Mother and Daughter Bonding

It seemed Jessie had quickly taken a shine to Emily, and Maisie was loving bonding with her daughter in this new dynamic. She was getting to see a whole different side to her and spend way more time together than the two of them had done in years. Jessie was clearly very comfortable around her already. Perhaps. too comfortable.

"Oh should I leave the room?" Maisie asked, trying not to sound too thrown, as she looked up from a magazine she had been flicking through and at her daughter who was standing right in front of her, wearing nothing.

"No, it's fine, unless this makes you uncomfortable"

"I just figured I would dip into my en suite shower before we head out. I basically consider you close family already, and my cousins and I are naked in front of each other all the time. I mean, apart from Tammy. I'm not sure I've ever seen her wearing less than her underwear. But if it weirds you out I'll give you more warning before the next time I decide to suddenly strip off haha"

"No, it's fine honestly. You just caught me by surprise!" Maisie actually felt herself blushing. It had been years since she had seen Jessie's body uncovered and she hadn't realised quite how flawlessly it had developed. She usually did a pretty good job of hiding it under clothes her mother always felt were deliberately unflattering. Jessie really was a proper woman now, and a stunningly beautiful one at that.

"I undress at world record speed" Jessie smirked as she walked through to the shower room "Make of that what you will"

Maisie wasn't sure if she was being paranoid, but that had indeed felt insanely quick. She certainly didn't remember her daughter dressing or undressing particularly fast as a kid. Could that have been a trick she picked up from a command Craig had given her to get her naked at a moments notice?

"So you and your cousins seem pretty close" Maisie shouted through from the bedroom, trying to put that other thought out of her mind before she began to ruminate on it.

"Yeah, we're super tight" Jessie called back over the sound of running water "We're all so close in age and grew up together. We've just always been there for each other and, despite how it might look to a casual observer, we really do get on incredibly well. They all liked you too."

"I'm happy to hear that, I thought they were awesome" Maisie replied before moving onto the next thing she wanted to discuss "What do you think of this family curse Kelly was talking about?"

"Probably bullshit" Jessie lied "But I feel like with anything like that, which we don't understand properly, it's better to play it safe. If anyone brings it up in conversation, I try to shut it down, especially if someone from outside the family is there. You should do the same if it happens again"

"Yeah, I totally agree with you on that. So, what's the plan for today?" was Maisie's next question.

"I figured you, me and Craig could hang for the day" Jessie smiled as she walked back into the room, one towel wrapped around her body while she patted her hair with another.

"I'm not going to cramp your style am I?" Maisie worried "I don't want to become a third wheel for you"

"You could never be that, Em" Jessie sat down next to her new friend on the bed "I don't want this to freak you out, but I feel this super strong connection to you that I can't explain. Like I've known you my whole life and can trust you with anything. So I want to make the most of you for as long as you're here"

Maisie felt like crying. That was in equal part heartwarming and heartbreaking. The sentiment about the lifelong connection was truly beautiful, but Maisie also knew that Emily was going to have to leave Jessie forever one day, and she would go back to being boring old Mom.

For now though, for the safety of the people she loved, she was going to have to push ahead with this ruse and try and find a way to get closer to Craig, as well as finding a way to protect the cousins and, in turn, her younger daughter. It didn't look like Emily would be going away any time soon.