The Accidental Lesbian

Dana laughed cautiously and smiled awkwardly, "Ah, um, yeah. You are hot. And so am I. I'm very sorry."

"Enough apologizing. Do you want some more coffee?" Theresa asked. "I'm buying. Least I can do."

"I'm really not allowed to accept a gift," Dana said.

"Gift? For God's sake, it's a cup of coffee! Please, let me get you a refill." Theresa pleaded.

"Well...all right. Sure. Thank you, ma'am," Dana said as she really surveyed Theresa Johnson for the first time. She was a tall woman in her mid to late 40's. Her legs were long and lean and she fit nicely in her jogging/biking shorts. Her belly was a bit soft but mostly flat, her torso long, her breasts very nicely shaped and sized and she was nicely tanned. Plus she had this beautiful sort of Marine buzz hair cut.

Dana's physical assessment of her again was not lost on Theresa. Theresa returned Dana's smile just as awkwardly. "Uh, do you take anything in your coffee..."

"Dana, please call me Dana."

"Do you take anything in your coffee, Dana?"

"No. You're just fine, ma'am. Oh...SHIT...uh, I'm sorry, just black." Dana felt herself flush with embarrassment. God, she hadn't been this brazen with another woman since college. To cover her embarrassment she said, "Uh, I've got a spare shirt in my car. I'll just be over there." Dana point at her cruiser.

Theresa smiled, delighted but somewhat frightened by Dana's open sexual appreciation of her, "Okay."

Theresa quickly came out of the convenience store with two cups of black coffee. She met Dana behind Dana's cruiser. Dana had the trunk open but had not changed her top. Dana took the coffee and immediately took a sip. "Um, thank you. I can't get going in the morning without my daily caffeine fix."

"I know exactly what you mean. Is there anything I can do to help you?

Dana looked around the parking lot and out onto the street. "Um, this is going to be a bit awkward, changing. I got it under my armor so I need to strip down. Would you mind standing beside my window while I try to do a quick change?"

"Not at all." Theresa followed Dana as Dana got into her cruiser.

Dana wasn't kidding about a quick change. In moments Dana had abruptly handed out the window to Theresa her uniform tunic, tee-shirt, her soft body armor and her lacy, under wire bra. Then she stepped out of the cruiser to tuck the tail of her dry uniform blouse into her uniform trousers.

Theresa stood beside the cruiser with all of Dana's clothing, the most prominent of which was the under wire bra. "You know, uh, Dana, if I could be permitted an observation, this under wire, push up job, while very, um, nice looking, gets lost underneath your armor. Why don't you wear something like I've got on?" Theresa spread her arms so that Dana could see Theresa's jogging top, really nothing more than spandex and cotton. Dana took time again to notice the breasts the spandex and cotton held and Theresa's bare midriff.

Dana smiled, this time not awkwardly, "Well, I like a little pain, every once in a while."

Theresa took this comment in stride and without looking at Dana said, "Um, a naughty girl." And then Theresa looked the officer straight in the eye and was all business, "Have you got extra armor, Dana?"

"Well, uh, no."

"You are NOT going out on the street without your armor. I could not live with myself if you were shot without your armor because some old lady made you spill coffee down your top."

"Really, uh..."

"Theresa."

"Really, Theresa, I'll be fine and I wouldn't consider you an old lady," Dana said smiling. She felt touched by Theresa's concern. It wasn't motherly she thought. It had the quality of a lover's concern.

"The hell you say, Officer! I will call your watch commander if I have to. I do not want you injured because of me. I couldn't bear it."

Dana wasn't quite sure what to do or say next when another cruiser pulled in the parking lot and stopped next to the pair.

"Everything okay, Dano?" the male officer asked - using the Hawaii Five O nick name her squad had given her when they found out that's what they called her in the Marines - while looking at Theresa with suspicious concern.

"Yeah Reggie, just a coffee accident. Uh, look, you don't happen to have a spare vest do you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"This good citizen refuses to let me go on patrol without armor. Says she'll call the skipper."

The officer, Reggie, looked confused. Dana nodded toward Theresa. "We bumped into each other and spilled hot coffee all over each other. My coffee went down between me and my body armor. Can I borrow it?"

"Yeah, sure."

While the officer parked his cruiser and got out to get his spare armor Theresa stepped close to Dana and, looking at the ground, spoke softly.

"Were you really, you know, uh, checking me out a moment ago?"

"Yes," Dana said without hesitation.

"Thank you. I'm flattered." Theresa blushed from the roots of her hair to the top of her exposed cleavage . "Uh, jeez, this is awkward. Uh, I'm not that way but uh...Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Dana wondered what the question would be. She could hardly wait and she felt the other officer's presence might break up this moment of closeness with this woman that Dana had suddenly decided she wanted to get to know. "But wait a sec," Dana half whispered, conspiratorially.

"Hey, Reg?"

"Yeah, Dano?"

"You got a liner for that thing?" Dana said, pointing at the kevlar vest in his hand.

"Uh, I'll have to look." Reggie ducked back down into the trunk.

"Okay Theresa, shoot."

"Uh, would you like to come over to my place and I'll fix dinner and afterward we can have some wine and watch TV or just get to know each other. Uh, it's kind of like an old, straight person's idea of a nice date."

Dana reached out and barely touching Theresa's chin, raised Theresa's gaze to meet Dana's. Dana felt a thrill deep inside that Theresa did not resist her touch or her movement of Theresa's head. Theresa felt as if an electric bolt of pleasure had moved through her body. It had been so very, very long, since someone had touched her intimately.

Dana's eyes showed her delight at the invitation. "I'd be delighted. Absolutely delighted."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

"Tonight then?"

"Ah, short notice but sure."

"What would you like? To eat?"

Dana laughed like she had the day before when she first saw Theresa trying to expose as much skin as she could in hopes of avoiding a ticket from a male officer. "Uh, yeah, I know what you meant. Uh, I don't want to impose. I wouldn't know what to ask for. I'd feel awkward. I do feel awkward!"

"Look, pretend you're calling home and telling your, uh, significant other what you want for dinner. I'm a very good cook."

Dana looked at the ground and spoke. "Okay. Um, Theresa, hey, it's me. You know we haven't had steak in a long time. Would you mind throwing on a couple of ribeyes and making some baked potatoes to go with them?"

"Gee, Dana, it's a little short notice," Theresa responded to their little role play and looking at the ground too. "But sure. Hey, on your way home why don't you pick up some wine to have with the steaks?"

Dana laughed quietly. This felt so good to her, so right and easy and natural. "Okay," and without even thinking she said, as if she were ending this imaginary phone call, "see you around 7:30. Love you, babe. Have a good rest of the day." Then it hit Dana what she had said and she was struck with worry. She quickly looked up to find a surprised looking Theresa staring at her with wide eyes.

"I, just got a very weird feeling there," Theresa finally said.

The smile on Dana's face diminished and quietly she said, "I'm sorry. Got carried away I guess. I didn't mean..."

Theresa quickly reached out for Dana and held her by the arms, "OH! No! No, don't be sorry. The weird feeling was good, very good. It's just, well, for the moment I want to keep it to myself. Ask me after dinner; I'll tell you then."

Dana's smile returned. "Really?"

Theresa nodded in assent with a blush and a smile just as Reggie came up with the spare body armor.

The day did not pass fast enough for either woman. And neither was really sure what would happen at dinner though they both had hopes that the other woman would give some indication, make some move first rather than have to worry about how to approach this problem. It would be a very interesting evening for both women though they had no idea just how interesting.

When Theresa got home she found all three of her daughters at home. She spoke to the youngest, 16 year old Lisa, first. "So? You and your sisters have plans for tonight?"

"Not really. What's for dinner?"

"Dinner," Theresa repeated, rapidly thinking about Dana's visit and how to deal with it now that it appeared there'd be additional guests.

"Well, it's going to be steak night. I'm going to get some ribeyes and we're having a guest for dinner tonight too."

Lisa's eyes widened. "A guest? What kind of guest?"

Theresa started to say when Lisa ran off and up the stairs yelling Ali and Becca's names. Oh, God Theresa thought and had a moment of anxiety. It's just a guest. Nothing else. She relaxed.

She should have checked out what the girls were talking about though because "We're having a guest," after some discussion and critical analysis on the sisters' parts turned into, "Mom's gotta a date! And she's bringing him home tonight!"

Promptly at 7:30 PM Theresa's doorbell rang. Theresa had wanted to get the door and prepare Dana for the girls but she lost track of time and was in the kitchen while the daughters sat, like dogs waiting for their master to come home, in the living room.

Becca opened the door with a little more excitement than she should have. She was confronted by the sight of a lean woman, just slightly shorter than her mother, with shoulder length blond hair and a nice tan who, wearing a plain white tee-shirt (without a bra, Becca noticed) and low rise jeans - was holding a bottle of wine.

Dana smiled awkwardly and stepped back from the door to check the address above the door. The address was correct. Dana stepped back up to face a half-frozen Becca with wide eyes and a silly smile who looked as if she were holding her breath.

"Uh, hi," Dana said to the girl. "Is Theresa at home?"

Becca stood still, still staring. After a moment, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Theresa? Is she home?"

"Oh! Yeah, sure. Come on in, please. I'm sorry about the, you know, at the door, Mom didn't tell me that she was expecting a woman to be the dinner guest. You are here for dinner, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Yes, I am. Here," Dana held out a bottle of wine, "would you give this to your mother? And, uh, it's okay - your surprise - Theresa didn't mention her daughter would be here."

Just then Ali and Lisa appeared in the entry way staring at Dana. Becca quickly corrected, "Daughters. There's three of us." She motioned to her sisters. "Let's take this to Mom. Uh, please, just have a seat in there," Becca pointed to the living room.

As Dana started for the living room, feeling slightly uncomfortable and confused about the daughters, she heard one of the girls half whisper, excitedly, "My God, Mom's gone lesbian!"

Oh my god... Dana thought. She was hoping the evening would turn intimate and she would get to explore the older woman's athletic body. She so needed to feel another woman's skin against hers and to whisper things to someone. She even thought maybe she could take Theresa's cherry - if Dana really was the first woman that Theresa had been with. And this thought caused an immediate arousal to sweep through Dana. But now? Shit, she thought, this is going to be different.

The girls burst into the kitchen, each calling to their mother. They were in such a hurry that they almost had trouble getting through the kitchen door. Theresa looked up, she was taking the baked potatoes out of the oven, "What on earth?!"

Becca managed to shush her younger sisters and then barely manage to collect herself. With a broad smile on her face she said, "Mom, your lesbian date is here." All the girls giggled giddily.

Theresa was shocked then appalled. "Rebbecca, Alison and Lisa Johnson! I hope you didn't do something to upset Dana," she scolded. "Since when has it been the practice in this house to announce a person's sexuality, let alone assume it? How utterly crass and impolite and uncivilized and...!"

Becca held up a hand, a look of remorse on her face, "Okay Mom. We get it. Here. Your friend bought a bottle of wine."

Theresa took the wine, looked at it and set it aside. "Girls, get the table set and the food on the table. Now." Everyone scrambled as if a drill sergeant had barked the command. But when the younger girls made it out of the kitchen and into the formal dining room, Becca hung back. She was carrying the bread basket. "You know Mom, you never did say whether she was lesbian or your date or not."

Theresa put her hand on a hip and looked penetratingly at her oldest daughter. Becca wasn't sure her mother was going to give any ground. But then Theresa spoke quietly and carefully, looking for her daughter's approval, "Honey, I'm fairly sure it's affirmative on the first item and - I don't know on the second. I have been feeling lonely lately. I don't know...there's just something about Dana - that's her name - that makes me feel, well...she makes me feel good."

Becca smiled at her mother; a smile of approval and humor. "Okay, Mom. Well, I think she's hot. And I think Lisa would like to be able to say she has two mommies."

"Would you, Becca?"

"Would I what?"

"Would you like to be able to say you have two mommies?"

"Um, I wouldn't mind. Would you mind if nothing happens between you two if I tried to date her?"

"Seriously?" Theresa was stunned. Becca a lesbian? Theresa made a note to herself to spend more time with the girls in order to know what was happening in their lives.

Becca paused for what seemed an eternity and watched her mother very carefully, "Well, yeah, I think.."

Theresa shook her head and then smiled, "We'll talk about it later. Let's just make it through dinner, okay?"

"Sure."

"I'm going to go see our dinner guest."

Dana was wondering around the living room looking at the pictures on the walls and various other places. After seeing the first few pictures her mouth opened involuntarily from awe. They were just pictures of military people in various places. She was in one of the pictures. It was taken at a forward operations base in Northern Afghanistan.

"Interesting picture, isn't it?" Theresa's voice had a quality of quiet enthusiasm to it. She was glad to see Dana although she'd just seen her that morning.

"Yeah," Dana said as she turned. "You know I'm in this one?"

"Uh-huh. I do. Although I didn't realize until last night after I got home with my ticket. Small world, eh?"

"Yeah, small world. So which one of these jarheads is yours?" Dana felt at ease in Theresa's presence and with all the military pictures she felt at ease to speak freely.

"He's the one with the eagles sitting on his shoulders," Theresa said with quiet pride.

Dana's mouth dropped open and she almost braced to attention. Instead, when she could finally speak she said, "You mean Bad Ass Bob Johnson...?" Dana said with a mixture of admiration and disbelief.

"...Uh-huh. Bad Ass Bobby J was my husband and the girls' father."

"I'm sorry, ma'am," Dana dropped into her military voice meeting the wife of an officer, "uh, divorce...not that it's any of my business ma'am?"

Theresa looked down. "No. The Sea Stallion taking him to Baghdad took an RPG north of the City. That was what the Marines told me. All hands were lost. He was due...he was going to Baghdad to..."

Dana rushed to Theresa. For a millisecond she stood in front of her as Theresa was trying to find the words that her husband had died in the helicopter crash days before he was due to rotate home. Dana was fighting a rapid fight in her head: on one hand you didn't hug officers' wives and on another hand you just didn't hug anyone (at least Dana didn't) that you really didn't know that well and...Bloody hell, she thought to herself and grabbed Theresa and wrapped her in her arms, cradling the back of Theresa's head down onto the hollow of her shoulder. Theresa's body was wracked with sobs and Dana tightened her hug, whispering quietly, "It's all right Theresa, it's all right..."

After a minute or so Theresa gently broke their embrace and took a step back from Dana. With a sniff, and as she wiped her eyes, she said, "Bobby was coming to Baghdad to rotate home. For good. He was to spend six months at Pendleton wrapping up paperwork and then he was out."

Dana didn't know what to say. She knew that sort of thing happened; it was just a fact of war. "You know, ma'am..."

Theresa cut her off, "...There will be no more ma'am's in this house unless they are from my daughters. Is that clear, Marine?"

Dana smiled and laughed as she said, "Yes. Anyway, Bobby, uh, I'm sorry, the Colonel, saved my life and career. I owe him a lot." She looked down at the floor. "A whole lot."

"I know...Dano. Bobby called me about a Gunnery Sergeant named Dano who was in some sort of dust up and was really psychologically shaken."

"Uh, excuse me...Theresa. But why would the Colonel call home about me?"

"Because I'm a practicing psychiatrist: Dr. Theresa Johnson, M.D. and a retired Navy shrink. Retired as a Commander. And he consulted me and I pulled some strings at Fleet from people who still owed me favors and you got you out with an honorable instead of a medical/psych, otherwise you wouldn't be a cop now. I didn't know Dano was a woman though until I heard that other officer call you that this morning."

"Yeah."

"Um, I'd like to change the subject for a minute. Do you mind?"

Dana was relieved, all of this was so weird and it was making her head spin. She welcomed the chance to get to another subject. "Go ahead."

"I am a religious fan of the NBC show ER. Did you ever get a chance to watch it?"

"I know about it. I don't really watch a lot of TV though - or didn't, you know how it is."

"Well, they have a doctor who discovered she was lesbian. And this other doctor was pursuing her as a lover. But the doctor didn't feel comfortable just jumping right into bed with another woman or the whole lesbian scene so she asked if they could just be friends for a while. And the other woman said, 'I have all the friends I want. I want a lover.'

"Of course, this was devastating to the new lesbian doctor...," Theresa looked away from Dana, shifting her stance nervously, "Uh, Dana...you make me feel like Bobby did. It's very strange for me - but it doesn't scare me. You know, this morning when you held my chin to look me in the eye? That funny feeling I had was Bobby doing that. But, uh, I just don't know...I've never thought about an emotional, sexual relationship with a woman before."

Dana held up her hand to silence Theresa and took Theresa by the arm, "Theresa, I don't even have any friends, let alone lovers. Don't worry. And, you know, I get this odd, nice, protective feeling when I'm with you, like in my gut, you know? And, yeah, I'm not just saying this, but I find it very weird."

Theresa laughed quietly and looked into Dana's eyes, "Yeah, I know. So...? Where does this leave us?"

"Well, it leaves me hungry. When's dinner?" Dana said with ease as if nothing they had just talked about was out of the ordinary.

"Dinner is right now." Theresa put her arm around Dana's shoulders and started them walking toward the dining room. "By the way, I guess you should know...in case you like someone younger than me, Becca asked me before I came in here if you and I didn't end up being a couple if she could try for you."