Months passed. Becca had officially wrapped up her first semester in college, Fleur had transferred to another undergraduate program under some strange circumstances, and Erin and I were nearly finished with our schooling. Phew, that's a lot to take in. Fleur got to the be the intrigue award winner for the first time any of the sisters can remember, and daddy is none too pleased apparently. But this chapter (and time in our lives) is not about Fleur, it centers around her two loving sisters.
With winter in full snow drift mode, Erin and I have been saving our pennies for a trip to see her dad for the first time since the night of the wedding. Erin's dad has since gotten a new job and had himself a lovely honeymoon with his bride. Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction for the family and no one takes more notice than Erin when things go right. She's practically unbearable when things are good, all she wants to do is talk about how wonderful life can be. This practice is not in keeping with the New England penchant for wanting everything to be going wrong that I had grown so accustomed to.
I say all that to say this: Erin's dad was so pleased to hear that we would be joining he and his new wife for at least part of our winter vacation. Erin's father had moved south upon getting married because his new wife was keen on getting out of the great white north and into a bathing suit when the calendar turned to December. This plan seemed to serve everyone just fine, and it made for some exciting times for the group too, because this meant travel and fun in the sun while much of the rest of the country was bundling up for another force-10 fucking from the weather gods.
Erin and I finally boarded our flight to Ft. Lauderdale after weeks of anticipation, and neither of us could have been more satisfied with the way things were playing out. Erin had grown close with her stepmother the year before her dad remarried, but this distance had really taxed their newly forged relationship, as Erin was constantly busy and her new stepmother hadn't been great at keeping up. Our trip would give them a chance to get things back on track; an admittedly unforeseen benefit to our travel, but a happy one nonetheless.
While Erin and I had been playing at relationship bliss, her sisters had had another experience altogether. Fleur barely kept in touch with any of us at this point, as she was engrossed in her studies to the point of near isolation. Becca kept up with Erin and Fleur as much as she could, but she too was adjusting to not just a new educational experience but her first real turn at being the independent, social being she truly was. It was clear from conversations between Erin and Becca that this was going to be a relaxing and fun time for both of them as they reconnected outside of their normal environs.
When we finally arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, the weather was such an incredible difference from up north that I was literally staggered. I knew the heat and humidity in the summer was oppressive from being in Florida during last summer's holiday, but the temperature was absolutely perfect this time out. It was around 75 degrees when we exited the terminal and instead of hitting a wall of heat like we did in June, instead we were met with a gentle breeze and sunlight kissing our skin rather than scorching it.
Erin's dad was there to meet us driving in his Buick. It was a little on the old side at this point, but apparently he had some sort of attachment to it, so he took it halfway across the country to his adopted home. He greeted us at the gate with a silly sign on which he had written my last name a little differently than I remembered it. When he spotted us he beamed and put the sign down by his feet(but not before pointing at it mockingly). He gave Erin a massive hug and took a step back to look her up and down.
"You guys look like you need some sun!" he positively radiated at us.
"Daddy, you of all people can appreciate how hard it is to get some sunshine with the terrible weather where we are."
Erin and I tried to grab our luggage from the carousel, but Erin's father insisted that we not lift a finger. When he saw the size of the bag Erin brought along he decided he'd let me take that one. We gathered our things and started to head toward the parking lot when Erin's dad fell in step with my pace and huddled in conspiratorially.
"Looks like you guys never worked off that 'freshman 15.' We're gonna get you sweating a little bit while you're here."
All kinds of wonderful thoughts about the best way to work up a sweat with not one but two of his daughters immediately sprang to my mind. I fought the urge to smirk at him and blithely nodded again and again while he listed all the wonderful tasks he had in mind for us while we were staying at his place. When he started talking about cleaning traps in kitchen appliances I shouted ahead for Erin as she lefted when she should've righted.
She wasn't all that far in front of us and after her dad finished his sardonic little chuckle at his daughter's expense, he headed off in the right direction and led the way. Erin then did her own conspiratorial huddling and acknowledged what I had already suspected: she took the wrong turn on purpose to get her dad away from me. She really was just the best goddamn girlfriend.
Her dad drove quickly back to the house and wasted no time telling his wife how Erin had nearly gotten them lost in the garage. Just a real peach, that one. Frankly, I'm not sure how he suppressed the urge to tell the toll booth worker when we were getting on the highway. Scorn started dying down quickly as we got the grand tour of the new digs.
The house was a lovely little place that reminded me a lot of their last home up north. Obviously the scenery was a little different, but inside felt very familiar. They clearly had not yet shed their northeastern inclination toward keeping unsettlingly random tchotchkes in every tiny crevice, but the way they still jumped at the sight of an anole was the most clear indication that they were not quite yet 'at home.'
The biggest difference from that place to this was the presence of an in-ground pool in their backyard and a hot tub on the back patio. I could not wait to get Erin in the hot tub with me so we could soak together and think terrible thoughts about what we'd get up to after everybody else was in bed. I swear, half of the fun of sex with Erin was the fact that she still loved the chase. We had been together for nearly four years and she still loved to fan those flames whenever the opportunity arose. Despite the fact that our 'honeymoon' period had been pretty brief, we made up for lost time whenever we could. I look back and I'm actually impressed with us around this time.
The tour ended where it started, back on the porch, and we were then whisked upstairs to drop our things off in our respective bedrooms (not this separate bedrooms shit again). Erin and I both got to the top of the stairs at the same time, just as her dad was headed toward the kitchen. We embraced quickly, I gave Erin a nibble on her neck and she giggled coquettishly. I really didn't want that sound hitting the wrong ears, so I cleared my throat a little and Erin laughed a bit louder that time.
We both heard soft footsteps padding across the floor behind Erin's back and we peeked together into the bedroom at the top of the stairs. Becca appeared shortly afterwards in the doorway wearing a white t-shirt and some basketball shorts. She very obviously did not have a bra on and her areolas cast darkish circles against the pale material covering her upper body. Her basketball shorts didn't hide her toned thighs and ended just before a lucky someone could get a look at her pert ass.