I was in my last year of university when I met Mel. I was already pretty comfortably a lesbian by then and she wasn't exactly the first girl I'd been with, but she was the first one I ever really loved.
It didn't happen right away, for a while we were just having a good time and she slowly grew on me. When she asked me to move in with her after I finished up with school I said yes immediately, not even caring about the logistics. It was the best decision I ever made.
The job I got into was not what I spent four years of my life working toward, in many ways it wasn't great. But coming home to Mel every night made me not care about that. Things were pretty good for me, and then Mel's sister changed everything. Not on purpose or anything, but it made me realize that my existence wasn't as fixed as I thought.
Mel and me were in bed one night when the subject first came up.
"Hey Jen, you remember Cindy?" she asked me.
"Mm-hm," I replied, not paying all that much attention.
As was not uncommon for us we were both completely naked and I was busy tracing patterns on her tummy with my finger. I loved her body, her soft, perfect skin, and I took more opportunities to explore it than strictly necessary. If I concentrated I probably could have recalled any given detail about her from the mental image so carefully constructed in my head right down to the tiny scar on her leg from when she was a kid. It was hardly a proper substitute when I had her right next to me however.
"Would it be okay if she stayed with us for a few days?" Mel asked. "Maybe a week or something, I'm not really sure yet."
I dragged myself from my invisible finger-painting and tried to focus on the question.
"Wait, Cindy who?"
"My sister," Mel said. "I'm pretty sure I've told you about her."
"Yeah, I just wasn't sure that's who you were talking about."
I rested my head on Mel's tummy like a pillow since my finger was no longer using the space. If it didn't make getting a blanket across both of us so awkward it probably would have long since become one of my favorite sleeping positions.
"She just turned nineteen you know," Mel said. "I can tell she's getting antsy still being at home with mom and dad, I know I was more than ready to leave at her age. I thought it'd be nice to let her get away at least for a little bit."
I realized I hadn't actually answered the question and was being prodded for an answer.
"Oh it's fine with me," I said. "She can stay as long as she wants as long as she doesn't mind seeing her sister making out with another chick all the time."
"That's what I thought. I'll call her tomorrow and tell her. You have to try and be good though okay?"
"Awww."
I pouted and gave Mel my best puppy dog eyes which only made her roll her eyes and giggle at me.
"Aright, maybe not that good. But just, you know."
"Yeah, I'm just teasing. I'm not going to do anything to try and freak out your baby sister."
"Thank you."
"Although," I continued thoughtfully. "I do remember her being kind of cute in those pictures you showed me. Do you think she's into girls too?"
"Stop that right now," Mel said sternly. I was surprised she kept a straight face as well as she did, using that voice on me usually made her crack up.
"Or what? You gonna spank me 'til I stop being so naughty?"
"I might if I thought you wouldn't just enjoy it."
Her eyes shone mischievously and I wouldn't have put it past her to spank me anyway, but we were both too comfortable lying where we were for it to be all that likely.
"Your sister does know about us though doesn't she?" I asked as the question occurred to me.
"Yeah, she's pretty well the only one in my family who does. I don't know if mom would believe me even if I told her straight out you know?" Mel smiled faintly, and a little sadly too. "Cindy's cool though, we've always been able to tell each other... stuff. I guess sometimes I still think she needs protecting since she's my little sister, but she doesn't really. I just... I don't want to push our relationship on her too fast when she gets her."
"I understand, I'll do my best. Though you know as well as I do that doesn't always mean that much."
"Thanks baby."
I shifted somewhat reluctantly from my position and kissed Mel lovingly before settling down beside her. She pulled the covers up over us and together we fell asleep.
****
It was about a week later when Cindy arrived. I didn't go with Mel to pick her up, but I was there to greet the two of them when they got back.
What struck me immediately about Cindy was how much the pictures I'd seen didn't do her justice. She was way cuter than I expected, I'd almost go as far as adorable. She looked eerily like a slightly younger version of my girlfriend, which made sense since they were sisters, but she had her own unique features as well. Notably her impish grin that never seemed to vanish from her face for too long.