Mike & Karen Ch. 14

It didn't have to be true, of course, but it was good for their ego. Not that Karen cared, because it was already the case that her male peers thought they ran the world, so if they couldn't make her vagina feel like a shooting star, they had no business being inside it.

She finished her job, having cleaned him immaculately. She made appropriate sounds the whole time, and gave his now limp cock a kiss, as if to say 'well done!' and began pulling up his pants and boxers. She was thankful Max was the boxers type, as opposed to tighty-whities, like so many of their associates. Once she had buckled his belt and tucked his pants, she smiled at him and pointed the way to the sinks he was to use to refresh his appearance. She shared a final kiss with Max before shooing him off. Once he was gone, she leaned back against the wall and sighed, looking at the ceiling before allowing herself a good stretch.

"Mmmmmm, now that was a welcome surprise..."

Some minutes later, after she had refreshed herself (and changed her panties), she was mingling and socializing again with the crowds, lighting up the room with her elegance and musical laughter. At various points, she was asked to dance, and obliged like a good hostess. She was waltzing with a member of the Federal Parliament, when someone tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Might I cut in, good sir?"

He smiled genially and stepped aside for Karen's new dance partner, the two of them waltzing around the room gracefully. Karen held the skirt of her dress in one hand as she allowed herself to be led in graceful circles, while the ensemble on the small stage began playing the Skater's Waltz by Waldteufel.

"And where have you been, young lady?" her mother asked, as they danced, a hint of a smirk on the older woman's face.

"A lady never tells, mother," answered the bronze-haired goddess blithely, giving her mother a saucy wink.

"Well, since young Master Maxwell Rosen disappeared at about the same time as yourself, one is left to conclude that my daughter was confirming that she is not merely a lesbian." Miranda mused, enjoying watching a hint of pink enter her daughter's cheek as Karen blushed.

"Maybe," Karen said, looking away while they danced.

"Ekaterina, you are a terrible liar, at least where I am concerned," the older woman chided. "And if I were you, I would be thankful for it, since it will spare you the heartache of ever feeling you need to keep secrets from me or deceive me. Were you and Max indisposed?"

"Yes," murmured the younger woman. "And to be honest, I was happy for it, since I wasn't at all sure I would find any relief, so to speak, during this break."

Miranda smiled. "I suppose you have plenty of time and opportunity to meet your needs on campus, don't you? Not unlike your time at boarding school with all those girls."

"Mom..." Karen almost hissed, fully blushing. "You're not supposed to know those things!"

"Three different teachers who were your lovers confessed it to me, girl," her mother pointed out. "Not that I minded, since I knew your grades were stellar no matter what. Still, I am glad you managed to escape this stuffy party for a few minutes to do something you enjoyed."

"I enjoy these parties well enough, mother, I assure you," Karen stated as they spun around the dance floor. "I really do. It's just that sometimes, other needs will take precedence for a brief period."

"Too brief for your liking, I surmise," her mother teased. Karen blushed for effect, playing her part as the errant daughter, but she never minded or regretted these conversations with her mother. After all, who else could she have them with? "Have you found anyone on campus who can keep up with you?"

"Well, no," her daughter admitted, no longer blushing but just talking. "And it's not like I intend to work my way through the entire student body and faculty to find out."

"That doesn't sound like my determined child at all," giggled Miranda, making Karen roll her eyes. "Poor Max, he has such a thing for you too. He has had since you were in Sunday School, and he was going to temple just down the road. "I forget the reason you told me he wasn't suited to you when you were both five."

"His middle name is Shmuel, I believe was my reasoning at the time," Karen recalled. "The other kids used to tease him and call him Shmooey, and I would beat them up while he cried. I am not a nursemaid or a bodyguard."

"Yet you'll have sex with him when possible."

"As long as his little shmooey is up to the task, and I am not betrothed to another, that will no doubt continue to be the case," Karen said firmly. "He knows I have ruled him out as a partner, it's not like I'm leading him on."

"Anyone else out there with middle names you object to, O princess?" her mother queried, smirking again. She never tired of their conversations. "What about that gargantuan lad in the Physics department? Michael. I imagine he'd be a handful."

"DeBourne?" Karen almost exclaimed, her eyes going wide. "You do not want to know his middle names, mother, I promise you."

"As you wish, Ekaterina Leda Gloriana," Miranda said easily. "Have you at least seen what he's working with? I imagine he's big all over."

Karen flat-out lied. "I have not."

"Well, that's a pity," her mother said simply.

"On the other hand, our darling Janet, who has dated him casually, refers to him as 'Tripod' when he's not around. Make of that what you will."

"That girl..." Miranda giggled, separating from her daughter as the music ended and both of them curtsied gracefully. While Miranda went to speak to a vicar, Karen found her father and extricated him from a small knot of powerful businessmen and had him dance with her while 'I'll Be Home For Christmas' played. She loved dancing with her father and felt light as air. Jonathon's normally crisp and formal attitude relaxed during the holiday, and she lived for it.

"You are enjoying your time away from campus?" he asked as they danced.

"I love the holidays with you and mom," she said, smiling. She truly meant it. "A girl feels spoiled after a while with all the attention."

"I refuse to believe for one moment that you are not the center of attention wherever you go," Jonathon stated. His cool blue eyes, which normally bored into the center of everyone's being, were deflected by her startling golden-amber ones. He'd never seen the like. They'd raised her well, and he'd be sad to see her go.

"Maybe, but it's different to have the attention of people you actually care about," Karen explained, smirking. "The attentions of the masses mean little to me."

"Good, good," her father mused, nodding. "Their distractions from what is important are to be avoided. Having friends is not only cathartic, my dear, but essential to one's well-being. Make sure you can differentiate between them and the wad."

"I keep my circle small, father, I assure you," she sighed happily. These moments in her life didn't happen nearly often enough. Yes, she had her friends, especially her three Inseparables, but she knew that the most important person in her life was still missing. She didn't want to wait long, she had so much to share with them. "Was that Len Gooderham I saw you talking with?"

Her father nodded. "The same. I'm speaking to him on behalf of your uncle Angus."

Karen smiled and rolled his eyes. "Am I a bad daughter and niece for not liking his gin, father? I find it somehow... lemony."

Her shook his head. "You are not a bad daughter or niece for not liking his gin, for it is indeed lemony. On the other hand, it indicates to me that your appreciation for truly fine spirits has not atrophied during your time on campus. And for this I am grateful."

That makes two of us... she thought as they danced.

"Do you still intend to sit on the board, my dear, even if you pursue a career as a physicist?" he asked, more curious than anything.

"Physics is my intent, father, but the board is my duty, and one I take seriously," she replied, her tone indicating she was serious. "I've no wish to make money that way, but I'll do everything I can to make sure the company stays true to its intended purpose. That is my wish."

He nodded again. Karen was fascinating, because she lacked the hubris so common to the family. She truly believed it was her job to keep the Blackwell name intact, unlike that damned fool Rodney, her cousin, who seemed to care only care about making money. He was already throwing his weight around, and he was barely older than her.

"I'll train you as best I can, then, to steer the company and be its spiritual guide, since you have no direct interest in the profit machinations for their own sake," he said. "But I must have your commitment on this, Karen. There is no room for whim."

She shook her head slowly, and her voice was quiet but serious. "I never joke about our family, father. No one gets left behind. Ever."

The song ended and he bowed while she curtsied gracefully. He walked her to the window to look out at the night while holding her hand. In the expansive rear of the lot, the frozen pond already had nearly two dozen skaters on it. Silvery moonlight caught the gentle snowfall.

"Do you plan to skate tonight?" he asked.

She looked at him and smirked. "Maybe in a little bit. Watch this..."

She excused herself and stepped up onto the small stage the ensemble was playing on, now between songs. She spoke to the singer, who nodded and allowed Karen to take her place at the microphone. The woman gave some instructions to the band and picked up a small viol. They began playing the tune she requested. While everyone in the room watched, Karen closed her eyes and began singing.

"Frosted window panes
Candles gleaming inside
Painted candy canes on the tree

Santa's on his way
He's filled his sleigh with things
Things for you and for me

It's that time of year when the world falls in love
Every song you hear seems to say
"Merry Christmas, may your New Year dreams come true"

And this song of mine in three-quarter time
Wishes you and yours the same thing too

It's that time of year when the world falls in love
Every song you hear seems to say
"Merry Christmas, may your New Year dreams come true"

And this song of mine in three-quarter time
Wishes you and yours the same thing too."

Jonathon smiled. For the first time in some time, he felt hope for their future.

***

The Present...

The university faculty party was a lively event in Trinity College Hall, and several hundred members from every department were in attendance. The musical ensemble, which consisted of violins, cellos, and accompanying strings, was playing Corelli's Christmas Concerto for the room, led by Karen and one of the senior professors from the music conservatory. She was leading them through the First Allegro, and many people from every faculty were standing nearby, watching her play masterfully.

Elsewhere, Mike was conversing with alumni, discussing endowments to various schools and departments. What people appreciated about him was that he never stumped harder for one faculty or discipline than another. As he was universally considered a Renaissance man, patrons of the university were always glad to get his opinions on matters.

"I hear your son has something of an unusual situation on his hands, Mike," commented an older gentleman, one who was known for very generous donations to his old alma mater. "But I wanted to make sure it was true."

Mike simply nodded. "You have no doubt heard correctly, Ben. Alex and his aunt, Karen's younger sister, they fell in love the moment they met, and we're looking to get avunculate marriage laws changed."

The older man, who had graduated in the Sixties, looked at the younger man and nodded. "I am not surprised that you're unafraid of the controversy. And since you are your lovely wife are involved, I can only conclude it has been observed from all possible angles, and is not merely an impulse."

"I like to think we've been thorough about it," Mike agreed. "Genetically, it's irrelevant, really. And as for the actual historical reasons of preserving inheritance bloodlines, I think we can safely dispose of that."

"Not a point I'd readily bring up with your father-in-law, God rest him!" quipped another man, and they all laughed and toasted Jonathon Blackwell, who had been considered by most to be the greatest among them. At least until Mike and Karen had come along.

"You're really certain this is the way to go?" asked the man named Ben. He was a shipping magnate, and very wealthy. A graduate of both Toronto and Harvard, the same as Jonathon had been, he trusted Mike's judgment implicitly, but still wanted to hear things for himself.

Mike nodded again, his expression serious. "I assure you, I would have forbidden the union if it was a bad idea."

Ben considered for several seconds, looking at the floor as he jiggled the ice cubes in his whiskey tumbler, and then laughed. "So, I guess I'm donating to the Faculty of Law this year, am I?"

Mike laughed. Always supremely confident, he was so very relieved this was going well tonight.

***

Karen had finished the concerto and was making the rounds now, speaking with old friends and other faculty members, all of whom congratulated her on her exquisite playing. They begged her to play more, and she gave them vague promises to try. Not before the mission she and her husband had set for themselves.

Just about every wealthy donor to the university was here tonight, invited by faculty members. And it was fully the intent of Karen and Mike to make sure they were all on board about her son and her little sister, and changing the laws that kept them apart legally. Powerful friends were important, after all. And her legacy name inside the university's historical annals would no doubt count for much.

There was the Chancellor. She'd held her position only since the summer, but she was dynamic and progressive, with her degrees in business.

She was also the CEO of a major Canadian bank.

"Karen," the woman said genially, smiling as the bronze-haired goddess approached. "I never tire of hearing you play. Please tell me you're not done for the night."

"Our chancellor need merely ask, and I shall obey," Karen said blithely, curtsying gracefully, causing everyone in the conversation circle she had joined to laugh. "I might have a few songs left in me."

"Only if you have the time, my dear," the chancellor said in a softer voice, although everyone could hear her still. "I know how important tonight is for you. You're the only person I know as persuasive as your husband, after all."

"It is important," the dean of Theology said, nodding. "Not just legally, but as a moral test for people."

"Isn't there likely to be some opposition from inside your college, though?" another dean asked. "Some people still aren't over gay marriage, and it's been nearly two decades since that was legalized."

The dean of Theology shrugged. "There is absolutely no biblical proscription against avunculate marriage, so why the taboo at all? Broadly speaking, Karen and Mike could be doing God's will."

"Synergountes," Karen intoned, quoting the Theology school's motto. She and Mike both had minors in Divinity studies, after all. "I appreciate your support. The support of all of you."

"You'll get no opposition from us, professor," said a high-level clerk in the university's bursar department. "Whatever we can do, count on it."

Karen nodded. Although she and Mike had both turned down the dean's position for the Sciences department (and a few others) on various occasions, and were still just tenured professors, they wielded great influence throughout the university on every level. Incredibly popular with students and faculty alike, especially the activist-minded, people were almost always eager to help them, and this particular ordeal seemed no exception.

True, there had been some professors who were less than impressed with what Karen and Mike were allowing, a spare few even expressing disgust. But, as the dean of Theology had pointed out, they had no particular temporal ground to stand on, meaning it was only repression or resistance to change that drove their opposition. Back in the late Nineties most of these professors had also opposed gay marriage being legalized as well. They wouldn't prove much of an issue, though.

"There's one of our illustrious MPs now," the chancellor remarked, nodding her head at a well-dressed man in a suit standing nearby and looking somewhat lost. "You should go and grab him before anyone else ties him up and only talks his ear off."

Karen excused herself and approached the man. Greeting him pleasantly, she took his arm, introducing herself, and offering to show him around the room to meet people, all of whom she'd selected to give him favourable impressions. He was known as a populist, and what sounded like a good idea to voters, especially influential ones, always had his attention, and usually his good will.

"So you're a science professor?" he asked rather lamely. "I thought I saw you up onstage, playing a violin."

"They tolerate my modest musical skills and let me play with them on occasion," she answered simply, leading him around.

"Oh. Well I thought you were actually really good," he offered.

"Thank you, sir," she said amiably, patting his hand. She showed him various Trinity House antiques and pointed out people he might want to talk to during his visit, if he wasn't pressed for time, of course.

"Oh, I, uh- no, I'm not pressed for time, especially now that you've been so helpful in pointing out people to me," he said, clearly not interested in losing her company to other appointments he may have used as an excuse to get out of here. "I appreciate it Miss, and-"

"It's Mrs.," Karen corrected.

"Ah, okay," he said somewhat awkwardly, feeling foolish for not having noticed the exquisite ring on her finger. "Mrs.- I'm sorry, Karen, I don't even know your full name."

"DeBourne," Karen said. "But by all means, sir, call me Karen."

"Is Mister DeBourne with you tonight somewhere?" he asked as she walked him around.

Karen pointed across the room to where Mike towered over everyone, laughing and having a grand time. Tonight, he was area effect. She was the sniper. That's how they had planned it. The Minister of Parliament's eyes widened as he realized who she was talking about.

"Is he a professional sports star I don't know about?" he asked rather incredulously.

"Actually, no, he's the senior theoretical physicist and professor in our department," she said, trying to keep the smirk off his face at his goggling expression. "I head up mathematical physics."

"Your children must be huge," he almost mumbled, still staring.

"Funny that you should mention my son, actually..." she said easily, leading him to another part of the room.

***

Karen had finally been persuaded to participate in two more of the evening's pieces, but she had still done more than enough of the schmoozing she'd planned for. It was now nearly midnight, and she and Mike were walking through the campus, surrounded by white grounds, with large snowflakes falling around them. Small knots of students were walking around, some carrying candles and singing carols. It was a mild and perfect winter evening.

"I'm not sure how that could have gone better," she sighed as they held his arm, walking slowly and just enjoying the night. "I snagged the cooperation of an MP, several lawyers who are interested in the prospect of a challenge, and just about all the deans and senior faculty members are still on board. The chancellor is on our side as well."