Just then, an email notification popped up showing that she had a message from Miranda. She opened it and found a link to the pictures that had been taken of her girls at Sidney’s along with the password required to access them, a random string of number and upper and lower-case letters which had clearly been auto-generated. She copied the password then clicked the link which took her to a secure page on the Sidney’s website and pasted the password in when prompted.

There were more pictures than she had expected, just under a hundred in fact. Thinking that Erin would likely want to see them, Laura left her desk and went to the bottom of the stairs to call to her.

“Can I see too?” Ryan asked, pausing his game and coming over. Laura chuckled to herself, wondering how she could have forgotten that it was not just other girls with meat-girl leaning who enjoyed seeing naked photographs of young girls!

“Sure!” she smiled. After all, the sisters had agreed that at least one of these photographs could be put on the invitations, meaning they would be seen not only by the recipients but likely their whole families, not to mention the staff at the printing company! Not only that, but some of them had been live on the Sidney’s website and viewable by any member of the public, if only for a few hours, so she was sure that Lydia and Ella would not be shy about who got to see their pictures now! Erin quickly clattered down the stairs and sat on her mum’s lap to look at the pictures while Ryan stood behind Laura’s chair, looking over her shoulder.

The first dozen or so pictures were of Ella from the front. It seemed as if she had found it difficult to maintain a neutral smile and stance for these more formal pictures designed to show off her meat rather than her personality. In many of them she seemed either to be giggling or awkwardly stifling laughter, shoulders hunched or the pose lost all together. They were undeniably cute photos and Laura was sure that Miranda was happy to have them but she also felt a pang of sympathy for the photographer who probably had a fair number of girls to get through and had to make so many attempts at getting the relatively simple picture they needed. By the last four, however, Ella seemed to have been able to get it together and any one of those could have been the one that was used on the site.

Next came the photos from the back and sides, only two or three of each this time. In contrast to her sister, Lydia seemed to have been a much more professional model and the photographer had achieved in five shots what it had taken them between twelve and fourteen to manage with Ella with none of those five being unusable. The front-facing pictures were quickly followed by the side and back shots, showing off her meat from all angles. Both girls had perky, round, bubble-butts that stuck out nicely behind them, thick thighs and were generally meaty in all the right places. Laura thought that it was likely only their insistence at being sold as a pair that had kept them from being snapped up in the hours between their profile going live and her brother’s decision to book them for a family party.

Now they came to the pictures that Laura was really interested in – the casual shots of the pair of them together, hugging, laughing together, posing in various different ways, so poses more revealing than others.

“Ooh that one’s cool!” Erin exclaimed as they came to one where the girls were posed back to back, their arms folded, their heads turned towards the camera as if they were on a poster for a buddy movie of some kind. “Too back you can’t see much.”

“True.” Laura agreed. Of all the poses, since the girls’ bodies were sideways on and their arms were folded across their chest, this one really was among the most modest. It was true, nobody could mistake the fact that they were naked, but there were absolutely no intimate parts on show, giving the image an air of cheeky burlesque rather than anything approaching pornographic. “But if I make it gray-scale and fade it a bit…” Quickly, she copied the photo into her editing suite, cut around the two girls from Ella’s waist upwards and dragged the cropped image onto template for the back of the invitation. She then clicked the filter to turn it to black and white then slide the opacity fader down to thirty percent, leaving the image clearly visible but faint enough to write over, more like a water-mark. “Not the final version of course,” she smiled, “I need to play with it a bit first, but what do you think?”

“Looks really cool!” Erin enthused and her brother agreed. “So which one should go on the front? It should be one that shows off their meat really well!” Laura returned to the album and continued to scroll through the pictures.

“That one!” Ryan called out as a particular one filled the screen. It showed the girls side by side, bodies pressed close together but facing front, kissing on the lips with their arms around each other’s shoulders. It was sweet yet suitably revealing.

“It’s very cute.” Laura agreed. “But I’m not sure it’s quite right for what we’re looking for. Although you’ve given me an idea now!” She copied the picture in question into a new folder which she labelled “Party Cards”.

“Ooh you’re thinking people can have some to take home?” Erin grinned. “Like the ones of Sam in the stocking?”

“Exactly!” Laura grinned. “I’m sure they’ll autograph them too if people ask nicely!” Both children giggled. Laura continued to scroll through the pictures and, between the three of them, they managed to pick three more to get printed up, deciding that the fifth and final one should be the same one that got used on the invite, but potentially without the planned editing. Eventually, after some debate, narrowing it down from seven possibilities, then to three and finally to the one, they settled on the perfect picture for the invitations.

It showed the girls laughing, their heads tuned towards each other but angled slightly back which would make editing the hats on easier. Their bodies were mostly facing the camera but in a relaxed way, meaning that most of their key features were on display, although Laura did think it a shame that their rumps could not be enjoyed in this particular shot. Still, the photos she had decided to get printed included two that showed them off very well and everyone was going to get to enjoy them in person at the party anyway! Lydia’s arm was around Ella’s shoulders and Ella’s was around Lydia’s waist. The children both agreed that this was the perfect shot.

“Do you mind helping me get shots I need for the editing?” Laura asked Erin. “We can take the pictures by that wall over there,” she pointed to a section of the living room wall that had no furniture, windows, mirrors or pictures on it, providing a handy blank canvas of light cream. “I’d need you to put your Sidney gear on and copy the poses as best you can, then I can make it look as if they were wearing them for the shoot.

“Sure!” Erin grinned, hopping up off her mum’s lap. “I’ll go change right now!”

“You don’t need to be naked.” Laura smiled. “But if you could put some shorts on, or just take your jeans off if you don’t mind, it would be handy, just in case I need to blend any part of your leg with theirs, plus it will be easier to check the poses.

“No problem!” Erin kissed Laura on the cheeky and excitedly scampered back off upstairs. Feeling a little guilty about how much he had enjoyed the photographs of his new friends but also wondering if it would be rude to ask for a little alone-time with the album on a tablet or something later, Ryan went back to his game.

While she waited for Erin, Laura set up her camera on a tripod to re-create the studio setting, pulled the curtains to block out natural light and put on what she estimated to be the right combination of lights to closest replicate the conditions the sisters had been photographed in. There were plenty of digital tricks she could do once she had the shots, of course, but the easier she could make things for herself, the better the outcome was likely to be. She had just finished getting set up when Erin came thundering down the stairs again, ready to pose. Despite what Laura had said, she had opted to go fully naked apart from the hat and boots.

“Wow, you don’t do things by halves, do you?” Laura chuckled, not incredibly surprised by her daughter’s choice.

“Authenticity is important!” Erin told her, her serious tone belied by the cheeky sparkle in her eyes.

“A very valid point!” Laura agreed. “Good thinking with the hair, by the way!” Since the sisters both had straight hair that hung relatively close to their heads, Erin had put mousse in her own curly mop and pulled it back into a short ponytail so that it would not obscure more of the hat than it should. It was not a look she particularly liked for herself and if she had been posing for her own Sidney photos, she definitely thought her voluminous curls would look more the part but that was not what this session was about. For the purposes of this particular shoot, she was more a mannequin than a model and she wanted to ensure the best possible outcome for her friends.

With the photograph she wished to recreate on the screen and easy to see, Laura adjusted the height of the camera and carefully directed Erin into the correct pose for Ella’s accessories. Realising that this was going to be difficult without a second person to lean on, even if the scale was slightly off, she called Ryan over to help.

“Don’t worry,” she chuckled as he came over a little nervously, “you don’t need to get your kit off! Just just need you to stand more or less how Lydia is in this picture, then you get to swap and be Ella, okay?” As she worked, Laura was very pleased to find that both siblings seemed to be natural posers and better at taking direction than Samantha had been. Her photo-session with her recently-roasted daughter had been fun but had pretty much consisted of trying to get the best shot of whichever pose Samantha had chosen to strike. With these two, however, Laura could imagine venturing into some professional-quality work that could potentially be exhibited or submitted to magazines.

Once she was happy with the shots she had, taking several close-ups of Erin’s head and feet as well as full-body poses, she asked the children to swap so that Erin could now be Lydia. This pose too a little longer to achieve but the cooperative pair eventually managed to manoeuvrer themselves into the correct position with Ryan bending his knees a little to make him short enough for Erin’s arm to rest in the right place. Laura had only taken a few shots, however, when she heard the front door open.

“We’re back!” Josh called from the hallway. “We’d not heard anything so I brought Amelia back here for dinner.

“That’s fine!” Laura called back. “We’re in the living room!”

“When he says for dinner,” Amelia giggled, coming into the room, “he just means...oh!” She took in the scene of Erin poses nude next to her clothed, crouching brother while Laura photographed them. “This looks like fun! What did I miss?”

“Go on!” Laura chuckled. “Take a break, fill her in. I’m sure your legs must be complaining anyway?” she smiled at Ryan, thinking how badly her own thighs would be burning if she had to hold that semi-crouched pose for anything more than half a minute and hoping that his youthful legs would not be protesting as much.

Happily, Erin scampered over to explain to Amelia about the Sidney party and the invitations they were making while Ryan stretched and shook out one leg at a time. Not far behind, Josh followed Amelia into the living room, his arms full of bags. Not only did he seem to be carrying both their over-night bags but he also had two large gift-bags from the Roebuck International hotel and a couple more from the famous multi-storey toy shop where he and Samantha had done some last-minute Christmas shopping the week before.

“So, you had fun then?” Laura chuckled, seeing the dark rings under her husband’s eyes and wondering whether Amelia had let him get any sleep at all. “How was the show?”

“It was awesome!” Amelia gushed. “So sexy and dramatic! Mr Martin has a mask,” she informed the family, “so if you see a mysterious ghost around the house, it’s just him! And look what I got!” She smiled proudly and lifted the silver rose necklace for everyone to see, to to show off out of the desire to share something that made her happy with people she cared about.

“Wow, that’s really pretty!” Laura smiled and Erin leaned in for a closer look, agreeing. “And dare I ask what’s in the rest of the bags?” Giggling, Amelia ran over to the dining table where Josh, with a groan of relief, had set the various bags down.

“When they found out it was a special occasion,” Amelia grinned, “they gave us a gift basket. It has some really nice treats in it. Here,” she fished out the tin of biscuits, “we brought this home to share. And you and Mr Martin can have this,” she took out the bottle of white wine which Laura recognised as being a brand far more expensive than anything they usually bought. They had eaten the chocolates between them after their shower but she carefully unpacked the other treats, including the teddy bear. “Isn’t he cute?” Amelia held him out to show then hugged him tight to her chest. “I’ve named him Joshua and he’s going to sleep in my bed every night for the rest of my life!”

She looked in the bag again and saw the Sidney doll that she had intended to keep for the time being and give to Erin just before her harvest and suddenly felt overcome with a wave of generosity and kindness. After all, she thought, she had just been given a wonderful treat and Erin, who was the one who really collected dolls after all, had come up with the sweet idea to throw a party for the new friends, a party that Amelia knew she would very much enjoy too! Besides, she had the larger Sidney doll that Samantha had chosen for her for Christmas. Sure, this one was more collectable, but she wasn’t really a collector so what was the point of letting it gather dust on her shelf for nearly half a year when someone else, someone who had endured a lot of misfortune in their life up until that point, could be enjoying it?

“Here!” She carefully lifted the doll in its plain plastic tube out of the bag and held it out to her friend who was currently dressed identically to toy. “This is for you!” Curious, Erin stepped closer and Samantha watched with pleasure as her eyes grew wide with shock.

“No fucking way!” Erin exclaimed, before quickly looking sheepish. “Sorry!” she apologised to Laura. “But really, are you serious?” she asked Amelia, apparently too nervous to take the offered gift. “You’re giving this to me?” Amelia nodded with an enthusiastic grin. “Do you know how much these go for?” the naked red-head asked incredulously.

“Kinda!” Amelia grinned. “But I also know you collect special dolls and I’m roasting in, like, five months and you’ve got to wait at least give years, maybe more, so she’s worth a lot more to you than she is to me!”

“That’s so generous!” Erin asked, finally reaching out to take the doll as if it were a holy relic. “Thank you so much!” Feeling warmed inside by seeing how happy she had made her friend, Amelia continued to unpack the bags, showing everyone the souvenir brochure, music box and charm bracelet from the theatre as well as the mask that Josh had worn for her the night before. Ryan took this and put it on then began making spooky ghost noises to bug his sister who was too entranced by her new doll to care.