Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Day 5 (Friday 28th May)

   I slowly came to with a feeling I wasn't alone and on opening my eyes
found Ellen looking straight at me "How long have you been awake, Ellen?"
"Oh, only a few moments, I blew gently on you're face, I wanted to watch
you wake up, this is the first time I have seen you do that and I want to
remember it, I find it hard to understand how I can be so in love with you
after such a short time, I'm sorry to mention his name at this time but I
knew Archie over a year before I decided to accept his proposal of
marriage, making love was never like we were last night and you put your
mouth and tongue on and in me down there, no-one, not even my first Husband
ever did that, it seemed like a marriage of convenience compared to how
intense I feel right at this moment" "What time is it Ellen?  We have to
think of Libby" "It's just 7am, I will have to go to the toilet to let some
of you drain out of me, not too much I hope, I hope at least one of those
little wrigglers has managed to swim in the right direction, I also don't
care if it's a him, a her or both, though a brother for Libby would be
nice. Then I have to go back to my room to shower, all my stuff is in
there, I will miss you, of course, we will then join you for breakfast that
you can order for our usual time of 8:30, my darling" "You have organised
yourself very well, my love but what will I do without you, I'll miss you
too you know, I'll have to shower alone, hope this new house has a big
shower or a huge bath, I can't remember" Ellen got out of bed, then ran for
the bathroom giggling and holding her hand over her crotch so whatever was
in there wouldn't leek onto the carpet, she wasn't in there very long when
she came out she had on the hotels white towelling dressing gown, she said
"I will return this when we come back for breakfast" She came over to the
bed leaned over me and gave me such a kiss, well I went to grab her but she
wriggled away and cried "No, not yet, later, I need a shower" then she
picked up her discarded clothes and was gone.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ellen
related to me later what had happened after she left me: She ran along the
corridor to her own suite and opened the door quickly as she didn't want
anyone to see her.  She slipped into the sitting room with no problems and
thought to look in Libbies room to see she was alright and saw that the bed
was empty, though it had been slept in, then she looked in the bathroom but
no Libby, she was getting a little fearful and she ran to her own room,
opened the door and there was Libby calmly sitting on Ellen's unruffled bed
looking towards her and still in her PJ's with a wry smile on her lips "Did
you enjoy yourselves Mummy?  Oh!  Now I see, I can see you did, it's all
over you're face, I'm so glad for you, you really deserve the happiness I
know he is going to give both of us and has already given you" "Libby, you
grew up while I wasn't looking, I was worried what you would think because
this has happened so quickly" Ellen grabbed a chair and brought it over to
face Libby and sat down Libby said "I hope this isn't going to be my `Birds
and Bees' conversation because I don't need it, I know what you have been
doing together, I will wait for the right person to come along before I do
anything, Mum I love both of you dearly." "Libby, I wasn't going to, I just
wanted to reassure you, we will get through all this horribleness soon and
then we can get on with the rest of our lives.  Our life will change, a lot
my dear, but all to the good.  Now we need to get ready for breakfast in
Ken's room at 8:30 so whose showering first?" "I will, I'm always quicker
than you Mum" So she left and Ellen gathered together the toiletries she
was going to need to get ready for her man!  It took a little longer than
normal for them both, probably for the same reason, to look their best for
him, but he wouldn't complain.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They got to my room at
just after 8:30 and they found the door ajar and let themselves in, I was
on the phone and it was Donnie, he said "I'm sorry I didn't get back to you
yesterday Ken, it was an important case for me, the jury found my client
`not guilty' I honestly didn't think my client was guilty but they tried to
get him on a technicality and it didn't work and the guy was so pleased
with the result that we are going to get a lot of corporate work from his
company, you know, high profile stuff.  My boss, he's really my Father is
over the moon and has given me time off because of it but I have elected to
try to help out where I can with you guys, maybe we can get together
sometime today" I said "That's great Donnie, I think we should have lunch
somewhere of you're choosing, after all I'm a stranger in you're town" I
laughed, he made me write down the name and address of his local and I said
"Book it for 4 persons, Donnie, there are a few things that Ellen will have
to discuss with you, we will see you at 1pm there" Then I hung up.  While I
was on the phone a waitress had delivered the breakfast and had served
Ellen and Libby and they had both instructed her what I would have on my
plate, so as I hung up she came to me for my signature and I dug out a tip
for her, she thanked me and left us alone.  I got up from the desk and sat
at the table and we started eating, I said "I'm going to have to get to a
gym soon or I will be like a balloon, do you know of any good ones,
ladies?" Libby started "I don't go to gym's and neither does Mum, I don't
go because we have good facilities at school and I've never known Mum to go
to one.  Ellen cut in then "I used to do a lot of walking on my day's
shopping, walk to Dumbarton Road, that's the main street in Partick then
walk along till I came to Byers Road and walk up to the big supermarket
near Great Western Road which is a good mile away, walk about half way back
and cut through where our new house is to Broomhill.  I guess that's about
a 3½ to 4 mile round trip carrying groceries, that was my exercise and I
did that maybe 2 or 3 times a week, I didn't work while I was bringing up
Libby and when she got old enough to look after herself I had lost my
office skills, everything is so different now.  You see before John and me
got married, you don't mind me telling you all this do you, Ken?" "No, you
carry on, darling" Libby smiled when I said that, so Ellen continued "Well
when I left school I went into an office at the ship building yard and
worked my way up till I became a supervisor, in between times I met John,
he was some sort of engineer working in the same shipyard I did, well we
used to go to his older sister a lot baby-sitting, we got a little too
amorous one time and I became pregnant with Libby, not that we didn't
intend to marry, it just rushed things forward a year, so we got married.
Both my parents and John's thought I shouldn't work after Libby was born so
I bowed under pressure and gave up a job I loved for the man and daughter I
loved more.  We lived in Govan then, in a tenement, you would call them a
block of sandstone flats, as John moved up the ladder of success we decided
to move across the river to a nicer area and came to Broomhill into the
same block of flats Archie and his wife were in, but we were up a floor. 
Then John became ill and we found out it was cancer, it didn't take him
long to pass away, (she looked so sad, Libby moved her chair and hugged her
Mum) Archie's wife had taken off and they went through with their quickie
divorce, so we were both feeling bad about the same time, I had heard
neighbours talking about him and he came up to commiserate with me because
of John, he even shut his shop for the day and came to the funeral, Libby
was about 14 then and had just lost her best friend (Libby looked as sad as
her Mother).  I suppose we just grew together and clung like lost sheep,
then he asked me out a few times and life followed its natural progression
and when he asked me to marry him, I was so lonely I said, yes.  It was a
low-key wedding, we never had a big honeymoon, just spent 2 days in a hotel
in Edinburgh, Libby got looked after by Archie's family over a weekend,
then we moved downstairs into Archie's flat and let the other one go, it
was rented as well" I said, "You don't talk about yours or John's family"
"I was an only child born in the Highlands from the Inverness area, that's
why I don't have the Glasgow accent, I've only lost a little of mine, my
parents moved to Govan to get work and have since passed away.  There is
only John's older sister, her husband and at last count 6 children, but
even she didn't keep in touch after John's death, they still stay in Govan
and they seemed to blame me for taking John away from his roots and then
him dying, Oh, they came to the funeral and afterwards she asked if John
had made a will and when I said there was enough money to bury John and a
little bit left to keep Libby and me going, she lost interest then hardly
ever got in touch, I sent an invitation to my wedding and never got a
reply, pretty sad, I know that Libby and Archie weren't close, well he
wasn't her Father" She said as an aside "Ken, I know you aren't her Father
either but she has respect for you and I know she loves you and I know you
love her, Archie never ever even said he liked children in general let
alone Libby.  Archie was very set in his ways and always went to his local
pub on Fridays after closing, he used to say he would get a pie and chips
for his dinner in the pub, I never got invited out to the pub on a Friday
and sometimes if I visited the shop when I was out shopping he would have
shady looking characters in the back when I was there, he would just say he
was doing a bit of business and I would be hurried out of the shop, so I'm
not surprised now that he was friendly with that bastard who took Libby,
well that's my story, Ken, the only people I really know are those I spoke
to when I was out shopping or neighbours, Oh and I know a few of the
mothers at Libbies school, but that is it" Breakfast went cold and didn't
get finished that morning, but the coffee and juice did, when Ellen drew a
breath after telling me her story I said "Sweetheart I just love you for
more reasons now, you have been through a lot as well before I arrived on
the scene and you are such a good mother to Libby, you have given her
values that made her the decent person she is, a little too fond of
shopping (we all giggled at that) but most women are, I'll soon whip her
into line" I creased up in laughter at the face she made, so did Ellen,
then Libby joined us in our laughter, anyone looking at us would have
thought we had several screws loose.  "I think we had better get ready to
go into the city to meet up with Donnie, then I want to take you both to
look at computers after, there must be a good electrical shop here in
Glasgow, a couple of laptops should do it and of course a TV and DAB radio"
Ellen said "There you go again Ken, you talk about spending money on
computers as if it's an everyday thing" I replied "Ellen, lets talk about
the money for a little while, (as she nodded I continued) that amount of
money is earning interest quicker than I could ever spend it, that's why I
want to give some, maybe a lot of it away, it's not doing any good to
anyone if I just sit on it, so my dearest Ellen and Libby when all this is
over and we can take a breather, we will get all our heads together to
figure out how we can do some good with it, OK?" "You are including me in
those plans Ken?  I am still a schoolgirl, what do I know?  Did you forget
I'm only coming up to 16?" "You are a young adult Libby and have a head on
your shoulders that needs to be tapped for knowledge and your Mother and I
will be doing the tapping, don't put yourself down Libby, you are an
intelligent young lady and I am going to see if we can get you into college
or university depending of course on your grades, now scoot, both of you,
we have to go" Libby was out of the door and I stopped Ellen "Hold on a
moment Ellen, she just said she is coming up to 16, when's her birthday?"
Ellen said quickly "In all this I forgot about that, what's the date today
Ken?" I looked at my watch and said "It's Friday the 28th May" "Oh, she
will be 16 years old on the 5th June, a week on Saturday, what am I going
to do?" "I'll talk to you later, go now" I gave her a pat on her backside
We met at the lift and went down, the concierge got us a taxi and he took
us and dropped us off outside the eating place, you couldn't call it a
restaurant but the menu outside promised good things, it was a Spanish
place, then Donnie walked up behind us and guided us in, it looked busy, I
couldn't see any spare tables but Donnie had a word with a waitress and she
told us to follow her, we weaved like a snake around tables and chairs
until we came to a clearing near the entrance to the kitchen with a sizable
round table and four comfortable chairs, so we sat, I faced Donnie and
Ellen and Libby facing each other, Donnie said to me with a smile on his
face "Do you want me to put this on your bill Ken?" "No Donnie, its better
if I get this, you'll only charge me double VAT if I let you pay" I joked
back and we both laughed.  Meanwhile Ellen and Libby had picked up the
table menu's and were looking quizzically through it at the unfamiliar
names then they both looked up at me, I knew what to do, I said to Donnie
"I think we will share some Tapas dishes" He replied that this place had a
great variety and that he loved that too and I said to him "Just go ahead
Donnie and order for all of us, your the boss of the table" He laughed and
held up his arm to attract the waitress, he spoke rapidly to her obviously
ordering a good mixture and while he did that I explained to the `girls'
that Tapas was a Spanish version of what we had had at the Chinese
restaurant but without the chopsticks, Libby said "Do all foreign countries
have that?" "Not all Libby, we have just been lucky here that Donnie's
favourite place is Spanish" Donnie heard my last words and asked if it was
alright bringing you all here, I reassured him and said "It's just that
Ellen and Libby haven't had a lot of restaurant food and some of it's a bit
new, but no problems" Donnie said "Do you mind if we wait until after the
food before we `talk shop' I just want to enjoy this, I haven't been in for
a while and I know you will all enjoy the experience" A short time later
the small dishes started to appear and a big dish of rice with peppers was
placed in the middle, I showed both the `girls' how to serve some rice and
take a little of each dish as it was handed round and the meal started, not
much was said, just discussions on the merits of each dish, good or bad,
some of it was a little too hot but there was plenty of `Sol' beer for the
grownups and Irn Bru for Libby to take the heat away, Ellen did say that
she didn't really enjoy beer until she had tasted the Tapas, she said that
they complimented each other, we had to agree on that, all too soon our
tummies told us we had had enough and both Ellen and Libby thanked Donnie
for the experience, I did too then Donnie waved to the waitress and she
came with a big tray and cleared the debris, Donnie asked if we all wanted
coffee and we nodded, after it had been served Donnie said "Well we can get
to our business now we have full tummies" Ellen started "Mr McKay, We got a
call from the police yesterday and they said that my husbands shop has been
ransacked, some stuff stolen and the place set alight, I'm really not too
bothered about that, but they said that during the search that they carried
out in the flat, they found no insurances of any kind, Ken suggested that I
ask if you would help me and maybe get me an accountant to get things
sorted out" "Well I could but there is something very important that you
can do for me first" "What ever is it I can do for you Mr McKay?" "Call me
Donnie, all my friends do, or the deals off!!!" He smiled at her, she said
"I haven't had a friend for so long, thank you...Donnie, I feel privileged"
"Now I need written permission from you so I can get the right people to go
through the business and personal things in your flat and whatever we can
find in the shop, a Power of Attorney, I will also need several copies of
the Death Certificate that I can show to your bank manager and one I can
keep on file ect, you could pop into our office this afternoon and it can
be got off the ground today.  Obviously I will have to contact the police
doctor for the certificates, but that and the bank will have to be on
Monday now, just relax, this can be sorted out relatively easily for us,
its what we are good at Mrs Murray" Then he smiled and added "I
know.....Ellen, Okay?" She said "Okay" He rose up and got the waitresses
eye and signalled for the bill and she must have had it ready, I handed her
my debit card and followed her to the till and we did the `chip and pin'
thing, I opened my wallet got out a generous tip and thanked her,
complimenting the food and the service, I turned and signalled to Donnie
and the others that I would meet them at the door and we left the place. 
Donnie's office was only a short walk, so we went and got all the papers
signed and sorted that Ellen needed to get done, we thanked Donnie and
walked out into the street, now I said to them "We will have a look at some
computers" Libby said "I think I know where we are, we can walk up Buchanan
St and then along Sauchiehall St, there's bound to be computer shops along
there somewhere" I, of course had never heard of any of those places she
mentioned, but she seemed to know, so we just followed on.  Then
low-and-behold we came to an electrical shop that did pretty much
everything and walked in.  We wandered around for a moment or two before a
guy asked if he could help us, I said "Yes, I want a DAB radio with good
surround sound speakers, a kitchen radio to fit under wall cabinets, a
large plasma screen TV, possibly 60" and a couple of smaller ones for
bedrooms, I need a good digital camera, preferably SLR with a sizable
memory card, I also want a laptop suitable for this young lady here, it
must have a good graphics card on it as, no doubt there will be some games
played on it, a good amount of memory as she will forget to clear out the
rubbish once in a while, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a slot for connecting to a
router, and it have better have a big screen, then there will be
peripherals like something to carry it in and the latest office programme
and some games.  We want a well known make as she will be travelling with
it and if anything goes wrong we want a good after sales service insurance"
My girls just stood back and listened to me rabbiting on, but the sales guy
just said "It's a pleasure serving someone who is genned up on electronics,
now there are a couple of models available with the specifications you have
given me, will you be wanting a printer?" "Yes, it'll be an all-in-one
photo quality type, but must have Wi-Fi we don't want a load of cables, I
will also need a laptop but the graphics card doesn't need to be over the
top, but the rest of the spec's must be the same" The young guy said "It
would be easier just to have two the same, we can give you them in a choice
of colours, maybe pink for the young lady and a more sedate colour for
yourself, sir" "Well I'd not get them mixed up then, for sure, OK we will
settle for that and now you can show us what you propose to sell us" He
asked us to wait as not all stock is on display, which seemed reasonable. I
saw him go into the back area and a moment later him and another couple of
guys came over to the counter and started laying stuff out, Libby caught
her eye on the pink laptop and fidgeted until it was brought out.  She
cried out "It's the most wonderful thing I have ever seen, I love it, Oh,
thank you Ken" I said to the sales guy "I think you have made her a very
happy bunny" Then he blushed, I said "Will the licence for the office
programme do two computers?" (He nodded a yes) I continued "We need
extended guarantees and can it all be delivered and if so, when?" He asked
if it would be cash or credit, I answered that I would pay for it all today
and started to get my big card out, the guy said that he wouldn't be able
to get the order delivered until Monday now as it was a little late in the
day and on a Friday and I replied that that was fine.  I sat down with him
for about ten minutes filling in the required forms then I handed him the
credit card and he blanched a little, I could see it in his face, he didn't
get to see many of these either but he knew what it was, he put it in his
machine and as I put my pin number in I could feel his eyes on my face, I
thought he's been trained well and what to look out for, he must have seen
my confidence because when I pulled out the card and looked up he was
smiling like a Cheshire cat that has the cream.  He asked me for a delivery
address and contact telephone and I gave that to him, I asked a time and he
said that it would be between 1:30 and 4:30pm, he couldn't pin the driver
down any nearer, he did say that the goods would have to be signed for
owing to the nature and cost of them, I shook his hand and we left the
shop, no doubt the guy would get good commission from the sale.  Ellen
asked "How do you know so much about computers if you are a construction
manager?" "When you are in the back of beyond and something goes wrong you
quickly learn how to put it right" We wandered down Sauchiehall St, even
went into a McDonalds and had a hamburger and chips each, we came
eventually to Charing Cross (I didn't know there was one in Glasgow as well
as London).  We finished quite close to an underground station and Libby
said we could get this to the other side of the Clyde then get a cab to the
hotel, it was getting busy (4:15pm is well into rush hour anywhere), but we
all enjoyed the experience and got back to the hotel safely.  As we were
walking up the steps my phone rang, "Mr Richards, its Partick police, we've
been trying to get in touch with Mrs Murray or you, some of our colleagues
in a different part of Glasgow raided a big house of, lets say `ill repute'
last night and three men were arrested along with the women, inside the
adjoining garage were a load of electrical tools and expensive security
locks and the like, so like good coppers they asked around other Glasgow
police stations if anyone was investigating a break-in to a locksmiths or
ironmongers and we popped our hands up, it may be they have the three
abductors we are looking for, I'll be able to give you more information on
Monday after we have had a word with them, okay?" I said "That sounds
great, I'll tell Mrs Murray and Libby, thank you for letting me know" He
said his goodbyes and hung up.  Both Ellen and Libby were looking at me
quizzically "The police think they have those pimps, Danny, Tommy and Bobby
but won't be able to confirm it to us until after the weekend, finally
Libby and Ellen it looks like you will be able to draw a line through that
part of your life, I think we should celebrate tonight and go out on the
town, maybe to a theatre to see a show or something" "I've not been to a
variety show before, I'd love to go, lets see what's on" So we went to
reception and asked if they had a list of entertainment for the Glasgow
area and what a list it was, I asked if there was places that hotel guests
could get into easy and we were given that list too, much smaller but
enough, I looked and saw there was a variety show on at `The Kings
Theatre', I asked if they could get tickets for a show that evening, she
asked us to wait and made a call then she said "There are tickets
available, do you want three together or a box?" "We'll take a box, what
time do we need to be there?" "6:30 for 7pm" "Do you want me to pay for it
now?" "No, Mr Richards we can add it onto your bill" "Thank you, well will
be here at 6:15 at the latest" I said to Ellen and Libby "Now we have to
get ready to Rock `n Roll" We went up in the lift and separated to go to
our rooms to get ready, thank goodness we had had those hamburgers because
we would have to wait a while before we ate again.  Anyway we did manage to
get a taxi about 6:15 and got whisked off to the theatre.  Oh, what a great
evening we had, Ellen and Libby laughed and enjoyed the comedians, a
ventriloquist and the variety acts, we got out of the theatre at about
10:15 and though a little peckish decided to wait till we got to the hotel
to see if we could get a sandwich from room service and that's just what we
did in my room.  We were coming to the end of the sandwiches when Libby
said "I think Mum, that you should just give me the key for my room and
I'll go and watch some TV before turning in, then you and Ken can watch
some TV in here or whatever on your own together" She delivered that with a
little giggle and I leaned over to give her a swat but she dodged well with
another giggle and I looked and saw Ellen just smiling, I said "Aren't you
going to chastise your daughter for what she's saying Ellen" "No, she's
your daughter as well now Ken I'll trust you to do what's right now" I
loved to hear that and made a lunge at Libby who screamed "No Daddy, I'll
be good" I grabbed her, lifted her up and turned her onto my lap so her bum
was facing me "Mummy, help!!!" I gave her a little swat and let her get up,
then I laughed and as we laughed together, I said "So that's it then, now
we are a family" Both Ellen and Libby got serious again and nodded
agreement.  Libby said "I know you two will eventually get married but I
want all my friends to know that I have a Daddy again, can I go back to
school again, please and can my Mum and Dad take me on Monday morning?" "I
for one am very proud to call you `Daughter' and you're mum and me will
take you in on Monday morning, okay?  Now it's time for your bed, we will
be busy tomorrow with the new house" Then I turned to Ellen and said "I
think you had better give her the key or she might get a sex education
lesson before she goes back to school" Ellen was blushing but gave Libby
the key then we both got hugs and kisses, she thanked me for this evening
and left us to go to her room.  Ellen came over to me and held onto me with
her head leaning into my shoulder, "No regrets Ken?  You've gotten yourself
a big responsibility now.  Are you ready for it?" "Ellen, when I asked you
to marry me I really meant it, I have to admit I have said those words to a
woman before you, I've been engaged before and I decided that after I had
been offered a work contract I didn't want to give up travelling to get
married plus I was too young really.  Now I know that if all the money
evaporated overnight I wouldn't change my mind over you and Libby and if
someone were to offer me a contract it would have to be one so you could be
there with me, so yes I would change my lifestyle but not my decision, are
you okay with that my darling?" Ellen said "Let's go to bed and discuss
this and other things in depth" So that's what we did, I mean we went to
bed, we didn't discuss much, we were too busy touching, kissing, nibbling
and generally moving about in different positions to do any discussing.