December 21
I eased my truck up to the curb in front of my old house, let out a heavy sigh, and killed the engine. I sat back in the driver’s seat for a moment. I still wasn’t sure spending Christmas with my ex was a good idea. We got along, but we didn’t really talk, so the phrase “getting along” didn’t really fit for what we were doing. Mark, my friend and attorney for my divorce, called it playing nice. That was about as good of a description of what we’d been doing as anything I could come up with.
Still, here I was, at my old house, parking on the damned street instead of the driveway or heaven forbid, the garage. Obviously, I was still a bit petty when it came to everything I had to give up in the divorce. I could already feel my heart rate increasing at just the thought of my ex. Now, I was going to have to see her, and not just in passing either. Once again, I considered just getting a hotel room.
I reached for the keys and was just about to turn them in the ignition when I caught myself. I took another deep breath in an attempt to calm my nerves. I had to remind myself that I’d promised the kids I was coming and would stay with them. They were the only reason I was here and willing to subject myself to what I knew was going to be a disaster.
In our video calls, Amber had asked and asked until I’d finally given in. Sometimes Joe even joined her and nodded in the background as she pestered me. I didn’t have the heart to tell them no. The answer was obvious. It just took me a while to come to terms with it.
Seeing Joe fist pump at the news was enough all on its own, but when Amber started squealing at the top of her lungs, her excitement was infectious and that solidified it in my mind. I’d burst out laughing at their enthusiasm in the moment. I remembered how that call had warmed my heart. It made me feel good to see them so excited about something as simple as me coming to visit. Which put my reluctance into perspective. This was for them and not for me.
It all came down to one simple thing, I loved making my kids happy. Plain and simple. It had been a long time since their visit over the summer, and I needed to spend as much time with them as I could. It’s not like they could come see me at the drop of a hat. So, if dealing with my ex and her…let’s call them quirks, over the holiday was the price I had to pay, then so be it.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t go and find a room if this didn’t work out.
It was dark—well after dinnertime. The front porch light was on, bathing the front house in a warm, inviting glow. I looked at the house and smiled, if only weakly. The place looked pretty much the same. There was one thing missing, however, the Christmas lights on the house. They’d all been taken down.
Back when this was my house, I’d been a bit over the top when it came to Christmas decorations, and it had only gotten worse as the years went by. The neighbors loved it all the way up until Bill Conelly, the neighbor across the street, joked that I should time the lights to music. That’s where the rest of the neighborhood had drawn the line.
It was good to see the rest of the neighbors hadn’t lost their touch when it came to celebrating the holidays on a public level.
I was so busy taking in the other houses on the street and their twinkling lights that I almost missed the curtain to Amber’s bedroom move. Hers was the only bedroom that faced the street, and I watched that window, waiting for those curtains to move again. I didn’t have to wait long before I saw them push open, just enough for me to see the darkened shapes of two people’s heads. The smile that split my face was one of immense joy.
I waved in their direction, and the light vanished, the heavy fabric of the curtains falling closed again, and I could hear the faint yelling of young voices growing louder the closer I got to the door.
I didn’t even bother knocking or reaching for the door. It flew open and my baby girl, who wasn’t much of a baby anymore, came flying at me like a rocket.
“Daddy!” Amber screamed.
“That’s me,” I replied, chuckling as Amber’s arms and legs wrapped around me in a vice-like grip. My hands fell to her lower back, holding her against me as she pressed her face into the side of my neck and squeezed me with everything she had.
“You made it!”
“I told you I would.” I pulled back, trying to get a look at my daughter, who wasn’t ready to relinquish her hold on me just yet. I looked up and saw Joe standing there, waiting as patiently as he could, but he had a big smile on his face.
“Oh, come here,” I removed a hand from Amber’s bare back and waved him over. There wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation before Joe found a spot on my side. “It’s good to see you, Joe.”
“We missed you,” Joe replied, a rare moment of emotion in his voice that vanished just as quickly as it showed up. His hug was brief, but no less meaningful than the one from his younger sister. I smiled at him as he stepped back, glancing around nervously, before he slipped back into the heat and safety of the doorway. He was grinning at the way his sister was flat-out refusing to let me go.
“You know it’s cold out, right?” I whispered teasingly in Amber’s ear. “Even I’m cold, and I’ve got clothes, on unlike someone I know...” The only reply I got was a giggle and a hurried nod in agreement. I couldn’t help but chuckle. That was Amber in a nutshell. She was going to do what she wanted and what made her happy, everyone else in the world be damned. “Honey, I’m excited to see you two, too, but you’re naked, and it’s cold. We really should go inside.
Her hold on me didn’t relax even the slightest bit and I just shook my head. Joe chuckled as I waddled my way in the front door with my daughter hanging off of me.
As soon as the door was shut behind us, Amber finally released her hold and dropped to the floor in front of me. My jaw dropped as I took her in. Even though I’d seen her six months earlier, she looked like she’d grown and matured an entire year’s worth, if not more. Her light brown hair was longer, and she’d cut it slightly differently, framing her face perfectly. Her breasts and hips had continued to fill out, making her look even more like a woman than the girl I’d remembered. That was, until I saw that innocent smile. It was still girlish in the way it was so honest. The way the corners of her mouth came up, her cheeks flushing, which made her eyes come alight.
“What took you so long to get here?” she asked, the disappointment veiled behind her huge smile.
I chuckled. “You do realize I drove here, right?” I explained. “Some of us aren’t cool enough to fly on planes everywhere we go.”
Joe laughed at that, which got me to chuckle while Amber rolled her eyes.
“It’s not like we can drive all the way to your house,” she replied, like it was a chore that she had to explain something so mundane.
“Well, John. I’m glad you made it one piece,” Mandy, my ex, called out from just out of sight upstairs. From the tone in Mandy’s voice, I wasn’t so sure she really wanted me here. I looked up in the direction of her voice and saw her stepping into view.
Mandy was a larger, more mature version of Amber. Memories flashed through my mind of times long since gone. The early days when we just had fun and didn’t have a care in the world. She looked the same, in that I would recognize her anywhere. Her eyes were the same as they’d always been. Her smile, her button nose, all of it was the same. I could see that uninhibited young woman with all of life still ahead of her still hiding just under the surface.
Her body had changed over the years, but she was still the Mandy I met all those years ago. Her breasts were larger, fuller, and hung low off of her chest. Not so much as to be unattractive, but something that came with age and being a mother. Her hips were wide, her stomach not as flat as she’d hoped. All in all, she looked good. Amber would being doing very well for herself if she were modeled after her mother when she reached her age.
There were two big changes I didn’t expect. One was between her legs. She had a little landing strip right above her mound. Mandy was always a proponent of the smooth look, and seeing her with pubic hair was a bit of a shock. For as long as I’d known her, she maintained either a shaved pussy or, in those early years, a waxed one. That was what set Amber on the same path, and her hatred of body hair. The other difference was Mandy’s hair. My ex’s brown hair was shorter now and higher off her shoulders and cut more like the mature woman she was. She had flat-out refused to cut it shorter over the years in fear she would be considered old. She wanted to be “the cute schoolteacher,” not the old librarian.
I had to admit it, but she was right. She did have that librarian look to her now. The thing about it was that it really worked for her. Now, if only people knew just what kind of librarian she would be, oh boy.
“Mandy,” I said with an acknowledging nod.
She smiled, but it was guarded. There was an awkward, almost physical tension in the room, and the kids were caught right in the middle of it. The whole time, Amber and Joe just watched in silence, waiting for the fireworks that were surely to come.
“Did you want to come in and relax for a minute, or do you need to get your stuff from your truck?”
“I should probably go get my stuff,” I replied.
“Well, alright,” Mandy said, a disappointed look on her face. “Amber made up the guest room for you downstairs. Come on up once you’re settled, please. I’ll get you something to drink.”
I grabbed my bags from the back seat of my truck. Thankfully, I’d packed light, aside from the kids’ gifts. I’d brought more presents for them than maybe I should have, but it was too late to do anything about that now. They were already bought, and I’d spent hours wrapping them. They were also safely tucked away under an old blanket I kept under the back seat for those ‘just in case’ moments. Out of sight, out of mind, which was enough to prevent the kids from snooping and trying to discern what I’d gotten them. I’d bring them in later and stuff them under the tree with the rest of their presents when the kids were asleep.
My bags in tow, I headed back to the front door, hip-checking the truck door and hearing the heavy thud of it closing. Amber stood in the doorway behind the clear glass storm door, as naked as ever. The glass was slightly fogged over with the cold, but you could still see everything. Amber clearly didn’t have a care in the world that the neighbors could see her. The smile on her face was radiant as she fidgeted impatiently, shifting from foot to foot, her hand on the door handle, just waiting to throw it open and let me back in.
“You’re staying downstairs, in the guest room, Daddy,” Amber said as she opened the door for me.
“I know,” I chuckled and her face pinked, “Your mom told me that a few seconds ago. Besides, there isn’t a guest room upstairs, so…”
“Oh, right!” Amber grinned. “Well, let’s go, I’ll help you put your stuff away!”
She tugged my hand toward the stairs to the basement.
“Alright, alright, lead the way.”
The guest room in the basement was the best option for me to stay in. Mandy and I’d discussed it after it was settled that I would be staying at the house. It wasn’t like sleeping in the guest room would be that strange, though. It had the newest mattress in the house, which I’d spent too much money on at that time. It turned out, it was a good forward-thinking investment on my part because I’d slept on it a lot when things were bad.
Those last few months before I’d filed and moved out were rough. It got to the point where it was easier to have sex and then slip into the basement once we were done. Aside from those carnal moments, we’d limited the amount of time we spent together. Sleeping in the same bed just wasn’t conducive to getting any actual restful sleep because of the underlying tension.
“We’ll be back in a minute,” I announced to Joe and Mandy while Amber was grunting as she tried to yank my arm out of the socket in her haste to get me into the basement.
“We’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done.” Mandy chuckled at Amber’s impatience, rolling her eyes as she walked away.
The basement guest bedroom wasn’t much. A queen-sized bed, a nightstand with a lamp on it for reading in bed, and one of the old dressers from when we first bought the place. There was also a decent-sized closet, not that it was used for clothes, but it was there if guests needed it. The room was simple and felt more like an office with the wrong furniture than a bedroom without any pictures on the plain white walls.
The basement was dominated by the family room. A massive couch and recliner positioned in front of the old TV that used to be upstairs. For watching movies or football, this was the best spot in the house because once you turned the lights off, it was pitch black due to the lack of any windows. Not to mention the old surround sound speakers Joe and I’d set up years ago made you feel like you were in the movie or game, rather than just watching it.
I dropped my bags down on the bed and debated about unpacking them right away. I could, but there was no rush. Besides, what I really wanted to do was get out of my clothes.
Amber plopped down on the edge of the bed, her feet kicking back and forth like a girl half her age with a silly grin on her face as she looked up at me.
“What’s going on with you?” I asked, giving her a questioning look but grinning as I did. I was genuinely curious to hear what she would say.
“I’m just really happy you made it,” she said, with one of those eager, warm smiles that melted my heart.
“You already told me that,” I teased as I took off my shirt. She huffed and rolled her eyes. I waited to see if she was going to say something else, but she didn’t, and I took that moment to steer the conversation away from me and onto her. “So, I see everyone’s still nudists in the house.”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “Unless Jerry’s friends are here.”
From my phone calls with the kids, I’d picked up that my ex’s new boyfriend’s friends were over a lot. He’d taken to the idea of nudism like a fish to water. Who wouldn’t want to see Mandy and Amber naked any chance they could?
Even with his intrigue in the lifestyle, it took a bit longer for him to give it a real try himself, and even then, he would only do that at first when it was just Mandy and the kids. I couldn’t help but feel some sort of sick satisfaction from that bit of information.
“Well,” I said, “you can be nude all the time, you know,” I explained, as I finished taking off my shoes and tossed my socks over into the corner where my hamper used to be. “But, you’ll just have to stay in your room when his buddies come over.”
“But that’s like being grounded,” she whined. “Besides, then I have to get dressed to go to the bathroom.”
“I guess that’s true.” I stood and undid my pants. Amber fell silent, her attention focused on my groin as I slid my jeans and underwear down. The corners of her lips twitched upwards when she saw my soft cock.
