5A. Steve
The second evening of the visit, we ran into Rani and Rick's friends, the Conways, and their daughter Vicki, in the parking lot of Pizza World, and Rani and Rick invited them all back to the house. Scotty and Gail were already at the house, and so was our niece Cathy, so Rick called home to tell Cathy to set the table for nine.
(Should have been ten, actually, but it's the thought that counts)
We'd met the Conways before, but it had been long enough ago that re-introductions were necessary: the Conways were Rani and Rick's neighbors and closest friends, their children growing up as almost siblings, while Rani introduced me as her brother, which was close enough for now.
When we got to the house, Vicki and our kids sort of tentatively remembered each other, but after a few minutes the four kids (the Conways had another boy, who was out on a date) acted as if they'd all been friends for year. Even including a brief garlic twist-throwing incident and Vicki playfully flirting with our Scotty.
Which was fine by me, because I thought Scotty could use a little more confidence with the girls. Not to sound like a "guy" here, but Scotty was a bit too shy, and his girlfriend struck me as sort of prissy. Which isn't to say I disliked her, but a timid boy and a prissy girl were just too much in one another's comfort zones.
As if to disprove the laws of genetics, by the way, while Missy Conway was thin and muscular, a dancer's body, her daughter Vicki was Rubenesque - in a good way. And my sister... well, I'd be lying if I claimed I'd never noticed her impressive figure... her daughter Cathy still had her coltish figure.
Anyway, after dinner, the kids went over to the Conway house to hang out, while Rick led us into the Movie Theatre - which is just what he called his den, which had an enormous television screen and several couches. We never did get to see the film, though, because we got to talking, mostly about our respective kids, as three sets of parents are likely to do. We finally just gave up and decided to meet back at the Movie Theatre the following night: Vicki was having a party and had asked her parents to make themselves scarce (after Mark fired up the grill and fed a couple of dozen hungry teenagers, that is).
5B. Susan
The following night, when we, Rick and Rani got back to the house after going out for dinner, Mark and Missy were already in the living room. The two families had a very fluid open-door policy.
And by "going out to dinner," by the way, I mean SeΓ±or Taco, so we were all wearing t-shirts and shorts, except for Rani who was wearing a skirt.
Mark, having just been cooking for all the kids, was wearing a "Kiss the Cook" shirt, which I understood: It's the job of the father of teenagers to do everything possible to embarrass his kids.
Missy, who either was or looked a few years younger than the rest of us, was wearing very short shorts, and had the legs to pull it off.
The Conways already had half-empty beers in front of them. Mark had taken four more out of the fridge when he heard us coming in. It was that kind of warm and muggy night: there was no thought of asking us first whether we wanted it.
"So..." Missy said as soon as we all sat down... "we saw a wet bra on the patio floor when we went home last night."
I think all of us were making a mental tally of who was over there last night (that we knew of, anyway). I wasn't sure how happy I was about
anybody's
bra on the patio floor. "It looked like a 34C," Missy continued, "so it couldn't have been Vicki's. She's a D."
Unless somebody else had showed up, that left Gail. But okay, there were a lot of innocent explanations: she could have changed into a swimsuit at one point, or more likely she just pulled the bra out from under her t-shirt, which she'd probably done countless times before.
"You can tell the size just at a glance?" Rick asked.
"Well," Missy said, "it helps having a daughter who refuses to do her own laundry."
Rick shook his head. "I have to admit, I couldn't tell you my own wife's bra size."
Without hesitation, Rani yanked her shirt up to her neck. "Go ahead and check," she said. She was wearing a demi-bra, which barely covered her nipples and was almost sheer.
"Rani!" I said, trying to sound shocked, but also trying not to laugh at her audacity.
Rick moved behind her and read out her bra size, then very slowly continued reading the washing instructions, both in English and in French. We were all cracking up by now.
"It's not as if Steve's never seen me in my underwear before," Rani said.
"Not lately!" Steve pointed out.
"Still," Rani said to me, "I'm sure the twins have seen each other in their underwear."
Not when Gail's wearing a see-through bra
, I thought, the discussion starting to make me a little uncomfortable again.
"Maybe we should give the movie another try," Rick said, "before the night gets away from us again." And he led us to the "Movie Theatre."
Rani tried sticking her arms into the t-shirt sleeves as she walked, got all tangled, then said "Screw it" and threw the shirt onto the couch and went into the next room without it.
Rick had gotten some foreign film, with a name that sounded like something the Swedish Chef would say. It didn't sound very promising to me, until it started: and I think it was, bar none, the sexiest film I'd ever seen.
Not that I'd seen all that many sex films, mind you
On their respective couches, Rani and Rick and Mark and Missy were cuddling close as they watched. Steve put an arm around me.
On the screen, two women were fighting over the same man, first verbally and then physically. They ended up forgetting about the guy entirely and instead exploring every inch of one another's body.
I'm purely straight, and even I found it hot.
Rick had a hand on Rani's breast, her barely-covered breast. His hand was hardly moving, I'm sure he wanted to look as if he were just resting his hand there. I tried to look away, but I really couldn't.
Mark was nuzzling Missy's neck, and his hand was on her upper leg. They were both watching the film.
"Um." Rani said suddenly, mostly to Steve. "This isn't bothering you or anything, is it?"