later that week. From that she learned that Henry was a doctor.

"Is Henry divorced?" Spencer asked looking at how he held Zooey in his arms. The red haired girl was holding a small bear in her arms and eating a cookie.

"No, Stacy died while giving birth to Brandon," Ione said slowly, it was still a hard thing to talk about for anyone in the family.

Spencer looked at the man with new eyes and then she locked eyes with Zooey. For a long time the girl nibbling on the cookie stared at the purple hair.

While listening to the conversation between Sondra who had found a spot on Ione's lap her eyes kept flickering to the deep brown eyes of Zooey who never seemed to take her eyes off the purple hair.

With a slow push, Zooey let her father know that she wanted to get off his lap. She slipped down and walked over to Spencer. When she stopped in front of Spencer and pointed at the purple hair Spencer reached out to pick her up.

Henry was the first to act. He tried to rush over to stop Zooey from freaking out but when he saw that the girl didn't cry, didn't struggle and touched the purple hair he felt stupid. Stupid and relieved.

"That is really something," Gerald said looking at the tiny girl on the lap of Spencer next to him. He had tears in his eyes when he brushed the girl's cheek. "She doesn't like to be picked up."

"Oh," Spencer said suddenly remembering the warning and felt shame smacking her head. "I am sorry."

"Only Henry can pick her up," Ione said amazed.

"Purple," Zooey said and snuggled into Spencer's arms while she ate her cookie and played with the purple hair.

An hour later, the kitchen was filled with people while Spencer sat on the couch with Hailey. Ione was catching up with Sean and Geena on the other side of the room. Soft music set the mood in the house. Hailey was telling Spencer all about her time on the Antarctic and how cold it had been when Paddy, his wife Lucy and Regan and John arrived from shopping.

Spencer heard the new voices but didn't get up afraid to wake up the girl in her arms.

"You've met Paddy right?" Hailey asked when she heard her brother's voice telling Sander to get more stuff out of the truck. Cold air came into the living room from too many open outside doors but that didn't last long as many hands made sure the truck was unloaded in record time.

"I met him yes. He's almost like your dad."

Hailey nodded. "He's almost eleven years older and I think of him more like a dad than a brother sometimes. He keeps reminding me that he changed my diapers and picked out my first training bra when I was fourteen."

"Why?" Spencer asked curious.

"Mum's a busy one and dad's only second to that. I was shopping with Paddy to get clothes for Perry and William when I wandered into the bra section. My breast were just starting to get in the way of playing tennis and I had tried to mention it to mum a few times but this house gets really busy sometimes."

Spencer nodded, the image of a house filled with kids of any age wasn't too hard to picture.

"Paddy came to find me and called over a woman in the store to ask her to help me pick out a training bra. He was so nice. He always is."