Karen wasn't a mother, she had no siblings,  and her peer group were mostly men and a few women who rode motorbikes for a living. Tact and diplomacy were one thing. Dealing with a bratty teenager was something else again. Karen took a deep breath and counted to ten, pushed her temper back down and chose her words carefully. What she really wanted to do was haul the kid over her knee and spank her ass, but that would most definitely get the relationship off on the wrong foot.<br/><br/>"Okay, first of all lets get something straight. This is not<i>your</i>house. It's your mother's and mine. And yes I can say that, because I paid off the balance of her mortgage, and my name is now on the deeds. I am very<i>very </i>fond of your mother. I'm not entirely sure why she never mentioned me to you, maybe you better ask her that. But we've been dating for almost a year and a half now." She smiled fondly at a memory. "If you're a fan like you said, you'll remember the second last race two years ago, where Leon Mellin over heated his back brake on the first turn of lap twenty. The back end of his bike fish-tailed and he lost it, just as I was about to go past him. My front wheel hit his gas tank, and I went sailing over the top..."<br/><br/><div style="margin-left: 20px"><i>Ooooooh fuuuuuuuuck this is gonna huuuuurt! OW AGGGGH FUCK GGGGAAAAAAAH!  </i>The flashback took her a moment to snap out of.​</div><div style="margin-left: 20px">​</div>"Uh, yeah, worst crash of my career so far. Shattered my right wrists and snapped my left leg in three places. Your mom works at the rehab centre they took me to so I could learn to walk and write again. That's where I met her and we sort of fell for each other I s'pose." She shrugged. "Your mom is an adult, and she has the right to make her own choices. As do you, Blair. As do I. I'm sorry we caught you by surprise, but... well if you'd let Dani know you were coming, you wouldn't have caught us... Ahem, I believe the legal term is<i>in flagrante delicto</i>." She shrugged. "So seriously, if anyone's to blame here, it's not us. I think it would be best if we all moved on and started from scratch? Hi, I'm Karen Stack, Motorcycle racer and part time courier."<br/><br/>She offered a hand, uncertain whether it would be taken. And then heard the sound of Danielle coming down the stairs. "Um... I'll get out of the way I think, let you and your mom talk things through, okay? I'll bring back pizza; anything you particularly want or don't want?" She stood and headed for the door, paused to murmur, "She's in the lounge. I'm going to go pick us up some pizza for lunch, I'll be about half an hour-ish. Love you!" The soft tender tone and the kiss that accompanied the words were nothing like the harsh domineering orders from earlier. She slipped quietly out the door, grabbing her lid as she left, pausing to admire the compact car on the driveway.<i>So her! </i><br/><br/>The bike started first time and she vanished down the road