“Go on now!” Laura chuckled, slipping back into “Mum Mode” as she stood up and put her own dressing gown. “Go get those rosie little backsides showered then come downstairs for breakfast!” Giggling, the naked little girls scampered out of the bedroom, both rumps indeed bright pink from the vigorous spanking they had demanded.

“I’d offer to help you out,” she smiled at her husband after watching them from the doorway to make sure they made it safely to the bathroom, “but I suspect you’d probably just rather rest?”

“If you don’t mind?” Josh smiled gratefully, relieved that his wife understood him so well.

“Not at all!” she winked. “We have to let you recharge some time, don’t we? And I expect the girls will want to have some more fun later. You sleep,” she walked over and kissed him tenderly on the forehead. “I’ll come get you when breakfast’s ready.”

“You’re really not jealous?” he asked a little nervously. “Not planning on murdering me in my sleep?”

“Meat-girls have their needs!” she assured him. “Besides, just a couple more weeks and I get you all to myself again! Unless a certain little someone wants to come over for more sleepovers,” she echoed his own earlier thoughts, “but even then, there’s a very reasonable time limit!”

Still not quite able to believe the night he had just experienced was real but feeling rather overwhelmed with tiredness, despite the coffee, and needing at least just one hour of proper, uninterrupted sleep, Josh climbed back under the covers without bothering to take his robe off and within two minutes was snoring like a hibernating bear.

“Rise and shine, sleepy-head!” were the next words he heard as Laura, now fully dressed and looking every inch the responsible parent, woke him with a kiss and a fresh mug of coffee. “The girls and I have already had breakfast but there’s plenty left for you, we thought you’d rather sleep, especially as you need to drive.” she remarked sensibly. “The girls are sorting out the cards for the stockings and I’m going to go get the swimming stuff ready. Think you can be ready to go in about half an hour?”

Sitting up in bed, Josh agreed that he could and, feeling a lot fresher for having actually been allowed to sleep, although he had no regrets about the activities that had kept him awake through the night, drank his coffee. Having showered earlier, he did not feel the need to do so again so pulled on his trousers and underwear then went through to the bathroom where he splashed his face and underarms with some cold water then sprayed his deodorant before slipping on a clean shirt and going downstairs, coffee mug in hand, to join the others.

A yoghurt and bowl of cereal with some sliced banana on top were sat waiting for him on the table next to the milk and the rest of the jug of coffee. Samantha and Amelia were kneeing on the floor by the coffee table, sorting the photo cards into piles so that each guest would get one of each. Amelia was wearing the same outfit as the day before but Samantha was now wearing a baggy red jumper with a comical picture of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on the front and a pair of cream-coloured leggings which were ever so slightly too small for her, with the result that they hugged every curve and showed off her delicious young rump in almost as much detail as if they had been painted on, an effect which was only accentuated by the way she was leaning over the table.

“Maybe we should wrap the things?” he suggested, sitting down at the table and refilling his coffee before pouring the milk onto his cereal. “In the stockings, I mean? Could add to the fun!”

“Ooh good idea!” Samantha looked up from her work to grin at him while Amelia continued diligently sorting. “When do you think we should give them out, anyway?” she asked, sitting down and turning to look at him properly. “I know party bags are normally given out when people go home but what if people need to leave at different times? Should we put them out when people arrive?”

“What about putting them on the dining tables?” Amelia suggested, also resting back on her haunches and turning her head and shoulders towards Josh. “You could use them like place settings? Put them on the plates or maybe hang them on the backs of the chairs and people have to look for their own name to know where to sit?”

“Ooh good idea!” Samantha grinned. “But what if people want to move? Like, what if you and one of my cousins really hit it off and want to sit next to each other but you’ve been put at opposite ends?”

“I’m sure we can be accommodating!” Josh chuckled, sipping his coffee and thinking about just how like her mother his little girl could be. “But yeah I love the idea of putting them on the table. Did Sam show you the idea we had?” he asked conversationally. “For the tables?”

“Ooh no I didn’t!” Samantha scrambled to her feet and ran to find her mum’s famous notepad where the potential layout for the hall on the day had been sketched. “Here!” she grinned, turning it to show her friend. “That’s the stage at the front.” she explained, pointing to the large oblong that dominated one end of the box that was the hall. In front of it was a smaller rectangle representing one of the trestle tables they had seen stored on the stage in the hall. “This is where I’m going to be when people arrive,” she explained, pointing to the oval shape in the middle of the table which apparently represented a platter, “with welcome drinks on either side. We’ll put the cutout there once I’m in the oven!” she grinned.

Further down, more tables were shown arranged in a horse-shoe formation with another in the middle.

“This is where everyone will sit,” she explained, “around the outside, and the food will be on the table in the middle so everyone can see! Daddy will do the first carving, of course!” she grinned at Josh, “But after that, people can come and help themselves. What are you thinking for the evening, Daddy?” she asked him. “Are you going to put the cold food on the middle table too or maybe move the tables aside and put the buffet in front of the stage?”

“Well organising is really your Mum’s area!” Josh chuckled, “But I think we’re just going to see how it goes. She’s pretty good at reading a room. I think at the moment she’s planning to present it as another sit-down meal but she’ll play it by ear and see what people seem to want.” Samantha seemed satisfied with this.

“There’s still loads of space down here for games and things.” she smiled, showing the large space left beyond the tables. “I want everyone to have fun while I’m cooking!”

Before Amelia could ask any follow-up questions about what kinds of games Samantha imagined the guests playing, Laura came downstairs with a large gym bag.

“Everyone ready?” she asked. Josh finished the last spoonful of his cereal and quickly ate his yoghurt while the girls ran to find their shoes, leaving their half-completed task on the coffee table. By the time they were back, he had put his bowl and mug in the sink and they were all ready to go.

The journey to leisure centre did not take long, the girls chatting happily in the back seat as Josh drove, Laura’s hand on his thigh. The car park was already fairly fully when they arrived, the indoor pool with its rapids, wave machine and water slides to suit all ages and levels of daring a popular choice for families looking for something fun to do on a cold, overcast December Sunday, but they managed to find a space and soon they had joined the line at reception.

“Four for the pool, please.” Josh smiled as they reached the front of the queue. “Two adults, two children.” The woman behind the counter smiled and sold them a family ticket then directed them to the changing room which was unisex with individual cubicles for changing and vast banks of lockers.

“Do you two want to share?” he suggested to the girls, seeing how many of the rather cramped stalls were already taken. “Mummy and I can…”

“Here’s one!” Samantha made a beeline for one of the larger cubicles meant for families, primarily those with small children who still needed their parents’ help to change. “What?” she asked with unconvincing faux innocence as she pushed the door open. “It’s for families and we’re a family! The ticket proves it! Unless you’re saying you got that discount under false pretences, Daddy?” Amelia happily scampered in and, chucking with amusement, Josh and Laura followed the girls, Josh making very sure that the door was bolted behind them.

“Okay so there’s a towel for everyone.” Laura explained, setting the kit-bag down on the wooden bench as the girls immediately began to strip. “This is yours, Samantha,” she shook out a lime-green one-piece swimsuit, “and hopefully this will fit you.” She pulled a slightly tangled bikini from the bag, wishing she had asked Amelia to try it on before they left the house.

“You two are keen!” Josh laughed, seeing that the girls were already stark naked and bundling up their clothes before Laura had even had a chance to fully empty the bag.

“Are you complaining?” Samantha teased. “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could go swimming like this?” she gave another of her wistful sighs. “There’s beaches in Europe where people do!” she informed the others authoritatively.

“There’s beaches here if I’m not mistaken,” Josh laughed, “but not at this time of year! Some swimming pools even started doing nude swimming evenings a while back where families were welcome but some rather unpleasant people made such a stink about it that they had to start making them over-eighteens only.”

“What?!” Samantha exclaimed, genuinely outrage, “That’s so stupid! What was their problem with it?”

“Oh yeah, I remember that!” Laura nodded. “They were saying it was putting children at risk because anyone could just go along and see them naked.”

“At risk of what?” Samantha rolled her eyes. “Being admired? Being enjoyed?”

“I know!” Laura agreed. “I thought it was silly too! It’s not as if any kids were there on their own. They were there with their families and no more at risk of getting hurt than you two are now! But people back then…” she tried to think how to explain it. “In the last five years or so before Sidney got famous, people got their knickers all in a twist over people liking to look at little girls. They even started saying a twenty year old dating a seventeen year old was some sort of predator!” Her naked young daughter rolled her eyes.

“And then Sidney came along?” Amelia giggled.

“That’s right!” laughed Laura. “Going on TV chat shows in her birthday suit! But she was just so sweet and wholesome, people couldn’t help but love her! There was some pushback, of course, but those people soon found themselves on the wrong side of history!”

“Interesting as this history lesson is,” Josh chuckled, unbuttoning his shirt, “are you two planning on putting your suits on?”

“Well that’s the thing,” Samantha replied in a serious tone, “we’re a bit worried about you, Daddy!”

“Worried about me?” Josh frowned, pulling off his shirt while Laura turned her back so that he would not see her stifling her giggles while she undressed, thinking how adorably naive he could be at times. “What are you worried about me?”

“Well there’s going to be lots of pretty girls in the pool wearing swimsuits and bikinis,” Samantha explained while Amelia also tried to stifle her giggles, “and we’re worried you’re going to get hard in the lines for the water slides and get embarrassed!”

“Oh I don’t think that’s going to be a…” he began to protest but Amelia stepped forward.

“So we want to help you!” she smiled. “Please, Mr Martin,” the naked little girl walked her fingers up his bare chest, “take the rest of your clothes off!”

“Well, go on!” Laura chuckled, turning back to him and pulling the strap of her own swimsuit up over her shoulder, using her other hand to guide her firm, full breast into place. “You don’t want to put some poor four year old’s eye out, do you?”


To be continued...