Love Comes When You Least Expect It Ch. 02

His daughter hadn't heard him -- she had already started bounding down the stairs towards the front door. She threw it open.

Issy was right there, dressed in a stunning blue dress that she had posed in for Maddie in just the previous day, with high heels and her face made up beautifully. Maddie's heart swelled. Behind her were Mr. and Mrs. Stellini -- Mr. Stellini was a grey-haired, middle-aged man in smart clothes not unlike Joe's, and his wife was a stunningly beautiful red-haired woman wearing a lovely black dress.

Letting out excited squeals, Maddie and Issy threw their arms around each other. Although they wanted to hold each other for longer, Maddie knew that they couldn't. So she disengaged, and Issy turned to face her parents.

"Mom, Dad, this is Maddie."

"Frank," the father smiled, reaching out and shaking Maddie's hand.

"And I'm Gina," the mother pushed Maddie's hand aside, and greeted her European style, with a kiss on each cheek. "And I have to say, you look stunning in that dress!"

"Er, thank you," Maddie blushed. "Do you want to come in?"

"Of course!" Frank led the way into the house. He had a walking cane, and hobbled a little with each step, but he moved with a confidence and purpose that Maddie could tell right away that Issy had inherited from him. And, though she didn't voice it out loud, she could see just by looking at Gina Stellini that she had definitely inherited her mother's good looks.

Miriam Reid greeted them at the top of the stairs. Frank once again shook hands and Gina did the cheek kissing. Joe stepped forward and introduced himself. As he did so, Gina sniffed the air.

"Something smells nice. What's cooking?"

"I'm doing a roast beef for dinner. The way my mother normally does it," Joe replied.

"Beef? You're doing beef?" Frank echoed, in a voice that made everyone suddenly get uncomfortable.

"Er, yes," Joe said.

"Did Issy not tell you I'm a vegetarian?"

There was a long, uncomfortable pause, as Miriam and Joe looked at each other in absolute terror. Gina stared at her daughter accusingly, and Maddie herself looked like she would shit a brick. Issy just rolled her eyes in irritation.

Then Mr. Stellini roared with laughter. "Gotcha!" he declared.

"Oh. Ohhhhh!" Joe and Miriam both burst out laughing, both in relief and in amusement. He had sounded so serious that they had truly been hoodwinked.

Gina clapped him on the back.

"For the record, my husband eats meat like a dinosaur on Atkins."

As the laughter continued, Issy visibly rolled her eyes behind everyone's back, and whispered to Maddie "Every fucking dinner party."

She giggled, and earned herself a gentle elbow to the ribs. But what Issy whispered in her ear next took her breath away.

"Oh, by the way, I'm not wearing any underwear."

Before Maddie could react, Issy sauntered forward and made her introductions to Maddie's parents.

"Welcome to our humble abode!" Joe said. "It's only small, but it's home. Do you want a tour?"

"Don't mind if we do!"

Frank and Gina followed as Miriam and Joe led them through the flat. Most of the tour consisted of them explaining their family's ownership of the pub and the history of the building. When it ended, they sat down and Joe went to get drinks, while Miriam immediately started asking the Stellinis about their life in America and why they came here. As they got lost in conversation, Maddie gestured for Issy to follow her. She opened the door to her room, and Issy stepped inside.

"Oh my," she said when she saw it. "This is so beautiful!" Looking at one of the posters, she remarked "You never told me you liked the Hunger Games?"

"Oh yeah. Those were my favourite movies in my early teen years!" Unbeknownst to Issy, Maddie had silently shut the door and locked it. "Did you enjoy them?"

"You bet I did!"

The next thing she knew, Maddie grabbed her from behind, spun her round and pushed her against the wall next to the bed, clapping a hand over her mouth.

"No underwear, huh?" She hissed.

"Mmm mmm," Issy confirmed, looking surprised.

"Well, then I guess you were just asking for this," Maddie used her leg to part Issy's knees, and reached under her dress.

Issy had been right, she wasn't wearing any underwear. Maddie briefly released Issy's mouth, but only to reach under her dress, pull her own panties down, and stuff them into Issy's mouth before covering it again. Using her long fingernails, Maddie began to tickle her between the legs.

Issy's shriek of laughter was muffled by the makeshift gag, and despite her struggles, Maddie held her firmly.

"Nnnmmmm! Stmmmm mmmmmhhhh!" She gabbled, in a muffled voice, laughing hard.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, you're very sensitive down here, aren't you? Sorry about that!" Maddie kept up the tickling.

Issy struggled and struggled, trying to twist her hips away from Maddie's fingers, to clench her pussy, to do whatever she could to get some kind of relief. But it was no good. Maddie was stronger than her, and the effort, as well as the constant laughter, wore her down very quickly. Feeling her body go limp, Maddie shoved her onto the bed, pulled her dress up and pushed her knees apart, exposing her pussy for more tickling.

This went on for a couple more minutes, but eventually, Maddie released her, and let her spit out the panties.

"What did I tell you, yesterday?" Maddie said, smugly. "That I'd get you back for your little trick?"

"Well, one all it is, then!" Issy took Maddie's cheeks and kissed her hard, with tongue. "Shall we go back out and act normal?"

"Yeah."

"No, no, no, no, no! I don't want a 'we'd have to think about it,' or a 'it would depend on the circumstances,' I want a proper answer! Would you, or would you not, consider living in New York for one year? Yes, or no?"

Frank Stellini was getting louder with every sip of wine, and Joe Reid was not exactly staying quiet either.

"Okay, fine. No, I wouldn't EVER want to live in New York!"

"And why not?"

"Because it's big, it's loud, it's called the 'concrete jungle,' and the people are just bloody rude!" Joe roared. "I mean, no offense, of course, but I went there once on holiday, and some bloke nicked me taxi! Right after looking me in the fucking eye, he climbed into the taxi that I'd flagged down, and shot off before I even knew what'd happened!"

"Well, that's because we actually think about ourselves once in a while! You Brits are so damn polite, it's unbelievable! I accidentally stood on someone's foot once, and HE apologised! Like he was sorry for the existence of his foot in the first place!"

Issy and Maddie were both staring into their food, their faces both beetroot red. Their fathers had already consumed more than enough wine for one evening, and had started this very lively debate early on in the meal. To make matters worse, their mothers seemed to be egging them on, adding fuel to the fire and otherwise laughing and sharing a wink every time they made a point.

Unbeknownst to Issy and Maddie, this was partly an act -- from the moment Frank had played his "vegetarian" joke, both Stellini and Reid parents had realised they had a lot in common, namely embarrassing their daughters. So they had convened a secret meeting while Maddie and Issy weren't there, and agreed that they were going to do everything in their power to make the night as uncomfortable for the two lovebirds as possible. Joe had already started teaching Frank and Gina his Geordie slang, Gina had slipped back into stereotypical New York speech, Miriam had told embarrassing stories about Maddie's past, and Frank had done likewise about Issy. Now, Frank and Joe were engaging in a game of one-upmanship to see who could debate as obnoxiously as possible. And so far, it was an even draw.

"Besides, you went to New York? I'm sorry, but I don't believe you."

"Why not? Because you think I'm too poor to go to your fancy little country?"

"No. Because the idea of leaving your pub in someone else's hands for more than a day would kill you."

"Fair enough," Joe conceded. "But I did go to New York! In 2006. We all did. I'll get the photo albums to show you."

"Oh God, please no," Maddie cringed.

Issy seemed eager. "Oh yes, please do! The sight of a little Maddie would be so cute!"

The gathering quickly moved through to the sitting room (Maddie with obvious reluctance), where Joe immediately dug through a shelf until he found the album. Flicking it open, he showed them the first one.

"Look, this is Maddie and I in front of the Empire State," he said. "And this one is us at the top!"

"It's a far better photo than most people take of it," Frank admitted.

"Oh my God! Look at her! She looks like a little angel!" Issy cooed excitedly.

"Brilliant," Maddie muttered. "This is just great."

Ignoring her, they flicked to the next page.

"This one is of Maddie with her mother on a boat on the Hudson."

"Your hair is so nice in that photo," Gina remarked, tapping Miriam affectionately on the shoulder.

"Yeah. I went to one of the stylists there. Cost me quite a bit, but my friend had recommended it," she replied.

"And this..." Joe's words froze in his mouth. Miriam, too, turned completely pale. This was enough to bring confusion to both Stellini parents. But Issy was looking at Maddie, and could see at once that she had practically shut down -- her face had gone blank, and her limbs had fallen to her sides. She knew at once that something was wrong.

"This is, erm..." Joe still couldn't really speak. His and Miriam's eyes were darting towards their daughter, and then to the photo, which was of a little boy who looked virtually identical to the little girl version of Maddie in every way, except for the obvious, boyish look.

"Shaun," Maddie said, in a voice that was almost a whisper. "It's Shaun. My twin brother."

At once, Issy leapt up, and grabbed Maddie by the arm. Without a word, she led her back to her bedroom. The door slammed shut behind them. The Stellinis continued to sit in an awkward silence, while things began to get quite heated with the Reid parents.

"I thought you told me that you'd removed all of the pictures from that one!"

"Well, obviously I didn't get them all, did I!?"

"I'm not fucking surprised. You are the least thorough person I have ever known, Joe! One shufti and you're done. You never fucking double check anything!"

"I'm SORRY!" he snarled. "Fuck it, I guess I'm inadequate then! What the hell are we gonna do about it now!?"

"I... uh, don't really want to get involved in this, um, discussion," Frank offered, uncomfortably. "But maybe my daughter has the situation under control already?"

Joe and Miriam looked at them, as if suddenly remembering that they were there. At once, they seemed to calm down a little.

"We are so, so sorry that you saw all that," Miriam said.

"No, it's fine, it's fine. It's not exactly our first rodeo," Gina said.

"Well, even so, not while we have guests over," said Joe.

"It's just that, and not that we're making excuses or anything," Miriam explained. "But our son, Shaun, is a bit of a difficult subject for the family."

"What happened?" Frank asked.

"He... um... he died," Miriam began. "It was their eighth birthday. We took them..."

She was cut off by the arrival of Issy, who looked dead serious. Her dress had a very visible bloodstain in the chest area.

"What in the world is that?" her mother asked.

"Maddie was crying, and she had a nosebleed," Issy explained. "She's calmed down a little bit. But she's asking if I could stay the night. Will that be all right with you guys?"

"Absolutely," Joe said.

"You want us to go pick up some clothes for you?" Gina asked.

"No thanks," Issy replied. "I'll borrow something off Maddie."

"Well, you'll probably want to get that dress off and into the wash," Miriam said. "Blood's hell to shift."

"I will," Issy said, heading into the kitchen, rooting around in the fridge and taking a couple of Diet Cokes out.

What followed was an awkward couple of minutes as everyone gathered their thoughts together, and while Issy briefly went back to Maddie's room to change, and to bring her dress back for Miriam to quickly throw in the washing machine. Her parents began to gather their things, and set to leave.

At the door, Frank and Gina made their goodbyes to Joe and Miriam.

"Listen," Frank said. "I know that it didn't end quite as we'd hoped, but I just wanted to say that we had a great time. That beef was to die for."

"And your family is amazing. Especially your daughter. We really mean that," Gina concurred.

"Thank you," Joe replied. "That means a lot. And you guys are a real laugh to be with."

"What my husband means," Miriam said quickly, "Is that we hope we can do this again sometime."

"Definitely! How about at our place next time? You did roast beef, we'll return the favour with some pizza, done New York style?"

"You had me at pizza," Joe smiled.

Upstairs, Maddie was beginning to settle down again, as Issy helped her sip at her drink. Issy had made her take her clothes off, and lie naked under the sheets. Then she had taken a scarf from one of the drawers and tied Maddie's hands behind her back. Once she was at least partially bound, she began to feel comfortable again. They were back in their familiar roles, and Issy had become the loving, supportive top she normally liked to play.

"You all right, now?"

"No. But I'm with you. And that's all I care about."

Issy went to make sure that Maddie's door was locked. Then she slipped off the clothes she had borrowed and got into bed naked beside her. Then she took her in her arms and snuggled her close, her hand absent-mindedly beginning to stroke her body.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"Not tonight," Maddie said. "Some other time, though."

"I understand," Issy took Maddie's cheeks in her hands and kissed her, plunging her tongue deep into her mouth.

After initially getting into the kiss, Maddie pulled back and looked deeply and intensely into Issy's eyes.

"Issy?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."