There was more giggling and discussion about what kinds of games could be more fun in the nude, reflecting that it was a pity their suburban garden did not offer the same level of privacy as the high-hedged yard around the hall.

“I did spot something I thought might be fun when I was looking for a good link to share for the hats and boots!” Laura grinned. “Temporary tattoo meat-stamps. All A-grade, of course! You could inspect and grade each other’s meat. Does that sound good?”

“Ooh yes please, Mummy!” Erin exclaimed, surprising herself a little with the word but liking very much how it felt in her mouth. “That would be awesome! Can you get those, please?”

“Yeah!” Ella agreed. “That would be so cool!” It occurred to Laura that the girls did not seem to have stamps on their rumps like Samantha had, although she knew that these were not compulsory. It seemed unlikely that either of them, but Ella especially, would have declined if they had been offered but it could just be that it wasn’t a part of the normal process at Sidney’s. Although Lydia did not give even the slightest hint of being dissatisfied by her fate and seemed to be looking forward to the party as much as anyone, Laura got the distinct impression that it was the younger sister who had pushed for them to sign up and been something of a driving force behind the whole process.

“Okay!” Laura chuckled. “I’ll order those this evening, just in case they need to come from abroad or something. I didn’t actually check the shipping time on those while I was browsing. Hmm…” She pondered out loud. “I’d better let my brother know in case Willow asks him to draw another stamp on her like for the party!”

After that, the conversation drifted naturally onto other topics while everyone continued to enjoy their personalised pizzas. Josh was curious how many of Ella and Lydia’s friends knew that they would not be going back to school and why, and how they had taken the news. Ryan asked if the sisters had any plans for New Year which was only a couple of days away and this, in turn, prompted Erin to ask if they, as a family, had anything planned, to which Laura admitted that they did not. New Year had never been that big of a celebration in their household since Samantha had only just been coming up to the age where she would have been interested in, not to mention capable of staying up to see the New Year in but asked if there was anything particular they would like to do.

In answer to Ryan’s question, Lydia explained that they were going to Wales for a couple of nights to stay with relatives and celebrate with the fairly large extended family. She wasn’t sure, but she had heard rumours that one of her teenage cousins might be roasting at the party.

“Well I’m afraid we can’t provide that level of catering here!” Laura chuckled. “But I’m sure we can come up with something fun!” Once the pizzas were finished and the plates cleared away, Laura heated up a Christmas pudding in the microwave and served it with a choice of ice-cream, custard, thick whipped cream or any combination of the three people fancied.

“Can we take a bath together now?” Erin asked once second helpings of pudding had been consumed, leaving the serving dish empty. “Then maybe watch a movie in bed?” One of the things they had found when sorting through Samantha’s toys and other belongings was a projector that could be hooked up to a phone or other kind of media player to cast a movie onto the wall, along with a speaker bar that could also be plugged into it for maximum cinematic effect.

“All of you?” Laura asked with a slight frown, only for all four children to nod enthusiastically in response. “I mean… sure, if you want to, but it’s going to be a pretty tight squeeze? It’s a good size bath but it’s not like it’s a proper hot-tub or anything?”

“We know!” Erin replied breezily. “It will be fine!”

“Well okay.” Laura agreed with some hesitation but deciding the best course of action in this was care to let them try it. Either it they would all fit in somehow and enjoy their bath or they would find that they could not but would be more likely to accept it, having experimented and found out for themselves. The worst case scenario was that a bit of hot water and bubble-bath was wasted which honestly seemed like a small price to pay for the children’s happiness. “I’ll come and check on you in fifteen or twenty minutes.” Happily, the children headed off upstairs and Josh helped Laura clear the table and load the dishwasher.

“Sounds like quite the party!” Josh chuckled as he shared the last of the wine between their two glasses. “Seems like our Sam is going to be responsible for quite the legacy!”

“Indeed!” Laura grinned, knowing full well that, having experienced this one, Willow was sure to demand a Sidney party of her own when her time came and there was a good chance of Amelia wanting one too, plus there were the four girls she didn’t know who would be attending – who knew what kind of impact the celebrations might have on them too?

“If baths with each other and their friends is something they’re into,” Josh observed, casting his eyes generally upwards and clearly referring to their new children, “we might have to look at getting a bigger one put in when we get the bedrooms done, a corner one or something.”

“Good idea!” Laura nodded thoughtfully. “Even if they do all fit now, they won’t for much longer. Of course, it might be something they grow out of as they get older but most kids, I think, have hit the extreme modesty phase by their age?” She let the question hang for a moment but neither had a definitive answer. Samantha had been their first child and all their nieces and nephews were younger. Their daughter certainly had got a little more shy as she’d got older, but not incredibly so, and right around the time she was beginning to blossom into adolescence was when she had decided to roast and all modesty had gone completely out the window, as it apparently had with Ella and Lydia if what their mum said was true, which she had no reason to doubt. All this had left them with really only their own adolescent years to reflect upon which had been a rather long time ago in a very different world! “Even if it is,” she concluded after a few moments, “it would be a nice thing to have that we would enjoy too!”

They set the dishwasher running and finished their wine then Josh said he would set the projector up in the bedroom while she checked on the children in the bath.

As she approached the bathroom, a little nervous of what she might find, visions of grumpy or even injured children and more water on the bathroom floor than in the bath itself filling her mind, Laura was pleasantly surprised to hear the sound of happy chatting interspersed with the occasional giggle. She knocked gently on the door then pushed it open, the knock serving as a courtesy rather than a request as she knew none of the children were self-conscious about her seeing them in the nude!

Once again, she found Ryan at the taps end but with Ella on his lap while the two older girls had managed to squeeze in side by side at the other end, laying on their sides and angled towards each other, the lower half of their budding chests pressed together and surrounded by fluffy white bubbles. Ella appeared to be sliding back and forth on Ryan’s lap in a way that was probably meant to be discrete but left her in no doubt what was going on under the water and making her wonder whether Ella would be asking to get her cherry popped for real later that night. The word for what they were likely doing now had always amused Laura as it seemed like such an un-sexy word, sounding to her more like it should have something to do with cheese-making or farming rather than erotic pleasure!

“Well!” she chuckled as she came in and surveyed the scene. “This all looks very cosy!”

“I told you we’d fit!” Erin giggled.

“Indeed you did!” Laura laughed. “Well, it’s a good thing you’re all friends!”

“Is Daddy setting up the projector?” Erin asked sweetly.

“Yes, honey.” Laura smiled. “Any idea what you want to watch? I would suggest nothing too scary!”

“Is there something that’s kinda scary but kinda sexy too?” Ella asked cheekily, her eyes sparkling. Laura pondered for a moment. Normally it would never have occurred to her to recommend such movies to such a young audience but the one who was asking for them had basically two weeks left to live at the end of which she was going to be voluntarily roasted alive so the rules, under the circumstances, felt a little different!

“There’s a couple of Dracula movies that fit the bill!” she grinned. “I’ll get Josh to find them. Just promise me,” she addressed them all, “that if they’re too much, you’ll stop them and if you’re scared you can come get us, okay? You’re supposed to be having fun tonight so don’t lay there unhappy. They’re movies meant for adults so nobody is going to make fun of you if you don’t like them!” She left them to enjoy their bath and went to help Josh find the relevant movies. He had got the projector and speakers hooked up to an old tablet of Samantha’s, one she would no doubt have wanted replacing for Christmas if she had planned on surviving the day. Although nearly three years old, it was good enough to do the job and would be easy for the children to control. Luckily all three of the movies she had in mind were available on a streaming ap that was already on the tablet so Josh removed the parental controls and queued them up in a playlist.

“How long do you suppose they’ll be in the bath?” he asked.

“Hard to say.” Laura replied. “They seem to be happy enough for now but it is definitely a tight squeeze. I think the idea will prove more fun than the reality!” Josh nodded, remembering the time when Samantha and Amelia had both wanted to get in the bath with him but had found it too impractical to be much fun. Now, the bath that he and Amelia had enjoyed in their hotel room was another matter and would likely have accommodated all six of them if the occasion called for it!

Almost as if thinking of her had summoned her, Josh’s phone began to ring and he saw that it was Amelia. Wordlessly, he showed the screen to Laura, as if asking her permission to answer.

“Go on!” she teased. “Don’t leave your little girlfriend waiting!” She leant on the wall with her arms folded and an amused expression on her face as Josh sat on the edge of the bed to answer the video call.

“Hey there!” he smiled, blushing a little as he realised that Amelia had once again called him from the bath.

“Hi!” she giggled, noticing his slight embarrassment. “Missing me yet?”

“You know it!” he grinned. “So what can I do for you?”

“Well there’s all sorts of things you can do for me,” she teased, “but most of them don’t work over the phone!” His blush deepened and Laura had to put her hand to her mouth to stifle her giggles. “I’m actually calling because my Grandma has just surprised us all with an invitation to her place for New Year! Apparently she’s hired the same caterers who are going to be cooking me at the Christening and they’re brining along a girl to roast so I can see their process!”

“Oh wow, that sound cool!” Josh grinned. “Is the girl someone she knows?”

“I don’t think so.” Amelia gave a small, thoughtful frown. “Or maybe through one of her friends at Church, I don’t know. Anyway,” she grinned again, “I know this is short notice but, like I said, it was a surprise to all of us and there’s going to be a lot of food to go around so she said I should ask my boyfriend and his family! Those were her exact words!” she added with a giggle. “So, if you guys are free, it would be awesome if you could come over?”

“Funny, we were just talking about New Year before dinner!” Josh smiled. “Let me check with Laura. Here she is now, in fact!” He looked over at his wife as if she had just come in and had not been listening to their entire conversation. Thankfully, Laura decided to play along and came over to sit beside him on the bed.

“Check what with me?” she asked in a friendly tone before acting mildly surprised by the image on the screen of her daughter’s naked best friend in the bath, the bubbles doing nothing to hide her cute, budding little tits between which she was still wearing the silver rose pendant. “Oh, hello girls!” she chuckled. “And hello Amelia, too!” Amelia giggled. “So yeah,” Laura smiled, “what was it you wanted to check with me?”

“Amelia’s Grandma has invited us all to her New Year’s Eve party!” Josh explained with a smile, acting as if his wife had not already heard the entire conversation up to that point. “Apparently she’s hired the same caterers who are going to be cooking Amelia so she can see how everything works, but they’re bringing a girl with them to cook.”

“That sounds awesome!” Laura grinned, genuinely pleased. “And she’s really happy with all four of us coming?”

“She said the whole family!” Amelia smiled reassuringly, choosing, apparently, to miss out the part this time about Grandma referring to Josh as her boyfriend. “Her place isn’t too far away.” she continued, pre-empting Laura’s next question. “Maybe a thirty or forty minute drive from yours? Or you could probably stay over? I know some people will be.”

“Oh, well we wouldn’t want to impose.” Laura replied kindly. “I’m sure it will be fine for one or other of us to drive as long as we know.”

“Well I’ll ask her anyway.” Amelia promised. “She does have a pretty big house!” This matched Josh’s perception from his brief visit to her house that Amelia’s family had money. “Not short of a bob or two”, as his own Grandma would have said!

“Well please do thank her for us!” Laura beamed. “I’ll let the others know. Can you send us her address, please?”

“Sure!” Amelia grinned, happy to know that she would be seeing the New Year in with Josh, even if his wife and new children would there too. Not that she didn’t like them, of course, Erin and Ryan were her school friends as much as Samantha’s and Laura had always been really kind to her and had been responsible for a lot of the magical times she and Josh had spent together but that night in the city where she got to have him all to herself had felt like Heaven and she hoped that there would be a chance for another such date before too long.

“Well you enjoy the rest of your bath!” Josh grinned. “And we’ll see you there!”

“Thanks!” Amelia grinned then leaned forward conspiratorially, despite Laura still sitting beside Josh on the bed well within frame of the camera. “If you’ve been a very good boy, I might take some pictures for you when I get out!”

“To show me how dirty the water got?” Josh asked, cheekily playing dumb, making both of his significant others giggle. “Or to prove you rinsed the tub down once it was drained?”

“Ignore him!” Laura rolled her eyes. “I know he’ll look forward to getting those!” Amelia grinned and Josh suddenly felt very aware of the unspoken sisterhood which seemed to exist between his wife and lover, almost as if his entire relationship with Amelia was some kind of joke or prank that they had concocted between them. Well, he decided, if that was the case, it was a joke he was perfectly happy to be the butt of! They both blew kisses to the girl on the screen who returned them with a grin and a giggle then Josh ended the call. “Well,” Laura grinned, “you’d better go tell the kids!”

“Aren’t they still in the bath?” Josh queried. “Wouldn’t it be better if you went?”

“You were the one who was invited!” Laura reminded him cheekily. “We just get to tag along! Why?” She asked with a wry smile. “You feel like you’ve seen enough pre-teen tits for one day? You’re on some kind of ration?”

“Well, no…” Josh chuckled, blushing a little. “Maybe we should just wait until they get out and…”

“Oh for goodness sake!” Laura rolled her eyes again. “You really think there’s even a one percent chance of any of them wearing pyjamas tonight? Besides, you saw them all in the nuddy just a few days ago at the party anyway! Stop being silly and go tell them the good news!”

“Okay! Okay!” Josh put his hands up in submission and, chuckling, went to the bathroom. Like Laura he knocked on the door but unlike her he waited for an invitation before coming in. The sight that greeted him was not at all what he had expected although he realised he should not have been at all surprised. The only one still in the tub was Ella who was leaning on the side with her arms folded and looking rather pleased with herself. Ryan, who was sporting an admittedly impressive erection, was drying himself with a towel while Lydia and Erin were in the process of rubbing moisturiser all over each other, the sight of which, Josh reasoned, was more than enough to account for Ryan’s condition although he suspected that he had been in that state for most, if not all of the time he had been in the bath.

“Hope I’m not interrupting?” he chuckled. The older girls stopped what they were doing and turned to smile at him, Erin slipping into a hug from behind from Lydia. Ryan finished drying himself and wrapped the towel around his waist, apparently from habit as much as anything else, where it immediately tented comically and Ella smiled up at him from among what remained of the bubbles, sitting cross-legged in the tub with her arms folded on the side and her chin resting on her arms. “You know how we were talking about New Year earlier? Well we just got an invite from Amelia’s Grandma.” He paused to let the suspense and intrigue build a little. “Sounds like we’re getting to enjoy roast Girl on New Year’s Eve too!”

“Oh wow, cool!” Erin grinned but then frowned a little. “Wait… It’s not her Grandma roasting, right? Because, no disrespect, but I imagine she’d be kinda...chewy?”

“Oh goodness, no!” Josh laughed and noticed his children give a sigh of relief while their friends giggled. “No, no! She’s hired the same caterers they’re going to be using for the Christening and they’re bringing a girl with them to cook. I’m not sure how old she is,” he admitted, “but I’m reasonably confident she’ll be under seventy!” There was more giggling all round.

“Phew!” Erin exclaimed. “I mean, I know Sidney’s says every girl has the right to be delicious but a line does have to be drawn somewhere!”

“Yes, don’t worry!” Josh laughed, then remembered something. “Hey, did I show you guys all the pictures from when I took Sam and Amelia to that special Santa session for meat-girls?”

“I don’t think so.” Ella replied. “Only what was in the slide-show at Christmas. Sounds fun ‘though!”

“It was!” Josh agreed. “Well, remind me to show you later. There was a girl there. One of Santa’s elves, who we’d actually met before when she was, as she put it, pretending to be a lifeguard at the pool. You know? The one with all the water slides?” The children all nodded. The pool in question was a very popular local destination for family outings and had been at least since Josh and Laura had been children, although it had changed quite a lot in that time of course. “She’s going to be roasting for New Year too, up in Scotland! They call it Hogmanay up there,” he explained, “so she declared herself the Hogmanay Hog!” This provoked more giggles. “So, are you happy with that arrangement?” he asked his new children. “I guess we should have checked with you before accepting but…”

“It sounds awesome!” Ryan answered confidently for both of them. “It was really kind of Amelia’s Grandma to ask us!” Erin nodded her enthusiastic agreement.

“I guess that’s settled, then?” Josh smiled, clapping his hands together. “Looks like you’re finished with the bath?” he looked around and his eyes settled on Ella. “Except for you, apparently? Are you planning on letting your sister be the main course and you be the dessert?”

“No?” Ella looked cutely puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Well apparently you’re trying to turn yourself into a giant prune!” he teased.

“No,” the nine year old giggled. “I’m getting out too.” She stood up in the bath and Josh had to admit she look spectacular, stood naked and beautiful, glistening as the water trickled from her firm, toned young body. She really did look like some kind of goddess or water nymph. “Hey, I need that now!” she tugged the towel from around Ryan’s waist with a giggle despite there being two more hanging fresh and untouched on the rack. The naked boy stood with a look of shocked confusion on his face as the young girl lightly patted herself dry then hugged him.

“Well anyway,” Josh smiled, “the projector’s all set up. “Did you bring pyjamas?” he asked the guests. “I’m sure we could…” but he trailed off when he saw the withering looks the girls gave him. “Well, the heating’s on!” he chuckled. “And I’m sure we can rustle up some hot chocolates if you’d like”? This suggestion was given a far more favourable reception and Josh watched in contented amusement as four cute, bare, freshly-washed bottoms ran past him on the way to the bedroom.

In the bedroom which no longer seemed like Samantha’s, Laura was waiting for her children and their guests.