The smallest of smiles appeared on Laura's face. "She's a lot stronger than she appears at times...and quite stubborn."

Knowing her cousin all too well, Dorothy let out a laugh. "Oh, I'd love to be a fly on the wall of your house when you two get into a row."

Before Laura could speak, the back door opened and Toni came inside. Seeing the two women sitting at the table, she grinned. "Let me guess. Swapping recipes?"

"No, we were talking about you if you must know," Laura said, getting to her feet to give Toni a quick peck on the cheek.

"An intriguing subject, am I?" Toni asked, looking at Dorothy.

Pressing her tongue against the inside of her cheek, a devilish look came into Dorothy's eyes. "Well, we haven't had time to get to the really juicy parts, so I'll have to get back to you on that one."

Less than an hour later, Nancy, Peggy, Stephen and their two sons, Paul and Gavin, arrived. Unlike their out-of-control cousin, Myles, the two little boys stood quietly at their parents' sides as all the introductions were made. Politely giving small kisses and hugs to everyone, when their father suggested that they play in the lounge, they eagerly took his hand as he led the way.

Waiting in the doorway, Peggy watched as Stephen and the boys began assembling a new train set, and then catching the eyes of her sister and cousin, she gestured toward the kitchen. A few minutes later, the three women sat around the kitchen table enjoying a few minutes of quiet time.

As Dorothy refilled her wine, she glanced at Laura and unable to contain herself any longer, she blurted, "So...what's it like?"

Laura's cheeks heated immediately. Looking back and forth between her two cousins, their smiles said it all. "Please tell me you're not asking for details," Laura groaned.

"Well, I'd ask you to draw us a picture, but after seeing your attempt at artwork on those cards in the lounge, I doubt that would help," Dorothy said, sending a wink in her sister's direction.

"Dorothy, stop, you're embarrassing her," Peggy said, trying to hold back her grin. "Besides, from what Laura has told me, Toni's been gay a lot longer than her. If Laura doesn't want to share, perhaps Toni will. I mean, she probably knows lots of...um...things. Don't you think?"

The memory of Toni's lesson in the bathtub came rushing back, and sitting up straight, Laura blurted, "Oh, no, you don't."

Dorothy quickly glanced at her sister and winked. "Hit a nerve, did we, Laura?"

"You two need to behave. I've never asked you to give me any intimate details about your partners."

"Our partners were men. Yours is a woman, and that's new and different, and...interesting," Dorothy said, leaning closer.

"What's interesting?" Toni asked as she came into the kitchen.

"Nothing, sweetheart," Laura said quickly. "Nothing at all."

Dismissing Laura with a wave of her hand, Dorothy said, "We were just asking Laura what it was like to be with you, and she won't tell us."

For a moment, Toni's eyebrows knitted, but when she saw the playful looks on the faces of Laura's cousins, she held back her smile and sauntered over to the table.

"Let me guess. You want to know the secrets of lesbian love," she said in the most provocative tone she could muster. Resting her hands on Laura's shoulders, she looked at the two very eager women sitting at the table, and placing a soft kiss on the top of Laura's head, Toni purred, "Darling, tell them whatever you wish. I'm sure they'd be more than interested in knowing about bathtubs and soap...and the like."

Laura had neglected to use one word when describing her cousins to Toni...and that word was tenacious. Watching as her partner nonchalantly strolled back to the counter to refill her wine, Laura thought about the implications of Toni's statement, and her cheeks darkened to their deepest. Refusing to look in her cousins' direction, Laura kept her eyes on Toni, hoping and praying that she would come to her rescue, but when Laura saw the smirk Toni was wearing, she slouched in her chair. She was a goner.

After corking the bottle, Toni looked up, and it was all she could do not to burst out laughing. Three slack-jawed faces were staring back at her, one of which was now the darkest shade of red imaginable. Meandering over to the table, she placed another light kiss on Laura's head, winked at Dorothy and Peggy and then left the room without saying a word.

Seconds later, Dorothy and Peggy turned to Laura and spoke as one. "Bathtubs?"

Entering the lounge, Toni smiled at the life it held. Three little boys were stretched out on the floor near the Christmas tree, playing with their trains and toys as they chattered away. Bernard and Bill relaxed on the sofa sipping their whisky while Neville slept between them, and Eleanor and Nancy sat near the front windows, tittering at the children's antics.

Near the fireplace stood Stephen, and watching as he tended to the fire, Toni set her jaw, filled her lungs and strode across the room.

They had exchanged greetings an hour earlier when he had arrived, so when Stephen turned around to find Toni standing behind him, he grinned. "Hey there."

Wincing at the sight of the bruises on his face, she asked, "How you doing?"

"Me? I'm fine," Stephen said, rubbing his bruised jaw. "This will be gone in a few days and then all we'll have left is the memory."

"Well, I don't remember much, but I do know you saved my life. I'm...I'm not sure how I'll ever be able to repay you for that, but...but I want to thank you for doing it."

"You're welcome," Stephen said, holding out his hand.

Toni paused for a moment as she stared at his outstretched hand, and then raising her eyes, she said, "I've got problems."

Smiling, Stephen shrugged. "Don't we all."

"A lot of them have to do with men."

"Understandable. Some of us are pains in the arse."

Grinning, Toni said, "You're not."

"I'm not so sure about that. After all, you really don't know me that well."

"I think I know all I need to know."

"Yeah?"

Toni's eyes locked on Stephen's, and taking a step closer, she wrapped her arms around him. Kissing him lightly on the cheek, she whispered, "I know I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you. I know you risked your own life to save mine, and I know...I know that the only reason you had for doing what you did was because it's who you are...and I thank God for that."

"Not switching sides, are you?" Peggy asked, waddling into the lounge.

With a laugh, Toni released her hold on Stephen, and blinking back her tears, she looked in Peggy's direction. "Wouldn't think of it."

Peggy shuffled over, her face a wee bit rosier than it had been earlier and her eyes sparkling with humor. "After what Laura just told me, I don't blame you."

Gifts were exchanged and snacks were nibbled, and when the snow began to fall again, children and adults alike, scrambled for their boots and mittens.

Walking into the lounge, Nancy smiled at the disarray of Christmas. Bows were scattered here and there, and bits of ribbon littered the floor. Wads of wrapping paper having not yet met their demise in the hearth had been crammed into boxes, and toys assembled by frazzled fathers, waited for their owners to return.

"Here you go, sweetheart," Nancy said, handing Peggy a cup of tea. "Are the boys still outside?"

Amused that her mother had grouped the young and old under one heading, Peggy chuckled. "Yes, but I'm not sure who was more excited about building a snowman, Stephen, Bill or the kids."

"Don't forget about Bernard. He seemed to have a bit of pep in his step also."

"I think that had something to do with the fact that Myles can't run very fast in the snow."

"Yes, you're probably right," Nancy said with laugh.

Breathing in deep the aroma of turkey wafting through the house, Peggy said, "Dinner smells delicious."

"Yes, it does," Nancy said quietly.

"Do they need any help?"

"No, between Eleanor, Laura, Toni and Dorothy, they've got it all under control. Trust me."

Staring at her mother for a moment, Peggy leaned a little closer. "You know you need to tell them."

"Yes, but I don't need to tell them today."

"You were amazing yesterday," Peggy said softly.

"Was I?"

"Yes. When they demanded to question everyone, and you picked up the phone and called the Chief Constable, I thought I was going to die."

"Gordon was your father's best friend, and after being married to a policeman for so many years, I know their procedures. I wasn't pressing charges against Ron for the damage to my home. All I was doing was providing them with possible evidence, and until they get the test results and find Ron, this is all speculative anyway. There was no need to bring anyone else into this yet, and Gordon agreed. This isn't about what Ron did to Toni. It's about what that bastard did to all those poor women. So, if the blood evidence on the belt ties Ron to the victims, everything else is moot."

"I hope so for Toni's sake."

"Me, too, sweetheart," Nancy said with a nod. "Me, too."

Late in the afternoon, they feasted on Christmas dinner, and while there was barely elbow room around the table, no one seemed to care. Over the years, Bill had spent many a Christmas dinner at his sister's house, watching as his brother-in-law or his nieces' husbands had served the Christmas turkey, so when Eleanor put the carving set in his hand, Bill couldn't contain his smile. Proudly, he placed thick slices on plates as Eleanor spooned on piles of stuffing and passed around homemade cranberry relish. Glasses were filled and refilled with wines of both red and white as laughter filled the room, and the sounds of a family rejoicing in their new-found love for one another grew loud as they spoke of Christmases long since gone.

After one quick glance at Eleanor, Bill stood up and tapped his knife on a glass. "I'd like to propose a toast."

The room went quiet, and while everyone reached for their goblets, Bill sorted out his thoughts. Looking around the table, his eyes stopped when they met Eleanor's, and clearing his throat, he said, "I stand amongst you a man enlightened. Never in my dreams had I allowed myself to believe that I'd ever have my Eleanor's love again, but I do...and I thank God for it. She has forgiven me for my blunders, my youthful arrogance, and most of all, for my stupidity." Raising his glass, he said, "To the woman I love with all my heart, my dearest, Eleanor."

Taking a sip, he waited until everybody else did the same, and then gazing at his daughter, he said, "To my Laura..." Stopping abruptly, Bill hung his head as he tried to choke back his tears. "Okay, this one is going to be a bit tougher, I think," he murmured.

No one moved or said a word, but around the table, eyes grew moist.

Taking a deep breath, Bill looked up and gazed at the woman sitting at the other end of the table. "To my daughter, Laura," he said, holding up his glass. "It's so hard for me to believe that I had anything to do with you being in this world, because in my eyes, you are perfect...and I am most assuredly not. You are more than any father could ever hope for, and I love you with all my heart. I thank you for allowing me to become your father again, and I promise to never give you a reason to regret it."

Bill smiled softly as his daughter wiped away a tear, and after taking a sip of wine, his eyes shifted to the woman flanked by Eleanor and Laura.

"Now we come to you, lass," he said, his voice betraying him as it dropped into a shaky whisper. "As a man, I think myself strong, but I am weak compared to you. And not to speak out of turn, but I'm sure we all wonder how you survived...and I'm sure we all thank God it wasn't us.

"At times, we complain about our lives, about our hard days at work or at home, but we have no idea what hard is...do we? Well, at least we didn't until we met you.

"You've given us all a reason to cherish those we love. You've given us all a reason to complain a wee bit less about life's troubles, and you've given us all a reason to raise our glasses to you...and to thank God for bringing you into our lives."

Raising his glass, in a tear-filled breath, Bill said, "To Toni...for giving us a reason."

EPILOGUE.

Six months later, standing near a boulder atop a hill overlooking a field of heather, they were married.

One, in simple black trousers with a peasant shirt of white waited nervously for her bride to arrive. Fidgeting with the sleeves of her blouse, it wasn't until Toni saw the steely glare of her best man that she stilled and waited like all the others for Laura to appear.

He had been the man who had saved her life, and now he protected in his hand bands of gold that would be exchanged in only a few minutes. Giving Toni a quick wink, Stephen looked to the family and friends seated in white folding chairs a few feet away. Locking eyes with his wife, he mouthed the words "I love you" and then glanced at their infant son, Anthony, cradled in her arms. The child began to whimper as if on cue, and Stephen rolled his eyes, chuckling under his breath as he turned back to the woman standing next to him. Seeing the look in Toni's eyes, Stephen followed her gaze, and he couldn't stop himself from uttering, "Wow."

Wearing a flowing white dress and holding a bouquet of roses and thistle close to her bosom, arm-in-arm with her father, Laura slowly made her way up the hill. In her shoe was a sixpence, put there by her father as was the Scottish tradition, and over her shoulder was a sash of MacLeod tartan. She kept her eyes on Toni, never once looking to make sure her footing was sound, and without one stumble, Laura came to a stop a few feet away from the woman she loved.

Bill gazed at his daughter for a moment before leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. Breathing deep, he took Laura's hand and placed it in Toni's. "I give to you my daughter's hand, and she gives to you her heart." Taking the sash from Laura, he said, "These are our colors...our tartan, and now, they are yours."

Draping it over Toni's shoulder, Bill placed a soft kiss on her cheek, and taking a ragged breath, he stepped back.

They had agreed upon a simple service, and after the pastor had spoken his words, it was time for them to speak their own. Smiling softly at the nervousness she saw in Toni's eyes, Laura gave her hand a squeeze, silently asking permission to go against plan and speak first, and seeing Toni nod, Laura took a ring from Stephen's open hand and placed it on Toni's finger.

"With this ring, I pledge to you my love...forever and always. I promise to be your wife, your lover and your friend. I promise to be there for you in sickness and in health, through steps forward and backward, through nerves and nightmares, through insecurities and fears. I will never falter in my love for you, for you complete me, Antoinette...and you are the reason I breathe."

Toni blinked back her tears as Laura slipped the ring on her finger. She knew her knees were trembling badly, and even though she had practiced a hundred times the words she wanted to say, when Toni looked into Laura's eyes, her mind went blank.

Toni took a deep breath and quickly followed it by another as her heart began to race, but when she glanced at the wedding ring on her finger, her anxieties disappeared. Even though most of the words still escaped her, she smiled at Stephen, and when he opened his hand, Toni plucked the ring from his palm. Slipping it on Laura's finger, she said, "With this ring, I give you my love, my heart and my soul...for as long as we both shall live. I promise to be your wife, your lover, your friend, and the mother to your children no matter how many you decide we should have." Toni paused for a moment, and offering Laura a weak grin, she said, "I had a lot of things I wanted to say here today, but it seems that I've forgotten most of them."

"That's okay, sweet-"

"Darling...I'm not through," Toni said softly.

Laura blushed hearing a titter roll through the guests like a wave. Biting her lip, she silently apologized to her soon-to-be wife with a roll of her eyes.

After giving Laura's hand a reassuring squeeze, Toni said, "No one really knows the reasons why things happen, but if I were asked to go back and repeat my past, I would do it in a heartbeat because it led me here to you. Like I said, I've forgotten most of what I wanted to say, but there's one thing I need you to know. A few months ago, I lay dead in the snow...and you are the reason I came back."

Tears flowed freely from family and friends alike as the two women kissed. Although protocol dictated that their first kiss be chaste, Laura couldn't resist taking it one step further. When they finally came up for air, they were greeted by loud whistles and applause, and joining hands, they walked toward their guests, both wearing smiles that bested the brilliance of the sun.

Running his finger down his face, he traced the scars again. It was now a habit for they were a reminder of his one mistake. He had been so careful, or so he thought, but a heavyset woman with a penchant for bright colors and tabloid newspapers had been his undoing, and he was now paying the price.

Preferring to draw the attention of their readers to economy woes, politicians caught with their pants down and the latest celebrity to overdose on drugs, most publishers had buried the articles about murdered prostitutes in the bowels of their newspapers. Crimes against the dregs of society, as far as they were concerned, were a waste of good ink...but the editors of The Weekly Sun felt differently.

Built on sensationalism and gossip, their pages were filled with out-of-focus photographs of celebrities at their worst, reports of aliens, and articles about unsolved mysteries, both new and old. The murders of prostitutes were still not worthy of headlines, but the gory details of the crimes had been enough to warrant a column or two not far from the front page. With their no-holds-barred approach and a plethora of anonymous tipsters, even though photographs of the corpses were never released, their writers had managed with mere words to keep more than one reader from falling asleep at night. From the horrific conditions of the bodies, to the way the murder weapon had left three almost identical marks across the skin of the victims, no detail, no matter how horrid, had been left out. Quotes from experts stating that the victims appeared to have been brutally raped before and after their demise had been printed in bold and italics, and it was suggested to the women who worked the streets in and around Glasgow that they dye their hair blonde...for he liked it dark.