A further story about Katie, the pool attendant. This story follows on from "Katie Starts Lifeguarding Classes (Part 3)".

Katie was delighted when, ten days after her extra special lesson with Rod, she passed all the sections of her lifeguarding qualification. It has taken up a lot of her time, especially all the swimming practice she had to do to begin with. But it really had been worthwhile, and now she was in a position where, regardless of whatever happened at Hillview, she could get another job much more easily. She might even get a part-time job during term- time, which would help enormously with the funding of her studies.

Katie had fallen a bit behind with her course work during October, but she wasn't too worried and she was sure that she could catch up soon.

She telephoned Geoff, the manager at Hillview, to tell him of her success. Geoff congratulated her.

"Things are picking up just now, for winter season," he sounded pleased. "That advert a few weeks ago was just brilliant! Thanks again for letting me use your picture! I'm sure that most newcomers here pop into the pool looking out for the girl bobbing about in the water in that yellow top!"

"Thanks!" Katie replied quietly.

"I'll have you back next summer and sooner if I possibly can!"

"Thanks!" Katie responded again. "I'd like to pop in again this weekend, just for a swim, if that's OK! I haven't had the chance to use my free pass yet!"

"Of course!" Geoff sounded pleased. "Let me know when you're coming, I'll drop by!"

"Is Kevin on duty this Saturday or Sunday?" Katie asked in a steady, determined voice.

Geoff paused. He was surprised. He didn't know much about what had happened between Katie and Kevin, but George had told him that they were getting very close and then suddenly it had all just finished.

"Well, Kevin's on duty Sunday till five," Geoff replied, a little uncertainly. "I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you!"

On Sunday afternoon Katie made the familiar bus journey back to Hillview. She'd been trying to study all morning, but she'd struggled to keep her head down. She'd waited until after four before arriving, but the extra time studying beforehand hadn't proved any better than in the morning.

She greeted Kevin politely. He was a bit distant, as he had tended to be with her since she'd told him, rather brutally in hindsight, that she wanted to end their relationship. In these old familiar surroundings Katie's old self returned, she flashed her smile and her cheeks blushed brightly as she showed Kevin her lifesaving certificate.

"Well done you!" Kevin congratulated her generously. "Wait till I tell George! He'd never put his mind to doing that!"

Katie got changed. She couldn't wear her pool attendant's outfit today, which would have been her first preference. So she'd brought along a pair of black leggings and a white t-shirt to go over her old black bikini. She squeezed into the leggings, stretching them tightly over her bikini bottoms.

The session was drawing towards a close and during this last forty-five minutes the mothers and babies group were in, having moved to a Sunday during the winter when the pool opened only at weekends. No-one else was swimming as Katie walked over to the pool.

The young mums all had their t-shirts over their costumes so Katie's outfit didn't look at all out of place.

She greeted them all as she walked down the steps, enjoying the warm feeling of her wet leggings and her t-shirt swishing around and then gripping her skin. She remembered all the fun she had enjoyed here, in the pool with her attendants' kit on, every time! Katie quickly recognised the young mum she'd chatted to before, at the end of her first week at work. She was called Louise. Her baby looked much bigger now, laughing and chortling and clapping her little hands in the water.

Katie went over to her. They both played with the baby and began that endless conversation which all new mums have a thousand times over, about feeding, changing, sleeping, playing and about all the things which little infants do. Katie watched the little one, even more fascinated than she had been before.

"You should go and have a baby!" Louise said cheekily. "You'll make such a good mum, one day! Do it when you're still young!"

Katie looked away. "But I'm still at college!" she replied, "No money, no job, no far..."
The young mums all got out at twenty to five. Katie collected up all the babies' floats and playthings and deflated the rings and balls. Then she started to get all the prams and pushchairs back out from the storeroom.

"Still your old helpful self!" Kevin observed cheerfully, as Katie hurried around, oblivious of her still having all her wet things on.

Only after the mums were all ready to leave did Katie dry off and get changed herself.
Kevin was ready to lock up.

"Kevin, I need to speak to you!" Katie sounded so serious and she definitely wasn't like her old self. Kevin looked at her defensively.

"But you said we were finished!" he replied in an accusing tone. "That was what you said! And Roy was going to be a star! I didn't complain about it! You did what you wanted to do, Katie!"

"I know!" Katie replied. "A Bears star. And he probably will be, one day. But to be with him? Do you what it means? You have to be Little Miss Perfect! All the girlfriends, they're just so perfect! And you never see him! His life is just training and fitness!"

Kevin did not reply.

"Then there was Rod," Katie's confessional continued. "Rod pushed me through to get this certificate. He was brilliant. And I laid myself out before him, and he took what was on offer! Well, we both did, really."

"It sounds like you've had quite a summer!" Kevin sounded sarcastic. "Well, you make your own choices, Katie!"

"Rod doesn't want a relationship!" Katie added, sadly. "He's got a different girl going, and another one after that! He's just enjoying himself!"

"Well," Kevin drew a deep breath, "We had a lovely short time together and then you moved on. Like I say, your choice Katie!"

"Kevin!" Katie demanded his attention. "There's something I have to tell you! I am over four months pregnant, Kevin, and I think that the child is yours!"

Katie broke down into sobs. Kevin stood speechless for over a minute. "But how do you know?" he asked, shaken and shocked. "What about Roy, or Rod?" he spat out the names with contempt.

"It's the timing, Kevin," Katie composed herself. "The timings right. And I went on the pill the week before our first date. But they said to use condoms that first week. But it just happened and I forgot. I've been on the pill ever since and I couldn't have got pregnant afterwards."

There was another silence.

"You told me you were on the pill then!" Kevin remembered. "I knew it was your first time, so I never thought about using a condom. God, what will my mum and dad say?" Kevin was white and shaking. "They'll put me out for this. They will, they'll put me out!"

"Listen," Katie continued earnestly. "I've been to the sexual health clinic at the University. I've had a consultation and I can have a termination. But I've got to decide quickly! The sooner I decide the better!"

"It's your decision, Katie!" Kevin sounded kinder now.

"It's yours too!" Katie replied, looking tearful again. "It's your child too! It's just so awful, ending a life like this!"

"That's what my mum and dad would say," Kevin replied carefully. "But it's not really a life. Not yet. It's still a part of your own body that could become a life one day. You have to do what you think is best."

"Do you object, if I get a termination Kevin?" Katie voice tremored.

"It's your decision, Katie! You must do what is best for you. If you have the baby, then we will have a lot of things to work out for the future. But I will take my responsibility!"

"We will grow up, that's for sure!" Katie observed. "But it's a hopeless start in life for a child! I've no job, no money, I'll probably have to leave college, we've finished together and I've no family here, no support. If I get a termination this week, will you come with me to the hospital?" Katie broke down into a flood of irreversible tears.

Geoff, the manager, came in through the door. "Oh sorry, guys!" he apologised hastily, before making to go out again.

"Don't go Geoff!" Katie ran to him and hugged him. "Thanks for giving me the job here, Geoff! It's been great!"

Geoff looked embarrassed. "Well, you know how well we all think of you, Katie!" he replied. "I'll leave you two; just lock up when you go!" Geoff made off quickly. Married thirty five years, slippers and TV at home, thank goodness the drama of young love was over!

"Why do you want me to come?" Kevin demanded.

"Well no-one else in the world knows about this, and I don't want to go on my own!" Katie started crying again.

Kevin held her close. It was a hug of comfort, not gratification. "Yes, I'll come with you," he promised.

Kevin locked up and they left the site. Katie went home, alone. Part of a weight was lifted from her, but this was going to be a trying week.

She slept badly again that night. At one-o-clock in the morning, the phone rang.

It was Kevin. He sounded distraught, "They've put me out, they've put me out!" he was the one who sounded in tears now.

"Who's put you out?" Katie tried to quickly collect her thoughts.

"My mum and dad!" Kevin replied. "I was upset when I got home, and they got it out of me, what was going on! They say I have fallen into the hands of the devil and I am a bad influence on the others!" Kevin sounded desperate.

"The devil?" Katie repeated, "Well, you fell into my hands, Kevin, and I am no saint, but I'm sure I'm not the devil!"

"Then dad came back a bit later to my room. He said that God had spoken to him and that I have to get out. And leave now. I can only come back when I have truly repented and sought God's forgiveness! They've even spoken to my uncles and aunts, and I just don't know where to go or what to do!"

"Keep calm, Kevin!" Katie spoke firmly. "Where are you now?"

"I'm just near home!" Kevin replied. "And it's freezing! I'm going to have to sit tonight in a doorway somewhere!"

"Don't be silly!" Katie commanded, "For goodness sake, whatever happened to love and forgiveness? Can you phone for a taxi, Kevin?"

"Yes, I've got my phone. But that's about all I've got!"

"Right, phone now for a taxi, right now Kevin and come here. Have you still got my address?"

"Yes Katie, I'll never forget your address!"

"I'm waiting up for you. I'll pay the fare if you need money!"

"Thanks Katie! Thanks ever so much. I'll get myself sorted out tomorrow!"

Katie sat up anxiously and waited. She was worried about Kevin; he had sounded so upset. Half an hour passed. Katie was worried that he might even have come to harm. She phoned Kevin back, "I'm in a taxi!" he replied," I'll be there in about ten minutes!"

They both sat up talking for most of the night. Then Katie went to bed, "Same rules as before!" she smiled from the bedroom door. "You can sleep on the couch, or you can join me if you want! But I'm right off sex at the moment!"

Kevin grinned back, "So am I!"

He tried to sleep on the couch, but after another hour of twisting and turning and trying to get comfortable he heard Katie's soft voice, "You can share my bed, if you like!"

Kevin and Katie at last got some sleep curled together in the tight single confines that her bed offered. It was the second time that Katie's warm breasts had embraced him in sleep, but this time they offered comfort and security, rather than gratification.

On Monday Katie went back to the clinic and booked in her procedure. It was to be on Wednesday. Kevin went out flat hunting. Katie's doctor at the university signed her off from classes for the week.

"No luck yet" Kevin said, back at Katie's for tea. "They want three months deposit and three months in advance, and I haven't got it! I've only got one day's wages a week in winter! I give my mum most of my wages in summer, and she keeps me in winter! But now I've left with nothing!"

"You can stay here, Kevin, as long as you like! Much of all this is my fault, and anyway I like sharing with you! We do well together!"

On Wednesday they went to the abortion hospital, together. Katie was in the medical room for a couple of hours. Back home, after another couple of hours, she sat down, sobbing gently and continually. She thought of Roy, it was all about Roy, being with Roy. Fitness, training and perfection. And the perfect girlfriend. All part of the image, you see.

And Rod. That had just been about one thing. And Rod didn't even want a relationship. And then there was Kevin. He had been first. He was just plain straightforward Kevin. He was never destined to be a star, nor was he the hottest lover in town. Just honest and reliable. And she'd just dumped him, no explanation, no reason, just her pure selfishness. It was Kevin who had agreed to go to the hospital with her today. He held her hand as they passed those self righteous campaigners outside, with their placards and ghastly pictures of aborted foetuses.

Now could she see that it was boring Kevin who was really the one with a heart of gold.

"I'm really sorry, Kevin, for the way that I treated you. I was rotten to you!" Katie's tears flowed freely.

Kevin was learning that he did believe some of the things that his parent's church taught. The things he'd heard preached time and time again, but rarely seen done. Things like forgiveness. "That's OK, Katie, I've forgiven you," he replied quietly. "We've both just done a lot of growing up!"

And to his great credit, Kevin never did ever mention Katie's past relationships again. They stayed together and the months past. And they found that they really did enjoy each other's company. Gradually and very slowly their old magic returned. Katie looked better than ever and her emotional wounds healed. She rediscovered her joy of getting wet, and Kevin loved every minute of it. They made a good couple.