Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny with clear blue skies. I woke at 8:30 and was stretching and yawning when I heard Dad tip-toe down the stairs and out the front door. His Mercedes purred to life and crunched out of the drive. I could tell it was going to be a hot day, but it was way too early to lie in the sun, like Mom and I had planned. I knew I'd never get back to sleep, so I threw back the sheet and padded down the hall to the bathroom. Once I'd peed and brushed my teeth, I decided to leave off showering until later.
Back in my room, with the warm morning air caressing my naked skin and a faint scent rising off me, reminding me of last night with Jack, I started up my computer and checked my email. Good news. Lydia would be home day after tomorrow. She'd loved France; great food, cute guys, lots of sun and sand, but she was ready to come home. She missed me. I missed her, too. I needed girl talk, and email wouldn't do. I wasn't sure I could tell anyone about Jack and me, but if I could, Lydia'd be the one. And it would have to be face to face.
So I mailed her about work, and said Jack was home, and I maybe had some news about my living situation at college, and told her to get her butt back pronto so we could talk. After I'd sent the mail, I sat back and thought for a moment about my situation. I was bursting to tell someone. Sheila and I had gotten close over the short time we'd known each other, and she was obviously dying to know what was going on, but I knew there'd be too much explaining, and even then, I didn't know if she'd understand. As comfortable as I was with it all, and I realized, sitting there musing, that I was absolutely, deliciously comfortable with it, it was still the big taboo. And Sheila didn't know Jack. Lydia and Jack and I had known each other since we were kids. We'd been through everything together. She'd had a thing for Jack forever. We'd shared it all. I decided not to think about it; I'd play it by ear when I saw her. I put on a short silk robe and went downstairs.
I got some coffee brewing, and I guess its aroma wafted up through the house, because by the time it was ready, my Mom had appeared in the kitchen. She wore a robe just like mine, but dark blue instead of white; we'd picked them out together at Sheila's. She looked all sleepy and tousled, and gorgeous. Maybe her body had changed with age and bearing two children, but I couldn't see how. The sash around her accentuated her slim waist, and under the hem of the robe her legs were long and slim. Not for the first time, I hoped I'd inherited her genes.
"Morning, Mom. Coffee?"
"Oh, Kathy, you're an angel. Yes, please."
I poured out two cups and got cream from the refrigerator. We sipped without talking. Mom was a little dazed, moving slowly. The way she and Dad had been acting lately, I wasn't surprised. I caught another whiff of sex, but couldn't be sure if it came from her or me.
After we'd had a couple of cups and some fruit, Mom stood up and said, "I think I'll go change, and we can get some sun. OK?"
"That's the plan. I'll clear up and see you here in a few minutes."
I rinsed our cups and plates and put them in the dish-washer. Upstairs in my room I rummaged through the collection of bikinis I'd accumulated since I'd been working for Sheila. I was looking for something modest to wear with my Mom, but I realized I'd actually chosen them all for what they revealed, not what they concealed. I found a white one that was a little fuller cut than the others. I pulled it on and checked it out in the mirror. The top covered my nipples, at least, and only showed a hint of the undersides of my breasts. The bottom was just barely decent: you couldn't be absolutely certain I'd had to shave myself bare to wear it I looked innocently sexy in it, and wondered what Mom would think.
Out on the deck I arranged two chaises facing the strengthening sun, and set up side tables with towels and sun-cream. I put on my shades and stretched out, basking in the heat. Just as I could feel sweat starting to pop out on my skin, I heard the door slide open and shut. I looked up and saw Mom walking towards me, still in her robe. Her thick auburn hair was wet and combed back off her forehead, and I knew she'd been in the shower.
I stood and spread a towel over her chaise. "Get out of that robe and go for the rays, Mom." I flopped back down on my chaise.
She stood there, not doing anything, and I said, "Come on, now. You haven't had much time in the sun. I figure an hour before noon will be just about right for you."
She seemed to blush. "Just give me a second. I, well, I mean, this suit. I've got to get used to it."
I knew the suit. While I hadn't seen her try it on at Sheila's, I'd seen it on the racks, and I'd seen it go across the counter into our bag after Sheila had rung it up. As a matter of fact, I'd considered it for myself. It was nothing I'd think twice about wearing. "Relax, Mom. It's no big deal. I'm sure it'll look great on you. Let's see it."
She took a deep breath, then hesitated and shrugged off her robe. The collection of light-blue triangles I'd held in front of me at the mirror in the store seemed to disappear on my Mom's body, highlighting her bare skin. Her figure was fuller than mine, especially in the bust and hips. The top, with its thin strings, looked strained to its maximum, and the bottom, which tied at her hips, showed who'd been shaving. And I'd been worried about modest.
"Wow, Mom. Turn around. Let me see."
She blushed, but made a pirouette. Her butt and legs were firm, and if her breasts swayed a little against the constraint of her top as she spun, I couldn't imagine who'd complain. When she was facing me again, she asked, "Isn't it a bit, you know, revealing?" She seemed shy, but serious.
I looked up at her until her eyes met mine. "Sure it is. But you've got a lot to reveal. Wait a second. I didn't mean it to come out like that. Mom, you've got a knock-out body, and nobody who sees you in that suit will ever forget it. You're spectacular."
"You really think so?" Her eyes wandered over me. "When I see you, sometimes I feel so old and frumpy."
"Mom. You're kidding me, right? Seeing you like this, I feel all young and scrawny. Take it from me, and I'm a professional, don't forget. If you and I went to the beach right now, I'd be left alone reading a book while you'd be fighting off every man there."
Mom smiled and bent to kiss my cheek. For a second I worried that her tiny top wouldn't take the weight, but Sheila sells quality goods. "Thanks, sweetie. I'm so lucky to have a daughter like you." She stretched out on her back on the other chaise and closed her eyes, obviously feeling good about herself.
I turned over on my side and looked at her. Dad was one lucky man. It seemed cruel that he should be working on a sunday morning. It had been this way for as long as I could remember: Dad working crazy long hours and cramming all his love for us into the little time he was at home. I'd never felt deprived or anything. As much as he loved his work, I'd always known that we were the most important thing in his life. And while I'd never given much thought to his relationship with my Mom, it was obvious they'd worked out something that was good for both of them. I felt a smile tug at the corners of my mouth as I considered the way they'd been acting the last few days. Like teen-agers. Like Jack and me. My smile widened, and I lay back to bask in the sun.
The sun. Shit. "Hey, Mom. You've got to get some sun-block on. I've been hanging out here all summer, but you'll get burned. Sit up and I'll rub some on your shoulders."
"What? Oh. Sure. Thanks, Kath. It felt so good lying here I didn't even think about it. But you're right."
She shivered as I laid a stripe of cream across both of her shoulders, and then relaxed as I began to rub it in. The few hours she'd been able to grab out here this summer had given her skin a pale golden glow, but I could make out the lines from whatever swimsuit she'd been wearing, and I knew that even an hour today in this bikini would give her more. I untied the strings behind her neck and massaged in more cream.
"You know, Mom, you should go topless. It'd even out your tan, cut down on some of those lines."
"Kathy, you know I'm not going to sit out here with my boobs hanging out for all the world to see." She tied her top again and twisted around and looked me over. "Oh my god. You have. You do, don't you?"
"Well, sure, Mom. All the world isn't back here watching. Nobody can see me. And look." I reached behind me and undid my top and let it drop. "See? All over tan. You should go for it."
Mom's eyes were frantic, glancing this way and that. "But I mean, your father. Jack."
"Mom. When did you ever see Dad here in the daylight hours? And I'd imagine Jack's seen boobs before. I don't think his little sister's would be such a big deal to him." I flushed as I said that, but Mom didn't seem to notice. She just sat there, staring at my brown tits.
I could see the tension ease out of her shoulders. "Yeah. OK. I guess it's not such a big deal. You're probably right. And I can see how good it looks on you." She shook her head. "But I just can't do it right now. It's something I'd have to get used to."
