“Well you have fun getting ready for Christmas!” Gram beamed lovingly when it came time to wrap up the call, “And we’ll look forward to seeing you on the big day!” They both signed off with more blown kisses then ended the call.

“Well they seem happy!” Laura grinned, coming back into the living room carrying two mugs of coffee, one for herself and one for Josh. “I’ve put a pizza in the oven by the way.” she informed her husband, having waited to eat with him since Samantha had already enjoyed an early dinner at the restaurant with her friends.

“Oh yeah!” Samantha grinned, still sitting happily naked on the sofa. “It’s so cool hearing people say what parts of me they want to eat!” She smiled dreamily, lost in her own thoughts for a few moments, then remembered something. “So who was on the phone?” she asked.

“Oh yeah!” Laura smiled. “That was Auntie Julie.”

“Oh!” Samantha leaned forward eagerly. “So are they coming?”

“Well that’s the thing,” Laura explained carefully. “The reason they haven’t replied yet is, well, when Nadine say the invitation she got really upset and said they mustn’t go.”

“Oh.” Samantha looked crestfallen. Nadine was Auntie Julie and Uncle Mike’s oldest child, a sweet, pretty, rather shy girl of nine years old with long, almost black hair like her mum who was Josh’s younger sister. “Does she not want to eat me?”

“They couldn’t get her to say for a long time.” Laura explained. “She saw the invitation when she came home from school and immediately started crying and shouting that they must not go. She was about to rip the invitation up but Julie managed to snatch it out of her hand before she could.” Samantha looked very sad, her own eyes starting to well up with tears at the thought that not only did her cousin not want to come to the party and enjoy the special turkey on offer but she was so upset about the idea she didn’t want anyone else to go either. “Anyway, she eventually calmed down but wouldn’t talk about it all though dinner then, when her dad was getting her out of the bath just now, she explained.”

“So what’s the issue?” Josh put a comforting arm around Samantha and hugged her comfortingly.

“Apparently she’s afraid that if she comes to the party, we’ll cook her too!” Laura revealed. Samantha immediately burst out laughing.

“Ooh!” she giggled. “Oh dear! I didn’t think of that! So what did you tell her?”

“Well I didn’t get to speak to her yet,” Laura admitted, “but I said I’d ask you to give her a call to put her mind at ease. Will you do that?” She held out her phone to Samantha, since that family did not have a TV that could make and receive video calls. Tutting to herself in amusement and deciding that making the call naked as she was would probably serve to emphasise the difference between herself and her anxious cousin, Samantha unlocked her mum’s phone with the code she knew well.

“She I call Auntie Julie’s phone?” she asked, opening up the “Most Recent Calls” menu.

“Yes, probably best.” Laura agreed. Nodding, Samantha pressed the button to star a video call and waited for her aunt to answer. The phone rang for what felt like an eternity and she was just about to give up and suggest trying to again after school the next day when her dad’s sister’s face appeared on the screen. In many ways, they did look alike and it was easy to tell that they were closely related but Auntie Julie, although not an unpleasant or unkind person, seemed to have nowhere near her brother’s sense of fun and Samantha couldn’t help thinking that it was no surprise that her cousins were a little uptight.

“Oh, hello dear.” Julie smiled a little thinly as if she were cross with Samantha but didn’t want to show it. Her niece was no fool, however, and realised why she was annoyed. After all, it was the invitation she had sent out which had caused her daughter such stress and upset, confronting her with a situation she would probably have rather not had to deal with.

“Hi Auntie Julie!” Samantha waved cheerfully, holding the phone so that just her head and shoulders as well as part of her chest was in shot but making no effort to hide the face that she was naked. “Can I speak to Nadine, please?”

“Of course.” Julie replied politely, looking off to the side before continuing a little hesitantly. “She’s sat with her dad so I don’t know if you want to cover up before I pass the phone to her?” Although she knew it was probably not the most helpful thing to do in that situation, Samantha could not help gigging.

“I’m going to be naked at the party!” she reminded her aunt, now mildly irritated herself at what she saw as the foolish prudery under the circumstances. “And I’m pretty sure Mummy and Daddy aren’t going to serve me in my pyjamas! I’m Sure Uncle Mike can handle seeing my bare shoulders on camera! Although I agree he might turn to stone if he accidentality sees my nipples!” With a slight snort which, coupled with another thin and awkward smile, was clearly meant to convey mirth, Julie conceded and passed the phone to her daughter who was sat on her dad’s lap wearing purple and white pyjamas with a big picture of a unicorn on the front, her hair wet from the bath.

“Hey sweetie!” Uncle Mike, who Samantha had always liked a lot more than Auntie Julie, smiled at her over Nadine’s shoulder. “Looking tasty!” he grinned and Samantha could only imagine the disapproving looks that would have earned him from his wife.

“Thanks!” she grinned.

“So you wanted to explain to Naddie about the party?”

“That’s right.” Samantha nodded with a sympathetic smile, directing her attention to the pretty but rather sullen-looking little girl. “So I hear you were worried that if you come to my Christmas party, you might end up on the menu too?” Nadine nodded silently. “Well you don’t have to worry at all about that!” she assured her. “I know I have more than enough meat to go around and, even if I didn’t, like, if everyone suddenly got super hungry, there’s going to be at least three, probably four other girls there, my friends, who would volunteer in a heartbeat! Besides,” she grinned, deciding to indulge in a white lie and quote a “fact” she had just made up on the spot, “haven’t you heard? However delicious a girl is, she only tastes good if she gets harvested willingly! If someone cooks a girl who doesn’t want to be eaten, she tastes really bad! Like…” she thought for a moment, “like rotten lemons mixed with gone-off milk!” Nadine actually gave a little giggle at this. “And nobody wants their turkey tasting like gone-off rotten lemon milk, do they?”

“Eww no!” Nadine agreed with more giggles, leading to a definite look of relief on her dad’s face.

“So you don’t have to worry about that!” Samantha assured her. “If you did decide you wanted to get cooked one day,” she continued, hoping that she was not going to get in trouble with her aunt over it, “and it was your choice, then I’m sure you’d be delicious. But nobody is going to force you, not at Christmas or at any other time, okay?” Nadine nodded, smiling now. “It really would mean a lot to me if you and your mum and dad and your brother and sister came to my party and enjoyed my meat! You can wear a pretty dress and there will be games and presents and all sorts of fun!”

“You promise George and Rosie won’t get cooked either?” Nadine asked, although the cheeky smile on her cute, pretty face showed that this was meant as a joke.

“Eww no!” Samantha explained in mock disgust. “George is boy! Don’t you know boys taste gross?”

“As bad as gone-off rotten lemon milk?” Nadine giggled.

“Well, maybe not that bad!” Samantha giggled in response. “But nowhere near as yummy as a willing girl! And Rosie is way too small yet! Little Rosie was the youngest of the siblings and was a little over three years old while George, the middle child and only boy, was seven. “So she’s pretty safe for a few more years!” She winked at her younger cousin who giggled again. “So you’ll come?” Samantha asked, in a serious but friendly tone once more. “Dress up nicely and enjoy a yummy turkey dinner?” Nadine nodded with more than a little enthusiasm. “Okay, awesome!” Samantha beamed. “Well I’ll see you on Christmas Day! Gonna give the phone back to my mum now, okay?” Nadine nodded and waved at her then blew a kiss. Samantha blew one back, relieved to have been able to smooth the situation over, and handed Laura’s phone back to her.

“Maybe you should go take a bath?” Josh suggested as Laura began to talk about the Christmas plans with her sister who apparently now had her own phone back too. “Since you’re dressed for it after all!” Samantha giggled. “I’ll come up and say goodnight once I’ve had something to eat, okay?” he promised and Samantha agreed, kissing him on the cheek and scampering off towards the stairs, wiggling her bare behind teasingly as she went.


To be continued...