"Of course! I'd love to come her 18th celebrate with you all!"
It was the only response to the invitation. Emma was the daughter of teacher friend of mine, Alice, who I'd worked with a few years ago but kept in touch with after moving schools. I'd actually taught Emma in one of my first classes and as a friend of the family, had been invited to a small-ish gathering at their house for her 18th. Normally, they'd have had a bigger party, my friend had said, but with Covid still spreading, they were having a few family friends round to the garden on the Saturday evening before Emma headed out that night with her friends.
Erica had immediately ruled herself out. At 6 months pregnant with our second child, she had a bump as big as most at the time of birth, and was finding it very uncomfortable, so standing around in the garden for a couple of hours wasn't really an option. She didn't really know the family all that well either as I'd left the school not long after meeting Erica so she hadn't really gotten to know my friends from there, and had used my previous visits as time to spend time with her family or visit her own friends.
*****************
The day of Emma's 18th arrived and Erica kissed me goodbye at the door. I wouldn't be back late but it did mean she'd have to do bath and bed tonight for our boy.
The journey was about thirty five minutes, and I was greeted at the door by Alice's husband, a nice guy named Rob, who I had been running with a few times in the past before I'd met Erica and moved away.
He asked how I was and Erica and our little one as I followed Rob through the house to the garden, collecting a can of lemonade on the way through, as I would of course be driving home.
I fired a glance around the garden, looking for Alice or Emma, and couldn't help noticing a group of younger girls I didn't recognise near the back. They were all fairly slim and good looking, but there were a couple with their backs to me, one in a black dress and one in a flowery blue dress, whose legs held my eye for a little longer. It made sense there'd be a few of Emma's college friends there, and I was glad there'd be some eye candy for the evening!
I saw Alice first, quickly moving to accept a big hug from my old friend. She looked nice, in a black top and a long khaki coloured skirt, but she'd never been someone I'd thought of as anything other than a friend, and the hug was purely warmth and friendliness. It was the first time I'd seen her since about six months before the pandemic, so there was over two years worth of hugs packed into one! After breaking the hug, she welcomed me, asked about the family, and then shouted Emma over.
Following the gaze of my friend as she called her daughter, I finally recognised Emma, as the girl in the black dress with the long, toned legs turned and gave a huge smile. She rushed over and flung her arms round me in a huge hug, thanking me so much for coming. Despite being a long time family friend, I couldn't help but notice Emma had become a beautiful young lady. Her long blonde hair framed a gorgeous face and her smile was enough to light up the garden on its own. She had stayed very fit over the last couple of years. Not a surprise for a girl who had been running since primary school and who I knew still competed in triathlons. Her long legs were stunning and very toned thanks to her fitness regime, and I could only imagine she had a flat, toned stomach beneath her small, but perky looking tits. I had to very deliberately stop myself from letting my eyes drift back down to her pale chest as I wished her a happy birthday and handed her a card, commenting how much she'd grown up. We both laughed that it was no wonder, given that she had been just fifteen when I'd last seen her.
She gushed that she was so pleased I'd been able to come and had been worried I wouldn't be able to as she knew Erica was pregnant. I smiled and told her I wouldn't have missed it, although I could only assume she was being polite... after all what eighteen year old is really worried if a family friend almost double her age was going to be at a birthday gathering?
Emma excused herself after some small talk as another young girl I didn't recognise arrived. I couldn't help but appreciate that she hadn't become the sort of girl who screams shrilly when any friend appears, and I did note she genuinely had seemed more excited to see me than this new friend. Maybe she really was glad to see me after all.
I spoke to Alice a short while longer before she too went to mingle with the guests. Luckily by then I'd spotted another former colleague and headed to say hello.
As I neared my old friend I felt a hand on my arm and turned to find a pretty young girl with dark hair, done up into a fancy style. She was the one in the blue dress I'd noticed earlier with Emma, and as she spoke I recognised her as another former pupil of mine, Molly, who'd been Emma's best friend through school and evidently still was.
"Hi, Sir," she said, smiling and brushing her hair back behind her left ear, a glass of prosecco in hand. Again, I had to very deliberately stop myself from letting my gaze linger on her cleavage, a bit bigger than Emma's... perhaps a C. I thought, with a tiny hint of lace from her white bra just poking clear of the blue material... before I realised I had failed miserably and snapped my eyes back to her now slightly blushing face.
I smiled back, a little awkwardly and with the heat rising slightly in my own cheeks as I knew I'd been caught staring at her pale, nubile little titties. "Hi, Molly. No need to call me Sir any more! How are you? It's lovely to see you!"
Molly beamed at me, again touching her hair back behind her ear, before expressing her surprise that I recognised her so quickly, and then blushing a little again as I quipped that of course I could never have forgotten! I commented that she had become a lovely young woman, realising as she blushed again that my eyes had roved her whole body as I said it, lingering on her long legs and perky chest.
Luckily I managed to take back control of my eyes at this point, reminding myself I'd taught Molly when she was younger, and continued the conversation without staring any further. I did, however, clock a few light touches on my arm, and a few more brushes of the hair, as she described her college course and told me about how college had been affected by the pandemic. Normally I'd be mentally reveling in these little signs, hoping they'd lead to a closer encounter, but I must be mistaken. Molly couldn't be showing any attraction. I'd taught her years before and with her slightly younger than Emma, I was even closer to double her age. It simply wasn't possible... was it?
I soon moved on as Molly returned to the group of girls at the back of the garden, sitting down with Jessica, another former colleague who'd been good friends with Alice. She was quite a bit older than myself, and than Alice for that matter, and must be nearing retirement soon, I mused as we chatted.
I sat with Jessica for quite a while, broken up with short trips to collect us both more soft drinks (she had driven too) and a trip to the buffet filled with party food, before enjoying a short, amusing speech by Rob about his now adult daughter. I had enjoyed watching both Emma and Molly over the course of the evening. Both had grown into very attractive young ladies and I've never been one who could resist watching attractive ladies.
