Skip to after the funeral

You don't see Stella for over a week, by which time you have attended Alison's funeral and Stella had left hospital to start her new life. Your parents are going away for the weekend, and despite their concern, you convince them you will be fine. Ostentatiously they believe you are attending grief counselling that day, when in fact you are due to stay with Stella. You will be seeing a councillor though, a relationship councillor arranged by the hospital to help you adjust to a girlfriend older then your mother.

On arriving at the gates of the very large house Stella called home, you press the buzzer and hear her husky voice "Hey baby, come right in"

You whistle at the expensive looking grounds and walk to the door, which opens to reveal a sheepish looking Stella. You can't help but to intact sharply but fix a smile on your face. Stella looks much better than the last time you saw her, with make up applied thickly to hide some of her age. Her hair is brushed to a shoulder length bob and she is wearing a black knee length dress with a copper belt that accents her hour glass figure. On her feet are a pair of strappy sandals with a 4inch heel. But she is very different to the youthful Alison.

"I know, I look like a teacher" she shrugs "but I could hardly where a crop top and converse could I?"

"You look amazing" you reply as you walk in and close the door behind you. The hall way is large with a double staircase ascended up each side.

"Not bad for a girl who didn't finish school?" Stella jokes and you turn back to her, pulling her in for a long French kiss. You keep your eyes closed trying to picture Alison, but your hands feel a much larger butt and your nose is full of her strong adult perfume.

"Come on, I've made some ice tea" she takes your hand "it's on the veranda"

Following her outside you sit at a table and chair looking across the large grounds. Stella pours you both a glass and you sit back to sip it. You can't help but to stare as she picks a pack of Menthol 120s up, fishes out a long white cigarette before putting it between her lips. Picking up a lighter, Stella lit the cigarette and took a long pull, wincing slightly as she blew out the pungent smoke with well practised ease.

"Disgusting isn't?" She asked in her smokers voice.

"No it'll just take some getting used to"

"You can say that again" she laughed mirthlessly, taking another drag "it's taken me a week to be able to smoke one without coughing and retching"

"Don't you want to try and give up" you ask tentatively.

"Of course" she shrugs "but the doctors say I shouldn't put my new body under too much stress. Besides I'm not sure I could now"

"But you always hated smoking?" You frown.

"I still do!" Stella exclaimed irritably "but Stella's body has smoked since she was a teen. It needs these horrible things just as much as it needs food and water. I can't go more than a couple of hours without one or I feel like a nervous wreck! I find myself fiddling with pens or breadsticks, just to feel something in between my fingers. I think maybe its a part of my new life I'll just get used to. I'm not happy about it; my mouth is dry and constantly tastes like an ashtray, I have to douse myself with perfume to cover up the smell of smoke and this body has been wrecked by smoking. I get out of breath just climbing the stairs and my sense of taste is almost completely gone! But im 56 now, and after everything that's happened it's just easier to go with it."

You notice she starts to well up, so you take her free hand and change the subject. "Why don't you show me around the house. We have a couple of hours before we need to be at the hospital"

She smiles "OK sweetheaet, just let me finish this cigarette"

A 15 minutes later you standing at the top of the stairs, Stella is doing her best to hide her slight breathlessness. She shows the guest rooms and then gestures you into the master bedroom.

"So this is your bedroom?" You ask, eyebrows raised. It's larger than your patents lounge.

"No this is OUR bedroom" she replies with a naughty smile stretching across her mature features. Shutting the door behind her, she hurries up to you heels clicking and pulls you into a long kiss. You try to ignore the taste of smoke as you kiss her and desperately try to picture Alison. But it's no good, whilst Stella is by no means bad looking you just can't seem to feel the same way about a woman old enough to be your mom.

As you ponder this, Stella starts to frantically unbuckle your belt.

"God I need this" she whispers huskily