Though the power had come back on again sometime early morning, the house was still cold not having heated up yet. We'd gotten a new fire going in the fireplace, which helped, but the storm had continued, not letting up at all. Nearly five feet of new snow covered the ground making the roads all but impassible for anything other than four-wheel drives. Having turned on the news while we still could, weather reports were warning everyone of an additional three or four feet before there was even a break, with more to come after that. Power outages were everywhere, so we considered ourselves lucky to have power restored, though for how long was another question.
We had put the bed away, straightened up the living room and gotten dressed in far warmer clothing. While mom started in on breakfast with the girls helping out, dad decided to make a trip into town for some much needed supplies, especially if the weather continued the way it appeared it was going to.
The problem was, the nearest town was twenty miles away, and weather conditions indicated it was going to be no easy feat getting there and back. He'd already hooked up the snow plow to the front of one of the four wheel drives just to do the long quarter mile road leading out of their place. Hopefully road crews would be plowing the main interstate, though that was another two and a half miles away from my parents place. It would be slow going, even once we'd gotten their drive plowed out enough to get out ourselves.
"You sure you don't want me to go with you?" I'd asked him after we'd finally cleared enough of a path in order for him to get to the small two-lane road, which even then looked to be hazardous enough.
"No, your mom and I will make the trip into town and get what we need. It's not the first time we've done this, and I know the roads around here like the back of my hand even when they're covered in snow. I'd rather that you stay here with your sister's and keep an eye on things, especially if the power goes out again. Keep the fire going for one thing, and for another, might be a good idea if you guys busied yourselves with putting together some sandwiches and stuff in the event we can't cook anything later. I'm going to see about getting a new generator while we're gone, which I should have done before now and could kick myself for in not doing earlier. Your mom wants to stock up on a few needed necessities, since we're going out, but I wouldn't plan on us being back much before dark with the roads being the way they are. We'll have our cell phones in case things get worse, just to keep you posted as to how we're doing and where we are. But even with the storm, I'm sure we'll be back long before nightfall, or shortly thereafter at the very least."
I wasn't real keen with mom and dad going out by themselves, but it wasn't the first time that they had as I recalled either. There'd actually been another storm nearly as bad as this one, and they'd ended up having to spend the night in town rather than try making it back. If worse came to worse, they'd do that again. Dad just preferred it if at least one man stayed behind in the event anything happened at the house. Several tall fir and pine trees were so heavy with snow, he was more worried about one of those being uprooted, falling into the house, or falling over the quarter mile drive leading off the property and blocking the road. If that happened, I knew enough about using a chain saw to cut it if I had to, and then use the other four-wheel drive to pull it out of the way.
After having eaten a warm hearty breakfast, mom and dad prepared to leave. I was glad to see them pack enough emergency supplies, blankets and some food before they left just in case they got stuck somewhere out on the road between our place and town. Overly cautious perhaps, but as dad had always said, "It was better to be safe than sorry."
Dad had left to make one last quick pass with the plow before returning to get mom. Mandy and Collette had raced off to shower while we still had hot water available since the news reports continued to issue warnings about more and more power outages as they day progressed. I sat in the kitchen with mom sharing a cup of coffee with her waiting for dad to return so we could remove the plow just before they left.
"You kids warm enough last night?" She asked.
Obviously mom knew I had spent the night with my sisters in their bed in front of the fire. She'd gotten up long before any of us had in order to start the coffee, make breakfast and pack a few things for their trip into town.
"Yeah, I kept the fire going, so we were plenty warm, how about you two?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, plenty of blankets, but there's nothing better than a nice warm body to snuggle up to beneath them," she said winking at me. "Amongst other things."
I smiled at that. It was no secret mom and dad had always had a pretty active sex-life, it was something they never denied or hid from us even as kids growing up. A closed door in their bedroom, which they still never locked, was warning enough that they wished to be left alone for a while. Though I'd actually stumbled in on them once when they weren't expecting anyone home, which made me wonder if either one of my sister's ever had too.
Mom stood putting her empty cup back on the kitchen counter, reaching over to rustle my hair a bit as she did so. "And I'm glad to see just how close the three of you have gotten, it's been a while since you've all been together," she added turning towards me. "Amazing how much the girls have really changed since they moved out isn't it?" She asked.
"Ah yeah...they've changed a lot," I said thinking in other terms.
"Though haven't we all?" Mom then interjected. "Though most of mine has come with age and far too many sweet treats," mom said feigning disgust with her figure.
"Oh mom, you look great, hell...you could still pass for a woman ten years younger!" I told her meaning it, as she did. When she cupped, and then lifted her breasts however, I was a little surprised. I mean we'd always had a reasonably close, somewhat uninhibited relationship around one another in the past, but sitting there watching my own mother heft her breasts in her hands wasn't exactly something I was expecting.
"Not quite as firm as they used to be, certainly not like your sister's," she told me releasing them, pouting. "But I guess I shouldn't complain, your father still likes playing with them!"
I didn't quite know how to respond to that, I was already feeling my face flush a little when she said that, and now alluding to the way her own breasts might look in comparison to my sisters, had planted an image inside my head that took a moment for me to shake off.
The sound of dad's truck coming back down the lane alerted us to the fact he'd be there in a few minutes. "Well, anyway, like I said. It's nice to see the three of you getting along so well, closer than the three of you used to be," she said slipping into her warm heavy coat. "Too often siblings grow apart once they move out and away from one another...lose touch so to speak," she said smiling. "Just know that your dad and I are pleased to see the three of you getting along so well, we sort of always hoped that you would," she added leaning over giving me a kiss on the cheek just as dad pulled up by the back door. I stood, intending to give him a hand with the plow, though mom's comment and look had unnerved me a little.
Mom followed me outside and climbed into dad's truck as he and I dragged the plow off and set it aside. I stood by his door as he then got in and prepared to leave.
"Call if you have any problems," I asked them.
"No worries, we'll be fine," he assured me, then adding. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he grinned, "While we're gone. We should be back before nightfall, but for some reason, if we can't...we'll call you." Once again I had caught a strange look coming from mom when he'd said that, but it quickly turned into a smile as she blew me a kiss and as dad put the truck into gear heading out. I stood watching them for a moment until the falling snow hid the truck from view and entered back inside the house. When I did, it was Collette who met me in the kitchen, pouring us both a coffee though she stood in nothing more than her robe and a towel on her head.
"They leave?" she asked.
"Yeah, just..." I said thinking to myself, and then asking her.
"You notice anything weird or strange about either one of them this morning?" I asked her.
"Weird? Strange? What do you mean?"
"Oh, probably nothing, maybe just me thinking too much, especially after last night," I said as the erotic images once again flooded my head. "But if I didn't know better, I'd almost swear mom was hinting around at the three of us being much closer than we used to be, and that in fact...mom and dad were happy to see it."
"Well I'm sure she didn't mean it in quite the way you seem to be worried about," Collette told me as she came over and sat down at the table. I noticed as she did, that the front of her bathrobe parted, revealing most if not all of her right breast. Even she knew that she had, looking down at herself and just smiling without covering it. "Though I will say this," she added as she sat there thinking. "There was an incident the last time I came here for a visit, just before you came home from school as I recall," she told me. "Which had me wondering about it for a few days after it happened," she added.
"What?"
"Well, we were all planning on going out to dinner that night, shortly after you got home from school and got ready yourself. Dad was using the upstairs bathroom, so I came down to shower in yours. I'd just gotten undressed and was about to step in when mom entered bringing in some fresh towels which she told me she was going to do, so I wasn't surprised by that when she entered. What did surprise me was when she commented on how beautiful I looked, honestly standing there admiring my body. I mean it didn't make me uncomfortable or anything, in fact...I was actually flattered that she did, and commented on her still looking pretty good too."