Chapter – Eleven

 

Christmas came on a Thursday that year, and on Christmas morning, we all sat around the tree in our living room.  We opened packages and showed our gifts to one another.  Most of my presents were clothes, including some items from the store where Mom worked.  My brother also received new underwear, getting boxers instead of the white briefs he normally wore.  After all of the gifts under the tree were opened, my dad got up and left the room.

 

Dad returned carrying a box, placed it on the floor between my brother and me, and sat back down next to our mom.  I read the tag as my brother began to open the package.

 

“To Jenny and Eddie, we hope to have hours of fun, Mom and Dad.”  I read out loud.

 

My brother opened the box and pulled out two bright orange Mae West life preservers.  We looked at the items and tried to figure out what they were for.  After a couple minutes, my brother jumped up and began bouncing up and down.

 

“You’re going to buy a boat!”  Eddie shouted.

 

“No,” Mom said with a smirk.

 

“Then what are these things for?”  I asked.

 

“We already bought a boat,” Dad said.

 

“What kind of boat?”  I asked.

 

“Is it a fishing boat?”  Eddie said.

 

“Where is it?  Are you going to keep it in the yard like the Fredrick’s do?”  I asked.

 

The Fredrick family lived down the road from us and had a boat on a trailer in their back yard.  I didn’t really know too much about boats, other than the ones I saw around and the one we fished on when my cousin was here.

 

“Look in the bottom of the box,” Dad said, trying to control his laughter.

 

I pulled the box over to me as my brother reached inside.  We bumped our heads in our excitement, but managed to pull a small wrapped package out of the box.  Eddie ripped the paper and found a book.  He opened it, and said, “Holy shit!”

 

“Don’t use that kind of language young man,” Mom said.

 

“Sorry, Mom.  I guess I got carried away.”

 

My brother and I looked at the pictures of the boat in the book.  Eddie started rattling off questions and my parents tried to answer him.

 

Finally Dad told him to be quiet and told us about the boat.  The boat was two years old and a trade in for a custom boat the owner had built where my dad worked.  Dad was able to get a real good deal on the boat and he and Mom decided to buy it.

 

“When do we get to see it?”  I finally asked.

 

“Just as soon as you two are dressed and ready to go,” Mom said.  “Your father and I have to get dressed too, but it won’t take long.”

 

My brother and I ran for our rooms to get ready to go.  I flipped my door, but it didn’t close all the way.  After pulling my nightshirt over my head, I turned and saw my brother watching me from his room.  I blushed, turned around and moved away from my open door.  I quickly dressed in shorts and a tee shirt and headed for the bathroom.

 

My brother was already in the bathroom brushing his teeth, but I didn’t care.  I went in, took my toothbrush from the holder and shared the sink with him.  After brushing my teeth, I fixed my hair.

 

I had cut my hair very short for track the year before and just kept it that way.  I liked how easy it was to take care of, requiring only a quick brushing.  Once we were finished, Eddie and I went out to wait for our mom and dad.

 

On the way to the marina, my brother and I learned that our parents had been talking about a boat for some time.  After they saw how much fun we had on the fishing trip, they decided to buy one.  We also found out that my dad had taken a week of vacation and gone to school to learn how to operate the boat.

 

The marina was only about fifteen minutes from our house.  Dad parked the van and led us along the pier to our slip.  When Eddie and I saw a boat with a big bow tied to it, we knew it was ours and ran to it.

 

Mom and Dad caught up to my brother and me.  They had their arms around each other and were smiling as Eddie and I stood staring at the boat.

 

“It’s a forty-four foot Luhrs convertible,” Dad said

 

“It’s already rigged for fishing!”  Eddie said.  “It has outriggers and everything.”

 

“Yes,” Dad told us, “it’s ready to go.  I talked with the captain of the boat we fished on and he gave me a list of the things we needed to get started.”

 

We all boarded the boat and went into the cabin to begin the tour.

 

“This is the salon,” Dad said.  “Over here is the galley.”

 

The salon, I thought it was the living room, but I was getting a quick lesson in terminology, was beautiful.  It had two couches, I later learned they were called settees, and one folded out into a double bed.  The galley was nicer than some of the kitchens I had seen in houses complete with a refrigerator and freezer.  My dad showed Eddie the fishing rod storage compartment in the ceiling, complete with seven rods and reels.

 

After looking around the salon, we went down to the bedrooms.  My mom told us they were called staterooms and the bathroom was called a head.  We looked in the master stateroom first and saw the large bed and the closets and drawers.  The next thing we looked at was the head.  It had a shower, a toilet and a sink.  The head was almost a big as the bathroom my brother and I shared at the house.

 

“This is the other stateroom,” Dad said as he opened a door across from the head.

 

The guest stateroom had two beds in it, one full sized and a small bunk above it.

 

“Who gets this bed, I mean stateroom,” I asked.

 

“We haven’t decided on the sleeping arrangements yet,” Mom said.  “We thought that we’d let you two figure that out.  One of you can sleep in here and the other in the salon, or you two can share this room.  You kids have to remember that on a boat, you have to adapt to the surroundings.”

 

“I’ll sleep in here,” I announced, pointing to the larger bed.  “Eddie can sleep in the salon.”

 

“Why don’t you sleep in the salon,” my brother said.

 

“Because I’m a girl and I need my privacy,” I replied.

 

“Privacy is something you sort of give up on a boat this size,” Dad said.  “We will try to respect each other’s wishes, but it can be difficult in such close quarters.”

 

“Besides,” Mom said, “we have to think about when we have guests too.”

 

Eddie and I let the discussion drop.

 

We went up to the fly bridgeflying bridge next and Dad started to explain all the instruments.  He told us about the radar, the chart plotter, the fish finder and all the gauges.  While he went over the controls, I looked around at the seats and other different things.  From the fly bridgeflying bridge, you could see the big deck in front of the cabin.

 

“That will be nice for getting a tan,” I told my mom as I pointed forward.

 

Mom nodded and told me to pay attention to my dad.

 

When Dad finished, he took us to the engine room and told my brother and me about all the switches and things there.  We climbed out of the small engine room and stood in the cockpit.  Dad went over the bait preparation station and the other things associated with it.

 

Our family spent two and a half hours going over all the different things on the boat.  I tried to pay attention, but my mind wondered.  Dad took us all back into the salon and told us to sit around the table.

 

“So what do you two think about the boat?”  Dad asked.

 

“I think it’s really neat, Dad,” I said.

 

“It’s great,” Eddie said.  “When can we take her out?”

 

“That’s up to you two.  When would you like to go for a ride?”

 

“Right now,” Eddie said.

 

Mom chuckled and smiled at my dad.  “Your father and I though that we might go tomorrow.  We were planning on spending a few days on the boat and going down to the keys.”

 

“Really?”  I said.  “We’re going to take a trip on the boat?  What do we have to do to get ready?  What can Eddie and I do to help?”

 

I was almost bouncing on the seat as I rifled off the string of questions.

 

“We have to pack our clothes and buy some food for the trip,” Mom said.  “We have everything else we’ll need on the boat already.  Your father and I have been working on it for over a week.”

 

My brother and I jumped up and asked if we could go and get started.  My parents laughed at us, and our eagerness to go.  We left the boat and headed for home.  As we rode along, the car was a buzz with questions about our trip.

 

Once we arrived at the house, my bother and I went to work on getting the things we wanted to take packed.  I took clean underwear for the days my mom said we’d be gone as well as my bikini and shorts.  I asked if there was a closet on the boat and my dad told me that there were hanging lockers in both staterooms.  I took some of the tops I kept on hangers and put them with the other things.

 

By dinnertime, I was completely packed.  I checked on my brother and he was ready too.  Eddie and I took our bags to the van and put them in, not wanting to have to mess with it in the morning.

 

After dinner, Dad took out some charts and told us about the route we would take.  Eddie asked a lot of questions; I just listened.

 

“I think it would be a good idea for you kids to take safe boating lessons when we get back,” Dad said.  “I’ve enrolled you in a class that’s put on by the Power Squadron.  You will start right after the first of the year.”

 

“Why can’t you just teach us, Dad,” I asked.

 

“Jen, I don’t know everything there is to know.  Your mom and I are going to take the class with you two.  I also want both of you to learn how to operate the boat and all of the things that go with it,” Dad told us.

 

We all went to bed early that night.  I had a hard time falling asleep, but was finally able to.  The next morning, my mom woke me at about six o’clock.  I crawled out of bed and went to take a shower.

 

Once I was finished in the bathroom, I went back to my bedroom to dress.  I put on a tube top, my bib overalls and a pair of sandals.  When I went to the kitchen for breakfast, my dad told me I couldn’t wear the sandals because I might slip on the deck.  Mom brought out a pair of deck shoes and handed them to me.

 

Eddie also received new shoes like mine.  We ate, closed up the house and headed to the boat.  Once we had everything put away, Dad started the engines and let them warm up.  He went over the dock lines and told my brother and I that we’d have to tend to them.  Once the boat was ready to go, Eddie and I untied her and we were off.

 

Dad maneuvered the boat out of the slip and through the marina.  When we got to the Intracoastal Waterway Dad headed south.  All four of us were up on the bridge and watching as we moved along.  Dad explained the Intracoastal Waterway; he called it the ICW, and told us that you could take it all the way past New York.

 

After we had been out for an hour or so, Dad let Eddie drive the boat.  It was warming up and Mom suggested that she and I put our suits on.  I agreed and we went below.

 

I went into the small stateroom, took off my clothes and put on my bikini.  I wrapped the sarong around my waist and went to the salon to wait for my mom.  She came out of her cabin in a new suit.  Her bikini was black and the top was very small.

 

“Do you like my new bikini?”  Mom asked me.

 

“Wow, Mom, that’s really hot!”  I told her.

 

“Thanks, want to see the bottoms?”

 

I nodded.

 

Mom slipped off the matching skirt and stood in her new bikini.  I guess I must have looked shocked, because she started to laugh.

 

“Is there something wrong, Jen?”

 

“Your suit, Mom.  It’s so small!”

 

My mom was wearing a thong bikini that barely covered her mons.  When she turned around, her ass was exposed.  The top of the suit wasn’t big enough to contain her breasts and they spilled out the sides of the small patches of material.

 

“Are you going to wear that outside?”

 

“Of course I am, Jen.  I’m not going to stay in here all day.  I decided that I was going to look good on our new boat.”

 

“Does Daddy know you have it?”

 

Mom laughed and said, “Yes, he knows.  He helped me pick it out.”

 

“Really!”

 

“Yes, he also picked one out for you, if you want it.”

 

“No way!  Dad wouldn’t let me wear anything like that.”

 

“Come with me and I’ll show you, Jen.  You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to, but if you decide to, it’s okay with your father and me.”

 

Mom took me into her stateroom and pulled a red and blue striped bikini like hers out of a drawer.  The thong bikini had a short skirt like my mom’s suit and was also very small.  She handed me the suit and grinned.

 

“It’s up to you, honey.  Wear it if you want to.  I can tell you that you’re going to see much smaller suits on this trip.”

 

I looked at the two small pieces of material and said, “How can a suit be any smaller?”

 

Mom laughed and replied, “You’d be surprised at how much smaller they can get.  We have some in the shop that only cover the nipples on top and the bottoms only have a thin strip in front.  The back is just a string.”

 

I thanked my mom for the suit and put it in my drawer in the small stateroom.  Mom put her skirt back on and we went back up to the bridge.  Eddie was still at the helm, driving the boat and Dad was sitting next to him.

 

My dad looked at my mom and grinned when she lifted her skirt to show him her bottom.  He looked at me, then back to Mom and cocked his head.

 

“I gave it to her, but she decided she didn’t want to wear it,” Mom said.

 

“Wear what?”  Eddie said, keeping his eyes trained on the water in front of him.

 

“Nothing,” I said.

 

“Almost nothing,” Mom said and then she and my dad laughed.

 

At lunchtime, we found a place to anchor and stopped to eat.  Mom and I fixed sandwiches and took some potato salad out of the refrigerator.  We set the table and when my dad and brother came into the cabin, we ate.

 

“Where are we going to stay tonight?”  I asked.

 

“I thought we’d stay down near Miami tonight,” Dad said.  “There are a lot of good places to anchor for the night.”

 

“When will we need to get fuel?”  Eddie asked.

 

“The boat holds seven hundred gallons,” Dad replied.  “We should be good for the trip down to the Keys, but I’ll probably top her off before we head down.”

 

After lunch, we all sat outside in the cockpit on deck chairs.  When my mom took off the skirt she was wearing, my brother’s eyes bugged out.  I giggled as I watched him stare at our mom, thinking how he would look at me if I wore the suit Mom had bought me.

 

After resting for an hour, Eddie asked if he could jump into the water.  My dad said yes and my brother jumped over the side.  I had Dad show me how to open the transom door and jumped in too.  When I surfaced, I could hear my parents laughing on deck.

 

“I think your son likes my new suit,” Mom said.

 

Dad chuckled and said, “What’s not to like?  You look great in that thing.  Maybe later I’ll help you get out of it.”

 

“I can’t wait!”

 

“Poor Eddie must have had to cool off after seeing his mom dressed like that,” Dad said.  “I wonder what he’s going to do when we get to the Keys?  When he sees all of those women and girls running around topless, he will be sporting a woody all day.”

 

I stayed close to the back of the boat so I could hear my parents talk.  When I heard what my mom said next, I almost gave away my position.

 

“I wonder how he and Jen will react when I take my top off, Harry.  I don’t plan on going home with white tits.”

 

“We’ll know soon enough, Ellen.  I just hope we aren’t pushing them to fast.  I know that we decided that when they were old enough, we’d introduce them to this, but I can’t help but worry a little.”

 

“They’ll do fine.  It’s not like were making them do anything, if they don’t want to join in, they don’t have to.  Next time you and I’ll go for a trip and we can do what we want,” Mom said.

 

Dad called for my brother and me.  I ducked under water and swam away, moving along the side of the boat.  After a couple of minutes, I answered and swam back.

 

My bother and I climbed back onboard and my mom rinsed us off with a hose that was near the stern.  The boat had both fresh and saltwater wash down pumps with a hose for each.  Dad climbed the steps to the bridge and started the boat.

 

We came to a drawbridge and waited for it to open so we could pass.  Mom and I were out on the foredeck, stretched out on two cushions.  I glanced at her and tried to imagine her lying there topless.  Then I tried to imagine me the same way.  I rolled over onto my stomach and pulled my suit into the crack of my ass like I did at home, not thinking about the fact that my mom was right next to me.

 

Mom rolled onto her stomach, smiled at me and said, “When did you start doing that?”

 

“What, Mom?”

 

“Pulling your suit into your butt, I can see that your bottom is tanned.”

 

“Oh, that.  I’ve been doing it for a while now, when I’m alone.”

 

“You do that, but you think my suit is too small.”

 

“That’s different, Mom.  I don’t do it when there are other people around.”

 

I looked up and saw my brother looking down at Mom and me.  I waved and he quickly stepped back.

 

“What was that all about?”  Mom asked.

 

“Eddie, he was watching us.”

 

“Oh, I see.  Is he still watching?”

 

“No, when I waved at him he moved away.”