Sometimes, it is good for the soul to spoil yourself, especially if you have worked hard all your life.
My wife, Fiona and I have high powered jobs and the associated big pay packets. We have put our only daughter through school and she is now studying interstate at the country's leading university.
We live away from the coast and our Summers are long and hot. In reality a swimming pool is more a necessity than a luxury, so it was an easy decision to put in a pool and make the most of Summer life.
We found the builder and the contract was drawn up and perfectly, the pool was installed and ready to go as the weather was warming up. Our backyard is very private and the wife and I saw no reason to wear swimming costumes in the pool. After all there was just the two of us living at home. Every day we had a swim after work, drinking beers and white wine, all the while getting that all over tan.
Life was good.
Along with the rest of the world, Covid-19 had upset our family life. Interstate borders were closed and we had not seen our daughter Nicole, except by Skype for nearly 12 months. It was very hard on all of us. Nicole was our only child and we missed her dearly. But covid case numbers were dropping and a glimmer of hope arose that border restrictions would be eased and so it happened. The university year had ended and Nicole was free to come home for a few weeks. We were delighted. The flight was booked and Nicole would be arriving Friday.
We met her at the airport and I didn't want the hug to end. Poor Nicole was squashed between her mother and myself and I'm sure she was struggling for breath. We grabbed her bags and carried them to the car and set off on the 2 hour trip to home.
It was late when we arrived. We were all starving and we didn't feel like cooking so we grabbed a meal at the local club. We didn't stay long after the meal as we were all exhausted so it was home and bedtime for us all.
Saturday morning heralded in a forecast for a hot dry day. Nicole had a bit of a sleep in and there was no way we were going to wake her early. Fiona and I took the opportunity to have a bit of a lie in ourselves and lay in bed until we heard Nicole stirring.
We made our way down to the kitchen to get breakfast underway. I just slipped on a pair of loose shorts and Fiona threw on a long t shirt. It was our custom not to bother with underwear as there was no need when there was just the two of us at home. We could hear Nicole coming down the stairs and soon she appeared. She must have felt the change in temperature to what she was used to down south at university. She had on a singlet top and boy shorts. She didn't bother with a bra and I was glad that she could be as comfortable as she liked around us.
Breakfast was light, just toast and juice, which is best for the hot weather.
"So," Nicole piped up, "How are you enjoying your new swimming pool, I bet you are getting plenty of use out of it."
"We sure are." I replied "We swim every day in fact its that hot we are going for a dip after breakfast."
"Perfect." Nicole replied. "Count me in."
Fiona and I had decided that we were not going to change our habit of swimming in the nude. It had become a passion with us. The thought of wearing a costume in the pool was unthinkable. We worried how Nicole would take the news. But our attitude was, our house our rules and we hoped that Nicole would understand. She was not a child, she was 20 years