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“Oh,” Diana whispered as Cheryl’s bra landed on the blanket. “Beautiful,” she added.

“Should we lie down now?”

“Maybe we take the rest of our clothes off first? These skirts are… complicated.”

Cheryl chuckled and said, “I wish you could’ve worn a suit tonight.”

“My dad would’ve killed me. Besides, I don’t have one and can’t afford one, either.”

“We’ll get you one when we move to the city one day. You can have a going out suit, and I can stare at you when you wear it.”

Cheryl undid her belt and stood. It took her a second, but then Diana realized that Cheryl wanted her to help her take the skirt off. So, she knelt in front of her girlfriend and helped remove the skirt, grateful that there were no extra layers tonight. Her underwear was left, but Diana wasn’t sure if Cheryl was ready to take those off yet. Cheryl went to sit down quickly, probably feeling naked and not wanting anyone else to see her, and Diana removed her own skirt. They were only left in their underwear now, so she stared at Cheryl, wondering what they should do next.

“Um…” Cheryl began. “When Maria and Isabella did this, how did they start?”

“Maria asked Isabella’s permission because Maria was a princess, and she didn’t want it to sound like an order.”

“But they loved each other.”

“Yes. But she still did. So, maybe I should?”

“Becauseyouwere the princess?” Cheryl smiled at her and moved to lie down on the blanket. “Maybe I was a queen once,” she suggested.

“You’re a queen to me right now,” Diana replied and moved until she was on top of Cheryl. When their breasts pressed together for the first time, and Cheryl gasped, she asked, “Is this okay?”

Cheryl nodded quickly and said, “Yes. This is what I want.”

“And you’re sure you want the rest, too?”

“I love you. Yes, this is what I want.”

“I love you, too. I can’t wait until we can get out of here and have a little apartment where it’s just you and me, and we can do this whenever we want.”

“Me neither,” Cheryl said.

When they made love for the first time, it was awkward at times and beautiful atalltimes. It took them some time to understand what to do to bring each other pleasure, but when they did, Diana cried. Cheryl cried, too. Then, they just held each other, wishing it could be easier for them to be together. As they dressed to go, they weren’t sure when they’dbe able to do this again. Things were busy at the shop for Diana. She was also in the science club now, thanks to Cheryl, and there was a science competition they were preparing for in the spring. Cheryl was in clubs, too, and she had to help her mother around the house. They both had their futures planned independently of the other because they didn’t want the other person to be miserable not getting what they wanted.

Cheryl had a chance to work at a newspaper. The money would be next to nothing, but she’d be learning from the only woman reporter on staff. Her father had made a few calls when Cheryl had told him that she wanted to be a reporter like him. Diana had managed to get into a small nursing program at a college in the city. She’d have to get a job, and they still had to work that part out, but they’d be out of this town, and that was important to both of them.

Cheryl’s parents had agreed to get her a small one-bedroom apartment, and Cheryl had told them that she’d be letting Diana live there, too, at least until Diana could save up to get a place of her own or find a husband, which was what Cheryl’s mother had suggested, of course. Still, they’d agreed that it would be all right for a little while, and Diana couldn’t wait until they had an apartment of their own that they paid for where they wouldn’t be beholden to Cheryl’s parents.

Maybe one day, they’d have a little house together, a backyard, and a dog. If nothing else, though, Diana knew that they would always, always have love.

CHAPTER 29

1964

“Idon’t want him to know,” Lily said.

“He’s your husband, Lily,” Diana replied.

“You know he’s not. My parents are making me marry him,” Lily replied as she sipped her tea. “I hate him. He hates me. We weren’t even supposed to sleep together until after we are married and I’m living in denial that we’d ever even gotten married because he goes out with other women all the time. Then, suddenly, he’s taking me on a date three months ago, and he wants us to do that to make sure, I don’t know, that I’d be good at it. He was gentle, at least. Nothing bad. But there was no emotion there, either. Now, I’m unmarried and pregnant, and I can’t keep this baby. He’d be a horrible father, just like he’ll be a horrible husband. At least, for me, since he doesn’t even like me. He likes that my father has promised him that he can take over the car lot after he retires more than he likes the idea of me being his wife. He doesn’t want children with me. I know that much. He pretends that he does, but he doesn’t.”

“What are you going to do?” Cheryl asked from her spot on the sofa next to Diana.

“Well, I was hoping I might be able to stay here with you two for a while. I want to leave town. My job at the car lot doesn’t pay much because my dad thinks that women shouldn’t work and that my husband will take care of me, but ever since the engagement, I’ve been saving up to leave. That’s what I want to do, but…” Lily looked down at the teacup in her shaking hands. “I don’t want to… It’s not the baby’s fault that this is happening. He or she can’t control who their father is. And I know women can do things to not be pregnant, but I don’t want that, either. I was hoping that, since I know you two… want a child together, you might take the baby in for me. I’d send you money. The baby’s father doesn’t know anything about you two because you’re from my other life where I get to be myself.”

Lily was talking about the bar downtown that Diana and Cheryl had found three years ago when they’d first moved into an apartment of their own. Five years together already at age twenty-three, and they’d never looked back. Cheryl had gotten that job at the paper and had worked there for two years before moving to a different paper. Diana had recently finished school and had had a job all throughout it. Things had been tough for them, and they still were, but with Cheryl’s parents paying for their first apartment for two years, they’d been able to save up for one of their own. They’d decorated it in smooth yellows, pale blues, and soft fabrics, wanting it to be a home for them. They also had two bedrooms, and both were set up as if they slept in them nightly in case they had visitors who didn’t know about them. Cheryl’s family had stopped by once and had inspected both rooms as if they’d known something but said nothing and never had.