As Dani drove down the last stretch of track towards the beach she recalled the conversation with her husband. It had been about an hour ago, just before she'd left with her overnight bag. He'd inquired, "Why has Amy invited you down to her beach hut without me?"
He didn't seem particularly concerned at Dani going alone to visit their daughter because he'd arranged with his friends to see a football game. Nevertheless, Dani answered, "I told you this morning, Amy wants me to give her and Wes a talk, a discussion to strengthen their marriage."
"And it's ok for a qualified councillor like you to give marriage guidance to our daughter and son-in-law?" Her husband's brow scrunched as he looked at Dani. "And they want you to do this every 3 months?"
Dani shrugged. "We'll see." She'd gone over, kissed him on the cheek and went out the front door.
Dani felt guilty that she hadn't corrected her husband when he assumed it was about marriage counselling. Their daughter had actually mentioned sex therapy but to reveal this to her hubby would have alarmed him. It had alarmed Dani at first until Amy had reassured her that it was just a chat.
It was a hot afternoon as Dani parked the car near the beach and walked down the path to the row of multi-coloured wooden huts on the edge of the sand. Amy and Wes were there, sitting on sun loungers in front of their hut and they waved a greeting. Dani couldn't help admiring Wes in his swim trunks as he got up to kiss her. At age 29 he had just the right amount of muscles in all the right places, his dark eyes and shoulder-length hair gave the impression of a cool surfer. He smelt of suntan oil. She still blanked out any details of the last two encounters when Dani had helped him with his fantasies. As far as she was concerned, that was all in the past and not to be repeated.
Amy gave her mother a hug. She wore a bikini top and frayed denim shorts. Her height was the same as Dani, 5 foot 4 inches, the same jet black hair although Amy's hair was longer. It was obvious that they were mother and daughter with their half-oriental looks inherited from Dani's Thai father. "Fancy a swim?" said Amy.
A few minutes later, they were in the sea up to their necks with their feet just touching the sandy bottom. Wes swam a little way out but Dani was happy to talk to Amy who said, "We're so looking forward to you staying the night with us, Mum. So exciting."
Dani queried, "You mentioned this is going to be every 3 months?"
"About 3 months." Amy giggled and rolled her eyes. "After our last chat ... you helped us so much, Mum, and we're better now. Wes and I are learning to understand each other. It's been such a boost for us and our marriage and now we want to do it again."
Dani had sealed out everything in her mind about "our last chat." It was an event in the past that happened between the three of them. She knew it mustn't be the same conversation. "Love to talk through things, Amy, if I can be of help. But the real talking has to be between you and Wes." She watched Wes swimming strongly in deeper water.
"We HAVE been talking ... about you and all the things you got us to think about. Our marriage has been rejuvenated. Do you remember the fantasies we had?"
"No, I don't." Dani didn't want to recall any of that. It was bad enough feeling guilty that she had kept the whole thing a secret from Amy's dad.
Amy playfully splashed her mother and continued, "It kept us hot for months. We thought your future input every now and then would be SO helpful. We're thinking of help from you every 3 months." Amy displayed a zest for life which made her look younger than her age of 25 years.
Dani wanted to forget the fantasies of her daughter and son-in-law. She didn't want to be negative as Amy had obviously assumed that Dani would help them. "Communication is important, Amy. No secret between couples is certainly the way to go." Her daughter seemed to like that and she wrapped her arms around Dani's neck as they floated in the sea. It felt nice to have Amy hug her again, this time more affectionately with a quick kiss on Dani's closed lips.
As they came out of the sea, Wes joined them. Since the huts had no running water they relied on a public beach shower for washing off the sea salt. For all other water needs, there was a communal services block 100 yards away. Still wearing their swimsuits, they used the beach shower. Dani noticed how the damp swim trunks that Wes wore stuck to his groin and clearly showed the size of his limp cock. Dani pretended not to see it.
The sun was setting as they prepared the bar-b-q on the deck in front of their hut. Dani had got dressed in tight blue jeans and a pink woollen roll-neck which made her look young for her age of 45. She reckoned her oriental looks and slim 5'4" frame helped her youthful appearance. They drank a bottle of wine before eating and Dani relaxed on her canvas fold-up chair.
Having eaten, and the sunset, they sat outside with a couple of lamps providing the only light. The conversation turned to marriage and Amy wanted to know, "Do you and dad ever talk about sex?"
"Not really. We know what we want after all these years." Dani realised this was a lie but didn't want to expand on it. In reality, she wanted to experiment with sex but hubby didn't seem interested. She lied again, "I don't think about sex in the same way as the young people today."
Amy laughed. "I saw you, Mum, take a sneak at his cock."
Before Dani could deny it, Wes looked at Dani and said, "We discuss sex and often refer to that meeting with you a few months ago. It's made us closer but we've got to the point where we'd like to explore more with you."
Dani didn't want to get too deep into this and kept her voice sympathetic, "I can listen to your ideas, your thoughts, and make suggestions ... to help in that way."
"Can we," said Amy as she hesitated, "can we be honest with each other ... to say what we like without embarrassment?" She was sitting next to Dani and put her hand on her mother's arm. "Will you be honest as well, Mum?"
"Of course." Dani held out her wine glass for Wes to fill. "But whatever I feel or want," said Dani, " is not exactly relevant. Both of you have been opening up to each other. That's good."
Wes said, "We want to continue doing that, to expand on the chat we all had last time. It became real to us when you took part and we often enjoy recounting what happened."
"I want to confess my innermost fantasy," said Amy suddenly. She lowered her voice. "I imagine myself sucking my thumb while my mother runs her hands all over me."
Dani remembered from the last time that Amy had confessed to being bi-curious. She wondered how to respond to her daughter. "Sounds to me as though you like playing the child. You can act it out in your bedroom with Wes."
"We have done," said Wes who leaned forward in his chair. "But Amy wants the real thing."
Dani patted her daughter's arm. "I'm sure you could find a friend to do this, although I'm not sure about threesomes."
"Oh Mum," sighed Amy. "We dare not ask a friend. Rejection. Looking silly. Word getting around make us cautious. We've even thought of a hook-up through a dating app but there are too many risks."
"But, you're not asking me to take part, are you?" said Dani. "This is a private matter between you."
"But we can talk to you, Mum, can't we?"
"Yes ... sure." Dani looked at the surf and relaxed at the sound of the waves. "If you want another woman to touch you, Amy, to feel you ... it means you have strong desires for a girlfriend, doesn't it?"
"Yes. But I still like men. I have this idea ... it would be so erotic for me to be treated like a little girl, to suck my Mum's breast and have Wes as my guardian who'd be terribly strict and I have to do anything he wants."
Dani couldn't help shake off the image of breastfeeding her daughter, even if it was make-believe. And she wanted to ignore the hardening of her nipples.
Wes broke into her thoughts and said, "Amy has talked about her closeness to you, Dani, but she finds it difficult to get full satisfaction in bed with me."
Dani wondered how jumbled up her daughter seemed to be and wanted to help if she could. "Am I guessing, Amy, you want me to play this part with you, to caress you I suppose?"
"Yes. Us together ... naked." Amy put her thumb in her mouth for 5 seconds before withdrawing it. She looked embarrassed.
Dani felt that she wanted to help but didn't know how to. "The problem is, Amy, if I'm naked in bed with you I'm thinking Wes will want to get in as well."
Amy chewed her lower lip. "Is that a problem? Last time you allowed it."
"The last time was a few months ago and I said I wouldn't do it again. I'm helping you to strengthen your marriage and if that means experimenting with fantasies ..." She still wasn't sure what her daughter wanted her mother to do.
Amy had a cheeky smile on her face. "I bet Wes is better in bed than dad. Bigger too?"
Dani knew this was true - better, bigger, thicker - and could last longer than hubby. "Size is not the issue here. I can help you, Amy, with your fantasy. But I can't have any sex with Wes."
"Help me, Mum. Please." Amy sucked her thumb. "Let's get undressed?"
The question hung in the air and Dani couldn't think of a reason to back out. "You and me," Dani said it as a statement. Wes remained in his chair as Dani followed Amy into the hut where there was a double bed across the back wall. Amy switched on a table light, undressed and slipped under the sheets.