Chapter 5

The next evening, both Norma and Paul seemed distracted, so much so that Mark commented on it. Assuring him that nothing was amiss, the whole family watched a couple of shows together, then the kids went up to finish the last homework before bed. Left alone in front of the TV, Norma said "Penny for your thoughts."

"Oh, I guess I've just been thinking too much. When Dr. Waxman talked about the pay and the college benefits, it just made me depressed that I can't give him the college he wants and deserves."

"Yeah, it made me think a lot, too. I mean, it sounds so perfect! But the nudity stuff is just too much. I wish she hadn't stopped in."

There was little conversation after that as both parents stared at the TV until they heard the shower run three times. Then, they shut everything down and went up to their room. These were the times Norma really missed the nice house they used to have. When Paul lost his job, the outlook for finding another was very bleak. When he decided to start on his own, they had decided, after much agony, to sell their house so he had startup capital. The house they were renting was well below what they had been used to. It was close to the schools, and had a decent yard, but Norma really missed the privacy of the master bath.

Not really thinking about what she was doing, Norma took off her clothes and stood naked, rather than donning her robe as she always did. Paul was undressing at the same time, and looked over at her with a quizzical grin. "Don't misunderstand, Honey, I'm not complaining. In fact, I love it. I've seen more of you in the last two days than I have in two months before. Are you, uh, thinking about the nudity thing, maybe?"

"How can I not? I mean, it could give Mark a chance for his dream education. I almost feel selfish not being willing to do it for him."

"How do you think that makes me feel?" Paul asked in obvious distress. I can't provide for my children the way I should, and now my wife is thinking about baring herself to bail me out."

"Hey, Hey! None of that talk! We've been over this too many times. Losing your job was not your fault. And we agreed it was time to go on your own. The kids know the score. We did the right thing! We had the guts to do it, and it will pay off. You know that."

Paul, looking a little silly in a T-shirt and nothing else, sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. "Yeah, I know you're right, and things are starting to turn around. God, how did I get so lucky to find you? And that just makes it worse that you would have to do it."

"Is it that hard to look at me?" Norma was obviously trying to change the tone. "I know I should do something about this weight, but there just never seems to be a chance."

"Do you ever hear me complaining?" Paul asked as he pulled her onto his lap and nuzzled his face into her cleavage. She wrapped her arms around his head and hugged it tightly to her chest.

"No, you never would. Maybe you should. You know, the hardest part of showing myself to Mark would be how bad I look."

"Do you think he would care any more than I do?"

"No, but I would." Again anxious to change the mood, she told him "The best parts are bare, but let's see the rest of you." With that she pulled off his T-shirt. Because of good genetics and a disciplined exercise regimen, Paul looked nice and firm, and had surprisingly good muscle tone for a forty-year-old.

Norma had always envied her husband the ease with which he seemed to maintain his weight, even though she knew it was far from easy. They had to drop their club membership, and now it was just running and an old weight set in the basement that kept him in shape. Many times she asked herself why she couldn't do the same thing. Exercise had never been part of her life, nor that of her family.

The pressure of his cock swelling against her bottom pushed away the thoughts of conditioning. She turned to face him with her knees on the bed outside of his legs. Resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping one arm around his back, she used the other hand to guide his cock into her hole. Although she was not yet fully lubricated, she was able to work herself down. As she sank lower, she extended her legs and wrapped them around behind him.

Now, she was spread wide atop him, her legs behind his ass, her belly against his chest, and his head between her breasts. "I, uh, hope you m... meant it about my belly. I mean, not caring. I... I'm embarrassed to push it against you." Norma's breath was ragged as she started to talk. She was moving back and forth against him, moving his cock in and out as she did.

"Does... this... feel like I... care?" Paul grunted out as he gave several strong thrusts against her, raising his ass right off the bed as he did so. Norma's only response was to raise his face from between her breasts and kiss him soundly. Then, she guided his mouth to a nipple.

Sensing how much energy she was expending on her motions, Paul grabbed her hips with both hands and helped her move back and forth. The newness of their position made it very exciting, even though with her legs spread, the friction was not as great. He knew he could keep this up for a while, but he was concerned about her getting tired.

Having no idea where the thought came from, Paul moved his hands from her hips. He put one directly behind her with his fingers in her crack. The other, he placed against her belly with the thumb on her clit. Now, he could push with one arm and pull with the other. With the first push, she felt the increased pressure on her clit and let out a moan. Liking that sound, he worked a finger in back so it pressed against her anus when he pulled her forward. This got him moans on every stroke, backward or forward.

For the next few minutes, they kept up the motions, with Norma stimulated in four different places. As her arousal grew, she was barely able to keep up her part of the motions, and he felt like he was pounding his cock with her. Starting to tire from the effort, he took the nipple he had been sucking and bit it firmly with his teeth. That was the trigger that sent her into a huge climax. She was not a screamer, but her series of moans was loud enough to create concern over the kids. He, however, had reached his own limit and added his own grunts to her sounds. Together, they convulsed and shuddered against each other for many seconds, their combined sweat adding to the odors of their love juices.

When it was all over, Norma was collapsed against him, limp and totally spent. Feeling a bit like Superman after the awesome coupling, he said to her, "Honey, wrap your legs around me again - hang on tight!" With that, he pitched forward, holding tightly around her back, and was able to force himself upright, still embedded in her. With a gasp, she got a strangle-hold around his neck and clamped her legs around him in a desperation reflex.

"Paul! You can't! I'm too heavy!" Norma gasped out in near panic. After he took two successful steps toward the door, she blurted out "Oh, my God! Don't go out there! What about the kids?" When he said nothing and got the door open, she gave up protesting and just hung on.

It was only a few steps to the bathroom, the door of which was already open. When they got inside, he eased her down, turned on the light, and closed and locked the door. When he turned back to her, she was looking at him with eyes as big as a kid at Christmas. Then, reverting to form, she replayed his line from the night before, "We DEFINITELY have to have Dr. Julia over again!" With that, she threw her arms around him and started laughing. It took a moment for him to identify it as laughter of pure joy, and he quickly joined her.

After a necessarily intimate shower in the cramped tub-shower, they snuggled together in bed. "I just wish there was some way to take you on another honeymoon," Paul lamented.

"You know, Honey," she replied with obvious emotion, "we did stuff the last two nights we never thought of on our honeymoon. I'll bet I can farm out the kids for Friday and maybe Saturday nights. We'll have a little honeymoon here, OK? Let's ask Dr. Julia to stop by again."

"Oh, I don't think we need her for extra stimulation, do we?" Paul asked.

"No, we don't. I want to talk some more about, uh, Mark."

"Oh, Sweetheart! You can't be seriously considering it, can you?" he asked her.

"I guess I can. I have to know if you could handle it, though. If it makes you feel too bad, I'll just forget it. I still don't know if I can go through with it, anyway."

Paul had to think carefully about how to answer. His first impulse was to tell her 'no way.' It would be very hard on his ego if she did it, making him feel his failure to provide even more acutely. On the other hand, he understood the depth of her commitment to her children. If she honestly felt this was something she could do for Mark, and he stopped her, it would not be good for their relationship in the long run. So, it boiled down to her exposing her body and him swallowing his ego. His sacrifice was certainly no tougher than hers.

For the next half hour, Paul told her as openly and honestly as he could just what he had been thinking. She in turn, shared the fear she felt, and the shame about how she looked. In the end, he told her it was up to her.

Disposing of the kids had been easy. Norma's parents wanted all three to spend the weekend with them. The kids, however, took one phone call each to find a place with a friend. Norma knew the parents of friends the girls would be staying with, and had in fact, hosted their daughters several times.

Mark would be staying with Terry Torvold. Norma did not know Shannon, but was very anxious to talk to her after seeing her pictures. Shannon, of course, knew Mark was being considered for the job, and asked Norma straight out if they wanted to use the time to consider it. She also offered to get together with Norma and discuss the whole subject of family nudity if it would help. They arranged lunch on Friday.

When Norma saw Shannon walk into the restaurant, she was stunned. She thought the wedding picture was gorgeous, but Shannon was even more impressive in person. And so perceptive. Shannon seemed to know just what was bothering Norma.

"You saw my before picture, right?" Shannon asked after they had eaten. "Well, just imagine me without the swim suit. My pubic hair had been permanently removed years before, but you couldn't really see my pussy because of all the fat. That's how Terry saw me when he first visited me at Greg's."

"H... how did you ever stand to have him see you?"

"I honestly didn't think I could. But it turned out to be a high point in my life."

"Really?" Norma asked in sincere surprise.

"Absolutely. My son was such a loving man! He saw how upset I was. When I started to cry, you know what he did? He hugged me. Not a wimpy mother-son hug, either. He hugged me like a lover and didn't let go. He stroked up and down my fat back like he didn't even care, and I just melted."

"Wow!" Norma breathed out. "It sounds almost sexual!"

"No almost about it! It was definitely sexual. You have to understand where I was at that point. You have a husband who loves you unconditionally. I was sure there would never be a man who would even accept me as a woman again. Anything sexual was like a medicine for me. I needed it desperately to make me feel worthwhile. We never had intercourse, but Terry did a lot of sexual things with me."

"Ohhh! I don't think I could ever go that far," Norma protested.

"I'm sure you'll never have to. You don't need it. You get approval from you husband all the time. Your sexuality and femininity are not under attack."

"Except from me, you mean," Norma grumbled. "Ever since this whole thing came up, I've been ashamed of how I've let myself get."

Shannon looked at her thoughtfully for a while, then spoke up. "Norma, don't take this the wrong way, but why don't you volunteer to be our first client."

"Whaaat? You mean with those other boys and men around? I don't even know if I can go naked in front of my son!"

"I didn't mean to shock you. You're going to get naked for Mark, or you wouldn't be here talking to me, right." Norma looked sheepish, but nodded. "OK, suppose you went further and invited the other male employees over, as well, got it over with. Then, while you were in the program, it would be no big deal."

"Norma, you really don't have the problems most of our clients will, but you could give us some great feedback. I haven't talked to the others, yet, but I see a possibility for you as an official naked 'buddy' for newcomers in the future."

"You're kidding!"

"Nope! Norma, I've just met you, but you have the outgoing personality and the humor that would make you perfect for it."

"But I've never been naked for anyone but Paul, yet."

"Yet is the operative word. Again, I haven't talked this all out with anyone, but you know that we pay our employees pretty well. And we choose them very, very carefully."

"God! I came here looking for a little guidance on my decision. Now, you're recruiting me to be a naked employee!"

"At least that should make your first decision seem easy, shouldn't it?" Shannon asked.

Norma stared at Shannon open-mouthed, then laughed and told her "You're a witch, you know? You never meant it about the program and the job. You were just trying to make getting naked for Mark seem like no big deal, right?"

"I was trying to make it seem like no big deal because I don't think it should be. As for the other stuff, I am dead serious."

After another quiet period, Norma brought up her other big worry. "You know, I think it will be very hard on Paul if I get naked for Mark. I cannot imagine how he would handle your other ideas."

"See, you're already assuming that you could handle it, and you're just worrying about Paul. What would it take to ease Paul's ego problems?"

"Ego? Yeah, you're right. The only thing I can think of is for him to be involved, too," Norma answered.

"I'll have to think about that," Shannon said. "So, what's up for this weekend?"

"Well, Dr. Waxman is coming over again, for one thing." Then, Norma told Shannon some of her other plans as they shared friendly giggles.

When Paul dragged in from the office Friday afternoon to see Norma working naked in the kitchen, he didn't know whether to laugh or take her on the table. "So, I guess this weekend is for practice, huh?"

"Yup. Dr. Julia is coming for supper."

"Are you staying like that?"

"Yup. Her husband is coming, too."

"Oh, no! You don't mean..."

"Sit down, Honey. Here's a drink. I've got a lot to tell you while I work." She proceeded to review her talk with Shannon.

"But I don't want you to..."

"Lover, you know I would never do anything to hurt you, and you just have to tell me to get dressed and I will. But please! I will just tell you that this is extremely important to me. Please let me do it! I think you will understand more when we talk to them."

Paul tried hard to remember his little talk with himself about his ego, but this was beyond anything that he had expected. Baring herself to another man! A stranger! How could his ego deal with that? He suddenly had a small glimpse of how a cuckold would feel and he did not like it.

Fortunately, Paul was a man of carefully measured responses and a deep respect for his mate. She had asked him - pled with him. Could he deny her that? Was his ego that fragile? Well, almost, he had to admit, but he could do it for her. Trying not to let his concern show, he told her, "Baby, I can't believe you're doing this, but I love you. If this is what you think you need, go for it." That earned him a toe-curling hug and kiss.

When the Waxmans arrived, Paul met them at the door and exchanged introductions. Julia noticed he was more nervous than at their first meeting, but did not think too much of it. When he ushered them into the small but nicely appointed living room, she knew the reason why. She and Frank both gasped as they saw Norma standing there naked, trembling and blushing all over.

Paul quickly moved to his wife's side, held her by the elbow and assisted her over to shake hands with Frank. "P... pleased to m... meet you, M... Mr. Waxman." Norma stammered out.

Having never before encountered a situation like this, Frank's polished social skills still came to the fore. "I think this situation calls for first names, don't you? I'm Frank, Norma, and I'm very pleased to meet you."

"P... Paul will get you d... drinks. I c... can't"

Julia moved close to Norma and took her hand. "Norma, drinks can wait. I think you have something you're very anxious to say to us, don't you?"

"Th... thank you. Please have a s... seat." Norma motioned them to two side chairs while Paul pulled her down beside him on a love seat, an arm tightly around her quivering shoulders. Her stammering continued, tapering off gradually. "I hope you're not too shocked or offended to see me like this. There's a reason."

"Norma," Frank answered, "we're not offended. If it would help you, we would be willing to strip, too."

"No, that would make it too easy for me. Dr. Waxman - Julia - you told us a person couldn't handle someone else's nakedness well until they were comfortable with their own. Well, we want Mark to have that job. It will be really hard for him to be naked in front of us. I'm the parent, but I won't be much help in making him feel better the way I am now. I guess you're stuck helping me get comfortable."

"I feel privileged to help," Julia told her. "I'm curious, though. When I left the other day, I thought there was zero chance you would do it. Why?"

"I guess I have to tell you our story so you understand. Like a lot of professionals around here, Paul lost his job in a merger. He tried for a while to find something else, but with no luck. We decided it was time for him to start up on his own. We sold our nice house for capital, and that's why we're renting this," she swept her arm around the room.

"For the last few years, Paul has worked his ass off. Sometimes, he could barely crawl in from the garage at night. I wanted to work, but I couldn't earn much, and he insisted I be here for the kids. The business is starting to grow, but we are a long ways from getting back to where we were."

"As you know, Mark is a wonderful son and an 'A' student. His dream has always been to go to Addison, but there's no way with our current finances. Well, if Paul can kill himself trying to build our future, I'd be ashamed if I couldn't show my boobs and my belly and my fat butt to help give my son his dream. I'm just sorry I'm so hard to look at."

Julia had to take a moment to steady her breathing before she could respond. "Norma, I can see where Mark gets it. You have some kind of courage. Don't worry about how you look. All I can see is a mother doing whatever it takes for her son."

"Another thing, Julia," Norma continued, brushing off the compliment, "I had lunch with Shannon today. After that, how could I be afraid to do anything."

"She has that effect on people, doesn't she."

The beginning of dinner was awkward, particularly for the men. Little by little, though, things loosened up, and by dessert, Norma was actually showing some of the humor that was her trademark. While still at the table, Julia mentioned that Shannon had called her after her lunch with Norma. After hearing a replay of the lunch conversation, Paul was aghast.

"Honey, you mean you would actually consider doing something like that? You're sweating bullets over Mark seeing you. How could you even think about more men?"

"Sweetie, I know it's far-fetched. That was just what Shannon suggested. I didn't say I wanted to do it."

"I can tell by your tone of voice that you're intrigued. I just can't believe it!"

"Wouldn't you like to have wedding-sized wife back?"

"Yeah, but, all those other guys."

"Paul," Frank interjected, "how about if you got involved, too? Would that make you feel better about Norma being naked?"

"How do you mean, involved? I'm already doing eighty hour weeks trying to build a business."

"Well, here's what Julia and I discussed on the way over. You two are the kind of people we want to build this whole operation around. You have the right values and the right sense of people. How about if we hired your firm on retainer for financial management of Transformations?"

"Well, a steady client would be great, but what would that have to do with Norma?"

"We would have an office for you at the center. The office would be open and you would be one of our adult attendants, as well as our CFO."

"Oh, I see." Paul thought a moment, then it hit him. "Uh, you mean I'd have to do what Mark does?"

"To some extent, yes. Our younger guys will be in school most of the daytime, so we need staff during those hours. You would have to learn everything the attendants do. The intent would be for you to spend most of your time on the financials, but you would be available as needed."

"Would I have to be, uh, naked around the women?"

"Yes. We are still working on the particulars. Most of the time, the attendants will be clothed, but the pool, hot tub, and showers will be naked only. By current plan, we will expect the attendants to use those facilities regularly."

"Oh."

"What's the matter, Sweetie? Are you afraid to let it all hang out for the ladies?" Norma asked in her familiar teasing tone.

"You mean you want me to?" Paul asked in bewilderment.

"Damn right!" Norma told him. "When I see one of the gals drooling over that stud, I want to be able to tell her 'That's one's all mine.'" Paul just shook his head, then looked down shamefacedly. "What's wrong, Sweetie. Did I upset you?"

"I guess I'm feeling guilty. I hope you aren't upset that I didn't react that way about you."

"Oh, Paul! I know you were concerned about my feelings. I'm happy you don't want to show me off. 'Course, there's not much to show off, anyway." Norm leaned over and gave and gave her husband a loving kiss."

"There's another important thing you could contribute, Paul," Frank said. "We want our women to leave much better equipped to fit in with their families' lives. That means becoming more conversant in lots of things, but particularly financial things. We would like you to work up several courses: household finances; stock market familiarization; retirement planning - the list could be long."

"Paul, I'm serious about this proposal," Frank assured him. "You should be able to keep your other clients satisfied, too, at least until we need you full time. Then, you should be able to add staff. Think about it." He told Paul the retainer they were thinking of, and the surprise was evident on his face.

Norma took that time to tease Paul again. "Just think, Sweetie, that bit where I was teasing you about Becks and Tori..."

"You mean... ?"

"Good for the goose, good for the gander, Gander!" and Norma giggled.

They moved to the living room, Paul so stunned he moved like a robot. "Julia," Norma started out, "we need to talk about nudity in the family. Is it wrong? Is it incest? Why are you insisting on it?"

"Good questions, Norma. First of all, I choose to define incest strictly as intercourse between family members. You could probably get lots of different opinions on that."

"As far as family nudity, the opinions are just as varied. The thing that I find strange is that often, family members are the last ones people want to see their bodies. In other words, a person might go to a nude beach with hardly a second thought. Yet, the same person might get very upset if a family member walks in on them changing clothes."

"There is this feeling that if a stranger, someone you'll never see again, sees your naked body, that's not so bad. If, however, a brother, sister, parent, or child sees you, that's cause for distress."

"I think the reason gets back to fear of incest. We're afraid that nudity might release sexual urges we can't control. And let's face it. In many families, there is a lot more antagonism than real love. Ideally, your family should be the most accepting of you and the ones you'd be most comfortable exposing yourself to."

"Now, your last question. Why do I insist on you being naked with your family? Remember, our goal is massive change. Change in the way people, act, but to get that, we must change the way they think and feel. Being completely comfortable with their bodies is a big part of our goal, something we believe is essential to the kind of change our clients need." Julia then explained the research and clinical findings on nakedness that she had explained to the founding group earlier.

"So, for a short answer, we cannot afford to have our staff at all body-shy. Our clients will sense that, and it will impair our efforts to remove their own body-shyness. My findings suggest that if you can live naked with your family, you are well on your way to the kind of comfort and confidence you need."

Paul had been listening attentively, but had said nothing. Now, he spoke up. "Since all three of us would be involved, is there any reason we shouldn't all show up naked together?"

"Hmmm. Good question," Julia told him. "I take it that means you're considering the offer. That's good. My first concern was for Mark, and I think that is still valid. Norma, I predict you will get comfortable very quickly. Paul, I sense your motivation is very strong, and that should help you, too."

"I liked the original plan," Julia said. "Let's stick with it. Staging it that way gives you a chance to talk with the girls about just Mark, first. You may be able to shorten the timeframes, though."

"I'm still in a bit of shock, as you can tell," Paul told them. "What you are offering would allow us to get back on our feet right away. For the sake of my family, I can't turn it down. Of course, I happen to agree with what you are trying to do, also. That makes the decision even easier."

"Julia," Norma spoke as they were preparing to leave, "I'm going to start shaping up right now. I know you want me for a test subject, but I can't stand to show myself to anyone without at least doing something about this body."

Julia, sat back down and thought for a moment. "It would be too bad to lose your entire 'before' as an example. We plan a detailed picture and data tracking of each client's progress, week by week. Also, it would be best if you went through all of our regular diet and exercise regimen."

"Oh. Well, I guess I'd better just wait, then. It's... it's just so hard always thinking about this," and she grabbed her belly and jiggled it.

"No, that's not right, either. You're doing a brave thing. If it makes it easier knowing you're improving yourself, that's important." Julia thought for a while more after that statement. "I know. Greg Laskey was the one who started this whole thing with Shannon. He has the camera setup that we are going to use. Let me see if I can set it up for him to take the pictures. Shannon can be there to help you start the workouts, and since Yvonne, the nutritionist, is there most nights, she can get you going on the eating plan."

Norma shot a quick, nervous look toward Paul, then said "I'll have to be naked with Greg, then, won't I?"

"Well, yes..." Julia started in, but Norma cut her off.

"No, that's OK, Julia. I guess. If I'm going to be a 'buddy' to newcomers, I'd better have been through everything they'll go through. Uh, Honey... are you having second thoughts?"

"All these years! And you're so much more than I ever knew!" Paul uttered reverently.

Rather than second thoughts, Paul was having extremely libidinous thoughts. The door was barely closed behind Julia and Frank when he wrapped Norma in a fierce hug and delivered a hungry kiss. To her puzzlement, he led her to the kitchen. When he had her bend over the counter, she did not know why, but his intentions were clear and very, very welcome.

Once again, it was just plain fucking, but neither thought it at all negative. They had talked about it before and agreed that animalistic sex for pleasure and need was a discovery they wanted to hang on to. The very few previous times they had enjoyed the rutting, pounding, gasping and sweating, they had both experienced epic orgasms. Afterward, the showers and the shared tenderness were very emotional, and usually led to making the sweetest love.

"Why here?" Norma was able to gasp out a little later.

"It's what I wanted to do when I first got home and saw you."

"Should have."

"Next time for sure. Somehow, seeing you working naked in the kitchen is a huge turn on."

By the time the kids returned on Sunday, the couple had far exceeded their honeymoon exertions. Seeing their parents in a state of near collapse, Mark and Becks commented on how hard they had been working. Even he did not suspect the real reason for their condition.

Shannon insisted on picking up Norma and taking her to Greg's Monday morning. Once the greetings were done, Shannon blew Norma away by casually shedding her clothes.