Rocks in Their Heads Pt. 03

Harry never held back his affection for Scott and Jake, but even now Scott almost teared up at his father's round-about way of telling him he loved him. "Aw, Dad, thanks."

"My point is, Scott, if Evelyn and Nicola have issues with each other because of Evelyn's relationship with you, and she decides it's not going to work, it's not as big a deal as you might believe."

"I know, Dad. Believe it or not, Evelyn's not my first girlfriend and I wasn't born yesterday," Scott replied sarcastically.

"I might sound like I'm trying to tell you how to suck eggs, mate, but I suggest you take it easy with Evelyn and take things as they come. And I'm not trying to discourage you, because Evelyn is a lovely woman, but take it easy. I'm sure you know you'll always come off second best if you try to get between a mother and her cubs."

~0~

Scott and Evelyn flew to Sydney on a Saturday afternoon in July, staying in a hotel not far from where Jake and Pam lived. Surprisingly, Nicola agreed to meet them, inviting them to her place for dinner on the Saturday evening. They rugged up against the cold wind and took a train to the inner western suburbs where Nicola lived. Evelyn knocked on the door of the narrow terrace house and when Nicola opened it, the smell of curry wafted past her through the doorway.

"Hi, Mum," she said warmly. Then, in a neutral tone, she said, "Hi, Scott. Come in, please, we're letting precious heat out here." They left their coats and jackets on hooks by the front door and followed Nicola down the thin corridor to the kitchen at the rear. Nicola pointed to the large steaming pot on the stove. "I've made a vegan curry. I think you will like it though. Plenty of mushrooms and flavour."

Initially there was an awkwardness between them, and no one wanted to address the elephant in the room. After dinner they sat in the small lounge room adjacent to the entrance hall, with curry in their bellies and the gas heater providing extra warmth on the cold winter's night. Scott and Evelyn sat together on the same two-seater lounge, but with enough distance between them, lest they accidently provoke Nicola against them by inadvertently showing the slightest display of affection. However, Nicola surprised them.

"Um, Mum and Scott, I owe you two an apology. I'm sorry about what happened at Easter. I was, ah, shocked. And a bit drunk when I found out. I didn't expect you two would be together and I reacted badly. Sorry."

"Nicky, darling, I'm sorry too. We are both sorry. We should have told you earlier." Evelyn's voice was a soothing response to her daughter's apology, though Scott was sceptical it would have made a difference even if they told Nicola about their relationship before she accidently found out. However, it was now in the past and Nicola seemed to be implicitly telling them she accepted their relationship.

"Scott, I can see how happy you've made Mum. She's changed. She has a spring in her step and I'm sorry about what happened and everything I said." And then in a cheeky tone she added, "But, you better not screw things up with mum, otherwise I'll hunt you down and cut your balls off, okay?"

"Hey, don't worry, Nic, I've only got your mum's best interests at heart."

"That's good to hear. Well, tonight went better than expected. Perhaps now we can relax and not be so awkward around each other! Wine anyone?" The tension in the air dissipated as Nicola retrieved glasses of wine from the kitchen. They chatted into the evening, and at one point Nicola pointed out the grey box under the television set; her old Nintendo 64. "I almost forgot, look what I found when I was at Mum's at Easter! And it still works! Wanna play some Mario Kart?"

"I dunno, Nic, it's a bit late. Perhaps you should ask your Mother if it's okay," Scott replied with a hint of humour in his voice.

"Hey mister, you're not my dad!" Nicola retorted with a slight grin.

~0~

They were pleasantly surprised by Nicola's unexpected endorsement of their relationship. A win was a win and both agreed they could move their relationship further into the open. The next morning they awoke in their hotel room and Scott looked Evelyn over as she tried to catch a few minutes extra sleep. He leant over her, brushing hair from her forehead and ear, and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Good morning, my beautiful lady."

"Morning, honey," Evelyn said, smiling and rolling into him. She pulled his face to hers and gave him a passionate kiss, morning breath and all. After a couple of minutes kissing, Scott sat up and moved his hands between her legs. "What are you doing?" she said with a wry smile.

"Trying to pleasure my girlfriend," he said while slipping his hand into her nickers to rub the nub of her clit. After a while he slipped a couple of fingers inside her, feeling her moisture growing.

"Oooh, yes, that's lovely," she murmured as Scott pleasured her with his fingers, both inside and out. She closed her eyes and gripped the sheet, pulling it up as her pleasure increased, and let out involuntary gasps. It wasn't long before she shuddered with climax. Scott and Evelyn smiled at each other. "Come up here, lover," she beckoned. He responded to her instruction, kissing her passionately while entering her with a long and slow stroke of his big cock. She caressed his muscular back, and he kissed her neck and shoulders, all the while his cock slowly caressed her inner pleasure zones. "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!" she cried as she came again. Her excitement took Scott over the edge, and he came soon after. They held each other in a post-coital cuddle, reluctant to leave the comfort of each other's arms.

After breakfast they walked several blocks, hand in hand, to Jake and Pam's place. Scott had no idea what he should bring when meeting his six week old niece, so Evelyn suggested that, because Jake and Pam would be time-poor, a good option to help them out was frozen meals to relieve them of cooking. They stopped at a supermarket and bought several items to stock up Jake and Pam's freezer. Before they arrived at Jake and Pam's apartment, Scott expressed to Evelyn his nervousness about meeting his new niece.

"I've never held a baby before, ay. I wasn't even allowed to touch Jake when he was a little baby! I'm a bit nervous because they're so fragile."

"Babies are more robust than you think. All you have to do is hold her with your arms, cradling her, and more than likely she'll sleep. Or perhaps she'll cry if she's hungry, in which case it would probably be best to give her back to Pam."

Jake answered the door when they arrived. "Bro, how you goin, alright? Mrs C, so good to see you too!" Jake knew all about Scott and Evelyn's relationship and was completely cool with it. Indeed, he'd given Scott his approval for hooking up with their old neighbour, because, in his words, Scott bagged a fair dinkum MILF. "Come in, come in. Come meet my gorgeous Tilly!"

Evelyn stayed at the back of the room, giving Scott space while he met his niece. He looked down at tiny Matilda, cradled in Pam's rocking arms, and she stared up at him. "She's recently fed and might go off to sleep soon, if we're lucky. Or she might not. It can be a lottery at times," Pam said.

"Wow! Look at you Matilda!" Scott whispered. "You're so tiny, but your eyes are so big!"

"Do you want to hold her, bro?" Jake asked enthusiastically.

"Mate, she looks so fragile. I'd be afraid to hurt her."

"Nah, mate, if you hold her like Pam's doing and keep her rocking around, she'll like you. She might even fall asleep, but be warned, if you stop rocking, she'll soon let you know."

"Here, put your arms like this and hold her like I am," Pam directed Scott and handed Matilda over.

Scott tried to replicate Pam's rocking and swaying back and forward, while staring into Matilda's eyes. "Wow! Just wow, Jake. Look what you made!" Scott whispered in awe. "And you too, of course, Pam!"

Jake chuckled softly, "Yeah, well I did the easy bit. Only took me five minutes. Pam did all the rest!"

"Five minutes? More like one minute," Pam joked. "Then I carried her in my belly for nine bloody months!"

Scott ignored everyone else in the room and cooed at Matilda, who stared up at him, blowing a milky spit bubble from her lips. "Hello, Tilly. I'm your big uncle Scotty. I'm gunna let you in on a little secret. I've know your daddy for his entire life and I think he's actually done something good for once." Tilly appeared to hold onto every word Scott spoke, and she made a milky grin at him. "Oh my God, she's smiling at me. Wow!"

"Yeah, she knows you're full of shit, mate," Jake laughed.

"Nah, she knows Uncle Scotty's got her back. She just knows, don't ya, Tilly."

Scott finally looked up at Evelyn, who was watching him from the edge of the room. "Would you like to hold her?" he asked. "Jake, Pam, would it be okay?"

"Oh, I don't have to," Evelyn started.

"Go on, Mrs C! Have a go," Jake encouraged her.

Scott handed Matilda to Evelyn. "Wow, look at you! You've done this before, haven't you," he said in a light-hearted tone.

"It's been a very long time since I've held a little one like this, and you know how that turned out."

"Come on. Nic was fine last night, so it couldn't have been too bad. I reckon you did a great job, but she doesn't fully appreciate it."

Evelyn cooed and spoke baby gibberish to Matilda, and Scott thought she looked amazing with a baby in her arms, rocking back and forward. After a while Matilda began to cry and Pam said it was likely time for another feed.

"It's either feeding, nappy changes, or sleep. You never know, so we go through the list and see what she needs. She doesn't stink at the moment so I don't think it's a nappy change," Jake said while Pam began to breast feed Matilda.

"It was a very long time ago, but I still remember the sleepless nights well," Evelyn said.

They hung around for a couple of hours, and Scott couldn't help but see the joy and love for Matilda in his brother's eyes. Jake privately told Scott, "It's the best thing ever. I can't describe it, but you don't know love until you have your own baby to look after."

Late in the afternoon they bid their farewells to Jake, Pam and Matilda, and caught the train directly to the airport. Their plane was a Boeing 737 and Scott sat in an aisle seat while Evelyn was in the middle seat of their row, while the window seat remained empty. Directly behind Scott, a young woman with a mop of curly red hair was struggling with her infant son and carry-on luggage, and Scott offered to place her bag in the overhead locker.

"Thank you so much. I only need a handful of items for the trip, but with the little guy I never know when I'll need something else," the woman said.

"No worries. Don't hesitate to ask me to get it down if you need it during the flight," he offered. He then gestured to the woman's son, and said with a smile, "I've just become an uncle and I only met my niece for the first time today and she's amazing. She's so tiny!"

"Oh, wow, that's so sweet. I hope Tom here doesn't disturb you though, because this is only his second flight and he was restless on the flight down last week."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, won't you, mate," Scott said to Tom, who looked back at him mischievously. "How old are you, Tom?"

"He's almost two," Tom's mum replied for her son, who began to play with the catch on the tray table in the back of Scott's seat. "But you think you're going on twenty sometimes, don't you. Yes you do." She tickled Tom and he giggled.

Scott laughed too. "Well, Tom, it looks like you're in good hands and your mum knows what she's doing."

As the flight gained altitude, Tom began to wail, and Scott found himself playing peekaboo around the headrest of his seat, and other games to keep Tom amused. Tom giggled as Scott entertained him throughout the flight, and when they landed, Tom's mum said, "Thank you so much. The flight could easily have turned into a nightmare if you hadn't distracted him. Do you have any kids?"

"Nah. I've never really thought about them before," Scott replied. "My only experience with babies is with my niece. As I said, I only met her for the first time today. And now Tom of course. You and me are old mates now, aren't we, Tom?" Scott said, ruffling Tom's his wispy red hair, resulting in more giggles.

"You're a natural with kids, I can tell you that much. You'll make a good dad one day, I'm sure," Tom's mum said with a beaming smile, which Scott warmly reciprocated. The young lady gestured towards Evelyn and whispered to Scott in a conspiratorial tone, accompanied by a smile, "And I bet your mum can't wait for more grandkids."

Evelyn turned to Scott and opened her mouth, but didn't say a word.

~0~

Three weeks after their trip to Sydney, Scott and Evelyn were untying Evelyn's York Shire terrier, Salty, outside the café where they'd eaten breakfast, when they ran into Carole who was entering the café with some friends.

"Bonjour, Scott!" Carole said cheerfully. "And you must be Scott's lady friend, Evelyn?"

"Evelyn, this is Carole. We know each other from rock climbing."

"What a pleasure it is to meet you, Evelyn. Scott told me all about you. All good things too, I can assure you," Carole smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Carole," Evelyn replied, pleasantly.

Scott and Carole caught up briefly, and before they bid farewell, Carole said, "We haven't caught up since Easter like we promised. We should organise another rock climbing trip with Yumi and Drew!"

"Great idea, Carole. Maybe organise it through Facebook?"

"Sounds good. Au revoir!"

As they walked away, Evelyn held Salty's leash rather than Scott's hand. "She was very pretty. And oh-so French. She likes you too, I can tell. She couldn't help but touch your arm and laugh as you two spoke, and I think you like her too."

"Do I detect jealousy, Eve?"

"I do see the way you interact with younger women like Carole. And I do notice how often young women appear quite interested in you, even when you don't notice."

"Are you worried?"

"I suppose so, yes. Sorry, Scott, I can't help it. I'm not getting any younger and you're in the prime of your life and girls do like you. And when I say they like you, I mean they really like you." She paused for a moment, and in a lighter tone she said, "I don't blame them either. But with you and me, even our musical tastes are twenty-five years apart!"

"Our various taste in music does make for some interesting contrasts. But you're only as young as the man you feel, Eve," Scott chuckled at his perennial joke.

She sighed, feeling the conversation weigh on her again. "No, I'm not, Scott. I'm changing, and so are you. Lately I've noticed it more so, ever since you met your niece. You were smitten with her. You mention Matilda to me, or anyone else for that matter, every chance you get. Every time we pass a toy shop you have to buy her something. And I've also noticed how you look at young mothers with their babies. I'm not having a go at you, Scott, because I actually think you're incredibly endearing and sweet. If I were much younger and wanting to start a family, my ovaries would be exploding with excitement at your newfound cluckiness. However, the pretty young lady with the kid on the plane was right, that you are a natural, and I can't help but notice it in you. And then, you didn't even correct her when she thought I was your mother either."

Scott couldn't deny it. He was smitten with Matilda the moment he met her, and where he'd hardly noticed kids before, he now found himself smiling involuntarily whenever he saw families out and about, or kids playing, and thought of his brother and niece. He'd still not thought too much about having kids of his own, but increasingly he was curious about the possibility. When Evelyn held Matilda at his brother's, Scott thought how wonderful Evelyn looked with a baby in her arms, and he'd immediately contemplated how they'd never be able to experience having a child of their own.

Evelyn took Scott's silence as agreement, and continued. "The way you looked at Carole before is how you used to look at me, and you don't look at me like that anymore. You may still find me attractive, but girls like her have more in common with you, and what's more, they're potential mothers as well."

"Come off it, Evelyn. Don't do this. Why would I still be with you if I were thinking of looking for a younger girl? I give one hundred percent in this relationship don't I? At least I try to. Anyway, Carole doesn't even want kids! She's just a mate who I sometimes go rock climbing with."

"Scotty, you do give one hundred percent, at least where it matters for you, and it's great. I can't complain there. But our dates aren't exactly as fun as they used to be and you don't put in the same effort when we're out together. We don't actually share many interests in common. Not like the rock climbing you share with Carole." She held up her hand as he began to protest. "Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned her again. It's okay, I know, she's only your friend. But it's not just you either, it's me too. I still worry about what your Mum thinks. She and I used to chat, maybe three times a week, and now she only politely says hello. And only if we come across each other by accident. I'm equally as bad because I don't go out of my way to see her anymore. When we started this relationship we were both looking for something we both knew was temporary, and though it came to mean a lot more to both of us, I think even if we keep going it's not like we are going to marry or live together. I think we are getting to the point we should maybe cut our losses. Don't you agree?"

Scott stopped, shocked at what she was saying, but he had to agree. He tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to him. He'd never even considered marriage to Evelyn, so there was no point in arguing there. Furthermore, he'd only vaguely entertained the thought of living together, and that was before the dramas with Nicola took hold. Finally, if Evelyn no longer thought they were viable, why should he fight for them? He felt she was probably right.

They continued on their walk down the street towards the ferry stop on the river, contemplating their fate, and both silently agreeing on the same conclusion. On the jetty, while waiting for the ferry to take them down the river, they mutually decided their relationship had indeed reached it's used by date, and they agreed it was over.

~~~~ CHAPTER 10 ~~~~

September 2017

Like many couples who break up in generally amicable circumstances, Scott and Evelyn expressed a desire to remain friends. And, like many ex-couples who try to remain friends, they didn't communicate at all and simply tried to get over each other by getting on with their lives. Scott realised he still loved Evelyn, but the feeling had grown into something beyond his desire for her. He wanted her to be happy, and he knew he wasn't the person to give her the happiness and company she needed. In mid-September, Scott called Evelyn and asked her if she'd like to meet him for coffee. Nothing serious, of course, just a coffee and catch up.

"There's something I want to ask you, Eve. Hear me out if you can. I've been thinking, I know a bloke who's in his fifties, and he's a super nice guy. Actually, he's my boss and a good bloke. I was wondering if you'd like to meet him. He lost his wife to cancer about four years ago and he seems lonely and could do with meeting someone. He has a property in the country and has spoken of running horses on it. He's always asking me and other work mates to spend the weekends up there, because I think he wants company. Plus, he likes a good drop of wine, and I think you two would be suited."

"What's this then, Scott? Are you in the matchmaking business for your old flames now?" Evelyn asked with a cheeky grin. "Okay, I'll meet this boss of yours, but don't have any expectations. What do you think?"