Chapter 2

The next four weeks or so were like that commercial where the kid keeps asking, “Are we there yet?” This time is seemed to be, “Where are we going? How are we getting there? What will it cost? in addition, several variations of the above. I finally said. “Look, this trip is going to be by train then a hire car to the beach. You both will get a small allowance for swimwear and the like. Everything is ‘my treat’. When you graduate, we might take a plane somewhere. It will give me some time to save up enough to spend on you two. For now, we are going to be like most other families and probably go to Nice.”

Michelle turned to her Mom and asked, “I though those were all nude beaches, why would we need clothes?”

Why I ever said ‘Family’, I’ll never know. Giselle had that look again. She mouthed, ‘Family?’ to me.

“Honey, maybe I need to explain a few things better to you. You see you are a beautiful, young girl and he is a horny, dirty old man; it is just a way to see you without anything on.”

“Oh, but Mom, we can do that at home. Does he really want to see me naked?”

Seven smirks on her part and twenty-three shades of Red on my face then things were almost back to normal. I did have to re-think why I was doing this. Hell, if I was honest, that seeing them nude was probably the reason for going. Giselle hit the nail on the head when she said that I had it ‘bad’ too.

Tripadvisorcom had a rental unit that said it could sleep four. The price was right so I booked it on-line for 9 days, allowing us some time for travel and other things. I should have checked the details better.

My first indication of what to expect came on the train ride down. Michelle constantly bombarded Giselle and me both with comments and questions about all the things she saw along the way. You would think this was her first trip away from home. Maybe it was.

Neither had packed very much. Everything they took fit in one small case. Mine was not much better. I commented, “I am looking forward to this. By the way, what do you wear at a ‘nude’ beach, anyway?” That got me a hit on the arm, two even. As much as I often imagined we had a ‘relationship’, it was only imagined after all. We were, it seemed, best friends. We had to be to go on holiday together, with seemingly no concerns.

My ‘Boss’ at work was happy. Taking a holiday, he could easily understand. Taking it with two gorgeous women was even easier for him to consider. Jeannette kept suggesting that she should go along with us. Sure, that’s all I needed was her irate husband after me.

When we got to the beach in Nice, we were met by a blast of wind. Med Sea Air and warm sun made the trip seem just what we all needed. The tall building that held our rental unit was not far away. We checked in, gave them my credit card and we were off. It was away from the water but fairly close. Our unit was on the third floor so we walked up. There seemed to be some sort of race going on. Michelle had one set of keys and raced to open the door. She went in, we followed. Her comment that it was a great room was followed by her Mom’s sort of questioning observation. “There is only one bed! One bed! Where are you going to sleep?”

When the ad said the place could sleep four I looked no further. “Oh well, when in Nice ... Everything that happens in Nice stays in Nice”, I said.

I possibly could have gotten away with that comment if there had not been such a huge grin on my face.

We carryon even under some adverse condition at least that is what I told them to do. The phrase, ‘actions speak louder than words’ took on a completely new meaning that day. Not a word was spoken anymore about the one bed. I heard the word ‘Beach’ and both of them were gone into the bathroom to change. I could have hit myself, but then again maybe this was the situation that I really wanted. Michelle was certainly growing up in everyplace that counted. Giselle was a beautiful woman. Hell we were already living in the same house after all.

What I was not prepared for was the two of them coming out together from the bathroom ready to hit the beach. They wore no clothes. Nada. Nothing they were not born with.

“We are ready!”

“Ugh “ came out.

“Jean Paul, you are not ready!”

“Ugh...”

“We wore these especially for you and this trip. See our sandals and hair ribbons match.”

All of a sudden, it was like a bolt of lightning hitting me. I had to sit down. To say I had that dazed look on my face I would have to take your word on. I just don’t remember. I slightly remember saying, “You’re not going out dressed like that I...”

I had two sets of arms slung around me. Three of us on the bed, the two of them holding me. They were crying.

“See, I told you he really does care!”

“Oui Mama, but now what, I still want to go to the beach!”

Compromise. That ended up the watchword for that trip. They at least wore the bottoms of a bikini and a small wrap while going down to the beach. We picked a spot a little out of the way and early June there were still not a crowd like there would be later. We did ‘share’ the one bed. Michelle would be 16 soon and her Mom kept dropping hints that her daughter was going to be ‘an old maid’ pretty soon if she did not find a husband.

They had made me ‘jealous’. Yeah, like a grown man should be head over heels about a 15-year-old girl. There was no way in Hell I was comfortable with a nude Michelle or even Giselle. It was a ‘guy’ thing maybe. I thought of them as mine and I did not want to ‘share’ my stuff. I guess that was another difference from a true Frenchman and a ‘pretend’ one. A couple of naked girls came over to meet Michelle. She even invited them for food the next day. Was she at all jealous that I could feast my eyes on even more naked bodies? If she was, she never showed it.

That night in bed, I blurted out, to no one in particular that, “I guess I do have a crush on you. Damn but you are beautiful.”

I heard ‘Thank you/Merci!” in stereo. Man was I in trouble. Nothing sexual really happened that trip. There were many times I found two heads on me, my arms holding shivering bodies tight. Our familiarity grew, with touches, hugs, tickles and a few tender caresses. I caught a few looks, winks and nods between mother and daughter. It must have been a ‘girl’ thing. For the life of me, I still don’t know what that meant. I do know that during that trip I came to realize/realise just how much they both meant to me, I just hated to have to admit it.

Since school was out my ‘intern’ was now really working. She reported to Jeannette who decided that the two of them would soon ‘take over’ the world. I got these un-scheduled meetings with my ‘Boss’. One to remind me that there was his job there I should prepare to take on. Corporate had been after him to go back since all of Rouen’s projects were now on time and budget. How he slipped in that his house would then be up for sale and, did Michelle and I plan on having many children?”