Allie and I were on the same wavelength.
“They grow up so quickly,” she said. “I mean, they already know about sex. Well, Maddy and Em. I didn’t learn until high school! Not for real, at least. Even then, it was only the stuff they taught in Health class.”
“Exactly. Fallopian tubes and vas deferens.”
“I didn’t figure out the rest until college.”
“Me either,” I fibbed.
“They learned about it last year. In fifth grade! Not just the body parts, either. Consent and everything! I’m not complaining,” Allie added quickly, “but I don’t know if I’m ready for Maddy to deal with that stuff.”
“It could’ve been worse,” I said. “Christy wanted our girls to go to Catholic school, Holy Spirit.”
“Ken too.”
“Sex Ed there is nonexistent.”
“It’s asinine.”
“It’s both! I mean, ‘abstinence pledges’? What the fuck?”
“Literally!” Allie agreed with a laugh.
“Ugh. Don’t get me started.”
We fell silent and radiated agreement.
“So, yeah,” I said at last, “you and I might think fifth grade is too early, but the people with the education degrees say otherwise. Besides, I think they’re doing it the right way.” I told her about my conversation that morning with Emily.
“Is that what we’re supposed to do?” Allie laughed. “No wonder you keep trying to get me naked!”
“Of course!” I shot her an unrepentant grin before I nodded toward Emily and Madison. They were still reclining on the stairs, still relaxed, nude instead of naked. I mentioned it to Allie.
“I guess you’re right,” she said. “‘Naked’ has a connotation of ‘exposed’ and ‘vulnerable.’”
“Exactly.”
“So… you want me to be vulnerable?” She had a habit of moistening her lips when she wanted to remind me of her tongue stud. She did it now. Then she smiled, sly and suggestive. “Vulnerable to what?”
To me, duh!
I ignored him. “I want you to be comfortable. How is up to you.”
“You don’t wanna see me naked,” she said matter-of-factly.
My expression said otherwise, but I didn’t pursue it. We were just friends, after all. Right?
“Hey, Dad…? Dad…? Dad!”
I sighed. “Fair Juliet calls…”
“Saved by the bell,” Allie said, although I wondered who she thought had been saved this time.
“Dad…! Dad!”
“What!” I suppressed my annoyance and feigned a smile.
“Come play with us,” Emily begged.
“Yeah, come play!” Susie said.
The others joined in.
“Please, Mr. H.?”
“Please, please?”
“We want you to throw us,” Emily added.
“Yeah, come throw us!”
“I think there’s an echo in here,” I joked to Allie.
“It’d be a shame to disappoint them.” She added in a low voice, “Or me.”
“It’s a good thing we had a talk last night,” I said.
Allie batted not-so-innocent eyelashes. “Why, whatevah do you mean?”
Brandeis education or not, she was still an Alabama girl at heart, a coquette with a honeysuckle drawl and a ribbon from the county fair, Miss Blue Balls ’86.
“Uh-huh,” I replied in a monotone. “Just friends.”
She smiled sweetly.
“Be right there!” I called to Emily before she could start up again. She was ten times as tenacious as her mother, yet without Christy’s adult filter. Worse, she didn’t understand that I’d been trying to get laid.
Yeah! the little head harrumphed.
Allie’s blue-green eyes glittered with amusement. She couldn’t hear my inner monologue, but she could figure it out from my expression.
I stood and removed my T-shirt, and her amusement turned to frank admiration. I didn’t have a wrestler’s physique anymore, but I was in pretty good shape for a guy who’d just turned forty. My wife certainly thought so. Allie did too, and she’d decided to take her flirting to the next level.
Two can play at that game. I paused and gave her a long look before I started to turn away.
She stopped me with a coy, “Aren’t you forgetting something?” I turned back, and she lowered her gaze to my trunks. “It only seems fair,” she added. “I mean, the girls aren’t wearing them.”
“You are.”
“A woman’s prerogative.”
“Uh-huh,” I said dubiously.
“Well…?” She arched an eyebrow. “Care to put your money where your mouth is?”
“Now who’s trying to get who naked?”
Fortunately, the girls were too far away to overhear. They were watching us, though, and part of me wondered if Emily and Madison could read our body language.
“Well?” Allie said playfully. “What’s it gonna be… big boy?”
“Big boy, huh? All right, we’ll play it your way.” I turned to face her, untied the drawstring on my shorts, and slid them down in one smooth motion. Then I kicked them off and straightened. My dick flopped into view, semi-hard and completely smooth. Allie gulped.
“Happy?”
Her nostrils flared.
“Didn’t think I’d do it, did you?” I folded my trunks and draped them over my T-shirt. “Well? See anything you like?”
Behind me, Little Miss Megaphone lost her battle with patience. “Dad…? Dad…? Dad…! Are you coming?”
“Saved by the bell,” I said to Allie, low and suggestive.
For the first time all day, she didn’t have a comeback.
* * *
The girls and I played for an hour, a game that involved me throwing them into the air or flipping them toward the deep end. Emily even managed a one-and-a-half back somersault. Madison wasn’t as daring, and I didn’t push her. She was a good dancer and a decent swimmer, but her coordination hadn’t caught up with her latest growth spurt. She stuck to regular dives instead.
The younger girls simply shrieked and tried to make the biggest splash. The goofy dogs thought that was a splendid idea. Spike leapt from the side of the pool and paddled around until it was Susie’s turn again. Buck, short on brains but with balls to spare, flung himself from the diving board. Molly hung out in the little pool that was part of the waterfall. It was cool there, and she could keep an eye on Emily.
Allie watched it all from the shade of the porch, where she laughed and shouted encouragement to girls and dogs alike.
“All right,” I said at last, “I need to take a break.” I shrugged off a chorus of complaints. “Hey, there are four of you but only one of me.”
“Unh! Please!”
“Yeah, Mr. H., please?”
“Nope, sorry,” I said. “Unless your mom wants a turn.”
“Not me!” Allie laughed.
“Come join us anyway,” I said.
The girls turned their high-wattage enthusiasm on her instead.
“Yeah, Mom, c’mon!” Madison said. “Please?”
“Please, please!”
“Sure, all right.” Allie had removed her shirt earlier, but she stood now and slid her shorts down her long, tan legs. Then she adjusted the legs of her swimsuit and started toward the stairs.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I said.
Her eyes narrowed.
“I mean, we’re all nude. Shouldn’t you be too?”
Madison turned on her. “Yeah, Mom. You said you’d do it.”
“Please,” Carly added. “You said you would.”
“It’s fun,” Madison added. “And no one can see. Except Mr. H., but he doesn’t count.”
Allie’s lips compressed, and I read her easily: He most certainly does count.
“It’s cool,” Emily said. “Really. You should try it.”
Carly delivered the coup de grâce, “You said we shouldn’t be ashamed.”
“That’s different,” Allie said patiently. “I’m the mom.”
“So?” Madison said. “Their mom does it.”
“Yeah! All the time,” Carly agreed.
“Girls… I said no.”
“She’s right,” I said. “Remember, girls, it’s your choice, just like it’s your mom’s. Okay?”