"Huh?" said Curt, as though he hadn't quite been following the conversation. "Oh, I don't know. I hadn't noticed. It's up to you. I think that's your department."
"It sure doesn't seem like she should be growing up that fast," lamented Karol, "but I guess she is."
"She'd probably be a lot happier if you bought her a baseball mitt instead of a training bra," Curt said wryly.
He drifted away from where they'd been sitting when Lilly asked Karol to help her with something. Kelly was still inside the tent. When Karol headed back to her chair she saw Curt standing around toward the back of the tent. She paused and took a closer look... he appeared to be -- no, that was impossible. Karol put it out of her mind. He wouldn't do a thing like that... Peek in on his own daughter while she was taking off her brassiere!
He suddenly glanced up and saw her looking at him. He walked back to where they'd been sitting.
"Curt," Karol scolded, "there's a back window in the tent -- it's a wonder you didn't scare Kelly to death standing back there so close to it just now. She might have thought you were trying to look in and see her undressing."
Curt quickly came back to the chair under the tree where Karol was standing. "There is?" he asked. "There's a window in the tent where I was standing? Why, I didn't even notice it. I was just looking back in the west there at those thunder-clouds. Looks like it might rain some if they blow this way."
For a fleeting second, Karol thought she saw a flicker of guilt in his eyes. But then she looked to the west and, sure enough, there were some dark clouds. She must have been mistaken about him looking in at the tent window. For reasons that were her own affair, she kept talking to him about it though. She reminded him how shy both their daughters were and how they should both be careful about their privacy.
Curt said he'd never noticed them being any more shy than other girls their age. He reminded Karol he'd planned for the whole family to bathe in the creek, pointing out that he certainly didn't intend for them to do it with their clothes on.
"Oh, that's different," Karol claimed. "Taking soap and washcloths to the creek and taking a bath is a long way from one of the girls seeing her daddy stare through the window while she gets out of her clothes."
"But I told you I wasn't..." he began.
"I know. I'm sorry," she apologized. "Actually I was thinking it would be especially healthy for the girls to be naked with us in the creek. I mean, you know, we've both seen them without a stitch at one time or another around the house. At least when they were younger. And I'm sure they've both seen us naked at one time or another. But not on purpose and for as long a time as we'll do at the creek."
He seemed surprised. "Really?" he asked. "You really think it'll be good for the kids?"
"Sure," she replied, "don't you?"
"Yes, but I didn't think you would."
"Why not? Since when am I such a big prude?"
"I don't mean to say you're a prude, just that I thought you might think the whole thing wasn't such a good idea."
"Well, you were wrong," she told him, leaning closer and lowering her voice so the girls wouldn't hear if they hadn't already. "And it's a good thing you didn't try to claim I'm a prude, mister. 'Cause that's when I would have reminded you of a few little things you like for me to do in bed with you. No woman who does all the things you like could be called a prude."
He smiled. "Okay, honey," he said to her, his voice deep. "But don't try to make me believe you don't love that stuff as much as I do, will you? I know better!"
She started to answer but at that moment Kelly walked past them from out of the tent. She was smiling and looked much cooler and more refreshed. And she also happened to look much more provocative as well -- the twin globes under her shirt now jounced solidly on her chest with every step she took.
"I almost forgot about you," exaggerated Lilly. "What took you so long? Thought you just went in to take off your bra."
She leaned close and spoke softly in her little sister's ear. "I did," she confided, "but that's not all I took off. I decided while I was in there, I'd just get rid of a few more clothes while I was at it and make sure I was cooler. Mom and Dad will never know, so what's the diff?"
Lilly tittered. "Aw, did you really?" she asked. "Did you take off the rest of your undies too?"
"Sure did," she whispered. "And it sure feels great to be naked under my clothes too, I can tell you that. This sun was really getting to me. I figured if I was going to get rid of my bra, I might as well do the same with my panties. Boy, I'm glad I did!"
"Hey, I want to do it too," exclaimed Lilly, suddenly inspired. "I'm going to go do the same."
"It shouldn't take you very long," teased Kelly. "You only have one thing to take off. Heck, all you have to do is just stretch the elastic and skin your panties off over your knees. You could almost get away with it without even bothering to go in the tent. You could just stuff them in your pocket."
"Oh yeah?" cried Lilly. "Just because you're a lot older than me and have big boobies, you think you're something, don't you?"
"Pipe down," cautioned Kelly. "Want Mom and Dad to hear you?"
"What if Mom and Dad find out?" Lilly queried. "You're cool 'cause you've already got Mom's permission, at least for your bra. But I'm going to be doing it without asking. You're too big to get spanked but they'd tan my bottom good."
Kelly said disdainfully, "How're they ever going to notice? Mom and Dad don't go around looking at your panties, do they? Besides, you aren't wearing a skirt, remember? Neither one of them could ever tell you were without panties in those shorts you've got on."
Kelly was right, Lilly realized. She headed for the tent to get rid of them, passing her parents on the way without a word. They seemed to be engrossed in conversation and she certainly wasn't about to rattle their cage.
"But Curt," Karol was saying, "we'll only be here two nights, then back home to spend the rest of our vacation there, right? The girls will be awfully disappointed if you don't take them up to the ranger station tonight like you said."
Curt told her he was simply too tired after their fishing trip. The girls had run him ragged, lie said. He joked and told Karol she had to remember he was getting older. She agreed she would take the girls up to the ranger station herself after dinner -- if he'd promise to wait up for her in bed and not go to sleep. He grinned, seeing how anxious she was to have his hands on her, and agreed to her idea. It had been three or four nights since he'd made love to her anyway. Not that it had been that long since he'd balled someone... but that was a quite different story, and one definitely not for Karol's ears, God forbid.
After a big fish dinner, the women put the camp back in order while Curt had a cold beer. As the sun started behind the trees, Lilly started badgering her parents about the trip to the ranger station.
"You can see all over!" she chortled. "Stars and everything. It's not smoggy like back home. How far is it, when are we going, huh?"
Karol explained that Curt was too bushed to go, but that she'd take them herself. It was only about a mile up the hiking path. She told them to change clothes, "so the ranger up there won't think I have a couple of little harlots for daughters," and they'd start out as soon as it got dark.
Kelly was indignant. What in the world was wrong with the clothes they were wearing? Karol said she thought full-length pants like she was wearing were much more appropriate. The shorts showed off too much leg, she said. By the time they were ready to go, Kelly begged off. She said that her stomach didn't feel too good and she wanted to stay behind and take it easy. For a second, Lilly thought that meant the trip was off for her too and started yammering. But Karol said they'd go by themselves and "leave you two casualties here."