Let's see. There's a bit of James and Gloria. A lot of Jess and Jon, including Jess exploring something she's been curious about. For those worried about it, there is no group action in this chapter, Caitlin and Travis make an appearance (mostly Caitlin) but as friends not sex partners.
Thanks, again, to LarryInSeattle for his help with editing.
==========
James wonders if he's been this embarrassed in his life, ever. The answer is, without a doubt, no. He's on his hands and knees. The waxer, he has no idea what the technical word is for the woman's job, is spreading his butt cheeks with one hand and applying wax to his crack. He thought a Brazilian was waxing his balls and pubes. He discovered it is but it also involves the crack. To make things worse, a strand of precum hangs from the head of his dick. He cannot believe he agreed to this, not only agreed but thought it might be fun, not the waxing but the results. The fact that Gloria is in the next room does nothing to ease his mind.
"Take a deep breath. One, two, three."
It hurts less back here than when she did his pubes. Three more breath holds and he's done. He's not sure of the protocol but she spends an uncomfortable amount of time rubbing lotion over his freshly waxed skin - all of it. Finally, he pulls the sheet over his lap. She looks surprised.
"Gracias, senorita," he tells her. She smiles, hands him a sheet of follow-up suggestions and leaves the room. He wipes most of the oil off with a towel and gets dressed.
Gloria is waiting in the lobby. He's surprised. He thought it would take her longer. She'd decided to join him, good for the goose, that sort of thing. She smiles when she sees him. She gives him a quick kiss and takes his arm as they leave the spa.
"It feels weird," James whispers to his wife. "I can tell I'm bald down there, just walking. I hadn't expected that."
"You'll get used to it. I can't wait to see how you look." She squeezes his arm. "And feel. I'll just have to be strong. The spa owner recommended a tattoo artist just down the block."
"Your serious, aren't you?"
"I am. The past seventy-two hours have been dizzying. I feel like my world has been turned upside down. The kids. You telling me you were leaving. Then, bam, everything changes again and before I have a chance to be mad at you for as long as I wanted to be, we're in the sack acting like we're twenty-five again. I'm afraid if we stop and let yourselves settle back into our old routine I'll discover it was too good to be true. That it's all been a chimera; that you'll wake up our first day back in our own bed and realize you still want to leave me."
Her voice cracks at the end and James turns her to face him. "That won't happen, Gloria. It won't. Whatever else comes from what's happening with Jess and Jon, it jolted us awake, made us look at ourselves, made us talk, made us, me at least, understand how totally wrong I've interpreted your wishes and fears and you mine. We don't need tattoos or hairless genitalia, we just need to remember to keep communicating." He hugs her and she pats his chest with one hand.
"You're right," she tells him, stepping away and wiping her cheeks. "I still want a tattoo. You in?"
"Lead on."
James is impressed with the artwork on display in the tattoo shop and surprised the artist is a woman. They settle on a design, a matching tattoo, complete only when they stand shoulder to shoulder. Gloria goes first. After ensuring the design on James' arm is still lined up, Gloria wanders off to explore the rest of the shop. James does his best to sit as still as his wife had. She's back before he's done. They stand beside each other, look in the mirror and smile. James gets the tattoo covered with ointment and plastic wrap and they leave.
They link arms and walk the half-mile from the town back to the resort. As soon as they close the door behind them, they're in each other's arms, pulling at their clothes. James gets Gloria's top off. He's reaching for her bra when he notices the bandage on her belly. "Are you okay? What happened?"
She gingerly pulls back the top of the dressing. She smiles at the look on his face. There's a small jewel in her belly button. Her belly button is pierced.
"Gloria! Is that safe?"
"Of course, silly. You saw the shop. It was spotless. Everything is disposable or autoclaved. I'm sure the resort pressures them to keep everything up to snuff. They don't want their guest posting they got hepatitis while they were staying here." She pushes the dressing edge against her skin. "I can't go swimming for a while, longer than with the tattoos." She smiles at her husband. "Don't cum on it, for four months or until it's completely healed."
"I don't know what to say."
"Are you upset? Don't you like it?"
"No, I'm not upset. It looks quite nice, honestly. I'm just surprised."
"They do male piercings, as well." She laughs at the look on her husband's face. "Too much, I know. A Brazilian and a tattoo is quite a lot for an old stick-in-the-mud like you."
"I am a stick-in-the-mud, aren't I?"
"No, sweetheart, you aren't, not really. You're careful and stable and that's just what I need. It's not you, it's me that needs reminding that underneath that careful, stable man is the man who once made love to me on the hood of his car."
"That was fun," James tells her with a smile nearly as wide as his face. "Now days there are cameras everywhere. The days of sex on the hood of your car in a parking ramp are no more."
"As I recall, it was the garage to your apartment building. All we had to do was to take the elevator up six floors."
"We were always in a hurry then, my dear." He bends to kiss her. "Not that I'm not in a hurry today. Let me see you naked."
Gloria steps back, unzips her skirt and lets it fall to the floor. She slips her panties below her hips and does a little shimmy to get them to drop to the floor. Her husband stares at her for a moment before kneeling and putting his arms around her waist. He lays the side of his head against her tummy, careful not to bump her new piercing.
"You look delicious. I want to eat you up, starting here." He kisses the ridge that hides her clitoris.
"Not so fast," she whispers, stooping and urging him up with her hands. "I want to see how you look, too, buckaroo."
She eases him out of his shirt, careful not to disturb the plastic dressing over the tattoo. She unbuckles his belt, unbuttons his trousers, and eases them down, along with his boxers. His erection springs free. She runs her hand lightly over his shaft, lower belly, and balls.
"Oh, my," she whispers. "Come on," she turns toward the bathroom. "We have to keep the tattoos dry, sweetheart," he protests. "The same for your new bellybutton ring." She squeezes his hand. "I just want to wash the massage oil off your cock before I suck it."
"Such a wanton woman, how had I forgotten that?"
"Because I let you. Now hush and wash my pussy."
The feel of her smooth skin against his smooth skin, especially after her juices flow, is far more intense than James had dared imagine.
***
Jess opens the door and steps aside. Jon turns sideways and maneuvers himself and the bags through the door. He sets them on the foot of the bed, nominally thought of as 'his'. He's determined to do better at Jess' little game than he had the last time. When she comes out of the bathroom, he's standing naked in the patio door. He turns slowly, bring his erection into view.
Jess walks to the patio door, looks out, ignoring her brother and his hardon. "Wow, it's beautiful. Want to go for a swim?"
Bravo, sis. Well played,
Jon thinks to himself, impressed. "No, I think I'll get started on the painting."
"Suit yourself." When Jess turns, she rubs her breast against his arm. She sees his cock twitch and suppresses a smile.
The light is too bright on the patio but it's too dark inside the room. Jon elects to set up on the patio. The canvas is pre-stretched and already treated with gesso. He slips back into his Speedo. He sees Jess lying just beyond the walkway. He sets up the easel such that if she looks over, she'll see him and not the waist-high wall or canvas. He opens the two photos on his phone and looks at them. He makes a few quick marks with a pencil, laying out the sections. He drops the pencil to the table and looks through the tray of paints and brushes. He mixes his first color, dips the brush, and begins.
He doesn't notice Jess slipping her top off. He barely registers, Caitlin and Travis saying, 'hi' and glancing at the canvas. He's only aware of the passage of time when the light fades to the point he has trouble mixing the colors he needs. He blinks several times, as if waking from a deep sleep. His parents and Jess are sitting on their patio. They're watching him. He picks up the canvas and carries it inside without saying a word. He brings in the other supplies after setting his brushes to soak. He slips on cotton pants and shirt, ignoring the splatters of paint on his body.
"How's it coming along?"
He stares at his dad for a moment. "Goo.." his voice is hoarse and cracks. He tries to swallow. Jess holds out a bottle of water. He takes a long drink. He realizes he's hungry. "Good. I need to step back from it for a while and then re-assess. It's a long way from being done. Uh, how long was..."
"Almost five hours," Jess answers, amazement evident in her voice and face. "If the sun hadn't started to set you'd probably still be painting wouldn't you?"
"Maybe, it's weird. I've never lost track of time like that."
"I wouldn't worry too much, honey," his mother tells him. "You were concentrating on what you were doing but you do need to remember to stop and stretch, walk around, have a drink of water, and eat. Are you hungry?"
"Famished."
"Let's go then." His dad pushes back his chair and they all wince at the sound of the metal chair on the concrete. "Sorry," he mutters.
Jon chugs his first beer, then bolts down his burger and fries. By the time he finishes his second beer he feels almost as if he's rejoined the real world. He tries to join the conversation but realizes it's a continuation of one that was started on his parents' patio.
"Wait, what? You got tattoos?" he stammers looking back and forth at his parents.
Jess rolls her eyes. "Earth to Jon. Wow, you were really in the zone, huh? Yeah, our parents are undergoing a second adolescence. They got matching tattoos. I don't see any earrings. I'm trying to convince myself that mom wasn't serious about the third item on dad's 'to do' list."
"Ears are hardly the only thing pierced these days, darling," her mother drawls. Jess looks hard at her mouth but decides she can't be sure if she's kidding. She's surer of the fact that she doesn't really want to know if her mother wasn't kidding. She shakes her head, refusing to take the bait. Her mom smiles.
"Can I see," Jon asks.
"Later, too hard to get to at the table," his dad replies. He shakes his head at Jess whose mouth is starting to open. "No, Jess. They're on our shoulders. Even so, I don't feel like taking my shirt off at the table."
They wander back to the parent's room. James slips off his shirt. Gloria unbuttons her blouse and slips one arm out. The put their shoulders together. Under the plastic wrap taped to their skin, each has a love bird, when their shoulders touch, they make a pair.
"Nice," Jon says, stepping closer. "You don't have the same skin tone, matching the colors took real skill and the drawing is great."
"I like them," Jess agrees. "You didn't get a piercing, did you?" She had vowed to herself she'd never ask but she can't resist.
Her mom lifts up her shirt. She peels the top of the dressing down.
"Oh my God, mother! I can't believe you did that!"
"Why not?" James asks. "Your mom has a belly women half her age would kill for. It looks great."
"Yeah, it does but, dad, she's my mom!"
"She's my wife," James tells his daughter.
"You're both full of beans," Gloria snorts. "It's my belly button and I wanted it pierced. End of story, roll the credits."
"Did it hurt?" Jess asks, leaning closer to take a look.
"Not much. The nipples hurt a lot worse." She brays laughter at the look of horror on Jess' face. "I'm joking, for heaven's sake. The belly button is it."
"You do have the belly for it," Jess admits. "I'm just a little shocked."
"Well, isn't that the point?"
"No, I don't think so mother. Isn't the point that you want one, that you'll think you look hot with one?" Jess retorts.
"Of course," Gloria replies. "And to shock you." She kisses her daughter's cheek and then her son's. "Night, dears."
"Night."
"Night."