Author's note: This is the final chapter of Calorine and Daisy and Me. Many thanks to everyone who has been reading and a double thanks to all the lovely people who have commented on the story, it's been really wonderful to read all your reviews. I am already planning out a new McElliot story so I hope you'll watch out for it in the future, the working title is "The Woman Next Door". Thanks again for reading.

Chapter Seven: Endgame

"Calorine, you're here, you're here! Mummy, Calorine's in your bed, did you know she was in your bed? I didn't know."

Kate's awakened from a wonderfully deep sleep as her daughter climbs on to the bed and deposits herself on top of her sleepy girlfriend. Memories of the night before come flooding back to her – touches, tastes, heat, wetness and pleasure. She flushes as she remembers how a slightly nervous, tentative Caroline had quickly transformed into a passionate, assertive lover who had left no part of her body untouched or unkissed. God it had been so good.

They hadn't planned for it, but once they had started kissing it had seemed impossible to stop. Thankfully it was the weekend so she wasn't too worried about Caroline being needed elsewhere. The boys were old enough to cope without her for one night and Caroline had had the presence of mind to send William a quick text message to tell him she'd be staying at Kate's. But she would have preferred Daisy to be at Richard's house; a confused little girl is the last thing she wanted. And then, of course, any negative effect on Daisy might give Caroline second thoughts about their relationship, however wonderful their night together had been.

She sits up, watching fondly as a smiling, tousled Caroline hugs Daisy, careful not to let the duvet fall too low and expose her nakedness.

"Daisy?"

"Can we go to the park today Mummy?"

"Daisy, do you remember how we talked about two adults who really like each other, how they spend more time together?"

"And kiss which is yucky, do I have to do kissing when I grow up Mummy?"

"No sweetheart, you don't, although you might change your mind when you're older." She shares a knowing smile with Caroline, relieved to see her look so relaxed. "But kissing's voluntary."

"What?"

"It's your choice. And you only kiss people you really, really like. Do you remember that I said adults sort of form into couples? Like best friends at nursery?"

"Robert wants to be my best friend but he's a boy so I said no."

"Very wise, Daisy," says Caroline seriously. Kate shoots her a look but can't hide her smile completely.

"What I'm saying sweetheart is that when we had our little talk I told you that Caroline and I have decided to be in a couple. Like best friends, the adult version of best friends. And now that we've been a couple for a while we've decided that we like each other so much we're going to spend even more time together and Caroline will stay overnight sometimes. So you might see us kissing, and Caroline might be in my bed sometimes when you wake up. How do you feel about that?"

"Calorine's going to be here in the mornings?" she says, sounding thrilled.

"Yes, sometimes, not every morning, but she'll sleep here sometimes. And we'll be a couple. How do you feel about that Daisy?"

"Can she sleep in my room?"

"No, she'll sleep in here."

"Aw! Not ever?"

"Daisy my love, your bed is tiny and I'm enormous," says Caroline, stretching out her arms in exaggeration. "It would be like a hippo in an egg cup."

"That's funny," says Daisy, giggling.

"Do you want to ask us anything?" says Caroline.

"Will you make me breakfast Calorine? Will you take me to the park? Will you buy me an ice cream?"

"I will do at least one and very possibly all of those things. Now, how about you go and play in your room for a little while, seeing as it's still early, and I'll come and get you when it's time for breakfast."

"OK," says Daisy, running off to her room.

Their eyes meet, Caroline's expression a mixture of happiness and a perhaps a little touch of nerves. She smiles at her reassuringly, trying to ignore the fact that they're alone together, naked in a bed.

"Hi," she says.

"Hi."

"Any freaking out going on over there?"

"Freaking out? I'm sorry, I'm unable to understand your young person's vernacular."

She moves closer to her, lying on her side and reaching out an arm to slide it gently around her middle.

"Are you lying here planning your escape?"

"No. That's not what I'm doing."

"Are you thinking that last night was the worst sex you've ever had in your life and you were so bored by the end of it you can't believe you stayed awake?"

A blush starts to rise on her neck; she loves that blush.

"Hardly."

"No?" She leans in so their lips are almost touching. "What are you thinking, Caroline?"

"I'm thinking…" She kisses her softly, tenderly. "I'm thinking that I've had about three hours sleep and I'm awake at 6.30 on a Saturday and I feel absolutely wonderful."

"Sorry about the wake-up call."

"You mustn't apologize. I don't think you know what it's like for me, coming here."

Kate draws back from her slightly, puzzled. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Coming here, to this house. First Daisy, and now you…I don't think you know what it's like." Caroline looks down at the duvet, the blush growing. She's so beautiful, she looks so young and innocent in the early morning light, with her freckles and pale skin and eyes as blue as the ocean.

"What's it like?"

She's still not meeting her eyes but she can tell that her words are heartfelt.

"Daisy treats me as if I'm the most amazing person in the whole wide world, like I'm so special she can hardly believe I'm in the room. And now, with you…the way you look at me sometimes, the way you touched me last night…" The blush deepens and she shifts a little underneath Kate's arm.

"Coming here, to this house, to you two…it's like being the king of the world. You can't imagine how wonderful it feels, Kate."

Kate kisses her gently on the cheek, tightening her hold on her body. "I can imagine," she says. "Believe me."

They lie together quietly, Caroline stroking Kate's arm, Kate nuzzling her cheek. Remembering...

"You think it's genetic?" Kate says after a while.

"What is?"

"In our DNA, Daisy and me, that we love you so much."

She freezes as she realizes what she's said.

"Sorry, that was…there's no filter on my brain at this time of day, I'll come out with anything. Sorry."

She waits in an agony of anticipation, the seconds ticking by as her heart beats.

"It wasn't true?" Caroline says quietly.

Deep breath, she thinks. No point lying to her, she's not stupid.

"It was true."

Another deep breath is needed as the silence begins to stretch out between them. Back in the dim and distant past she seems to remember being so much better at relationships. With Richard she'd been calm and collected even as he stumbled through his courtship; with the women she'd dated after the divorce she'd been physically needy but hadn't had any problem keeping her emotions under control.

But then, of course, that was the point. She was in love; she'd waited her whole life to be truly, deeply, head over heels in love, and now that she was she couldn't hide it. She just had to hope that Caroline wouldn't be scared away.

"I care about you, very much," Caroline says eventually, her voice sincere. "I hope you know that."

"I do. The last thing I want to do is pressure you. I don't normally act like this."

"My experiences have been so limited, Kate. I was in a marriage for 20 years that rubbed along all right but was hardly the romance of the century. Then I was alone, and now you…I had a girlfriend for a while at Oxford but I've never been particularly good at expressing my feelings. That doesn't mean they aren't there. If you can give me a little more time–"

"No, Caroline, I don't want it to be like that, as if I'm waiting for you, as if we're on hold until we both feel exactly the same way. I'm very happy where we are. I don't want you feeling pressured, OK? I don't want you feeling anything but whatever you naturally feel."

Kate draws herself up, propping herself up on her arms as she looks at her.

"For example, whatever you might naturally feel when I do this…" She traces a soft, teasing line down Caroline's chest, moving the duvet downwards and circling a nipple. "What do you feel when I do this, Caroline?"

"I, uh…I don't know if I can…oh." Kate delicately strokes the nipple, softly, tantalising her, relishing the soft sigh that's drawn from her lover.

"Maybe you can show me instead."

After ten minutes at the park Kate can already tell it's going to be one of those rare, perfect days. Daisy's happily playing on the slide, having made absolutely sure that Caroline understood her strict instructions to watch her at all times. Caroline's sat on a picnic blanket looking radiant, her blonde hair reflecting the sun's rays, her blue eyes shining with happiness. Kate can't take her eyes off her.

"Daisy's so pretty, isn't she," Caroline says wistfully.

"She is. Although it's possible I'm biased."

"She's a lovely colour too."

She thinks she's misheard at first, but then Caroline turns to her looking faintly horrified.

"Sorry, that was a…weird thing to say."

"Uh…yes. It was a bit."

"What I was thinking was that it's nice that she's the colour that she is, her skin's a bit lighter, it's nice that Richard was white-"

"Caroline, what the hell are you-"

"God, sorry, I'm not explaining this very well."

"You're not explaining this at all!"

She stares at her, shocked. This can't be happening, surely; she can't be possibly have just said that.

"That sounded appalling, I know-"

"Yes it did! What's got into you?"

At least she has the grace to look embarrassed.

"What I was thinking was that it was nice that Richard's white because – and this is going to sound crazy too, probably, and I apologize in advance – but I was thinking that it's nice because you can almost imagine that Daisy's-"

"Caroline, if you say 'white' I swear to God-"

"No! God, of course not, of course not!"

"Then what the hell are you talking about?"

Caroline drops her eyes to the grass, her shoulders hunched.

"Ours," she says quietly. "You can almost imagine she's ours."

The indignation leaves her in a breath and a wave of deep affection takes its place.

"Oh, Caroline," she whispers.

"I mean, obviously biologically that's not possible so no-one's going to think that anyway, but still. I rather like it."

She has to take a few moments to catch her breath. Caroline's eyes are fixed on the grass; she looks so vulnerable she wants to comfort her, cuddle her, tell her how amazing she is.

"I like it too." She reaches out and strokes her arm tenderly. "Sorry I jumped to conclusions."

"No, no. I wasn't explaining myself at all well."

"Not really," she smiles. "You gave me a bit of a fright there for a moment."

They watch quietly as Daisy propels herself down the slide for the twentieth time and then waves at them. They wave back in unison.

"She has your temper," Kate says, earning a burst of laughter from the woman beside her.

"Worse than mine, I'd say. When have I ever prostrated myself on the carpet kicking and screaming?"

"Mm, I suppose I haven't see that yet, it's true. But she has your determination. That stubborn streak. She would not take no for an answer when she wanted you at her birthday party."

"She has your social skills. She talks to everyone, makes friends in a flash. Everyone likes her."

Kate smiles at her lovingly. "She has your intelligence."

"She has your eyes."

It's said with so much affection it feels like a caress. Her thoughts drift back to the events of the night before and this morning, the feel of her silken hands all over her body, the feel of her soft lips on her skin.

"I wish we were at home," she says softly. "I need to kiss you."

"Then I wish we were at home too. Make it up to me later?"

"I intend to."

She limits herself to brushing a strand of hair away from Caroline's face, brushing against her skin lightly.

"I do love you, you know," Caroline says quietly, holding her gaze. "I think I've always loved you. I'm sorry I haven't said it before, the emotional side of life really isn't my forte. But I do. Both of you, come to that. I think it's in my DNA, too."

It's so unexpected that it goes straight to her heart, warming her through, lighting her up from the inside.

"We really need to go home," she says, half-laughing, half in tears.

"Daisy hasn't had her ice cream yet. I promised."

"Ice cream first, then. And then home."

Caroline kisses her gently on the cheek and smiles at her, the love so clear in her eyes. "And then home."

Epilogue

"Right. So, this is our big announcement Daisy, are you listening? Are you properly listening or are you trying to put your skirt on the cat? Right, so sit still please. So. Daisy, Caroline asked me to marry her and I love her very much so I said yes. So we're going to get married!"

Daisy's silent, looking at each of them in turn.

"What do you think about that?"

Her daughter ponders the question for a little while.

"Can I be a bridesmaid?"

"Of course," says Caroline. "We'll need you to be our absolute best bridesmaid, we'll get you a lovely pretty dress."

"What colour?"

"We don't know yet, sweetheart."

"Mm. Can I choose?"

"We'll choose the colours together, all three of us, how does that sound?"

Daisy thinks about this. She doesn't look upset but she doesn't look happy either. Kate exchanges a worried look with Caroline.

"Can I go and play now?"

"Daisy, is there anything you want to ask us?" says Caroline.

"You said you'd play with me Caroline, you promised!"

"And I absolutely will, sweetheart, but we're talking now, aren't we? Is there something you're not sure about, about your mummy and me getting married?"

"No. Can we have fishfingers for tea with no peas please, peas are horrible?"

It's beginning to dawn on Kate that her daughter might not be entirely clear as to the finer details of married life.

"Sweetheart, when two people get married, what do you think happens?"

"They go to a big church and wear pretty dresses and God's there and he does something and, um, the vicar makes them wear rings."

"And what do you think happens afterwards?"

"Mm, nothing. Robert's mummy and daddy got married and he said that he didn't know why because nothing happened."

"Well, one thing that usually happens is that if the people getting married haven't lived together before, they usually do after they're married."

Silence.

"So that would mean that you and me and Caroline and Lawrence and William would all live in the same house together, we'd be a big family all together. What do you think of that?"

"Caroline?"

"Yes, sweetheart. In a house, living with us, all the time. All in the same home."

She can tell what's coming next but it still makes her jump – Daisy throws herself bodily at Caroline, squealing with joy. Caroline's knocked backwards on the sofa, struggling to get hold of the wriggling bundle in her arms. She looks a bit shell-shocked.

"So is that all right with you, Daisy? Do you approve?"

"Yes yes yes! Best day ever!"

"I think we can take that as a yes, Caroline."

Caroline can't speak, partly due to the weight of a hyperactive six year-old pressing down on her and partly due to the weight of her emotions.

"Why are you crying? Mummy, why's she crying?"

"She's...she's..." She tries to swallow down the lump in her throat.

"I'm happy, my love," Caroline manages.

"But people cry when they're sad."

"And when they're really, really happy, too. And I'm really, really happy."

"Oh. When we live in the same house will you read me a story every night?"

"Yes."

"Will you brush my hair in the morning?"

"Yes."

"Will you make me eat stupid peas like mummy does?"

"Yes!"

"But Caroline-"

"No arguments about peas. They're good for you. That's final."

"Hmph. Will you play with me now, you can be the train driver this time if you want to, I'll let you because you're going to live with me."

"That's very kind of you sweetheart, why don't you run along and set up the track and I'll be there in five minutes."

"Okey-dokey."

They watch as Daisy skips away happily. Kate takes a deep breath and turns to her fiancée.

"That went well."

"It did. It did."

"You know, sometimes I think that little girl loves you more than she loves me."

She's joking, but Caroline looks horrified.

"No she doesn't! Of course she doesn't, you're her mother! I'm just her-"

"You're not just anything. You're her Calorine."

They smile at each other, memories of their first blissful months together flooding her heart with warmth.

"I almost miss being her Calorine, you know."

She leans into her and places a soft kiss on her lips.

"You're still my Calorine," she says. "Always."